Tall Tales of the Track: A Tale of Two Clydes

Horse racing has seen its share of pocket rockets, small horses notching big wins in the sport’s most famous races. Despite bearing little resemblance to his famed sire Man o’ War, our fourth Triple Crown winner echoed Big Red’s dominance on the racetrack, his 21 wins in 26 starts earning him a spot in the Hall of Fame. Before War Admiral, though, came another petite prizewinner, an unexpected classic winner for the 20th century’s greatest horse.

Once upon a time in the rolling hills of the Kentucky Bluegrass, a little chestnut horse was born. What he lacked in stature, he made up for in talent and heart, especially on rainy days. Named for his equally diminutive trainer, Clyde Van Dusen put on a big show on the first Saturday in May and did his big sire proud with his Kentucky Derby win.

Small Frame, Big Hopes 

When Man o’ War retired to stud in 1920, the sport waited with bated breath to see what his foals could do. He had beaten every horse he faced in every race he ran except for one legendary juvenile stakes that improbably ended with the superstar beaten by a horse named Upset. A striking burnished chestnut, he stood 16.25 hands (or 66.5 inches at his withers) and had a sweeping stride that measured 28 feet. On his 1925 book of mares was one Uncle’s Lassie, a daughter of Uncle, the sire of 1914 Kentucky Derby winner Old Rosebud. From the pairing of the powerful Man o’ War and the sturdy Uncle’s Lassie came that little chestnut colt who was most decidedly not made in his sire’s image. 

Herbert P. Gardner, the little guy’s breeder and owner, decided to name his petite potential after his jockey-sized trainer Clyde Van Dusen. The human Van Dusen had ridden in the Western racing circuit until the mid-1920s, and then, as many former riders do, had turned to conditioning horses. A businessman from Amsterdam, New York, Gardner had owned Uncle’s Lassie during her two-year-old season but lost her after a claiming race the following season. He bought her back after she retired and sent her to the human Van Dusen’s farm near Lexington. There she foaled her son of Man o’ War and the trainer raised his pocket-sized racer, who was likely gelded in the hopes that it would help him grow, from day one. 

At two, the human Clyde Van Dusen raced his equine namesake in what was called ‘the West’ at the time, meaning the Kentucky and Chicago circuits. He won eight of his 17 starts that season, including the one-mile Kentucky Jockey Club S. There he met Naishapur, Windy City, Ben Machree, and other good juveniles, getting away quickly at the start and then leading from the starting line to the wire. He won three other minor stakes and finished third in the prestigious Breeders’ Futurity at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington. 

As the calendar turned to 1929, talk turned to the 55th Kentucky Derby and the potential candidates for the Run for the Roses. At the top of most lists was a colt racing in the familiar white and green colors of Colonel E.R. Bradley’s Idle Hour Farm. The stable already had two Derby winners, Behave Yourself in 1921 and Bubbling Over in 1926, and another Bradley B-named colt was on everyone’s list: Blue Larkspur. Sired by Black Servant, who was second to Behave Yourself in the Derby, the bay colt had already won three stakes at two, including the Hopeful S. at Saratoga, and led the winter book for the big race. Second choice? Clyde Van Dusen.

Could this pocket rocket play spoiler to the Idle Hour star? Fans would soon find out. 

Little Guy, Huge Heart 

The gelding opened his three-year-old season with another trip to the Kentucky Association racetrack in Lexington. There, he met a short field of five others, including Blue Larkspur, who was also making his season debut. The Frankfort Purse was a one-mile, 70-yard tune-up for a tiny $800 purse, but it was a much-needed chance to stretch their legs before shipping to Louisville. After leading from the break, Clyde Van Dusen seemed in control until the stretch when the Bradley colt came barreling down the lane and eked out the win by a neck. That was the end of Blue Larkspur’s preparations for the Derby; Clyde Van Dusen came back in 6 1/2-furlong Greenwood Purse at Churchill Downs two weeks later and won easily under a hard hold by jockey Clarence McCrossen. The human Clyde Van Dusen had his equine namesake primed for a try at America’s most famous race. 

The trainer knew two things that his Derby starter would need: 1) the right jockey and 2) the right shoes. Though McCrossen had been the gelding’s regular rider for much of the last year, the trainer felt that the rider had allowed Blue Larkspur to get the better of them in the Frankfort Purse, so he replaced McCrossen with the experienced Linus “Pony” McAtee for the big race. The jockey already had one Derby under his belt, piloting Whiskery to victory in 1927. Derby Day dawned under the threat of rain, and as the skies opened up and the track grew soggy under the sheets of rain, the human Clyde Van Dusen wisely had his charge equipped with mud caulks to ensure the gelding would be able to handle the slippery track. 

Before the race, the trainer paid McAtee a visit in the jockeys’ room. He wanted to warn the rider, who had never seen the equine Clyde Van Dusen, about his mount’s size. McAtee assured Van Dusen that he had ridden plenty of small horses, but even he was taken aback by the 900-pound gelding. The shock must have worn off quickly because the rider gave his petite speedster a winning ride. They took over the lead after a quarter of a mile and never looked back, holding the field safe by two lengths. Blue Larkspur, who had not been fitted with mud caulks, splashed home in fourth. 

A victorious McAtee told reporters after the race, “Though he is only a pony in size, he has a heart--oh what a heart.” The equine Clyde Van Dusen had made quite the impression on the future Hall of Famer. For his part, the human Clyde Van Dusen moved on to train for Dixiana Farm and then movie studio boss Louis B. Mayer. After his racing career was done, the Derby winner lived on his trainer’s farm until 1941, when his former trainer put his equine namesake to work as a stable pony in California, a fitting finale for a beloved champion.