A walk in the woods - for a racehorse
By Jeff Pelline, jeffp@theunion.com
» More from Jeff Pelline
12:01 a.m. PT May 3, 2008
More than 14 million viewers are expected to watch the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby at 3:04 p.m. today.
But did you know that one of America's most famous thoroughbred racehorses retired and was buried in Grass Valley?
The remains of Noor, an Irish-bred champion, are buried in the infield of the 1/2-mile track at Loma Rica Ranch, where he was put down on Nov. 16, 1974, at the age of 29.
Here's the scoop: In 1950, Noor set three world records and upset Triple Crown Champion Citation four out of five times, considered the third-best American racehorse of all time (behind Secretariat and Man O'War). Noor's world record for a 13Ú4 -mile race at Santa Anita still stands.
Noor (rated America's 69th best) was owned by Charles Howard, the same gentleman who owned Seabiscuit, the subject of a 2003 film that many of you non-horseracing fans will remember.
"While Seabiscuit looked more like a plow horse, Noor was aristocratic," Charlotte Farmer, a thoroughbred aficionado and Noor fan, told me this week.
I went to check out Noor's burial spot on Friday at the Loma Rica Ranch. You walk along a dirt road, past Wolf Creek to the track, a bucolic setting just a mile from The Union's office's in Glenbrook Basin. (This is private property, so don't try it unless you get permission. It's just behind the organic farm).
Like Loma Rica Rancho, the horse racing track was built by Errol MacBoyle, of Idaho-Maryland Mine fame. The track was built with mine tailings and covered with tar.
The track's infield is where the famous horse was put down and buried, a common practice in those days. For me, a thoroughbred fan, it was hallowed ground.
I was pleased to hear that Loma Rica plans to erect a monument to honor Noor and build a surrounding horse park as part of its development. The horse park, complete with trails, stables and riding facilities, and nearby organic farm will occupy about 50 acres.
"It's a good example of building within the historic environment," said Farmer. "Instead of leveling it over, it's going to be something to be proud of. Noor is like a sleeping star of Grass Valley."
In its heyday in the '60s- '70s, thoroughbred racehorses trained routinely on the 1/2-mile oval.
After racing, the trainers sometimes cooled the horse's legs in the nearby waters of Wolf Creek, a convenience of Mother Nature that few training facilities can offer. When MacBoyle ran the Rancho, the horses were sometimes shipped to racetracks from the Loma Rica Airport, the same one used to ship gold from the Mine.
"Like many earlier Californians who had struck it rich through gold or other bounties of the new state, MacBoyle turned to thoroughbreds," according to an article in The Union in April 1976. "In 1933, he began construction of Loma Rica Rancho. Money was no object, and the original barns that he built and which are still in use were elaborate as well as functional."
Noor's stall, made of cinnamon-colored Redwood heartwood, is now used as an office. You can still see the horseshoe marks on the stall from another famous thoroughbred who slept there named Time Supply. I'm told the Ranch manager relocated his family's bedrooms to the other side of their house because it could get a bit noisy.
"To carry out the gold theme, MacBoyle established the custom of naming the (horses) with a gold prefix, i.e. Gold Bolt, Gold Mike, Gold Fun, etc.," the paper said.
One example is the horse "Gold Girl," who ran in the First Race of Hollywood Park on June 4, 1946, according to the Hollywood Park program (pictured here in my column). From the looks of the pencil markings on the program, Gold Girl won that race.
After 1950, Noor retired to stud at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, which was Howard's home, Farmer said. He was moved to Loma Rica Ranch at the age of 19, where he spent the rest of his life, she said. After MacBride, Loma Rica Ranch was owned by Fred Knoop.
"He led a very wonderful life and was incredibly well cared for," Jon Peek, the Grass Valley veterinarian who put Noor down, told me. "It was a very difficult thing to do, but it was time. It was like saying goodbye to a very famous person."
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
