In 1974, Arlington Park was quick to honor Secretariat with a major race named after the two-time Horse of the Year, who had graced the Chicago-area track with his presence as a newly-minted Triple Crown winner the year before. The Secretariat quickly evolved into an important stakes race for 3-year-old turf runners, and it has been won by a number of top grass horses, including champions Mac Diarmida and Kitten’s Joy.
A racing rarity occurred in 1993, when a son of Secretariat named Lt. Pinkerton had a chance to win the race named after his illustrious sire. While it wasn’t a victorious fairytale ending, the chestnut colt didn’t disgrace himself, finishing a respectable fifth, five lengths behind the winner in a 14-horse field.
Three years earlier, Lt. Pinkerton was one of the first foals born in Secretariat’s final crop, a group of 45 born between January 25 and May 30, 1990. The February 13 baby was bred in Kentucky by Mrs Louis Aitken and James Mamakos; he raced throughout his career for various combinations of Louis Aitken, Nancy A Vanier, Al Loeb and John Fike. He was trained by Harvey Vanier, who with his wife Nancy were often called the ‘First family of Illinois racing’.
Harvey Vanier, who passed away in 2013, was well-known on the Illinois and Kentucky circuits and knew how to get horses to races. “He believed that they were there to run, not just to stand in the stall once you had them ready,” said Nancy Vanier a few years ago. He was leading trainer at Arlington Park seven times and once at Keeneland. His best runner was Play Fellow, who won the 1983 Blue Grass Stakes, American Derby, Arlington Classic and Travers, all G1s.
Vanier also trained Lt. Pinkerton’s dam, the Stage Door Johnny mare Kapalua Butterfly. She was a nice turf specialist who won the 1985 Modesty at Hawthorne. That race was regularly run at Arlington, but part of that track’s 1985 meet was held at Hawthorne after Arlington was destroyed by fire. She won the Modesty in a swift time for 9½ furlongs, 1:55, which was just two-fifths off the course record. She hit the wire 6½ lengths in front, which remains the widest margin of victory in the race’s history.
Kapalua Butterfly brought plenty of quality and good breeding to her son by Secretariat. She was a full sister to One On The Aisle, a marathon turf specialist for owner-breeder Paul Mellon. Her second dam, Raise You, produced leading sire Raise A Native, who has been a major influence for decades.
As a yearling, Lt. Pinkerton was offered at the Keeneland Summer Select sale but failed to sell with a $95,000 bid. Named after a major character in the Madame Butterfly opera, the colt made his racing debut at Arlington Park on August 26, 1992. Favored, he finished fourth going six furlongs on the dirt. Another fourth followed ten days later when stretched out to a mile.
The turf beckoned
He found his calling on the turf – no surprise given his parents – in his next start on September 24, winning a one-mile maiden on the Arlington grass by 2¼ lengths. That was followed by a good second as the favorite in a Keeneland allowance race on October 21, as he rallied well but couldn’t catch the front-running winner Shy Greeting.
In his first stakes attempt, Keeneland’s Hopemont, Lt. Pinkerton made a good move during the race, but faded to finish ninth. Then came three unplaced finishes on the dirt, one at Churchill Downs and two at Gulfstream Park; Vanier was testing the surface with his well-bred youngster as the classics season loomed. But Lt. Pinkerton was clearly not a horse on the Kentucky Derby trail.
However, a return to grass at Gulfstream didn’t produce the desired result, and Lt. Pinkerton was unplaced in three more starts on the lawn.
Vanier had several veterinarians look at the colt that winter, and it was determined that a soft or lazy palate was causing breathing problems. The trainer would tell the media later that spring, “Some of those things come around with age and settle down. So, when we got to Kentucky, I finally started giving him longer works, and he came around. I really worked him hard and got him real fit. The problem just seemed to subside overnight.”
Lt. Pinkerton made two starts at Keeneland in April 1993. He was fourth in an 8½-furlong turf allowance on April 4, in which he made a good rally to fall short by only 1¼ lengths. He finally got back to the winner’s circle on April 23, drawing off to win by three lengths in another turf allowance, this time at one mile.
At Churchill Downs on May 16, he rallied from last to get the lead in the stretch in an 8½-furlong turf allowance, but couldn’t hold off winner Snake Eyes. He would become familiar with that rival, as they met several more times over the next few months.
First stakes win
As May progressed, none of the members of Secretariat’s last crop had won a stakes race, although two had shown promise. The colt Tinners Way had finished third in a G3 in England that April, while the filly Insijaam had placed in a listed stakes in France. Both would go on to better things, as Tinners Way became one of Secretariat’s best runners when brought to America, and Insijaam would win consecutive stakes that fall.
But it was Lt. Pinkerton who became the first stakes winner of those last 45 foals. In the May 29 Jefferson Cup at Churchill Downs, he set a new stakes record of 1:48.27 in winning the 9-furlong event over firm turf by two lengths after sailing through the stretch in front by as many as six lengths. This time, Snake Eyes was behind him.
Vanier credited ‘tighter’ training for the breakout performance, and said the horse was thriving on an aggressive training schedule.
Back at his Illinois base, Lt. Pinkerton was favored in the June 20 Isaac Murphy at Arlington, but the best he could do was fourth in the 8½-furlong event over soft turf. Snake Eyes was the winner. Vanier would say later that summer that the colt may have eaten something that disagreed with him. “He just didn’t come up a sharp horse like I expected … I think there was something dietary about it. He might have had a stomach ache. He was dull for a couple days after the race too.”
The chestnut ran much better in his first Graded stakes effort, the G3 Round Table on July 10. After an awkward start where he broke in the air, Lt. Pinkerton came from far back to just miss, as Snake Eyes edged him by a neck at the end of 9 furlongs on firm turf. Vanier told the media that his gate antics probably cost him the race. He began giving the colt gate schooling lessons.
He failed to show much in the G2 American Derby on July 25, finishing sixth on the soft turf, but he appreciated easier company in the Golden Act on August 11. Lagging behind early in the 8½-furlong stakes over the Arlington turf, he gained on the field and was in front after six furlongs. He drew off and was ridden out to win by 6½ lengths to notch his second black-type victory.
That set Lt. Pinkerton up for a chance in the race named after his sire, the G1 Secretariat on August 29. “Wouldn’t it be something for him to win the race named for his daddy?” mused Vanier before the race. “It’d be fun, wouldn’t it?” But it wasn’t meant to be. Again slow early, he made a mild rally on the soft turf to get fifth, as longshot Awad won the race; old rival Snake Eyes was fourth.
The final in-the-money finish of his career came in his next start, the G3 Hawthorne Derby on October 9. Again well behind early, he made a steady run to close in on the leaders, but the best he could do was finish second, 3½ lengths behind Snake Eyes.
After a last-place finish in the G3 Hawthorne Budweiser Breeders’ Cup on October 23, Lt. Pinkerton was shelved for the year. The time off didn’t help, and he must have been beset by physical problems, as he showed little in two starts at four and three starts at five. His last race was on August 26, 1995.
His record stood at four wins in 27 starts, with four seconds. The vast majority of his $165,429 in earnings was won on the grass; he never hit the board in a dirt race.
Many years later, Nancy Vanier remembered the colt as a good-natured horse, nice and friendly.
Lt. Pinkerton was sold to Argentine interests for $14,000 at the 1996 Keeneland November sale and was exported the following January. He stood four seasons at Haras Caryjuan, siring 89 foals, 45 runners and 26 winners. His best runner was Classic winner Deleite Pin, who won the 2,500 meter Clasico Chacabuco at Hipodromo Palermo in 2004, defeating the country’s top stayers in just his fourth career start.
A few years later, Lt. Pinkerton showed up as the broodmare sire of Malhechor Int, who won the Grand Criterium, an Argentine G1 for 2-year-olds at San Ysidro on May 29, 2010.