TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/910009
S ince buying his first racehorse in the ear- ly nineties, Rick Por- ter has owned some of the best horses in the business. Horse of the Year Havre de Grace carried the red-and-white silks of Porter's Fox Hill Farm to a trio of top-level successes, in- cluding a defeat of males in the 2011 GI Woodward S. at Saratoga, and was named that year's champion older mare in addi- tion to Horse of the Year honors. Hard Spun provided Porter with what he calls one of his greatest achievements when winning the 2007 GI King's Bishop S. and now stands stud at Darley America. His prestigious list of Grade I winners is capped by Porter's most recent female sensation, the mighty Songbird, a two-time champion, nine-time Grade I winner and earner of over $4.6 million, who is cher- ished by American racing fans almost as much as she is by her owner. "I can't imagine having a horse give you more excitement than Songbird," Porter said. "She was unbelievable. And her fan base! When we retired her, we had over 200,000 hits on our Facebook page." Many people would think it would be dif- ficult for a man like Porter, who has had so many exceptionally talented horses, to choose just one as his favorite. However, Porter did not even hesitate for a moment when naming Songbird as not only his fa- vorite, but his best runner to date. "Songbird, no question," he said. "Havre de Grace was a great horse, but she didn't get the excitement. She sure was fun to watch and if she hadn't gotten hurt in that race in New Orleans, we would have kept going. I would have done the same thing with Songbird. I would have campaigned her as a 6-year-old if I could. Give me a Be- holder!" When asked if he was ever tempted to keep his top mares, such as $10 million FT- KNOV record setter Havre de Grace, Porter said, "I am not into breeding. The deal is if you are going to spend a lot of money, SONGBIRD IS CHERISHED BY RACING FANS ALMOST AS MUCH AS SHE IS BY HER OWNER.