"Seeks place in Racing's Hall of Fame"
By F. Kevin Grace
Thundering past his rivals after stalking them the entire race, Little Current 
circled the 13-horse field in the 99th running of the 1974 Preakness Stakes by 
seven lengths. His stretch run, reminiscent of a running back rushing for a 
touchdown in the Super Bowl, captivated the roaring crowd. Not only was this 
feat duplicated in the Belmont Stakes' final three furlongs faster than 1973 
winner, Secretariat.
At the age of 30, Little Current is a living treasure to American Thoroughbred 
racing. He is the oldest living winner of a classic, two of them as a matter of 
fact. Far removed from the Triple Crown races of 27 years ago, Little Current 
lives in the Great Pacific Northwest on a farm in Mon-roe, Wash., which is 45 
minutes from Seattle. The farm is nestled in the scenic mountains of northern 
Washington and surrounded by peaceful green pastures-a perfect setting. He is 
owned by Ann and Mark Hansen, a husband and wife team of veterinarians who 
operate Pacific Equine.
Before moving to his present location, Little Current was foaled at Darby Dan 
Farm in Kentucky where he stood until 1989. With the help of John Phillips, 
nephew of the late owner John Galbreath and head of Darby Dan, Doug Arnold was 
able to purchase him. He stood at the Arnold Farm for four year at a $5,000 stud 
fee and had a full book of about 40 mares a year.
He was like an Arabian steed, a notch above Muhammad AIL He was the most 
intelligent horse I have ever had, he only allowed you to do things on his 
terms," said Arnold. "I owe a lot to Little Current, he was my first stallion 
arid gave me my start. I still have brood mares by him, Rain Current and Loot 
Toot Tootie, who is named after my daughter's nickname.
Ann Hansen fondly recalls first meeting Little Current at Arnold Farms in 
Kentucky in 1990, "I got chills standing next to him", she said. "He was very 
impressive, muscular and full of fire. He's still frisky enough to buck and leap 
from time to time when turned out."
Little Current wears a special glued-on shoe, which is like a tennis shoe, that 
is better suited for a older horse because it puts less pressure on
the hoof. His shoes are changed every eight weeks. Even as an older stallion, 
Little Current still has a playful and good disposition. "If L.C. were human he 
would be like a little boy pulling on a girl's ponytail. If he's in his stall 
while you're cleaning, he will stand in inconvenient places and purposely block 
you against the all", says Ann. "He's ornery enough to pretend he swallows his 
worm medicine and spit it out in the back of the stall, so we now add it to his 
food."
The last of Little Current's progeny are two 4-year-olds. Currency, a chestnut 
gelding who looks strikingly like his sire and sold privately by original owner 
Jim Tracy, a trainer at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash, to Mike Harrington, a 
trainer at Hollywood Park. Harrington decided to purchase Currency due to his 
impressive workouts.
"Currency is a very quiet horse with a nice demeanor. Due to some physical 
problems he isn't racing at this time" said Harrington by phone from his 
Hollywood Park barn. Current Miracle, a bay colt is about to enter training too, 
he is owned by the Hansens.
Of his twenty-two crops, Little Current sired 519 foals. Out of that group 434 
were starters and 325 became winners. He sired 35 stakes winners with combined 
earnings of $15,394,739. Some notable offspring are 1983 Flamingo Stakes and 
Hutcheson Stakes winner, Current Hope and 1979 Hollywood Oaks winner, Prize 
Spot.
At the end of 1974 Little Current was named champion three-year-old. During his 
racing career, Little Current raced for John Galbreath's Darby Dan Farm. 
Galbreath, a Columbus, Ohio based real-estate builder and developer, was the 
first man to breed winners of the Kentucky Derby and Epsom Derby.
Little Current was lightly raced as a 2 year-old. Under the guidance of trainer 
Lou Rondinello the colt prepared for his 3 year-old campaign in Florida. His 
first victory as a 3 year-old would come in the 1-1/8 mile Everglades Stakes on 
March 20,1974 at Hialeah Park. Early in his career Little Current was ridden by 
Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr. When Cordero committed to ride Cannonade in the 
Kentucky Derby, Bobby
Usserly, who won the 1967 Derby on Proud Clarion, was named rider of Little 
Current. Several days before the Derby, Rondinello was admitted to the hospital 
for emergency surgery. He viewed the race from his hospital room on television.
Darby Dan Farm's previous homebred Derby representatives, Chateau-gay (1963) and 
Proud Clarion (1967) were victorious. If not for an overloaded field of 23 
horses for the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs (the 
largest up to that time), Little Current seemed destined to win. Little Current 
went off at 13-1 odds. The field consisted of some horses that were not stakes 
or allowance winners. Due to his rallying late charging style, Little Current 
and Bobby Ussery ran into traffic five times during the race while making his 
move. After a valiant effort, Little Current finished fifth in the 1-1/4 classic 
behind the winner, Cannonade who was ridden by Angel Cordero, Jr.
Miguel Rivera was named Little Current's new rider for the Preakness Stakes. In 
the Derby, Rivera rode Rube The Great winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes. "I 
wanted to ride Little Current in the Derby because he had the best ability of 
the two horses, but I was already committed. Bobby Ussery didn't know him 
(Little Current) too well", said Rivera who had ridden him to a fourth place 
finish in the Bluegrass one month earlier. "The reason why we didn't win the 
Bluegrass was because I moved him too soon." Reunited with Rivera, Little 
Current avenged the Derby loss with memorable victories in the 1974 Preakness 
Stakes and Belmont Stakes. On May 18, 1974, a crowd of 54,911 at Pimlico Race 
Course in Baltimore turned out to watch one of the most impressive runnings of 
the Preakness Stakes ever. Under the control of Rivera, Little Current made a 
daring move on the inside rail, through a small opening to get by the wall of 12 
horses that impeded him. He drew away from the field with a tap of the whip to 
win the race in 1:54 3/5, the third fastest Preakness. The field looked as if it 
had stopped as Little Current accelerated toward the finish line.
"I had no place to go but on the rail and decided to go through," Rivera said. 
"The horse would do everything that you asked, when asked to run he would 
respond."
Three weeks later he would win by the same margin in the 106th running of the 
Belmont Stakes in New York
on June 9, 1974, where he went off as a 3-2 favorite. During the race Little 
Current was last in the field of nine at one point by 12 lengths, he moved on 
the outside and accelerated toward the finish line to win by 7 lengths in 2:29 
1/5 before a crowd of 52,564. Ben Felicinano, Sr. now a jock agent on the 
Maryland racing circuit and retired jockey of second place finisher, Jolly Johu 
recalls the race. "At the 1/8 pole I thought I had the race won an all of a 
sudden I see Little Current blow by me," said Feliciano.
With his victory in the Belmont Stakes he joined Capot, Damasucs, Nashua, and 
Native Dancer as horses who won the final two legs of the Triple Crown.
After almost two months of rest, Little Current ran next in the $100,000 
Monmouth Invitational Handicap on August 3, 1974 where he carried 127 pounds and 
lost by a nose to gelding Holding Pattern, who carried only 117 pounds in the 1-
1/8 mile contest.
In the next encounter at the 105th Travers Stakes at Saratoga the result would 
be the same. This time Little Current conceded 5 pounds and lost by a head on a 
muddy surface in the 1-1/4 event. Little Current's last race was the Lawrence 
Realization Stakes at Belmont Park on August 31, 1974. It was supposed to be a 
tune-up for the Prix de 1' Arc de Triompe in France but it proved to be his 
first and last turf race. In this mile and a half race Little Current suffered a 
bone chip in his right front ankle while running on the soft turf course.
Due to the fact Little Current was syndicated for $4,000,000 before the Travers 
Stakes, he was retired to stud for the 1975 season at Darby Dan Farm. Jockey 
Miguel Rivera stated "He was the best horse I ever rode. He deserves to be in 
the Hall of Fame." He concluded his racing career with a record of four wins in 
16 starts and earned $354,704.
Owner John Galbreath named Little Current after a small town located on the 
northern tip of Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. When the name Little 
Current is mentioned you remember a horse that was denied the first jewel of the 
Triple Crown due to an overcrowded field at Churchill Downs. But Little Current 
rebounded to soundly defeat his rivals in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 
astonishing fashion. The only thing missing from his illustrious career is an 
induction into the Hall of Fame.
F. Kevin Grace is a Baltimore, MD-based freelance writer