Hoss Talk

  
 Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province 
 David Cross recalls his Kentucky Derby victory.
 
  
In 1983, Vancouver Island native David Cross did what every person involved in horse racing dreams of doing: He won the Kentucky Derby, with David Foster's Ontario-bred Sunny Halo.

That's right -- Cross, a Canadian trainer, won the Kentucky Derby, the one where the odds of even having a horse make it into the starting gate are stacked against you.

"I had a barn full of horses at Greenwood racetrack in Ontario, and decided to ship six cheap horses to a trainer in Detroit," Cross recalled, starting a classic story.

"In my barn was a mare called Mostly Sunny who was nearing the end of her racing career. I kept her in my barn because I liked her. After loading the van, I went back to my office. At least 15 minutes must have gone by, when it suddenly hits me -- I had put my mare on that van and she was now down the highway, heading to Detroit."

In panic mode, Cross got into his car and sped down the highway, trying to catch the van.

"Because it was early morning, there wasn't any traffic, so I was really flying. I finally saw the van and began blowing my horn."

Cross pulled up alongside the van, but the driver wouldn't stop. "I know he thought I was nuts," Cross said.

"Finally the driver stops and I explain how I put a wrong horse on his van, and would he turn around [and] go back to my barn. I gave him $100 and he brought her back."

With Mostly Sunny back in their care, the trainer and owner chose to breed her. After four straight miscarriages, they decided to give her one more chance to become a mother.

"I had trained a few horses for E.P. Taylor, who owned a good stallion named Halo," Cross said.

"Now the chance of you breeding to Halo was almost nil, especially when his stallion fee was only $4,500. Since I once trained for them, they did let us breed to him. The result of that mating was Sunny Halo."

As for why he never tried to take advantage of his Derby victory: "You have to understand, at that time, my wife Patti was dying. This really took a lot out of me. ... I could have gone to Toronto and capitalized on my Derby win, but she wanted to stay in California, and that's what we did."

twolski@shaw.ca

Tom Wolski can be seen on the Sport of Kings, 11 am Saturday Citytv

Illustration:
• Photo: Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province / David Cross recalls his Kentucky Derby victory
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Source: Vancouver Province
E-mail Tommy Wolski at twolski@home.com