Horseman who bought and named the legendary John Henry dies at 88

John E Callaway only briefly owned John Henry but during that time he provided the name of the eventual dual Horse of the Year.

According to a family member, Callaway died on Monday in Lecanto, Florida. He was 88.

In 1976 Callaway purchased a son of Ole Bob Bowers-Once Double, by Double Jay, for $1,100 at a Keeneland winter sale. A year later that juvenile colt would have a name, John Henry, when he brought $2,200 from Hal Snowden Jr. at a Keeneland sale.

According to a 1984 Sports Illustrated story, John Henry banged his head in his stall at the yearling sale. And the problems were just beginning.

"I never did put a saddle on him," Callaway told SI. "The older he got, the more calf-kneed he became. I had a new vet and he kept advising me to get rid of the horse. Didn't think he'd stand training.

"He did weird things. He was hard on the stall. He was hard on buckets and tubs. He'd like to tear them off the wall and stomp on them. He was good at that."

Callaway named the colt John Henry, after the steel-drivin' man of West Virginia legend. "That's the only thing I did well about him."

Most of John Henry's 30 stakes wins would come as a gelding. He would set a world record for a mile and a half at Santa Anita, set or equal three other course records, earn Horse of the Year honours in 1981 and 1984, and be named champion grass horse four times, and champion older horse once. In 1990 he would join the Racing Hall of Fame.

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Callaway owned and trained horses that he campaigned primarily in the Bluegrass State, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Florida.

According to Equibase statistics, as a trainer, Callaway's runners registered multiple Graded stakes placings while earning more than $1.96 million during his career from 1976-1998. They compiled a 167-145-143 record from 1,023 starts.

Callaway owned and trained Lord John, who won three stakes races at Tampa Bay Downs in 1992-1993. Other stakes winners include Dear Rick, Belle's Ruler and Johnny Apollo. His mare Summerhill Girl won eight races and placed in 18 others in 59 starts from 1990-1994.