Chasing Horse Ghosts - telling Greyhound's story pt. 13 - The Red Mile

A painting of Greyhound at Lexington the evening he became a legend, September 29, 1938. (if you know the artist, please comment so I can add the information).

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The sun had set and the track was in shadow when Greyhound crossed under the wire. This photo by P.W. Moser is one of the few from that historic night. With the low light conditions, the action, and the 1938 technology, we are lucky there is any photo at all. The image from the warm up, when there was still some light (shown below) is much clearer (USTA photo).

The above is an excerpt from an article I wrote for the September 2025 issue of Equine Living in the Bluegrass. Two years ago today, exactly 85 years after the record was set, I stood at that same cement gate post at the same time on a day very much like the day Sep Palin and Greyhound set that record and trotted into legend. 

The old hub rail is gone as are the old training barns at the top of the stretch. The paddock has moved to the opposite side of the track. Cars park where horses once walked and the round barn has turned into a museum. But the old cement gate post and the historic red clay track remain--as do the ghosts in just the right light--if you know where to look.

The legends live on as long as there are people who remember and share the stories. It seems fitting that on this night, the anniversary of Greyhound's greatest record and the eve of the release of his new biography, I have come full circle. Back to Lexington, back to the Red Mile, where I stood two years ago and wondered if I'd accomplish the goal I'd made for myself--to produce the most complete biography on the great Greyhound that has ever been attempted and get it published in time to celebrate the 100th Hambletonian and the 150th anniversary of the Red Mile. Tonight I hold the book in my hands. Tomorrow, it is available to the world. I've done my best to tell Greyhound's story with the completeness and integrity it deserves. The chase is over. To quote turf writer June VanGundy:

“I looked upon the Champion of Champions—and let the future produce his equal if it can.”
–June VanGundy, Hoof Beats, January 1942

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