RACING'S ELDER STATESMAN : HOOPER, 99, HAS ANOTHER HOT ENTRY IN DIPLOMATIC JET.Byline: Gene Guidi Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. When the flight from Florida to Toronto landed Tuesday afternoon, someone asked Fred Hooper what he would like to do - expecting that Hooper, 99, would like to head straight to the hotel for a nap. But Hooper wasn't interested in sleeping. He wanted to go to Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack in the northwestern suburb of Rexdale in Toronto, Ontario is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day. to see his Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982 by a consortium of North American racing organizations, led by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. horse, Diplomatic Jet. ``He's an amazing person,'' said Jimmy Picou, who has been Hooper's trainer for 29 years. ``We went to the barn to check on the horse, and the wind was really whipping. Mr. Hooper Harold Hooper (known almost universally as just Mr. Hooper) was a character on Sesame Street, played by Will Lee, who was the original proprietor of Mr. Hooper's Store, which still retains his name. Biography Mr. didn't have a heavy jacket with him, just coming from Florida, so we took the blanket off Diplomatic Jet and wrapped it around him.'' Diplomatic Jet, a 4-year-old colt, drew post 1 and is the third choice on the morning line at 5-1 for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. The race's current title sponsor is John Deere. , one of seven Breeders' Cup races Saturday. ``I think we have a legitimate chance,'' Picou said. ``Mr. Hooper is anxious to see the horse run; he missed his last race.'' That's because Hooper was in Alabama, celebrating his 99th birthday earlier this month. But he wasn't about to miss the Breeders' Cup, the most important race of Diplomatic Jet's career. Hooper traveled to Canada with his second wife, Wanda. Wanda Hooper, a former stewardess with Delta, said she met her husband on a flight in 1969; he was 72 and a widower. ``He said, `If I wasn't so old, I'd ask you to marry me,' '' Wanda Hooper said. ``I told him, `Don't worry about that. Age is just a number.' '' Hooper was born in 1897 and reared in Cleveland, Ga., one of eight children. He moved to Atlanta Slang for a 404 error on the Web, which is a link to a missing page. The area code for Atlanta, Georgia is 404. See 404 error. as a teen and earned his barber's license before moving on to a job in an Alabama steel mill before he was 20. After bouncing around between farming and manual labor, he began raising cattle in Florida. By the mid-1940s, he had the largest herd of prize shorthorn cattle Shorthorn cattle, breed of beef cattle developed from the native cattle of the Tees valley in NE England; formerly called Durham cattle. Systematic breeding of Shorthorns began in the latter part of the 18th cent. in the Southeast on his Circle H Stock Farm in Alabama. In 1942, he got interested in horses and purchased his first thoroughbred - Hoop Jr. - for $10,200. In the Cinderella story of Cinderella stories, Hoop Jr. - one of 6,427 foals born in 1942 - won the Kentucky Derby for Hooper in 1945. ``I still think of Hoop Jr. as the best horse I've ever had,'' Hooper said. Hooper settled in Florida and started breeding horses in earnest not long after his Kentucky Derby success. In the half-century since, no one has had a larger impact on that state's thoroughbred industry than the unchallenged elder statesman of racing. During that time, Hooper has raced such thoroughbred heavyweights as Susan's Girl, Copelan, Tri Jet and Precisionist pre·ci·sion·ist n. 1. One who values precision; a purist. 2. often Precisionist A painter whose work is marked by precisionism. . ``I like breeding horses and watching them race,'' Hooper said this week. ``That is one thing that hasn't changed in all these years.'' Picou said that despite Hooper's advanced years, he still calls the shots when it comes to his racing operation. ``He knows every horse in his barn,'' Picou said. Picou recalled a phone call Hooper received last February. ``Mr. Hooper has a nice mare named Class Kris who was winning a lot of races,'' Picou said. ``A horseman called and offered him $750,000 for her, but Mr. Hooper turned him down. ``The guy thought that maybe Mr. Hooper wanted more for the horse, so he called back and offered $800,000. ``I told Mr. Hooper that $800,000 is a lot of money and that maybe he should take it. But he turned that offer down, too. And do you know why? Because he wanted to breed Class Kris and watch her foals run.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Different, the Southern California-based filly favor ed to win the $1 million Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. It is sponsored by the airline Emirates. Saturday, works out at Woodbine woodbine, name for several vines, among them honeysuckle and Virginia creeper. woodbine Any of many species of vines belonging to various flowering-plant families, especially the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, family Vitaceae) of . Associated Press |
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