{"id":10291,"date":"2012-06-24T20:51:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T20:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=10291"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=10291","title":{"rendered":"CONVO: Larry & Too Many Larry"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a story about a horse and his owner, the majestic highs and the sometimes deflating lows the sport of horse racing will reward or inflict on everyone involved in it, but you won\u2019t hear about this owner talking about the lows very much. <\/P>

In fact, it\u2019s a story about a horse and a trainer who together have probably felt more of those highs and lows than most any horse and trainer in Derbyfever.<\/P>

It\u2019s a story about a horse who has been teetering on the edge of lasting and permanent greatness for many years. And it\u2019s also a story about a horse who has tasted fleeting greatness many times throughout those years while maintaining a plethora of consistency that few horses in the sport can maintain as long as this horse has.<\/P>

And it\u2019s also a story about a horse trainer who says he takes zero credit for that horse\u2019s greatness over the course of the five years he\u2019s been racing–five action-packed, roller-coaster years in which the horse has bankrolled over $6.9 million dollars in a mere 33 starts.<\/P>

In short, Too Many Larry, the six year old scratch-bred son of Unbridled\u2019s Song with the very strange name, has been his owner\u2019s dream. <\/P>

That\u2019s not an opinion. That\u2019s a fact, because that statement comes directly from the owner who says he has lived that dream with the beautiful, big gray horse who is ranked number one in the Older Males Classic Dirt Division. And if this particular horse could talk, he might just tell you it\u2019s been a dream to run for this particular owner.<\/P>

Too Many Larry has been ranked number one off and on throughout the last three seasons or so. Yet despite being the one of the best at what he does on the track more often than not, Too Many Larry–the horse with the very strange name–is a horse you may not have heard a great deal about.<\/P>

That\u2019s probably because his trainer, Larry of the Otistaylor Stable, doesn\u2019t go shouting from the main board rafters when Too Many Larry wins a big race. And you won\u2019t see Larry donning the robes that can be the doom and gloom of the sport, either, when Too Many Larry loses a big race. <\/P>

It\u2019s just not Larry\u2019s style.<\/P>

The low-key, soft-spoken Larry says that his story and that of his champion horse–like most stories about great trainers and champion horses–starts with a little bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time. It also involves a very quick decision, a decision Larry was asked to make in 30 seconds. <\/P>

It turns out it was a 30-second decision that has rewarded him with five thrilling years of satisfaction in Derbyfever. <\/P>

It was about five years ago, just about the time Larry, a newbie trainer, was in the chat room. There were three Larry\u2019s in there that fateful day, one of them being kingab Larry, a veteran trainer. <\/P>

“He said there are too many Larry\u2019s in here,” remembered Larry the newbie then, who was really just learning the ropes at the time. “Then he said to me, \u2018Hey, if you name the horse Too Many Larry\u2019s, I will breed you anything left on the board. He was saying \u2018Hurry up, because I gotta go\u2019, almost 30 seconds after I read the message.”<\/P>

The clock was ticking. Larry\u2019s mind was racing. His palms were sweating and his heartbeat was going ninety to nothing. <\/P>

“At the time, it was as exciting to me as being told you could run through a bank and carry out as much cash as you could in a minute. Okay, maybe not quite that exciting,” laughed Larry.<\/P>

So Larry made his decision, and he made it quickly. <\/P>

“I typed Usong x Alydar x Seattle Slew. I wanted Usong x Slew, but Seattle Slew had no damsire breedings left. So I got Ayldar in there as the damsire. How lucky am I that there weren’t any Seattle Slew\u2019s left as damsires!” <\/P>

So Seattle Slew slid back to the dam\u2019s damsire slot and Larry the owner chose Alydar as a damsire for Too Many Larry the horse. <\/P>

It wasn\u2019t quite the breeding Larry wanted at first. But in that pedigree, Larry was getting a real life Breeder\u2019s Cup Classic winner for a sire, along with the only horse ever to finish second in all three Triple Crown races as a damsire and the first horse to ever win the Triple Crown as an undefeated horse in 1977 as a dam\u2018s damsire. Not too shabby. “Thanks again to Kingab, who is the best teacher any new player to the game could have.”<\/P>

And so began the twisting, turning and thrilling odyssey of Larry the owner and Too Many Larry the horse. And it\u2019s been an odyssey that\u2019s turned into a dream for Larry the owner.<\/P>

“Too Many Larry has been an owner’s dream,” he said. “After a bit of a slow start, he has taken on the best of the best in the biggest spots and always unleashed his patented charge from the back. Sometimes he gets there, and sometimes he doesn’t, but it is always a thrill. Any horse with six million-plus in earnings is the once in a lifetime type, so I feel quite lucky to have enjoyed his career thus far.”<\/P>

Too Many Larry has been ever the consistent one, the one you could count on race in and race out over the years for Larry. Since Too Many Larry broke his maiden in Delaware in 2009 after four unsuccessful tries, he has been the model of consistency. In the 29 starts since and including his maiden victory, he has finished in the top three an amazing 24 times, and that\u2019s not an easy thing to do in any sport, much less the sport of horse racing, which can lift your spirit to a mountaintop in a matter of seconds and drag it down to the bottom of the ocean just as quickly. <\/P>

That 24 of 29 top three finishes is an astounding in-the-money strike rate of nearly 83 percent.<\/P>

Want to know something even more astounding? In his 33 trips to the track, Too Many Larry has failed to pick up a check in a race only once. Just once. In five years of racing! That means Larry has been making an awful lot of trips to the bank over the years after his son of Unbridled\u2019s Song runs a race.<\/P>

Too Many Larry has also won four Grade 1 races. And they weren\u2019t just any garden variety Grade 1 races. He\u2019s taken home Grade 1 trophies in the Sand Castle Classic (2012), the California Classic (2011), the Jockey Guild Gold Cup (2010) and the Farewell to Cryptozot (2010).<\/P>

“Obviously, winning the Sand Castle was a huge win, with that monster purse, and he beat the best in the division to do it,” said Larry. “But I love the Jockey Guild Gold Cup and his record setting time. I believe it stood as the fastest speed figure ever in a Grade 1 race for awhile. That might be my favorite. That win also meant he would be able to qualify for the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Classic, which to me is the second biggest race in the SIM, after the Derby. He was my first Breeders\u2019 Bowl entry, and it was super exciting. His third time in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl made me super proud. He also has a real name brand win out in California in the Pacific Classic (the game\u2019s California Classic). Back to back shows in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl might be his biggest accomplishment. And qualifying for three straight Breeders\u2019 Bowl Classics is no small honor.”<\/P>

That was the answer Larry gave when he was asked which of Larry\u2019s big wins are his favorites. It seem like all of them are. Well, that\u2019s just Larry, whose excitement and love of a game he has been involved in since 2006 has just kept building and building with each passing year.<\/P>

“Too Many Larry has given me so much to be proud of and really helped me gain the respect of trainers far better than me, so I owe him a lot. I can’t tell you how fun it has been to have him. He really is the best in my eyes,” said Larry.<\/P>

While he has enjoyed being the owner of the top-ranked horse, Larry takes no credit for Too Many Larry\u2019s success. That\u2019s right. He claims absolutely no credit at all. <\/P>

“I think Too Many Larry’s success is all his,” said the owner of the Otistaylor Stable. “I take zero credit for how good he has been and how long he has been running at a top level.”<\/P>

One of the reasons Too Many Larry has raced at that top level for so long, though, might just be that his owner has seen what this horse is capable of and exactly how he wants to do it on the race track.<\/P>

“I have spaced his races out for two reasons,” said, Larry when asked how his six year old champion has maintained his amazing consistency over the years. “One, he really wants ten furlongs–not nine and not more than 10. Second, each time he runs now, you feel like the magic carpet ride might be coming to an end, so I want to use his best efforts in the races that matter the most. He deserves the rest after running the races against the foes he has faced.”<\/P>

This horse has indeed taken on–and beaten–some of the game\u2019s best over the years, and he\u2019s also taken on and come quite close to beating the some of the best on many occasions, too.<\/P>

In fourteen graded starts over the years, Too Many Larry not only has those four big graded wins, he\u2019s also finished in the top three in eleven of them. And he\u2019s done it with a thrilling, white-knuckle, late charge running style that has his owner\u2019s heart throbbing every time the big gray horse rounds the turn for home and heads for the finish line.<\/P>

It\u2019s a style of running that reminds one of the real-life champion mare Zenyatta. And it\u2019s also a style that his owner is very fond of and one he still finds amazing to watch even after all these years. <\/P>

“I have always been a fan of the late running style, and I don’t think any horse comes on late any better than the big gray,” said Larry. “He is a bolt of gray lightning from the back. And I know any owner of a horse who thinks their horse is home in the lane is still looking for him in the rear view mirror. Once again, I can take no credit. But I sure didn’t do anything to discourage it. I think Zenyatta is an apt comparison. You think I would be used to it by now, but almost every race I think, \u2019Aww, he is not gonna fire\u2019, and then BOOM!”<\/P>

Larry says it\u2019s not exactly a state secret as far as to where Too Many Larry gets that circus show of a running style the fans love to watch, and opponents hate to run against.<\/P>

“I think he gets his speed from Unbridled\u2019s Song,” Larry said. “His powerful late running style comes from Alydar, and his heart and stamina from Seattle Slew. It is a pretty potent combo. And what a joy it is to see him barreling through the field during the last two furlongs. He is amazing fun.”<\/P>

Larry said that Too Many Larry, who fans will get to see this weekend in the Grade 1 Movieland Cup in California in all likelihood, got off to a pretty non-descript start when he first hit the Derbyfever scene as a late two year old back in 2009.<\/P>

“Considering his breeding he did get off to a slow start. And I was thinking, \u2018Hey, he is pretty horse, but just not that fast.\u2019. Then he popped off his first 100 plus speed figure, and ever since then I have been enjoying the ride.”<\/P>

It seems that the only thing Too Many Larry is lacking in that stellar resume is an elusive Breeder\u2019s Bowl Classic win, a race where he finished third as the beaten favorite twice. It\u2019s been Too Many Larry\u2019s albatross.<\/P>

In 2010, it was Distorted Storm who would kick off Too Many Larry\u2019s beaten favorite role in that year\u2019s Breeders\u2019 Classic. But Too Many Larry got his revenge against Distorted Storm just two starts ago when he beat him in the 2012 Sand Castle Classic, the fourth of Too Many Larry\u2019s Grade 1 wins.<\/P>

Then in 2011, Too Many Larry would again go off as the post-time favorite in that year\u2019s Classic, only to watch as the relatively unknown Twist Twist would stave off a late charge by Too Many Larry in deep stretch to deny the son of Unbridled\u2019s Song his second chance at the Classic\u2019s brass ring. <\/P>

And once again, Too Many Larry would use the big 2012 race in Dubai two starts ago to get his revenge against that one.<\/P>

Will 2012 be the year that Too Many Larry finally gets that elusive Breeders\u2019 Bowl win? It might be, because even though he\u2019s six years old, Larry says he has no thoughts of throwing in the towel on Two Many Larry\u2019s career.<\/P>

“I don’t know how I can retire him,” says Larry, as if the thought is almost unthinkable. “I love seeing him in the barn. He makes me look like I know what I\u2019m doing as a trainer. You know when someone looks through your horses and sees those kind of lifetime earnings, they say, \u2018WOW!\u2019”<\/P>

And it has indeed been a very “WOW” kind of career for Too Many Larry, one which his owner is not anxious to see come to an end. In fact, far from it. Larry the owner says Too Many Larry the horse still has a lot of work to do this year. And maybe next year, too.<\/P>

“He runs in the Movieland and likely in the Equinics (a huge honor for us to rep the rez in that race), and then hopefully he is healthy and can run in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Classic. The Classic would be a real dream come true story, since he has been the beaten fave twice. But there is nothing Too Many Larry can ever do that would disappoint me.”<\/P>

It\u2019s a relationship between horse and owner that you see many times if you follow the game closely, but not many seem as special as this particular relationship between this owner and this horse.<\/P>

Larry says that relationship started when his young gun back then ran in his first Blazing Saddles Residency showdown.<\/P>

“The turning point was definitely the first Blazing saddles showdown. The folks in Blazing Saddles take our rez day real serious. I was bummed because I did not really have a horse that I thought stood a chance in our ten-furlong race. But he blew the doors off a quality field, and I thought \u2018Sheesh! This guy might be real good.\u2019 And, man oh man, has he!”<\/P>

Larry has had a few super horses in his time, including the 2009 Two Year Old Eclipse Award Preposterageous, who is still running well on the lawn, besides a few other Grade 1 winners.<\/P>

But it seems his big goal this year is Too Many Larry and concentrating on his success–and perhaps forging a campaign for him that could get him his first Classic win come November in Kentucky. <\/P>

A win there could be a date with destiny for Too Many Larry. It could mean the possibility of an Eclipse Award, and if his 2012 campaign is dotted with enough gold stars, starting with this weekend\u2019s Movieland Cup, it could also mean consideration for Horse Of The Year this season. <\/P>

And if the dominoes fall just right, that might just lead to a place in the Hall Of Fame one day for the big gray, although Larry doesn\u2019t think Too Many Larry is quite there yet. <\/P>

You see, Too Many Larry is already in Larry\u2019s Heart Of Fame.<\/P>

“The Hall Of Fame is beyond our horizon right now,” said Larry. “He has won some huge races. But does he stack up to those in the Hall Of Fame? I would say no right now. Now if he happened to string together a few of these big ones he has coming up, then who knows? But he is already in the Hall Of Fame in my heart, and isn\u2019t that all that matters?”<\/P><\/SPAN><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Otistaylor Stable Owner’s Big Gray Tops Classic Dirt Charts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-horses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}