Lost In The Fog: Feb 2002 - Sep 2006; godspeed to you!

[Glimmerglass]

It is simply amazing he held on as long as he did …

Fog’s Cancer Extensive, Necropsy Reveals
by Debbie Arrington - The BloodHorse
10/18/2006

The deceased champion sprinter Lost in the Fog’s cancer was much more extensive than originally believed and most likely had been growing for many months.

Results of the necropsy, released Oct. 18, showed a gigantic tumor that compromised several of his internal organs.

Located directly below his spine, one inoperable lymphoma ran almost the length of the colt’s back. Doctors at University of California at Davis, where the necropsy also was performed, originally thought that tumor to be about one foot long.

[b]“It went all the way from his pelvis to invade and erode his diaphragm and chest cavity,” said Dr. David Wilson, director of UCD’s large animal clinic, who was part of a large team of veterinarians and specialists who worked with the horse. "It also involved his arteries, kidneys and intestinal organs. It actually invaded one kidney and compressed both.

“It came right up against his aorta,” Wilson added. “He had experienced swelling in his hind legs and that was no doubt caused by the tumors pressing on blood vessels.”[/b]

In earlier tests, the large tumor had been partially hidden from view by other organs. In addition to the gigantic growth, Lost in the Fog also carried a tumor the size of a football in his spleen.

“What absolutely amazed me was how tough this guy was and how well he tolerated everything,” Wilson said. “It just floors me; the extent of this cancer and how he handled it with a minimum of discomfort. He had to have had it for at least several months.”

Trained by Greg Gilchrist and owned by Harry Aleo, Lost in the Fog won his last stakes – the Aristides Handicap (gr. III) at Churchill Downs – on June 3 and ran his final race – finishing ninth in Calder’s Smile Sprint (gr. II) – on July 15 before the cancer was discovered in August. Winner of his first 10 races, the 4-year-old colt had started chemotherapy last month, but was euthanized Sept. 17 at Golden Gate Fields following a seizure.

Lost in the Fog’s remains were cremated and will be memorialized at Greg and Karen Dodd’s Southern Chase Farm in Williston, Fla., where the Florida-bred son of Lost Soldier was raised.
Source: BloodHorse 10-18-06

Again, and with even more emphasis then before, in light of the necropsy his last victory - the G3 Aristides Breeders’ Cup Handicap - on June 3, 2006 during which he was most certainly already burdened with tumors and was less then 1 second off the track record [6f in 1:08.52 vs. 1:07.59] is utterly amazing.

[Fancy]

What an amazing horse! Thanks for the memories, Foggy!

[Spoilsport]

Amazing!

Thanks for posting this.

[Glimmerglass]

I thought the words were careful in how they were presented - there will be a memorial to LITF created at Greg and Karen Dodd’s Southern Chase Farm in Williston, FL. However, per the DRF 10-20 whereby they reiterate the news of how far more extensive his cancer was (see prior posting by me on Wed) they disclose this:

Owner Harry Aleo said arrangements have been made for the colt’s ashes to be buried at Golden Gate Fields, where he was stabled.

Greg pointed out again, as I have, just how amazing the Aristides victory was with his body already partially ravaged

[eggbutt]

What a champion! Always a champion in every respect.

[mighty_mite]

"Owner Harry Aleo said arrangements have been made for the colt’s ashes to be buried at Golden Gate Fields, where he was stabled. "

Does anyone have an update on this and know where his ashes will be or possibly already are buried?

[FatDinah]

Russell Baze on the Fog

Here’s an interesting bit from aprofile on Russell Baze, Lost in the Fog’s jockey:

<B>By LOWELL COHN<P>
<B>The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.<P>
<B>c.2006 New York Times News Service<P>

… He rode Lost in the Fog, won the Grade I King’s Bishop and the Riva Ridge Breeders’ Cup on Lost in the Fog. Surely Lost in the Fog was no Triple-A horse. Fog was as big-league as they get.
Baze did not love Fog. Don’t get me wrong. He liked the horse and appreciated him the way Jeff Gordon appreciates the capabilities of a new car.
“I don’t get that attached to them,” he said. “Lost in the Fog was as close as I came. He was a very courageous individual, also a vicious SOB. He’d bite you, but he had a heart of gold on the race track, gave all he had.”
Baze was racing when they put down the Fog. I asked if he’d said goodbye to the horse.
“No,” he said. “He wouldn’t have understood. It would just have been for me.”

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=FatDinah;1965512]
… Baze did not love Fog. Don’t get me wrong. He liked the horse and appreciated him the way Jeff Gordon appreciates the capabilities of a new car. “I don’t get that attached to them,” he said. “Lost in the Fog was as close as I came. He was a very courageous individual, also a vicious SOB. He’d bite you, but he had a heart of gold on the race track, gave all he had.”[/QUOTE]

Interesting and I respect that view along with the other statements he’s made on the record such as this:

“It’s really sad that such a great horse has such an unhappy end,” Baze said.

Let’s face it, Canadian-born Russell (expected to surpass Pincay for the most career wins by a single jockey) only was on and around him for brief periods of time. Jerry Bailey will be the first to say that for all the rides he was given he didn’t get attached to horses. Jerry does however say he is somewhat attached to Cigar.

And it can easily go both ways. Even if Chris McCarron was to say he loved John Henry, I can pretty much say that John wouldn’t give a damn about him or McNally.

[FatDinah]

I think that fits with what the trainer said about Lost in the Fog’s "favorite human’ being his groom. And I think Gilchrist brought Fog back from UC as much to let the people who took care of him daily see him again as he did for the Fog.
And, I think it’s an accurare portrait of Lost in the Fog, I think people who haven’t been around stallions tend to romanticize them.

It’s a really interesting profile of Baze.

Here’s the whole thing, I hope I am not breaking a rule about posting it all.

<B>By LOWELL COHN<P>
<B>The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.<P>
<B>c.2006 New York Times News Service<P>
ALBANY, Calif. – Russell Baze was ticking off numbers Friday morning in the cafeteria at Golden Gate Fields.
“I have won 9,494 races and I need 36 to tie the record,” he said.
He wasn’t bragging. He was merely stating facts – amazing facts.
And the primary fact is this. Only jockey Laffit Pincay, who retired in 2003, has more career victories than Baze, who is a national treasure and the most distinguished athlete in Northern California.
You could argue that last statement, but you’d be wrong.
He knows how good he is – he sure does. But he’s not impressed with himself, doesn’t see himself as an artist or a great athlete or anything like that even though he has more victories than Bill Shoemaker or Eddie Arcaro, more than everyone except Pincay.
He’s a guy with a job, which happens to be riding horses to victories. He does his job like an accountant does his job, and then he goes home to Woodside.
If I made a list of his honors it would fill this column, so I’ll just give you a taste.
He has led the nation in wins eight times.
He got a special Eclipse Award in 1995 for being the first to win 400 or more races in four consecutive years.
He’s won 400 races a year 11 of the past 14 years. No other jockey has won 400 races a year more than three times.
He’s also in the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.
Oh, one other thing. In November he’ll tie and pass Pincay, and then he’ll be all by himself with more victories than anyone who ever lived.
He is a small, thin man with a high voice and thick strong fingers. He was wearing a racing cap on Friday and hadn’t shaved, and when he goes out in the world, no one knows he’s famous until he signs his name to a credit card slip.
When asked what the record means to him, he said it’s a big deal and all that, but “I’m not a real extrovert. I’m not shy, either. I’m just not the kind of person to toot my own whistle. They made a bobble head of me, so I must have arrived.”
He is a great rider because he rides hard and hates to lose. He is a great rider because some people reach a high and then fade away.
At 48, he keeps going year after year, and he sees no end in sight.
He is a man who rides horses. That is who he is. You would expect someone like Baze to pick and choose his races. The fact is he almost never turns down a mount. He rides. He is a great finisher. And he is brilliant at what he does.
“It’s exhilarating to be on an animal that strong,” he said, “to have that power under your control, to watch and see if what you thought would happen does happen. It’s very much a mental game … like chess.”
A question attaches itself to Baze.
Is he big time?
You should know this. Baze has been, for the most part, a regional jockey – Northern California.
When he was younger he went down south to the bigger, richer tracks, and he did well. But he preferred racing up north.
If the south is the majors, the north is Triple-A. Baze knows this.
People say it’s easier for him to set the record than someone who raced elsewhere.
“If that’s the case, there would be a lot of guys at smaller tracks with records similar to mine,” he said. “It’s hard to win races. … There is some basis to the argument. But I understand how hard I worked. I never had anything handed to me on a silver platter.”
He rode Lost in the Fog, won the Grade I King’s Bishop and the Riva Ridge Breeders’ Cup on Lost in the Fog. Surely Lost in the Fog was no Triple-A horse. Fog was as big-league as they get.
Baze did not love Fog. Don’t get me wrong. He liked the horse and appreciated him the way Jeff Gordon appreciates the capabilities of a new car.
“I don’t get that attached to them,” he said. “Lost in the Fog was as close as I came. He was a very courageous individual, also a vicious SOB. He’d bite you, but he had a heart of gold on the race track, gave all he had.”
Baze was racing when they put down the Fog. I asked if he’d said goodbye to the horse.
“No,” he said. “He wouldn’t have understood. It would just have been for me.”
As you can see, Baze is not sentimental. He is businesslike. He is not even sentimental about himself.
“Will you celebrate when you break the record?” I asked.
“A little bit,” he said. “I’m not a great big celebrator. I’ll probably have to get up and race the next day.”

[Glimmerglass]

I’ll admit this is pretty disappointing [in the grand scheme of less then healthy horses going to stud] although since he was retired on October 8th, what are you going to do with him other than breed him since he’s a stallion …

(Fyi: the news is inserted here because the horse has been cited on this thread before, he was LITF’s stable mate, and frankly he too had the “need for speed”)

Frisco Star: 3 3-0-0 (one stakes victory)

BloodHorse Nov 2, 2006

Frisco Star, an undefeated track-record-setting stakes winner, will enter stud in 2007 at Stonewall Farm Stallions near Versailles, Ky. The 3-year-old son of More Than Ready will stand for $5,000.

In August of last year, Frisco Star ran one of the year’s fastest Beyer Speed Figures for a juvenile, a 102, in winning by 8 1/2 lengths in track-record time of 1:01.65 for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Rosa in his sole start at that age. In his only two starts at three, both at six furlongs, he took the Novato Stakes in 1:08.66 at Golden Gate Fields and won in 1:09.61 at Bay Meadows.

Frisco Star retired with earnings of $54,725 for Harry Aleo, who last year’s raced champion sprinter Lost in the Fog.

“If you want speed, this colt had it,” said Ken Wilkins, Stonewall’s director of stallion operations. “To win his first out by 8 1/2, and do it in :21 2/5, :44 1/5, :55 2/5, and 1:01 3/5, that’s racehorse time. He is a big, good-looking colt and we’re proud to stand the first son of More Than Ready in Kentucky.”

Bred in Florida by Charles Russell Patton, Frisco Star commanded $175,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company April sale of 2-year-olds in training. His dam, No Mud On Me (by Great Above), is a half-sister to two stakes winners.

[mighty_mite]

[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;1971777]
I’ll admit this is pretty disappointing [in the grand scheme of less then healthy horses going to stud] although since he was retired on October 8th, what are you going to do with him other than breed him since he’s a stallion …

(Fyi: the news is inserted here because the horse has been cited on this thread before, he was LITF’s stable mate, and frankly he too had the “need for speed”)

Frisco Star: 3 3-0-0 (one stakes victory)

BloodHorse Nov 2, 2006[/QUOTE]

I’m sorry to hear that. I saw him win his maiden, leading from start to finish and winning easy at the wire. I was hoping to see more of him.

[Glimmerglass]

An interesting theory that Harry Aleo suggests with Lost In The Fog’s death:

Inside Bay Area 10-18-07 “After The Fog runs Smokey Stover in Cup”

excerpt

Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of thoroughbreds develop terminal cancers. Gilchrist said that in 35 years of training horses, Lost In The Fog was the first he’d had that developed the disease.

“He probably had it the last three or four times he ran,” Gilchrist said. “There were 100 pounds of tumors in that horse when they did the autopsy on him.”

Aleo believes Lost In The Fog may have been exposed to something harmful at Belmont Park that ignited the cancer before he ran in the Breeders’ Cup.

“I’m sure it happened back there,” he said. “Two stalls from him, there was a champion filly from Canada that ran bad the same day. And she died a month before The Fog with the same cancer. There was some rumor that they sprayed for rats or something, but I know he wasn’t right that day, and so did Greg. He lunged out at me, and he never did that before. He put a bruise on my chest a foot in diameter. That’s one of the symptoms of a sick horse — anger.”

Lost In The Fog started three more times following that mysterious Breeders’ Cup failure and actually won a stakes race at Churchill Downs. But following his final race on July15, he was dead three months later.

[system]

my horse and him share the same sire…my horse has a odd blaze like LITF did …may he rip …

[Glimmerglass]

It looks like the documentary filmed on Harry and ‘Fog’ has been finished and is making the rounds of the film festivals.

Las Vegas Review Journal June 13, 2008 “‘Lost’ tells colt’s tragic tale”

If you’ve heard enough nonsense about Big Brown and his human connections, I have an alternative for you this weekend.

One of the films to make the cut at the CineVegas Film Festival is a documentary on 2005 Eclipse Award Sprint champion Lost in the Fog. I have yet to see the film, but I remember the colt’s 10-race winning streak as though it happened yesterday.

CineVegas is being held at the Brendan Theatres at the Palms, and it is open to the public. There will be two showings of “Lost in the Fog.” The world premiere will be at noon Saturday, with a second showing at 4 p.m. Monday. I’m going Saturday, so I hope to see you there.

The movie centers on this remarkable horse, aged owner Harry Aleo and trainer Greg Gilchrist.

You might recall that Lost in the Fog was stricken with cancer and died on Sept. 17, 2006. An autopsy showed his body was full of cancerous growths, including a tumor, the size of a football, found in his spleen.

It’ll be interesting to see how director John Corey portrays Aleo, Gilchrist, regular rider Russell Baze, and the highs and the lows in the life, and death, of Lost in the Fog.

June 21, 2008 “2008 Cinevegas Film Festival Announces Award Winners”

Audience Awards
In its tenth year, CineVegas attendance was at a record high, and audiences chose “Lost in the Fog” to receive the CineVegas Documentary Audience Award, presented by FIJI Water, and “Visioneers” to receive the CineVegas Dramatic Audience Award, presented by Cadillac.

From director John Corey, “Lost in the Fog” follows a cantankerous owner and his blue collar colt who earn the right to take on horse racing’s finest.

Reportedly the website is/will be: http://www.lostinthefogthemovie.com/

[Glimmerglass]

I’m amazed by the timing as my prior posting was without this new that broke today

Looks like Harry and Fog will be united this evening again.

DRF 6/22/2008 “Harry Aleo dies; owned Lost in the Fog”

Harry Aleo, owner of the 2005 Eclipse Award sprinter Lost in the Fog, died Saturday at his home in his native San Francisco, his trainer Greg Gilchrist confirmed Sunday morning. Aleo, 88, had been suffering from cancer.

Aleo, who had worked in real estate, owned horses for 29 years and enjoyed his greatest success with Lost in the Fog, who won his first 10 starts before finishing seventh in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Lost in the Fog was suffering from cancer when he was euthanized in 2006. He won 11 of 14 starts and earned $978,099. Among Aleo’s other stars were Victorina, Smokey Stover, Frisco Star, Vicarino and Wild Promises. He also owned the stakes winners Minutes Away and Beyond Brilliant. All were trained by Gilchrist.

Aleo entered the game in 1977 when Gilchrist bought Sunny Shy for him. The horse made two starts for and was claimed after winning a maiden claiming race at Golden Gate Fields.

Gilchrist said he will feel Aleo’s loss on much more than a professional level.

“I worked a couple of his horses today, and for the first time in 29 years, I didn’t talk to Harry about them,” Gilchrist said Sunday. “Just talk about his loyalty. He stayed with me through bad times and good. We had our differences, but we walked away and then went back to work.

“It’s left a big hole in my stomach. He was a big brother to me, a father to me.”

Aleo turned down multimillion-dollar offers for Lost in the Fog, joking that he didn’t need to make more money to “let my kids blow it.”

Aleo said: “I waited all my life for a horse like this. Why should I sell him? I’d only try to get another just like him.”

Aleo’s death will create a hole not only for Gilchrist but also for horse racing in Northern California, where Aleo’s horses were based. Although he could have raced Lost in the Fog in richer spots, he brought the horse back home to win the Bay Meadows Speed Handicap in 2005 and open his 2006 season in the Golden Gate Sprint.

“Harry never wanted to leave Northern California with horses,” Gilchrist said. “He never did unless he had to. He wanted to run at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields. When he received the Eclipse, he thanked Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields. That’s one of his loyalties.”

Aleo was an outstanding baseball prospect whose career was cut short due to an arm injury after he signed with the Dodgers in 1940. He later served in the U.S. Army in Europe under Gen. George Patton and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

(article continues …)

[Drvmb1ggl3]

Don’t know if it’s been posted yet, but Harry Aleo passed away yesterday.
RIP.

Oops, looks like we posted at the same time.

[VirginiaBred]

RIP Harry. You get to see LITF again.

[miss_critic]

It’s so weird it was the day before the Lost in the Fog stakes and I think he broke his maiden today too. I saw a trailer on that movie on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OPF6_Z7ols

[Glimmerglass]

Thanks miss_critic for that trailer link!

I guess I haven’t been paying attention to the assorted stories related to this movie’s release: DRF 6-16-08 “Lost in the Fog film unveiled”

John Corey always looked for good stories for his San Francisco television news magazine, so when he heard about a cantankerous businessman in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco where he grew up, he was immediately interested.

Despite living in one of the most liberal cities in America, the businessman plastered his windows with pictures of Republican icons - but, as Corey found out, there was a much bigger story going on with Harry Aleo.

Aleo’s 3-year-old colt Lost in the Fog, trained by Greg Gilchrist, was making headlines and building a legion of fans throughout the 2005 season with a series of impressive victories, including the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga. Corey sensed something special.

“He was clearly a unique horse, winning his first 10 races all with triple-digit Beyers, but he was a blue-collar horse, like Harry and Greg,” Corey said.

Aleo took a liking to Corey, and he and Gilchrist gave Corey wide-ranging access to themselves and Lost in the Fog.

The result is “Lost in the Fog,” a documentary that had its world premiere in Las Vegas on Saturday at the 10th annual CineVegas Film Festival, following a smaller screening June 10 in San Francisco. The film was scheduled to be shown again at CineVegas on Monday as Corey tries to attract a distributor.

At times the involvement of the filmmaker was “annoying” and “trying,” said Gilchrist, and Corey said he tried to tread gently while still getting a full and honest look at the men behind the horse.

Corey thought he would follow Lost in the Fog until he lost, but even after the colt finished seventh in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Belmont, Corey sensed there was still quite a story to be told, and he stayed with Gilchrist and Aleo.

Corey says it was “dumb luck,” but he happened to be interviewing Aleo in the summer of 2006 on the day Gilchrist called him to tell him the colt had cancer. Lost in the Fog was euthanized that September.

“Harry’s deaf as a stone, and, as we were shooting, we could hear Greg’s voice,” Corey said. “It was like a punch in the stomach.”

Corey and his crew continued rolling the tape, and Aleo never stopped them, producing the most dramatic and poignant moment in the film.

What emerges in the documentary is a portrait of people at their best both in the best of times, and, perhaps more important, even in the worst.

I was always a fan of LITF and in light of Harry’s passing maybe a few more people will be interested in seeing this film.

[system]

Lost in the Fog the Movie/Harry Aleo funeral service

My name is John Corey. I am the person who made the movie about Harry and Lost in the Fog. It was a great honor getting to know Harry and I’m glad I was able to generate a document, of sorts, of a chapter of this great man’s life. Anyway, yes the film was very well-received at CineVegas where it won the audience award for Best Documentary. It’s a testament to Harry’s exuberance, candor, and charisma. Many funny stories were told during Harry’s funeral service and the best went like this:

Harry’s best friend Buddy recounted a funny story from Harry’s old baseball-playing days. Their team went to San Quentin prison to play the prison team there. All the players and the umpire were in for one crime or another. The ump called what Harry thought was a questionable strike and Harry said, “what are you in for, robbery?” and the ump replied, “no, murder.” Buddy said it was the only time Harry was ever speechless. Best to all on the forum. If anyone is interested in the film, information can be found at www.lostinthefogthemovie.com

John Corey