'He's A Real Dude': Catching Up With Kentucky Derby Runner State Of Honor At LongRun

State of Honor left the gate in the 2017 Kentucky Derby at odds of 54-1, which made him the second longest price on the board. Under jockey Jose Lezcano, he led the way through the race's opening half-mile before getting headed by Always Dreaming after six furlongs. He then faded to 19th, beating only Thunder Snow, who was quickly pulled up after the break and did not finish the race.

A month later, State of Honor regrouped for a bid at the Canadian classics, starting with the Plate Trial Stakes, where he finished third in a tight finish after setting the early fractions.

He set the pace once again in the Queen's Plate under jockey Patrick Husbands, but he gave way after a mile and flattened out to finish eighth. His final start came in the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, where he set the pace through the top of the stretch and finished third.

State of Honor came out of the Prince of Wales with a bowed tendon, after which the Conrads retired and gelded the horse before sending him to LongRun.

"When I first met State of Honor, I was just impressed by his size," said LongRun's Tania Veenstra. "You don’t often see racehorses that are 17-plus hands. He was just a really nice horse. He was friendly and easy to work around."

After a gradual acclimating process, State of Honor was introduced to LongRun's sanctuary herd, a 10-acre field of geldings living out their days on the rural Ontario farm, about 65 kilometers from Woodbine.

In any gelding field, there is an unspoken pecking order amongst its residents, and Veenstra said State of Honor occupies a high spot in his field; though it's not quite as high as his status as one of the field's biggest horses might suggest.

"State’s near the top of the hierarchy, I’d say – if you want to call it a hierarchy," she said. "He has a couple buddies that are at the top, and he’ll usually be one of the first that are fed, or he pushes his way in there and makes sure he gets fed.

"He’s a real dude," Veenstra continued. "He’s huge, but he’s a softie. He can push his way around a little bit, but he’s not mean. He’s like ‘Okay, get out of the way. I’m coming through.’ He does it in a gentlemanly way."

The Conrads remain active in State of Honor's life in his retirement, fully sponsoring his stay at LongRun. They visit about every six months, and LongRun chairperson Vicki Pappas said they are in plenty of contact between visits.

"If they run a horse that does well, I like sending them an email to congratulate them," she said. "They’re back and forth. They come to our open houses, or they come up by themselves to see the big horse. We’re obviously humbled to be entrusted with the care of a horse like that with his retirement from racing."