Shiaway Moses retired on New Year's Eve still winless despite two last gallant attempts to break what is and what may always be the longest losing streak in American harness and thoroughbred racing history.
The 15-year-old gelded pacer, whose travails were chronicled in this column a year ago, ended his 12-year career 0-for-161. He did manage 11 seconds and 26 thirds and $6,666 in purses for owner-trainer-driver Frank Crnkovich of South Haven, Mich.
Moses' statistics were identical one year ago. Crnkovich had hoped to give Moses 20 or 30 starts in 1989 before he reached the mandatory retirement age of 15 on Jan. 1, official birthday of all racehorses. But the badly cut leg that sidelined him all of 1988 kept bothering him most of last year, too.
Crnkovich finally put Moses back in training late last year in hopes of giving him one last start, but Moses twice failed to make the qualifying time required of horses returning from long layoffs.
In his first attempt, Dec. 23 at Louisville Downs, Moses covered the mile in 2:26 1-5, well off the required time of 2:12. Four days later, he tried again but was still too slow at 2:23 3-5.
'He did his best,' said Crnkovich's wife, Leoda. 'I shed a few tears.'
Thanks to Harness Racing Communications and Louisville Downs, however, Moses went into retirement feeling like a winner. ABC and NBC, alerted by HRC, sent crews to film his final qualifiers for nationally telecast features.
Louisville Downs, where Crnkovich winters, treated Moses to a retirement party on New Year's Eve. Decked out in brand new red leg wraps, Moses led the post parade for the feature race and then made his first and only trip to a winner's circle for a retirement picture.
Louisville Downs has asked the Kentucky Horse Park to give Moses a permanent retirement home, and the board will decide Jan. 17 whether to offer him a stallamong the likes of John Henry and Rambling Willie. If not, the Crnkoviches, who can't afford to keep him, may give him to a children's home or an adoptive family.
In case you missed it ...
The Best of the 80s
John Henry was named horse of the decade and Chris McCarron jockey of the 1980s in close voting by 55 racing and general sports reporters.
John Henry, who won two Horse of the Year titles and five other Eclipse Award division championships in the '80s, got the nod over Spectacular Bid, 27 votes to 21, in the balloting conducted by Thoroughbred Racing Communications. McCarron, a two-time Eclipse Award winner, edged Pat Day, 16 to 15. Angel Cordero also got 11 votes and Laffit Pincay 10.
Recently retired Eugene Klein was selected owner of the decade with 38 votes; D. Wayne Lukas got top trainer with 31, and the Breeders Cup was named racing's best innovation with 38.5.
The voters selected Personal Ensign's nose victory over Winning Colors in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff the race of the decade and called Woody Stephens' streak of five straight Belmont Stakes triumphs the best human performance.
Milestones
Herve Filion, harness racing's all-time winningest driver, finished 1989 with 814 victories, breaking his own record of 798 set in 1988; through Dec. 31, Filion had 12,007 career victories ... Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who broke Chris McCarron's record for victories in one year (546) on Nov. 30, finished 1989 with 597 wins ... Michael Sandler, longtime publisher of the Daily Racing Form, retired Jan. 1; William Williams, general manager of the Form's eastern edition, was promoted to national general manager ... Thomas Bancroft retired as chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Racing Association Jan. 10; he recommended NYRA trustee Allan Dragone as his replacement.
BC Pick-7 Winners
Eleven of the 312,000 entrants in the Breeders' Cup Pick-7 contest picked six winners and will receive $20,454.55 each. Another 212 entrants picked five winners in the sweepstakes, run as a clip-out coupon in 42 major American newspapers, and will receive $235.85 each. Last year, one person picked all seven races correctly.
Bits and Pieces
Any products memorializing the late Secretariat will benefit the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation; Claiborne Farm and his owners turned over exclusive publicity and marketing rights to Grayson ... Pimlico has raised the purse of the Pimlico Special to $1 million for its May 12 running ... Gulfstream Park's Jan. 16-May 4 meeting includes a state-record $4.135 million in stakes races -- an increase of $880,000 over 1988's meet.
The Meadowlands is honoring Niatross, voted harness horse of the decade, with a $600,000 stakes for 2-year-old pacers; the first Niatross pace will be raced Aug. 3 ... Yoshio Asakawa, a golf course builder in Japan, bought Goodbye Halo, a career winner of $1.7 million and seven Grade I stakes, as a broodmare prospect for $2.1 million at Keeneland Jan. 9; the filly will go to Japan and be bred to Nasr El Arab ... The pacing filly Gentle Jody, winner of four straight races in December, was named Harness Horse of the Month.NEWLN: Adv. weekend, Jan. 13-14
