Steinbrenner had success with horses, too

Four decades before he urged and whipped the Yankees back to greatness, young George Steinbrenner rode pony races at Ohio county fairs. Many years later, he drove a golf cart through the pastures of Kinsman Farm, his 750-acre spread in Ocala, Fla., handing sugar cubes and other treats to his broodmares, stallions, colts and fillies.

His blue and brown colors appeared five times in the Kentucky Derby, and Kinsman bred 18 graded-stakes winners. When one of his horses ran poorly, there is no record of The Boss saying that it “spit the bit,” which he accused Yankees rookie pitcher Jim Beattie of doing after a meltdown in 1978.

Steinbrenner’s daughter Jessica is a horse lover, too. In 1977, she made an “unforgettable” 4 a.m. trip with him to the backstretch at Churchill Downs to visit the Kinsman colt Steve’s Friend. A few days later, he ran fifth to the immortal Seattle Slew.

In 2005, not long after the Steinbrenner-owned Bellamy Road won the Wood Memorial by a record 17 1/2 lengths, Jessica Steinbrenner spoke of her father’s passion for thoroughbreds.

“I don’t know if winning is the absolute purpose,” she told The New York Times. “Winning is nice, but for my dad, I think the horses and the farm are about family and something inside him that just loves animals and farm work and where he came from.”

His trainers had far longer and better relationships with him than his managers. Hall of Famers Bill Mott and Nick Zito and Florida-based Manny Tortora praised Steinbrenner for his generosity and support. In 2002, Zito and Tortora told Newsday that he never second-guessed or interfered.

Zito, a lifelong Yankees fan, worked 15 years for Steinbrenner, who died Tuesday at 80. “It’s a sad day today,” Zito told the Daily Racing Form. “I had a good relationship with him. He took me to a playoff game in 1995 and sat me next to Joe DiMaggio.”

SEE PHOTOSList of Yankee Retired Numbers in Monument Park

Besides his notorious bluster, Hank Steinbrenner also inherited his father's racing gene. George praised his firstborn’s knowledge of pedigree, and for many years Hank has arranged Kinsman’s matings. Since 1970, when George acquired the farm, most of his runners have been homebreds, including the star filly Dream Supreme and her dam, Spinning Round. Another was Eternal Prince, whom Kinsman sold for $17,500 in 1984 as an unraced 2-year-old to Brian Hurst. The Boss lost track of the colt but got a queasy feeling of déjà vu a few hours after he won the Gotham on April 6, 1985, at Aqueduct.

That night, Sports Illustrated reported, Steinbrenner was at Garden State Park and said, “Who the hell is this Eternal Prince?” Fearing an eruption, his entourage was silent. Finally, someone said, “You pulling my leg? You don’t know this horse? You bred him.”

A stunned Steinbrenner checked the Form and realized it was true. “I saw him born,” he said. “I used to see him in the paddock. Hank bred and raised him.”

Steinbrenner called Hurst, said he wanted back in and paid a reported $750,000 for 37.5 percent. He tried to be philosophical about dropping $732,500, saying, “It’s the free enterprise system.”

Eternal Prince dominated the Wood but couldn’t overcome a poor start and finished 12th in the Derby, in which he ran in Hurst’s silks. Steinbrenner recouped some of his losses with a third in the Preakness.

Five years ago, Bellamy Road gave Steinbrenner his best shot at Derby glory. Minutes after his Wood runaway, Jessica Steinbrenner glowed in Aqueduct’s winner’s circle while speaking by cell phone to her father. “He’s so happy and proud,” she said. “This means so much to him.” She passed the phone to Zito, who said, “He was crying.”

Derby Day brought another disappointment, but Bellamy Road, the 5-2 favorite, gave George a brief thrill. He was second entering the stretch before backing up to seventh behind 50-1 Giacomo.

Two years later, Steinbrenner got Derby fever one last time after the 2-year-old Majestic Warrior rallied powerfully to take the Hopeful at Saratoga. Jessica gave a picture of the colt to George, who had it placed above the mantel in his bedroom. But the son of Dream Supreme injured an ankle, lost his form and never made it to the 2008 Derby.

“My dad always said his dream was to win the Kentucky Derby,” Jessica told The Associated Press, “and that hasn’t changed. It would bring everything in his life to a perfect conclusion."

Diligence (1996) and Concerto (1997) came in ninth in The Run for The Roses, and Blue Burner (2002) was 12th, so Steinbrenner never did better than the fifth-place finish by Steve’s Friend 33 years ago.

“I think that was the missing jewel for him,” Joe Torre said.

It was the only one.