Читать книгу Genesis... - Welby Thomas Cox Jr. - Страница 7

Of course Bill Riley called Lang Elliott at his home on River Hill Road off River Road in Louisville before calling me. I was surprised to see the Senator at the farm when I arrived…apparently the senate was in recess and the senator’s home located less than five miles from the farm…which was located just east of Prospect at Goshen…providing the senator a quick access along River Road and then a quick left and out US 42 through Prospect past the Goshen store, St Francis Elementary and into Goshen where he took a left and into the back of the farm where Bill and Betty Riley lived.

Senator Elliott was pacing in front of Hunter’s Destiny’s empty stall when I arrived. He was elegantly dressed even for the barn. But you have to understand that the stud barn for Hunter’s Destiny was no ordinary barn. The floor leading to the stallion’s stall was made with wide wood planks and covered in an antique hand woven Persian carpet. Outside the stall door there were twin tables and alongside these table with lamps, sat Italian leather arm chairs. On the walls which were covered in Louisiana Cyprus, there were many pictures of Hunter’s Destiny’s many famous races like the Arlington Million which he had won three times after Arlington Park had been rebuilt from the fire which destroyed the famous track’s clubhouse. Now it stood as a modified glass structure standing against the sky fully lit at night.

Hunter’s Destiny’s stall itself was padded in order to prevent the stallion from injury should he decide to kick the wall. Hunter’s Destiny was not a dangerous horse but he did have a propensity to kick at anything which moved in his domain, be it wall, door, groom or water bucket.

Senator Elliott was well dressed as I said…he looked like he had just stepped from Gentlemen’s Quarterly; tan slacks; blue turtle-neck sweater, camel colored jacket with patches on the elbows and he was wearing Gucci loafers with no socks in the dead of winter. Maybe he had to get out of the house quickly and forgot the socks? He had a coffee in his right hand and switched it to his left to extend the right to shake my hand. Even in a disaster, he was elegant, every bit the well-educated and splendidly bred man of gentry.

“Detective Lang…you know my wife, Mona Tate, of course?

"Yes," I smiled and she moved forward to politely hug me.

"Thank you for coming out so quickly…we are so grateful that you are working on the day after the New Year. Can I offer you a tea or coffee?”

“Thank you Senator, maybe later. I have a lot of work to do and I want to strike quickly to solve this theft before the tracks get cold.”

“The horse means everything to our family but at the moment I am so concerned over the condition of our night watchman Eddie…we’re just beside ourselves over this whole thing Detective…poor Bill here was shocked on his arrival to not only find our night watchman bloodied, bound and gagged but also to find our prized stallion missing…I don’t know what to say?”

“It’s bad business Senator, but bad business is what we do, and my experts are now on the scene, gathering evidence, carefully looking for any clue or prints out of place. And, most important Senator, let us not forget, we have a 1250-pound flashy thoroughbred which will not be easy to hide.”

“Thank you so much Graham, just so you know, we have every confidence in Bill Riley. He has been a loyal employee of this farm for at least ten years. He has my utmost respect as a trusted farm manager…I am going to have to leave it to you and Bill…but if you need me, please do not hesitate to call me on my cell phone. My wife and I are going to the hospital now to see our night watchman Eddie Renfroward before we are scheduled to fly back to Washington in the morning.”

“I am truly sorry for this Senator…but don’t you worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Yes, I am confident you will, my hope, is that you will recover my stallion before he is injured, or colic’s…it would be devastating to me and all the others connected to this horse that he might die from improper handling, these are delicate creatures. And of course our major concern is for Eddie Renfroward, I have spoken with Bill about speaking to you on your thoughts of posting a reward. I am ready willing and able to do so immediately. Any amount which would help to catch these bastards responsible for the pain and suffering they have cause Eddie and his family. I’ll post it with the Bank of Oldham County…any amount which will get the attention of someone who knows the whereabouts of these criminals. Please Graham, I am asking you to squeeze these bastards for what they have done to Eddie and my horse.”

“Yes, sir, Senator…a reward will be very helpful, I’ll talk with Bill Riley as we get along in the investigation…and he can make the arrangements with you…but we don’t want to throw your money away, so we will be very careful.”

As the Lang's left the barn, I could see there was a general good feeling shared by the staff for the family. They were so genuine, and it was obvious that the Elliott’s felt that these employees were family and vice versa. Mona Tate hugged and kissed all before they left for the hospital and she had a warm moment with Bill and Betty Riley whom she knew were extremely depressed over the matter and I could hear her say to Betty, as they held hands…” I’ll call you from the hospital.”

As my team swept the area for any special prints or to find anything out of place, I finally went to the office for that coffee and Bill Riley followed me like a hurt puppy.

Riley finally spoke, “You know Graham, it is especially troubling how these folks knew their way around this stud barn…like they had been here many times before the theft.”

“What about security Bill?”

“This barn has the latest in technology. There is a security camera, going 24/7 at the entrance and exit, as well as one over the stall of Hunter’s Destiny. But even if they disabled those cameras, Hunter’s Destiny’s stall had a special cornea registry for all to gain entry into his stall. The cornea of anyone on this farm was preregistered and a positive actual match must be identified in order to gain entry into the stall. Obviously, no match, no entry.”

“Ok Bill, the first thing we need to do is review the tapes, and I need a copy of those on the farm whose cornea and finger prints have ever been recorded from the beginning…is that possible?"

Riley, had already looked at the tapes and made the discovery that the security had been breached… someone was able to place a cap over the eye of the camera and refocus it on the ceiling.

“Bill, I expect the perpetrators forced Eddie Renfroward by beating him nearly to death to utilize his own cornea to gain entry into the stall.”

“Yes, they could have done so if they were careful not to damage his right eye because any damage, like a blow to the eye would have distorted the actual focus of the eye and negate a positive identification, but if all was well with Eddie, a match would have been made and the big door would have opened.”

“So, Bill…we are two down and the stallion must be lead from the stall and then the barn and apparently vanned away in the night. Into the mix comes Hunter’s Destiny whom I am told is high strung with a penchant for kicking and biting.

Is it reasonable to think this horse is going to respond positively to a stranger?”

“More, and more Graham this theft is pointing to an inside job? I am going to get some help to research our files to determine any connection to anyone going back to the installation of the system through the computer to get a match on anyone who may have handled Hunter, at any time. Obviously, that person or person’s must have a special knowledge of this horse because, as you say, he did have a penchant for being aggressive and not just anyone could handle him.”

“Bill, I have a theory about how they got Hunter’s Destiny from the stall to the waiting van. I believe someone he knew, forced Eddie to open the door, placed the shank on him and walked him out the back door, leading the big horse through the paddock and down the lane leading to the back entrance where the security camera was disabled, loading him on the van and driving away in the early hours of the morning.”

“But Graham, there is a “fly in the ointment” because there is no gate at the back paddock! Anyone taking a horse at that point must have a chain saw to cut through a five board rail attached by screws, so a hammer would have been of no use, and either method would have been noisy.”

“Well, I say we walk back to the back paddock and determine if they did cut through the fence or utilized some other methodology similar to those utilized by loggers for example.”

Bill Riley and I walked through the back exit of the stallion barn as the other horses nickered for morning oats. There were fresh hoof prints, easily seen in the fresh snow which had fallen in the night. We followed them along a row of fences until we reached the back paddock, located some two hundred yards from the barn. A chain had been utilized, attached to a truck and the fence rails were pulled out, permitting Hunter’s Destiny to walk through freely and onto the van…there would have been little or no noise associated with pulling the fence apart.

“Pretty slick Bill! They use poor old Eddie Renfroward to gain entry into the stallion’s stall and then an experienced hand feeds the big horse a few mints to calm his fears and take the stallion out the back of the barn to avoid any alarm attracting you from your sleep…I’d say they were in and out of here inside a half-hour…max!”

“Not a sound from the dogs?”

“They came in the back way Bill…got the drop on Eddie…definitely an inside job…they knew their way around this place and they knew the horse.”

“I’d like to go to the hospital, Graham?”

“No problem Bill, I’d guess we will be here the rest of the day but I would appreciate it if you could call the security and have them begin the research on the former employees and the breach of the technology.”

“Ok Graham, I should be back soon…just check with Betty should you need anything…and thanks again for all your help and insight.”

“Try not to worry Bill, we will get these guys and Hunter.”

“At the moment I am most concerned for Eddie who is fighting for his life.”

I was worried about Eddie as well, it would be hard for this team of crooks to hide a twelve hundred fifty-pound horse, but Eddie had been beaten severely, no doubt he fought to protect the horse, refusing to let them into the stall of Hunter’s Destiny. Eddie was no stranger to horse farm security. He had been around through the investigation of the Alydar fiasco. He remembered how the big horse at Calumet Farms had ostensibly been able to kick a hole between the door and the frame, wedging his hind leg between them…a major steel door and frame. This great horse and stallion was supposed to have kicked a hole, jamming his leg and breaking it…and the explanation was that he was able to do so because of his temperament…baloney!

All security guards at all the farms in Kentucky had debated that one for years after the event. Everyone was certain there was foul play to enable the collection of the mortality insurance on Alydar which was for twenty-five million dollars. But Eddie wonder aloud, at the time, to anyone who was within ear-shot about the evil mind which could have conjured such an evil act against a great horse who had done nothing wrong throughout his entire life. And, at the time of his death, Alydar had a full book of mares, collecting a cool one-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-dollars per cover working out to around two point five million per season.

What a sad day for the equine industry in general and all horse lovers in particular. This gallant animal who had battled the outstanding horse, Affirmed in all the triple crown events, only to come up short by less than a combined half-length will be remembered in many years to come by the strength of his progeny, manifested in his come from behind style, winning at different distances and on various surfaces.

And the inside racing community will never forget the “outsider” a person who catered parties for a living was able to gain access to one of the daughters and marry into the hundred-year-old legacy of this family. How was this guy able to marry into a family and gain control of a debt free farm and within five years, bankrupt one of the most successful farms in the history of the American thoroughbred and kill the great Alydar for the money?

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(The following story printed by The Blood Horse Magazine is reproduced by permission with the hope that all will know the true story of the tragic death of the great race horse and stallion Alydar.)