Kip Kip Hooray - It's Another Day At the Office for Kip DeVille with a Win at Gulfstream Park

"Kip Deville is not a people person. He's a race horse, he doesn't like to be petted, he doesn't like all that funny stuff around him. He's like a man, he wants to show up on the big days and he's all race horse, as you could see today."
Rick Dutrow

"“Coming down the stretch, I wasn’t even thinking about the (other horses)—I knew we would have enough,” Velasquez said. “There’s always plenty of horse with him. He’s going to be tough to handle wherever we end up.”"
Cornelio Valesquez

Having won the Grade 1 Turf Handicap in one of the numerous notable races that went off at Gulfstream Park last weekend, and having pushed his bankroll past $3 million dollars, the self-reliant Kip Deville is now pointed towards the Dubai Duty Free in March. Trainer Rick Dutrow's goal is to get his unflappable six-year old gray the male turf horse Eclipse award for 2009. If there were a lifetime achievement turf horse Eclipse, Kip would smoke the competition. As it stands, he's a sure bet for the Hall of Fame and to have more than one graded stakes named after him some day, but I'd love for him to get an Eclipse Award and be officially celebrated in his own time.

The very fact that he has no patience for coddling and fussing makes Kip DeVille loveable as hell, of course. Even underachieving stakes level race horses spend their careers with an entourage that makes Posh Spice look like a loner -- grooms, vets, exercise riders, trainers, assistant trainers, hot walkers, stable hands, assistant starters, jockeys -- not to mention horsy helpers (lead ponies) escorting them to the training track and the starting gate. A medieval sun king received less nannying than surrounds the contemporary high class thoroughbred.

Despite his glittering resume, Kip DeVille is a character actor of a horse at heart: "Show up, know your lines, and don't bump into the furniture." He does his job, and then wants to be left alone. Though he's a millionaire three times over and considered the best turf miler in North America, I think of Kip DeVille as a "hard-knocking" "hard-trying" "blue collar" and "working class" sort. This is partially because he's a gray, and grays just look like unassuming underdogs. And of course, he's from unfashionable Oklahoma. And it's partially because he's been around awhile. But mostly it's because Kip DeVille is an unruffled pro who keeps on keeping on and takes care of himself at every outing. He's off to a typical and relatively unheralded 2009, winning as expected and without a coterie of devoted racing fans who celebrate each triumph, as a horse with his race record and longevity customarily enjoys. He doesn't need a fan club cheering, rooting, praying, identifying, empathizing, anthropomorphizing, fingering rosary beads or rabbits' feet. Kip DeVille belongs to himself, not us. And that's why - from a respectful distance, giving him plenty of space - I love him.