by John Berry

Many years ago, I had a radio show — the midnight to 2 a.m. slot — featuring big band and jazz music from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s; once in a “blue moon,” a little more modern, like in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

That was a wild era with songs about pot and booze along with love songs where the words meant something; classics that still live today amongst my thankfully aging peers.

Among those grand compositions were Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, Lionel Hampton’s great Ring Dem Bells, Teddy Hill’s Blue Rhythm Fantasy, and Andy Kirk’s Ghost of Love.

But this week, a modern tune came to this aging brain done only about 70 years ago by Fats Domino, Ain’t That A Shame.

They had qualifiers a few days ago at Sunshine Meadows and the deck was filled with my cronies from that grand era of greatness.

I got a chance to catch up with gentlemen — my peers — as they were the pioneers that laid the foundation for the greatness of our sport.

Tom Merriman, Murray Brown, Fred Grant, Wally Hennessey, Peter Blood, Bob Marks, Mike Murphy, a few of the thousands that made harness racing and the standardbred the king of all breeds.

All are, thankfully, aging these days — many don’t have that privilege — and these historical conversations keep history alive but in danger of being forgotten as time goes by.

Merriman is about to celebrate his 82nd birthday and his white and maroon colors lit up winner’s circles for many decades and, at Pompano Park in 1964, he was one of the first to show up in the winner’s circle.

Merriman was a great athlete and could have pursued a career as a football player and a track star of another sort, the quarter mile dash in track and field events.

But he chose our sport and wherever he traveled, whether it be his homeland of Michigan or New York or New Jersey or Florida, he plied with trade as a great trainer and driver of the standardbred.

On this day, we remembered the greats Energy Burner, China Dragon, Noble Move and, of course, Senator Frost.

Merriman is an icon in these eyes.

Brown and I go back, probably, close to a half-century, and it was his association with Hanover Shoe Farms and the greatest broodmare sire of all time, Tar Heel, that brought us together.

Foaled in Canada, Brown is somewhere around age 29 Celsius and continues to serve and entertain harness racing via his outstanding written words for Harness Racing Update.

Without question, Brown is an encyclopedia in the breeding industry and, in today’s world, his brilliance is beyond artificial intelligence.

His knowledge and stories are priceless, one of which was the tale of a trainer that bought a horse years ago for a couple of clients, with one of the clients ditching on the horse after the sale.

It took a while to get the mess straightened out and get paid for the horse; that happened to be the grand Muscle Hill, the winner of over $3.3 million with a mark just one tick within 1:50.

Working with the great Grant during the stakes seasons the last few years, these qualifiers gave me an opportunity to be next to a legend.

Now 74, the Nova Scotia native, who got his PHD in our sport from Stanley Dancer, had the fortunate task of taking care of, first, Silent Majority and, then, Handle With Care with Billy Haughton.

It’s almost a half century since Grant went out on his own and developed Señor Skipper, one of the fastest sons of Meadow Skipper.

When I was asked to make prognostications for the USTA back over 40 years ago, my choice was Boomer Drummond one of the top pacers in 1984, under the care of Grant.

We reminisced about Markim’s Pride, Seven O’Clock and, one of the gutsiest horses I have ever witnessed on the track, Guts.

He could, and still can, dissect the good, bad and the ugly of any horse under his tutelage.

While the amazing Hennessey, now 68, begins the year with a poker hand of “Aces and Eights” — 11,881 wins — it’s amazing that it has been over a quarter-century since the grand Moni Maker made her indelible impression on our sport by winning $5,589,256 during her career reaching the winner’s circle 44 times in 62 starts, including the Hambletonian Oaks, a trio of Breeders Crown events and the prestigious Nat Ray (whom we have forgotten) on three occasions, as well.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a career like this,” Hennessey said. “And I’ve won many stakes events [well over 250] including the Woodrow Wilson and Kentucky Futurity [twice], but Moni Maker has to be the highlight over her six years on the track.”

Blood will be 81 in a few days and remains one of the most articulate horsemen I have ever met.

“The thing that amazes me about this sport is the speed, which has been unbelievable over the last quarter century,” Blood said. “An example of that was a 2-year-old colt named Maximum Speed back in before the turn of the century [2000, the new century started in 2001].

“He won a [$58,500] stake for me at Rosecroft in 1:59.4. Over the last few years, I’ve had horses pace home in :26 and a piece get clocked way below 1:50 and not get anywhere close to winning or getting a check.

“It’s great to have a Boston Rocks [a $589,000 winner], but even a horse of his caliber has trouble competing with these 1:47 performers.

“I’m not complaining, though, it’s been a great ride over the years remembering horses like Firecreek and Currituck Vernon, that goes back 40 or 45 years.”

Marks, well known handicapper, pedigree expert and accomplished author, lamented the time, years ago, before yearling videos came into vogue, when a prospective buyer was looking for a colt and wanted to see him in the field, ponying him alongside a quarter horse.

“This colt was trotting so fast that the quarter horse couldn’t keep up with him,” Marks said. The video truck was going around 28 miles per hour and the young colt was probably doing 30.

“He didn’t have much of a pedigree and we thought he’d bring, maybe, [$10,000]. There were only a couple of bidders but they got into a war and he wound up going for $80,000.

“The horse, Giant Force, eventually became an international star and won well over $1 million, and all because of a quarter horse that couldn’t keep up with a yearling.”

Finally, Murphy, a gentleman I first met in 1983 when he loaned me a horse “bred to be a good one,” Top Line Collins.

I drove him in a media event at Pompano Park and Murph said to “go right down the road with him.”

I did just that and he got to the three quarters in 1:38 and a piece and was passed like he was standing still right after that.

The next morning, I was talking with trackman Ted Malloy and he was holding a broken bit found at the top of the stretch.

Funny thing, that’s exactly where Top Line Collins spit his out!

Yes, tales like this — some historical, many hysterical — gradually fade away as the inevitable catches up with all of us.

And, as Fats Domino sung so philosophically, Ain’t That A Shame.

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU