Thoroughbred Fever - Horse Racing News

Jim McKay, Warren Croll pass away

by Jarrod Horak on June 7th, 2008

Maryland Million founder and longtime ABC Sports sportscaster Jim McKay died from natural causes in Maryland at 86.

As a fellow Marylander, I am well aware of the impact Mr. McKay had on thoroughbred racing in our state.

I have attended several Maryland Million programs since its inception in 1986. He was a class act and will be missed.

Hall of Fame trainer Warren A. “Jimmy” Croll left us on Friday in a New Jersey hospital at age 88.

Croll began his training career in 1940, and he saddled such horses as Forward Gal and Mr. Prospector, but he would best be known for Bet Twice, Housebuster, and Holy Bull.

Bet Twice denied Alysheba the Triple Crown with an emphatic 14-length triumph in the 1987 Belmont Stakes, and I vividly remember watching all three races at the track.

Housebuster was the champion sprinter of 1990-91, and I can still see his troubled journey in the 1991 BC Sprint.

Finally, there’s champion Holy Bull. As talented as he was, there are two moments I remember most about him. First, I tossed him out in the 1994 Kentucky Derby, and he was off his game in a 12th place finish. Lastly, I was at Pimlico watching the simulcast of the 1995 Donn Handicap from Gulfstream when Holy Bull eased after battling with the soon to be great Cigar.

Photo Credit: Newscom

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POSTED IN: Horse Racing History, Miscellaneous, Trainers