Sunday, May 9, 1999 In the presence of Greatness That's what one feels around Little Current, who won two jewels of racing's Triple Crown LARRY HENRY Sports Columnist sports@heraldnet.com MONROE -- You ever been to the Lincoln Memorial, Doug Arnold asks. I say that I have. You know how you can just stand there and you're in awe of it. Yes, I say, I got that feeling. That's the same feeling you get around Little Current, he says. It's like standing and looking at the Lincoln Memorial. There's something to what he says. There is majesty. There is power. There is dignity. There is uniqueness. There is a spirit of individuality to this oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race. Not just one race. In 1974, Little Current won two jewels of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. And Arnold feels that if the Kentucky Derby field hadn't been so ungainly large, Little Current would have won it, too. "Clearly," Arnold says, "he was making a move." Arnold is speaking on his cellphone from his horse farm outside Lexington, Ky. He is remembering this magnificent athlete he once owned, this classiest of all horses he's ever been around. "I went to the Derby last week and there's all kinds of movie stars there," he remarks. "But when you see Muhammad Ali, you know then you're in the presence of greatness. There's an aura about him that's pretty impressive." On a cold May morning, with a chill wind blowing, there is an aura emanating from a small corral just east of the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. Little Current has just given an all-feet-in-the-air jump, kind of like Chicago third baseman Ron Santo used to do when the Cubbies would win a game. Except Santo was a young man when he did his heel clicks. Little Current is getting up there. He's 28 -- very old for a thoroughbred. "He doesn't think he's 28," says Ann Hansen. Maybe it's all the attention he's getting on this day but he doesn't act his age, either. He thinks he's pretty cool, Ann says. He is pretty cool, I reply. Just look at him. Still regal. Still feisty. Still playful. Probably still has an eye for the girls. He's the George Burns of the equine set. Now he makes his home in Snohomish County. How he came to be here is a tale of reverence. "Certain horses I've been around in my lifetime have an air of dominance and strength in the way they interact with people," Mark Hansen says. "Secretariat was one. Easy Goer was another." Then there is Little Current. Though he didn't come face-to-face with L.C., as he refers to him, until 1991, Hansen has long had a deep respect for him. "I watched him run," he says. "I like horses that come off the pace like he did." Then when Hansen met him, he liked him even more. And when he got an opportunity to buy him four years ago, he jumped at it. "You get chills when you stand next to him," Ann says. "The first horse I felt like that around was Secretariat." Many times a horse is just a horse, says Arnold, who owned Little Current from about 1983-92, when he was still fathering babies. "I'm not in awe of that many people, but I'm in awe of him," he says. "He's the first stallion I ever felt privileged to be around." The Hansens are perceptive when it comes to horses. Both veterinarians, they own and operate Pacific Equine in Monroe. They describe Little Current as exceptionally intelligent, with a mind of his own. "He was very friendly to me this morning when I went to feed him and clean his stall," Ann says. "But when I went to brush him, he pinned his ears back. He wasn't in the mood." Then there was the time they were performing a minor medical procedure on him and for some reason, he didn't like it. "He glared at my husband," Ann says, "like a dog would when he's going to attack." Fortunately, he didn't. Little Current also likes to play tricks. "We use an especially long lead rope because he'll pull back on you," Ann says. "The average 28-year-old horse is an old man, not very strong." L.C. can put you on your keester. Despite his orneriness at times, he elicits more joy than anything from his owners. "It's a thrill every time you go to the barn," Mark says. Several times a month, he watches a video of the '74 Belmont. And he laughs when the announcer says "it's 13 lengths back to Little Current." Little Current raced for two years. As a 2-year-old, he had four starts, posting one win, one second and one third. In '74, besides winning the Preakness and the Belmont, both by seven lengths after coming from far behind, he won the Everglades Stakes and was second in the Monmouth Invitational Handicap and the Travers Stakes. He was the Eclipse Award winner for 3-year-old colts. His money winnings -- $345,534. He was syndicated as a stud for $2.5 million after his racing career ended. Ann relates a story that speaks to Little Current's intelligence. Or something. It seems as though when Arnold owned him, he had a devil of a time catching him. Finally, he experimented. He fetched a mare in heat. That got L.C.'s attention in a hurry. Now, his baby-rearing days over, Little Current lives a comfortable life at the Hansen farm on Highway 2. His food has extra vitamins. His plastic, glue-on shoes cushion his footfalls. Worming products that have been developed in the last 15 years help prolong his life. "He's still a horse," Mark says, "but we try to supply him with everything he needs." His favorite meal: carrots and bran mash. "He winds up with it all over his face," Mark says. And each morning when he hears the barn door open, he whinnies. Like Mark says, a thrill each day. A legend still going strong. Little Current. Still current. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: newmedia@heraldnet.com Copyright © 1999 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, Wash.