The strongest will to live

He was a star on the track before escaping death after a life-threatening infection. When an even more deadly disease took hold less than a year later, Mystic Park displayed “a will to live that is stronger than any I have ever encountered in a standardbred.” The colt would then go on to sire one of the best trotters the world has even seen.

Mystic Park was sold for $58,000 and the 1980 Kentucky Standardbred Sale and ended up in the hands of Robert Lester plus the trio of Allen, Gerald and Irving Wechter. The quartet entrusted the colt to Frank O’Mara. At two, Mystic Park won 3 out of 13 starts and showed talent, but suffered from some shoulder problems with limited his performances at times. The big, masculine colt, measuring 16,2 hands (167 cms), outgrew his shoulder issues and grew into his body ahead of his three-year-old season. That caused a massive improvement, and at three he won 13 out of 16 starts before he was forced into retirement.

In the Yonkers Trot, the first race in the Triple Crown series, he toyed with the opposition. The day before the Hambletonian, however, he had a high fever. However, when it was gone on race day trainer Frank O’Mara thought everything seemed so good that he decided to let Mystic Park compete. However, as heavy favorite in the first heat of the Hambletonian, he broke stride and finished far behind Speed Bowl who won both that and the final heat. A week later he won the American Trotting Championship, in a new track record, but was not quite himself. The win earned the colt a spot in the Roosevelt International Trot, but the horse had to be scratched.

An examination showed that he had a life-threatening staphylococcal infection and that he had also struggled with this during the Hambo agony – and also during his record run in the American Trotting Championship. With this infection, his career was over. Mystic Park retired 16-3-1 in 29 starts, a best time of 1:57 (1.12,7) and career earnings of $480,907.

The black colt overcame his life-threatening infection and was ready for a breeding career. Mystic Park was syndicated for $5 million subject to an approved fertility test. This one he failed, but Lana Lobell Farms rented the horse to stand stud anyway. In any case, he did not shoot completely blank: Mystic Park had 42 foals in 1984.

A deadly disease

An accident rarely happens alone, they say. After the breeding season, in August 1983, Mystic Park was struck by a rare disease, Potomac Fever. The disease was relatively newly discovered in the 80s and was quite deadly. Although the fever was very high, Mystic Park seemed to be doing well until he foundered and lost all four hooves. Two of the hooves came off, the last two had to be removed. Without hooves, normally in all such cases all hope is lost, but Mystic Park – and the people around him – refused to give up. He laid on the box and many times a day vets came to turn him over and change the bandages. At the same time, they rushed together a lifting system where he was lifted up using a sling/blanket and moved over to a swimming pool where he stayed for 8 hours every day.

According to Ken Seeber at Lana Lobell, “Mystic Park was smart enough to know these people were trying to help him. He didn’t fight the sling and didn’t fight his handlers in the stall. Early in February he started to show signs of making it.” Considering he got sick in August, February was a long time. But miraculously the boy was both strong-willed and tough, yet at the same time calm and patient. Miraculously he recovered fully and in June 1984 the miracle was complete: Mystic Park wore shoes again for the first time in 10 months. “He has a will to live that is stronger than any I have ever encountered in a standardbred” said Alan Leavitt, president of Lana Lobell at the time. When he left the treatment facility, there was a celebration with cake and champagne. According to Frank O’Mara, Mystic Park didn’t just eat some cake, he also drank a bit of champagne.

“I loved Mystic Park’s heart”

Lana Lobell bought the majority of Mystic Park shortly afterwards and the colt was syndicated for 2.4 million dollars, but many who were originally supposed to be part of the syndication pulled out due to the horse’s problems. In an interview in The Evening News on July 8, 1984, Alan Leavitt said “I am sure that before his career as a sire is over, he’s going to prove that some people made a mistake by not staying with him.” Lou Guida knew the story well and decided early on to buy several foals by Mystic Park at the yearling auction in 1985. “I loved Mystic Park’s heart, ” Guida said on several occasions. “It was unbelievable what Mystic Park went through. To me it was not only a sign he wanted to live, but a sign he was intelligent. I knew that if Mystic Park could pass along his tremendous heart to his offspring, I would have a world champion trotter.”

Not everybody was sold on the young stallion, though. As a son of Noble Gesture, some were skeptical. Noble Gesture stood at Castleton and was famous as a major nutcase. According to one of the numerous stories about Noble Gesture and his oddball behavior, the stallion once got loose and wrecked a Castleton vehicle trying to breed it.

The legacy

Guida, was undeterred by such stories, though, and bought four sons of Mystic Park from his first crop. The priciest, and the one with the highest expectations, was for Galaxy Lobell, a younger brother of Garland Lobell, whom he bought for $80,000. The cheapest of the Mystic Park progeny was a scrawny little colt sired by Matina Hanover, and it didn’t take much to buy the one of the best trotters ever. “Against all advice, I bought Mack Lobell for $17,000,” Lou Guida later said. It is safe to say that the investment paid off.

Mystic Park didn’t just sire Mack Lobell. He also sired Hambo Oaks winner Park Avenue Kathy, European group -winner Prince Mystic as well as Kentucky Futurity winner Star Mystic in less than 200 foals. He is also the damsire of several star trotters including Passionate Kemp and Self Possessed.

In 1990, the colt was imported to Sweden but died just two years later, aged 13.

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