Princequillo at the stud at Claiborne | Keeneland Library
Editor’s Note: Bryan Krantz is an owner and rancher, and former owner of Fair Grounds. He shares this story about Chris Owens, a longtime popular New Orleans entertainer and club owner who passed away Tuesday.
Chris Owens was a Thanksgiving Day regular for the opening day of Fair Grounds. Usually there are three people in her party: Chris, her mother, and her boyfriend. She is a local celebrity and wants to be seen. She usually requests a table facing the dining room from the maitre d’ counter. This ensures that she gets past the maximum number of people before being seated. Always walking towards number nine, she rushes in after most of the crowd has taken her seats, but just before the first race.
But I told you that story to tell you this one: Chris Owens has been associated with one of the worst stories in Purebred racing history. Her club, like many properties in the French Quarter, has an upstairs apartment that she has rented for many years to a famous local racing figure named Arthur Frost. “Frosty” is the racing director of Anthony Pelleteri. Pelleteri, in addition to being the owner of the Fair Grounds, is also a famous horseman on the national stage.
Pelleteri moved his stables to Saratoga in 1942 with Frosty overseeing operations as track manager. A 2-year-old child in his care entered a grant race without completing all the entries to be used in the program. Frosty tries seriously to contact his boss, but to no avail. The horse is ready to run and needs a race. Frosty entered the $2,500 claim, feeling the horse was not prominent enough to be claimed. He came to the paddock with a blanket on and four bandages that made it impossible to tell the shape of a horse with acoustic problems.
Hall of Fame trainer Horatio Luro was looking for horses to build his stable and was impressed enough with Prince Rose (GB)’s son to try to buy it as an aspirant. He was still impressed with the unremarkable 2-year-old Princequillo and split it in half with an asking price of $2,500. When Pelleteri found out, he was hot for Frosty but the deed was taken.
Princequillo under Luro’s tutelage became a multiple-time champion and later had a great influence on the North American Purebred breed.
But there’s more than that. When racing began to shut down due to World War II, one of the only fall tracks still open was the Fair Grounds. Luro’s horses were shipped to New Orleans, but he was told there were no stalls. Luro tries to find shelter for the animals and hastily arranges to keep the horses at a dairy farm in Kenner. He eventually found booth space at the Fair Grounds and won several races but Princequillo didn’t start.
Frosty returned to New Orleans and continued to work at the Fair Grounds until his retirement under the pension system established by the Pelleteri. He has worked as a racing official for many years, through a number of track owners. He was always a guy in the class. He is Chris Owen’s best friend and tenant and is a very small part of her New Orleans story.
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This story was posted in News is shared and tagged Anthony Pelleteri, Arthur Frost, Bryan Kratze, Chris Owens, Fair basis, Horatio Luro, Letter to the editorial office, Princequillo.
