Fu Man Choo, a name synonymous with speed and heart will soon be passing into the annals of history in the Digital Downs community.  This story will be the first of many to come regarding important horses that have touched this community.  I chose Fu Man Choo as the first due to the fact that this reporter has been able to see a majority of his activity on and off the race track.

Now no one knows exactly who the sire and dam were that produced this six year old horse.  Rumor mill has it that Fu was born on a small farm in Eastern Kentucky and his owner was Billy Bob Craddock.  Now Mr. Craddock did not own race horses, his were merely for pleasure riding.  One day the owner of the stable conglomerate Sixteenth Pole Racing was driving by Mr. Craddock’s farm when he saw this young strong roan colt sprinting down the fence in one the pastures of the farm.

Before you know it Fu was sold to Sixteenth Pole Racing for an undisclosed amount.  Some spread the rumor that Mr. Craddock took a measly one thousand dollars for this future speed demon of the race track.  After being loaded into the trailer Fu’s trip would not end at the stables of Sixteenth but was turned out to Contemporary Stables after a turnkey transaction.

After grueling training and tender loving care Fu Man Choo was deemed ready for his first race as a two year old by Contemporary Stables.  On July 28, 2007, Fu Man Choo took his position in the gate at California to run a five furlong race.  What a diamond in the rough, he won the race wire to wire with a time of 58.09 seconds.  Fu finished his first season winning three of five total races and taking a second and a third in the other two.

After such a successful freshman campaign Contemporary Stables knew they had a gem on their hands.  Fu continued to flourish at the track breaking the fifty-eight second time barrier twice and winning before being sold to Norm and Nigel at Getting Lucky Lodge.  Fu Man Choo was sold for $150,000 on the now defunct private sales page. 

Fu Man Choo continued to run against many of the top named colts over the next two years on the sprinter circuit.  His superstar speed did not win every race but definitely pushed those that ran along side of him.  In an interview with Norm of Getting Lucky Lodge, he told me that one of their favorite races of Fu Man Choo’s was run on March 20, 2008.

On that date Fu lined up next to the likes of Hit the Rail, Froth, and Go Mobile.  On a steady paced run Fu at one point ran up to four wide in the turn.  Elliot was his rider and was quoted after the race as saying, “Fu sat the back wheels down and burned the rubber off getting home.”  The three following races did not prove to be as successful for Fu Man Choo and Norm with a tug in his heart decided to retire him on April 12, 2008 for sire duties.

One fact that puzzled this reporter was on February 16, 2008 Fu Man Choo made it through a $100,000 claimer race at Belmont Park.  In these days of furious claiming activity how could he have made it clear?   I bet even though Norm figured he would get back most of his investment if he had been claimed, a sigh of relief came from Norm after so many speedy young fillies and colts were compiled by Fu Man Choo in breeding duty.  Fu Man Choo finished his racing career with total earnings of $188,105 and winning ten times in a total of twenty-seven races ran.

His offspring have shown his typical tendency of bursting out of the gate and will surely carry on his name for generations.  It’s exciting to see the likes of Vroom, Speedz, Texan Theory, Cat Man Doo, and Oriental Express as well as others take Fu Man Choo’s blood line into the future racing and breeding of the Digital Downs community.  Not bad for a little roan colt out of the Eastern Kentucky grasslands.