“I don’t know how many times he seemed defeated yet came back in the stretch to win or improve his position. To Merriman, that determination is what marks him as a champion. But when a rival looked him the eye, he found more and usually prevailed. In many of his races at The Meadows, he looked so weary into the final turn that it appeared only an oxygen tank could get him home. “He was tough as an army boot, and he wore well.”Īt three, the handsome chestnut finished third in the North America Cup final, and he bested the redoubtable Sweet Lou in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final.ĭapper Dude subsequently was sold several times for each new owner, he showed that same speed and grit - despite multiple throat surgeries. “He comes from a great family, and you couldn’t draw a better-looking horse,” Bob McIntosh said. They knew early on they had something special. Hall of Famer Bob McIntosh and his cousin, Al McIntosh, bred Dapper Dude and campaigned him during his freshman and sophomore seasons. He indicated that Dapper Dude would stand at Harris Paint Horses & Stallion Station in Federalsburg, Md., and that David Cohen’s Micki Rae Stables would continue to own him. “He still tries hard but doesn’t have it like he should,” Twaddle confirmed. His trainer, Tim Twaddle, said it’s painfully clear to him that retirement is Dapper Dude’s best option. In his recent starts, the son of The Panderosa and Dressed To Suggest has looked nothing like his old self, drifting through the class ranks and bottoming out in low-end conditioned races. 11) at The Meadows, 11-year-old Dapper Dude will retire from racing and launch the next phase of his glorious career at stud.ĭapper Dude will start from post two in race six, with his favorite driver, Aaron Merriman, in the sulky. But that old warhorse Father Time proved even more persistent, so after his start Friday (Dec. He’s banked nearly $1.4 million, and he could out-tough almost every opponent he ever faced.
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