This 'Devil' deserves his due
Devil's Bag was supposed to be the fastest horse in the world. He wasn't.
The toast of the racing world as a 2-year-old, Devil's Bag was euthanized Feb. 3 at the advanced age of 24 after injuring himself in his stall at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky.
A handsome dark bay in his day, Devil's Bag suffered from the curse of unlimited potential, imposed upon him as a juvenile in 1983. His late trainer, the great Woody Stephens, pronounced him the "greatest horse I have ever trained." Coming from Stephens, who would go on to condition five straight winners of the Belmont Stakes, that was high praise, indeed. But Devil's Bag could not carry that weight.
"It's the end of an era for us," said Dell Hancock, owner of Claiborne. "It's sad. Woody trained him, and we were so close with Woody. Devil's Bag was the last active stallion we had that had been with Woody."
Bred in Maryland by E.P. Taylor, Devil's Bag was purchased for $325,000 by Hickory Tree Stables at the 1982 Keeneland July Yearling Sale. A son of Halo, out of Ballade, a Herbager mare, he was from a top line and was a full brother to the outstanding filly Glorious Song, who was a champion in both the United States and Canada in 1980.
As a 2-year-old, Devil's Bag could run a hole in the wind. He won all five of his starts, including the Champagne at Belmont Park, the Laurel Futurity, and the Cowdin. When he captured the Champagne, he ran the mile in 1:34 1/5, setting a stakes record in the prestigious Grade I event.
He earned the Eclipse Award as best 2-year-old colt, and gave the terrific grass filly All Along, who was bred in France, a run for her money before she beat him out as Horse of the Year.
Following his juvenile season, Devil's Bag was syndicated for $36 million, a huge amount at the time. As a 3-year-old, he debuted with a 7-length score at odds of 1-20 in the Flamingo Prep at Hialeah. Then the wheels came off the wagon as he finished fourth at 1-5 behind Time for a Change. He then won an allowance at Keeneland and the Derby Trial, but he was allegedly injured in the Derby Trial and retired with a record of eight wins in nine starts.
Stephens claimed Devil's Bag had developed a "saucer fracture" on a leg, and he had the X-rays to prove it. There was probably something slightly wrong with Devil's Bag, but you needed a microscope to see the injury, and it was always doubted that it was bad enough to force his retirement. In fact, to this day, when people on the backstretch gossip about a horse who is suspected to have a phony injury, someone will say, "Oh, he must have a saucer fracture."
The speculation at the time was that Stephens had come to realize that Devil's Bag had distance limitations, and the races were starting to stretch out. He had gotten exhausted in the Flamingo, raced at 1 1/8 miles, and it was rumored that Stephens felt that if the colt was embarrassed again, Devil's Bag would lose a considerable amount of value off his stud fee. That is no different than what the people who owned Smarty Jones did last year, sending him to stud at the peak of his value.
Whatever the facts, if the money was the bottom line, and Stephens was a bottom-line guy, the trainer did the right thing because Devil's Bag was still active at the time of his death and was bringing a fee of $10,000.
Devil's Bag was not a star stallion, but neither was he a failure. "He wasn't the top-echelon stallion we hoped that he would be, but he sired useful horses," said Hancock. "He had a nice life."
From 18 crops that have raced so far, Devil's Bag has sired 43 stakes winners and his offspring have earned more than $47 million. His highest earner was Japanese champion Taiki Shuttle, who earned almost $5 million in purses inflated by the yen's strength against the dollar.
His best American runners were Devil His Due, a New York-bred who won the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga and earned nearly $4 million, and top handicap horse Twilight Agenda, who was a millionaire.
After Devil's Bag was retired, his stablemate, Swale, owned by Claiborne and trained by Stephens, went on to win the 1984 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, but finished a disappointing seventh in the Preakness.
Stephens was an entertaining and witty man, but he was as tough as nails. Swale dropped dead of a heart attack while being bathed the day after he won the Belmont. It was reported that, when informed by telephone that Swale had keeled over, Stephens replied: "What? He's no good to me dead!"
