As written in 2016 for the book “OLD AND NEW FRIENDS,” published by DRF Press. Gander, 1996 gray or roan gelding by Cormorant – Lovely Nurse, by Sawbones The near-white gelding stood on three legs near the Saratoga finish line, his fourth held up by exercise rider Simon Harris. Trainer John Terranova stood by the horse’s head, calming him, as the siren wailed its familiar warning. Passing riders looked over and more than a few, no doubt, recognized the old warrior. It seemed forever for the ambulance to reach them the morning 8-year-old Gander broke down in 2004. It didn’t look good. “But there was no way we weren’t saving that horse,” says part-owner Mike Gatsas emphatically, more than a decade later. The injury was a rare, straight-across fracture of his right front pastern bone. Gatsas initially called Larry Bramlage in Kentucky, and Bramlage recommended a specialist named Alan Nixon. Nixon was at Cornell, not far from Saratoga, but he was on his way out of the country. “Dr. Nixon said he was about to leave for Germany to teach a class about the exact injury Gander had,” Gatsas remembered. “And I said, ‘No, you’re not.  You’re operating on this horse. It’s Gander.’ ” Nixon performed the surgery. :: Bet the races online with DRF Bets. New members get $250 bonus The affable owner’s words about Gander are very heart-warming. But to Mike and his New Hampshire-based family, Gander was no ordinary horse. “He was our first horse,” Gatsas said from his office, which is still lined with Gander photos. “I don’t know how many thrills one animal is supposed to give anybody, if any. But he just fought every time he went out on the track.” Mike and his brother Ted entered the horse racing world in 1998 when their trainer, Charlie Assimakopoulos, picked out two horses for them at the OBS 2-year-old sale. One was eventual Grade 2 winner Shadow Caster. The other, a gray Cormorant gelding with whom Charlie was smitten, was Gander. Gander won his maiden later that year at Saratoga, in his second start, and he was soon on his way to statebred super stardom. Assimakopoulos, based in New England, trained Gander for his first 25 starts. Then, due to Assimakopoulos’s advancing age and Gander being a New York-bred, John Terranova took over the reins. All told, Gander ran 60 times over seven seasons, with 15 wins, 10 seconds, 9 thirds, and earnings of more than $1.8 million. He ran in 40 stakes and, although he “only” won six, he hit the board in major-league races like the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Donn. Forty-three of his starts came in the Empire State, where he won five New York-bred stakes, including two renewals of the Empire Classic. His biggest win was the Grade 2 Meadowlands Cup. But his most memorable race? When Gander stumbled badly leaving the gate in the 2002 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup, down went Mike Smith – and Gander continued on his merry way. The gray gelding was in last place the first time past the wire, tactically stalked the early pacesetter, wore him down late in the backstretch, took over heading for home, and “won” easily. The victory didn’t count, of course – Evening Attire got the honors – but Gander seemed to know he was in front. The crowd cheered enthusiastically for the popular old guy, too. When asked as to which race meant most to him, Gatsas answered quickly: Gander, supplemented for an impressive $360,000, ran in two Breeders’ Cups (he ran ninth in both). The first was at Churchill Downs, giving the Gatsas family the proud opportunity to do the walkover with their star – a lifetime memory. After his surgery, Gander spent months recovering at Sue Vitro’s Better Days Farm in downstate New York before shifting to Peter Fuller’s Runnymede Farm in New Hampshire in 2005. Mike and Ted, who lived nearby, were there for their arrival, as were their friends and other Gander fans. :: Shop DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Digital Paper, Picks and more Gander spent many happy days there grazing side-by-side with Fuller’s old champion, fellow pensioner Mom’s Command. But Mom’s Command died in 2007, and the Fuller farm was sold five years later. Gander was on the move again, back to Sue Vitro’s attentive care, this time at Stone Bridge Farm near Saratoga. Heidi Fischer, who worked at Better Days during Gander’s recuperation, had also moved there. She was so excited to see her old friend again that she put photos of him up in her office. The Gatsas’s No. 1 requirement in regard to Gander’s care is summed up on one line on his stall card: “ANYTHING HE WANTS, HE GETS.” That includes surgery to remove an infected eye in 2012, Cosequin for his aging body and aching joints, a Christmas stocking at holiday time, and a girlfriend. His pasture mate and best buddy is the sweet Seventeen Above.  She is a few years younger than he is, in part to secure that she’ll be around as Gander ages.  :: To stay up to date, follow DRF on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter “They want him pampered, and we treat him like royalty,” Heidi says with a smile, her pride apparent. “They spare no expense. He gets his daily supplements, he comes in every night, he has his girlfriend. He gets hosed off in the summertime, he gets groomed. Our job is to keep him happy.” John and Tonja Terranova, and their daughters, visit Gander when they’re in Saratoga. And the Gatsas family visits when they’re in town, too – nowadays, with their five grandchildren. Mike’s son Matt and daughter Amanda, who point to Gander as a main reason for their love of the sport, now run the successful Sovereign Stable. “Anybody in racing, it’s what we dream of – to have a great Gander,” Mike said. “There are a lot of them in the world, horses who are special to someone. “He was just our special horse.” Update: Gander, 24, still resides at Stone Bridge Farm under Heidi Fischer’s attentive watch. Gander’s girlfriend became a bit much for him, and he now shares a paddock with a few other buddies. He’s still proud, bright-eyed, and still dancingly tugs his way out to his field.