How to inspire young fans, mid-'70s version.

I fell deeply and forever in with a horse named Sip Sip Sip, simply because in 1971 a photo of him winning at Aqueduct appeared in the NY Times.

Such a name! I was 10.

He remains my all-time favorite.

Photos Saratoga 1974 ...

Thank you, no doubt again (my mom taught me to send 'thank you' notes), to both @TheNYRA , including Capt. Alex MacLeod and the Pinkerton president Jerome V. O'Grady, for fueling my dreams.

I visited Sip Sip Sip the morning after the 1977 Belmont. It remains a dream come true.

Mr. O'Grady wrote me one other time, in between, in response to a letter I'd written. He simply updated me on Sip Sip Sip, saying the horse had recently finished fourth.

So kind.

The morning I visited Belmont, 6/12/77, the very nice groom said I'd just gotten there in time...

Sip Sip Sip had run for the last time on June 9. He finished 8th. Owner Mrs. W. Robinson was going to give him a lifetime home.

Sip Sip Sip ran 98 times, with 17 wins, 22 seconds, 8 thirds. He ran 8 seasons.

He was blind in one eye, and I had limited vision in one of mine. ...

He earned over $200K and my lifetime love and admiration. It's so simple to fall in love with these horses - even if for something like a fun name.

I asked about him years later. Someone at the farm where he'd apparently landed said he'd died, old, not long before my inquiry.