Kentucky Derby Runner Suddenbreakingnews Living The Pensioner's Life In West Texas

Journeying from Remington Park to the most visible race on the calendar is an unforgettable story on its own, but what came immediately after the Derby was what took the horse's story from unique to truly one-of-a-kind.

After the Derby, Von Hemel was contacted by Kentucky officials when Suddenbreakingnews' post-race tests came back with higher levels of anabolic steroids than expected.

Up until that point, Suddenbreakingnews was assumed to be a gelding, and he was listed in the program as such. When the test showed results inconsistent with levels expected for a castrated male, it was discovered that he was in fact the rare type of ridgling where neither of the horse's testicles had ever descended. Thus, his body was producing higher levels of testosterone than a gelding should have.

Cryptorchidism, the failure of testicles to descend, is estimated to occur in five to eight percent of colts, but at least one testicle typically comes down eventually. Because the testicles remained so close to his body, experts speculated that the additional body heat could have affected his hormonal output. Paired with the natural development a horse goes through in their 3-year-old season, Suddenbreakingnews may not have been producing enough testosterone to flag a test before the Derby, but he finally hit the threshold.

With the mystery solved, Suddenbreakingnews continued on to the Belmont Stakes, where he finished a non-threatening ninth. He then ran in the G3 West Virginia Derby, where he was once again out of the money, before his 3-year-old season came to a close.

Suddenbreakingnews returned to the allowance optional claiming ranks at Oaklawn Park to kick off his 4-year-old campaign, but he never found the same form he had before the Kentucky Derby, never hitting the board in five starts before wrapping up the season in July.

The horse was sent to Henderson's farm in Notrees to freshen up, which is when Bennett met him for the first time.

Suddenbreakingnews is a massive horse, standing over 17 hands tall. If he were at all studdish, it wouldn't be hard for him to overpower a handler. 

Fortunately, Bennett said that despite the horse's unusual equipment status, he still acts and handles with the calmness of a gelding.

"He's not too bad," Bennett said. "He wants to play and stuff at first, but he's not too bad to handle. We've had a lot worse, for sure. He has a good brain to him."

Suddenbreakingnews stayed closer to home for his final season of racing. Notrees is close to the New Mexico border, and the horse went over the state line to race at the Downs at Albuquerque, Ruidoso Downs, and Zia Park.

Once again, he didn't show the same spark he did earlier in his career, with his best effort being a second-place finish in the Billy the Kid Handicap at Ruidoso.

His final start came in a Zia Park allowance race in December 2018, where he ran wide and finished last of seven. 

Zia Park is in Hobbs, N.M., which is about an hour and a half from Henderson's Texas farm. Bennett made the trip with a trailer to bring him home for good after his last race, and for all the major races the horse had entered, it was the first time he'd seen him run in person.

At Henderson's farm, Suddenbreakingnews has his own turnout area, and he's let out into a bigger field when Bennett thinks he needs a chance to really kick his feet up. 

Suddenbreakingnews has now been at the farm for five years, and the big horse has only gotten bigger.

"He's filled out a lot, for sure," Bennett said. "He's got big feet on him."

Sam Henderson has been involved in horse racing since the 1960s, but he dispersed his racing and breeding stock via ThoroughbredAuctions.com in 2022.

However, he still has a few horses on the farm, and the plan is for Suddenbreakingnews to have a home there for as long as he needs it.

"That's what I hear," Bennett said. "That's what they say."