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It was never easy for racing foes to take John Henry out in the home stretch.

If only JH could've match raced The Bid in the 1980 Woodward

John Henry: 39 wins, 16 seconds, 9 thirds. In the money 64 times out of 83 races.

John Henry won the race by several lengths. Nine years old!!! Yes!

John Henry was purchased for $1,100. Oats and hay cost more than that. What a horse! The people's champion!

I not only was at that race, but I won that day picking both of them to win and place.

I was there on my 25th birthday, I'm now 61.what a wonderful day.alysheba.

Owners had a lot of class . Almost as much as John Henry!

A shame Allington is no longer there. It was a beautiful racing facility. And yeah, I saw this race on t.v. and was cheering John Henry on. I remember when John Henry ran in the 1983 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont. He had 2 other legendary geldings lead the post parade. I was just choked up with emotion seeing Kelso and my all time favorite gelding, Forego with each other. What a day in horse racing that was, getting to see those 3 legends gracing the track that day. Kelso and Forego, both retired, still looked to be in good shape, both with riders on their backs.

"a heart so big they didn't have to weigh it" ❤‍🩹

Jimmy The Greek always was a blowhard. John Henry was a legend and so was The Shoe! Great race!

The most underrated horse

If I had to bet a million dollars on a horse it would be Secretariat If I had to bet my life on a horse it would be The Old Man!!! JOHN HENRY

I was there at The BigM and was happy to see this race, nothing like the Pegasus at the Meadowlands!

I was there that day and won on all 3 tickets in that race, but the best thing was I picked 9 of the races that day and did very well.

Track announcer: Marshall Cassidy

Love me some John Henry...But is very fortunate that Spectacular Bid retired.

I was there at the finish line with Guy Jackson.What a finish.Went to walking ring before race and John's eyes followed me as he looked back.What a great racehorse.

I remember that race

great call -- the great champion John Henry is all the way back -- tears rolling down my cheeks -- I was 16 yo --

If you look quick and see the young skinny kid in the purple shirt in the winners circle . That is me. And now, 37 years later I will be talking my son for his first time to see the Super Derby tomorrow.

Unbelievable they put #4 first and #1A second and said official on the TV screen and ended up being wrong. Inexcusable. They would never do that now days.

John Henry was a "Steel Drivin' Horse."

I wish we'd seen the photo. At the rebuilt Arlington Park there was a life-sized bronze statue of the two at the finish. It was scintillating for many years.

All the horses wearing the same color saddle cloths, Dave Johnson, John Henry, when racing was special

Did Bill make shoes?

Wow wha a horse

Track announcer: Phil Georgeff

Track announcer: Dave Johnson

Track announcer: John Gibson

I was at this race, sitting in the Racing Form box. I bet John Henry to win, and had the honor of shaking Sam Rubin's hand after JH won, as he was sitting a couple of boxes behind me. Boy, was he happy. He thanked me, and I said, "No, thank you", as I held up my tickets🎉

He never tended to run on the lead so he takes 1.75 W to W. Gotta love that...He even had plenty at the Wire after those fast fractions

He was 9 y/o at the end of his career and he was still a dynamo! Saw him 3x at Arlington, He won 2 Millions and was surprised by an upstart as a 7 y/o. What a brilliant campaigner

any surface, any track , any foe, ol' John was just a monster

Jimmy the Greek was a bum.

As a young child growing up seeming always at Santa Anita. I remember John Henry. When I think of Santa Anita I always think of that name. Though its been over 16 years since his passing and more than 40 since I actually saw him run. I will always appreciate what he did for horse racing in Southern California

Tremendous horse. The workers at the farm where he was retired responded to the rumor that he had died earlier and they used another horse to imitate him: “If we’d done that, don’t you think we would have picked a nicer horse?” He was a handful, but great heart.

The 80s got Davey Johnson...we get the horrendous larry collmus.

Giant¡¡

John Henry a true legend, winning Grade 1 races on both dirt and turf. Of course the Jockey Club Gold Cup was run over the proper distance 1 & 1/2 miles. Not the ridiculous 1 & 1/4 miles today.

Shoemaker’

Perrault was robbed

The Bart won the damn race.

Phill Georgeff the announcer.

He loved Arlington Park and Arlington fans loved him

Tricky angle, fooled the TV guys

1:29 The commentator goofed up. He said the horse on the far outside was followed by Bull inthe Heather. But at that point Bull inthe Heather was in the lead near the inside already.

Saw this race live stunning performance .

Had a big heart n a large face w a long Nose .....Best finish ever...

Always won.