Proud to own a Wando-ful wonder-horse
By GEORGE GROSS -- Toronto Sun
The late E.P.Taylor owned a wonder-horse by the name of Northern Dancer. The thoroughbred was Canada's greatest athlete for a while, winning regularly in Canada and in the United States.
Moreover, he sired more stakes winners than any other Kentucky Derby winner.
Now, 75-year-young, German-born Gus Schickedanz has his own wonder-horse -- Wando. The three-year-old speedster won the Queen's Plate by almost 10 lengths and then, a couple of weeks ago, added the Prince of Wales Stakes in Fort Erie to his collection.
On Saturday, Wando's jockey, Patrick Husbands, will be all set to ride him to the Canadian Triple Crown by winning the Breeders' Stakes on Woodbine's turf course.
Schickedanz, one of four brothers, is neither as fast, nor as healthy as Wando, but just as tough and certainly speaks more languages than his chestnut-coloured colt. Schickedanz has had two minor heart attacks and a third one that "knocked me down" within the past 2 1/2 years.
In addition, he had a stroke prior to that.
"The third heart attack slowed me down a bit, but I'm not ready to go yet," he said. "I'll go out with my boots on. For the time being I love playing with my horses. I still spend 15 to 25 hours a week riding my horses and another 15 to 20 hours in the office.
"In addition, I love fox-hunting. I was the master fox-hunter at the Eglinton Hunt Club for 27 years. In the winter, I fox-hunt in South Carolina and Georgia."
But in order to get him drooling, one has to only mention Wando, the apple of his eye. Only a loving father could talk more affectionately about a son than Gus Schickedanz talks about Wando.
"He is a super duper horse," Schickedanz said. "He's something else. He's gentle. He's strong. He's fast. He's magnificent. A breeder can only dream of having a horse like Wando. He's good on dirt and he's good on grass.
"I believe, we have the best horse and Patrick Husbands, who rode him twice to victory, will be in the irons again. Wando is owned by my wife, Ann, and me and we love him."
Schickedanz is not prepared to predict the outcome of Saturday's race, which will pay a $300,000 reward, plus a bonus of $550,000 if Wando wins the Triple Crown. He has his own theory about what it takes to win a horse race.
"I was pretty confident before the Queen's Plate," Schickedanz said. "As a matter of fact, a friend of mine was with me in the walking ring before the race and asked me what Wando's chances were. I told him the horse would win by 10 lengths."
It reminded me of what actors are told before they go on stage. It's customary to wish them success with the expression "break a leg."
"Whatever you do, don't wish that on us," Schickedanz said. I'm not that cruel, Gus, I love horses, too.
GROSSLY ABBREVIATED: Perhaps one moniker that could be applied to a current Argo is "Seabiscuit" Levingston. Both times last Friday while returning kicks for touchdowns, defensive back Bashir Levingston sprinted away from the pack of B.C. Lions tacklers, then slowed down to let a final tackler almost catch up to him before putting on the after-burners to get to the end zone untouched. If you've seen the movie Seabiscuit you'll know why ... Several Slovak NHL players formed a charitable foundation in support of Slovak minor hockey. Members of the board of directors are: Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra, Zigmund Palffy, Michal Handzus, Jozef Stumpel and Miroslav Satan ... New Jersey Devils captain Scott Stevens, who is of Slovak ancestry, was invited to play in a charity game scheduled for this weekend in Bratislava, pitting Slovak NHL players from the South against the North. Stevens, who's on vacation, was unable to accept.
