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Published Friday, May 2, 2008
Big Brown is a favorite to win Saturday’s 134th running of the Kentucky Derby.
But the horse might just be a favorite in the hearts of Fergus Falls area residents, as well.
Big Brown, the winner of the Florida Derby and the 3-1 favorite in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, was bred and raised by Foxhome native Dr. Gary Knapp at his Monticule nursery in Kentucky. Foxhome is a 11 miles west of Fergus Falls on Highway 210.
“Big Brown’s mother, Mien, was bred to Big Brown sire, Boundary, in 2004,” Knapp said Thursday. “Big Brown was born in 2005.”
Knapp sold Big Brown in 2006.
Big Brown, now owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., earned his position as the Kentucky Derby favorite following his win in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The three-year-old is undefeated in three career starts, with earnings of $662,700. He has won his three races by a total of 29 lengths.
The condition of the Churchill Downs track surface will be an important factor in the race. A few thunderstorms are possible on Friday and isolated thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday.
When Gary Knapp worked on his degree at the University of Kentucky, the race horse Secretariat was in his prime. Knapp, who received his Ph.D. in applied economics and applied statistics from the University of Kentucky, couldn’t help but be enchanted by central Kentucky and thoroughbreds.
Although he left Lexington in the mid-1970s to pursue business interests in Texas, Knapp vowed to return when the time was right.
“I followed the (equine) industry after subscribing to ‘The Blood-Horse,’ the principle publication published by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA),” he said. “I also developed my criteria for possible farm sites in the Lexington area.”
In 1989, Knapp purchased the initial 200-acre piece of land that he would call Monticule. It was in 2001 when Monticule had its first yearling consignment.
As noted on the Monticule Web site, Knapp is a hands-on horse breeder and farm owner. In addition to planning the breeding for the 20 broodmares on the farm — and managing Monticule’s runners — he closely monitors the pruning, placement, and growth of the 9,000-plus trees in Monticule’s tree nursery.
Monticule is an old French term referring to a large hill or mountain.
Knapp didn’t devote his full attention to the farm's operation until 1997, when he began buying mares and starting the breeding operation. The farm has grown to 630 acres, although only 250 of them are in current use. The rest are being developed for pastures.
“We currently have 20 mares and 16 weanlings at Monticule,” Knapp said. The babies are both racing and sales prospects.”
Within the first few years of purchasing the land that became Monticule, Knapp started the tree nursery. He’s dedicated to improving the landscape.
"We've planted several thousand evergreens,” he said, “and about 10,000 deciduous trees of all varieties.”
Knapp doesn’t do all of this from behind a desk. He walks the farm or crosses it on horseback nearly every day. He constantly reviews developments and makes plans for the future.
Knapp’s brother, Gordy, operates Knapp Seed Farm, Inc., near Foxhome.
Gary, Gordy and a third brother, Jerry, were raised on the family farm near Foxhome. Each of them attended high school in Morris, graduating from the West Central School of Agriculture. Jerry was 45 when he died of cancer in 1987.
For more information about Knapp log onto Monticule.com.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by ANonnyMoose (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 12:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
" ... was bred and raised in the Fergus Falls area by Foxhome native Dr. Gary Knapp at his Monticule nursery in Kentucky."
I'm confused. Was Big Brown bred and raised here or in Kentucky?
It's always interesting to get local angles to national stories. Thanks!
Posted by Sumwun (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's funny reading the articles where the journal is always weakly trying to connect Fergus Falls to somewhat significant events or people in the country to make it seem like Fergus somehow had some major influence in the event they're talking about. Good job digging up these little tidbits of information, the story is midly interesting, but stop trying to make it seem like Fergus Falls has some big influence on other things that are happening around the rest of the world. Wow...a horse's uncles grandma's third cousin's brother lived in Foxhome once. I think it's time to downsize to a bi-weekly publication.
Posted by HotPinkBananas (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ANonnyMoose, maybe you should actually read the article before commenting on it.
It states:
"...was bred and raised BY Foxhome native Dr. Gary Knapp AT his Monticule nursery in Kentucky..."
That's confusing alright....
Posted by luvmyboys (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bananas... maybe YOU should have come online when the article first came out. The story did say exactly what Moose quoted. The Journal came in a fixed it so that it reads correctly NOW.
Posted by sprinter09 (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 5:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Shouldn't the title have been:
"Derby hopeful has FOXHOME ties"
Posted by ANonnyMoose (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 7:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's why I copied and pasted the passage in question, HotPink -- you never know when they're going to slip in and make amendments.
I kinda figured the horse wasn't raised here. Now THAT would have been a story if he were!
Posted by gumball (anonymous) on May 2, 2008 at 8:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Isn't Foxhome a suburb of Fergus, just like French on Hwy 210?
Posted by woody (anonymous) on May 4, 2008 at 8:30 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by knapper (anonymous) on May 5, 2008 at 3:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Brownie" as my cousin Gary calls the horse was born on the farm in Lexington, KY. Gary's uncle and my dad Jim Knapp would be so proud. Chuck Knapp.
Posted by Stonewall (anonymous) on May 5, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad that I have better things to do than criticize the Daily Journal and it's employees. Sometimes it is alright to take issue with something, but some of you posters are only here to degrade others.
Posted by bucksteel (anonymous) on May 5, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be nice if someone other than the author would read the articles before they are printed. That is called "editing" and will catch 90% of the errors before they're published. Consider this to be constructive criticism, in the hopes that it will improve the quality of the paper.
Posted by Elaine (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To Sumwun--You need to keep your stupid comments to yourself (or find another outlet for your anger)! I think the local connection to Big Brown is amazing. My mother, who grew up in little bitty Foxhome, would also think so (if she were still here with us).
Posted by daidres (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not many of you knew this, but a few years back, we lost a very successful, local man who raised winning Thoroughbred horses. John Sullivan from Sullivan's Dead Lake Ranch, bred, trained, and raised beautiful Thoroughbreds, and one of them came from one mentioned- Secretariat. John lived, loved, lost a daughter, while living his dream of a thoroughbred horse breeder. He was very very successful, and prior to his retirement, sold one of his studs to the former MN Vikings-Mo Williams, whom traveled to Dead lake to buy his new race horse! My father in law was the farm hand for the ranch, and if any of you ever get the chance to have the experience to be in the presence of these magnificant Giants, you will be awe strucken at their beauty, strength, and determination. It takes one heck of a person to devote his life to these animals. It's too bad that some of these horses are pushed to their deaths, like that of the filly who was euthenized on the track. When trained correctly, these horses can handle just about anything.
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