Greg’s Gold does his best to live up to namesake

Selecting a name for a racehorse can be a daunting task. Though there are guidelines to be met, the possibilities are often endless.

But for Calgary oilman Bill Boswell, naming the gray colt that was born in April 2001 on John Harris’ farm near Coalinga in central California was a no-brainer.

The name would be Greg’s Gold in honor of Boswell’s grandson, Greg Boswell.

As is the case with a lot of grandfathers, Boswell loves bragging about his grandson.

During a phone interview this week, he told the story about how Greg, as an 11-year-old, was playing in a Calgary Flames charity golf tournament and for a while was leading the long-drive contest.

Afterward, the golfer who won the contest and had seen the name Boswell on the long-drive placard, hollered out at one of Greg’s uncles, “Hey, I got you by 10 yards.”

Richie Boswell hollered back, “That wasn’t me. That was Greg.”

Bill Boswell, in telling the story, explained the youngster was playing from the red tees. But eventually 180-yard drives became commonplace for Greg. And because of his golf prowess, a Calgary television station once featured him as its athlete of the week.

As a ninth-grader, Greg was class valedictorian, said Bill Boswell. No, this kid with Down syndrome wasn’t the smartest in his class. He was just the most popular. His classmates gave him the honor.

Then there was the time Greg won a Special Olympics gold medal in skiing.

He also loved horse racing. His favorite horse initially was a filly owned by his grandfather named Rabiadella. But then along came Greg’s Gold, whose sire was Lake George, who was good enough to run in the 1995 Kentucky Derby, though he finished far back. The mare was Lake Windermere, who had good bloodlines.

But Greg’s Gold was an unruly horse who was gelded as a 2-year-old. There was some initial success before a 17-month layoff after “revolutionary” stem-cell surgery, and then, against all odds, more success.

Now, after a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in the mud at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park, Greg’s Gold will be looking to regain his winning form Sunday at Hollywood Park in the Grade III $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes. But Greg Boswell won’t be there.

In summer 2001, a few months after the birth of Greg’s Gold, the youngster rode his bicycle to a nearby store to buy some candy.

After making his purchase, Greg Boswell was walking his bicycle through a crosswalk. One car stopped, another didn’t. The second car hit the boy.

“The driver received only a citation for dangerous driving,” Bill Boswell said. “And Greg was banged up pretty good.”

He was taken to a local hospital. Doctors told the Boswell family that Greg would be able to go home in four or five days, as soon as he could walk on his own.

When Greg was ready to leave the hospital, his father Pat went to pick him up.

“Pat was in his hospital room and suddenly Greg let out a scream,” Bill Boswell said.

Greg Boswell died of a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot. He was 16.

What Greg Boswell has missed is an implausible success story by his namesake.

When the horse was finally ready to race, he placed second in an allowance race at Hollywood Park in May 2005. He won his next race at Hollywood Park and then came a victory in the Grade I Bing Crosby Handicap at Del Mar.

But the next day it was discovered Greg’s Gold had suffered a bowed tendon. It’s the kind of injury that usually puts expensive thoroughbreds out to pasture forever.

Trainer David Hofmans gave Bill Boswell the bad news. The horse probably was done racing. Surgery to repair a bowed tendon almost always created scar tissue that impaired running ability.

However, there was one possibility that the horse’s career could be saved. A San Diego veterinarian, Robert Harman, had patented a procedure in which stem cells are harvested from a horse’s fat to repair tendons. The stem cells help prevent scar tissue from forming.

It was risky, but there really was no other choice. Harman performed the procedure, which Hofmans called “revolutionary.”

“I heard David say in an interview not too long ago that the odds of the surgery working were 10,000 to 1,” Boswell said. “I thought, ‘You never told me that.’ ”

After a 17-month recovery period, Greg’s Gold won an allowance race at Santa Anita in February. He then placed second in a $200,000 stakes race at Santa Anita and won the Tiznow Stakes at Hollywood Park before finishing fourth in a stakes race at Churchill Downs. But then came a second in the Crosby at Del Mar and a win in the Pat O’Brien Stakes there Aug. 18.

The win in the O’Brien, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race, earned Greg’s Gold a trip to Monmouth Park and an entry in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

On Sunday, he gets a chance at another magical moment.

larry.stewart@latimes.com