I Had 72 Hours to Drive an $8 Million Racehorse From Kentucky to Saratoga. On Day Two, His Owner Called and Told Me Not to Arrive

My cell phone rang on Day Two, somewhere in Ohio, at a truck stop outside Zanesville.

It was the owner.

“Mr. Kirby,” he said. “There’s been a change of plans. I need you to take the scenic route. Very scenic. I’d like the horse to arrive on Saturday. Late Saturday.”

The race was on Saturday afternoon.

“Sir, if he arrives late Saturday, he misses the race.”

“I’m aware,” the man said. “There’s an extra fifty thousand dollars in it for you. Cash. For your trouble.”

I looked at the trailer behind my truck.

Inside was an $8 million thoroughbred named Brass Monkey, the morning-line favorite for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, the biggest race of the summer.

I’m Lane Kirby. I’m 45, I’ve never been married, I’ve never wanted to be, and I haul horses for a living. Kentucky, Florida, New York, California. I’ve driven a million miles with nobody but a horse and a country station for company. I like the quiet. I like the road. I like that horses don’t talk on the phone.

This one’s owner did.

His name was Preston Vane. He had bought Brass Monkey six months earlier for $8 million. And last week, I had read in the *Racing Form* that his company was in trouble with the SEC.

“Mr. Vane,” I said. “Why don’t you want your horse to run?”

He was quiet for a second.

“Fifty thousand, Mr. Kirby. Think about it.”

He hung up.

I sat in the cab and thought about it for exactly four seconds.

Then I saw the black SUV.

It had been behind me since Lexington.