It's fair to say Fran Burns is familiar to anyone affiliated with Thoroughbred racing in Maryland. The winner of the 2022 Joe Kelly Unsung Hero Award recently retired as president of the Maryland State Fair. She led the Sunrise at Old Hilltop backstretch tours during Preakness Week at Pimlico Race Course for 15 years. Along with Georganne Hale of the Maryland Jockey Club, Burns helped run the former Thoroughbred Alliance Show Series and the annual Canter for the Cause at Pimlico Race Course.
The industry would be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated ambassador. Yet, without hesitation, Burns will say that her favorite and most important role is owner to retired racehorses. And it was another industry affiliation that brought Garcon d'Or -- called Gee -- into Burns' life. The process began with, what else?, one of Burns' many roles.
"I am a long-term volunteer with MidAtlantic Horse Rescue," she said. "I do marketing and promotions for them and have for 20 years."
MAHR's co-founder and executive director Bev Strauss vividly remembers the day in 2009 when she found Garcon d'Or.
"Basically, we were a mentor for Jo Deibel's Angel Acres Horse Rescue when they first started," Strauss said. "We would go to New Holland every Monday to buy Thoroughbreds. I would pick out horses for her that I thought were nice to handle and adoptable. I distinctly remember seeing Gee tied up midway down on the left side of the aisle past the ponies. He was such a gentleman. I could see he had some issues with his knees, but horses like that that are quiet are suitable for lower-level careers.
Back in the day we would have to call into The Jockey Club to identify horses by their tattoos. I called Jo to tell her that we found a nice horse for her to put in her program. That is how Fran met him, and the rest is history."
As Angel Acres frequently handled MAHR's overflow, Burns volunteered there as well. Garcon d'Or -- French for Golden Boy -- caught her eye immediately.
"I'm just one of those people that there's a certain look to a Thoroughbred that I really, really like," Burns said. "And he has that classic look, that doe face, that kind eye."
It was several months before she realized that the gelding was by one of her all-time favorite racehorses, multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Private Terms.
"He even paddles like his dad did," she laughed.
On Sept. 3, 2009, Burns signed the formal adoption agreement.
The backstory of Garcon d'Or is all too common. Bred by Sunset Haven Farm, he was foaled in Kentucky March 7, 2003. His dam, Peach d'Or, won nine of 57 starts and earned $144,356.
Garcon d'Or began his career as a 3-year-old on the South Florida circuit in 2006 for DeLuca and Sons Stable and trainer Rodolfo Garcia. He made 12 starts in claiming events (priced as high as $40,000) at Calder that year. All four of his wins occurred that season, with three scored consecutively in September, October and November.
In 2007, he made one start for his original connections at Gulfstream Park in February and was claimed for $10,000 from his next two starts -- by William White for Pennston Farm in March and by Sherryl Meade for Lynn Acres in April -- before missing the rest of that year.
He toiled at Gulfstream for four starts at 5 in 2008, gradually dropping down the claiming ranks. Sent to the Penn National barn of Jose Martinez, Garcon d'Or made his first start outside Florida in May 2008 -- for a $3,500 claiming tag. After three more starts at the Grantville, Pa., track in 2008, his racing career ended with four wins, four seconds, a third and $40,091 in 23 starts.
There's no explanation as to how or why he ended up at New Holland, the Pennsylvania livestock auction. What Burns did know was that she was the new owner of a thin but handsome and charming 6-year-old with a sketchy knee. While there was no plan for a second career, Burns wanted more clarity on the condition. Extensive radiographs and a visit to Dr. Dean Richardson at New Bolton Center proved that Garcon d'Or had no history of fractures but was plagued by osteoarthritis.
"So Gee has a bit of a bum knee, and we just manage that. I have a bad back and he has a bad knee, so we made a great pair," Burns said. "Dr. Richardson said he could do very limited, maybe a 2-foot fence here and there, but I thought 'No.' And I'm certainly never going to sell him; he's my love.
"I did ride him a little bit and putzed around on him. If his knee had been better, I guarantee you he would have been a showstopper. He's got a lovely trot and he's just got that look. He's not real big, but he's put together. My focus at the time was with my other Thoroughbred, Dustin's Dreamer, who was so talented that I invested a lot of time and money taking him to horse shows."
Garcon d'Or soon found his niche at Burns' Boxwood Farm in Monkton, Md. As a Pimlico tour guide, Burns often met patrons from Sinai Hospital, the medical complex adjacent to the track. Patients and their families from Sinai's pediatric orthopedics program would come to Sunrise at Old Hilltop to enjoy the horses and take a break from the stress of treatments. One family, in Baltimore from Michigan with their young daughter, befriended Burns.
"Their daughter had one leg that was shorter than the other, and she has been through so many terrible surgeries," Burns said. "This little girl was really mesmerized by the horses, so I said, 'You need to come out to my farm before you go home.' They followed up and came out. She was fascinated with Gee, and he loved her."
Both geldings are extensions of Burns -- tireless ambassadors of the Thoroughbred. Dustin's Dreamer is more high profile, out and about at shows promoting the versatility of the breed. Garcon d'Or's stays home, but his generous temperament disproves the notion that ex-racehorses are untrainable hotheads.
"When you come into the barn, he's the one who is really friendly and so happy to see you," Burns said. "The average person knows very little about horses. Once they learn that Gee has a connection to Secretariat (broodmare sire Lion d'Or is by Secretariat out of 1970 Canadian Horse of the Year Fanfreluche) they don't even want to talk to Dreamer."
Garcon d'Or also has a particularly amusing quirk. When ridden, Burns said, he would constantly reach around to check out her feet in the stirrups, nuzzling her boots with his nose. And as soon as anyone enters his stall, he immediately drops his head to play with their shoes.
"He's completely obsessed with feet," she said. "But really, anytime anyone asks me if I'm interested in doing something to help promote Thoroughbreds, absolutely. Tell me what I can do and I'm happy to do it. If it's Thoroughbred-related, I'm all about it. That's my world."
In Memoriam
Maryland-bred Preemptive Strike, featured in this space in June 2024, died in December. The multiple steeplechase stakes winner and Maryland-bred champion was 27. The son of Roanoke won eight races, and placed in another 20, for owners Gail and Dixon Thayer and breeder Klo Carroll.
