Fanfreluche Meet Dick Francis
From a small farm in Southern Kentucky to the European classics, the Curious Case of the Missing Mare unfolded like a mystery novel back in 1977, and although it was ultimately solved with an improbable, but happy, ending, there are still unanswered questions. This was big news back then, but the years have all but eroded the memory of the events that transpired. And then they ran last week’s Irish Derby, which oddly became the catalyst to tell this remarkable story once again.~ Steve Haskin
Fanfreluche Meet Dick Francis
By Steve Haskin
This is a horse racing story. It is also a crime story. It is also a mystery. It is also a story about family lineage. And it is a story about a classic-winning racehorse, a bizarre incident, and redemption.
If I mention the name L’On Vite it is unlikely many people will have ever heard it before. But this regally bred Thoroughbred filly who never even raced and was sold as a broodmare for only $90,000 despite her illustrious pedigree is the link that ties this story together.
We begin our story from just a slightly personal viewpoint. It was the summer of 1970. I had been hired as a copy boy at the old Morning Telegraph the previous October with the intention of eventually moving into the library as assistant librarian, which I did that winter.
The following summer, one of the highlights of the Saratoga meeting was the ’69 Canadian 2-year-old champion filly Fanfreluche, who at 3 had finished second in the prestigious Queen’s Plate, coming down to The Spa and winning its top race for fillies, the historic 1 1/4-mile Alabama Stakes. A month earlier, Fanfreluche, under jockey Ron Turcotte, had captured the Manitoba Centennial Derby, the first jewel of the Western Canadian Triple Crown, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. I remember that Alabama vividly because, as a novice, I had never seen or heard of a horse from Canada win such a major race in the United States other than 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Northern Dancer, the sire of Fanfreluche. And 1970 had been my first uneventful year in racing with the retirement of all my favorite horses — Damascus and Dr. Fager in ’68 and Arts and Letters and Gallant Bloom earlier in ’70.
I followed Fanfreluche’s career the rest of the year through several stakes wins and placings in the U.S. and Canada, right up until her final race in the Spinster Stakes, in which she was upset by Taken Aback, trained by, who else, Allen Jerkens. Fanfreluche concluded her career having finished in the money in 19 of her 21 starts and was named Horse of the Year in Canada and co-3-Year-Old Champion Filly in the United Stakes.
Fanfreluche with jockey Ron Turcotte aboard winning the 1970 Alabama Stakes.
She was retired to the famed Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where she had immediate success as a broodmare. Her first foal, a colt by Claiborne stallion Buckpasser, was named L’Enjoleur, who won the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, as well as the Laurel Futurity in the U.S. and was named Canadian Horse of the Year in 1974 and ’75. The following year, Fanfreluche produced a Le Fabuleux filly, L’Extravagant, who placed in the Canadian Oaks, followed by the filly Grand Luxe, by Sir Ivor, who won or placed in six stakes.
Her successful streak continued in 1975 with Le Voyageuse, by Tentam, who won or placed in 24 stakes and was named Canadian 3-Year-Old Champion, Champion Handicap Mare, and Champion Sprinter. Then in 1976, she produced her first of five foals by the great Secretariat, a colt named Medaiile d’Or, who won the Coronation Futurity and placed in five stakes.
In 1977, she was bred back to Secretariat and declared in foal. And that is where the heart of this story begins.
One afternoon that June, like any afternoon for the in-foal mares. Fanfreluche was out in the field grazing. But soon one of the Claiborne employees made a startling discovery. Fanfreluche was gone and nowhere to be found. The only clue was a portion of the fence that had been cut, leaving a gaping hole. Was it possible she had been kidnapped? Something like that was unheard of.
Fanfreluche’s owner Jean-Louis Levesque was notified, the Kentucky State Police were called in, and eventually the FBI. They waited for a ransom demand, but one never came. No contact whatsoever. A $25,000 reward was offered for any information that led to the whereabouts of Fanfreluche. The New York Times and Sports Illustrated picked up on the story. Days passed, then weeks, then months, and despite numerous tips, the 10-year-old mare, valued at $500,000 dollars and in foal to Secretariat, was still missing.
Then one day, about 150 miles south of Claiborne Farm outside the town of Tompkinsville near the Tennessee border, a person noticed a mare just standing by herself on the road. He went to see his neighbor Larry McPherson, who owned a farm, figuring the horse was one of his and had gotten loose. But McPherson had never seen her before and had no idea who she could be. He took her in and waited for her owner to come looking for her. He contacted the authorities, but they weren’t aware of any missing horses reported.
When it became obvious that no one was claiming the mare, McPherson integrated her in with his other mares. He named her Brandy and, like with several of his other horses, he let friends and family members ride her. She quickly became part of the family. It became obvious that Brandy was in foal, but there was no way of knowing who the sire was or the circumstances surrounding the mating.
Then, one day in December, there was a knock on his door. It was the FBI. They informed McPherson they had gotten a tip that a mare, believed to have been kidnapped, was spotted on his farm. A check of Brandy’s lip tattoo revealed that it was Fanfreluche. McPherson was never considered a suspect after telling his story. But imagine his surprise learning that Brandy, who his friends and family had been riding, was a champion Thoroughbred worth half a million dollars and was in foal to the world’s greatest and most famous racehorse.
Fanfreluche, aka “Brandy” shown with her temporary Tompkinsville farm family Larry and Sandra McPherson.
Fanfreluche returned to Claiborne Farm and checked out thoroughly by veterinarians, and was none the worse for wear. On February 16, 1978, she gave birth to a colt who was appropriately named Sain et Sauf, which is French for “safe and sound.” Unfortunately he wasn’t much of a racehorse, winning only three of his 18 starts and finishing out of the money 14 times. He would sire only 39 foals, with 14 of them making it to the racetrack. He sired one horse who earned over $100,000, and that was the New York-bred Right Wing Hot, who won six of his 17 starts.
Fanfreluche’s heralded foal, named Sain et Sauf, shown here “safe and sound” in his Bluegrass pasture.
As for Fanfreluche’s mysterious kidnapping, the police eventually were led to a known criminal named William Michael McCandless and issued an arrest warrant for him, but he turned himself in. Although he initially denied having annything to do with the kidnapping, he eventually was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. How Fanfreluche wound up 150 miles from Claiborne Farm is something we likely will never know. McCandless resurfaced 20 years after the kidnapping in 1997 when he was charged by a Federal Grand Jury in connection with at least three counts of sponging horses (stuffing their nostrils with sponges to impede oxygen intake) at Kentucky tracks in order to affect the outcome of a race for gambling purposes. After being indicted, McCandless disappeared before facing trial, and in 1999, despite being featured on the television series America’s Most Wanted, no further leads or information have surfaced to date.
Fanfreluche would wind up producing 18 foals and living until the age 32. Of her remaining Secretariat foals, she did produce a talented colt in D’Accord, who won the 1981 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Standing for the most part in New York, he did sire North East Bound, who earned over $1.3 million, winning five stakes, including the Meadowlands Cup, and was beaten only a neck in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Mile by War Chant at odds of 42-1.
Fanfreluche, shown here with Sain et Sauf, following her adventures and subsequent return to Claiborne Farm.
In 1986, Fanfreluche produced her last of five Secretariat foals, a filly named L’On Vite, who never made it to the races. As a broodmare. L’On Vite, after producing 10 foals, two of which were just decent horses in Australia and Japan, gave birth to a Danehill colt for Coolmore named Holy Roman Emperor, who would win two Group 1 stakes and place in two others. At stud, he became the broodmare sire of Newspaperofrecord, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at 2 in 2018 and the Grade 1 Just A Game Stakes at 4 for trainer Chad Brown and owner Klaravich Stables, who purchased her at the Tattersalls Sales in England as a yearling for $278,019.
The conclusion of this amazing story, for now at least, began at this year’s Epsom Derby, where the 3-1 favorite was Newspaperofrecord’s son Benvenuto Cellini. Unlike his dam and his sire Frankel, both bays with large white stars. Benvenuto Cellini resembled his broodmare sire Lope de Vega, a chestnut with a white blaze. The young colt’s striking appearance and that white blaze made him easy to follow as he captured a Group 2 stakes at Leopardstown by five lengths as a 2-year-old and was extremely impressive winning the Group 3 Chester Vase by 4 1/4 lengths in his final prep for the Epsom Derby.
A striking chestnut, Benvenuto Cellini is easily identified by his distinctive white blaze.
Out of the gate, things did not go as expected in the Derby when it became obvious that Benvenuto Cellini was not handling the bog-like conditions of the Epsom turf. His jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien’s No. 1 rider, could sense he was spinning his wheels. The colt finished in mid-pack and never threatened his stablemate, the victorious Christmas Day. But there was a bizarre twist to Benvenuto Cellini’s defeat, which was appropriate considering how bizarrely this story began.
As it turned out, unbenknownst to anyone watching, things had not gone well in the gate either. It was discovered after the start of the race that Benvenuto Cellini’s left hind leg, which he had lifted up, was stuck on the running board of the starting stall when the gates opened. Following a stewards’ inquiry, it was determined that the colt had been prevented from getting a fair start, denying him the opportunity to compete to the best of his ability. As a result, Benvenuto Cellini was declared a non-runner, as if the race never happened.
Now it was on to the Irish Derby. Moore was given the choice to ride Christmas Day or Benvenuto Cellini at The Curragh, and after meeting with O’Brien, he chose to stick with the latter, still believing the Epsom Derby favorite was O’Brien’s best horse and would redeem himself in better conditions at The Curragh.
In the Irish Derby, despite his Epsom defeat, Benvenuto Cellini, was again made the favorite. As the race unfolded, this time it was evident that the colt was moving with much more authority than he was at Epsom, as Moore settled him in fifth, well behind the O’Brien-trained pacesetter, Action. Turning for home, Christmas Day charged to the lead after taking over from Action. Moore swung Benvenuto Cellini to the outside and took dead-aim on his rival who was still going strong and put up a good fight until Benvenuto Cellini finally began to assert his superiority and drew clear to win by 1 ¾ lengths. O’Brien’s Pierre Bonnard closed well for third to provide a 1-2-3 finish for the red-hot trainer, who was winning his mind-boggling 18th Irish Derby, while completing a rare sweep of this year’s French, English, and Irish Derbys. Moore, O’Brien, and the bettors had been proven right, and in the end, Benvenuto Cellini ruled supreme in Europe’s 3-year-old division.
Benvenuto Cellini, with jockey Ryan Moore aboard, stride to the wire in the 2026 Irish Derby at The Curragh.
Looking ahead, O’Brien said if Benvenuto Cellini comes out of the race well he could go for the 1 1/2-mile King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in late July, and if he doesn’t, he could wait for the 1 1/4-mile Champion Stakes, also at Ascot in October. But, for his long-range goal, O’Brien said, “He’s such a beautiful mover and so slick over the grass, he would really be in his element in America and we think he could be a ready-made horse for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Classic.” He obviously means the Turf, but for those who want to think big, at one point he did say he could be trained for “one of those races in America.” Either way, the colt’s presence at Keeneland, less than 20 miles from where this story began so many years ago, would provide a fitting conclusion.
In the end, this was a strange turn of events, especially involving Europe’s top two classic races. But you can bet that no one at Epsom or The Curragh, including Benvenuto Cellini’s connections, have any idea that the unusual and controversial circumstances that unfolded were nothing compared to the turn of events that surrounded the colt’s great-great-great granddam nearly half a century ago.
When you think of Secretariat’s powerful influence on the breed, mainly through his daughters Weekend Surprise, Terlingua, and Secrettame, as well as Sister Dot, also remember the little known L’On Vite, who in only four generations is responsible for three individual Grade or Group 1 winners, including a European classic winner and a Breeders’ Cup winner. And all because someone’s tip prevented one of the sport’s great tragedies from happening and one of its most perplexing mysteries from going unsolved.
Photos courtesy of the Tony Leonard Collection, Tompkinsville News, Breeders’ Cup Ltd and RTE Sport.
Racing historian, author, and award-winning retired journalist for the Daily Racing Form and The Blood-Horse, Steve Haskin was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame’s Media Roll of Honor in 2016. Known for his racing knowledge and insightful prose, he has been an exclusive contributor to Secretariat.com since 2020.
Steve very interesting story.I remember when owners first started syndicating successful Stake horses the exorbitant prices some of them brought!Im sure there are some interesting stories to be told by some of those who bought a share know any?
Journalism returns to Del Mar sat with Umberto back on I’m really hoping for a big race 🙏
Thanks Steve for this great read… Have to agree with Lynda King this was a fascinating article. Have read Dick Frances… ” The Complete Treasury of Great Racing Stories ”
and have to say I like the way wove the intrigue into this one.
Have a great week Steve.
Haskell Memories ….
I took my small TV to work, for the 1987 Haskell….one of the best horse races I ever saw live—-Bet Twice, Alysheba, Lost Code….
1978 was Forty Niber holding off Seeking the Gold by a nose, Pat Day saying if Julie Krone doesn’t make an early move…he wins….and then Forty Nine proved it in The Travers–Two great races, in 1988—Haskelk and Travers two noses!..
That was 1988….one of the all time best Derby fields…then the two legendary Mid-Summer gr1s….both races are still important! 1988 had the Amazon Filly …and two very good rivals, from Claiborne and Phipps…
The 1980s get a little lost after the great horses of the 70s, but there was so much depth to those 80s crops, and they all kept showing up. The ones you mentioned, Broad Brush, Wise Times, Bryan’s Time, Posish Navy, so many others Ithat aren’t coming to me. Good memories.
I tuned in to the races at Saratoga today. The first race drew 6 two-year-old entrants and scratched down to just five.
The second race for 2-year-old fillies drew 7 entrants and scratched down to just six.
It’s kind of early in the meet to get such short fields for 2-year-old races.
The H*** We Did is entered in the Iowa Derby tonight at Prairie Meadows. He could be worth a bet at 9-2 on the morning line. Coming back after a poor run in the Preakness at Laurel. The mile and a sixteenth should suit him better. He will have to beat the heavily favored Desert Gate trained by BB. No monsters in this race IMO.
Correction: that second race drew 8 entrants and scratched down to seven.
The Indiana Derby tomorrow….has a one time starter that really looked good…Leading Change—morning line is 5-1, I’ll be surprised if he fetches all of that—he came home in :35 4/5, in his lone start…galloping out very strong…I read where he worked strong, with Brad’s top three year old, making me wonder if this guy might be something special .
Excellent read Steve I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pemit me to ask a dumb question.
Is Fanfreluche in anyway perhaps related to Landaluche.
Thank you, I hope your summer is being kind to you.
William: Do you remember a low or mid level stake horse back in the 1960s named First Mate. My dad had anopportunity to buy him but it didn’t work.
I loved the 1960s & 1970s with Southern California racing.
Real Good Deal, Terry’s Secret, Dotted Swiss, Clandestine, Mr. Consistency, Gummo, Prove It & my favorite fill back then Silver Spoon. Then Ruffian came along and stole my heart.
No “h” in Landaluce. Pronounced Landalucy.
This is great, and I loved the accompanying photos. I am left with a lot of questions, though! Is the prevailing thought that McCandless wanted ransom money? He couldn’t have registered the colt. Why do men with two first names cause so much trouble?
How many people can say they’ve ridden a reine-de-course just for fun? Bless that mare for tolerating a bit she’d never thought about in her life, til she landed in TN. Only in Appalachia.
I wonder why no one thought to flip that girl’s lip up and look for a tattoo? Maybe there’s more to the old “gift horse in the mouth” saying than I ever considered. How patently Scotch-Irish: never turn it down or look real close if it’s “free!”
Steve….Forever Young and Nysos remain, from that great 2021 crop….THe 2022 crop is still represented by many—with big question marks about Sovereignity and Journalism, I thought J did well at Oaklawn, but he had the perfect trip and was outrun—his Met Mile was over a Saratoga track that did not have wide closers all day, I gave him a mulligan, BUT—these two need a big win!agnitude isn’t going away, he has benefitted from easy and lonely leads…but a good horse makes his own luck! Baeza is Baeza….he is the “one of these days” horse…..but the second half of the 2026 racing season approaches, with great anticipation! An abundance of older quality! We need a big race, with a solidly contested pace….a larger field, and that may not come, until Keeneland in November, the Whitney and San Diego are coming up, with The Woodward and Pacific Classic on deck, to sort things out….
30 day suspension, for Paco Lopez, whose filly clipped heels and went down, causing a chain reaction….for clipping heels ….
Will that mean Napoleon Solo will need a new rider?
Paco has appealed and that means that he is in no danger of losing the mount on Napoleon Solo in the Haskell on July 18th. Even if the suspension is in effect, I believe that stakes races are excluded from suspension?
“exempt” from suspension?
Busy time for me and I just got around to reading this post, 4 days post publication. Wow! Edge of my seat storytelling! Thank you once again Steve!
Great fill-in info for the many pieces of this story I did not know about, especially what happened to Benvenuto Cellini in the starting gate. I had started watching him because of his dam Newspaperofrecord.
Fascinating!
Thank you Steve.
Also, always enjoy reading about Secretariat’s progeny!
. A great story. I think the heroes of the piece are the McPherson family. Very bad things can happen to a horse abandoned beside a highway, but the McPhersons rescued her, took her to their home, gave her food and shelter, and made her part of the family. If they hadn’t responded with kindness, it’s possible that none of the horses mentioned in this article would have ever existed. It must have been very difficult for them to say good-bye to Brandy, but I hope they were able to enjoy the accomplishments of all the descendants whose lives they may have made possible.
Great comment, Jiffy.
Thank you.
Interesting story as I remember Fanfreluche!
A fantastic story! I did remember Fanfreluche and the kidnapping. I didn’t remember the details but I did remember her being found on the road in Tennessee. The rest of the story is remarkable – you can’t make this stuff up. Another probably more famous kidnapping, that of Shergar, didn’t end well, but thankfully this one did. Steve, I’m so glad you’re doing all this research for us and gifting us with these wonderful stories week after week – I so look forward to your column.
The popular Quarter Horse gelding Town Policy was stolen, and eventually found in Mexico, underweight but OK, and he came back and won several stakes races…..that was a “good ending”…Epsom Derby winner Shergar was also stolen, I’m not sure if his mystery was ever solved….
Very sad news: Mary Rampellini of the DRF has died of sepsis at only 53. Everyone who knew her said she was a very kind soul. I enjoyed the care she took with her writing and handicapping — especially at Oaklawn, where she usually had amazingly good win statistics on her picks. I will miss her voice, especially during the spring season at Oaklawn. Condolences to everyone in her family.
Yes, Ms Blacktype this is sad indeed. She really loved the sport and so young to be taken from us.
Another sad story is the passing of Bayern in Korea. Just a “Brilliant” speedster. He needed surgery for a hernia he developed and then after surgery he developed colic and they couldn’t save him. RIP to both.
I truly enjoyed this historical documentary and the way it was so well written.
To put it as kindly as I possibly can, William Michael McCandless sounds like a real piece of………………………work.
I will try to remember Benvenuto Cellini when the Breeders Cup rolls around. I think that the Breeders Cup Turf falls on Halloween this year. I better write that name down.
Quite a story.
If I was kicking myself for missing the Irish Derby this weekend, I’m now slapping myself over the head, if only because I missed a chance to watch the remarkable Benvenuto Cellini win that race. I totally missed that his start in the Epsom Derby was hampered by the gate. But I’m getting ahead of myself: I’ve always loved Fanfreluche, who not only was a major winner in Canada, but so brilliant she took the Alabama in the United States as well. I’ve always loved her name and she figures in the pedigrees of so many wonderful horses. But if I ever knew she had been kidnapped, I had totally forgotten it! Great story and really well told, Steve.
Steve Haskins is, in my opinion, one of America’s foremost racing storytellers. Steve can weave a story through such racing knowledge and history that you are almost dumbfounded by his detail.
Thanks Steve for this great history lesson. You are my favorite weaver of racing lore.
That is very kind of you David. Thank you so much .
What an incredible story! Thank you, Steve. I remember Fanfreluche from what must have been the 1970 season of the APBA Saddle Racing game.
Benvenuto Cellini is quite a handsome fellow. It would be great to see a descendant of the Secretariat/Fanfreluche mating take the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
I had APBA cards from 71′-84. The best board game ever
I even made my own racetracks. Belmont was my favorite.
What an amazing story! I remembered the name Fanfreluche but couldn’t recall why; now I know! I wonder what she thought of all that happened to her? Looking at her in the “Brandy” photo, you’d never guess she was a champion racehorse. Thanks also for Benvenuto Cellini’s story. I didn’t know about him before, but now I’m hoping he’ll come over and run in the BC Turf!
Being I was without power from 6pm Friday till 10pm last night. The gusts were dropping trees and limbs like King Kong moving thru the jungle. My usual routine of watching Masterpiece Mystery on the weekend was out the window. This piece made up for a dark weekend literally in racing terms and life itself! I did break out Davidovitz’s Betting Thoroughbreds and reread it by battery flashlight. Thanks Steve!
Excellent visual with King Kong.😊
Hi Steve, I haven’t commented in quite a while, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading. LOL I so remember Fanfreluche and the bizarre story of her disappearance. I did not know that she was the dam of L’Enjoleur, who I also remember well. How did I miss that??? I also did not know about the link to Benvenuto Cellini. Thanks for the trip down memory lane AND the pedigree update to the Irish Derby winner.
Hope you stop by again.
More evidence that racing has the best stories. I’m glad this one wasn’t lost, at least for those of us who come here each weekl
Well, dam! Bloodlines are a key link in the Thoroughbred industry.
Has the pleasure of seeing Aidan O’Brien at The Currah in the spring of 2025. Fascinating to watch him in the paddock; my handicapping suffered because I wasn’t paying attention to the runners.
Magnificent story. I remember the abduction story (when newspapers used to report horse related goings-on). This truly wraps up the saga with a pretty bow. Thanks so much for the update!
I appreciate it. Thank you.
Well that was a FABULOUS read! I lived through Fanfreluche’s race career, abduction, and recovery… She was a great racer and I always loved her. I don’t follow European racing much, and I had NO IDEA that Benvenuto Cellini was a descendant. That is so cool. Thanks for bringing it all back.