Old Topper winning the Pat O'Brien Handicap, August 1998.
Old Topper, a graded stakes winner of over $650,000, was retired after suffering a tendon injury. The 5-year-old horse, by Gilded Time--Shy Trick, by Phone Trick, won seven of 25 lifetime starts including the 1997 Best Pal Stakes (gr. III) and 1998 Pat O'Brien Stakes (gr. III). He won the last start of his career, an allowance race at Del Mar on Aug. 28. Old Topper was trained by 89-year-old Noble Threewitt. He was bred by Frances Jelks, who left him in her will to Central Kentucky horsewoman Barbara Hunter, who raced him throughout his career.
