Stallions: Revival: Revival Story

It’s Revival Time

July, 1994. At the Red Mile Racetrack in Lexington, Ky., the Junior League Horse Show was in full swing. The second largest event in the American Saddlebred world, it often saw the debut of young contenders with talent meant for headlines. It was a time when money changed hands and horses changed barns—but buyers had to be quick. It was standing room only for the good ones.

And so actor William Shatner, a longtime owner, breeder and exhibitor, and his trainer, Donna Moore, arranged to see one prospect at night, after the show was over. They even waited until after the late practice works had been finished; the lights were off when they stepped onto the track and watched Jim Koller ride out on a chestnut three-year-old that belonged to Stonecroft Farm. The colt had won in fine harness at Indiana, and was exhibiting potential under saddle.

“In the dim light of the moon and the headlights of cars, we watched this horse work,” Shatner recalls. “I knew instantaneously that I should buy him.”

It was a prophetic decision and one that Bill Shatner has never regretted. In the show ring, Revival logged 26 wins, including seven World’s Championships and a reserve. For years, Shatner and his stallion practically owned the Fine Harness World’s Championship for Amateur Gentlemen, and in 1999 and 2002, they went on to win the overall Amateur Fine Harness World’s Championship too.

Now Revival is focused on his breeding career, and if all indications are to be believed, history may repeat itself. He was good in the show ring, but he is proving even more important as a sire.

Why has Revival attracted attention ever since he came out? That’s easy, say the many Saddlebred fans who have watched him over the years. His bold, high trot originates in powerful hocks that allow him almost to curl under himself as he drives forward, making his high head set and animated step look easy. Add to that, he is flat beautiful.

“He was one of the greatest horses I ever worked,” reflects Melissa Moore, who took over training the stallion from her mother in 2000. “He’s probably one of the most athletic horses I’ve ever handled; he drove off his rear end like no other horse I’ve had, except for some of his offspring. He’s passing that along—they have a tremendous back end.”

“Above and beyond that, living with him every single day, he’s a wonderful horse to be around,” adds Bob Battalgia, who manages Revival’s breeding career at Battaglia Farm in Scottsdale, Az. “He’s a great personality and a trusting soul. But when he goes out to work, he’s 100 percent business. Every single day of his life, his work ethic is above reproach.”

The whole package—Revival as a show horse and a sire—is easily understood. Linebred Supreme Sultan, he has the impressive looks of his pedigree—balanced, correct conformation with classic refinement and a long neck that makes it natural for him to set his head. Matching each Sultan line are old, athletic names known for performance, such as Anacacho Denmark, Anacacho Shamrock and Kalarama Rex. His granddam CHDream Waltz, a full sister to six-time World’s Grand Champion CHWing Commander, was a World’s Grand Champion herself, as well as a member of the American Saddlebred Broodmare Hall of Fame.

Revival in the ring

From the very beginning, Revival has made things easy for his connections. Breeder John Scheidt, who owns Stonecroft Farm with Don Spear, remembers being on the telephone when he glanced out the window and saw one of their broodmares break her water. “I’ve got to go,” he said hastily, “Grace is about to foal!”

It was noon—not a time he was used to attending foaling. The Supreme Spirit mare Amazing Grace, in foal to Sultan’s Santana, was standing near the broodmare barn. “We walked her in and she popped him right out,” Scheidt says bemusedly. No muss, no fuss, no problem. They named him Revival, playing on his dam’s name.

The colt matured well, with such poise and intelligence that as a weanling, they sent him to the World’s Championships. With Nelson Green on the lead, Revival was a Reserve World’s Champion Weanling.

At the age of three, the young stallion came out in harness, but was perfectly willing to go under saddle. In fact, when Bill Shatner signed his check, he envisioned taking the horse walk/trot. But the fine harness talent was too much to be ignored, and Shatner, more often seen in the saddle in those days, found that driving Revival was an experience all its own. Spectators remember the sight of the powerful red stallion charging down the straightaway, Shatner perched as a pilot in the buggy. The pleasure reverberates in Bill’s voice when he recalls it.

“For a year or two, Revival was very light on the bridle,” he says. “The touch you needed was very, very light; he would never grab the bit. And then gradually he began to lean on it a little more, which was what I wanted. And finally, he really gripped me, and I was able to hold him together and let him go—it was that balancing act that all riding and driving becomes, between shaking a horse up and letting him bear down on you. In our first [Amateur World’s Championship], he just plowed through the ground. It was extraordinary. He had caught the excitement, as I had, and it was the most thrilling moment driving that I’ve ever had.”

“Everything was so easy for him,” Melissa Moore says. “He was game, but he wasn’t run-off game. He was proud of what he did. He liked to show off.” With Shatner’s professional schedule, Revival did not show every week. His appearances were often at only the most competitive shows. Louisville and Lexington were regular stops, and

Reproducing Revival

Whenever a good show stallion retires, there is the hope that he will sire offspring with his caliber of talent. Revival’s entourage, almost to a person, was not just hopeful but certain that he would. Due the stallion’s temperament, they didn’t have as long to wait as they might have.

“He was one of those stallions that allowed you to breed and show him at the same time,” Melissa says. “He started covering mares three years prior to his last show in 2002.” So agreeable was Revival that he would be breeding right up until he got on the van to go to some of his biggest shows.

He got a wide variety of mares—and owners began reporting that he stamped his good characteristics where they were appreciated. In particular, breeders who referred to their mares’ temperaments as “crazy” liked the tractable attitudes of the Revival foals.

“He puts a good mind on them and gives them good behavior,” Melissa observes. “He also puts on a long, hingey neck. And any horse that we bred him to, he helped their back end tremendously.”

“I believe he’s needed because he is so strong off his read end,” agrees Bob Battaglia. “And has one of the most incredible necks and shoulders I’ve ever seen. Not to mention his personality. He blows and snorts and wants to go to work every time, and he’s not hard at all—he’s easy to train.”

One Revival mare currently attracting attention is Our Fallen Angel, now in her second year of showing. After appearing in both park and fine harness, she has settled into three-gaited park and is consistently at the top of her class. “From what I understand, her mother was kind of hot and spicy,” trainer Rob Byers comments. “Revival probably gave her some sense. Most of the horses I’ve seen by him have his expression, and she has that. He’s loaded with talent, and she’s got it too. She’s one of those horses that you look forward to work because she doesn’t give you any problem.”

John Conatser is equally enthusiastic about his Revival youngster, Mother Mary, a 2002 mare out of Mother Superior. “She’s a beautiful mare,” Conatser says. “Her topline reminds you a lot of Revival. He has a beautiful head, ear and eye, just like this filly does.”

Last year, Mother Mary won at the Kentucky State Fair as a Two-Year-Old In Hand Amateur with Kenneth Wheeler, and added the ASB Sweepstakes for Two-Year-Old Three Gaited with Smith Lilly. This year, she has won with both Conatser and amateur Gabe Deknatel, and is highly regarded in both Fine Harness and Park Pleasure.

“She’s versatile and she’s just a good thinking filly,” Conatser says. “She’s real easy to be around.”

“Everything we’ve had by him has been very game,” notes John Scheidt. Stonecroft mares have been sent to Revival since the stallion was offered at stud.

Two of Scheidt’s favorites have been Joyous and Theology. A Reserve World’s Champion Weanling, Joyous enjoyed a brief career in performance (with a third at Louisville) before being retired to the Stonecroft broodmare band. Theology, John’s country pleasure driving gelding, is out of DJ’s Lady Chatterly. “He’s such an incredibly honest, nice horse,” Scheidt says. “He’s got a lot of quality and wonderful motion—beautiful back end. He’s a blast to hook.”

“He is the most beautiful of stallions,” says Bill Shatner of his horse. “He has great motion and spirit, and he stamps his babies with exactly that. He’s turning out to be a great breeding stallion—he’s reproducing himself. You don’t know that till he gets some colts on the ground.”

With 78 registered foals on the ground as of January 2005, Revival now is the sire of 14 ribbon winners at the Kentucky State Fair and 11 futurity ribbon winners. There are enough now that the group includes not only consistent, reliable winners in difficult competition, but also enough top-level contenders to put him in the rarefied ranks of the stallions to watch as a source of lasting influence.

One of the latest to put his name up in lights is Gothic Revival, out of a daughter of Comedienne. Bred by Melissa Moore and foaled in Kentucky, he grew up in England, and returned to the United States only this spring. He recently debuted with a win in Junior Fine Harness at Harrodsburg, sending a buzz through the Bluegrass—he was a “freak.” Trainer and joint owner Lionel Ferreira is a little more technical. “He wears an overcheck like you always want a harness horse to wear one,” relates Ferreira. “The more you check him, the more he wears it. He never touches it; he can tuck back more than any horse I’ve ever had.

“His back end is his big strength—he has more hocks than I’ve ever seen on a horse. He has a huge back end. Another strong point is that he has a huge amount of expression. He’s a little feisty now because he had to breed mares during quarantine and he’s only three years old, but he’s not mean. He’s just lively. He’s very game and very forward-going.”

And like his sire, Gothic Revival is already going under saddle.

Aiming for history

There are those rare individuals for whom the superlatives are not hype—those for whom the word ‘genuine’ was invented. Looking back on that dark night at Lexington, Bill Shatner is satisfied with his assessment of Revival. “He’s the best harness horse I’ve ever driven,” he says of the stallion. “He’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

Now he envisions the Revival colts and fillies that will be his partners in the future. “You know what they say about horsemen. I’m always looking forward to the foal crops in the spring.”

Shatner wasn’t the only one who sensed something special in the talented colt. At Lexington that week, owners and trainers and just plain fans all over the showground affirmed his judgment. One of the industry’s publications was canvassing the crowd, asking what had been most memorable about the show, and the answers were startlingly repetitive: “The three-year-old fine harness class—that stud Jim Koller was driving.”

“That fine harness colt, the chestnut three-year-old.”

“Revival.”

“Revival.”

“Revival.”

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