Clever Trevor Statue 'Ultimate Compliment' For Gutsy Gelding

Clever Trevor winning the  inaugural Oklahoma Derby
(Reed Palmer/Remington Park)

When Clever Trevor entered Donnie Von Hemel’s barn as a 2-year-old in 1988, he showed exceptional talent that had those working with him if perhaps they had gotten an older horse.

“After a couple weeks we were all thinking ‘this might actually be a 3-year-old because there are no 2-year-olds that can hang with him,’” Von Hemel said. “Of course when we got the foal papers in and made sure everyone was who they were and thought ‘I think we got ahold of something here’. I don’t know that we imagined he’d be a Grade 1 winner or anything like that but we felt he was going to be a very nice horse and boy did he fulfill.”

Clever Trevor was about to take his connections on the ride of a lifetime over the next five seasons, winning six of his starts at two before stepping up to the national level and finishing a good second in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby. A Kentucky Derby runner in 1989, Clever Trevor went on to win the Grade 1 Arlington Classic two starts later after a victory in the Grade 2 GMC Saint Paul Derby. After finishing second to Easy Goer in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, he ended his year in Canada in the Molson Export Million.  

A versatile runner in his career, Clever Trevor cut back to sprints later in his career and ran in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He ran four times in 1992 and ended his career at Arlington Park – the same place he’d won his Grade 1 – when finishing second by a nose in the Grade 2 Washington Park Handicap. Clever Trevor retired with earnings of $1.3 million in his 30 start career to become the second Oklahoma-bred to hit the $1-million mark.

For Von Hemel, who had just been training for five years when Clever Trevor came into his life, the gelding was a life-changer.

“It can’t be overstated [how important Clever Trevor was to my career]. For a young trainer to have a horse like him and take us all to the places he did, it’s immeasurable. He meant so much,” he said.

The gelding also played an important part in Remington Park’s early success with his three Remington stakes victories as a 2-year-old coming in the track’s opening season. Clever Trevor made six starts at the track with four victories and helped put the track on the map.

On Sunday, he will be acknowledged for his success with one of the highest compliments a horse can get in racing – a statue placed in the saddling paddock. Sculptor Lisa Perry, who also created Remington’s Jack Brooks statue, worked off of photos of Clever Trevor to make sure she caught the uniqueness of the gelding, even two years after his death.

“It’s pretty exciting because I’ve been involved in the racing industry for some many years and they have the option of hiring whoever they want,” Perry said of being commissioned to create the statue. “So I consider those quite a compliment that they pick me. When I do a large piece of a particular horse, I try to pick out aspects of that horse that I might slightly exaggerate so when people look at it they recognize that horse and don’t just see a sculpture of a generic horse. It’s in [Clever Trevor’s] head type and body structure.”

For Von Hemel, being able to see a statue of the horse who made his career every time he enters the paddock is a large compliment.

“It’s probably the ultimate compliment for him and the people who were fortunate enough to be around him, owner/breeder then myself and my crew and everybody that got to ride him,” he said. “It’s humbling that you got to be a part of him and I think he meant so much to me and Remington and Oklahoma racing that I think it’s fitting.”

As for Clever Trevor, even though he retired in 1992 he still got excited every time he heard something that reminded him of Remington, up until his death in 2016.

“If you had the radio on and the Remington commercial – the call to the post or something – came on he’d get on his toes a little bit still even in his later life,” Von Hemel chuckled.

The Clever Trevor statue is scheduled to be unveiled on Sunday - the final day of Remington Park’s 2018 meet.