One was an attractive roan Thoroughbred gelding with 12 race starts as a 3-year-old. He never placed higher than fourth. The lanky gelding won a touch more than $1,400 before retiring, and I met him as a fleabitten gray nine years later on a farm in Northern Virginia.

The other is a striking chestnut gelding that retired at 8 years old a bit more decorated. His first graded stakes win came when he was 5 É it would be three more years before he and I would meet. He raced with some well-known jockeys in the irons, such as Rosie Napravnik and the late Michael Baze, and he amassed 51 starts and winnings of nearly $696,000 by his retirement in July 2014.