|  Mike K’s resume is not very long, but it makes a compelling argument for his entry into the Hall of Fame.
The chestnut gelding had 20 races judiciously spaced over five seasons, and he won 13 of them. He was never worse than fourth and was never beaten by more than five lengths. He could have been called Honest Mike K.
Mike K was a dream come true for Bert Perry, who was introduced to racing as a youngster in Somerset, England, where his grandfather was a bookmaker. After coming to B.C. in 1951 he hustled for a living, managing farms, importing stallions, and cobbling together multi-owner partnerships. He was a consummate survivor.
He hit the jackpot when he bought the unraced Secreto mare Up Her Sleeve in foal to Restless Con for $5,000 in partnership with longtime friend Jim Thompson of Ridgeley Farm in California. The foal, Mike K, would eventually earn nearly a half million in Canadian dollars.
He is named after Mike Kwok, another Perry friend who rounded up more friends and formed an ownership group called Breakaway Stable.
Placed in the careful hands of trainer Alan Jack, Mike K made his first start in August of his three-year-old year. Tired of waiting for an allowance Perry and Jack risked him in a $32,000 claimer He won that event and finished his four-race campaign with two allowance victories.
Bucked shins and stifle problems at two and three and a mystery ailment in his hindquarters at four curtailed his activity to seven starts, but he blossomed as a five-year-old when he went to the post nine times.
At Hastings he captured the George Royal, Travelling Victor, Longden, Lt. Governor’s and Winston Churchill. He then was shipped to Emerald Downs where he battled on the pace to win the mile and 1/16th Budweiser by a head.
In a decision that baffled seasoned racegoers the Washington State Commission belatedly disqualified Mike K to second place after viewing a videotape of the race, alleging interference in the stretch. A disbelieving Perry had to send back the huge Budweiser Trophy.
One month after the Budweiser Mike K lost a half-length decision to Budroyale in the famed Longacres Mile. Budroyale, owned by Vancouver’s Jeffrey Sengara, would flatter that result by finishing second in the Breeders Cup Classic.
Mike K pulled a suspensory in his last start at five, a third place finish in the Premiers, and was sidelined for 20 months. It was a credit to the patience of Jack and Perry that in his first start he won the Independence Day Handicap at Emerald with a Beyer figure of 101. He returned a month later to win the B.C. Cup Sprint at Hastings and was sent off as the favorite in the Longacres Mile. In what would be his last start, he finished fourth behind Irisheyesareflying and Handy N Bold.
‘He pulled a suspensory again, this time higher up,’ recalls Perry. ‘We could have tried him again but we weren’t going to ruin him.’
Perry is now living a quiet life, tending to his vegetable garden on Vancouver Island and Mike K is learning to be a show horse under the care of Fred Ball.
‘It’s fun having a good horse,’ says Perry. ‘It made me like a banty rooster. It puffed me up and made me proud of myself.’
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