Eddie Gran’s latest sporting achievement? Horse of the Year owner.
It’s fitting that a horse named Test of Faith would give Eddie Gran his latest victory, as he was tested considerably over the last 18 months or so.
The 3-year-old filly was named Horse of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association during its awards banquet Sunday evening in Orlando, Fla. Gran, a staffer for the University of Kentucky football team, is a part owner along with Melvin Segal and Kentuckiana Farms. Test of Faith has won 22 of her 25 starts, including 14 of 16 in the last year. She finished second in every other instance. Over the course of the last year, Test of Faith earned $1.06 million.
“She’s a great closer,” Gran said of the filly, bred by Frederick Hertrich III and by Art Major out of Cannae Cammie. “She likes to sit back a little bit, and when you get to that last quarter, she’s had some unbelievable finishing times. She just rips past people. I think she just loves to compete, she loves to win.”
Gran was relieved of his duties as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator following the 2020 regular season after five years, all resulting in bowl appearances. He was key in what had been, up to that point, UK’s only season with a double-digit win total since the 1970s, and he was generally well-liked by the fan base. UK’s offense in his tenure struggled to generate much of anything in the passing game, however, and that eventually caught up with the Wildcats on the recruiting trail.
Following that season, Gran was unable to land a coaching job elsewhere and remained on the outskirts of college football until September, when he was brought back to UK in an off-the-field role: special assistant to the head coach. It was evident, even soon after his dismissal, that Gran enjoyed Lexington and UK.
“Me coming back, that was a business decision, Gran said. “That was me wanting to be with Mark Stoops and to have a chance to still be at Kentucky.”
Remaining in central Kentucky also had the added perk of staying close to his comrades in the horse business, with which he became fascinated early during his tenure at UK. He became part owner in a couple of horses along with Kentuckiana Farms and, said Gran, “probably the worst thing that can happen” happened: they were successful.
Kenny Jackson, an owner/partner of Kentuckiana Farms and a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, calls Gran a “good luck charm.” He convinced him to get aboard as a part owner in Test of Faith a few years after easing him into the Standardbred game.
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Jackson was in New Jersey the night that Gran and some UK coaches attended races at Lexington’s harness track, The Red Mile, for the first time. Two of the horses in which Gran had a 5-percent stake raced that night.
“They both won in a rainstorm and they all won a ton of money, they all bet ‘em,” Jackson said. “I was on the telephone with him and they were going crazy. When he walked out of the track, he called me and said, ‘Kenny, that’s the most unreal feeling. It’s literally the same feeling I get for a big football game.’”
Kentucky is renowned globally for its Thoroughbreds — the horses that race in events like the Kentucky Derby — but harness racing, which sees horses pull a two-wheeled cart at either a pace or trot, remains popular around the world. It has experienced local revitalization thanks to the rise of historical racing machines; Jackson said he can’t recall a time since he’s been involved that people have been as interested in talking about Standardbred horses.
Gran’s hooked. Test of Faith’s success over the last year begs just one more question: How does she measure up to Lynn Bowden, whom Gran coached to consensus All-America status in a trying 2019 season that saw UK lose two of its starting quarterbacks?
“That’s a dang good question,” Gran said. “I think Lynn Bowden. Everybody in the country knew he was running the ball on every snap. That was probably as impressive as anything I’ve ever seen as a football coach.”
