This doctor has just the cure for what ails you

Spend 30 or 45 minutes talking to Dr. Jack Robbins, president and founding director of the Oak Tree Racing Association, and you'll come away with a ton of stories and memories of what it was like on the backsides of Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar during the good old days.

Robbins, one of the most respected men who ever worked in the horse racing industry and one of its best veterinarians until his retirement 25 years ago, has a ton of stories about the all-time great horses he cared for, all the legendary trainers he came in contact with during his career and the memorable jockeys during the golden era.

He remembers gelding the great Native Diver and Ancient Title, recalls working for John Longden when the Hall of Fame jockey trained 1969 Kentucky Derby winner Majestic Prince. Recalls Robbins: "I had a great time with (Longden and Majestic Prince). I was supposed to go back to the Derby with him, but I had a previous engagement. I wish I could have gone back."

He vividly recalls arguably the most popular gelding of the past 50 years, John Henry, although he didn't make much money caring for the cantankerous champion.

"John Henry was a horse where, and I've been quoted before saying this, if you had a barn full of John Henrys, (a vet) would starve to death," Robbins said. "He was sound almost all of his life except for an occasion or two."

He also has fond memories of Calumet Farms, which campaigned in the West in the late '40s and early '50s.

"When I took care of Citation out here (1950) and Calumet (Farms) was on the West Coast, Citation had a low bow (tendon) they had to play with pretty carefully. He was never the same horse while he was out here when Noor was beating him as he was when he was a 3-year-old.

"Calumet, when they had their string out here, it was something to behold. I mean, they had 40 horses and the first three were all champions in their own right. It was kind of a pleasure to be around those horses."

Of the great Charlie Whittingham, Robbins said: "He was a very good, dedicated kind of a horseman. Every evening he'd go down with his hands and examine each of his horses, see which ones ached and which ones were slow eating and things of that sort. He was a very thorough horseman."

Robbins also dabbled in ownership for a while, co-owning a horse named Most Host, who upset the great Damascus in the 1968 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita.

"It was a muddy race track and we just got lucky," he said. "The horse loved that kind of a track and he came on and beat Damascus by a nose. I'll never forget that day because Bob Strub (Santa Anita president) had the Damascus family in the winner's circle -- they were pretty ancient and couldn't move around very fast -- and they were in the winner's circle before the race. It was a little embarrassing."

Robbins also co-owned a filly named Honeys Gem, who he said they bought for a song before she went on to win the Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park and the Bevery D Stakes at Arlington Park in 1959. She was eventually sold for what at the time was a world record price for a broodmare -- $137,000.

"She'd bring back millions of dollars today," he said. "I think the Arabs have stimulated the prices a whole lot, plus some of these ego-maniac owners."

Perhaps some of those same owners whom his son, trainer Jay Robbins, has parted ways with in the past.

"Jay's only problem is he can't take owners that tell him what to do," Jack Robbins said. "He's fired more good opportunities than he's preserved over the years."

Maybe so, but Jay's dad has more than made up for it by preserving so many golden memories.