A journey to Japan in June by a USC Aiken group included a visit with 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, who now is a stallion in the Asian nation. “It was way to give back to the Aiken horse community to that has shown such support to the university and its programs,” said Dr. Judy Beck, who led the trip and is the dean of USC Aiken’s School of Education.
“[We wanted] to take our greetings, and peppermints, to Palace Malice and assure the Aiken community that their favorite horse is thriving in Japan.” Dogwood Stable campaigned Palace Malice, who spent time at the Aiken Training Track with Brad Stauffer and Ron Stevens of Legacy Stable before and during his competitive career. The 14-year-old bay horse captured seven of his 19 career races and earned $2,691,135.
In addition to the Belmont Stakes, which is the third leg of the Triple Crown for 3-year-old thoroughbreds, Palace Malice won the Metropolitan Handicap, Gulfstream Park Handicap, Jim Dandy Stakes, New Orleans Handicap and the Westchester Stakes. Palace Malice was the Aiken-trained Horse of the Year in 2013 and 2014. He entered stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky in 2016 and remained there through the 2023 breeding season.
Palace Malice stood his first season in Japan this year at Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashad al Maktoum’s Darley Japan, which is on the island of Hokkaido. Darley Japan is part of the global stallion operation of Sheikh Mohammed, who is the ruler of Dubai. “It was amazing,” said Beck of the visit with Palace Malice.
“He is a beautiful horse. For me, thinking about this is a piece of Aiken history and I’m able to see him in Japan, it was awesome.” Also in the group with Beck, she told the Aiken Standard, were five USC Aiken students and “community member” Sarah Taylor.
“We had a lot of fun,” Beck said. “They brought Palace Malice out [of his stall] like when they show the horse to potential customers (mare owners). We were able to take pictures, scratch his nose – that type of thing.
” In addition, Palace Malice was one of the several stallions that Beck and her group had the opportunity to watch cover mares (breed). They also received Palace Malice baseball-style caps as souvenirs “Just to be there with this very impressive horse that has ties to Aiken was really cool,” Beck said. The trip was a USC Aiken study abroad program.
“The intent was to go there and kind of compare American education with Japanese education – what were the similarities and what were the differences,” Beck said. “We interacted with the students who were learning English as a second language.” The USC Aiken group also went on culture excursions.
Taylor suggested a visit to Palace Malice, which involved flying from Tokyo to Hokkaido and back again. “It wasn’t part of the plan, but Sarah got us all excited about it,” Beck said. “Who doesn’t want to go see a stallion that was trained in your town and won the Belmont?” Taylor made the arrangements through connections she had made with Darley as a thoroughbred owner and breeder.
The visit with Palace Malice was “wonderful,” Taylor said. “He has matured [physically] as a stallion, but he was still very elegant looking like he was here [in Aiken] when he was in training.” Taylor took some Palace Malice memorabilia and pedigree information that Lisa Hall, coordinator of the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum, had put together for Darley Japan.
The late Cot Campbell was the founder and president of Dogwood Stable, which purchased Palace Malice for $200,000 at the 2012 Keeneland sale of 2-year-olds in training in Kentucky. Campbell, who was a pioneer in the development of thoroughbred racing partnerships, died in 2018..
