LaPenta Gives Thanks for Dr. Saikali

In the course of more than two decades as an owner, Robert LaPenta has sent about 2,000 starters to the racetrack.

He's owned champions such as War Pass, Uni , and Whitmore .

He's won the Belmont Stakes (G1) twice with Da' Tara and Tapwrit   and the Travers Stakes (G1) with Catholic Boy  .

But of all the horses he has ever owned, none have been as meaningful as one who is racing for him now and is winless in two career starts

Welcome to the heartwarming story of Dr. Saikali .

A 2-year-old son of Bolt d'Oro  , Dr. Saikali has just a pair of fourth-place finishes for trainer Brad Cox and LaPenta and co-owner Sol Kumin of the Madaket Stables partnership.

He is currently getting some time off in hopes of an improved 3-year-old campaign befitting of the role his namesake played in LaPenta's life.

"Right now this horse means so much to me," LaPenta said. "He brings me back to a time in my life when I desperately needed help and I received it."

The name generates so much emotion for LaPenta since six years ago it was Dr. Peter Saikali's diagnosis which saved LaPenta's life, and to this day the prominent owner and businessman remains thankful for an incredible chain of events.

"I've told Brad we need to get this horse into the winner's circle to make this story complete," the 77-year-old LaPenta said.

What formed the bond between Saikali and LaPenta reads like the script for a television medical drama. 

"People are probably wondering why a horse is named after someone nobody knows but the story is nuts, especially when you hear what Bob went through," Saikali said. "It's an inspirational story for everyone. It's proof that miracles can happen."

It all started in March of 2018 when LaPenta fell ill. His condition worsened and the Westport, Conn., resident was taken to nearby Norwalk Hospital. There a team of doctors diagnosed LaPenta with a case of pneumonia, but none of the medications he received worked.

His body was ravaged as his fever reached 106 degrees and his heart rate topped at 180 beats per minute. 

Doctors were uncertain if LaPenta could survive the night.

As the situation grew dire with each passing hour, Saikali, then a third-year resident at Norwalk Hospital, was checking one of LaPenta's medical charts when he overheard a conversation between LaPenta and his son, Rob. 

They mentioned a meeting and when Saikali heard that word his mind raced back to his days at medical school and a deadly disease he read about. He ordered a test and the result came back positive.

Saikali solved the mystery of LaPenta's sickness.

He had Legionnaires' disease.

A new round of antibiotics were administered and LaPenta's condition quickly improved. 

Saikali saved his life.

"The sequence of events were very unusual," said Saikali, who now lives in Portsmouth, N.H. "Bob's life was slipping away when I heard about a meeting and that clicked in my mind. As it turned out, that was it. Legionnaires' disease can be deadly if not treated quickly and it requires an antibiotic we do not routinely go to first. He just needed a switch of medicines and he flipped 180 degrees."

A potentially deadly form of pneumonia, Legionnaires' disease was first diagnosed after an outbreak at a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia killed 29 people. At the time, LaPenta was told he may have come into contact with the disease from staying at a house in which the water had been turned off for a lengthy period and bacteria built up in the pipes.

"Those were horrible days at the hospital," LaPenta said, "but what Dr. Saikali did was the turning point that saved my life."

After he returned home, LaPenta told Saikali that in thanks for his lifesaving efforts he would name one of his horses after him. It took more than five years, but finally LaPenta found the perfect horse to carry the name of Saikali in the Bolt d'Oro colt out of the Awesome Again mare Sapphire Spitfire who was purchased for $400,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

"I waited more than five years for the right horse to come around. I wanted to put the name on a special horse," LaPenta said. "And I thought he'd be the right one. He got such great reviews at the farm and Brad gave him a B-plus, A-minus rating."

For Saikali, when he learned about the Oct. 6 debut at Keeneland and fourth-place finish by his namesake, he was overcome with emotion.

"It is so inspiring and uplifting that Bob remembered me and kept the promise me made to name a horse after me. No matter how the horse performs I am humbled that he followed through with it. Usually in the field of medicine, you get people with empty promises and you never hear from them again. But Bob is such a genuinely good person," Saikali said. "Reading the message that Dr. Saikali was running, I was in awe. I got goosebumps. I've had some negative emotions in my life recently and to know someone is thinking about you and doing something as kind as this is a tremendous feeling."

Like LaPenta, Saikali is fervently rooting for his namesake to live up to his potential when he returns to the races.

"One day when Bob thinks it's the right time I'd love to see him run and bring my daughters," said Saikali, a regional director for hospital medicine for HCA Valesco in New Hampshire and a hospice director for Cornerstone VNA. "I have two beautiful girls (Marlee and Alessia) and one day I would love to have them hear about how their dad and his friend Bob came to this very unusual friendship."

At the moment, all of the hopes attached to the equine Dr. Saikali, who was fourth in a Nov. 3 maiden race at Churchill Downs as the 2-1 favorite, are on pause. Yet Cox is hopeful the time off will be the perfect elixir for the 2-year-old.

"I think he's OK. He has some ability," Cox said. "His first start went OK. He's a big horse and we thought he would need more ground. Last race, he was on a hot pace and was pressured. He didn't run bad. I think he'll move forward. He is a really good-looking horse. We'll give him a break and freshen him up and hopefully will see him back at the end of the winter." 

Of course, for all of the noble intentions wrapped up into naming a horse for a friend or family members, it can be an exasperating experience.

"I've become afraid to name a horse after someone," LaPenta said.

As frustrating as the two starts by Dr. Saikali may be, they cannot compare to a previous time when LaPenta named a horse after a friend.

A fan of Rao's restaurant in Manhattan, LaPenta became friendly with Nick Zaloumis, a bartender there, and in 2020 named one of his horses Nicky the Vest after him.

While Nicky the Vest only raced four times and won a stakes for New York-breds by nearly 12 lengths, what happened to the man he was named after was shattering. Just one month after that stakes win, Zaloumis died.

Kumin was also a partner with LaPenta in Nicky the Vest and says naming a horse after someone is a gesture filled with anxiety.

"What happens sometimes when you name a horse for someone is that it gets emotional," Kumin said. "I want to get that person a winner's circle picture so badly that I hold on to the horse too long chasing a win. I'm looking to win a race anywhere."

True to those words, Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack, Kumin managed to squeeze out a win for Cha Cha Wren , who was named for a friend of his daughter. 

But it took three starts and a dropdown from the maiden special weight ranks to get the homebred daughter of Connect   a win as a huge 1-4 favorite in a $25,000 claimer.

Needless to say, Cha Cha Wren was claimed out of that victory.

Yet regardless if Dr. Saikali can post a victory or two, it won't change any of the emotions and thanks wrapped into the colt and a doctor whose quick and astute actions were lifesaving.

"You get something as serious as Legionnaires' disease and you find out life is shorter than you always thought it was," LaPenta said. "It teaches you to be thankful and have a greater appreciation for life."