Trainer's View: The Road to Saratoga

Photo courtesy of Mike Wilson 
I remember when I worked the summers in Del Mar, looking up at the television screen as we schooled horses and seeing the races from Saratoga Race Course. The track always seemed like it was wet or sloppy and I would wonder to myself why would anybody want to run horses in such an environment.
Being by the seaside in beautiful 72 degree weather seemed like a much better place than the wet and humid track in upstate New York. However, there was always something about those red and white colors and rustic grandstand that were alluring to me.
A DAY AT THE RACES AT SARATOGA

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
It wasn’t until after I graduated from the Darley Flying Start program that I finally was able to experience Saratoga. I had secured summer employment with Kenny McPeek and decided it was time to learn about racing on the East Coast.
I caught a flight from Paris, France to New York, N.Y. and then quickly caught a bus from Penn Station to Saratoga. I arrived at 2 a.m. to a dark house that I was supposedly sharing with McPeek’s staff. I placed my belongings on the living room floor and curled up on the couch to sleep for an hour and a half.
When I awoke, I realized I was in horse heaven. There was grass everywhere, big beautiful trees and, though I couldn’t put my finger on it, the horses just seemed to thrive in the environment.
As the summer went on, I realized why Saratoga was such a big deal in the racing community. Then, to cap it all off, I met my now fiancé at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings. Saratoga had become important to me.
AN IDYLLIC SETTING FOR RACING

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
The following year, I took out my trainer’s license and, though I didn’t have any horses race at the meet, it added to the importance. My first season as a trainer was pretty rocky, and I found it difficult to adjust to training in New York. After eight months of struggling and questioning if I was good enough, I won my first race the day before my 28th birthday with my future father-in-law’s horse.
I regained my confidence in my abilities as a trainer and set my sights on making an impact in Saratoga to turn things around. The first horse we ran at the meet was Tanglewood Tale, a filly I had claimed for a client the year before for $20,000. She had an up-and-down season as well since being claimed, but there was something about Saratoga that caused her to become a new horse. So I entered her for $35,000 claiming race in July 2013 and she won by five lengths. Two weeks after that, we ran her back in starter optional claiming race and she won again by a neck. Our next runner ran third and our last runner finished fifth. We had won at 50% and were 75% in the money with a string of 5 horses. Though it was a small feat and went pretty much unnoticed, I felt on top of the world. The winning continued and the barn began growing.
The following season, we came to Saratoga with 18 horses and were split between two separate barns. I had been able to do everything myself up until that point and had not needed an assistant. However, the social demands, the pace, and the lack of help seemed to take its toll, and we walked away with one second-place finish by a head. After that season, I told myself that the following year I would bring a concentrated group of horses that I felt could all win here and that’s exactly what we’ve done. I have brought five horses with me this year, and so far they all seem to be peaking at the right time. We have our meet debut with Fast Runner on Aug. 6 in the fifth race. Hopefully, my next post will be reporting exciting news.