We all have treasured possessions, and our own reasons for holding them dear. Among my special treasures is a 2009 New York Racing Association, Inc. media pass issued under the aegis of ThoroFan. I hang the pass from a ribbon which held my credentials from Preakness 131, and so identified I can freely enter the gates of the Oklahoma Training Track. For me this is a real treat-I love to watch horses train. For 23 years of my life I either trained horses, or later tried to tell my husband or Jack Van Berg how to train horses. Even after all of that, and in spite of having more slow ones than fast ones, I would rather be at the rail watching horses train than just about anywhere else in the world.
On my first day out there this spring I ran into an old friend. I
hadn't seen Razor (that's the only name I know him by) for 24 years.
I'd heard he was an outrider for NYRA, and recognized him from a
hundred yards away. Razor sits a horse like he was born in the saddle.
Jeez, for all I know he may have been.
I raced at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, NE, from 1968 through 1985, and for most of those years Razor worked for a trainer who was stabled on the backside of our barn by the name of Jim Hughes. Razor galloped horses for Jim and also freelanced on the side. During the 80's, we'd often put Razor on horses that were too tough for me to handle. On the average, he used to gallop 15 to 18 head a day, and he did it for a lot of years. We laughed the other day as we reminisced about a horse of mine named Laramie Bound. When Laramie was a two-year-old, he had a special talent. This stout-made, bay horse could buck like no other Thoroughbred I've ever seen. We sent him out to a farm near Omaha to a talented Quarter Horse trainer who had developed a reputation for having a knack with problem horses. Two months later we picked him up and brought him to the track. "Let's have Razor get on him this first time," my husband said, with a note of caution in his voice.
Horses have a way of etching themselves into our memories, and one of the first things Razor said to me the other day was, "You know I've never forgotten that colt of yours, Laramie Bound, he bucked like no horse I've ever been on and kept it up for a full quarter of a mile." He did indeed, but Razor never lost his seat. Months later, after Razor and another talented rider by the name of Tommy Sissom finally got him manageable, I became Laramie's regular rider. He gave me serious flight-time on a couple of occasions, but I always forgave him because he consistently won races. Once at Arlington Park, when he was just barely three years old, he beat older horses going six furlongs in 109.3. He won races at Oaklawn Park, The Meadowlands, Hawthorne, Sportsman's and back home at Ak-Sar-Ben he beat Amadevil, one of the best sprinters of his era.
Yep, for many years, horses were my life. That's the way it is for a lot of folks, and they wouldn't wish it any other way. That quote from Sir Winston Churchill "There's something about the outside of a horse which is good for the inside of a man," has measurable truth, for women as well.
Racing is a sport worth preserving. I invite you to calculate the economic impact that horses at Oklahoma might have during their six-plus month residency each year. How many bales of hay, sacks of shavings, bags of oats, bottles of liniment, van rides, saddles, bridles, how much bath soap etc. are required? Add in the vet services, blacksmiths and bloodstock agents and then figure in the maintenance crew for the plant. Once you tally that, and equate how many additional acres the farms and training centers preserve as green space, you can jump into the real meat of the industry-the races themselves. How much employment do you suppose is involved? Of course, you'll need to consider how much the state take-out is from the pari-mutuel handle, and all the taxes racing plants pay. I urge every Saratogian to think about how vital this industry is to the interests of a healthy Saratoga community.
I'm happy to have the credentials that allow me to take in the morning training. Admittedly, I get a little nervous when I see horses out there with some of Laramie Bound's skill to separate themselves from riders. But it's comforting to know that Razor is there and applying his gifted horsemanship as NYRA's main outrider. He catches lose horses and assists riders when problems arise. He is an important part of the morning training, and the riders all respect him, as well they should.
I just wish I could take more people back there so they could share a minute with Razor or one of the multitudes of people who devote their lives to this sport. It would be an effective way to make real race fans, and I think it is high time that we talk to NYRA about it. There's a whole other population out there just waiting to help us preserve Saratoga's most valuable resource.
I would like to issue an apology for an error in last week's column. I mistakenly stated Marylou Whitney's former husband as Jock and of course it was C.V. Whitney.
I raced at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, NE, from 1968 through 1985, and for most of those years Razor worked for a trainer who was stabled on the backside of our barn by the name of Jim Hughes. Razor galloped horses for Jim and also freelanced on the side. During the 80's, we'd often put Razor on horses that were too tough for me to handle. On the average, he used to gallop 15 to 18 head a day, and he did it for a lot of years. We laughed the other day as we reminisced about a horse of mine named Laramie Bound. When Laramie was a two-year-old, he had a special talent. This stout-made, bay horse could buck like no other Thoroughbred I've ever seen. We sent him out to a farm near Omaha to a talented Quarter Horse trainer who had developed a reputation for having a knack with problem horses. Two months later we picked him up and brought him to the track. "Let's have Razor get on him this first time," my husband said, with a note of caution in his voice.
Horses have a way of etching themselves into our memories, and one of the first things Razor said to me the other day was, "You know I've never forgotten that colt of yours, Laramie Bound, he bucked like no horse I've ever been on and kept it up for a full quarter of a mile." He did indeed, but Razor never lost his seat. Months later, after Razor and another talented rider by the name of Tommy Sissom finally got him manageable, I became Laramie's regular rider. He gave me serious flight-time on a couple of occasions, but I always forgave him because he consistently won races. Once at Arlington Park, when he was just barely three years old, he beat older horses going six furlongs in 109.3. He won races at Oaklawn Park, The Meadowlands, Hawthorne, Sportsman's and back home at Ak-Sar-Ben he beat Amadevil, one of the best sprinters of his era.
Yep, for many years, horses were my life. That's the way it is for a lot of folks, and they wouldn't wish it any other way. That quote from Sir Winston Churchill "There's something about the outside of a horse which is good for the inside of a man," has measurable truth, for women as well.
Racing is a sport worth preserving. I invite you to calculate the economic impact that horses at Oklahoma might have during their six-plus month residency each year. How many bales of hay, sacks of shavings, bags of oats, bottles of liniment, van rides, saddles, bridles, how much bath soap etc. are required? Add in the vet services, blacksmiths and bloodstock agents and then figure in the maintenance crew for the plant. Once you tally that, and equate how many additional acres the farms and training centers preserve as green space, you can jump into the real meat of the industry-the races themselves. How much employment do you suppose is involved? Of course, you'll need to consider how much the state take-out is from the pari-mutuel handle, and all the taxes racing plants pay. I urge every Saratogian to think about how vital this industry is to the interests of a healthy Saratoga community.
I'm happy to have the credentials that allow me to take in the morning training. Admittedly, I get a little nervous when I see horses out there with some of Laramie Bound's skill to separate themselves from riders. But it's comforting to know that Razor is there and applying his gifted horsemanship as NYRA's main outrider. He catches lose horses and assists riders when problems arise. He is an important part of the morning training, and the riders all respect him, as well they should.
I just wish I could take more people back there so they could share a minute with Razor or one of the multitudes of people who devote their lives to this sport. It would be an effective way to make real race fans, and I think it is high time that we talk to NYRA about it. There's a whole other population out there just waiting to help us preserve Saratoga's most valuable resource.
I would like to issue an apology for an error in last week's column. I mistakenly stated Marylou Whitney's former husband as Jock and of course it was C.V. Whitney.
Main Menu
Leave a comment