Airplanes and the Racing Form, part II

Before I take you on another of my flight experiences, I’d like to revisit the 2018 Belmont Stakes once more. It is obvious that Justify is a wonderful horse with a bright future, in both racing and breeding, but I feel that his trainer, the extraordinary Bob Baffert, sometimes does not get enough credit for his success.

Over the years, Baffert has had five horses go into the Belmont with a shot at immortality, having first won the Derby and the Preakness. Two of his three failed opportunities were agonizingly close: Silver Charm was run down by Touch Gold in the 1997 Belmont and placed by three-quarters of a length, and Real Quiet’s last jump nose defeat had to be one of the toughest beats in racing history, considering how desperately fans, and the racing industry, were longing for a Triple Crown winner at a time when the drought was at its height. (War Emblem, for his part, ran a spirited Belmont after a stumble leaving the gate, but never really had a shot.) But with American Pharoah’s Triple Crown victory in 2015 and Justify’s win this year, Baffert is now only the second trainer in history, along with the legendary “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons in the 1930s, to win two Triple Crowns.

On a side note, any discussion of great Belmont trainers has to include Woody Stephens. Woody won the grueling mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes five years in a row, from 1982 to 1986. Remember that only three-year-olds can run in the Belmont, which means Woody trained five different young horses to win at this unusual and tasking distance in five consecutive years. My guess is that we may have another trainer win two Triple Crowns, but never again will we see one win five Belmont Stakes in a row.

Back to the plane. This was again in the early 1990s, and I was again bound for San Diego. Little did I realize this flight would prove to be one of the most expensive trips I have even taken. I was again assigned a seat in first class. Next to me sat a gentleman who looked to be in, roughly, his early 60s. At the time, I was in my late forties, so this gent had about 15 years on me. We shook hands and introduced ourselves, in doing so discovering that we shared the same first name. It only took a “hello” to notice this man was very, very French, and with my being of Polish decent, I immediately suspected this flight would be a lot of fun. I had no idea just how much.

At first, I had great difficulty understanding what he was saying, since his English pronunciations were filtered through a very heavy French accent. I eventually discovered he was an industrial design engineer who was born, educated, and had worked most of his life in France. His forté was designing assembly lines for manufacturing. This included all the parts of the line, every piece of equipment, and all of the technology required to make the operation run efficiently. He was clearly a very intelligent man and made a great deal more money than I did.

After a while, and as usual, I took out my Racing Form. That was when my fellow traveler’s eyes lit up. He went on to tell me that, along with his engineering career, he was also a breeder of thoroughbred race horses in California, and invited me up to his small farm whenever I got a chance. It was just north of San Diego in a place called Valley Center.
Naturally I was excited to visit his operation, so some months later, on another trip to San Diego, I took him up on his offer.

He had a very small operation: three mares, a four-year-old colt, and two two-year-olds, a filly and a colt. The four-year-old had raced without much success so far and was in training at Del Mar race track. On my next trip, my new friend asked if I wanted to meet at Del Mar to see the four-year-old train. I said yes almost immediately. The idea of going backside at such a famous track was very intriguing and exciting.

He gave me a tour of the stable area when I got there and introduced me to several exercise riders and his trainer, Mike Mitchell. He then took me to the trainer stand to watch his horse work. The trainer stand is a small set of bleachers located on the backside of the track, along the rail, from which owners and trainers can watch their mounts train.

We watched his horse run for a bit, and I got ready to leave. As I turned, I saw a white-haired man standing there, watching his horses work out. It was, of course, Bob Baffert. My friend introduced me to him, and I shook his hand and said hello. He wasn’t yet the legendary Baffert that he is today, but with his snow-white hair, very easy to recognize. My head was spinning with excitement; this Ohio handicapper was having the time of his life.

Meeting Baffert probably would have been enough, but as we were leaving, we ran into John Mabee, the owner of Golden Eagle Farm and of Best Pal, a three-time recipient of California Horse of the Year and one of the best race horses at the time. John also was very nice and posed for a quick photo with me. The thought suddenly occurred to me that this part of racing life was becoming more and more attractive. Of course, that thought was immediately followed by the realization that owning a race horse was beyond both my wildest dreams and my income level.

Then, as we were leaving Del Mar, my French friend said, “Why don’t you buy into both of my two-year-olds, and we can race them in Ohio?” I was floored at his offer, never expecting such a thing, and flush with excitement. The thought of owning even part of a race horse – and one ready to begin race training, to boot – was something I had never considered a possibility, much less owning part of two of them. I told him I was interested, but I first needed to talk to some friends in Ohio about potential partnerships, and of course, to see about securing a trainer.

It finally came to me as we talked that I might be on my way to seriously getting into this business that had fascinated me my entire life, as an owner this time. Once I got back to Ohio, I decided to make it happen, and began the process of becoming an owner of two real thoroughbred racehorses. The most expensive and thrilling ride of my life was about to begin, all thanks to reading the Racing Form on an airplane.