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‘I Am A Believer In Second Chances’: Viking Ministries To Offer Recovery, Employment Programs Using Retired Racehorses

Viking Stud, Inc. has stepped back into the Thoroughbred industry, this time with a different agenda.

Mike Littrell, who was a talented and successful Thoroughbred yearling manager for his father, the late Rick Littrell, has battled the epidemic of addiction for over 20 years. After many attempts at recovery and repeated relapses, Littrell started a new journey three years ago with a fulfilling purpose. Through Christianity and surrendering his life to Christ, he has found and sustained sobriety.

Littrell said: “I now understand that humility produces progress, not perfection.”

To get to this point, Littrell kept coming back to three things: 1) He found God and the love of Christ through the fellowship with other recovering addicts. 2) His love for horses that developed on his family farm growing up. 3) His connection and continued support from the great people of the horse industry are all a part of his story or recovery.

This passion to help other people came alive when he could see that his love for horses was able to help others find hope, help, and the wonderful healing ability of the connection with a horse. Littrell decided to combine the two passions into a spiritually-focused ministry called Viking Ministries, Inc., in honor of his family's Thoroughbred business.

This ministry will use Equine Assisted Psychotherapy/Learning (EAP) (EAL) for its clients. EAP sessions are designed for individuals or groups and will begin with allowing clients to care for the horse and allow the horse to be the therapist.

“I don't want this ministry to exclude anyone who might benefit,” Littrell said. “I found that loving others through Christ has helped me love myself. I want to help any child or adult who has suffered from abuse, mental health issues, addicts or alcoholics who are in or out of the horse industry.”

Littrell, along with a team of two volunteers, is certified in EAP to work with individuals and groups.

“I am a believer in second chances, not only for recovering addicts, but we want to use as many retired racehorses as possible,” he added.

His insight to the rehabilitation process notices one glaring challenge.

“When leaving addiction treatment, 99 percent are going back to the same environment that was unhealthy for them same as before,” Littrell said. “In order to combat this relapse, we will have a vocational training aspect to our program.”

Littrell will offer a three to six month vocational recovery program.

“Our focus will be for those who have been in recovery at least for three to six months,” he continued. “We want to work with those who are past chemical withdrawal and in need of love, support, career and life skills. Unfortunately, there are many who have not survived this addiction epidemic as long as I have and what that gives me is a great deal of experience in understanding what the addict is experiencing.”

Alongside the Thoroughbred industry, Viking is going to work to find employment for its graduates on Kentucky's Thoroughbred farms.

“I was so blessed to be raised a horseman,” Littrell said. “Even through my toughest times, my fellow horseman kept trying to pull me back into the light, and I would not be here today without our horse community. I have gotten so much support from industry leaders that I care so deeply about that I want to make a difference that will help the Thoroughbred industry have employees who are dependable and in recovery. With the creation of this program, I am reminded again how blessed I am to be a part of this community.”

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Letter to the Editor: Bentley Combs

Over the last few days an idea has been floated to replace the current American claiming system with that of a rating system. With a list of concerns and questions in my head, two things jump out immediately as being stifled by a rating system: Ease of access to horses and the possibility of growth for both potential new owners and smaller trainers. In my opinion these are two things American racing does better than anywhere in the world. Why do we want to change this to be more like other countries?

Love it or hate it, the claiming game is the closest thing to instant gratification we as an industry can offer in the arena of ownership. There are rules to this game just like any other. There are jail rules, void rules, waiver rules all of which are in place to protect the buyer, the seller, and the horse.

For those only familiar with the stakes and allowance portions of your condition books, let’s break down how a claim is made. Person calls a trainer, puts money in a horsemen’s account, picks out a horse, drops a slip, and now that person owns a new horse. It is a very egalitarian system. The seller knew the deal when they entered the horse for the tag and the buyer knew the deal when they dropped the slip. Both have agreed upon the value of the horse.

A horse breaks its maiden in a maiden special weight. Now the horse enters allowance company only to find that the horse can only consistently beat the water truck across the line. Doing this repeatedly so the horse won’t be “devalued” by entering the claiming ranks is an example of a sunk cost fallacy.

What was paid for the horse or what the horse cost in stud fees, board bills and training does not equal the horse’s skill or worth. If this were true, The Green Monkey would have won the Triple Crown and a horse that was bought for $40,000 should’ve never won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year. Sales price and cost does not denote talent. The claiming system allows owners to sell a horse quickly and possibly reinvest that money almost immediately. In contrast, a rating system would seem to slow down sales or possibly prevent them, along with additional costs to the owner if they go through the auction process.

This notion of “devaluing” also does not consider the possibility of the horse getting claimed and going on to win stakes; some trainers have made a name for themselves doing just that.

Let’s look at the trainer angle. Smaller trainers must have access to horses to grow and get noticed by other owners. The claiming system is the quickest way for these smaller trainers to grow and showcase their horsemanship abilities. Auctions have been mentioned as a way within this rating system idea to disperse stock to smaller barns. Take a poll and see how many of the 81 horses sold in July at Fasig went to a barn with 15 horses or less, my guess would be not many, if any.

A total of 9,885 trainers made a start in 2000; that number declined to 4,959 in 2019. This roughly 49% drop can be attributed to a number of things, including the rise of “mega trainers” and a focus of owners on the almighty win percentage. Limiting the growth of smaller trainers or new trainers who do not have huge backing in the first place, as a rating system would do, would only further this drop over the next 20 years.

There are other concerns. Such as does anyone think state legislatures are going to look favorably on racing after racing eliminates their tax revenue from claimed horses? Ask Oaklawn Park, the state of Arkansas and the city of Hot Springs how much money was made from taxes during the meet strictly through the claim box. Also, who would be doing the rating and how would it translate from track to track? In a claiming system the owner and trainer do the rating as to whether their horse who won for $10,000 at one track could win for $10,000 at a different track. Handcuffing owners and trainers in a subjective rating system, plus limiting the ease of access to horses for potential new owners, plus the further shrinking of an already rapidly shrinking trainer pool, is the start to a bad algebraic equation for American horse racing.

Kentucky-based Bentley Combs began training horses in late 2017 after serving as assistant trainer to Dallas Stewart. The Lexington native graduated from the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program in the College of Business and received an MBA from the University of Mississippi.

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‘I Can Eat Pizza’: Rider-Turned-Trainer Elvis Trujillo Enjoying Career Change

For the first time in more than two years, Elvis Trujillo's name is back in the racing program. But don't look for it in the usual place.

Trujillo, 36, won 2,102 races as a jockey between 2001 and 2018 but will send out just his third starter as a trainer and first ever at Laurel Park in Friday's fifth race. The gelding Mystic Times, owned by Ejetero LLC, drew Post 4 of eight in the six-furlong claiming sprint for 3-year-olds and up.

A Maryland-bred son of Tiznow, Mystic Times has a record of 2-3-2 from 15 lifetime starts including a waiver claiming victory for previous trainer Jose Corrales June 5 at Laurel. Corrales, also a former rider, is Trujillo's uncle.

“He's a 4-year-old and I think he has a good chance,” Trujillo said. “He is a very good horse.”

A native of Panama who graduated from its famed Laffit Pincay Jr. jockey school in 2000, Trujillo came to Maryland to ride full-time in the fall of 2017 at the behest of Corrales, after spending that summer riding in China.

Trujillo won 28 races over the next four months, including the General George (G3) aboard Corrales-trained Something Awesome, before injuring his ribs and sternum in a three-horse spill March 10, 2018. Once healed, he considered a comeback to riding before ultimately transitioning into a new career.

“After I got hurt, I started training horses with my uncle,” Trujillo said. “Now I've got my license and I'm starting on my own. It is very exciting. I'm happy. I am starting my career as a trainer.”

Trujillo launched his career Aug. 9 at Monmouth Park, running second with Confusion Baby Boy and fourth with Eje Gama, both owned by Ejetero. He named Eclipse Award champion Weston Hamilton to ride Mystic Times.

“I was lucky to win a lot of races as a jockey and now I want to try to do the same as a trainer. I am going to try the best I can,” Trujillo said. “I thank God for giving me the opportunity to start again. It's a different way but it's good. I'm happy.”

Trujillo currently has eight horses stabled at Laurel Park. In addition to his uncle, he credits his wife, Raquel, with being a major influence in his new undertaking.

“I'm working with my wife. She pushes me a lot to try different things,” he said. “My uncle helps me a lot. I am very thankful to him and to everyone that has helped me get this far.”

Trujillo first came to the U.S. in November 2001, landing in southern California after riding 90 winners in Panama and Mexico City. He rode his first winner on Nov. 28 of that year aboard Britetonzmyday at Hollywood Park, a horse trained by former Eclipse Award-winning apprentice Wesley Ward.

From there, Trujillo spent time riding on circuits in Chicago, Florida and New Jersey, winning meet titles in 2007 at the former Calder Race Course and 2009, 2011 and 2012 at Monmouth Park. His 2,000th career victory came May 9, 2015 aboard first-time starter Matriculate at Santa Anita.

Before making Maryland his home, Trujillo shipped in to ride over the years and won such races as the 2010 Maryland Million Starter Handicap with Northpoint Costas, 2012 Laurel Dash with filly Jazzy Idea, and 2012 Selima with Mystic Love.

In all, Trujillo won 45 career graded stakes, five of them Grade 1, including his breakthrough victory in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint aboard Maryfield, on whom he also won the Ballerina (G1). His best horse was Presious Passion, teaming up to win six graded stakes and nearly $1.9 million in purse earnings from 2007-10.

“It's different. Now I spend more time with the horses and enjoy it more,” Trujillo said. “Before when I was riding you would go ride and go home. Now we have to feed them and take care of them. I get to spend more time with my kids, too. I love it.”

Trujillo, a well-liked and well-respected rider who battled weight issues throughout his career, has enjoyed other benefits of his new job.

“Sometimes I miss riding but I always had trouble with the weights. I couldn't enjoy it anymore because I had to lose a lot of weight,” he said. “Now, I can eat pizza. I can eat whatever I want.”

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‘More Than Just Winning A Race’: Lewis Enjoying Success From Brant-Owned Payson Park

Trainer Lisa Lewis derived personal satisfaction from Brewmeister's optional claiming allowance victory Sunday at Gulfstream Park, where Peter Brant's 3-year-old gelding continued to realize the potential he showed his trainer well before he embarked on his racing career last year.

Lewis has saddled several graded-stakes winners during her career, but Brewmeister's second straight victory was particularly gratifying, considering that she had helped to break the son of Point of Entry last year at Brant's newly purchased Payson Park, a 405-acre training center in Indiantown, FL.

“The horse trains like a good horse. We've been excited about him. I had him last year as a 2-year-old, because I help break Peter's babies. I liked him last year. I thought he was a nice horse. Maybe he didn't come into himself at 2, but when he started training this year, I was really excited about him,” Lewis said. “Mr. Brant wanted to leave some horses here because he owns Payson Park and he wants to support Florida racing. He left a handful of horses, and this is the first one.”

Brewmeister ran twice last year without success for trainer Chad Brown, finishing fifth on turf at Saratoga in August and fourth after setting the pace at Belmont Park in September. The Kentucky-bred gelding, who was purchased for $300,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, was reunited with Lewis at Payson Park to prepare for his 3-year-old campaign. After encountering bumping at the start of his June 13 return to action at Gulfstream, he closed from last to finish second. He graduated in style by 4 ½ lengths in a 6 ½-furlong race July 4. Brewmeister settled well off the pace in Sunday's 6 ½-furlong race before launching a five-wide drive that carried him to victory by three-quarters of a length over favored Man of Honor, who had defeated him in his first start back this year.

“Brewmeister was out of that first crop we did. He started at Mr. Brant's farm in Connecticut and then came to Payson,” Lewis said. “It's exciting for everyone in the whole program. That makes it more than just winning a race – it's great for the whole program.”

Lewis has helped break 16-20 horses each of her first two seasons working for Brant, not including a few horses coming off layoffs, while training a manageable number of active racehorses at Payson Park.

“The breaking, as far as the initial learning, is all done at his farm in Connecticut called White Birch Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. He's got people there that have worked for him for a long time,” said Lewis, noting that Brant also sends young horses to Niall Brennan and Stonestreet. “They start doing all the handling and start breaking them to the tack. Once they're going well and they feel confident that they're ready to go, they come to me usually at the end of October. We bring them to the racetrack, start training them, and get them ready to go to New York in the spring,”

Brewmeister came out of Sunday's victory in good order.

“I'd like to stretch him out a little bit, but that might be a mistake the way he's running,” said Lewis with a chuckle.

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