Eloy Aguirre called his shot before he led Hip 77 up to the pavilion during Monday's opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale.
When the door swung open to let the Quality Road colt into the sale ring, the number in Aguirre's head was $1.1 million. When the hammer fell, that was the number on the board, ultimately topping the auction's opening session.
It made sense for Aguirre to have a good read on the colt's worth. As a showman for consignor Gainesway, he took the colt through his paces over the course of more than 125 shows since showing began on Friday.
“He's so sweet, and he always did everything right, so I didn't have to push him try to do something,” Aguirre said. “He knew everything, pretty much. Hopefully he's got a good future ahead of him.”
Not pushing the horse was a recurring theme when Aguirre discussed his philosophy with showing at the sales. It was a learned skill for the Mexico City native, who said horses were a small part of his life growing up, but never one that would suggest a career path. However, when he moved from Mexico to Florida in the early 2000s, the horses presented the most immediate opportunity, and he followed it.
“When I got here, there were many jobs to do, but the first one that came was the one I took, and it was horses,” he said. “All these years, I just kept working with horses, and every day learning something.”
Aguirre started with central Florida-based horseman Robert Scanlon, where he learned horses from the ground up; first grooming horses, then picking up the skills to tack them up and show them. About 10 years ago, he was presented an opportunity to move to Kentucky to work with Gainesway, and he took it.
Though working with horses wasn't a native vocation for him, Aguirre quickly developed the kind of bond that can make up for lost time.
“Horses take a lot of things out of me, like bad things, because they keep me busy,” he said. “I feel good with them, and probably many horses feel good with me. I always give good treatment to every single horse, and I think that's the best part of it. I love what I'm doing, and hopefully God blesses me with many, many years to keep doing this.”
Aguirre said he was first introduced to the Quality Road colt, who Gainesway handled as agent for Stonestreet Bred and Raised, four days earlier when the horses shipped in.
That didn't leave much time to develop a rapport with each other, but the lessons the showman learned over the course of the past two decades gave him the blueprint to get through to his charge before his number started getting called.
“They have feelings like you and me, and they always let you know how they're feeling, what they want to do, and what you have to do to make them comfortable to work or do whatever they want to do,” he said. “The secret of this business is keep the horse happy as much as possible, and then you can work well with them.”
The colt, out of the Grade 3-winning Henny Hughes mare I'm A Looker, sold to AMO Racing, with plans to send him to Ireland to begin his race training, then return to the U.S. to race.
The weather in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., leading up to Monday's session was all over the place during the show periods, swinging dramatically from hot and humid to pouring rain in an instant. For a horse as popular as the Quality Road colt, he and Aguirre were out in a lot of it.
“It's a big toll,” said Gainesway's Lakota Gibson. “They walk all day long. I'd wager they do over 10,000 steps a day, and they just keep a smile on their face. They're out in the sun, they're out in the rain like they were this morning, it doesn't matter. They do a good job.”
Gibson said Aguirre is one of the consignment's go-to showmen for the big horses, and he rose to the occasion when he was paired with the eventual session-topper.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.“They just matched really well,” she said. “Stride for stride, Eloy knew what it took to keep the horse in the right direction. The horse was good the whole time, but Eloy was calm and collected. He was the right guy for the job.”
Back at Barn 6 after the seven-figure horse was put away, Aguirre was proud of the horse and his own ability to get the most out of him, but he was also grateful to the people that allowed him to reach that level of skill, both professionally and personally.
Though the Saratoga sale is short, it requires a special commitment compared with the auctions closer to home in Kentucky. It's a long time to be far away from home, and it's made even longer with Gainesway's consignment in the upcoming Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale at the same venue next week.
It takes a great deal of support to make a seven-figure horse, but it also takes a lot of support to make a seven-figure showman.
“My family always, I have to live away from home for a few weeks, and they'll always be there,” he said. “I'm so happy that they'll be for me, no matter what.”
The post ‘Keep The Horse Happy As Much As Possible’: Meet The Showman Of Gainesway’s Session-Topping Colt At Fasig-Tipton Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
