“I had said, 'Why don't we just go up to Saratoga and enjoy ourselves?'” Giddings recalled with her signature easy smile. “No pressure, no nothing. Just take the horses there and see what we can do.”

Those expectations went out the window pretty quickly when a filly named Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) landed in her barn. The undefeated sophomore won her first race with Giddings listed as trainer when she put in a dominant gate-to-wire performance in the GIII Victory Ride S. on July 8 and now, Giddings and her stable star are preparing for what will be the biggest race of both their careers in the Aug. 5 GI Test S.

Last spring, former Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells purchased Maple Leaf Mel for his August Dawn Farm at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale. He decided to name the daughter of Cross Traffic after Canadian-born Giddings, who was then the assistant to his regular trainer Jeremiah Englehart.

Giddings has been with Maple Leaf Mel since the grey filly first came to the racetrack, so when Giddings went out on her own at the beginning of this year, her namesake soon followed. It was a decision by Parcells and Englehart that Giddings does not take lightly.

“It would have been weird for me to not have her in my barn, but to have her in my name is pretty incredible,” she explained. “It's  a big responsibility to try to live up to a filly who is undefeated and keep it that way. I'm so grateful for Coach to give me the chance and for Jeremiah to be so supportive of my training career and let me have this filly in my name.”

Mel Giddings and Jeremiah Englehart celebrate Maple Leaf Mel's first graded stakes win in the GIII Miss Preakness S. | Horsephotos

The pressure was on in the Victory Ride when Giddings was first listed as Maple Leaf Mel's trainer, especially when the entries included the likes of MGSW Red Carpet Ready (Oscar Performance) and Grade II-placed Interpolate (Into Mischief). Giddings called an old friend and mentor for a confidence boost before the race.

“I spoke with Jeremiah when the past performances came out and I said, 'Well I drew the toughest field to have her in my name for the first time.' He told me not to worry and he was right. She doesn't care who it is and horses don't read the form. She went out there like every other time and put on a show.”

Now five-for-five with four stakes wins to her credit, Maple Leaf Mel is emerging as one of the top fillies of her division, but her trainer said that the speedy grey is like a kid on the playground when she steps into the starting gate.

“I think for her, being a good racehorse is just the fact that she loves her job,” said Giddings. “She knows what day it is when it's time to run and she's a different horse. She can't wait to run. I don't even know if she really knows what she's doing. She just goes out there and she thinks it's a good time.”

Maple Leaf Mel put in her most recent work in preparation for the Test on July 21, going four furlongs in :49.22.

“She's feeling frisky,” reported Giddings. “I'll try to keep her that way and keep her as fresh as I can going in. This will obviously be the biggest race of her life.”

Giddings has been around her fair share of talented racehorses in her 26 years in the industry. Over the years she has worked for the likes of Al Stall Jr., Mark Casse, Kevin Attard, Steve Asmussen and Roger Attfield. The thought of hanging out her own shingle never really crossed her mind until a life-threatening illness put things in a new perspective.

In 2020, Giddings was diagnosed with Stage 4B endocervical and ovarian cancer. After surgery to remove two grapefruit-sized tumors, several rounds of chemotherapy, and a long recovery, Giddings returned to the racetrack.

Maple Leaf Mel goes five-for-five in the GIII Victory Ride S. | Sarah Andrew

“I thought I would see how I could make it through the first year, whether I could even make it still doing what I love doing,” recalled Giddings. “The first year was really tough. I mean, that first year if you had said that I was going to train, I'd have told you that you're nuts because I was struggling a lot.”

But by last year, Giddings was back to overseeing around 40 horses in the Englehart barn and soon after, she discovered the dream she never really knew she had.

“I had never thought of training,” said Giddings. “I just always loved the racetrack. I've been here for 26 years and I just love getting horses ready and I take pride in them doing well and succeeding. When I got sick, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to have another job in my life, let alone make it. So when I did I thought, 'Why not do it for myself?' No stress, no goals. Just do it and see what happens.”

Giddings said she sometimes can't believe how much time has passed since those long, excruciating months when she was so far removed from life on her beloved racetrack.

“Sometimes I look at my hair and I go, 'Oh, it's been that long,'” she said, grabbing her ponytail of now shoulder-length hair.

So just over three years after she first received the cancer diagnosis, Giddings is soaking in every moment with a filly named in her honor and a stable of promising 2-year-olds that she hopes will further her stable's early success.

Giddings has eight horses in her barn on the Oklahoma this summer, which she runs with the help of her 15-year-old pup Reese. Maple Leaf Mel is her only older horse, but Giddings has always enjoyed working with the babies and she is excited about the progress of each of her pupils.

On Wednesday, another auspicious grey namesake called Mel's Angel (Leofric) will make her debut at Saratoga. Picked out by Giddings for $32,000 at the OBS March Sale for owner James Kelly, the filly will face fellow New York-breds sprinting on the turf.

“Mel's Angel is really straightforward,” said Giddings. “She's a total sweetheart in the barn, but she's got a lot of feistiness on the track.”

With several new clients, Giddings hopes to be busy claiming and taking on the sales in the coming months. She understands the struggles that come with starting out on your own and she is grateful to the owners who have shown their support from the start.

“It's tough to break out on your own if you don't have people to back you,” she said. “If you're not winning, you're not making money so [support] is huge. We're super grateful to owners like Bill Parcells, who gave Maple Leaf Mel some time off when we asked him to and now she's rewarding him. I'm just glad it worked out because we all told him that it would and now here she is. I hope she can have a big year for him.”

Of course, not every horse in her stable will be another Maple Leaf Mel, but Giddings loves all her horses just the same.

“You get attached to the horses,” she said. “They all have their own personality. I mean, even if they're a five claimer of if they're a stakes winner, I love them all.”

The post Mel Giddings Enjoys First Saratoga Summer With Her Own Stable appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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For more information contact Heather Fountaine of Uofl Health at 502-588-3356.

The post Cancer Survivors Meet Cyberknife Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Iron-deficiency anemia in horses is rare, but it does happen. Most horses get sufficient amounts of iron in their diet from hay, pasture, and commercial feeds. An average horse needs 400 to 500 mg of iron per 500 kg of body weight, reports Dr. Gulsah Kaya Karasu of AGG Equine Nutrition Consulting in EQUUS magazine. 

Horses may end up with anemia because of blood loss (causes may include an injury, cancer, or ulcers), reduced blood cell production, or blood cell destruction. 

Some infections, like equine infectious anemia, can lead to red blood cell destruction, as can a heavy worm burden, particularly large strongyles. Chronic kidney disease, cancer, and a few other disorders can prevent a horse from making adequate red blood cells.

An anemic horse will have pale mucous membranes and an increased heart rate, in addition to being sluggish. Adding additional iron to the affected horse's diet isn't recommended as excessive iron can lead to depression, diarrhea, and compromised immune function. It can also interfere with the body's ability to absorb other minerals and increase the risk of a horse becoming insulin resistant. 

Iron-related anemia is rare in horses, so a thorough investigation by a vet is recommended for diagnosis.

Read more at EQUUS. 

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If common causes like disease, parasites, digestive disorders, and other common ailments have been ruled out, Dr. Liya Wang and other researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences suggest that systemic cancers should be considered. The research team also notes that cancer should be suspected if a horse doesn't respond well to traditional therapies, or if he begins to lose organ function.

Bloodwork run on horses that have cancer often comes back as nonspecific, but it may show that the horse is anemic and has elevated globulin concentrations and increased neutrophils. Though additional diagnostic work in search of conclusive results is available, it's often quite invasive and extensive.
The inability to find a reliable cancer biomarker often delays diagnosis, and results in ineffective treatments and poor chances of survival.

Wang and her team crafted a study to see if thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) could be used as a cancer biomarker in horses with lymphoma.

Serum TK1 is used as a cancer biomarker in humans. TK1 is important for DNA replication and cell proliferation. In healthy cells, TK1 degrades rapidly after cell division. In cancer cells, TK1 production is increased and leaks into the blood.

The researchers measured serum TK1 in seven horses with lymphoma, five horses suspected to have lymphoma, 107 horses with diseases that weren't tumor related, and 42 horses with no sign of disease. Serum TK1 was significantly higher in horses with lymphoma and suspected lymphoma. Serum TK1 was also elevated in the diseased horses without lymphoma.

The team concludes that these findings indicate that serum TK1 could be used as a cancer biomarker in horses.

Read the study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

The post Equine Cancer: Difficult To Detect, Expensive To Treat appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A GoFundMe has been set up to help him with medical and other expenses at https://gofund.me/32279f47.

Billy Turner is the 81-year old former racehorse trainer, best known for his horsemanship and training of the 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. A resident of Marion County, Fla. since his retirement from training, he was diagnosed almost two years ago with prostate cancer which had spread to and weakened his bones. Until recently, Billy was a resident at the Ocala Jockey Club farm townhome village. He made guest appearances at the Ocala Jockey Club International 3-day Event, and there was even a special $750 award created to honor a top-placing Thoroughbred with Seattle Slew heritage.

He was admitted to the hospital on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021 after suffering significant shortness of breath, and fluid was drained from his lungs. Unfortunately, testing of the fluid revealed that his cancer had spread to his lungs. He has chosen not to receive further treatment for his cancer. On Monday, Dec. 27, he was transferred home for hospice care.

He is in good spirits and looking forward to being back with his wife Pat and in the comfort of a home environment.

Billy and Pat are facing increased healthcare costs, moving costs, and unforeseen costs related to his upcoming hospice care and beyond. Billy's latest hospital stay and hospice care is likely to add further unexpected medical and living costs. Pavla and Erik Nygaard, the former owners of the Ocala Jockey Club farm where the Turners lived until the recent sale of the farm, will match up to $10,000 of funds raised through this GoFundMe effort.

The world of horse racing, as well as other equestrian disciplines with Seattle Slew in their bloodlines, owes much to Billy Turner's masterful guidance of Seattle Slew and his legacy. It will mean much to Billy to have the financial support of his and Seattle's Slew's fans, as well as prayers and words of encouragement.

Seattle Slew after a bath at Spendthrift Farm in 1981

The post Billy Turner, Trainer Of Triple Crown Winner Seattle Slew, Needs Help In Face Of Rapidly Spreading Cancer appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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As an owner, he takes the bad news with the good, he always puts the horse first and of course, he shows up at the barn with two dozen doughnuts in tow.

But while Joe is eagerly anticipating the debut of his 2-year-old filly this year, he's not sure if he will have the opportunity to see her reach the starting gate.

On May 21, 2020, the Wisconsin native went to the hospital for what he thought was a simple gallbladder surgery, but in the operating room, the doctors discovered that his liver was riddled with cancer.

“They weren't sure where the cancer came from, but they knew it was advanced and they knew it was stage four,” Joe explained. “This was during COVID, so I spent the night by myself in the hospital  afterwards. The next morning we met with a local oncologist and she's a wonderful person, very up-front, and I asked her if she were me, what would she do. She said, 'I would take the next six months and prepare to die.'”

In Joe's mind, that wasn't a good option. He and his wife Alyssa were newlyweds and Joe wanted more time to be a husband, so he gave up his law practice and started chemotherapy.

“It was really weird because you think, 'What am I going to do with myself for the next couple months, years or whatever time I have left?' You've got to find something to focus on or else you just sit and look at the walls and drive yourself crazy.”

With no job to keep himself otherwise distracted, Joe turned to the sport he fell in love with as a child.

“My grandmother and aunt took me to Arlington when I was five,” he recalled. “They told me to pick out either a name or a number to bet, and at the end of the day they gave me two one-dollar bills. I thought I was rich. From there I was hooked.”

Since then, Joe has been checking off items on his horse racing bucket list. First he attended the Kentucky Derby, then he got himself a claimer and eventually he joined a few partnerships.

“One thing leads to another and the next thing you know, you have 10 horses at the track and it just kind of grows out of control,” he admitted with a laugh.

One of his favorite racing moments  was when one of his syndicates had the opportunity to run at Royal Ascot.

“I had been dating Alyssa for about six months and I asked her if she would like to go to London. She was like, 'In a year?' And I said, 'No, in three weeks.' I hadn't even met her parents yet. So she thought I was crazy, but we got to Ascot and she loved it. We had the best weekend ever.”

Their filly, Thora Barber (GB) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), ran sixth in the 2016 Chesham S.

“We were the first race, so we were in the paddock as the Queen came by in her carriage,” Joe remembered. “This was Alyssa's first time at a track so I had to explain to her that not every time was going to be like this. When I went to place my bet, I forgot about the conversion from pounds to dollars and I had to run to the ATM. It was a mess, but it was a lot of fun.”

That event helped Alyssa fall in love with racing too, and the couple got married at Keeneland three years ago.

When Joe received the diagnosis last year, he was able to get into the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. There they discovered that Joe was living with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

“You look at the stats of pancreatic cancer and it's not good,” Joe said. “But when we met with each of the doctors at the Mayo Clinic I would say, 'We're from Wisconsin and we're looking for a Mayo miracle. While meeting with the third or fourth doctor, we started talking about horses and I told him we were going to buy a horse and we were going to name it Mayo Miracle.”

He decided to venture from under the umbrella of racing partnerships to go out and find Mayo Miracle on his own. Remembering a TDN article on Cherie DeVaux, he reached out to the up-and-coming trainer.

Joe and Alyssa in the sales ring at Keeneland on their wedding day. “It's a very, very special place,” Joe said of the Lexington track. |photo courtesy Joe Trawitzki

“She had one quote I'll never forget, she said, 'I'll always be truthful with my owners,'” Joe said. “At that point, I'm trying to transition to where Alyssa can take over the racing if she wants to stay in it, so I wanted to hook her up with someone we could trust. I called Cherie and she told me that not all horses are racehorses, so she wasn't going to let me waste money to pay my bills if they couldn't run.”

So off they all went to the Keeneland September Sale. There Joe learned that DeVaux's husband was bloodstock agent David Ingordo. But even with Ingordo and DeVaux both scouring the sales grounds, they walked away empty-handed.

“The difficulty was that David's standards are so high and he usually is getting a bit higher clientele than us, but to his credit, he would not adjust his eye and he would not accept any faults,” Joe said. “He was looking for the perfect horse for us, but the problem was we couldn't afford the perfect horse. When we walked away from the sale, the look on David's face was so hurt. He was so ashamed and sorry he couldn't buy us a horse, but I told him it was part of the game, the prices were high and I had learned a lot.”

DeVaux and Ingordo put their heads together afterwards and then reached out to Joe to ask if he might be willing to form a 50-50 partnership with them.

“I was just in awe because we had just met, you know, and with where they're at in the industry, it was a real honor to partner with them,” Joe said.

So with an upgraded budget, DeVaux and Ingordo attended the Fasig-Tipton October Sale and landed on an Astern (Aus) yearling out of Short Squeeze (Lemon Drop Kid). The filly's dam was a half-sister to graded stakes winners Last Gunfighter (First Samurai) and Tiger Moth (Street Sense).

Joe at his first Keeneland September Sale. “I didn't know a lot, but I knew enough to be dangerous,” he said afterwards. | photo courtesy Joe Trawitzki

Their $65,000 purchase was sent to Mayberry Farm in Ocala for her early training and arrived at DeVaux's barn at Keeneland last month.

“She's been pretty straightforward,” DeVaux reported. “She's a cool, calm customer, she doesn't do anything wrong and she is learning her job as a racehorse pretty well. With all my 2-year-olds we give them as much time as they need, but hopefully by the middle to end of summer, she'll be getting to the races.”

When Joe explained his thoughts on a name for the filly, the idea resonated with DeVaux.

“When Joe first came to visit the filly, he was telling me how important it was for him to get his message out in naming this filly to pay respect to the Mayo Clinic and bring awareness to pancreatic cancer,” DeVaux said. “My older sister actually had pancreatic cancer 20 plus years ago and she survived, which is a very rare instance in this type of cancer.”

“Talking to Cherie, with the stories we share, it's like this horse is just meant to be the Mayo miracle,” Joe added. “When you think about it, we're looking for a Mayo miracle, we're looking for hope for me, but this horse is so much more. We hope she continues to grow, win some races, and that we have a lot of fun with her.”

As Joe nears the one-year mark since his diagnosis, as well as six months past the time frame doctors originally gave him to live, he is busy planning for Mayo Miracle's first start.

“One of our goals with Mayo Miracle is that we want her to be a party horse,” he said. “If we can get all my friends to the track to watch, maybe it brings in a few more fans to the industry. Who knows where it's going to go? Whatever this horse is for other people, that's wonderful. Hopefully she is successful. Worst- case scenario, we bought a horse and had some fun.”

Joe said that he and Alyssa are making plans to design Mayo Miracle's silks to display a purple cancer ribbon. A significant amount of her earnings will go towards both research at Mayo Clinic, as well as the Hope Fund at Mayo Clinic, a fund set aside for those who cannot afford travel costs and medical fees associated with treatment at the medical center.

Joe also credits his home hospital in Green Bay for what they've done for him, joking that his next horse will be raced in their honor and named 'Ain't Dead Yet.'

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Joe is also an avid Green Bay Packers fan. | photo courtesy Joe Trawitzki

“I guess the things you learn suffering with pancreatic cancer is that everyone is different, don't pay attention to the odds and you have to win the day,” he said. “Whatever today brings, you have to do something positive, whether that means just getting to the kitchen to eat dinner or getting to the track to watch your horse, you have to win that day.

He continued, “For the people in the support system of someone with cancer, the thing you want them to know is that if you're there in the beginning, stay with me until the end. People say, 'I've got your back' or, 'You're going to fight this,' and yeah, we're going to do it, but we need to do it together.”

Under DeVaux's watchful eye, Mayo Miracle is now starting to put in her first breezes at Keeneland.

“I really want this filly to be something special for Joe and Alyssa,” DeVaux said. “It's too early right now to tell her level of ability. This filly has a purpose as a racehorse, but she also has a purpose for spreading a message and a story. If somebody is following this and it helps them in some way, maybe they're going through the same thing Joe is going through, they can have a connection with something other than an illness.”

In a text Joe sent to DeVaux on his way home from visiting Mayo Miracle last month at Keeneland, he reflected on what the journey with this filly has meant to him already.

“It's crazy because the idea behind Mayo Miracle was just a saying to the doctors that turned into the thought of getting a party horse that friends could enjoy and it could become something to keep me positive, distract from the negative and provide hope that this cancer is survivable so I can watch this horse and buy others. I really am not sure what this horse will mean to others or how she will perform on the track, but I hope it will be fun and that I am here to see it.”

The post Looking for a Mayo Miracle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Fierro, a long-time employee for Foley, was diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer in 2016, and underwent surgery and several long months of recovery before returning to the racetrack. Eventually Fierro returned to galloping horses as well.

“That was a good therapy for me, to be around horses,” Fierro said. “After that, I never think I'd be able to gallop again, and I did. I still do it. I'm lucky to be alive. I'm very grateful, you know. I said, 'Thanks God, for giving me this second chance in life, because some people, they don't get it.”

Pedroza lost his mother to brain cancer two years ago, at the young age of 44.

“I'm glad that she doesn't suffer any more, and that she's in a better place,” said the jockey. “She told me, 'Papi, life continues, you gotta keep going, you got kids and a wife that depends on you.”

He took those words to heart. The same day his mother passed away, Pedroza won a race at Indiana Grand. He believes she'll be riding with him in the Kentucky Derby, celebrating his success.

Now, both Fierro and Pedroza will head to the first Saturday in May with big dreams. Both believe their big chestnut colt has a solid chance to wear the roses.

“My plan is to be in the Derby, and win it,” Pedroza summarized.

Check out the full video below:

The @Foley_Racing-trained O Besos moved into the top 20 in the @KentuckyDerby points standings over the weekend!

The whole Foley barn is excited, especially O Besos' exercise rider, Margarito Fierro, and jockey @jockeypedrozajr.@TheBrownAndrew reports: #KyDerby pic.twitter.com/H2A2AuWTiD

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) April 19, 2021

The post Watch: Team O Besos Grateful For Second Chances And Help From Above appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Not surprisingly, the affable and easy-going 44-year-old native of Santiago, Chile is careful not to take his success – on or off the track – for granted.

“For sure, it makes you appreciate what you have,” Gonzalez said. “You're always working hard. This job is not easy, and every day is a new day. One day you might win three races, the next day you might not win any. You don't know. You have to keep working hard every day.”

Gonzalez will be chasing his biggest prize to date when he sends out Harpers First Ride for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park. Last fall, the 5-year-old gelding provided the trainer with his third and most prestigious career graded-stakes triumph in the historic Pimlico Special (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

GMP Stables, Arnold Bennewith and Cypress Creek Equine's Harpers First Ride was among the original dozen invitees to the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus for 4-year-olds and up, coming off a 2020 campaign in which he won seven of 11 starts, four stakes and close to $500,000 in purse earnings. The son of Grade 1 winner Paynter arrived in South Florida Jan. 11, and Gonzalez followed two days later.

“Not only for me but for any trainer, it's special. It's a big race and everybody pays attention. Maybe they can know a little bit more about Claudio Gonzalez,” Gonzalez said. “No matter what, it's good for any trainer to be here for a race like that. Everybody is watching.”

Maryland's leading trainer the past four years, Gonzalez has reached triple digits in each of the past three, even with live racing paused in the state for 2 ½ months last year amid the coronavirus pandemic. He swept all four meets in 2020, has won 11 of the last 14 dating back to Laurel's 2017 fall stand, and owns or shares 15 titles overall.

Gonzalez is also a two-time leading trainer during the Maryland State Fair meet at Timonium that typically bridges Laurel's summer and calendar year-ending fall stands but was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“It is not just me. I have a good team. I have very good assistants, riders, hotwalkers, grooms, everything. We are one team and they do a great job,” Gonzalez said. “All my owners understand, if you put the horse in the right spot you have a great chance to win the race. That is the key for me. If they're in the right race, then they can win.”

Gonzalez came to the U.S. in November 1995, a teenager in search of a job, eventually landing work galloping for Juan Serey, a fellow Chilean and the leading trainer in New Jersey at the time.

“Nobody in my family had anything to do with the horses. Only my uncle, who liked to bet the horses and would take me with him,” Gonzalez said. “When I saw the horses I decided I wanted to be a jockey. I started out trying to be a jockey, but I got too big. I ate too much.

“My father [Francisco] was in New York and brought me here. I went to see Juan at that time and he gave me the chance to gallop for him,” he added. “Because Juan is from Chile, too, people told me about him and I just went to him and asked if he had a job.”

Gonzazlez stayed with Serey until 2002 and had a short stint under trainer Gary Contessa before becoming an exercise rider for trainer Ben Perkins Jr. at Monmouth Park. Among the top horses that came along during their time together were multiple graded-stakes winners Wildcat Heir and Wild Gams, Grade 3 winner Max Forever and popular local 12-time stakes-winning millionaire Joey P.

“He always galloped Joey P. When he would say, 'Joey's ready,' we knew he would win. Everybody knew and loved Joey P. around here,” Perkins said. “Looking back on it, some of the horses he got on for me he would say, 'This horse is ready today,' and he was always spot-on with his evaluation.

“Claudio's just a super, super person. He's a hard-working guy and he was an excellent rider. He always went the extra mile,” he added. “He wasn't like, 'OK, I'm done with my horses and I'm going home.' He paid attention to everything going on and we had a lot of success with Claudio. You could see then he was interested in becoming a trainer, and he put in all the work necessary to do it.”

Gonzalez was married with two young children when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008. He had surgery to remove a testicle and underwent chemotherapy, leaving him unable to work for six months.

“It was a shock when I went into the doctor and he told me it was cancer. When they say cancer, you think 'Oh no, I'm going to die,'” Gonzalez said. “Right away, I said that when I was finished with the chemo I was going to be OK. I put it in my mind. I told my kids and my wife that I was going to be OK. I didn't know if I was, but I had it in my mind I was going to be OK … and that's what happened.”

In addition to the support he received from family and friends, Gonzalez is especially grateful for the compassion shown him by Perkins, who allowed Gonzalez to focus on his treatment and convalescence.

“At the time I was sick … Ben told me, 'No matter what, we'll take care of you.' He paid me every single week when I was out. There's not too many people that would do that,” Gonzalez said. “He was there for me when I needed somebody. I owe my life, really, to Benny Perkins. If it wasn't for him, I'm not here.”

Perkins, a multiple Grade 1-winning trainer including Delaware Township and Wildcat Heir in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash in 2001 and 2004, respectively, said there was never a hesitation from he or his clients that they would step in to help Gonzalez.

“A lot of my owners are hands-on guys and they're around the barn. A lot of them are people that had been with us for a while,” Perkins said. “They knew what Claudio was putting into the operation and they were all willing to help out when he needed help. It was a full group thing.

“Everybody pitched in,” he added. “The guys knew him and they knew the kind of person he was. He's a good family man. He's got a great wife and kids, and everybody was glad to help.”

Gonzalez was still working for Perkins when he got his first horses, a small string he would tend to before and after his regular job. He won with his second career starter, Quiet Tiara, Nov. 14, 2012 at Laurel, earning his first stakes win the following September with Princess Perfect in Monmouth's Jersey Girl Handicap.

“At the start when I was in New Jersey, I had five horses. At 3 o'clock I would take care of my horses over there and then at 5:30 I would go to Benny and gallop eight horses for him and then I came back to take care of my horses after that,” Gonzalez said. “When I got my first win as a trainer, in the picture Benny Perkins is there. He ran in the same race and was fourth. He said, 'This is the first of many, many more.' It was a great day.”

According to Equibase statistics, Gonzalez has compiled 883 wins and $24.9 million in purse earnings from 4,191 starters through mid-January. He set career highs with 756 starters and 174 winners in 2019 and $5.2 million in purses earned in 2020

“It's a dream. You can only dream that. I never thought that I would be able to win that many races in such a short time,” Gonzalez said. “It's amazing. All the time I look and see where I was and where I am now, and I think it's like a dream,” he added. “Where I come from, it was very hard. Nobody gives you nothing. You always have to work hard and I appreciate every day I have to be able to do this. Now I can take care of my family and be happy. It's very good.”

Prior to Harpers First Ride, Gonzalez's best horse was Afleet Willy, a gelding he claimed for $25,000 Dec. 27, 2015 and turned into a multiple stakes winner of more than $555,000 in purses. Four of his five stakes wins came at Laurel Park.

Gonzalez claimed Harpers First Ride, bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm, for $30,000 out of a Sept. 14, 2019 win at Churchill Downs. Together they have won nine of 14 starts with two seconds and a third and $549,995 in purses.

“The last year was really big for him. He ran in the Pimlico Special and he won. He won three more stakes and he looked better and better every race,” Gonzalez said. “After every race he looked better, that's why we decide to take this step. It will be the best horses in the country.”

Harpers First Ride has breezed twice since his latest win, the most recent coming Jan. 16 at Gulfstream. Gonzalez won 10 stakes in Maryland in 2020 as well as the Charles Town Oaks (G3) with Fly On Angel.

“When I came [to the U.S.] I didn't know anybody, but when they first took my picture I said, 'I know I can do it anywhere,'” he said. “I am proof that if you work hard, and if you believe it, you can make it.”

The post ‘It Makes You Appreciate What You Have’: Cancer Survivor Gonzalez Readies For First Pegasus Starter appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In 2016, Sherman was named winner of the Big Sport of Turfdom Award, awarded annually by the Turf Publicists of America honoring a “person or group of people who enhance coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media and racing publicists.”

Sherman, who gained fame and fortune most trainers can only dream about when California Chrome burst on the scene in 2013, is content with a more mundane pace these days.

On Sunday, he runs the 4-year-old filly Acting Out in the $75,000 Kalookan Queen Stakes for fillies and mares, four and up, over 6 ½ furlongs at Santa Anita Park.

She also was nominated to Saturday's Grade 2 La Canada Stakes, but with two G1 winners in the field (Fighting Mad and Hard Not to Love), Sherman felt the race came up too tough and opted for a softer spot.

A gray daughter of Blame, who handed the great Zenyatta her lone defeat by a diminishing head in a dramatic edition of 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic under the late Garrett Gomez, Acting Out won her last two starts in overnight races by a combined margin of just over 10 lengths, one on turf and the other on dirt.

“She's doing well and been running well on both surfaces,” said Sherman, who owns 50 percent of the filly with his son, Alan. Bobby Harkins and Zvika Akin share the remaining 50 percent.

Born in Brooklyn where he became street smart in his father's Runyonesque barber shop, Sherman later moved to Los Angeles and went to work for Rex Ellsworth, accompanying the great Swaps in May of 1955 to Churchill Downs where he won the Kentucky Derby, and on Aug. 31 to Washington Park in Homewood, Ill., 27 miles south of Chicago, for a historic match race with Nashua before a crowd of 35,262.

Sherman began a career as jockey in 1957, retired in 1978, and took out his trainer's license in 1979. Thirty-four years later along came California Chrome and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sherman is comfortable with a stable of “about 10 horses” at his Los Alamitos headquarters, and has no plans to call it a career.

“If people read that I might retire, nobody will want to give me any horses,” he said.

Winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2014 and a two-time Horse of the Year in 2014 and 2016, California Chrome became an international fan favorite and Team Sherman was aboard for the wild ride.

The California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit-Love the Chase retired with a 16-4-1 record from 27 races, earning $14,752,650. Now 10, he stands at stud in Japan for four million yen ($36,500 in Yankee dollars).

“The only time I get to see him is on Facebook,” Sherman said, “but I'd sure like to visit him. I have an open invitation to see him anytime.”

Aside from keeping tabs on California Chrome and winning races, Sherman's foremost priority is his health, which, knock on wood, is good these days. Presently he is cancer-free from a tumor that was discovered on his bladder and surgically removed in March of 2019.

“My last visit four months ago I was free of cancer,” Sherman said, “so I won't have to see the doctor again for a while.”

And that's the best news of this or any year.

The field for the Kalookan Queen, race eight of nine with a 12:30 p.m. first post time: Amuse, Drayden Van Dyke; Biddy Duke, Umberto Rispoli; Qahira, Joel Rosario; Acting Out, Abel Cedillo; Dynasty of Her Own, Ricky Gonzalez; and Mo See Cal, Flavien Prat.

The post Training Horses Is Still A Work Of Art For Sherman appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“We have many team members that have battled cancer in the past or are currently dealing with the disease,” said Elena Lisle, Indiana Grand’s vice president of marketing. “We have recently lost a few fellow team members to cancer, and the impact of losing a loved one is a tremendous blow to any family, including a work family. Being able to step up and provide any assistance is so important and we are glad to help out in any way we can.”

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