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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I’ll Never Forget It As Long As I Live’

Stable lad Dean Sinnott has exercised several very nice horses for trainer Dermot Weld over the past six years, including 2016 Group 1 Epsom Derby winner Harzand, but he said he's never felt one quite like Tarnawa. The Aga Khan's homebred 4-year-old daughter of Shamardal went undefeated in 2020, including a triumphant victory over male rivals in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland race course in Lexington, Ky.

It was a first Breeders' Cup victory for the 28-year-old Sinnott, as well as for top Irish trainer Weld and 2020's champion Irish jockey Colin Keane.

“It was my first time bringing a horse to America, and we all had a bit of luck on our side,” Sinnott said, his lyrical tone rising to accentuate the emotion of the moment. “In the test barn (after the win) my phone was just buzzing away in my pocket, and it was actually Dermot Weld himself and he couldn't have been happier; it was a very special win for him.”

Coming into the Breeders' Cup off wins in the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille and G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines, Tarnawa was sent to post as the third choice in the talented field of 10. She was facing 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf runner-up and world-traveler Magical, Group 1 winners Mogul and Lord North, as well as top American hopes Channel Maker and Arklow.

She lost her footing a bit at the start of the 1 1/2-mile contest, and Keane guided Tarnawa over to the rail to save ground along the rail near the rear of the pack. The filly worked her way out to the five-path and moved up into fifth near the head of the lane, but still had nearly four lengths to make up.

Sinnott was watching from the rail, cheering Tarnawa home as she powered to a one-length victory over Magical.

The field for the 2020 Breeders' Cup Turf makes its way around the Keeneland turf course

“When she came into the home straight my heart began to beat a little bit quicker,” Sinnott remembered. “I tell ya, I was nice and calm, but I think I just jumped off the wall and let a few rolls out. The emotions got the best of me. It was an incredible moment, and I'll never forget it as long as I live. It was brilliant to do what she'd done.”

Everything had gone well since Tarnawa arrived in the United States over a week before the race, from her morning gallops under Sinnott, gate schooling, and her attitude in the stall. Stable lads in Europe are both the exercise rider and the groom, so Sinnott knew the filly was as well prepared as possible for the biggest test of her career.

“In a strange sort of way, I was more anxious for her to not let herself down,” said Sinnott. “Things were going very well, everything according to plan, and we were expecting a big run. I was just hoping that she would do herself justice.

“It was just a fairytale plan.”

Born in Wexford, Ireland, Sinnott has worked around horses for as long as he can remember.

“At my home place in Ireland we've always had young horses and mares,” the lad said. “One year I decided I might try riding a few. It was madness maybe, but we kind of progressed into actually trying to make a living out of it. I don't think we made too much of a bad decision!”

Sinnott went first to a local trainer's yard to learn how to ride, then attended the racing academy at the Curragh for a year before he was sent to a trainer in France for further schooling. Sinnott spent 2 1/2 years with trainer Connor O'Dwyer, also from Wexford, before the full-time opportunity to ride for Weld came about six years ago

Today, Sinnott rides out for several other trainers early in the morning at the Curragh, then works for Weld, then rides a few other mounts during lunch hours. He also rides a few races both on the flat and over jumps, and even rode over timber in the United States for Leslie Young during a three-month span two years ago.

With all that experience, it isn't hard to see why Sinnott would be entrusted with a promising filly like Tarnawa. He has been aboard her all season and said she's actually pretty easy to work around.

“She's a very straightforward filly, as honest as you get,” Sinnott said. “It's unbelievable, I've never ridden a horse that has passion as she does… She's after establishing a big fan base in Ireland.”

When Sinnott returned home this week, he was required to begin a 14-day quarantine due to pandemic restrictions. He also had to pass a COVID test before traveling to the United States for the Breeders' Cup, but said the extra steps were all worth it in the end.

“It was an unbelievable result,” Sinnott said. “We were fairly confident, but as you know it was such a competitive race. We figured if she runs well, we'll be happy, but to go and win was really incredible.

“She's actually after winning me heart. I've been lucky enough to ride very good horses in the yard, like Harzand, but this one is by far the best one I've ever ridden.”

Dean Sinnott (right) with the victorious Tarnawa

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Mother Hen’ Niemetz Keeps International Barn Running Smoothly

The year was 1998, and trainer Bob Baffert was preparing to send his Kentucky Derby winner, Silver Charm, overseas to contest what was then the world's richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup.

There was just one problem: Baffert didn't have a passport or a birth certificate. Born in the small border town of Nogales, Ariz., the future Hall of Fame Thoroughbred trainer had never left the country before that first victorious trip to the UAE.

Enter Cindy Niemetz, the West Coast representative for the International Racing Bureau. The logistical frontwoman secured that first passport for Baffert, including making calls to the hospital at which the trainer was born to prove he was who he said he was.

Twenty-two years later, Niemetz is still making molehills out of logistical mountains for trainers and their staff the world over. For the past two weeks, she's been in charge of the quarantine barn for international shippers at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, held this year at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Niemetz is up close and personal with the horses and their staff from the moment they step off their international flights to the moment they board again to head home, and does her best to make the Breeders' Cup experience as easy and as memorable as possible for all the individuals involved.

“We're just basically a concierge,” Niemetz said, laughing good-naturedly. “I'm also like a mother hen; I'm very protective of all my people here.”

The job can require a delicate touch, maintaining the occasionally tenuous balance between keeping trainers happy and following the rules of the USDA as well as whichever jurisdiction the Breeders' Cup is being held in.

“A lot of them don't know the rules of going out on a track, because they have their own gallops at home,” explained Niemetz. “We make sure they know, the exercise riders, the rules of the racetrack. They have to gallop 20 feet off the rail, if you're doing fast work you can go by the rail, and backtracking the opposite way. We also tell them about our starting gate, which is very different from any Europeans'. We have to make sure that they have a vet and a farrier, if they need it.”

Every flight is held in a separate barn, and the horses are under strict quarantine for 48 hours after landing. From then on, horses are allowed to leave the quarantine area strictly for training or racing, but cannot otherwise break quarantine or they will be required to undergo a separate 30-day quarantine before returning to their country of origin.

“When we go racing, we have the USDA follow us over,” Niemetz said. “We also escort them over to the receiving barn, the saddling paddock, and the track, in case somebody needs something. It's a very different way of racing here, so we're there in case they have any questions.”

Niemetz speaks English and what she calls “stable Spanish,” and can understand French but doesn't speak it quite as well. An art major in college, she's ridden horses since she was three years old.

“The man who taught me (to ride) was the same man who taught Elizabeth Taylor for National Velvet,” Niemetz said. “I showed a little bit, but mostly fox hunting and steeplechasing. I kind of like the hell-bent-for-leather!”

She worked for California Thoroughbred magazine in the art department after college, then met her first husband and went racing all over the world for several years. For five years after that, Niemetz served as an assistant to the late Hall of Fame trainer Gary Jones before taking up the mantle of the IRB in 1987.

While she has no fear on the back of a horse, the IRB job showcases a totally different side of Niemetz' personality: she's incredibly organized. Posted every morning at the quarantine barn is a training schedule she's coordinated the night before, listing which horse goes to which track at what time, whether or not they require an American pony/pony person, and whether they'll head to the gate or school in the paddock before coming back to quarantine.

Niemetz is also in charge of licensing for every international attendee. That includes the trainers, the stable staff, the owners, and the jockeys.

“They don't have licenses in Europe,” she explained. “Every state we're in, I vouch for them. If I have to go to the stewards for something, that's what I do. But I've been doing this a long time, and people trust me.”

Trainers are required to have workers' compensation in the United States in order to be licensed. While they have a similar program in Europe, some U.S. states don't recognize that insurance as valid, so Niemetz has to help navigate those issues as well.

The COVID-19 restrictions have added to her workload this year, including requiring health certificates and negative COVID tests from all staff before getting on the plane.

“It's a very hard event to put on,” Niemetz said. “My job is trying to keep everybody happy, and to help them all have a good experience.”

Via the IRB, Niemetz is also involved in getting U.S. nominations and securing travel arrangements for Royal Ascot, the Japan Cup, Hong Kong International Races, and both the Saudi and Dubai World Cups. She usually travels to those events as well, but COVID has put a damper on that this year.

In fact, Niemetz drove all the way to Kentucky from her home base in Southern California, along with her husband, a retired regulatory veterinarian. The couple arrived about two weeks before the event to oversee the quarantine area set-up, and won't leave until the last horse is off the grounds.

“I'm very protective of the horse; the horse comes first to me,” Niemetz said.

A couple of her favorite horses from the Breeders' Cup events have been Ouija Board, two-time winner of the Filly & Mare Turf, and “the Queen” Enable, winner of the 2018 Turf.

The 33-year veteran has no plans to retire soon, either. The job keeps Niemetz around the animals she loves, which she's especially thankful for after surviving a bout with cervical cancer 10 years ago.

“I can't ride anymore, so this is a good alternative for me,” she said, smiling. “I just love being around the horses, and while I never imagined this is the job I'd end up in, it's been perfect for me.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Stomach Cancer Can’t Keep Melen Down

“This isn't a sad cancer story,” warned Steve Melen, part-owner of Horologist ahead of the filly's upcoming engagement in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. “It's about five different stories in one that started with the purchase of a racehorse.”

The trajectory of Melen's life first shifted when he was diagnosed with Stage 3 stomach cancer in his late 30s. Melen went from having everything he'd wanted in life—a great job, a house on a hill, a newborn daughter, and a beautiful wife—to undergoing surgery to remove his stomach, spleen, and half of his pancreas, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Melen became addicted to the painkillers during his recovery. He required two stints in rehab to get back on track, but the multiple health issues eventually led to the breakdown of his first marriage. There were days Melen wasn't sure where to turn.

He desperately needed something to be excited about again.

In 2011, two years after his initial diagnosis, Melen took a leap of faith and reached out to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer to inquire about racehorse ownership. Melen had traveled to the Kentucky Derby in 2006 with a friend who was a co-owner in the Hollendorfer-trained Derby contender Cause to Believe.

“I was kind of, well, not kind of down, I was really down,” Melen explained. “Racing was such an exciting, motivational thing, I just felt like I needed to be a part of it.”

A few weeks later, Melen got the call and agreed to purchase part of filly named Killer Graces. She broke her maiden in a stakes race in her second career start, and she wound up winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet in December of her juvenile season.

Through Killer Graces and subsequent racehorses, Melen reconnected with his childhood sweetheart and later married her. The long-time financial advisor was able to step out of the office and work for his own clients from home, and he felt like his life really started to get back on track.

“Being a financial advisor was not a motivating factor for me to stay alive,” Melen admitted. “I used to have fun out drinking with friends, now I've been sober for 7 years so I'm not the party guy anymore. But these horses, these are exciting, and we all need that sort of exciting.”

Melen kept horses with Hollendorfer for seven years and expanded out to other ownership groups. He later hooked up with several other partners, including Bing Bush's Abbondanza Racing for horses like the multiple graded stakes-placed Excellent Sunset and Motion Emotion.

“It's expensive but I want to be part of it, and I still get excitement when I own 10 percent,” Melen said. “I'm really into it for the excitement, not for any financial return.”

Several years into his racing journey, Melen decided to write a book about the way the sport has impacted his life. Titled Killer Graces: My Path From Pain To Power And Breakthrough Living, the book is described as “a story of both weakness and strength as Steve navigates a world of pain, drugs, alcohol, marital problems, and anxiety, all rooted in his earliest days as a child of adoption. Join Steve on his journey of self-discovery as he shares that it took a life-threatening illness to bring these issues to light so the true healing process could begin.”

The book has only been out for a month but has already sold about 500 copies, and has been exclusively rated “5 stars” on Amazon.

“I wrote the book because I wanted to spread the positive energy,” Melen explained. “Horses sure sparked a lot of really good things in my life. Something about what I'm doing, the energy and the support, the horse racing and everything has given me life that is super unique, and I've got a very happy, awesome, loving situation.”

Of course, life without a stomach isn't easy. He must give himself B12 shots once a month, since that vitamin is absorbed in the stomach, and meals are eaten in much smaller portions. Melen's esophagus has significant scarring, and he was in the hospital as recently as last Friday to have it stretched so that he can breathe more easily.

His weight has also been difficult to maintain: Melen is 6'1”, but weighs just 135 lbs.

“My friends all call me a unicorn,” Melen said, laughing good-naturedly. “I should have been dead twice, maybe three times. I had a 12 to 14 percent chance of living, but here I am. I really believe that following the races has a lot to do with that.”

Over the past several months, Melen has been especially thrilled to follow the progress of Horologist. He leapt at the chance to buy into the graded stakes winner via Abbondanza in late 2019, and the 4-year-old daughter of Gemologist has added wins in the G3 Molly Pitcher and G2 Beldame to her resume this season. Now trained by Bill Mott, the filly also ran third in the G1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs two starts back.

Up next, Horologist will start in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Nov. 7. It will be Melen's first starter in the Breeders' Cup, and despite the challenges of COVID-19, the owner won't miss the opportunity to watch the race live.

“The journey won't be easy, but I'm not gonna miss out,” said Melen. “You think the COVID is gonna stop me from going to the Breeders' Cup? I've cheated death already, so I'm going to the Breeders' Cup this year!”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Wilson Making The Most Of ‘Bizarre’ Year

One of the unique challenges presented by this year's pandemic has been the restricted travel of jockeys between different racetracks. At Woodbine in Canada, jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson found a way to turn that restriction into an opportunity.

“We always like to root for the horses who ship from here to run out of town,” Wilson said. “This year it's been far more rare, so we've been watching them a lot more closely. It's always fun to root for your home team.”

Wilson was glued to a television screen when trainer Gail Cox sent Sam-Son Farm's Say the Word to Saratoga in August, running the 5-year-old son of More Than Ready in a 1 3/16-mile allowance race on the grass.

“Junior Alvarado rode him and he came last to first with a wicked run,” Wilson recalled. “I was extremely impressed, and I mentioned to Gail that I liked the way he'd run and that I'd like to ride him.

“Woodbine only had five Grade 1's this year, and quite often we get a lot of ship-in horses, so the locals have to step up their game. I'm always on the lookout for serious horses, and I thought he'd be a tough horse.”

Wilson first rode Say the Word in the G3 Singspiel Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on the grass, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths overall to finish third.

“I got to know him a little bit; he's a little bit unique so I had to find that happy balance and get on the same page with him,” said Wilson. “It's like in hockey, if you take a left wing and place him on the right, it's going to take him a little bit of time to get used to that side.”

Cox and Wilson's end goal was to stretch the horse out to the 1 1/2 miles of the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf, held last Saturday, Oct. 17, and Say the Word responded brilliantly. Making his signature last-to-first move, Say the Word made a big run in the stretch to win by a length.

“Say the Word was definitely coming into his own this year,” Wilson said. “I'm grateful to have gotten the mount when I did.”

Say the Word and Emma-Jayne Wilson winning the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes

Of course, big race days don't feel quite the same this year without the presence of spectators at the Ontario oval.

“When I walk up on big race days at Woodbine, I enjoy that moment looking up at the grandstand and its totally full,” Wilson explained. “Normally on Queen's Plate day, you come on the gap at the seven-eighths pole and the grandstand is packed, just thousands and thousands of people, and you can feel each and every one of them, their energy.

“This year was bizarre. You can feel the energy of the horses, the jocks, the anxiety, but it wasn't the same. It didn't have the anticipation, that buzz of the crowd, and I definitely miss that. It's a big part of our game; the fans are massive and we wouldn't be there without them.”

Though Wilson has earned both an Eclipse Award and multiple Sovereign Awards for her riding career, last weekend's Northern Dancer Turf is just the third Grade 1 win added to her resume. The first came in 2015, also in the Northern Dancer Turf aboard Canadian champion Interpol. It took five years until she rode her second Grade 1 winner, Lady Speightspeare, victorious in last month's G1 Natalma Stakes.

“Lady Speightspeare is a pretty significant horse,” said Wilson. “I think you're going to be hearing her name quite a lot down the road.”

A Charles Fipke homebred out of his multiple graded stakes-winning mare Lady Shakespeare, the 2-year-old daughter of Speightstown won both her starts this year for trainer Roger Attfield. Lady Speightspeare earned an expenses-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf via her Natalma victory, but an ill-timed knee injury will keep her from making the trip to Keeneland.

“She's an athlete and a competitor, and she wasn't taking any prisoners (in the Natalma),” Wilson said. “It's disappointing that she's not able to go to the Breeders' Cup, because she was definitely one that I was willing to sit out races for, just to ride that one race; she is that good.”

Were Wilson to have made the Breeders' Cup trip with the filly, it would likely have cost her a total of 24 days away from Woodbine because of COVID-19 quarantine protocols. The jockey is currently tied for third in the standings with 72 victories this year, so her willingness to give up those days of riding indicate just how special she believes Lady Speightspeare could be.

What has made her two Grade 1 victories and strong 2020 season even more special, Wilson said, is the fact that she missed significant portions of the last two seasons with injuries.

“I'd been pretty lucky,” Wilson said. “I had a liver laceration in 2010 that kept me out of the saddle for three months, and it was serious, but physically I was okay. I didn't have any broken bones or anything, so I just had to maintain my physical fitness while being careful.”

In 2018, Wilson took a spill the morning before the meet started at Woodbine that resulted in the worst injuries of her career. She broke her humerus (upper arm) all the way through and required surgery with a 5 1/2-inch metal plate and nearly a dozen screws to put it back together.

“I wasn't expecting the challenges that came along with it,” Wilson admitted. “I was thinking it would take about six to eight weeks for the bone to heal, which was accurate, but then I remember trying to take my arm out of the sling and straighten it and I just couldn't.

“It was immobilized from the moment I hit the ground until a few weeks after surgery. After a trauma like that and then it gets seized up, it was disconcerting that my arm wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I wasn't prepared for the rehab; the muscle atrophy and loss of range of motion were just shocking.”

Four months after the injury Wilson was able to get back in the saddle, and she wound up winning 48 races at Woodbine in 2018.

Last year, her injury occurred on Sept. 8 in an afternoon spill. She fractured her left clavicle and three bones in her right hand, also requiring a surgical repair.

“The severity of those wasn't nearly as bad, but they're still injuries,” Wilson said. “I've learned over the years that I'm a professional athlete, and part of my job is knowing how to rehab. Most importantly, the rest days are just as important as the working ones.

“When I was a kid I was just, 'Go go go!', but you come to appreciate the days of healing. I made healing my job, and it was essentially eight weeks to the day that I was back in the saddle, so that was reassuring.

“I really have a great team behind me. My wife (equine chiropractor Laura Trotter) is just phenomenally supportive, and my personal trainer Matt Munro is a physiotherapist as well. When you have such a passion and a love for the sport like I do, it makes it easy to work harder and be ready to go as soon as you return.”

Wilson showed she was definitely ready to return, capping her 2019 season with 59 wins to finish sixth in the standings last year.

The jockey used to travel south in the winters to work the Fair Grounds meet, but that changed when she and Trotter started a family. Now, Wilson prefers to stay home with her 3-year-old twin daughters, Avery and Grace. She'll still fly to Florida a couple times a month as the weather starts to warm up, staying for the weekend to breeze a few horses for regular clients, then returning home to her family.

Until this spring, of course. The coronavirus pandemic put the entire Woodbine meet in jeopardy, so like the rest of her fellow jockeys based at the Ontario track, Wilson was grateful to be riding when the season started in June, about six weeks later than usual.

The hard-working 39-year-old has since turned the abbreviated meet into a successful one, making it one of her best years in the saddle yet. Wilson says she's far from finished, though.

“This game's been good to me, and I enjoy it every single day, every single leg up,” Wilson said. “I think I'll keep riding for as long as I'm healthy and happy. When you're winning races for great connections it's easy to have a love for the sport, and being in the winner's circle always helps you pull out of tough times, so there's no better reason to keep going.”

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