In Their Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Bond Shedrow Is A Family Business

Trainer H. James Bond, his wife Tina and their sons, Kevin and Ryan, have Song Hill Thoroughbreds, an idyllic 177-acre farm in Mechanicville, N.Y.

They have a 42-horse racing stable of such quality that they won 12 races from 40 starts during Saratoga's prestigious summer meet. Their runners hit the board 63 percent of the time on behalf of their clients.

They have 17 broodmares and a dozen retired Thoroughbreds, the latter a reflection of their commitment to make certain every horse they breed will always have a home.

For all that the Bonds worked to obtain, what they have, more than anything, is each other.

Kevin was struck by that during this strange fan-free summer at Saratoga. Picnic tables, occupied by the same families for generations, were empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When their horses entered the winner's circle, there was no applause from the grandstand.

In one sense, it hardly seemed to matter.

“You turn to your dad, you turn to your brother. You high-five each other or whatever,” Kevin said. “There is no greater gratification than that, just to know that everybody is on the same team and just proud of each other.”

Those heartwarming moments can be traced to the ailing heart of James' father, Harold, a trainer in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. Due to his father's medical issues, James was forced to abandon his dream of becoming a veterinarian to obtain his trainer's license on his 16^th birthday.

James would arrive at the barn at 4 a.m. and begin his high school classes once that work was done. He is forever grateful to an understanding guidance counselor who would arrange his schedule to allow him to shower at school before he attended his first class.

Perhaps the early start helped James, who turns 63 in October, build on what came before him as a third-generation horseman. His operation has totaled more than $45 million in purses. He is a two-time winner of the Whitney Handicap, with Travers victor Will's Way in 1997 and with Tizway in 2011. He has been prominent on the international stage, with a third-place finish by L'Carriere in the 1996 Dubai World Cup and a runner-up effort by Behrens in that same event in 2000.

James is a pillar of the lucrative New York breeding program as a breeder and trainer. He estimates that 80 percent of his stock is comprised of New York-breds. He said of the opening of Song Hill in 2007: “We wouldn't have this farm without New York-breds. It was the basis of our decision to build this farm.”

While James had no choice but to take over his ailing father's business, Kevin and Ryan were initially encouraged to pursue other careers after completing their college educations.

James, Kevin and Ryan Bond

“It's a hard industry. It's hard on family life if you're not all in it together because you can't get away,” said Tina. “I did try to push them in another direction.”

Kevin studied business management at Lynn University. Ryan was a finance major at Florida Atlantic. It did not take either of them very long to make their way back to the track.

“I really didn't see myself in an office,” said Ryan.

Neither did Kevin. Both determined that nothing could match the adrenaline rush that goes with watching a horse they bred compete on the rugged New York circuit and elsewhere.

“There is always something to look forward to with one horse or another. There is a lot of action,” Ryan said. “It doesn't feel like work.”

Tina admits that her role as business manager very much feels like work. She takes pride in her sharp pencil.

“You have to run a smart business to keep everything afloat. It's an important part of the business, just not as much fun as what they do,” she said. “They work seven days a week. So do I.”

James treasures the time with his sons at the barn.

“I thought they both were going to go in different directions,” he said. “I always told them they both had jobs if they needed it, and they both came back. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

James makes decisions on various matters after seeking input from other family members. Some disagreements are inevitable.

“There are more pros than cons to it because we all know we are looking out for each other, we are looking out for the family's best interests,” Kevin said.

Their shared goal is to produce a Kentucky Derby winner. James thought he had one after Buddha won the Wood Memorial in 2002 – only to suffer a crushing disappointment. Buddha had to be scratched two days before the Derby with a foot injury.

“There was no doubt in my mind he would have been the Derby winner if we could have led him over that day,” James said. “You try to build that mountain and, all of a sudden, you just go tumbling down. It's hard, but I would have hated to hurt the horse.”

With the Bonds, the horse comes first from the moment of conception. They attach a postcard to the foaling papers of each horse they breed that contains their contact information in case that horse ever needs a home. That is typical of the way the family conducts business.

“It's all about integrity. Basically, you build your life up to have a name. That's what I hope to leave them, a good name to carry on and, hopefully, have the same good fortune or better than I had,” said James, looking ahead to the fourth generation.

Tom Pedulla wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.

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Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Wooten And His Horses Speak To Each Other

Alex Wooten was 44 years old when he completed a 20-year sentence for armed robbery, a conviction he insists was a case of mistaken identity for a crime he did not commit. Upon his release from the Maryland prison system, he faced the potentially overwhelming issue of how to restart his life as a middle-aged man.

The answer proved to be the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Second Chances Program — and regular conversations with horses. He works as an exercise rider at Laurel Park after initially beginning his career there as a hotwalker and groom.

Wooten, now 47, does not worry so much about reconciling the past as he does about finding the best path forward. Nothing about his life has been easy.

He was born in Philadelphia and grew up an angry young man. His parents, Stella and Alex, abused drugs. He fought an attempt to place him in a foster home and found himself on his own way too soon. He trained at culinary school and began working as a sous chef. He was barely making enough money to support his family as a single father of two sons. He wanted more for the three of them. He could have that by selling drugs.

“A lot of my associates back then, people I called friends, they were making very good money doing it,” Wooten said. “I figured I'd do the same thing, and it worked for a while.”

As readily as he admits to a second job he was not proud of and other crimes that he describes as “minor,” he is vehement in saying he was in Arizona when a younger brother who bore a striking resemblance participated in an armed robbery of a bar-restaurant in Baltimore.

He speaks freely about it now. He maintained his silence when police questioned him.

“The whole not snitching thing was part of my culture. Because I was living in the criminal world, I believed you should not tell on someone else,” Wooten said. “I stuck to the code of the street. Whether it was right or wrong, I stuck to the code of the street.”

He never imagined punishment would be so severe.

“At the time, I was not living the cleanest life,” he said. “But I had never been in that kind of trouble before. I figured it was the first time. It wouldn't be as bad as I thought it was going to be. But it was worse than I thought it would be.”

He possessed uncontrollable fury when he was first incarcerated at age 24. He said he was determined to rise in the inmate hierarchy that exists in each system. He fought often to prove himself and to release pent-up emotions. His life began to turn when prison officials suggested he read “Cage the Rage.” Then he read it a second time. He began to look at his loss of freedom differently.

He said of his two-decade sentence: “For the type of life I was leading, it was a wake-up call. If it was not for me getting locked up, I would not be here right now. I was living a very dangerous life. I wasn't using drugs, but I was selling them. I was dealing with some very powerful people in the drug world.”

As the end to Wooten's two decades behind bars finally came into view, he began to ponder his future. He was already familiar with horses through his involvement with VisionQuest's Wagon Train, a program for troubled teens. He was drawn to Second Chances at Central Maryland Correctional Facility in Sykesville, Md.

He quickly emerged as a top student.

“He took a lot of pride in connecting with those horses and developing relationships with those horses,” said Sarah Stein, then the program director.

Stein encouraged all of her students to speak to the horses they cared for.

“I think it's remarkably powerful,” she said. “It's a way of learning how to communicate and how to hear yourself talk about the things that are hard for you.”

Wooten does, indeed, find the experience to be powerful.

“I'll have a knee in the ground and, if I'm working on their feet or doing something with their legs, I'm talking to the horse,” he said. “People usually hear me and think I'm talking to them and I'm like, 'No, me and the horse are having a conversation.' It allows me to express and get whatever is on my chest off.”

He swears that Thoroughbreds talk back.

“If I'm having issues, I talk to them about it,” he said. “If they're having problems, they talk to me about it.”

Wooten will never forget his association with Dear Charlotte, trained by Dale Capuano.

“She would actually grab your shirt and pull you over and stand you in front of wherever she was hurting,” he said.

He is remarkably upbeat for someone who lost his freedom for so long. He learned to gallop horses last winter at Bonita Farm in Darlington, Md. He said he avoids anyone from his past who is still involved with drugs or crime. He intends to continue to work in the racing industry as part of a 10-year plan he developed.

“His attitude about that extent of incarceration is also how he approaches life. He knows it doesn't always work out the way you think it's going to,” Stein said. “He's set some goals for himself and he's doing what he has to do to reach those goals. He's not skipping any steps.

“We could all take a page out of that book.”

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Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Longtime Volunteer At Old Friends Has Staying Power

June Shaw has long been fascinated by Thoroughbreds, and she has shared her passion by leading tours at Saratoga Race Course for more than 30 years. One horse always stood out for her – Thunder Rumble.

The aptly-named New York-bred was, indeed, ready to rumble on and off the track. When Shaw would lead a group past trainer Richard O'Connell's barn, she would delight in observing that Thunder Rumble typically required two handlers. One did not stand a chance.

On the track, the combination of his innate strength and his imposing will allowed him to develop into one of the most formidable New York-breds in history. In 1992, before a devoted following at Saratoga Race Course, he captured the Jim Dandy as a prelude to becoming the first New York-bred to win the Travers since 1867.

“He was hyper and hard to control,” Shaw said. “But when he went to work, boy, he went to work.”

We do not know about the hyper and hard to control aspect. But when Shaw, 75, goes to work, boy, she goes to work. Of the 45 volunteers overseeing 15 retired horses at Old Friends' satellite farm in upstate New York – Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division – no one sets a brisker pace or is more dedicated than Shaw.

“She is my hero, really. I look up to her in every way. I hope and pray when I'm 75, I'm doing what June is doing,” said JoAnn Pepper, who operates Old Friends at Cabin Creek with her husband, Mark.

Shaw, all 5'5″, 106 pounds of her, was drawn by Thunder Rumble to the tranquil retirement facility that is a short drive from Saratoga Race Course. The nearly-black stallion arrived in 2009 as one of the first retirees to be placed there. He never failed to flex his muscles until the day he died of complications due to colic in January 2015. He was 26.

The opportunity to work with Thunder Rumble helped to attract Shaw to Old Friends at Cabin Creek. She and her husband, Ron, had given their all to raising three children — Tim, Ben and Samantha. Her 25-year career as a school bus driver was over. She felt she had more to give. So why not give it to Thunder Rumble and others?

“I think it was going to be twice a week,” Pepper said. “But she ended up coming every day.”

Shaw prepares the all-important carrots for retirees

Almost instantly, a visitor is struck by the importance of aftercare and how essential each volunteer is.

“They are like the blood force of it all because there is such intense care that the horses get every day,” Pepper said. “We check them all over.”

Shaw proved to be an immediate asset. She understands the intricacies of equine care through her long-term ownership and love affair with Patrick, a retired Quarter Horse who is now 33. She finds a way to connect with most horses. With Thunder Rumble, she quickly learned to give him his space.

“He used to chase me out of the paddock,” she said, happy to have such memories.

Shaw finds every hour she gives to be rewarding, knowing each retiree has been spared the terror of the slaughterhouse.

“I've been to auctions. I know the people are there to take them to where I don't want them to go,” she said. “It's nasty. They stuff them into vans and it's just an awful thing.”

The pandemic did not stop Shaw and others who give so willingly of their time from mucking stalls and tending to the retirees' many needs.

“All of us were thrilled to be here during the awful pandemic,” she said. “At least we are able to get out and be where we want to be.”

Pepper is proud of the way everything continued to operate seamlessly. Masks were worn, distance was maintained and the volunteers proved that it is possible to work safely.

“We kept each other healthy through this whole thing,” Pepper said. “Nobody has even gotten a cold.”

Shaw hard at work at Old Friends Cabin Creek

Something succeeded at slowing down Shaw. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with COVID-19. Although she was wearing cleats, she slipped on ice in January and broke her right wrist as she attempted to brace herself during the fall. She wore a cast for six weeks and only recently shed a brace.

Even then, she continued to report for unpaid duty, handling as many chores as she could with her good hand. The injury raised the question of how much longer Shaw can continue.

“I have today. Who knows what tomorrow brings?” she said. “I want to live in the day. It works for my head.”

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