This year, people were interested in Brothers' black and white paint – both readers and Paulick Report staff members. If you'd wondered who the handsome steed is, wonder no more.

Kong is a 10-year-old American Spotted Draft/Percheron cross trainer Kristin Mulhall picked up at an auction. He was a pick-up horse at rodeos for many years, meaning he was responsible for 'picking up' cowboys off bucking broncos and helped wrangle bucking bulls at the end of their runs. He has been trained in all types of ranch work, but specialized in rodeos. There's not much that can phase him – which is good, because although he's seen big crowds at rodeos, last weekend was his first time working the races.

“He's a gentle giant,” said Mulhall.

Mulhall was out with Kong in the mornings as well, helping out trainers who didn't have their own pony horses at Del Mar. Most horses running on Breeders' Cup week shipped in, either from Santa Anita or from out-of-state, and with flights in short supply, many couldn't practically bring their own ponies. Mulhall could be spotted pitching in to help with the European visitors in particular. Despite his much heavier build, Mulhall said Kong has no problem keeping pace with the Thoroughbreds he leads – he just lets his large stride make up the difference, especially when he trots. His canter, Mulhall said, is a little more difficult to sit.

Mulhall with Kong (left) and Metz with Smokey (right)

Kong could be spotted alongside his stablemate, an American Mustang named Smokey with Zoe Metz aboard, in the mornings. They're just two of the horses Mulhall is riding or training between sunup and sundown each day, in addition to her racing string. Mulhall said she's a frequenter of local horse auctions, picking up riding horses to train and resell.

“I've got a bunch of riding horses at the house, probably 15 horses,” she said. “And I've started getting into the draft crosses. When I go home, that's when the work starts. I'm home all day, working after training stops. It's a full-time job. But I enjoy it. I love being outside working with horses.”

As for Kong, he celebrated each successful interview with Brothers with horse cookies Mulhall kept in his saddle bag. He may have been visible on NBC cameras walking the dirt track in between races with Mulhall at his head. That's because the one thing he doesn't care for is the shadowy tunnel between the paddock and the track. His requirements gave Mulhall a good spot, right on the rail, where she could hold him in between Brothers' rides.

Perhaps strangely, Kong has never been much for mints, carrots, or apples. Mulhall had to teach him what cookies were about, but now that he knows, he's never going to forget her for it.

“He wouldn't take treats out of your hand,” she said, speaking of Kong's demeanor when she first got him. “He was the type that if you walked up to him, he'd snort at you. You couldn't catch him. It took me like two days to get him spoiled.”

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Mulhall hopes to have the 4-year-old California-bred son of Girolamo owned by Twilight Racing and Steve Taub ready run at Del Mar, which opens July 17.

“He's such a big horse and I didn't want to rush him,” said Mulhall, whose rapid and rudimentary emergency action after the colt was bitten by a Black Widow spider saved him from death going on four years ago.

Thanks to Mulhall, her veterinarian Dr. Melinda Blue, Bob Baffert's exercise rider Humberto (Beto) Gomez, and Dr. Andreas Klohnen at Chino Hills Equine Hospital, Catemaco's life was saved after an extensive ordeal and he made a full recovery.

On Jan. 1 at Santa Anita, he won his first and only race by four lengths at 14-1, considerably shorter than his odds of survival, relatively speaking.

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He learned the importance of keeping his mount in rhythm from trainer Bobby Frankel. John Shirreffs' emphasis on patience was somewhat offset by Julio Canani's aggressiveness. Doug O'Neill stressed the importance of a positive attitude and teamwork.

Bob Baffert then hired Gomez and allowed him to put all of that together in 2018. He entrusted him with Justify and the rider who is widely known as “Beto” helped him develop an unraced 2-year-old into an undefeated Triple Crown champion.

Gomez emerged as the successor to the great Dana Barnes in Baffert's phenomenal stable, helping quirky Authentic to mature in time to win the pandemic-delayed Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic last year.

Gomez's heroic handiwork on the ground in 2017 is as impressive as anything he has accomplished on horseback. Trainer Kristin Mulhall credits him with saving the life of a 4-month-old Thoroughbred that was seemingly taking its last breaths after swallowing a black widow spider.

Mulhall, receiving phone instructions from veterinarian Melinda Blue, was attempting to perform an emergency tracheotomy using a dull box cutter and a syringe casing for a tube. She was in despair when Gomez arrived. She looked into the flailing horse's eyes and saw imminent death.

“You couldn't even see his pupils,” Mulhall said. “His eyes were bloodshot and cloudy. I thought 'Well, if he can't get enough oxygen, he's probably brain dead.'“

When she told Gomez as much, he refused to give up. He jumped on top of the foal, doing everything he could to hold down its head and feet.

“Try again!” he implored Mulhall. “Try again!”

Her third attempt was the charm. She finally succeeded at cutting an adequate hole in the trachea and suturing the tube into place using dental floss.

“The minute she put the tube, the horse took a lot of air,” Gomez said. “That gave us a lot of hope.”

Humberto Gomez on horseback off the track

Gomez and a friend dragged the horse into a trailer. Gomez continued to hold down the foal as he was rushed to Chino Hills Equine Hospital, where he began a full recovery.

Mulhall thanked Gomez by inviting him to name the California-bred. Gomez thought back to Catemaco, a horse he rode in Mexico City that displayed a huge heart every time he raced. Mulhall quickly embraced the name, which was approved.

Mulhall will be forever grateful to Gomez. “He pushed me to try because I gave up,” she said.

For Gomez, 44, his job is so much more than a job. “I just love what I do,” he said. “I have a passion for racing.”

That passion, combined with expertise gained through exposure to so many prominent trainers, has made him the go-to exercise rider for many of Baffert's stars.

“He can tell me a lot. He tells me what we can do differently. We try to change it up a little bit every day,” Baffert said, adding, “He's a good horseman. He's a really good horseman.”

Baffert and Gomez form a dynamic combination, much the way Baffert and Barnes did. “He cannot feel what I feel,” Gomez said. “I cannot see what he sees.”

According to Baffert, Gomez's input is vital. “He'll tell me if a horse is not doing well,” he said. “I want to know if we're doing too much with him, if we're not doing enough.”

Humberto Gomez with Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic

Baffert had long admired Gomez from a distance. “I always thought he'd make a great addition to the barn,” he said. Once he had the opportunity to hire him, he did not hesitate to assign highly-regarded but unproven Justify to him.

Gomez knew almost immediately that Justify would be the horse of his dreams. “The power of this horse and how professional,” he said. “He was acting like he was an older horse. The horse would do anything you wanted him to do. He likes to please you.”

Authentic? He was a project from the start.

“Authentic, when we got him, he was really immature,” Gomez said. “He would be galloping and looking at things all the time and trying to do things like a troublemaker. Every day was something with him.

“Day by day, we were trying to get to know him better, always keeping in mind that he was a late foal (May 5) and it was going to take him time to mature. With this COVID thing, they changed the time for the Kentucky Derby, so we were lucky to get him more time to get him more mature and everything.”

Gomez raves about Saudi Cup-bound Charlatan, describing him as a “machine.” Although newly-minted 3-year-old Life Is Good and Authentic were both sired by white-hot stallion Into Mischief, he believes that Life Is Good is more advanced than Authentic was at this early stage while describing him as being “in a learning process.”

Justify, Authentic, Charlatan, Life Is Good. The hits keep coming for Gomez. That almost surely will continue as long as he remains aligned with one of the most accomplished trainers of all time.

“I love to be riding all these champions,” Gomez said. “I'm so lucky to be part of his team.”

Catemaco will always hold a special place in his heart, though. Mulhall needed to wait until he turned 4, but on New Year's Day she and Gomez exulted as he made a winning debut in a six-furlong race at Santa Anita.

“It was very emotional because I see a horse almost dying and you never thought the way we saw him that he would make it just to be a pet,” said Gomez, appreciating how far he and Catemaco have come.

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.

If you wish to suggest a backstretch worker as a potential subject for In Their Care, please send an email to info@paulickreport.com that includes the person's name and contact information in addition to a brief description of the employee's background.

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But Catemaco's tale has a happy ending.

A 4-year-old colt bred in California on March 23, 2017, Catemaco won his first start Friday by a widening four lengths at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., leading throughout six furlongs in a sprightly 1:09.08, paying $30.60 to his scattered backers and earning $36,000 for owners Twilight Racing LLC and Steve Taub, all pretty remarkable facts in their own right.

But truth be told, it's a miracle Catemaco is even alive.

He swallowed a black widow spider when he was four months old, had a reaction that put him near death and would have died if it hadn't been for the diligent response of his trainer and breeder, Kristin Mulhall. She has the distressing details committed to memory.

After completing training at Santa Anita one morning, Mulhall arrived at her home in Covina Hills where she keeps some horses on her two-acre spread, only to find Catemaco lying down, “struggling to breathe.”

“The horse couldn't breathe at all,” Kristin said. “There was froth coming out of his nose, his eyes were bloodshot and cloudy. He was seconds away from dying.”

Mulhall's passion and persistence prevented his death even though she had only rudimentary tools at her disposal.

“I called my vet, Melinda Blue. We were on FaceTime and she was having her hair done. She said find anything, and I found a box blade. Fortunately, my tack room was right next to where the horse was. She told me to feel the ridges in his throat to find his trachea and slice a hole all the way through it, and he started breathing through that.

“Then I said, 'Now what?” and she said, 'Find any kind of tube,' and I found a syringe casing, cut the end of it and shoved it in, but I only had a couple minutes before the hole would plug up with foam and stuff.

“I tried to shove it in but the hole closed and he was flailing around really bad like a fish out of water, I tried to cut it again but couldn't.

“At that point, Humberto Gomez (Bob Baffert's exercise rider, known as Beto to friends) had returned and he held the horse's feet and head and I got it through the trachea the third time I tried, made a bigger hole which I was able to open with my finger to insert the casing.

“Then I called Melinda back and asked how the casing would stay in … I had to find dental floss and the largest needle I could, tie the dental floss to the needle and try to suture the hole the best way I could.

“I said I don't know how to do that. She said just tie a knot. Put it through the hole, through the skin and tie a knot on both sides, and that will hold it in until you get him to the hospital.

“Beto was holding Catemaco until I found everything I needed, we got it all done but then we didn't know if he was going to get up, if he was brain-dead or what.

“He got up after an hour. His eyes were still bloodshot and cloudy but he was up and walking. We put him in the back of the trailer with his mom and Humberto stayed with them, holding the tube in place.

“We took them to Chino Hills Equine Hospital and Dr. (Andreas) Klohnen, the head vet there, was absolutely shocked at what he saw. The horse would have been dead if we didn't do what we did, so the doctor was able to administer the correct implements for about two days before the swelling went down enough that they were comfortable to remove it.

“The horse was in the hospital about a week before I brought him back home and he's been fine ever since. It didn't affect him at all.”

Catemaco is named for a horse by the same name that Gomez said was 'a freak' when he rode him as a jockey in Mexico City. “It was the favorite horse he ever rode and he asked me to name my foal Catemaco, so I did,” Mulhall said. Catemaco also is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Kristin, 38, is the daughter of the late Richard Mulhall, who managed the late Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corp. after a lengthy training career in Southern California. But her experience in horsemanship extends well beyond learning from Dad.

She was an Olympic-caliber equestrian rider through her teens before being grounded by a serious arm injury. She obtained her trainer's license in 2002 after working for trainer John Shirreffs.

Presently she has 23 head at Santa Anita and some horses for trainer Jonathan Wong at her Covina Hills location. Her emotions understandably flooded forth after watching Catemaco win on Friday.

“I couldn't hold the tears back,” Kristin said. “That's the first time I cried after a race. That horse means so much to me, he's so special. The fact that he lived through that and he had the heart to fight through that is pretty unbelievable.

“I grew up with War Emblem, Point Given, Spain and all those good horses at their farm. I was around some special ones.”

But none as special as Catemaco.

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A 4-year-old colt bred in California Mar. 23, 2017, Catemaco (Girolamo) won his first start Friday by a widening four lengths at Santa Anita, leading throughout six furlongs in a sprightly 1:09.08, paying $30.60 to his scattered backers and earning $36,000 for owners Twilight Racing LLC and Steve Taub, all pretty remarkable facts in their own right.

But truth be told, it’s a miracle Catemaco is even alive.

He swallowed a black widow spider when he was 4-months-old, had a reaction that put him near death and would have died if it hadn’t been for the diligent response of his trainer and breeder, Kristin Mulhall.

After completing training at Santa Anita one morning, Mulhall arrived at her home in Covina Hills where she keeps some horses on her two-acre spread, only to find Catemaco lying down, “struggling to breathe.”

“The horse couldn’t breathe at all,” Mulhall said. “There was froth coming out of his nose, his eyes were bloodshot and cloudy. He was seconds away from dying.”

Mulhall’s passion and persistence prevented his death even though she had only rudimentary tools at her disposal.

“I called my vet, Melinda Blue,” the conditioner said. “We were on FaceTime and she was having her hair done. She said find anything, and I found a box blade. Fortunately, my tack room was right next to where the horse was. She told me to feel the ridges in his throat to find his trachea and slice a hole all the way through it, and he started breathing through that.

“Then I said, ‘Now what?’ and she said, ‘Find any kind of tube,’ and I found a syringe casing, cut the end of it and shoved it in, but I only had a couple minutes before the hole would plug up with foam and stuff. I tried to shove it in, but the hole closed and he was flailing around really bad like a fish out of water, I tried to cut it again but couldn’t.

“At that point, Humberto Gomez [Bob Baffert’s exercise rider, known as Beto] had returned and he held the horse’s feet and head. I got it through the trachea the third time I tried, made a bigger hole, which I was able to open with my finger to insert the casing.

“Then I called Melinda back and asked how the casing would stay in. I had to find dental floss and the largest needle I could, tie the dental floss to the needle and try to suture the hole the best way I could. I said I don’t know how to do that. She said just tie a knot. Put it through the hole, through the skin and tie a knot on both sides, and that will hold it in until you get him to the hospital.

“Beto was holding Catemaco until I found everything I needed, we got it all done but then we didn’t know if he was going to get up, if he was brain-dead or what. He got up after an hour. His eyes were still bloodshot and cloudy, but he was up and walking. We put him in the back of the trailer with his mom and Humberto stayed with them, holding the tube in place.

“We took them to Chino Hills Equine Hospital and Dr. [Andreas] Klohnen, the head vet there, was absolutely shocked at what he saw. The horse would have been dead if we didn’t do what we did, so the doctor was able to administer the correct implements for about two days before the swelling went down enough that they were comfortable to remove it. The horse was in the hospital about a week before I brought him back home and he’s been fine ever since. It didn’t affect him at all.”

Catemaco is named for a horse by the same name that Gomez said was ‘a freak’ when he rode him as a jockey in Mexico City. Catemaco also is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

“It was his favorite horse he ever rode and he asked me to name my foal Catemaco, so I did,” Mulhall said.

Mulhall, 38, is the daughter of the late trainer Richard Mulhall, who managed the late Prince Ahmed Salman’s The Thoroughbred Corp. after a lengthy training career in Southern California. She was an Olympic-caliber equestrian rider through her teens before being grounded by a serious arm injury. She obtained her trainer’s license in 2002 after working for trainer John Shirreffs. Presently, she has 23 head at Santa Anita and some horses for trainer Jonathan Wong at her Covina Hills location.

Her emotions understandably flooded forth after watching Catemaco win Friday.

“I couldn’t hold the tears back,” Mulhall said. “That’s the first time I cried after a race. That horse means so much to me, he’s so special. The fact that he lived through that and he had the heart to fight through that is pretty unbelievable. I grew up with War Emblem, Point Given, Spain and all those good horses at their farm. I was around some special ones.”

But none as special as Catemaco.

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