Somewhere among Rafael Schistl's belongings is a beat-up suitcase sporting stickers from the countries in which the 33-year-old product of Itajai, Brazil competed as a jockey from 2005-2019, compiling almost 700 victories.
There's Norway, where he won three Derbies while riding for prominent owner Nils-Petter Gill. And Denmark and Sweden, providing a combined three additional tastes of Derby glory.
There's Sweden, Switzerland and Dubai, along with Germany, France, Italy and New Zealand. And did we mention Spain and Mauritius?
His experiences on and off the racetrack, including his 250 victories in stakes races and/or classics, would fill several scrapbooks. The memories of his greatest triumphs remain rich and vibrant. He even found time along the way to add English, Spanish and German to his native language, Portuguese.
But about five or six years ago, Schistl came face-to-face with virtually every jockey's biggest foe: the constant, day-to-day struggle to make weight.
“I could see I didn't have much longer to be a jockey, because I was too heavy,” said Schistl, who earned the Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month Award after climbing to fourth in the Tampa Bay Downs standings with 20 victories. “My father was a trainer and my grandfather was a trainer, and it's something I always wanted to do. So I think it is in the blood.”
Schistl, who enjoys driving muscle cars as a hobby, put the pedal to the metal when it came time to alter paths. In October of 2019, he took his talents to Eddie Woods Stables in Ocala to learn to break yearlings. About 10 months later, with an offer on the table to move to France to train, Schistl was approached by Bob Jones – the owner, with his wife Jill, of Endsley Oaks Farm in Brooksville, about 50 miles from Tampa Bay Downs – to train their horses.
Endsley Oaks employs a horse exerciser machine, an equine swimming pool and two tracks – a 3/8-mile training track and a mile-and-a-quarter, European-style dirt gallop – to keep horses fit and race-ready, and the proximity of the farm to Tampa Bay Downs allows for easy transport.
The early returns indicate Schistl made a great choice. After saddling 10 winners from 55 starters last season, Schistl is 20-for-109 at the current meet, trailing only Gerald Bennett, Kathleen O'Connell and Juan Arriagada in the victory standings.
“It all happened fast. It was a lot of work and a lot of things to learn, and I'm still learning, of course,” said Schistl, whose years riding for trainer Niels Petersen in Norway helped to establish a foundation for his current success.
“It (his relationship with the Joneses) is like a family,” Schistl said of his primary owner. “They give me anything I need that makes sense for the horses. We have nine 2-year-olds at the farm that are coming to the track this week (eight owned by Endsley Oaks) that we bought as yearlings, and I'd like to buy a few more at Keeneland and Ocala this year.”
Schistl, who plans to have at least several of Endsley Oaks's juveniles ready to compete later this year at either Monmouth Park or Gulfstream, says he will let each horse dictate its progress toward entering the gate.
“I won't rush a horse just to get it to the races,” he said. “I train them all individually, because they do things differently and have different needs.”
Mina Haug, Schistl's Tampa Bay Downs assistant and the mother of their infant son Rafael (Schistl's daughters Victoria, 11, and Rafaela, 10, live with their mother in Brazil), credits his ability to deal with each horse's specific needs as instrumental to his success.
“There is a system, but he is going to work with each horse on a one-on-one basis. He has a great love for the horses,” Haug said.
Schistl has also been active in the claiming arena. On Wednesday, 7-year-old mare Luna Queen – a horse he had lost through a claim, then claimed back in her next start – recorded her second consecutive victory for the conditioner and Endsley Oaks in a $16,000 claiming race on the turf.
Other multiple Schistl-trained winners at the meet include Take to the Skies, Shaldag, Tiz Lottie, Pharaoh Fancy Pant, Jack Rabbit Quick and Latin Nikkita.
Down the road, Schistl yearns to be a top-level trainer, with a stable the size of such industry titans as Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown. But after riding so many horses to the winner's circle, he recognizes that it takes a village to give a jockey and a trainer their opportunities.
“Mina and Luis Alberto, my assistant at the farm, are my left and right arms, and our forewoman at the track, Lidia Moyano, can do anything,” Schistl said. “Most of the people on my team have been working with me since I started, and I figure out a lot of things by listening to them.”
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