State-bred Showdown
Fourth in the trainer standings with 11 wins, Rudy Rodriguez is in the midst of a career meet at Saratoga. The same can be said for Charlton Baker, with nine victories and tied with six others for the sixth spot on the same list.
Tom Law
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Charlton Baker
Gray and bay heads peered out over the red stall webbings of Charlton Baker’s shedrow, ears pricked as a horse walked back to its barn from the Oklahoma Training Track. Baker sat in his golf cart parked feet away from the stalls, glancing at a condition book in his hand as he recounted his introduction to racing. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 26 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Jim Ryerson
Gray is a common theme at Jim Ryerson’s barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. Gray horses, most owned and bred by longtime Ryerson supporter Patricia Generazio, fill the stalls in the gray barn just off the midpoint of the turn on the Oklahoma. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 25 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Rick Violette
As training hours wrapped up Aug. 19, Rick Violette sits in his office in the middle of Barn 19 just off the three-quarter-pole gap of the main track at Saratoga Race Course. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 24 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
Euro invaders arrive at Spa
My Bo Chop and Naifah arrived in upstate New York from Europe last week – the former from France and the latter from England – cleared quarantine and spent just enough time in Barn 32 just off the Union Avenue entrance later that day and into Monday for their new connections to get a read on their personalities.
Yes Way
Jim Bond worked his way through the barns before last year’s OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training, looked at several hundred horses, watched videos, whittled his short list down to a more reasonable number and felt a little stuck.
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Rudy Rodriguez
The sun is still waking up, seeping through the hazy fog that rested atop the Oklahoma Training Track as 7:40 rolls around Thursday morning. The first break comes to an end and horses begin to tromp onto the dirt, beginning their morning workouts. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 19 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Ian Wilkes
Ian Wilkes took a short break from his morning to talk about his string for the 2016 Saratoga Race Course meeting when he got to a filly with a minor case of second-itis he hoped to find a cure for in Wednesday’s third race. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 18 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Tom Morley
Frequently decked out in pink pants that coordinate with his pink and blue stable colors, it’s not difficult to spot trainer Tom Morley in the paddock. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 17 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
2016 Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Eddie Kenneally
Eddie Kenneally wrapped up a phone call with a client, talked to a member of his team, walked out in the shedrow to play with one of his smiling children, greeted a visitor, started the Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour, stopped the tour briefly to take a call from a vet, finished the tour, played with his kids some more and was back on the phone in an Adirondack chair in the shade. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 14 issue of The Saratoga Special.)
