Stable Tours

Graham Motion came out firing early at Saratoga, with four wins from his first 13 starts at the meet. Home base is Maryland’s Fair Hill Training Center, but he’s got 20 stalls on the Saratoga backside near the main track’s three-eighths pole. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 7 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Everyone at Saratoga Race Course seems to know the infamous Eric Guillot, be it for his strong Louisiana accent coupled with mind-boggling allegories, delectable gumbo or for monstrous upsets in major Saratoga stakes. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 6 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Curious heads poke out of their stalls as trainer Bruce Brown zips back and forth from his barn to the Oklahoma Training Track in a red golf cart, overseeing his string of horses whose schedules he neatly organizes onto two white boards outside his tack room. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 5 issue of The Saratoga Special.) 

Tom Albertrani’s stable is tucked away in the quiet southeast corner of Saratoga Race Course’s main track stable area. He’s been there nearly 10 years and it’s the same barn that housed the legendary Secretariat when he raced at Saratoga during Horse of the Year campaigns in 1972 and 1973. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 4 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Joe Sharp’s tight-knit barn on the Oklahoma Training Track seems to be bubbling with fun and positivity as the horses and people wade into the 2016 Saratoga Race Course meeting. (Originally published in Aug. 3 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Somebody stole Al Stall’s training board – right out of the tack room. That’s why his 18-horse Saratoga roster is scribbled in black pen on a small, paper trainer’s chart. The handwriting won’t win many prizes, but the horses are there and they’ll likely win a few races before Stall returns to his Kentucky base for the fall season. (Editor’s note: Originally published in July 31 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Steve Asmussen is on the doorstep of a huge, perhaps even monstrous, stretch at Saratoga Race Course and beyond. The two-time winner of the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer, Asmussen will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month (Editor’s note: Originally published in July 30 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Ralph Nicks resides in the same barn as last year, nestled below the trees between Barclay Tagg and Mark Hennig, a winding walk from the Morning Line Kitchen.

Last year, The Special hit the old new kid on the block as Nicks was back in Saratoga for the first time in years. It was about his return. Nicks had 12 horses – 12 ripened and ready for a strong show. (Editor’s note: Originally published in July 29 issue of The Sarartoga Special.)

Dallas Stewart’s stable for the 2016 Saratoga meeting could not be a truer reflection of himself. Like the native of New Orleans who trains them, the horses are full of personality and a love of racing. Stewart’s string totals 14 and ranges from unraced 2-year-olds to Grade 1 winners. (Editor’s note: Originally published July 28 issue of The Saratoga Special.)