The old dog (me) was taught a new trick.
I have been a racehorse owner for 21 years and have been part of many groups with many interesting people.
Through the 15 or so I have owned I never have had a week where two of my horses won! It happened this week (new trick), and it was awesome.
My first big boss at KFAN Mick Anselmo and I started Gucci Stables in 1999, and from there I have owned horses with former Vikes OC Norv Turner, current Vikes trainer Eric Sugarman, etc.
Got current Vikes coach Mike Zimmer involved last year when we claimed a mare named Jeana Baby for $7,500. She never got Zimm a win, and my sometimes-crotchety friend lets me know about that at least once a month.
Well the old head coach can pipe down for a little while because a horse we claimed with Double A Gap Group partnership for $12,500 won first time out for us Thursday, and it was mostly joyous.
Mike couldn’t be at Canterbury to witness the win live, but we FaceTimed him from the
paddock and winner’s circle. I could tell it was bugging him he wasn’t here for the fun and was elated the horse won but pissed off he wasn’t in attendance.
Sometimes I swear Zimm could win a Super Bowl and right after the game he’d be upset a young corner gave up inside leverage on a big play. Lol.
Mike and I are donating our profits from the winner Cave Run to charity, and he won a $25k purse under a picture-perfect ride by Alonso Quinonez.
Coach, of course, wouldn’t know what the picture looks like because he wasn’t there to witness the domination.
Tuesday a quarter horse I co-own with Minnesota Wild goalie Alex Stalock won a time-trial race and qualified for the August 11 Mystic Lake Northland’s Futurity. A Fabulos Painting was 0-for-3 into the race, popped the gate like a champ and qualified for the $87,000 race.
The beauty of owning this 2 year old is he went from never finishing better than fifth to probably being favored to win the $87k Northlands. So sweet yet so weird.
Horse ownership is not something into which people dive to make a ton of cash. Honestly most horse owners lose in the end. But the thrill of owning your own horse, thinking about the race all day and bringing family and friends to the track to sweat the race are memories I will forever cherish.
If interested in owning one for which you can root at Canterbury contact Joe Scurto at Joe.Scurto@racehorseminnesota.com
I’ll see you in the winner’s circle!
