By Kristin Bechthold
Robertino Diodoro is Canterbury Park’s leading trainer for 2014 with 221 starts and 50 wins, giving him a total of $827,564 in earnings. He currently has 62 horses at Canterbury Park for the 2015 race season. Diodoro’s most promising horses for this season include Broadway Empire, Stormation, Tappin Vegas, and Space Mine.
Although Diodoro spends most of his time at Canterbury Park, he also trains horses at a number of different race tracks, including: Northlands Park in Alberta, Santa Anita Park in California, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Turf Paradise Race Course in Arizona, and starting this year, Prairie Meadows Race Track in Iowa.
In total, Diodoro has 127 horses in training. Each of horses is selected to run at a particular track based on the conditions of the track and where they fit best. “That’s the most challenging part of training,” Diodoro said. “You want to place them right.”
With such a large operation to run, Diodoro places a large focus on hiring staff that are hard-working and straightforward. His motto for the operation is to work hard. “We try to run a clean ship,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s just to work hard. We put a lot of hours in.”
Diodoro started training horses when he was 19 years old. He was born into it with his father and grandfather being involved in horse racing. His grandfather started with just one race horse. Although his father isn’t involved in racing anymore, he is a big supporter.
Though horse racing is Diodoro’s biggest focus, he also has a passion for hockey. As a young adult, he played junior hockey and was involved in semi-professional hockey for a short period. He then found himself focusing less on hockey and more on horse racing, which lead him to become serious about a career as a trainer.
When Diodoro isn’t training, his hobbies include being out on the boat with friends and golfing. His parents and 15 year old son live in Calgary, Alberta, which he visits often.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trW5s1bwRkI&w=560&h=315]
video by Michelle Benson
