It was late in 2008, and Henry Terranova was looking for another way to connect with his two older sons – Jamie and Joe. The two brothers were, in turn, seeking a hobby that married their keen business sense with their affinity for competitive gaming. Having been involved in the horseracing business long before his boys knew preferred stock from livestock, Henry reached out to a few of his former partners from the industry. The goal was simple – start a small, manageable stable of thoroughbred horses to be raced locally. It was the perfect fit. But, we never could have imagined where we would go from there.
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| Clockwise, from bottom left, Henry, Jack, Joe, and Jamie |
The Conditioner
Charged with the task of maintaining the stable was trainer Edward (Eddie) Barker. In horseracing circles, Eddie is not the most well-known of trainers, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that knows or cares more about racehorses. Thoroughbred racehorses are high-strung, oft-injured, and constantly in need of physical and emotional attention. But, you will never hear Barker complain, not even once. Like many of our horses, he puts everything he’s got into his work, every single day of the year. We’re thankful and fortunate to work with a trainer that is more than capable of attending to all the needs of his job (human and horse alike).
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| Joe and Barker in Saratoga |
The Beginning
Our very first purchase was a spunky, athletic, chestnut mare named Hazaam’s Back (Put it Back –Simply Hazaam, by Hazaam). Lightly raced and unremarkably bred, it took a little while to get this girl on track. However, in her 4th start for the stable, we tasted victory for the first time. Running at 7 furlongs (7/8 of a mile), a front running Hazaam’s Back drew off from the field, cruising to a 7 length win and sending the boys to the winner’s circle for the first time as bona fide thoroughbred owners. See the full chart and a link to the race replay here: http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbPDFChartPlus.cfm?BORP=P&STYLE=EQB&DAY=D&tid=AQU&dt=04/19/2009&ctry=USA&race=2
Unfortunately, our first purchase would not prove to be our best one. Hazaam lost her competitive edge and (following a brief trip to Finger Lakes) was ultimately sent off to live as a polo horse. However, this was not before she gave us one of our most memorable moments as owners while setting the record for most people in a winning picture for a (low-level) $16k claiming race. The picture speaks for itself:
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| 29 people! |
Coming Soon…The Gamechanger
