The horses will be boarded and trained by Donald Yovanovich (“Donnie”) of Initiator Stables in Middleburg, Virginia. Donnie has a racing / steeplechase barn adjacent to the Middleburg Training Track. They picked Donnie based on his non-conventional approach to training — he is an old school horseman, in addition to simply keeping the horses in their stalls and breezing them at the track, he turns them out daily even while in training so they can be “horses”. He swims them at the Middleburg Swim Center, and hunts and exercises them cross country. They really believe that the more horses can be horses, the healthier and stronger they will be for racing.

One of the things they say they like about Donnie is that he has a pretty extensive riding past. He started out doing hunters in PA, was friends and rode with George Morris and Michael Matz, and qualified for the MacClays multiple times. During grad school, he worked as an exercise rider and got to work with some pretty prominent racehorse trainers. He worked as a jockey (also won Gold Cup) and apprenticed with a number of trainers. From there, he went out on his own and started training both flat and steeplechase horses. He still trains both (one of his horses won the first race at Gold Cup this year). Another great potential future resource for them is Donie’s wife Robin — in the early ’80’s, she was the Partner Coordinator for Catoctin I and II; the Firestone family’s two racing syndicates that gave us Genuine Risk in 1980.

Their plan is to run the horses locally for now and to focus on the following race tracks: Charles Town, Laurel, Pimlico, Colonial Downs and Delaware, with an occasional trips to Philly, Penn National or Monmouth depending on the horse.

The partnership’s # 1 Priority is the health and safety of their athletes. For that reason, they selected Donnie and his 100+ acre facility in Middleburg, VA to be their trainer. Additionally, the Partnership has implemented what they refer to as the “College Savings” Program for their horses. Under the program, 10% of all earnings go into a specially designated savings account intended for the retraining and eventual placement of their runners once they are retired from racing. Possible “second career” options for their horses include becoming steeplechase horses, hunter / jumpers in the show ring, or fox hunters.

The partnership’s stables currently includes 3 horses — one 4-year old Virginia bred filly and two 3-year old California breds. Their tentative plan is to double the number of horses and they are actively seeking new partners to help them achieve that goal. Ideas for their next group of horses include going with older known quantities such as allowance horses or prospecting for 2 year olds. Partners will have a say and the ultimate decision on the pathway they pursue.

In addition to just racing, the tentative plan is to also offer social events for the partners at various times throughout the year. For example, this past weekend, they held an “official workout” and lunch for current partners. Also, they are planning to reserve space at the Virginia Gold Cup Spring Races for the partnership.

For more information contact Karl Nobert of Upperville Racing for full details or with any questions. He can be reached at 215.582.1755 or By Email.

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Now the 3-year-old is on the Triple Crown trail, with his next race being the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes on March 27. Should he win or place, Vow to Wager would be entered in the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

“Derby Dreams is the right name for our partnership, because that’s what we’re doing,” said Crawford, who is also the managing owner of the Iowa Energy. “We have a long, long ways to go — but if it were to pan out, it would be the dream of a lifetime.”

The Derby Dreams partnership includes Des Moines-area residents Dennis Albaugh, Jason Loutsch, Gary Kirke, George Cataldo, Dr. William Jacobson, and Judy Smith. It was formed in 2008, when the group spent $500,000 to buy eight yearlings at horse sales.

“We only bought horses that were bred for classic distances,” said Crawford, known in Democratic political circles for being an influential fundraiser and adviser to former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. “The specific goal of the partnership is to get a horse into the Kentucky Derby.”

Those yearlings are now 3-year-olds. Vow to Wager, a son of Broken Vow, was winless in three starts in 2009, but he has won both his races this year.

He won his opening race by 5½ lengths, then took the roughly-run Battaglia after Codoy was disqualified for interference. Vow to Wager was cut off turning for home and again when Codoy veered inward.

“Broken Vow offspring often mature slowly,” Crawford said. “When he was running poorly as a 2-year-old, (trainer) Dale Romans said ‘I love this colt; don’t give up hope on him.’ Fortunately, I was wrong about the horse and Dale Romans was right.

“He’s going to have to take a gigantic step forward to get to the Derby. He’s going to have to finish first or second in the Lane’s End to get to the Derby. But I think, stretching out (in distance), it could happen.”

The group has another Triple Crown prospect in Paddy O’Prado, who was third in a stakes race on turf at 2. His long-range goal is the 1½mile Belmont Stakes in June.

“He may end up being the best of the eight,” Crawford said. “Both Paddy O’Prado and Vow to Wager, we’ll give them a serious look for the Belmont, just because they’re bred to run so long. We’ll have to see if either of these horses earn the chance to do that.”

Another horse with Iowa ties that is on the Derby trail is Uh Oh Bango, who will run in the March 13 Rebel Stakes in Arkansas.

He was based at Prairie Meadows last year for owner-trainer Kory Owens and won the Prairie Meadows Freshman.

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I have a firm grasp on all of the business requirements (like legal entities, licensure, claiming procedures and costs), but what I lack is horseman knowledge (like training, boarding and vet costs).

Can anyone point me in the right direction to where I can learn more about this or share some of your experiences if you are/were in a racing syndicate or partnership? How was experience with the partnership? Was it run well? Did it meet your expectations? Did you have any say or part in the selection, training, racing of the horse? Any information would be appreciated.

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But how were other partners in Pucker Ridge Racing and other acquaintances to know that? It seemed like they had their fill of bad headlines from the horse racing world to fall back upon – from champions ending up at slaughterhouses to owner/breeder Ernie Paragallo being arrested for animal cruelty to his own horses.

“All along, everyone would say, ‘What are you going to do with them when they get off the track?’ I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to them,” Engel said.

About that time, she met Becky Palmer and Tina Hance, who run The Barn Too in Westport, a boarding and horse-leasing farm that also gives riding lessons. Palmer worked with many horses in teaching them different jobs from the ones they’d been used to.

What it has led to is a partnership in which Pucker Ridge Farm is the only local breeding farm working on retraining thoroughbreds for different careers.

“As we chatted more and more, it seemed to me there was a market for these retrained horses,” said Engel, who owns the 300-plus-acre farm in Warrensburg with her husband, Paul Raymond.

Currently, the farm has anywhere from six to 10 horses in some form of retraining for a different career. Engel’s two, Halation, a maiden winner, and Little Speed Demon, who bowed a tendon in just her third workout and never made it to the track, are training to become steeplechase horses.

Patience is a virtue

As Halation kept struggling on the track, he would end up dropping in class and Engel wasn’t ready to see her horse entered in cheaper claiming races, so she decided to retire him and bring him back to the farm.

Of course, not everyone was happy with that idea.

“I dreaded (Halation) coming back,” barn manager Jill Murphy said.

Even though Halation had been on the track for a few years, he left behind his reputation. Still, the combination of gelding him and just letting him “come down” from the racehorse world gave him a better attitude.

“They have to be isolated for a while” after coming off the track, Engel said. “They’re in a barn close to 23 hours a day and they only know how to run one way.”

“You have to gradually get them re-acclimated. We don’t ask much of them the first two weeks,” Murphy said.

After that, Palmer added, it’s a question of trying the horse on different tasks and seeing what he is good at.

Once they determined that Halation liked to jump, they got the idea of making him into a steeplechase horse.

“Five is the ultimate age for training a jumper,” Palmer said. “Like dressage and other areas, the regular horse world starts at this age.”

“It’s being a weekend athlete instead of a professional athlete,” Engel added.

Finding their niche

Even when retraining two horses to do the same job, one has to remember they are still individuals, and an unseasonably warm day in January confirms that. Jennifer Habgood takes turns riding Little Speed Demon and Halation in the riding pen at Pucker Ridge, and the two react differently to the task.

Once warmed up, Little Speed Demon wants to go over the jump, but struggles a bit at first with her footing and pace. Once she figures it out, she does it willingly and repeatedly.

Halation is a different story.

Habgood is not his regular rider and he’s letting her know that, fighting her on nearly every request while warming up. One would think Little Speed Demon would end up being the better prospect. Not having tried it yet in an actual race, it might still be the case. But as far as natural jumping talent goes, Engel and Palmer said Halation dwarfs her.

“If he continues in his training, he’ll be a high-end jumper,” Engel said.

Halation has decided to stop “showing off,” as Engel put it, and clears the jump for the first time with an ease Little Speed Demon never had. He does so several more times, once messing up his footing, but making up for it by kicking his back legs extra high and still landing cleanly.

Of course, steeplechase is just one avenue for retired thoroughbreds. There have been others that have gone into such areas as fox hunting, team penning and police work.

Engel has tried to get the word out about her retraining efforts by putting posters up at Aqueduct and Belmont racetracks. Beyond her farm’s work, however, she hopes that more owners will consider retraining horses and not just selling them to whomever asks after their track career is over.

Noting it costs about $5,000 to rescue sick horses who are very bad off, Engel said if more owners would put that money toward retraining, it might solve a lot of the bad-ending stories the horse racing world has encountered.

“Now we’ve gone the whole cycle,” Engel said of her farm. “It’s nice they don’t have to fall through the cracks.”

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