1. Freezing Point (nicknamed Snowball)
Her voice catches and tears threaten to observe, however Randy Gootzeit desires you to learn about how a strapping grey colt nicknamed Snowball introduced a pair of horse lovers again to the monitor, and the way they acquired their hearts damaged.
Snowball, recognized on the monitor as Freezing Point, suffered a deadly breakdown throughout an undercard race at Churchill Downs on May 6, changing into the seventh horse to die in an agonizing eight days main as much as the Kentucky Derby. The deaths, as but unexplained, have forged a pall over this yr’s Triple Crown and renewed questions on the security of the animals as the sport prepares for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.
But for Gootzeit and her coach Joe Lejzerowicz, the troubles in horse racing are only a backdrop to their non-public grief.
“We’d have carried out something to avoid wasting him, however we could not,” Gootzeit mentioned. “We miss him desperately.”
Gootzeit, 71, lives close to Phoenix. She galloped and educated horses in the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s at Belmont Park, however left the racetrack to return to high school and turn into a bodily therapist. She works on people, however has additionally utilized what she discovered to horses.
She had not thought a lot about returning to the recreation till she talked to Lejzerowicz about shopping for a 2011 Volkswagen from him. A veteran coach, he had discovered his horsemanship below the Hall of Fame coach Allen Jerkens and had labored for greater than 30 years in barns from New York to California. Lejzerowicz was in Phoenix as nicely, promoting automobiles and taking a break from the sport whereas studying to deal with Ménière’s illness, a dysfunction of the interior ear that causes extreme vertigo and ringing in the ears.
He and Gootzeit made an instantaneous connection. Their love of horses made them mates, nevertheless it was their shared view of how you can deal with the animals that made them enterprise companions: Don’t push them, maintain them sound, select relaxation over remedy.
“We had been popping out of the pandemic, and it was clear nobody’s timeline was assured,” Gootzeit mentioned, “I informed Joe that it was time to guess on ourselves.”
With Gootzeit offering a bankroll of simply $20,000, it took the pair a while to get again in the sport. They struck out at three auctions earlier than Lejzerowicz fell in love with No. 954 at the Ocala, Fla., 2-year-old coaching sale final June. The colt was balanced, muscled and declared by a vet to be completely sound.
Surely, they thought, they could not afford him.
“He’s excellent, however we do not have a snowball’s probability in hell of getting him,” Lejzerowicz informed Gootzeit.
Lejzerowicz was so sure that their digital bid can be topped that he was taking a nap in his truck when somebody knocked and informed him the colt was his for $13,000.
The pair took their time with the colt, whose official identify was Freezing Point (a nod to his sire, Frosted), determining his eccentricities and admiring his work ethic.
“He was slightly spitfire,” Lejzerowicz, 53, mentioned. “He was playful. I’d shake my finger at him, and he’d attempt to push it again at me.”
Lejzerowicz took Snowball to Keeneland in Kentucky to get him able to race. Gootzeit flew in each couple of weeks to assist with coaching and have a tendency to the colt. Snowball received as soon as in three tries as a 2-year-old and started catching the eye of deeper-pocketed outfits. Gootzeit turned down presents of $150,000, $480,000 and, after Snowball completed third final month in the Lafayette Stakes, $600,000.
One of Gootzeit’s mentors had suggested her years earlier to take a proposal for a horse provided that the cash was life-changing. This was lots of cash, however Snowball was already life-changing.
The grey colt had reconnected her to some of her happiest occasions and supplied a possibility to use her information of bodily remedy and take a look at her theories about what makes a contented horse.
In Lejzerowicz, she had not solely discovered a buddy but in addition a horseman who shared her values. “We liked the horse an excessive amount of to consign him to anybody else’s care,” Gootzeit mentioned.
And that’s the reason the pair had been at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. They watched their horse run in the $500,000 Pat Day Mile Stakes only a couple of hours earlier than the Derby.
They watched from the rail close to the winner’s circle. Snowball broke cleanly from the beginning gate, however inside a quarter-mile, Gootzeit and Lejzerowicz acknowledged their horse was in misery.
“His head popped up in the air,” Gootzeit mentioned. “It swung left. It swung proper. Something occurred. I knew one thing dangerous occurred.”
Within half-hour, Snowball was recognized with a damaged bone in his left entrance ankle. Within an hour, Gootzeit and Lejzerowicz had been saying tearful goodbyes to him. After the colt was euthanized, the vet handed on a locket of hair from his mane as a talisman.
Snowball won’t ever get replaced, however the pair will press on. They are trying for one other sound thoroughbred whose expertise they may also help floor.
“We usually are not going to be pushed out of the recreation,” Gootzeit mentioned. “We wish to succeed truthfully and cleanly and provides our horses the love and respect they deserve. “
2. Wild on Ice
3-year-old gelding
Injured his left hind leg throughout coaching and was euthanized
The jockey for this gritty Texas-bred horse, Ken Tohill, has received greater than 4,100 races, however the gelding’s victory in the Sunland Derby in March was his first in a graded stakes race. At 60, Tohill was set to turn into the oldest rider in Derby historical past. “A present,” is how Tohill described Wild on Ice one morning final month. He continued, “He’s nicely bred sufficient and his expertise is beginning to present.”
3. Code of Kings
3-year-old gelding
Flipped in his paddock and broke his neck
This son of Empire Maker was promising sufficient to debut in Saratoga, however he didn’t stay as much as his promise, failing to complete increased than fifth in six begins. Code of Kings was being saddled when he grew to become entranced by get together lights at a DJ sales space, in line with his coach, and flipped as soon as, twice and, lastly, a deadly third time.
(*7*)4. Parents Pride
4-year-old filly
Collapsed and died on April 29 throughout the eighth race at Churchill Downs
This filly had received two in a row and, with greater than $153,000 in earnings, had tripled her buy worth. She was the second betting selection at odds of 2-1 and had Churchill’s main rider, Tyler Gaffalione, aboard. Parents Pride was sitting a cushty second in the backstretch when Gaffalione all of the sudden pulled her up. She was vanned off the racetrack, then collapsed and died in Churchill’s bottom.
5. Chasing Artie
5-year-old gelding
Collapsed and died on May 2 after ending the eighth race, during which he completed final
This versatile gelding had stakes victories on grass and filth. He made a believer out of Albin Jimenez two summers in the past at Monmouth Park when the jockey rode him as a last-minute substitute. “It was a great shock to choose up this mount,” mentioned Jimenez. “I mentioned, ‘Great. Let’s get the cash.’” They did, incomes the first-place verify in the My Frenchman Stakes.
Chasing Artie was educated by Saffie Joseph Jr., as was Parents Pride. Churchill and state regulators refused to let Joseph’s colt Lord Miles race in the Derby.
“It crushes you. It knocks your confidence, it makes you doubt every little thing,” Joseph mentioned of the deaths.
6. Take Charge Briana
3-year-old filly
Was injured and fell throughout a May 2 race and was euthanized
This filly was bred by Willis Horton, a rancher and builder who died final yr. She was educated by his longtime coach, the Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas: “He had a terrific eye for a horse himself and he understood the recreation,” mentioned Lukas at the time of Horton’s demise final yr. “He was recreation, and he wasn’t afraid to step up and spend cash on a great horse.”
Take Charge Briana was ridden by Luis Saez, the identical jockey who was on Chasing Artie.
7. Chloe’s Dream
3-year-old gelding
Broke down throughout the second race on Kentucky Derby day and was euthanized
Chloe’s Dream was named for the daughter of a enterprise affiliate of Brook Smith, who operates the Rocket Ship Racing syndicate. Smith and his spouse, Pam, are concerned with the Backside Learning Center at Churchill, which presents training and wellness packages for racetrack staff and their households. Rocket Ship donates 10 p.c of its winnings to the middle. Smith took Chloe and her household to the paddock the place he mentioned Chloe’s Dream appeared “lovely.” When the gelding faltered popping out of the first flip, Smith mentioned he and his get together had been traumatized.
“It leaves a gap in your abdomen,” Smith mentioned. He added that he and his spouse weren’t able to return to the racetrack. “I can not undergo it once more.”