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HENDERSON, KY. (July 24, 2016) — Christy Hamilton wasn’t sure what to expect when her boss called to say her Indiana Grand stable was relocating to Ellis Park.
Hamilton, after being an exercise rider and barn foreman, this year became an assistant trainer to new Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen’s far-flung operation. She moved 18 horses in Indiana to Ellis shortly before the meet began. Now Hamilton is in charge of 38 horses and Asmussen is the leading trainer with six wins out of 23 starts, along with four seconds and two thirds, heading into Sunday’s card.
“I am stoked with the meet we’re having,†Hamilton said. “The surface here is phenomenal. My horses are training great; they’re working great. Every time I lead one over, it’s like, ‘we’re live.’ I don’t go over thinking this is just another race. We’re going over to get our picture taken.â€
Ellis Park had hoped that with its enhanced purses that the better races would reliably get enough entries to be used. That had become a problem at Indiana Grand, Hamilton said.
“Here, I’m getting to run my horses that were sitting on tilt ready to go ,†she said. “The horses that came here with me, they’re ready. I couldn’t be happier. Looking at the statistics and seeing 26 percent win and 50-something in the money, that means my horses are showing up on race day. They’re not leaving anything out there. That means something.
“… Coming here, with more horses, it’s just a huge opportunity and one I greatly appreciate. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often. I’ve got some very, very nice horses here – some very nice babies, very nice maidens, allowance horses. Clearly I don’t have the Saratoga horses. But the horses here are some of the better caliber horses in the area.â€
Speaking by phone, Asmussen said he actually “sent some of the wrong horses at first†to Ellis. “We’ve sent some more over after the Lone Star meet, he said. “… We’re getting in a little bit better rhythm now than right off the bat. The boost in purses have allowed us to run a decent maiden or condition horse, and that has been our meet so far.â€
Asmussen and Hamilton come from racing families based in the Southwest. In fact, Hamilton worked for Asmussen’s parents before joining his operation. “I’ve known her forever,†he said. “The thing that resonates with me is that she’s from a racing family.â€
The 32-year-old Hamilton, from a family of jockeys and whose ex-husband is jockey Quincy Hamilton, worked for Asmussen for nine years before being tabbed an assistant. A year ago, she sustained three fractures a leg in a freak training mishap at Lone Star Park in Texas.
Two of the fractures went through the entire bone. The doctors said she wouldn’t be riding for six to eight months. She was back galloping a horse with doctors’ clearance 78 days after the mishap, she said.
“I love my job,†she said. “I love working with these horses. They are my four-legged babies. I wake up at 4 in the morning and on race days there are times that I don’t leave until 6:30 at night. It’s my life.
“Not only is Steve a great horseman, but he’s so professional in how he handles his business. Steve is the best of the best. But he’s also a family man, to see the way he is with his boys and his wife. It’s great to be around those kinds of people and that kind of atmosphere. You learn so much not just on a professional level but a family level, what it is for everything to come together and what it means to these people. To be a part of it is very special.â€
Hamilton has an 11-year-old daughter, Emma, and 9-year-old son, Carter. After spending the summer with their mom, they recently returned to Oklahoma, where they live during the school year with their dad.
“My daughter is determined to become a veterinarian. She already asked several veterinarians when she was with me this summer if she could shadow them for a day,†Hamilton said, adding with a laugh, “My son is kind of like, ‘It’s a horse. I’ll play on the iPad.’ And that’s OK. He’s more into sports, into baseball.â€
Von Hemel reflects on Clever Trevor
Not surprisingly for a horse that ran at 16 different racetracks, there’s an Ellis Park angle to Clever Trevor, the millionaire Oklahoma-bred gelding who helped launch trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel into national prominence. Clever Trevor died recently at age 31, spending his retirement at Von Hemel’s farm in Oklahoma. Among his 15 victories out of 30 starts was Ellis’ $50,000 Governor’s Handicap in 1992.
“It was my first trip to Ellis,†Von Hemel said as he prepared to run two horses Sunday at the track. “It was a fun day. If I remember right, he was up on the lead and had a couple of horses run at him and he held them off. At the time you didn’t know it was going to be his last win.â€
Clever Trevor ran twice more, finishing second by a nose in what proved his career finale in Arlington’s Washington Park Handicap. The plan was to try him on turf, but Clever Trevor developed some front-foot issues and the decision was made to retire him. He finished with a 15-5-2 mark and earnings of $1,388,841 spread over five seasons while taking on all comers. That included finishing second in Saratoga’s 1989 Travers to Hall of Famer Easy Goer and second and third behind two-time champion Housebuster in top East Coast sprint stakes. Â
“His last couple of races they were still 110-type Beyer (speed figure) races,†Von Hemel said. “He was just a high-quality animal, even after knee surgeries after his 3-year-old year, his 4-year-old year and 5-year-old year. Chips in both knees. He ran into some tough ones, but he never disappointed — always came to run.
“… He was the first really national horse I had, and at a point in my career when Remington Park (near Oklahoma City) had just started. It really helped me get going, not only at Remington but across the nation. Just great people who owned him, the McNeill family. Just members you’ll cherish the rest of your life.â€
Making of a racehorse: Let’s Get Started!
Did you know?: That racehorses breaking from the starting gate aren’t reacting to the bell you hear, but rather are taught to react to the movement of the front doors to their stall in the gate.
The public can learn that and more at the free July 30 fan event “Making of a racehorses: Let’s Get Started!†presented by Ellis Park and the Kentucky division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association. The event begins at 7:30 AM CT in Ellis’ southern most parking lot by the schooling gate, near the Ohio River levee. After Scott Jordan, the Ellis and Churchill Downs starter, discusses the process of teaching young horses to break from the starting gate, fans will go to third-generation Ellis Park trainer John Hancock’s barn. Also talking with fans with be 2015 Ellis riding champion Didiel Osorio, who will give out signed goggles, and his agent, Jose Santos Jr., son of the Hall of Fame jockey who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness on Funny Cide.
Jordan will explain the horsemanship involved in working on the starting gate and how his crew must read horses as individuals, both for schooling and the races.
“All the guys have come up in the horse world,†he said. “They didn’t come off the street and learn to work the gate. They all have horse backgrounds whether it’s galloping, riding, training, even grooming. And they’ve all learned to read a horse along the way.
“When a horse comes to the gate, you can look at their eyes, look at their ears, see if they’re nervous. I don’t have to tell those guys, ‘Let’s slow down.’ They are all horsemen and do it on their own. They know what to do.â€
Corey countdown: Jockey Corey Lanerie came into Sunday’s races with 3,996 victories. He has five scheduled mounts today: the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth.
