SARATOGA LIVINGThe City. The Culture. The Life.

Like millions of television viewers in America, I’ve been hooked on more than a few reality talent shows in my day. The Voice? Yep. American Idol? The OG. The Sing-Off? I take most of the credit for the discovery of Pentatonix. There’s one thing that the winners of every season of every one of these shows has in common: They’re human. Sure, humans are talented—they can sing and dance and do magic tricks and make puppets look like they’re talking. But what about other mammals? That’s why I’d like to get in front of the reality show producers at NBC and pitch the sure-to-be smash hit of 2020: America’s Got Talent: Equine Edition. When they inevitably accept, I’ll be ready with this lineup of all-star horse contestants.

At Your Service

You’ve seen service dogs helping out people with disabilities, but what about service horses? Revised regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act now allow miniature horses to be individually trained and perform tasks for people with disabilities. For some, service horses are even preferred over service dogs, since they live longer (up to 35 years), are able to provide more stability for those struggling with mobility or balance issues, don’t shed or trigger allergies and are, generally, less hyper than dogs.

GOALLLLL!!!!

Natural horsemanship training often uses a large inflatable ball as a desensitizing tool, so when Wisconsin resident Terry Fenwick wanted a new way to keep horse training fresh and fun, he started America’s Equine Soccer League (AESL). Equine soccer, or “hoofball,” has the same rules as soccer, except it’s horses, with riders on their backs, who kick the ball around and score goals.

Numbers Game

More than a century after it was proven that “Clever Hans,” the horse that could do math, was actually just reading the involuntary body signals of his owner to answer complex questions, a study has shown that horses, can, in fact, count. Well, at least to three. When researchers dropped apples one by one into two buckets—three in one, two in the other—they found that 11 out of 13 horses went for the bucket with more apples in it.

Horse On Canvas

A painter was born the day that Justin, a Friesian horse from Columbus, IN, took his owner’s whip and began drawing with it in the sand. His owner, Adonna Combs, encouraged him to pursue his passion by giving him a brush, paint and a canvas. The rest was history. Justin’s paintings are colorful, abstract works that incorporate sweeping brushstrokes and hoofprints. They’re available for purchase on artistichorses.com and range in price from $75-$800.

I faced a quandary in profiling Terence Collier, Fasig-Tipton’s director of marketing and primary auction announcer, not to mention its longest-tenured employee: Even though Collier has helped build the Saratoga Springs outpost of the world-famous Thoroughbred auction house into one of the premier marketplaces for Thoroughbred buyers and sellers the world over, what I found most intriguing about him had nothing to do with racing and everything to do with his strong, elegant voice.

Growing up in Kent, England, Collier had a way with words from an early age. As a teenager, he was the lead vocalist in an early iteration of the rock band that would become the ’70s-hit-record-producing Vanity Fare. In fact, his version of the band was good enough to serve as a warm-up act to The Rolling Stones. But he tells me he’s not interested in reliving his past life as a rock star. “I’m trying to forget that,” he says. What he’s most proud of? His work for Fasig-Tipton, which he started more than four decades ago, and with the auctioneer’s key Saratoga Sale, which he rates “as important as any Thoroughbred auction in the northern hemisphere.” This year, Fasig-Tipton’s annual Saratoga Sale and New York Bred Yearlings auctions occur on August 5-6 and August 11-12, respectively, with an additional Saratoga Fall Sale (of broodmares and weanlings) on October 15, all taking place at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion on George Street in Saratoga.

Now 71, Collier’s the signature voice of the Saratoga auctions—and he’s not just reading from a script; he’s very much up to speed on what he’s selling. “We look at pretty much every yearling that’s on those grounds in those four days of select sales,” he says. “So I’ve got an overall impression of the yearling’s value as an individual and in its pedigree.” His meticulousness, combined with the relationships he’s developed in the high-risk, high-reward industry, make him a compelling figure when he takes the auctioneer’s stand. “In our minds, and in the minds of most people, he’s certainly the best sales announcer in the world,” says Boyd T. Browning, Jr., Fasig-Tipton’s president.

After talking with him, I still wasn’t satisfied; I wanted to know more about Collier the lead singer versus Collier the announcer. And that’s when he dropped this morsel on me: Anyone can see him in action beside pianist Roger Moss at Siro’s at the conclusion of sales nights. “I’ll catch you by the side of the piano,” he promised. I’ll be there, Terence.

Occasionally, when I’m researching horse racing history, I come across conflicting accounts of famous events. Separating fact from fiction can often prove difficult, because some of horse racing’s greatest stories have become exaggerated and romanticized over time, and that “fictional” account has become the official story. One such infamous race—
that in which Man o’ War lost the only race in his star-studded career—deserves a fresh set of eyes a century later. 

Considered by many historians to be the greatest racehorse of them all, Man o’ War put together an illustrious 21-start career. And his one loss took place 100 summers ago at Saratoga Race Course, an astonishing result that significantly contributed to the popular mythology of the track being a “graveyard of favorites.” There’s been a century’s worth of conjecture surrounding the landmark event, but what can’t be disputed is the fact that Man o’ War crossed the finish line a diminishing half-length behind Harry Payne Whitney’s Upset in the Sanford Memorial Stakes on August 13, 1919. For the only time in his career, the mighty Man o’ War tasted the bitterness of defeat. 

Although it was still early in his career, Man o’ War was already being hailed as a wonder horse by the press that summer. His numerous headlines in newspapers throughout the country rivaled those of era icons Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Eleven days before the infamous running of the Sanford, Man o’ War pushed his record to six wins without a loss by taking the United States Hotel Stakes in his Saratoga debut, while carrying 130 pounds. Upset finished second. Man o’ War was again saddled with 130 pounds in the Sanford, 15 more than Upset, and was an 11-20 favorite to make it seven in a row. 

What actually happened in the Sanford has been marred by the passage of time, differing contemporary accounts and even race-fixing speculation. One element of the story that has generally been agreed upon is that a substitute starter, C.H. Pettingill, had trouble maintaining order and struggled to line up the field prior to the race. This was in the era before the starting gate, and the horses were positioned behind a flimsy, webbed barrier. After several false starts, Pettingill finally dropped the starter’s flag. Man o’ War, who had drawn next to the outside, lost valuable ground early. Some reports said he was sideways at the start; others, that he was completely facing the wrong way. 

Man o’ War’s jockey, Johnny Loftus, was also criticized for his role in the lone defeat. Scrambling to make up the early lost ground, Loftus took his mount to the inside but was pocketed along the rail. The rider eventually made another questionable maneuver, falling back to escape the wall of horses that had him pinned inside. Man o’ War was then guided back outside and finally found running daylight. Once in top gear, he came charging through the stretch like a freight train, but there was simply too much ground to overcome and his grand effort was in vain. At the finish, Upset lived up to his name and the large Spa crowd was left in disbelief. Placing the blame of the result squarely on Loftus, The Thoroughbred Record didn’t pull any punches, commenting that Man o’ War was “abominably ridden.” 

Ten days later, again at Saratoga, Man o’ War shrugged off the Sanford result and easily defeated Upset in the Grand Union Hotel Stakes. A week after that, he romped in the Hopeful Stakes by four lengths on Saratoga’s Closing Day. Providing ammunition to conspiracy theorists, Loftus and Upset’s jockey, Willie Knapp, were both denied licenses in 1920 by The Jockey Club and never rode again. No explanation was ever given for the blackballing, leading many to speculate that the riders had somehow conspired to hijack the Sanford. Both Loftus and Knapp denied the implications to their graves. 

Man o’ War went on to win all 11 of his races as a 3 year old in 1920, including a record-setting victory in the Travers Stakes. Upset, meanwhile, did little of note during the remainder of his career. But what a moment in the sun he had on the grand Saratoga stage a century ago! I can’t help but root for the underdog from time to time. That’s what horse racing’s all about. 

Like many Saratogians, I like to gamble a bit at Saratoga Race Course. For decades, horseplayers have been rewarded with solid ROIs when they wager on Thoroughbreds trained by Jonathan Sheppard. Whether it’s over the jumps in a steeplechase race or on the turf, Sheppard has always been a solid play at the Spa’s betting windows. How good has Sheppard been? Well, he owns a seemingly unbreakable Saratoga record. Judge for yourself.

If Chad Brown, the reigning Eclipse Award winner and Saratoga Race Course’s leading trainer in 2018, were to be able to best Sheppard’s record, he’d have to still be conditioning racehorses at a high level in the year 2055. In fact, between now and that summer 36 years away, Brown would need to win at least one race every year at Saratoga. Sheppard’s record? He trained at least one winner at Saratoga Race Course every year from 1969 through 2015, a 47-year run of consistent excellence.

Although not as heralded in the annals of sports history as, say, the New York Yankees’ Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak or Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2632 consecutive games played, Sheppard’s run should certainly be in that prestigious company. The streak came to an end in 2016, but Sheppard still remains one of the top steeplechase trainers in the country (he ranked second in the National Steeplechase Association’s 2019 standings in both wins and earnings through May) and is looking forward to returning to the Saratoga Winner’s Circle this summer. “Saratoga is always an experience I enjoy,” says Sheppard, a 78-year-old native of Ashwell, Hertfordshire, England. “Everyone wants to win at Saratoga, and I’m no different. I’ve got a few good ones in the barn that should be competitive there this summer, and hopefully, we’ll get our picture taken a time or two.”

Sheppard, who was inducted into the racing Hall of Fame in 1990, has won more than 1000 jump races and more than 3300 overall races in a career that began in 1965. He has purse earnings of more than $86 million and no plans of retiring anytime soon. “I still enjoy it,” he says. “As long as I’m capable and the challenge still excites me, I’m going to stay on the ride. The game’s been really good to me.”

Even the greats need a little coaching and motivation from time to time. That’s what former Major League Baseball player (and saratoga living contributor) Jonah Bayliss realized during his professional baseball career, pitching for teams such as the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. “I developed this belief system over my decade-long career,” says Bayliss. “We spend so much time trying to prove other people wrong when really the sweet spot and the key to concrete and sustained commitment is proving yourself right.”

Bayliss is so dedicated to that philosophy that he’s set to share his secrets with Saratogians via his new executive coaching and performance training program called Prove Yourself Right. Although the Saratoga resident has been at the mind-body performance game on and off for years now—working with both college and high school athletes—he’s officially launched this new project as of late June, turning his years of experience and work ethic into a structured, ten-step program for success both on and off the field.

With Prove Yourself Right, Bayliss gets each client to internalize their motivations and goals through a kind of build-your-own training program, personalized to each client’s needs and goals. That includes a variety of options from team consulting to motivational speaking, as well as one-on-one training for coaches, athletes and even business types and executives. “Obviously coming up with a plan for an executive or entrepreneur is a little bit different than coming up with a plan for an athlete,” says Bayliss. “But when you break down business and sports into their fundamental forms, it’s about performing under pressure. The skills and the qualities in both of those are the same.”

For most of his clients, Bayliss is offering one-on-one virtual sessions, though he tries to meet face-to-face whenever possible. That’s hard to do, of course, when you work with the jet-setting crowd. “It’s pretty exclusive,” says Bayliss. “I’m working with only a handful of clients at a time, because I want the work to remain personal, deep and consistent.” An average client’s cycle is about three months, according to Bayliss, and he’s currently balancing four of them, which, according to him, is a pretty full schedule.

In addition to the personalized training, Bayliss also enjoys the public speaking side of Prove Yourself Right. “I’d love to see the message go national one day, maybe even stepping onto a TED Talk stage,” he says. Over the years, the former pitcher has given motivational speeches at a number of college orientations, business startups and high school assemblies. Since founding Prove Yourself Right last month, Bayliss already has a few speaking engagements on the books for later in the summer and early fall, including one in October at Alfred State College of Technology in Alfred, NY (about 4.5 hours southwest of Saratoga). “It’s been fun for me,” says Bayliss. “It’s given me an opportunity to take my background in athletics and apply it to other industries and other fields, and it seems to work pretty seamlessly.”

Bayliss grew up about an hour and a half southeast of Saratoga in the college town of Williamstown, MA. Though he’d always had an interest in baseball, it wasn’t until his years as a collegiate pitcher at Trinity College—a liberal arts school in Hartford, CT—that Bayliss really found his calling. Fresh out of college, he was drafted in the seventh round of MLB’s amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals, and in 2005 he got the call-up. That same year, Bayliss also met his future wife Austin, who runs a successful local catering company, Austin Bayliss Cakes. The two got married in Saratoga, where they ended up putting down roots.

Fast-forward a dozen-plus years and Bayliss is loving his new life in Saratoga, offering people the same motivational advice and guidance that led to his own success. “It’s a message you’ve been hearing since you were five years old,” he says. “‘You can do it if you put your mind to it.’ There’s real validity to that.”