This is a winner circle picture from a long time ago. It was early in my training career in the year 1980. If you look closely at the winner circle picture, you’ll find that the only one smiling was Tom Chapman, who had ridden Classy Alta to an easy win. There’s a reason for the somber faces: Classy had just been claimed from us for $6,500.
The man standing next to me is Newel Taylor, a good friend and the reason that we had claimed the filly. When we claimed her, she was as high-strung as they come. Very thin, so thin that after we bathed her, I couldn’t use a sweat scraper; her ribs were far too prominent.
It didn’t take long to understand why she was the way she was. A timid eater, Classy never finished her grain and spent most of her time walking her stall rather than resting or eating. The first time we took her to the track, she grabbed the bit and ran off as soon as she stepped on the track. She was uncontrollable.
Oh boy, what had we gotten ourselves into? Our friend and client, Newell, had big plans for Classy Alta.
Lucky for all concerned, especially Classy, we were stabled at Cal-Expo in Sacramento. There couldn’t have been a better place to start this mare from scratch. And as one of the best hands around, Jim Riley (my husband) did just that.
It took time, but when he was done with Classy Alta, she’d learned to relax on the track and at the barn. She was no longer frantic and out of control. She became an ideal racehorse. Classy Alta blossomed, cleaning up her feed, and could often be found stretched out in her stall taking a nap.
Now, the exact timeline of that unfortunate win circle picture is lost in the far reaches of my memory. What I do remember is how I begged Newell not to run her in a $6,500 claiming race. He wanted to make her eligible for starter allowance route races. I told him she would be claimed and multiple claims would be dropped. And by the look on my face, you can tell that I was proven right. I cried, and to this day, I still regret that day.
We all know that the racetrack is very competitive, and while you make lifelong friends, it can also be dog-eat-dog, sometimes even cruel. I distinctly remember crossing through the barn area on foot two weeks later after the trainer who claimed Classy had jumped her from $6,500 to allowance, and she’d run a big second. That trainer and his friends slowed down to literally point and laugh. That hurt. If they had come to me, I would have congratulated them.
I never forgot Classy Alta. I even named a filly after her. Some of you may remember her—Miss Classy Ana. The two mares were very similar in personality but so different in running style. Classy Alta, a route horse. Miss Classy Ana, pure speed.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by to read ‘My Thoughts.’ Get in touch, and I will respond. I will never sell your information.
Take care,
Shelley Lee Riley
Kudos. I did not let Tim claim thin horses. So happy you and Jim were able to turn her around. On another note. You could have taken the initiative to congratulate them on the claim. We claimed a funeral gelding from a Utah trainer. He had a girl from Wyoming rubbing him. She cried when we claimed him. She walked by as we were loading him at GGF to bring home to ACF. He nickered to her. When we ran him I looked her up and thanked her for her excellent care of him. We became friends. Claiming our lifeblood. The pain goes both ways.
Thank you for your comment. We do get attached to our charges, and more often than not, they grow to trust us.
The claiming game is one I could not understand nor appreciate when I had my first successful homebred racehorse, a Quarter Horse mare, at Los Alamitos in the mid-80s. It took her awhile to get going and find her niche, but as soon as she was winning races, she was claimed from me for $8000. She had won several races, so my owner’s account had blossomed into an impressive sum to me, a very small-time breeder-owner. Against all rules of the track, I went into her stall the evening of her being claimed and talked to her. I told her she had given me enough money to buy a new car, or take a nice vacation, or claim her back the next time she ran. Within a few minutes of “discussing” the situation with her, I told her I was going to claim her back with the money that she had earned. She was more than just a fast horse and money earner to me. She was also my trail horse and my nieces’ lead-line horse when not racing. She was intelligent and had a calm disposition like no other horse I had ever experienced. This fact always amazed me because she was out of a TB mare I had bought from a big TB breeder in Ramona.
Obviously not racetrack savvy, my parents were very angry that Elusively was “stolen” from us just when she was having success in the tough Los Al QH claiming ranks. I claimed her back the next time she ran for more than her original claiming price and she was well worth it to me. We continued racing a few more years and regardless of race placings, she took me places and gave me racing experiences I needed to become a seasoned racehorse owner. We even got to experience racing at Hollywood Park. After one unsuccessful HP race, a cowboy QH trainer named Bob Baffert told me I needed to drop Elusively down to $5000 to win any races. Without taking any time to consider his sage advice, I told him I would take her home and ride her on trails before I would put her in $5000 claiming races!! He walked away shaking his cowboy hat covered head in disapproval, telling the person with him how silly I was for not following his advice. I kept my word and brought Elusively home for retirement, trail riding, and broodmare duties without losing her in any more claiming races. I was rewarded with great experiences and memories worth much more than money!
What a wonderful story! Thank you for taking the time to share it with me and my readers. Few who are removed from the actual day-to-day experience of working with these athletes can completely understand the dedication and love we feel. Your remembrance is a perfect example of how attached we get. Take care, Shelley