In Their Care

Abdullah Alsagoor arrived in California from his Saudi Arabia homeland approximately a year and a half ago. He was 18 years old, a teenager bold enough to dream big but with seemingly no idea how to make those dreams come true. “I wanted to see another world,” he said of the decision to leave behind […]

 Dallas Keen found himself inextricably drawn to a woman riding a dappled gray pony one morning at Lone Star Park in 2004. He had to know her name. “You don’t want to know,” an outrider replied. “She’s high maintenance.” Three years later, Dallas and Donna were married, forming one of racing’s most passionate couples when […]

It is impossible to imagine that any exercise rider can match the resume Mexico City native Humberto Gomez has built since he arrived in the United States in 2000. He learned the importance of keeping his mount in rhythm from trainer Bobby Frankel. John Shirreffs’ emphasis on patience was somewhat offset by Julio Canani’s aggressiveness. […]

Exercise rider Chloe Labarre tuned in to watch the first race at Laurel Park in Maryland on July 17, a 5 1/2-furlong turf contest. Her fiancé, Rosario Montanez, had picked up the mount on Hendaya due to an injury to another rider. Labarre remembers feeling some concern as the runners advanced to the starting gate […]

Few questions are needed to prompt Frank Agrinsoni into telling his life story in well under an hour. Yes, he talks fast. And he is unflinching as he speaks of mistakes made as a two-time divorcee, an itinerant career typical of many racetrackers, a grim battle with cancer that is now in its fourth year […]

Robin Smullen was 17 years old when she was preparing Barnabas, her finest horse, for a show. He was as responsive as ever to her cues – until he could respond no longer. Barnabas collapsed beneath Smullen due to an aneurysm. Nothing could be done except to comfort him. He died in the arms of […]

Jon Enger was struggling to give sturdy trainer Nevada Litfin a leg up on a horse one morning at Oaklawn Park three years ago. An exercise rider watched with disdain before all but spitting out the words, “What’s the matter, you faggot? Can’t lift your boyfriend up on a f—— horse?” Enger, now 31, had […]

Alex Wooten was 44 years old when he completed a 20-year sentence for armed robbery, a conviction he insists was a case of mistaken identity for a crime he did not commit. Upon his release from the Maryland prison system, he faced the potentially overwhelming issue of how to restart his life as a middle-aged […]