In Their Care

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 […]

June Shaw has long been fascinated by Thoroughbreds, and she has shared her passion by leading tours at Saratoga Race Course for more than 30 years. One horse always stood out for her – Thunder Rumble. The aptly-named New York-bred was, indeed, ready to rumble on and off the track. When Shaw would lead a […]

Junior McFarlane wanted to work at the racetrack so badly that he was willing to say pretty much anything to gain an opportunity in the early 1990’s. After handling a series of odd jobs that did not amount to much, the avid racegoer decided his best hope was to seek an interview with Allen Jerkens. […]

For a time, it seemed Danny Ramsey was star-crossed from birth. His father, Donald, died when he was seven. His mother, Rubel, passed a year later. While other of his five siblings were raised by loving relatives, he wound up living with an older brother, Auston, then 19, in their native Nassau of the Bahamas. […]

When Adriane Merritt visits Laurel Park and watches her son, Dominick, work as an exercise rider, she believes a mother’s prayers were answered. Adriane and her husband, Gary, raised Dominick and his two older siblings, Michelle Branch and Delvon Merritt, in an inner-city neighborhood on the east side of Baltimore that no one would choose. […]

Saul Castellanos, a top assistant to trainer Mark Hennig and a recent winner of a Thoroughbred Industry Employee Award, said of his life and career, “I live the American Dream plus.” Plus? “Plus is like more than I thought,” he explained. “This country gives you opportunities and it is up to you to take that. […]

No one would blame Steve Norman if he retired tomorrow. He is 67. He has been a blacksmith for 49 years. Kate, his wife of 35 years, would welcome the opportunity to spend more time with him. So would their three daughters — Sarah, Samantha and Meredith – and his three grandchildren. Norman has nothing […]