Mt. Tabor Rd.

The next racehorse that will be remembered on this blog is Mt. Tabor Rd. When I remember this prolific racehorse the first thought that comes to mind is speed, pure speed! This very successful runner was to be the third stakes winner in my dad’s training career, and the first horse claimed by our stable to become a stakes winner.

Mt. Tabor Rd. was owned by Mr. John C. DeLongis who was living in Buffalo N.Y at the time. As it turned out a lot of the best financial backers we had were Americans based in the Western New York area, during my father’s training career. Marge and Al Schmidt were excellent horse owners. They loved the horses and enjoyed watchers there horses run very much. There career began at Finger Lakes. It ended at Churchill Downs in Louisville in the Kentucky Derby. They always let everyone in Buffalo know who the best trainer at Woodbine was. It was Sheldon Wolfe of course. Many great people from Buffalo that we had the chance to work for, came by way of the Schmidt’s. We enjoyed an excellent partnership in the horse racing business with them.

John C. DeLongis was originally from Pennsylvania. He always enjoyed horse racing. It was his hobby and enjoyment in life. He lived near the Penn National racetrack. Where most of the horses he raced, ran. John and his lovely wife Helen moved to the Buffalo area because John had developed mouth cancer. He required ongoing treatment. It was recommended to him to move to Buffalo. Where he would get the best possible treatment to treat his cancer. After moving to Buffalo he still wanted to continue in the horse racing business. He was looking for a trainer based at Woodbine. Somehow he was introduced to Al Schmidt who recommended that he talk to Sheldon Wolfe. I am shure Al said “You can’t go wrong having Sheldon Wolfe as your trainer.” “He is very honest and always gets the best out of his horses.” Sure enough Mr. John DeLongis called my dad to hire him. He still owned a cheap horse that was currently racing at Finger Lakes. He had the horse shipped to us. So we could run him at Woodbine. This would allow Mr. DeLongis to be eligible to claim a horse. The first horse we claimed for him was a nice honest filly named Marglad. We won one race with Marglad before she was claimed from us. They we claimed a classy mare named “Clover Lass”. Our stable won 2 races with speedy and courageous Clover Lass. Before she to was also claimed from Mr. DeLongis. The next horse would be a very special horse. Destined to be owned by a very special man. Mr. DeLongis said to my dad. “That he had never owned a stakes caliber racehorse before, all he wanted was to enjoy watching his caliming horses run, and that they should be competitive.” However my dad had other planes. He liked Mr. John DeLongis very much. He was an excellent man to work for. He also knew sadly that Mr. DeLongis was in poor health. He was determined to obtain a talented racehorse for him.

When my dad had raced in California in 1974. He had come up against a very talented grass horse named “Captain Cee Jay”. This horse had equaled the track record for 1 mile ¼ on the grass at Santa Anita. My father never forgot about him. Gord Huntley the very successful two year old trainer had a two year old in his barn by Captain Cee Jay. His name was “Mt. Tabor Rd.” Mt. Tabor Rd. made his first start of his career in a maiden allowance race with Robin Platts ridding him. He wore no blinkers in this race. My father went over see Mt. Tabor Rd. and to watch him race. Mt. Tabor Rd. was a medium sized dark bay gelding. He ran lack luster in his debut. Not running a bad race. He would finish in the middle of the pack, in his debut. My father liked this horse. He knew being sired by Captain Cee Jay. That he was bred for distance, and could prefer running on the grass. He was interested to obtain Mt. Tabor Rd. for Mr. John DeLongis. Sure enough Gord Huntley ran Mt. Tabor Rd back 10 days later in a maiden $16,000 claiming race. Now jockey David Clark would be riding him. Also blinkers were now added for his second race. My father called Mr. DeLongis and told him that he was putting in a claim for Mt. Tabor Rd. for him. John had complete trust in my Dad and asked him to call him later if he was successful in claiming this horse. I went over to pick up Mt. Tabor Rd. if we won the claim for him. The maiden two year olds were loaded in the gate. “There at the post, there off” I was astonished when the started gate opened. Mt Tabor Rd. left the gate like a lighting bolt. Before you could say his name he had opened up a commanding 4 length advantage. David Clark was just steering him. He wasn’t urging him to run at all. Mt. Tabor Rd. lead in this race was growing bigger with each of his quick strides. Turning into the stretch Mt. Tabor Rd. was know leading by 7 lengths. He coasted to the finish line winning by an official margin of 9 ½ lengths. His time for the 5 furlongs was: 59.1. I was smiling from ear to ear. When I learned that Mr. DeLongis had won the claim for him. No other owners had put a claim in for this horse. My dad had the pleasure of calling John that evening. Informing him that he was now the proud owner of Mt. Tabor Rd. My dad gave him the description of his performance. He told John "that he now owned a stakes caliber horse". Mr. DeLongis was delighted!

The acquisition of Mt. Tabor Rd. had brought new excitement into our barn. I was appointed by my dad to be the groom of our new star. We now had one of the fastest two year olds at Woodbine and we were getting ready to prove it. He came out of his maiden victory in fine shape. His front legs were like iron. No sign of any problems, no sign of any buck shins. Bucked shins is a painful two year old problem. It is inflammation that develops at the front of there shin bones. They can’t run well if they develop this problem. The Colin Stakes race was now a month away. The dream began of winning this race with Mt. Tabor Rd. for John DeLongis.

We ran Mt. Tabor Rd. in the prep race for the Colin Stakes. It was a 5 ½ furlong allowance for two year olds. Joey Belowus was hired to be the pilot on Mt. Tabor Rd. Joey had done an excellent job riding Ontario Princess. He deserved to get the chance to ride our new star. Mt. Tabor Rd. barn debut occurred on June 29, 1980. “There at the post, there off” When the gate opened again this dark bay blur, in the shape of a racehorse exploded from the starting gate. As in his maiden win. Mt. Tabor Rd. and Joey Belowus made mash meat out of the tougher competition in this race. He opened up a 3 length advantage at the quarter pole running the opening half mile in a quick 46 seconds flat. He challenged any of the other horses to try and keep the hot pace. There were no challengers. Mt. Tabor Rd. cruised to the finish wire in a sizzling time of 1:04.4 and won by 4 lengths. Mr. DeLongis was thrilled in the winner circle. Mt. Tabor Rd. was for real! We now had one of the main contenders for the Colin Stakes in two weeks. We just could not wait for his next race now. The excitement was starting to build.

This is what attracts people to invest there hard earned money into the racing business. It is the challenge of trying to come up with a star racehorse. It isn’t easy! Many have tried and come out of the horse business. With much less money then they started and a lot of bad experience. Also people that love to dream. Can have there dreams come true in the horse racing game. On July 6th, 1980 a dream was getting ready to come true for the Wolfe Racing Stable. Our Mt. Tabor Rd. was the second favorite to win the prestigious Colin Stakes race. There was one main challenger in this race. That would try and prevent our happy story from having a very happy end. That horse was from the Laurie Silvera stable. His name was “Solo Guy”. Solo Guy was considered the fastest two year old at Woodbine in 1980. A lot of the racing community was still very skeptical that the ex claimer form the Wolfe Stable would have talent to out run Solo Guy. We were equally as confident going into the race. That Mt. Tabor Rd. was ready to take on Solo Guy and show him who the fastest gun at Woodbine was. Mt. Tabor Rd. trained to perfection going into the Colin, and his front legs remained as sound as a bell made from brass. The field for the Colin Stakes was loaded in the gate. Daryl Wells was now ready to get this contest underway. I was watching with excitement and optimism. “There at the post, there off’. Both of the main contenders broke alertly. Solo Guy for the moment made the lead. However Mt. Tabor Rd. was ready to take him on. He headed him right away. Down the backstretch they went. The opening fractions were quick: 22.1 for the opening quarter mile. This race was a match race all the way. The second quarter went in: 23.2 for an opening half in: 45.3. At this point in the race my optimism had now turned to joy. Mt. Tabor Rd. and Joey Belowus had won the battle. Solo Guy and his jockey George Hosang had lost the fight and had started there retreat. Mt. Tabor Rd. now had complete control of the Colin. He cruised to the finish line with a commanding 3 length victory! The emotion was running high after this win. Happy, yes the Wolfe Stable and this horse’s proud owner were beyond happy. Mt. Tabor Rd. had made our dream come true, and taken us all to that happier and friendlier world. This is a much friendlier world then the real one. Mr. John DeLongis would say after this race. “Thanks to the Wolfe stable for giving him the happiest day of his life” Thank you Mr. John DeLongis for making this day happen! Mt. Tabor Rd. would be my first stakes winner that I would look after in my horse racing career.