success

This striking gray gelding came to me just before New Year's Day in 1998. He was a four year old maiden who had spent three years training on the track with a leading trainer. He was ill-tempered and seemed to hate everybody. When anyone walked past his stall, he would pin his ears and kick the wall. Not only was he mad at the world, he had a bowed tendon and refused to load into a trailer.

I ignored the attitude and focused on healing the tendon. As time passed, this horse we dubbed "Casper" because of his white coat, become more pleasant to be around. His leg was healing and he was training well. His first three starts for us produced three second place finishes.

An equipment change was made and the next race was a dull effort. I was heavily critisized for the equipment change but I stood by my decision. I forgot about the bad race and continued on. Casper responded with an easy win at Evangeline Downs going 5 1/2 furlongs under C.J. Woodley.

He was the model of consistantsy. He won or placed at every distance from 4 1/2 furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth at three different tracks. He retired with a considerable bankroll and a completely healed tendon that, to this day, still does not have a blemish on it.

Josie, as she was called at the barn, was a timid little chestnut filly who spent some time at the track. In three lifetime starts, she had been beaten by 20 or more lengths in each of her races.

Her owner brought here as a last resort. His first thought was to take her straight to the livestock sale but at the last minute changed his mind.

Shortly after her arrival, Josie suffered an impaction colic. I stayed with her for five days and nights. She had been treated by the vet several times but to no avail. At night she was turned out in a paddock and I kept watch over her from inside my truck, sleeping a few minutes at a time.

On the evening of the fifth day, I took her to a specialist in a neighboring city. This vet had no hope for her but kept her overnight anyway. At 7:00 am the next morning I got the call that she had pulled through.

She was given 30 days off to recover and returned to training with vigor. In her first out she finished a very close third. Not bad for a filly who nearly died!

She continued to place in most of her races until breaking her maiden on March 7, 2002 at Delta Downs with Kim Stover up.

Dianne was a little bitty brown filly who had been defeated by 35 lengths or more in each of her previous four starts. She would not switch leads in a race.

I only had Dianne for a short time but a simple equipment change and a light training schedule turned her around.

In her first start she finished second, was a runaway winner in her next start on June 14, 1991 at Evangeline Downs and followed that effort up with a third in an allowance race for non-winners of two, all under the guidance of Chris Emigh.

Her owner took her back home, feeling he could duplicate what I had done. It just didn't work, because Dianne never again finished in the money.

Gennie was a huge bay filly who also had several disasterous starts as a three year old. In her races at the Fair Grounds, she was never closer than 28 lengths to the winner. She was turned out in a broodmare band for a year before being brought to me.

I had Gennie exactly only two months when her owner demanded that she race. Entered in a six furlong maiden event with only 70 days of training, she finished a fast closing sixth, beaten only five lengths.

Gennie had several on the board finishes before breaking her maiden in the slop at Evangeline Downs on April 12, 2004 with regular rider Don LeBlanc.

Affectionately known as "Smarty", this long lanky chestnut gelding arrived in my barn with a bad limp. He had run several times, failing miserably. His ankle were bad, his shins looked horrible and he had bone chips in his knees.

I can do a lot of things, but miracles are hard to do. I did what I could for Smarty and he rewarded us with a fifth, and close second and a fourth in a turf try. His knees were too far gone, and without surgery, the pain proved to be too much.

With a heavy heart, I sent him home for retirement. There was no way he could continue to race with his problems.

Bouie, a very handsome gray gelding, is the most unique individual I have ever encountered. With his arrival as a three year old, he had made one start for his previous trainer, finishing 12th by 65 lengths.

A slow learner, it took this fellow about 12 months to figure things out. There were times when I wanted to pull my hair out trying to understand why he did some of the things he did. In his first five starts, including the one he had before arriving here, he had failed to even finish his race on two occasions and was beaten a combined total of well over a hundred lengths in the other three.

In early July, 2007, the 'light went on'. He finished 3rd at odds of 117-1 and was only beaten 2 legths by the winner. From this point on, he repeatedly finished on the board and to date, has earned over $35,000.

Although still a maiden, this horse had endured more hardship and bad luck that any other horse I have ever seen. Bouie is still currently racing and there is no doubt that he will soon see the winner's circle.