Page 20 - July 2005 The Game

20 The Game, July 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Polkey&Crash-CloseTogether
By Harlan Abbey
Like most horse racing families, neither Melissa Polkey nor Andrew Weymes are ever very far from each other. Both are in the saddle exercising Thoroughbreds each morning. On race days, both are in the jockeys' room, Melissa preparing to compete for wins and Andrew, better known as "Crash", preparing her equipment and racing silks for each race as her valet.
And when racing is over, it's back to their farm to take care of their children and their three retired race horse "ponies," as any non-racing horse is classified.
"The day I was born, my dad bought me a pony," said Polkey, a native of Lakesville, Mississippi. Soon she was competing in horse shows and then, while attending Parkinston Junior College in her home state, exercising Thoroughbreds at near-by farms. She even rode one onto the college campus for a photo in the yearbook.
Weymes' riding career was much less deliberate and came much later in life:
"My father took me to the races when I was six or seven and I just loved the horses. He told me to 'follow your heart' and at 14 I started hot-walking for Stafford Farms. But I was heart-broken when trainer Gil Rowntree told me my hands and feet were too big for me ever to become a jockey. So I never got on a horse until I was 26."
By then Weymes was training his one- horse stable, Striker's Ace, at Woodbine. "One day the exercise rider didn't show up so I got on," he recalled. "He ran off with me that day and every single day I got on him. I brought him down to Fort Erie and he had one timed workout, five-eighths of a mile in :57.3, which was the fastest time at the distance all season.
"I told a friend 'I don't know if he's fit enough, I've only breezed him once.' My friend told me 'You've breezed him 50 times! Every time he runs off with you it's at breezing speed.'"
Polkey's riding career followed a more predictable pattern -- a win on a half-mile "bush track" in Louisiana, which led her to quit college; rides at Jefferson Downs in Louisiana, then fair race meets in Oklahoma, when their first win at a recognized track (Aug. 29, 1989), Eureka Downs in Kansas, and so on. She was at Charlestown, West Virginia, and "doing OK" when she was injured in a spill. Eight weeks later, in her third comeback ride, her
mount broke both front legs and she was injured again. Then came marriage, three children, and a divorce.
Weymes had meanwhile come to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia because "It was year-round racing which provided a more stable homelife and enabled me to gain custody of my son Andrew" who is now 16. Melissa's children are Samantha 13, Miranda 12 and John 7. The couple met while both were "ponying" horses to the starting gate.
Their riding talents were mutually attractive. Said Weymes: "Melissa is a very brave rider. Riding on six furlong tracks make you hustle to get good position." Said Polkey: "I watched him gallop a horse that had dropped me 13 times. He encouraged me to return to race riding and I told him 'If you get me mounts, I'll get myself fit.'"
After their marriage the couple came to Fort Erie, but Polkey's riding career got off to a slow start, with only seven winners in 2004. But when Weymes began exercising for John Dalton, trainer for perennial leading owner Bruno Schickedanz, he suggested that the trainer put his wife on horses in the afternoon.
"My first horse for John was Save This Dance, who is rough to ride," Polkey said. "I finished second on him, then another jockey did worse, so I got a second chance. Then he put me on another horse and I won with him. My favorite is a beautiful horse I just love looking at, Feelin' Salty. I'm a sucker for a pretty face."
Polkey rode two winners for the first time in her career on May 21 and has generally been in the top 15 riders since the season started, thanks to her husband and agent Richard Merrill. Meanwhile, her husband's face got un-prettied when a horse collapsed under him, breaking his nose and giving him an unwanted rest after surgery.
His absence from the jockeys' room, where he also is the valet for Mike Quong, "felt strange, I missed him," his wife admitted. "I'd rather pony horses in the afternoon than be inside," Weymes admitted, "but if she wants me nearby, that's where I'll be."
Fort Erie Jockey Melissa Polkey and Crash (Andrew Weymes)
Students from Garrison Road Public School along with local horsemen and jockeys hosted Alex’s Lemonade Stand at Fort Erie on June 11. Lemonade was served throughout the day and all the proceeds were donated to Pediatric Cancer Research at the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Photo by Patricia Burns
Alex’s Lemonade Stands at Local Racetracks
On Saturday, June 11, Fort Erie hosted their own Alex’s Lemonade Stand to join in with the several other racetracks across North America, including Woodbine, to honor Alex Scott’s memory and raise money for charity.
Cash is King Stable’s Afleet Alex was named in honor of the courageous eight-year-old Alexandra Scott who started a lemonade stand to raise money to help fight childhood cancer. Alex had been diagnosed
with neuroblastoma in January of 1997 and sadly lost her battle when she passed away on August 1, 2004.
Portions of the purse earnings of Afleet Alex, winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes have gone to Alex’s Lemonade Fund.
Alex’s Lemonade has currently raised more than $2 million of a goal aet a $5 million for 2005.
For more information on Alex’s Lemonade Stand visit www.afleetalex.com
Photo Right - Daily Racing Form’s Bill Tallon (centre) presented trainer Mike DePaulo (left) and owner Charles Overland of Overheath Stable (right) with the TTRC 2004 Claiming Horse of the Year Award for the horse Questing Knight.
Red Oak Training Centre
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TTRC Awards at Woodbine
The Toronto Thoroughbred Racing Club held their 43rd annual Awards Day on Sunday, June19,atWoodbine. EachrecipientofaTTRCAwardhadmadeasignificantcontribution to the sport of Thoroughbred racing in 2004. Below are a few of this year’s winners.
Photo Left - The TTRC Special Merit Award was presented to Sam Lima for his 42 years of service to Thoroughbred horseracing. Photo left to right - TTRC Director, Don Burton; TTRC President, Sam Lima;TTRC Directors Frances Lima and George Kennedy.
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Photo Left from left to right - TTRC Director, Dick Coleman; Sam-Son Farm’s Tammy Samuel- Balaz; Hall of Fame Jockey Sandy Hawley;TTRC Directors Frances Lima and Eveline Dorey. Sandy Hawley presented Tammy Samuel-Balaz with the TTRC Award for Leading Money Winning Owner in Ontario for 2004.