Page 64 - January 20 2012

It doesn’t matter what you do or where you live, we are all bound by a common love of fast horses.
by Stacy Pigott
One of my favorite things about being involved in the American Quarter Horse racing industry is the opportunity to meet people
from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living or where you live, we are all bound by a common love of fast horses.
Inevitably, when I meet new people, I always get asked the question, “Where are you from?” My accent —the one I didn’t know I had—is hard to place. When I lived in California, I didn’t sound like a Californian. Now I live in Texas, but I don’t sound like a Texan...and I still don’t sound like a Californian.
That’s because I’m from Michigan. And inevi- tably, when I answer the question, there is a short, shocked silence, followed by the next question, “How in the world did you get involved in the Quarter Horse racing industry being from Michigan?”
Now Michigan is a beautiful state, and I am proud to be a Michigander. But horse racing in the Great Lakes State has had a rocky past. Quarter Horse racing has survived at Mt. Pleasant Meadows, a racetrack I visited several times in my youth.
Most of you have probably never been to Mt. Pleasant Meadows. Many of you have probably heard of it, but may not have known where it is. Until now, that is. Until Cold Cash 123.
Because Cold Cash 123 is owned by Walter and Carolyn Bay, fellow Michiganders and Quarter Horse racing enthusiasts. Our paths had surely crossed
in the past, as Walter is President of Mt. Pleasant Meadows and Carolyn has ties to Michigan State University, my alma mater. But I didn’t really get
the chance to know them until a fast Quarter Horse brought us together.
Through American Quarter Horse racing, I have had the opportunity to meet such people as Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. We met when McEwen was racing the great mare Mongoose Effort at Los Alamitos. McEwen, I learned, was a legend in the drag racing world, where he had a highly-publicized rivalry with Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. McEwen brought Prudhomme to the races one night, and somewhere in my files is a photograph of the two legends in the winner’s circle at Los Alamitos.
Through racing I have had the opportunity to meet people like Albert Stern, a world-class concert violinist who has played for U.S. Presidents and at Carnegie Hall. Stern studied at New York’s legendary
Julliard School of Music. This year, Stern has a home- bred gelding named Chivalry SR in the running for a year-end championship.
Because of Quarter Horse racing, I have chatted with Major League Baseball player Jeremy Giambi and I have interviewed actor Powers Booth. I have met Senators and former Senators, and have talked to people I never would have had the chance to meet under normal circumstances.
Because this is Quarter Horse racing.
Only someone who is involved in the industry can understand the passion and the determination that goes into this sport. Only someone who has watched a horse they bred, or a horse they own, or a horse they train, line up in the starting gate against nine other horses can understand how racing levels the playing field and makes us all equals.
Will Rogers was once quoted as saying, “A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet.” Nowhere is that more true than in Quarter Horse racing. I con- sider myself lucky that my job allows me to meet so many of the people in this industry—famous or not.
I guess that’s why one of my favorite parts of Speedhorse is our Industry Profile section. Each issue, we select one person or couple to feature. Some of these people may be famous, most are not. Many have never won a stakes race. Some are just starting out, others have been around for generations. Some own stallions, some own mares, some train, and some ride. But all share a common love of Quarter Horse racing.
It is my hope that through the pages of each issue’s Industry Profile, I can introduce you to some of
the people I have met on this great journey through Quarter Horse racing. Their stories are full of pas- sion, hard work, hope, dedication, and love for the racing Quarter Horse. And I hope, in return, you will do the same. If you know of someone you think we should feature on the pages of Speedhorse, let us know!
Recently I caught up to my new friends Walt and Carolyn Bay at Sunland Park, where we watched Cold Cash 123 win the Championship on Dec. 31. In the winner’s circle we were joined by fellow Michiganders Tim Williams, assistant racing secretary at Sunland Park, and Dustin Dix, the track’s director of racing.
It might have been the biggest gathering of native Michigan Quarter Horse racing fans outside of Mt. Pleasant Meadows in years. But more importantly,
it was a gathering of friends, united by the common thread of American Quarter Horse racing.
COMMON THREADS
United through American Quarter Horse racing
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SPEEDHORSE, January 20, 2012
UNDER WRAPS