Page 10 - The Game May 2006

10 The Game, May 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Leroy Trotman - Thankful for where he is today
New Assistant Trainer to Canada’s 2005 Sovereign Winning Trainer, Reade Baker, Leroy Trotman is thankful to God that He has helped him pull through and for the opportunities he has been given in life. Leroy says he is ready for the challenge of working for a top stable at Woodbine and is humbled by the fact that his life could have been much different than it is today.
As a boy, Leroy quietly listened to the echoing sound of live horse racing being broadcast through the radio in another room of his family’s house in Barbados. He listened out of harm’s reach while his father and older brother shouted home the horses. It was the announcers call that gave Leroy hope of one day escaping the abusive home in which he lived.
His first step to freedom began at the age of fifteen when he would skip school to work at the neighboring thoroughbred horse farm of Peter Ward. While his parents thought he was at school, Leroy was actually working with the horses. When his daytime escapades were finally discovered he dropped out of school and considered the farm his new home.
It wasn’t long before Leroy became Peter’s Head Lad and his daily routine con- sisted of managing the farm as well as gal- loping and shipping horses, a job he enjoyed for 10 years.
However Leroy yearned for more. The abuse he suffered as a child was still too close for him to truly escape.
An article in the local newspaper which featured working with racehorses in Canada was the inspiration for Leroy’s next choice in life.
With the encouragement of Tyrone Grant, Leroy left for a vacation to Toronto during which time trainer Gord Huntley offered the enthusiastic young man a job at the racetrack. Leroy returned to Barbados while Gord arranged for his work permit and it wasn’t long before he was back in Canada and on the backstretch at Woodbine.
The racetrack offered him the escape and the opportunities he so craved. It was during this time that he also met the love of his life, Robin Colepaugh, and the couple had a baby boy named Julian.
His life was good in Canada however that would soon all change.
After two years, Gord Huntley no longer needed employees at the racetrack and Leroy’s papers would not be renewed.
Devastated by the fact that he would have to return to Barbados, Leroy took his chances at staying in Canada without the proper documentation. He was soon found out and deported back to Barbados. Making the best out of a bad situation, Leroy farmed his parents land and worked at the racetrack for owner Mr. Phillips to help support his child and Robin whom he had to leave behind in Canada.
After a year of separation, Holly came to Barbados and the couple were married and a few months later the newlyweds were re-united in Canada with the proper documentation that Leroy needed to continue on with his new life.
In 1994, Leroy began working with trainer Steve Owens whom he says gave him encouragement and confidence.
“He gave me my first real opportunity.” said Leroy in a recent interview at Woodbine, “He encouraged me to get my Assistant Trainer license. He taught me so much and opened me up to the rest of the racetrack and gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of very nice people.
Beverly and Steve allowed me to stay at their house. They treated me like a son.”
Leroy became Steve’s Assistant in 1997 and together they had a barn with nice horses, a good staff and plenty of good times.
“We had the best staff on the grounds.” said Leroy as he thought back, “He (Steve) was the best trainer I had worked for. He treated everybody really good and staked everybody really good.”
Life was good for Leroy until a fateful day in the summer of 2002 when chaos would once again reign.
August 2, 2002, a deadly fire torn through the barn killing every horse in their stable.
“The day before the fire, a really nice horse, Legal Heir, had a terrific win.” Leroy recalled with a smile before a look of complete sadness took over his face, “The next day was the saddest day of my
life. We lost all fourteen of our horses. It was the biggest heartbreak I have ever felt.”
Through the devastation, Leroy recalls the kindness of everyone on the backstretch. He is especially thankful to Dr. Peter Vatcher, who, along with his partner Dr. Darryl Bonder, offered him a job at their Toronto Equine Hospital.
“It was a great opportunity. They taught me a lot about the medical aspect of the game.” said Leroy, “I had a really excellent time there.”
About a year later, Steve
Owens was ready with a new stable of horses and he called upon Leroy to put the staff back together and begin anew. However it was just not the same. The memory of the fire meant that things could never be the way they were before and Leroy made the decision to return to the Equine Hospital.
When the position of Assistant Trainer for Reade Baker became available towards the end of the 2005 season it was suggested to Leroy by Sue Emmerson that he submit his application. He was enjoying his job at the hospital however the opportunity to challenge himself working for a million dollar stable was something he felt he was up for.
With Leroy committed in his new posi- tion, the 2006 season couldn’t have started out any better for the Reade Baker barn which has become a barn full of firsts.
Besides winning the first race of the season at Woodbine with the 4-year-old, Frank Romano owned Fire Power, Reade Baker is currently first in the early trainer standings with 8 wins, 2 seconds, and three thirds and $389,491 in earnings in 25 starts.
Reade was also the winner of the first stakes race at Woodbine, with Judith’s Wild Rush in the Jacque Cartier on April 15 for owner Tenenbaum Racing Stable. He added another stakes score on April 22
with Queen’s Plate hopeful, Atlas Shrugs, for owners C. Roberts and J. Pepper.
“To top what Reade has already done (last season) is a challenge for me.” said Leroy who is proud of the fact that he was getting the staff and the horses ready for opening day while Reade was looking after a string of horses in Florida, “Working with his calibre, experience and creden- tials, I am hoping that I can excel in my position and help him achieve another Sovereign and give Sid Attard a run for leading trainer.”
“I have to be very thankful to Reade that he chose me.” said the soft-spoken assistant, “I thank God that He has helped me get this far in the industry and my friends and family who have helped me along the way.”
Leroy lives in Brampton with his wife Robin and there two children, Julian, who is now 12 years old and is “a great soccer player” and their 9-year-old “artist” daughter, Shaena.
With aspirations of one day becoming a trainer himself, Leroy stresses the fact that without his wife Robin, he wouldn’t be here today, “I came here with nothing. She has been my backbone and has helped me mentally to get where I am today.”
Reade Baker’s new Assistant Trainer, Leroy Trotman with 4-year-old Fire Power, the winner of the first race of the 2006 season at Woodbine.
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