HOLY LONGSHOT:
by Nick Costa
Horseplayers young and old are fully aware that there is no value in playing the low-price race favorite. Therefore, bettors look elsewhere. Some of them, if the right odds beckon, will consider the second or possibly the third choice in the wagering to put their money on. While still others will look for a likable longshot. Bettors can't resist the allure for a long priced horse. Of course, the higher the odds, the more alluring and tempting the wager. However, most times longshot players keep their fingers crossed, hope and pray that maybe their longshot choice crosses the finish line first, but it's usually to no avail. After the race ends, longshot players rip up tickets and grumble something about wasting money....AGAIN. So imagine the absolute joy longshot players received after backing 75-1 EVERLEA and then watching the 5 year old horse win the 2nd race at Fort Erie on Sunday, July 24th, returning $151.70 for a two-dollar wager. Let's hear it for EVERLEA, who answered the hopes and prayers for those who supported her that day. No ripped-up tickets, but rather tickets cashed. No talk about money wasted, but rather about money well invested. And of course, as with any longshot player who can catch that big prize, let the bragging begin! EVERLEA is trained by Doug Sroka and owned by Jenn Sroka and IdaMae Duffy. I recently sat down with Doug and Jenn to find out more about the two of them and their winning longshot horse.
Equine Niagara News: Give us a bit of history of when & how you got started being involved with horses and horseracing.
Doug Sroka: My family moved here to Fort Erie when I was 10 years old in 1958 and like most kids around Fort Erie, we all went to get hot-walking jobs at the track in the mornings. I walked horses for Les Lear back in 1959-60 and then Yonnie Starr. I walked for him for quite a few years. Basically, walking horses was all I did for many, many years. After I finished high school, I got a job as an accountant which I didn't like, sitting in an office eight hours a day. One day in 1969, I was at Woodbine and trainer Art Warner asked me if I wanted to go down to Pimlico and rub horses. I said "okay let's go". Well, I was down there for about a month and Art lost some of his horses and had to let me go. But I stayed down in the states and then went to work for Buddy Delp (Spectacular Bid's trainer). Worked for Buddy for nine months, then worked for Eddie Yowell. I was with Eddie for close to a year. Then I worked for a guy named Al Cleff, who only had a handful of horses. One of those horses was JONTILLA. We took that horse to Monmouth Park and he won the Amory Haskell Handicap in 1971. Under a guy named Charlie Robbins I worked at Liberty Bell, which became Keystone Park, then it was Philadelphia Park, which is now known as Parx Racing. I said there has got to be a easier way than rubbing horses, so I went to galloping horses. Yes, it's more dangerous, but it's a lot more money and a lot easier than rubbing horses. Rubbing horses is probably one of the most under appreciated jobs on the racetrack. You spend so much time with a horse and you do what needs to be done, but much of the time you don't get the recognition for doing your job.
ENN: Jenn, tell us how you and Doug met?
Jenn Sroka: We met on the internet in an AOL chat room.
Doug: I was in Philadelphia and she was in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jenn: As you can probably tell, there is quite the age gap (30 yrs). It may have been a big deal once-upon-a-time, but not today.
ENN: Jenn, before meeting Doug, did you have any interest in horses?
Jenn: I had TONS of interest. My grandfather had horses, my mother's family would go to the races. So both sides had interest. We would watch the races but we didn't have a racehorse of our own.
ENN: So you had interest, but as far as involvement, that really didn't take off until you met Doug.
Jenn: Oh yeah, at eighteen all of a sudden, I owned three race horses. I had never owned a horse in my life!!
ENN: Doug when did you first get licensed as a trainer?
Doug: 1976.
ENN: Do you recall the name of that first winning horse?
Doug: TOOFER. That win came as an assistant trainer when I was sent to Dover Downs with some horses. I was there a month and won. My first official win as trainer came that same year with a horse named STERN.
ENN: How long have you been training here at Fort Erie?
Doug: I came back in 1999, but didn't come back to the track for a couple of years. Then when I did return to the track, I galloped a few horses, bought a horse and didn't do to well and I quit again for awhile.
ENN: With your experience and background you could have continued to train in the U.S. or at any track here in Canada, so what brought you back to Fort Erie?
Doug: When I came back in 1999, my mother was sick. She then passed away and I stayed here with my father. Then Jenn came up from Florida and married me here that same year.
ENN: How many horses do you currently have in your care?
Doug: Four. Three here at the track and one at home.
ENN: One of those horses that resides here is named, STREAK THE WEDDING, who you just acquired after her last race. Tell me a little bit about her.
Doug: I really don't know much about her yet. The horse came out of her last race good and she is sound. So, I'm still learning and finding out about her.
ENN: The other horse I want to talk about is EVERLEA. She just recently won her first race. EVERLEA did not race at age two or at age three. She had two starts as a four year old last year up at Woodbine. She came into your barn this year and after a few races on the dirt, you put her on the turf here at Fort Erie and she responded quite favorably, rolling down the stretch and winning at odds of 75-1. What events led you to decide to put her on the grass?
Doug: A couple of things actually. I thought five eighths would do her good, because the race before that we ran her five and a half furlongs and she ran up to the middle of the stretch and then flattened out pretty good. Also, I thought maybe she needed the race, she got a little tired. She came back and her face was just covered in dirt. I figured well, she should be able to like the grass since she won't get the dirt in her face.
ENN: What about the fact EVERLEA has no turf breeding at all?
Doug: That didn't matter to me and she really didn't beat much in the race. Don't get me wrong, she broke her maiden and did it in a fine way, but she didn't beat much of anything. Honestly, there were a lot of horses in that race that were worse than her on form. Her last race she only got beat four and a half lengths for everything.
ENN: You ran her at various distances on the dirt here at Fort Erie. You ran her at four and a half, five, five and a half furlongs, A two turn route race.
Doug: I was trying different things with her.
ENN: But she really woke up when you put her on the grass though.
Doug: Well I think she just got good and truthfully, I could have found another race at five eighths and she might have proved tough in that spot too.
ENN: Jenn, you were here the day she won, tell me what you were thinking when EVERLEA came barreling down the stretch to win.
Jenn: I'm thinking we finally figured her out. She has a very unique style of running as far as the way she comes down the stretch, she would just get all the dirt in her face. So, I'm thinking, maybe we got a grass horse here. For me, I know when they have been trying their hearts out and she has been trying all along. Doug gets on our horses too and after so many years of sitting on their backs, he knows which ones are out there to actually race and which ones are out there to lollygag. She's got it in her, so it was just a matter of finding out what worked best for her. Now we know it's grass and shorter distances.
ENN: Since Doug exercises all of your horses, his experience must help immensely for determing adoption placement, especially when a horse has reached an end to his/her racing career.
Jenn: Yes, I get to pick his brain and observe for myself what each horse is like very closely under saddle. It helps me when they are ready to retire, and even when I get on them myself. I've done a lot of things with my own horses, and I like to think I have a good eye for where they would excel in a new career. Getting the updates from the people who love them and tell me about all the things they are now doing really makes me smile.
ENN: Whether your acquiring a horse privately or claiming a horse, what qualities do you look for in a horse?
Doug: The biggest factor your looking for when acquiring a horse or claiming a horse is soundness. I always did well claiming horses off other people. I try picking things out that have gone wrong in a horses record, like maybe the horse is running in the wrong spot. I read between the lines.
ENN: What do find the most rewarding about the work you do?
Doug: Winning. And it's not the money, just winning. And it doesn't always have to be winning. Seeing the results after a horse runs a big race and knowing the amount of time you put into that horse is so satisfying. That's one of the reasons I quit being an accountant. My employer never even looked at my work.
ENN: When your not training, how do you occupy your free time? Are there any outside interests?.
Doug: Actually nowadays, Jenn and I attend a lot of yard sales. I buy and sell a lot of things. In fact, that is what I do all winter is e-bay. Everything we buy all summer, I e-bay it all winter. Actually, I worked for an auctioneer for quite a few years and he taught me quite a bit. I learned what things are worth. Every Saturday Jenn and I have to get out of here quick (laughing) so we can get out to the yard sales and buy things.
ENN: Jenn, you work a steady full time job, but how often do you find yourself back here helping out.
Jenn: Every holiday, every race day, every weekend, vacation and anytime during the week if I need to come by and feed on the way home.
ENN: What good advice would you give people who want to get involved in owning racehorses.
Jenn: If your looking to get involved, then it's something you would want to do with a small group of friends, if you can. Everybody take a piece of a good running claimer, something that has a little back class and find a good, honest trainer you can talk to who isn't going to feed you a line or take your day rate and string you along by telling you the horse has this problem or that problem and isn't getting your horse to the races. Your not going to enjoy your investment that way. It's not always the big name barns you want to go to because they aren't going to have time for you. Sometimes a smaller outfit can often be a better niche. They'll give much more attention to your horse and treat it like a champion.
ENN: Name me your favorite racehorse of all time
Doug: Buckpasser
ENN: Jenn, who's yours?
Jenn: Secretariat
