Gary Contessa
photo by Adam Coglianesa

Each month we’ll take a trip to the backstretch and visit with a different jockey or trainer. This month we had a chance to sit down with trainer Gary Contessa. He dominated Aqueduct’s inner track meet with a record-setting 82 wins (breaking his own mark), 30 more than his closest competitor. In addition, Contessa’s horses earned more than $3.4 million in purse money for the meet.

Gary Contessa makes his residence in Petersburg, NY with his wife Jennifer. They have three sons, Vincent, Joseph, and Raymond and two daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline.

Q : Do you remember your first win as a trainer?

I sure do, and it is an interesting story. John Campo became a very close friend of mine, and on the day that I went on my own he sent me eight horses to train. His advice was, “When you go on your own, you make sure that the first horse that you run wins.” Well I took that to heart, and the first horse I ran was one he had given me named Legendary Wealth. He won first time out, and sure enough everybody noticed me. When that meet was over I had 40 horses.

Q : What was it like when Do It With Style became your first GI winner at Keeneland in 1991?

It was awesome because that filly had run against Meadow Star in the Comely at Aqueduct. I told Julie Krone that she did not like the whip. Well, Do It With Style was winning by five lengths at the top of the stretch, but Julie brought out the whip and she ended up losing. In the Ashland I decided that I would run her with no whip, and she won by the narrowest of margins under Shane Sellers. She became the first filly to ever win a graded race without a whip. It was especially meaningful because I had the courage to stand by my convictions and make the right decision. Sometimes you have to take chances to achieve greatness.

Q : What are your major goals in horse racing? Aside from the obvious Triple Crown Races and the Breeders Cup, are there any specific races that would mean a lot for you to win?

My major goal is to just stay on the map. The greatest fear I have is that I will fade into the margins and go out with as a struggling trainer. When I leave this sport, I want to be on top of my game. If I can keep this success going and keep my owners happy, that is really all I want. Winning Move Stable is a very important part of my success right now.

Q : How did you first get involved with horses?

Growing up in Merrick, Long Island, I did many of the same things that most young boys did, and I was a pretty good baseball pitcher. However, I was attracted to horses from the day I was born. If we were in the car and saw a pony ride sign, we had to stop. I was fascinated with anything having to do with horses. My father was a mailman, and my mother was a bus driver, so it wasn’t like I had horses in my blood. It’s just how it was.

Once I figured out that Roosevelt Raceway was a mere bike ride away, I started going there and working for free. I would do whatever they needed. Then I discovered that they had riding lessons at Hempstead Lake State Park. I started going there at 4 a.m. and cleaning every stall for no money. Because of that, they let me ride for free on Saturdays. Basically, I did everything I could to be around horses constantly. My father was old school Italian. He hated his job, and I was supposed to follow in his footsteps. Needless to say that when I told him I wanted to be a trainer, he was not happy.

Q : How did you eventually become a trainer?

Roosevelt Raceway was my initiation into the racing industry. I would go there every night and help with the horses for free. At the age of 16 I discovered thoroughbred racing and the Triple Crown. I loved the allure of thoroughbred races, but I was a long shot to get into the business because of the lack of racing genes in my background. So when I got out of high school, I got a job with European American Bank. I wasn’t sure what else to do. It just so happened that David Sazer, an Aqueduct trainer, came to the bank often and required my help with his account. Eventually I told him I wanted to become a trainer and he said that I could come work for him. So I quit my cushy bank job and started making $72/week as a hotwalker.

The first thing that I discovered is that very few people in this industry have the drive to make it through the ranks and rise to the top. Most people are happy doing the norm. But I was determined to be a trainer, and a successful one at that. Sazer died during that first year that I worked for him, but I still learned many aspects of the business from him. At this point I was working 12 hour days at the racetrack, helping out however I could. My background riding horses was also a tremendous help. After Sazer died, I worked my way up to assistant trainer with Jimmy Picou at Belmont. Then I heard that Stanley Hough was looking for an assistant trainer and I took that job. During that time I would go over to guys like Woody Stevens, John Campo and Mack Miller, introduce myself, and ask them questions that they probably found very annoying. They saw me coming and likely wanted to go hide. But that was how badly I wanted to learn everything in the business. And even though I asked them so many questions, the older guys really were great to me and answered all of my queries. They were a huge influence for me.

One day I was riding a horse past the clocker stand and Frank Martin, perennial leading trainer, says to me, “I want to see you in my office.” I was petrified. I thought I had done something wrong. When I went to his office he said to me, “How much do you make a week?” When I told him, his response was, “I’ll double it if you come work for me.” I had thought before I started working for him that I was ready to go out on my own, but I was wrong. I still had a lot to learn, and he taught me a great deal. After working with Frank for four years, I was ready to begin my own operation. I started with my own stalls in May of 1985 at Monmouth Park.

Q : You have proven yourself an extremely versatile trainer, winning with NY-breds, claimers, stakes horses, and so on. What are the keys to this type of varied success?

I learned how to handle claiming horses from the master, Frank Martin. The key is that you need to know how to build them back up once you claim them. It really is an art. One of the important distinctions when dealing with claiming horses is the one between acceptable soreness and unacceptable soreness.

Training 2-year-olds is something I learned from Jimmy Picou, and I would consider that one of my main strengths. I love getting a young horse, molding him to my way of thinking, and then watching the outcome. It requires patience and a keen eye, because when a 2-year-old gets a problem you have to catch it early, or else you could destroy what could be a really good horse. I am very persistent about checking horses’ legs every day and trying to find problems. It is also vital with young horses to identify if you need to back off training and give them a few months rest. In the long run that can really help with their development.

Q : What is your favorite part of being a trainer?

My favorite part of being a trainer is working at Saratoga. It is the only place where people love this sport so much that they will come up to you, shake your hand, or even give you a hug. I love that atmosphere.

Q : What is something that most people don’t realize about being a trainer?

Many people don’t realize the sacrifice that you have to make for your family life. Trainers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are dealing with a lot of pressure and heartache on a day-to-day basis. Another difficult aspect of being a trainer is trying to keep everyone happy. Overall, it is a very difficult life and a difficult business.

Q : What is the best advice you could give to a young person who wants to become a trainer?

My best advice is to go for it, because if your heart is in it, you will succeed. Just be prepared to sacrifice some of your private life. But if you can give it your all, you will make it. Someone told me once, “Keep yourself in the best company and your horses in the worst company.” That was pretty funny I thought.