This is what I wanted to say…
The last time I was up here was 27 years ago. We were chasing dinner around the table, Annie was wearing the same dress, which is an achievement in itself, and Brian Hogan handed me a glass of water halfway through my acceptance speech. It goes down as the second longest speech in the history of steeplechasing, behind Chip Miller, whose record will never be topped.
I promise to be quicker tonight.
Thank you to Bill Gallo and everyone at the NSA for putting on the show each weekend. Thank you to Al Griffin and the NSA board, all the race meets, especially Toby Edwards and your team for revitalizing the Colonial Cup. This is how it was always meant to end. A championship race on a championship day.
Twenty-seven years…to all the jockeys out there, I promise you there is plenty of life after riding races. I’m prouder of anything I’ve done after riding than I am when I was riding. A writing career. Annie’s husband. Miles’ father. And now this.
I wouldn’t be up here without Annie. You have pushed me, convinced me and believed in me. Thank you. And you deal with every detail that I ignore. There might be a Riverdee without Miles, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. I love to see your love for the sport growing. Thank you for completing the team.
There would be no Riverdee without our partners. George and Sue Sensor are here. You have been stalwart supporters and we’ve had some great thrills. From Gibralfaro to City Dreamer to Cool Jet. Thank you. Lee McGettigan is here. Leslie Hazel is here. Joe McVey is here. To you and everyone who has bought a share in a horse. Thank you.
To all the jockeys. Graham Watters, sorry you’re not here, Bernie Dalton, Freddie Procter, Stephen Mulqueen, Danny Mullins, James O’Sullivan won races for us. And thanks to all the others. Good to see Jamie Bargary back in the Riverdee silks today and thinking about Conor Tierney who took a fall today. And our new apprentice James Wyatt, that was beautiful today. Thank you.
To the trainers. Jack and Sheila Fisher, Todd and Blair Wyatt, Laird George, Kate Dalton and all the others, thank you. There are no days off. Your work makes our dreams.
It was the winter of 1993-94 and I had a yellow legal pad. I wrote down the names of all the trainers in the sport. Janet Elliot to Jonathan Sheppard, Mike Berryman to Bruce Haynes. There were 30 plus names on the list. I made a deal with myself that I would call each one three times before the season started. Now, remember this is landline to landline. No texting, no emails, no answering machines, no cell phones. I called each one three times. Well, other than two. Sheppard, I knew that was going nowhere and Jack Fisher. I called Jack Fisher and told him I was freelancing. “You want to ride first call for me?” I said sure. And he said, “All right.” Like he does when he wants to get off the phone. Two months later, he called and said I was riding everything for him at the Orange County Point to Point and Strawberry Hill. We have been working together ever since. After I retired, he kept saying, “Find me horses.” Mark The Shark, Bubble Economy, Good Night Shirt, Mr. Hot Stuff, Gibralfaro, City Dreamer, Cool Jet. We’ve won a lot of races and become great friends. You changed my life.
To Jack and his team – Ashley, Teresa, Ashley’s Mom, Whit, Caitlyn, Paul, Erin, Tuck and everyone else. Thank you. We faced our challenges this year and we came together as a team.
To all the horses. From Cool Jet to Ethics to Cyber Ninja to Queens Empire to Roja Redemption and all the others. Thank you.
Along the way, you will find people who believe in you. Never let them go. My mom, my dad, my brother Joe, my sister Sheila. Dan Pride. Tim Keefe. Todd Wyatt. Tom Law. Jack and Sheila and the entire Fisher family. Most of all, Annie and Miles.
