Karl Glassman stopped a few feet in front of the Saratoga winner’s circle. In a purple Breeders’ Cup baseball hat, a gray suit, a yellow tie and clutching a rolled-up program in his left hand, Glassman looked to the sky and pumped his right fist once, twice, three times.
“That’s for you, Dad.”
Glassman smiled, saluted and then grabbed the leather shank snapped to the loose ring snaffle of Arthur’s Ride while his wife, Cathi, took the offside and they walked their best horse into the winner’s circle after winning the $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Saturday afternoon.
“Absolutely, that was for my dad,” Glassman said. “He loved it. His dad, my uncle, they loved racing. Dad would love it today. He’s watching.”
Arthur Glassman was always watching. Born in 1930, Glassman grew up in the depths of the Great Depression. Hard times teach long lessons. When his son Karl, a CEO of Leggett & Platt, a bedding manufacturing company, said he was going to get into racing, there was a lesson there, too.
“You know you can’t make any money doing that,” father told son. “Make sure if you’re going to do it that you can afford it.”
Glassman took that lesson to heart and dove in anyway. All with his dad’s blessing, a cautious, calculated blessing.
“That was my dad. His father was a bit of a gambler. My dad, because of that, was pretty conservative,” Glassman said. “He loved the races. My dad was always cautious about them. He loved the pageantry, loved the sport, he respected it. He thought it was terrific.”
Glassman put up $250,000 to buy Hip 110 at the Keeneland September Sale in 2021. His dad was 91, had lived a good, long life. The name Arthur’s Ride felt like a natural.
“I told him I named a horse after him. He said, ‘You didn’t have to do that.’ I said, ‘Dad, I really did. You had a great ride.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘I have,’ ” Glassman said. “He had five kids. He was born in the start of the depression and ended up being a very successful businessman. He raised five kids, who are all, well maybe with the exception of me, very high performers. He deserves a horse named after him.”
Nine months after Karl Glassman purchased Arthur’s Ride, Arthur Glassman died. Fifty days later, Arthur’s Ride began his ride, their ride, finishing 6 ¼ lengths behind Disarm and a nose in front of Crupi in a 7-furlong maiden at Saratoga. A month later, the energetic, pink-spotted gray colt finished second to Instant Coffee and ahead of Crupi in another 7-furlong maiden at Saratoga. Freshened up, Arthur’s Ride won his 3-year-old debut at Gulfstream Park in February. Glassman got excited, his dad’s caution about the horse business getting fainter.
“Arthur was on the early Kentucky Derby Trail; he was actually number nine in the top 12. So, he hits the top nine. A day later, Bill called and said we had a little bit of an issue,” Glassman said. “We’re enjoying the high today but that was a low. It doesn’t get tougher than racing horses. The highs are incredibly high, and the lows are low.”
Thirteen months later, Arthur’s Ride returned to the races, drawing off to win a first-level allowance at Gulfstream. In May, he sputtered on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. By June, he was back on a high, rolling to a 12 ¾-length win in a second-level allowance at the Belmont Racing Festival. The Whitney came next. Making his stakes debut against winners of 20 graded stakes, Arthur’s Ride provided Mott with his first Whitney victory. Glassman still shakes his head that Mott trains a horse for him, never mind that he trains a Whitney winner for him.
“I asked Barry Eisaman who should train the first horse we sent him and he said Bill Mott. I said, ‘Bill Mott won’t train a horse for us.’ He said, ‘Let me call him.’ We were walking into a restaurant in Ocala and Bill called me. We talked in the parking lot,” Glassman said. “I walked back in the restaurant, and I said to Cathi that I was just on the phone with Bill Mott. Now, I’m standing here talking to Bill Mott about winning the Whitney. Oh, my goodness. It’s a wonderful life. My dad would be thrilled.”
Arthur Glassman took his son and his four siblings to Hollywood Park. Then Santa Anita. Racing was part of their lives then and now.
“He was a terrific guy. To share that with my sister and my siblings to watch it and my dad watching, it doesn’t get better than that,” Glassman said. “Cathi grew up right behind Santa Anita and when we started dating it was an acknowledgement that horses meant something to us. I promise you, we never thought we’d be here. A long way from that first date to standing in the winner’s circle in Saratoga. To win the Whitney…we’re just along for the ride. Arthur’s Ride.”
