Catalano: Resolute and Ready for More

NEW ORLEANS, LA–Whoever came up with the adage you can't keep a good man down was mistaken. There have been countless situations throughout history of those of noble repute unable to surmount their troubles; whose complications counterbalanced their character. Perhaps the author of such an overused aphorism should have been more specific before waxing maxim to explain the gravity of a situation that disregards, well, gravity. People will fall against the heavy pull of the world, hearts will be harrowed and passions pummeled with adversity–and not everyone gets up, even good men and women.

Then there are the Lazaruses of the world who take a beating and somehow, repeatedly, have the intrepidity to rise remarkably. Trainer Wayne Catalano, or 'Cat' as he is casually known, is one of those men. Cat has taken the punches and kept on fighting in the no-holds-barred Thoroughbred racing industry as a decorated jockey, three-time Breeders' Cup-winning trainer and conditioner whose stable has had the wind knocked out of it multiple times, only to recover with Joe Frazier-fortitude. One could not help but discern such familiar resilience when Coffeepot Stables' Farrell (Malibu Moon) came barreling down the Churchill Downs stretch in late November, devastating her opponents in the GII Golden Rod S. under Channing Hill by six lengths at odds of nearly 11-1, stating her case as a serious contender for the following spring's GI Kentucky Oaks. The daughter of Malibu Moon heads a humbler stable for the winner of 2,700 races whose comebacks remind us in a Twain-esque fashion that rumors of his demise may have been a bit off the mark.

Over the years, top owners with bands of horses under Catalano's care have seen fit to significantly decrease stock or completely part with the winner of 41 graded stakes, including John Franks, Frank Calabrese (twice), Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey and Gary and Mary West. Others have pulled a handful of key horses from his care. Still, Catalano seems to take it with the same pinpointed pluck he employed to win 1,792 races as a jockey, despite chronic knee problems.

“They can take horses, but they can't take horsemanship,” Catalano said with a surety so organic, it should be canned and sold. “If you can do it, you can do it and you have to prove it over and over again. Anyone can get lucky and win one Breeders' Cup, but to do it three times on three different surfaces–that's not luck anymore. I've had 50-strong with Calabrese to being left with just one horse and a pony, 20-to-25 with John Franks and the Ramseys and others. They're all great people who are good for the game and I'm very thankful for them. I am still friends with all of them. You just have to stay in there and do what you've been doing and stay focused.

“You use your horsemanship and trust in your knowledge and experience of the last 45 years,” he continued. “There's no replacement for that. I've been there, done that and anybody can do it when it's good. It's how you do it when it slows down, you lose horses and you have to figure out how to come back that makes the difference.”

Maintaining positive post-employment relationships with connections is a rarity in racing and likely one of the reasons the ex-Jack Van Berg assistant, who boasts a lifetime 20.4% strike rate, has become one of the archetypal good men unable to be kept down. In 2010, he developed eventual GI Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), a Team Valor homebred, through months of pre-race training, two starts and a rousing nine-furlong maiden victory at Keeneland to cap his juvenile season before losing the colt to Graham Motion early in a sophomore year that would three starts later become poignantly much more significant.

In mid-2013, after developing Stephanie's Kitten (Kitten's Joy) into a seven-time winner from 13 starts, two-time Grade I winner and rousing Breeders' Cup champion, Catalano lost the daughter of Kitten's Joy when she was transferred to Chad Brown, for whom she would lose consecutive races for the first time in her career and ultimately prove victorious in four of 12 starts, including three more Grade Is and another Breeders' Cup victory. Catalano, 60, still speaks about the game dark bay homebred with the affection of a proud father.

“Stephanie's Kitten couldn't sell for $17,000 and we developed her into a multiple Grade I winner and Breeders' Cup champion. I was very proud of her and she was such a good, kind filly,” he beamed. “Animal Kingdom was a big, goofy, backward homebred son-of-a-gun and couldn't do anything right early on. We really worked hard with him and got him right so he could show how good he could be. Horses like those were once-in-a-lifetime type horses and it's never easy to lose them, but these are horses who were developed from scratch by my program and that's a hell of a feat that makes me very proud.

“Not to mention Dreaming of Anna (Rahy), She Be Wild (Offlee Wild), Beach Patrol (Lemon Drop Kid), Da Big Hoss (Lemon Drop Kid), Lewis Michael (Rahy) and so many others,” he continued. “Take nothing away from any trainer who may have gotten a couple of those horses after me–they did great jobs–but I'm very proud of the work we did and how we developed them. That's what you call horsemanship and it's what I was taught by the great Jack Van Berg.”

While the ups and downs of living a life gladly given over to racing have kept the bold, yet self-effacing winner of six Grade I races unpretentious and centered, such propensities were truly on display in late July 2014 when the 11-time Arlington training champion fell ill not far from said Chicagoland oval with severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Coming uncomfortably close to losing his life days before his 58th birthday, the conditioner of two champions became one himself when emerging from the hospital victorious after 22 days in intensive care.

“It didn't change my perspective early on, because I was trying to get back to work and stay busy,” Catalano reflected. “But when business starts to slow down and you have time to think about it–that's when you appreciate everything you have. Not only what you've accomplished in the past, but you cherish the moments you have. Life is shorter than you think. When you're young, you don't think about that stuff, but when you sit back, you think about being not only a dad, but a granddad too and now we have one more on the way. You get joy from it and there's nothing better than that.”

Interestingly, the first race Catalano was able to view after emerging from induced paralysis was a debut Saratoga maiden victory by Coffeepot Stables' Winter Dawn (Sky Mesa), who would defeat subsequently MGISP/GSW Feathered by a head in early August. Twenty-nine months later, it is another Coffeepot homebred who is giving Cat a Cheshire grin.

“Farrell is special and winning a Grade II with my son-in-law (jockey Channing Hill) riding was an unbelievable feeling,” Catalano said. “That was a great performance. She came out of it great and she's very happy. We would have liked to have had her for the Breeders' Cup–she's that good. If she would have had another week or two, with how she ran [in the Golden Rod], I believe she would have won the Breeders' Cup.

“Right now she's on the right track and might even be further along than some of my top fillies before,” he continued. “She has to make that next step and do it again to stamp herself as legit. I have a lot of confidence in her. These fillies, they just need a little more patience, but I'm a lady's man. I'm good with them.”

Catalano, despite a barn that has decreased in size over the last year, accentuates the positives and is quick to vocalize satisfaction regarding the sophomore season he recently captained for Gary and Mary West's Family Tree (Smart Strike). Winner of the GII Indiana Oaks, GIII Iowa Oaks and $300,000 Zia Park Oaks, the chestnut was third in Songbird's GI Alabama S. and earned $689,387 during the season.

“She's a classy and honest filly,” he said. “She is doing well after a great season and will likely point to stakes races at Oaklawn. I'd like to have an even bigger year with her for the Wests. My team and I are truly grateful for all the owners we've ever had–especially those who hung in with me when I was sick, like the Wests. That meant a lot.

“We definitely are looking to the future,” he continued. “Between winning 2,700 as a trainer and 1,700 as a jockey and all the great horses we've developed, we have the experience. From getting our first Breeders' Cup with Dreaming of Anna to our second with She Be Wild to going out to California and winning a Grade I with Room Service (More Than Ready), who was a very special filly. Those moments are hard to beat. Winning the Louisiana Derby with Crypto Star (Cryptoclearance) might even have been the best. Moments like that that you share with your family and your hometown are very special–but we're hungry for more and we have room in the barn.”

One would gather that the simplest way to explain his infectious and effervescent character is that–no matter how heavy the gravity–Cat always lands on his feet.

“It's satisfying and gratifying to win races for the owners, but it's also great to win for your staff and the people who keep working with you even when you're struggling,” Catalano concluded. “Forty-five years in the game and you know there are going to be some hardships, but when the dust settles you see who the good trainers are.”