Horse Care Prominent Theme of OwnerView Conference

OwnerView's third Thoroughbred Owner Conference concluded a three-day stand Wednesday at Santa Anita Park, with prominent horse owner and NBC Sports horse racing and hockey analyst Eddie Olczyk, delivering the day's keynote address to an audience of new and prospective owners.

Olczyk was introduced to the stage by master of ceremonies Tom Durkin, who donned a Chicago Blackhawks jersey in honor of the former Blackhawks National Hockey League player.

During his speech Wednesday afternoon at Santa Anita's FrontRunner Restaurant, Olczyk reflected on his first acquaintance with horse racing.

“All I ever wanted to do was to play hockey, and then I found myself at Arlington Park one day as a thirteen-year-old,” Olczyk said.

When he became a professional hockey player, Olczyk, a member of the 1994 Stanley Cup- winning New York Rangers, began to own racehorses.

“It wasn't just the winning, it was everything that went into the game,” Olczyk said about his love for horse racing. “Going to the backside and seeing all the hard work that went on behind the scenes, meeting the hotwalkers — that's what took my love for the sport to another level.”

Olczyk then told an emotional story about a horse he calls, “the best he's ever owned,” a 2-year-old filly named Diana O (Cutlass), who he bought for his wife, Diana, on their wedding anniversary.

“I took the plunge and bought her for $32,000 at the Ocala 2-year-olds in Training Sale,” Olczyk said. “We shipped her to Arlington Park and she won first time out by four or five lengths.”

At 1-9, Diana O won her next start, an allowance at Hawthorne. Olczyk still remembers the excitement he felt leading to Diana O's next start–the GII Pocahontas S. at Churchill Downs.

The day of the race, Nov. 1, 1991, the weather was “horrible” Olczyk recalls. When asked by Diana O's trainer, Jere R. Smith, about if the filly should scratch due to the inclimate weather, Olczyk shook his head.

“No, let's go; let's run her,” Olczyk remembers saying.

Olczyk was playing in a hockey game that night for the Winnipeg Jets, so he couldn't be there at Churchill Downs live for the race. He prepared to watch the Pocahontas before his game in a Winnipeg restaurant that showed race replays.

But before the restaurant could show the race, Olczyk remembers the eerie sound of the restaurant manager's voice calling for Olczyk through the intercom. It was Olczyk's wife on the phone, who was at Churchill Downs for the live race.

“Diana O had injured her right hind leg,” Olczyk, choking back sobs, recounted for the conference crowd. Diano O had to be put down on the track.

“That really took my heart out of the game for a long time,” Olczyk said.

He went to play that night for the Jets, and scored a goal. He still has that winning puck, which always reminds him of Diana O.

“I think it's important to tell about both the wins and the heartbreak in this game,” Olczyk said. “These horses are so delicate and they have no voice. We, as owners, need to be their voice.”

Olczyk offered advice to the audience, saying, “Listen to your trainers, and if they think the horse isn't right, don't run them. We need to try to do right by these horses in every way.”

Earlier in the day, a panel of aftercare industry representatives moderated by conference concierge Christina Bossinakis, advised owners about what's available for their horses upon retirement.

“When you start a business plan for your racehorse, include a section of Thoroughbred retirement in that plan,” prompted Erin Crady, executive director of Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA). “If at all possible, owners need to retire their horses while they're still sound.”

The panel discussed the OTTB movement, how it's growing, and how ex-racehorses are benefiting.

“They all can do something,” said Stacie Clark, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). “Sport horses are coming up more and more; it's an evolution.”

Kristin Leshney, on the senior counsel for the Jockey Club, added to the panel discussion ways ex-racehorses are showcased through the Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP), which provides prize money and other show awards at various sport horse events throughout the country.

On September 10, 2017, TIP will host its inaugural Championships at the New Vocations Charity Thoroughbred Show at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY., which will offer championship divisions for Hunters, Jumpers, and English Pleasure.

“So if you're in town at Keeneland next fall, come out to the Kentucky Horse Park and support the Championships,” said Leshney, also TIP coordinator.

Panelist Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, the non-profit Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, that now supports over 160 retired horses in 10 locations, tried to ease the stigma behind the phrase “retiring to pasture,” pointing out that the Thoroughbreds at Old Friends don't need humans to have fun; they are just as vibrant in retirement as they were on the racetrack.

“They race against each other just for the hell of it,” Blowen said.

Blowen, a former film critic for the Boston Globe, told the audience how he got into the horse racing industry.

“I got interested in it because I really liked drinking and gambling,” Blowen said. “I thought if I went to work for a trainer, I'd be a better handicapper, so I had a secret life while I was at the Globe, working on the backside as a hotwalker. It changed my life. When I was around these horses, I was star struck. I thought, 'I can't be the only person to think these horses are amazing.'”

About his early days in racing, continued Blowen, “I owned a couple of $7,500 dollar claimers, one I still have 22 years later, who's retired at Old Friends.”

Addressing the audience, Blowen added, “You people are so lucky to get involved with this sport.”