Poulos Earns the Grade

Walk onto the Arlington International Racecourse's apron during training hours any morning during the iconic Chicago landmark's summer meet and you will see her. Often adorned with a smile, sun hat and her trademark sunglasses, trainer Dee Poulos is the first to take a moment from carefully observing her horses to greet you if you are new and the quickest to wave at even the most tangential of acquaintances. She is the First Lady of Illinois racing, the widow of renowned Midwestern trainer Ernie Poulos and now–20 years after taking over the Poulos operation as head trainer (at the age of none-of-your-business)–a graded stakes-winning conditioner, thanks to a little bay gelding Crewman (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Dundalk 5 LLC's Crewman, like Poulos, is honest, hard-knocking and comes from great stock. After two races for WinStar Farm and Shannon Ritter, Poulos claimed the compact charge for $25,000 at Hawthorne Race Course on Halloween 2014. Since then, the patient conditioner has taken her time developing the sometimes difficult athlete, racing 29 times over three different surfaces and receiving ample time off when needed. Consistency has been his game, as Crewman has hit the board in 20 of 31 starts, including two stakes victories in the last six months. His gritty neck tally at 25-1 in Arlington's GIII Hanshin Cup May 13 gave the former high school teacher an overdue graduation into the graded stakes ranks.

“It was extremely rewarding,” Poulos said. “We weren't cocky about it, but we did feel very good about him going into the race. He really trained for it properly and things were falling into place. I knew he was going to give a tremendous effort. I feel like, as trainers, we rarely know if they're going to win, we just know if they're ready and I knew he was going to give everything he had. He came out of this race super and mentally he's very good right now.

“It certainly is nice to attain a graded stakes,” Poulos continued. “I was so focused on the race and hoping he would run his very best, that I honestly didn't even think about trying to win a graded stakes for the first time. (Jockey C. H.) Marquez did a heck of a job with the horse and I always tell the riders to not make the horse mad and he listened. He's a horse who really interacts with you and you can tell when he looks at you, that he's thinking. He's a very smart horse and nothing went right for him at Oaklawn this winter. After that, I turned him out, freshened him up and brought him back. That really helped.

“It was wonderful to win it at Arlington. It's wonderful to win a race anywhere, and we were so happy when he won the [$50,000 Forego S. Jan. 21] at Turfway, too, but there's something about being home. Mr. D. (Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois), who was a good friend of my husband's, came up to me after the race and the first thing he said was that Ernie must be smiling.”

As patient as she is eloquent, the former Forest View High School (of Arlington Heights, Il.) teacher of 18 years approaches the racing game with new eyes every day, while balancing that with an almost palpable wisdom in her delivery. She enjoys talking about the best horses she has been around, but just as quickly waxes poetic about the nickel claimers whose unique personalities made her job that much more interesting. As an assistant to her husband, the pair developed Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Black Tie Affair (Ire) (Miswaki). Since her husband's 1997 passing, Poulos has had her fair share of ups and downs, but always seems to find her own sense of equilibrium.

“We got off to a rough start this year, but I always tell people that you have to wait your turn when it comes to luck and racing,” Poulos said. “Sometimes the stars just don't line up for you, even if you have fresh horses ready to run, and it can be very tough on everybody involved. Then a horse like Crewman jumps up and does something like this and it picks everybody's heads up. We needed that adrenaline fix and I was so happy to win it for Mr. (Tim) Kindlon, the owner. I can't say enough good things about him. He allowed us to take the path we have and let this horse develop. He's one of those dream owners for a trainer.”

Racing luck could be swinging back her way and such would be karmically appropriate for Poulos. Conscious that she is respected by her peers for her many aforementioned qualities, the long-time Chicagoland resident and winner of 336 races enjoys being a solid role model for horsemen and–women–alike.

“I never thought of myself as a woman trainer or a female teacher, I always believe that you just do the job–trainer or teacher–and that's who you are,” Poulos concluded. “That being said, I will say you have to be tenacious as a woman in this industry. It's a competitive business with peaks and valleys. There's downtime, losing races, trying to keep clients and lots of challenges out there, but you just have to take the good with the bad and hang in there.”