by Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Aristotle once said that, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden, paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin, was fond of saying, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Sammy Davis Jr. sang, “I’ve gotta be me.”

None of that group every trained a racehorse. If he had, he might have ended up like George Teague Jr.

Teague attributes his ascent to harness racing’s top level to a combination of hard work, preparation and self-awareness. He burst onto the national landscape with filly pacer Rainbow Blue, who earned 2004 Horse of the Year honors, and hasn’t slowed down yet. Of course, his seemingly swift rise was decades in the making at his home track of Harrington Raceway in Delaware.

Last year, Western Ace won the Woodrow Wilson. This year, Total Truth claimed the North America Cup. Both are contenders for the upcoming Meadowlands Pace. Teague also has found success with filly pacer Future Destiny and is well on his way toward surpassing his career best in earnings, $1.6 million set in 2004. He topped $1.4 million last season and is within $55,000 of the $1 million-level this year.

Teague, 42, has the reputation of taking modestly priced yearlings and turn them into winners. Rainbow Blue was his greatest example; she was purchased for $10,500 and earned $1.4 million. Total Truth cost $18,000 and has made nearly $1.1 million.

There might be more where those came from, too, thanks to a group of promising two-year-olds. Whats Up Now won his Goshen Cup division in a stakes record 1:52.1 last week while stablemate Mattdultery was second. Isabella Blue Chip won her Debutante division and Betting Machine was second in another. Outsource and Artcotic, purchased for $7,000 and $5,000, respectively, have already won New Jersey Sire Stakes events. Plus, Southwind Lynx, Fiore Hanover, Warrawee Imprint, Danae, Honeyland, and Jesse N Echo, to mention a few, add depth to Teague’s freshman class.

“They’ve all trained very well all along,” Teague said. “It’s hard to distinguish one from another, which isn’t a bad thing. You end up thinking, ‘They all can’t be this nice.’ One looks as good as another. It’s a pretty good feeling.”

Teague spends about a month poring through sales catalogs looking for yearlings. He rarely looks at videos, except race clips of a horse’s siblings.

“I look at the sales book until I make myself sick,” Teague said. “I very rarely put it down. When I get into town (for a sale) I’m like a little kid. I’ve always been that way. I study the game a lot. I try to look at as many races as I can, read as many magazines. It’s more of a scouting mentality. I look at stallions and mares that I liked during their race careers. I like when sires, and particularly mares, have a big percentage getting to the races. I try to get a sense of what I like about certain stallions; some I don’t like at all and won’t mess with.”

Some of his favorite sires are Artiscape (who sired Rainbow Blue and Future Destiny), Jenna’s Beach Boy (Total Truth), and Western Hanover. He also is interested in watching Real Desire’s foals.

“Artiscape is always going to be one of my favorites,” Teague said. “I loved Real Desire when he was racing, and I like studs that are kind of new. Jenna kind of fell out of favor a few years back, but if you look at his stats he kind of stacks up with them. If I see a stallion with a good percentage bred to a so-so mare, I might take a chance. When they’ve got the pedigree on their mom’s side, too, then it’s kind of hard to say no.”

Of course, reading a catalog is only part of the process; looking over the yearlings is the other.

“I think a smart-looking head and a keen eye go as far as anything, really,” Teague said. “I try to get a vision in my head what they’re going to look like when they mature; I try to picture who is going to mature, and who will not. You see some horses that come into the ring looking gorgeous, like they just raced last week, big and strong. I think when they look extremely racy like that it really brings up the price. I can’t afford ones that look like that. I don’t like to pass them by, but I think the price goes way up. I’m not looking for the perfect horse. If I see little flaws in conformation, I’ll take a gamble on the pedigree.”

His recent successes have led to new owners, and many other phone calls for Teague to take on new horses. Teague trains a stable of approximately 40, which he finds a comfortable number.

“It’s good that owners come to you, but there also comes a time when you can’t do any more,” Teague said. “It’s a lot of hard work on the people working here. I’ve got to stay focused on what I need to focus on. There are so many things out of your control in this sport; I try to control the part of it that makes me, me. I like running my stable. If I turn over a lot of responsibility to others and hope they do it, what made me wouldn’t be me any more. It wouldn’t take long to lose a little bit of the edge.”

Teague, who has about six people working with him at this time of year including his sister, fellow trainer and business partner Brenda, can be found bathing horses, cleaning stalls, filling water buckets, getting horses harnessed – all in addition to training.

“I think people can find a lot easier jobs than working for me,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t think I’m hard to get along with, but it’s a lot of work. If I’m working beside you and I’m not complaining, I don’t expect you to complain. Even though the paperwork has to get done, the labor part of it is what makes me, me. I don’t mind that part of it. It keeps me in touch with reality and familiar with what my game plan is.”

That passion is another vital part to Teague’s success.

“I still have the hunger,” he said. “I don’t want to be a storyteller. I don’t want to tell you about yesterday. I want to tell you where I’m heading.”