from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Freehold, NJ — With all the hoopla going on at The Meadowlands on August 6, 2005, Vivid Photo winning the Hambletonian and 30,000 people in the building, one horse quietly snuck in and won big, in the fastest performance of the day and his career, in 1:48. Co-owner Tom Trezza is hoping for one more win today (June 19) for Carlspur, the now 11-year-old pacing stallion, who has survived life threatening illness and surgery in recent months.

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Carlspur returns to the races today for the first time in seven months.

The blue-collar pacer returns to the races for the first time at Monticello Raceway today after seven months on the sidelines. The “tough old customer” as Trezza, calls him, has 251 starts, 71 wins and $882,361 in purse earnings, and has been a veritable racing machine for the six people who make up the Salerno-Trezza partnership group.

“We’ve had him since 1999, how many years is that?” laughs Trezza. “I had a plan to buy a 50 claimer at The Meadowlands. I formed a partnership with the plan being to privately buy a 50-60 claimer, a 5- or 6-year-old horse. Steve Manzi was our main agent then, he’d fax me lines every day and he slipped in a 3-year-old that was just starting out. He had just qualified twice at Flamboro and won his first start in 56 and change at Mohawk.”

Trezza had planned to spend only $50,000 and had eight partners, so he went back to each to see if he could raise more capital to cover the $62,000 price tag. All eight who bought in at $50,000 upped their ante a bit. Of the eight people that bought in to the horse, six have stayed along for the ride, and what a ride it’s been.

As a 4-year-old, Carlspur won $101,990 and won between $100,000 and $200,000 every year through 2003. Even in his “dotage” as an 8-, 9- and 10-year-old, he won over $75,000 and turned in his fastest mile ever on Hambletonian Day 2005 in 1:48. Trezza and trainer Tony Salerno typically raced Carlspur about 30 well-placed starts a year.

“I loved racing at The Meadowlands,” says Trezza, “and love that kind of racing, but I decided it was better to be a big fish in a small pond. So after his 4-year-old year, we started racing in the invites and opens at Freehold, Pocono and Yonkers Raceway. We try to sneak in at The Meadowlands in late July, when the fields get a little lighter and fit a non-winners of $20 or $25,000.”

Trezza’s plan was going along perfectly every year, with special care given to preserve Carlspur’s fitness.

“We made sure he’d get two to three months off every year,” says Trezza. “We knew he had some allergy issues and some stomach issues. He’d have some gas problems, ulcers, and occasionally his feet stung him a bit.”

Carlspur seemed to be able to stay sharp and fast for eight years, defying the odds. In 2006, he raced in higher level events at Pocono, Freehold and Monticello, won nine races and was named Older Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year at Monticello Raceway.

Then it all came crashing down.

“I had just finished accepting at the Monticello Awards dinner,” says Trezza. “It was the first time we were ever honored and I went up there and accepted a beautiful trophy from (track publicity director) John Manzi. I thought we were going to have a great ending to the year. I was at the opening Nets (N.J. pro basketball team) game on November 1, three days after the banquet.

“Towards the end of the game, I saw Tony’s number come up and I knew it had to be a problem. He called me all emotional, in the van, taking Carlspur to New Bolton (hospital of the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school) with colic.

“Normally, we would go to Mid-Atlantic (Equine Medical Center, about 15 minutes from where Carlspur was stabled in Flemington, N.J.), but the herpes virus had put them under quarantine, so that wasn’t an option. He was really suffering and Tony was afraid he wasn’t going to make it. We had two hours to go and someone was riding in the back with him. The doctors were waiting for him at New Bolton, they knew of Carlspur and made the immediate decision to do surgery.

“They operated on him and I was getting updates every 3-4 hours from Tony. Earlier that night, his groom, Jamie Kicienvik, was at the barn at 7 o’clock. Normally, she’s gone by then, but she was just checking back one more time. She peeked in and noticed he was lying down, biting his stomach, so she called Tony.

“He was at New Bolton for a week with the displaced colon, but they didn’t have to operate on his intestines. They gave us a plan of stall rest for a month, then hand walk for a month, then a very, very small paddock for a month. That was all of January. They told us if he was doing good in February, you can put him in a bigger paddock and if there are no bumps in the road, start jogging and light training in early April. Then we hit a bump in the road.

“It was the same as last time, 8 or 9 o’clock at night, I got a call, Tony driving him in the van to Mid-Atlantic, said the horse was colicking again. Long story short, it was gas pockets. We kept him there for two days and that delayed us three-four weeks. He was not himself, he was dull. Tony jogged him lightly, but at that point, we just didn’t know. I told Tony, ‘Don’t push him, if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be.’ Three weeks later, it was like a switch came on. It was like, ‘C’mon boys, let’s go, I’m getting bored’ and from that point on, he’s been unbelievable.”

Carlspur qualified at Freehold Raceway on June 8, winning by 14 lengths in 1:58. He has post one in an $11,300 overnight event, race seven, at Monticello on Tuesday afternoon, June 19.

“We’re more excited now than when we first got him,” says Trezza. “None of us want to do anything to hurt this horse. If there was any bump in the road, everyone was comfortable finding him a home or hoping maybe we could find a small farm for him to stand stud. He’s just a consistent, hard competitor. Jamie Kicienvik, his groom, has a saying, ‘He doesn’t know he’s 11, he thinks he’s 3. We just keep telling him he’s not the old man. If he shows any sign of wear and tear, it’s over. But I don’t think it’s over and he’s going to continue making us proud.”