by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Were it not for Joe Azarow coming down with a case of the “Mister Magoos” his son Anthony may not have been celebrating his first career training win with Relentless Dreamer on April 9.

For the younger generation, Mister Magoo was a wildly popular cartoon character a few decades ago, who got into numerous misadventures due to his near-sightedness. And yet, things always worked out for him.

It was the same for the Azarow family. Longtime trainer Joe went to the Tattersalls January Select Mixed Sale in 2012 with a few horses in mind. One of them was AJ’s Poppop, if only because his grandson A.J. (Anthony’s son) always called him Pop Pop.

The targeted horse was hip number 217. Joe failed to get AJ’s Poppop when the horse came up for auction, but Joe thought he saw the horse come back up again for sale a few hours later.

“He bid $1,000 on the horse,” the younger Azarow said. “Nobody bid against him — my father needed better glasses at the time — and his bid was accepted. He goes up to accept the horse and it’s not AJ’s Poppop, it was Relentless Dreamer. He paid $1,000 for the horse that he could see the lines on, but the horse was number 317, not 217.”

Lisa photo

Relentless Dreamer (No. 5 in photo) has earned $129,558 since joining the Azarows’ stable.

Joe, who suffered a stroke more than a year ago, still regales in repeating the story, which has been made easier to tell thanks to Relentless Dreamer’s on-track efforts. Relentless Dreamer has earned $129,558 since joining the Azarows’ stable.

After struggling with health issues last season, the 8-year-old stallion has finished in the money seven times in 2016, with his recent victory at the Meadowlands adding to three second-place finishes and three thirds.

“That was exciting to finally get that first one,” said Anthony, who trains the horse and inherited ownership when Joe encountered his health issues. “I’ve been excited about the whole season. He had an injury last year, came up lame in May with a bit of a tendon injury in the right front. I gave him three, four months off, trained him back and he’s been good since.

“With the overnight horses, it’s just keeping them solid, keeping them healthy. It’s just been a solid start to the season.”

With David Miller driving in that April 9 start, Relentless Dreamer started from post four in an eight-horse field. He was sixth at the midway point and fourth at the top of the stretch, but stormed home to win by a neck over favorite Southwind Indy in 1:52.2. And while it’s not easy to get a career first victory at the Meadowlands, Azarow was not overly surprised because he feels the horse is built for one-mile tracks.

Azarow has been around Standardbreds most of his life. His father got in the business as a trainer more than 30 years ago, racing horses at various tracks in the tri-state area.

Growing up in Rockland County, N.Y., Anthony started as a groom and worked for trainer Tony Coglianese until he got to high school and other interests took over. After graduating from Wagner University, he skyrocketed to a successful business career and, at age 38, is a vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Manhattan.

But like most lifelong horsemen, neither he nor Joe could stay away. Joe actually retired for a while but returned seven years ago and “picked it up as a hobby.”

“He had three or four horses that were racing at one point,” said Anthony, now living on Staten Island. “He’s about an hour-and-a-half north of me, and we would meet at the track, race the horse and BS a bit. It was a chance to re-connect. It was something I was continually interested in and wanted to keep going.

“It was a conversation point between my father and I, and I enjoyed it. I have 6-year-old (A.J.) who loves to see the horses and feed them some carrots. If (Relentless Dreamer) is racing an early enough race at Freehold for a day, A.J. will come and watch.”

Azarow considers it more of a hobby than a business, but it has always been a love, even when he was grooming and cleaning stalls. He has worked with Relentless Dreamer for all four years the horse has been in the family.

“He’s a pain in the butt,” Anthony said, laughing. “He’s a 40-year-old virgin, that’s what I call him. He’s all right, he’s a playful stud. He’s a pain in the butt, but he’s a good horse. He has his moments. I wouldn’t have him around kids. He’s a typical stud.

“On the track, he’s good. He’s very much a closer and can make up ground, it doesn’t matter what position he has. If he has a lane, he gets a good trip for cover and he can come home. He loves the mile track.”

Relentless Dreamer makes his first start since his win this Saturday at the Meadowlands, with Miller listed to drive.

“I have him down to drive, I’m hoping he takes him,” Azarow said. “Dave’s great. There’s always some horses we brought to the Meadowlands that my father gave to Dave.”

The horse went up a class for the seven-horse race and drew the rail.

“We were in an eight-horse race last time,” Azarow said. “That’s good for us. And it was exciting to get the win. I’ve been around the horse for so long, I’m just happy when he gets a good trip and comes back healthy and happy.”

The trainer has plans to keep him healthy for the remainder of the year.

“His win came off a three-week break,” Azarow said. “A couple races he slowed down and had a couple tough races. I figured ‘All right, he’s an 8-year-old, I’ve got to back him off, give him a few weeks off here and there.’ We’ll probably give him a month off into the summer or into the fall and see how it goes.”

The biggest question remained, however. What did Joe see in this horse when he thought he was buying another?

“My father saw a couple lines on him, saw the breeding, and the horse looked in good shape,” Anthony said. “He figured, ‘For a thousand dollars I can’t go wrong.’”

Except for the fact it was the wrong horse.

“Yeah,” Anthony said with a laugh. “But other than the name, it’s still four legs and a tail!”

They seem to be a pretty good four legs at that.

And as our cartoon hero would always say at the end of each cartoon “Oh Magoo, you’ve done it again!”