BONDING AN IMPORTANT PART OF DALE ROMANS SUCCESS
Thoroughbred racing is not unlike many sports in certain aspects. Ask a certain Kentucky-based trainer and he will quickly tell you about the importance of the “player-coach relationship” in the sport of kings.
No stranger to success, Dale Romans has made a name for himself with some huge wins in warrior-like fashion. Courageous runners like Court Vision (2011 Breeders’ Cup Mile), Tapitsfly (2009 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf), Dullahan (2012 Pacific Classic), Little Mike (2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf) and the mighty Shackleford (2011 Preakness) all showed up big for the Louisville native when folks least expected them too. Believing in what he is doing and having faith in his runner has greatly contributed to the success story for this Louisville, Kentucky native. The bond he forms with his “players” is one of the things he relies heavily on.
“I don’t really size up the field of horses in a race when I have a horse I really believe in,” says Romans, winner of over 1,000 career races. “I just take them over, hope they run their best and let the chips fall where they may.”
For Romans the chips have fallen in the right place quite frequently. In 2012 he won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top trainer and currently has a three-year old in Medal Count that could become a major player in the coming months. After finishing a strong second in the Bluegrass Stakes in April, this son of Dynaformer ran a deceptively good sixth in the Kentucky Derby and a very close third in the Belmont Stakes. Believing in Medal Count as he has many of his past runners, Romans is looking for big things.
“The first time I watched Medal Count breeze I thought he was a special horse,” says Romans who began training in 1987 at age 18. “We left him at Ellis Park early on because he was just not ready, but finally he showed me in racing what he had ben showing me in training. I stuck with him because I believed in him and I told people if I am wrong about him I am as wrong as I have ever been about a race horse.”
The breakthrough race for Medal Count happened at Keeneland in the Transylvania Stakes back on April 4. Now ready to test the waters in the grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 27, a freshened runner has Romans riding high again.
“I developed my bond with Medal Count early on,” says Romans. “He’s just always been a good horse that does things right. I think he’s got all the characteristics of a top horse.”
Based on the past, if anybody knows about a top horse and how to get the most out of him, like Medal Count, Dale Romans has the characteristics.
Medal Count is the latest horse Dale Romans has bonded with
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