![]() When he is physically ready, the mental jump to a new career should be no problem at all. He’s not able to be ridden just yet, but he has that attitude the willingness to please, and he has such a good, calm mentality. “He had some foot issues and even walking was difficult for a while, but he’s moving in the right direction. He didn’t join us until this year,” Courtney said. “It might take a little bit of time to get there (being a jumper). As he heals, Racing For Home will try to transition him to a possible jumper once he’s ready to be ridden and start that path. He’s a total gentlemen and it’s been a pleasure getting to work with him.”Ī bowed tendon ended Uno Mas Modelo’s racing days, but competition can still potentially be part of his future. “He’s the type of horse who you can tell has just received a lot of love and good care throughout his career. ![]() “He didn’t miss many dances, for sure, but he was a horse who came to our farm and is still in that transition period,” Courtney said. The veteran horse last breezed in May at Churchill Downs and when his racing career concluded due to injury, Quartarolo’s daughter, Ashley, reached out to the Courtneys about finding a new role for a talented horse who had banked nearly $400,000 in career earnings and won as many as five races in a single year. Having a job, mentally, does so much good for them.”Ĭourtney said there are currently 11 off-track thoroughbreds ( OTTBs) in their care, with Uno Mas Modelo among the latest additions. “They can get bored, so giving them a new career, especially for horses just off the racetrack, is very important. They are bred to fill a purpose,” said Courtney, a key member of NYRA’s America’s Day at the Races broadcast team. “They thrive on routine and having a job. The organization also provides a sanctuary for horses who were injured during their careers and physically cannot have a second career. Located in Ellington, Connecticut, Racing For Home provides Thoroughbreds with a structured and goal-orientated routine-similar to what was used during their racing careers-to transition to new vocations, which can include a new path as a show horse or preparation for adoption. Run by Courtney and her mother, Sherrie Courtney, the organization was accredited in 2019 by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, making them one of two such facilities in Connecticut and one of 81 accredited organizations throughout North America. Founded in 2010 by NYRA television analyst Acacia Courtney, Racing For Home’s mission is to rehabilitate and re-train racehorses for a second career. Racing For Home, a non-profit charity for off-the-track thoroughbreds, is providing support for Uno Mas Modelo’s new career. With all his strength, intelligence, willingness and experience, Uno Mas Modelo just needed a new outlet to begin his career’s next phase. But as a horse, he is in the prime of his life with his breed’s average lifespan between 25-28 years. On the track, a 7-year-old Thoroughbred such as Uno Mas Modelo is a respected old-timer. Fittingly for a horse who improved with age, Uno Mas Modelo ended his career with his second grade 1 appearance, running 10th in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) going seven furlongs in May 2019. He racked up two more stakes wins in Florida in 2019, taking both the Perseus and Rough and Ready. His 5-year-old season also saw Uno Mas Modelo make an impression on New York fans, winning both of his 2018 starts at historic Saratoga Race Course before logging scores in the Bet on Sunshine at Churchill Downs, then finishing seventh in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), and closing his campaign with a win in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit at Gulfstream Park. To get good like that, he makes you look good as a trainer.” “We put blinkers on him and did some little things and he just turned it around. “He could win anywhere, he was a runner,” Quartarolo said. The move resulted in a late-career resurgence, with all four of his stakes wins coming between 2018-19, when Uno Mas Modelo was 5 and 6 years old. The bay gelding posted a 10-5-1 record, mixing quality and quantity, compiling wins at five tracks in four states.Īfter registering a successful stint as a claiming horse who won at least one race for his first three trainers, Uno Mas Modelo came into the care of conditioner Anthony Quartarolo in 2018. The Kentucky-bred son of Macho Uno, retired this year by Ron Paolucci Racing, produced consistent efforts at tracks across the country as he rose from claim to fame by winning a quartet of stakes races late in his 35-race career. Uno Mas Modelo embodied that sentiment in a racing career that spanned 2015-19 and produced double-digit wins. Willingness to adapt to new surroundings and challenges is a hallmark of any successful athlete, equine or human.
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