Ambassador Program Turns 50

Ok, so the title is a little misleading. The program just turned one in July but I had to use something to bait you into reading further. On Sunday the Ambassador Program had the opportunity to entertain three Southern California pony clubs: Poway, Rainbow, and Ramona. Combined they amounted to a total of fifty-one participants which was the largest group hosted to date.

In the past I had some large groups before, the largest being thirty-six from Woodbury University, so I wasn't too concerned about increasing the group size. I found out however that entertaining fifty-one is definitely a lot to tackle for just one person. Fortunately Donna from the Poway Pony Club helped keep track of all the kids and having many parents on hand made it certain no one strayed too far away. I definitely couldn't have done it without their help.

Fortunately Doug O'Neil was available early on in the barn tour and gave permission for everyone to feed carrots to the horses. This really was popular among the children. I'm sure the horses didn't mind either. After everyone had made a circuit through Doug's two rows of runners I found some tack and explained what the various racing equipment is for. There were a few bumbles on my part along the way but I've been told everyone enjoyed themselves. I got a kick out of wearing "shadow roll" on myself. I think the kids liked it too.

Jimmy the stable farrier had left behind a huge pile of shoes which everyone helped themselves too. A little genuine racing trinket certainly made for a great memento for the day.

The tour parlayed into a meeting with Aaron Gryder who shared his experiences of what it’s like to be riding a racehorse in the world's richest race. I remember Aaron on the last season of "Jockeys". Despite over two decades of riding he hadn't won any major racing events. I'm glad that he finally had his chance and took home six percent of the most lucrative racing purse in the world (which adds up to $360,000). Not too many people make this kind of money in one year, let alone two minutes, yet it’s safe to say he's definitely earned it. While I had only asked him to come by for ten minutes, being the gracious fellow that he is Aaron stayed for twenty in an attempt to answer everyone's questions.

Shortly thereafter Frank Scatoni from Horseplayers Magazine came by the paddock and handed me a box filled with seventy-five free issues of their most recent publication. As he said it was his way of helping do his part in bringing new blood into the sport. I did my best to hand the issues out as quickly as possible but two children immediately started fighting over one copy. This was soon alleviated after which they tore into the magazines, taking quite an interest to the advertisements because of their full page color action photos. Another soon had her finger tracing along the first article, dutifully reading about all the summer action at Del Mar and Saratoga.

After locating our complementary reserved seats at the sixteenth pole, the group caught their first live race in their lives. "Look at how fast they are running," said one parent to her child. As the runners came around the far turn everyone leaped to their feet and the crowd began roaring. After the finish of the race everyone seemed really impressed. I asked if anyone would like to join the Diamond Club on the way down for the paddock tour and several adults took me up on the offer. It looks like there will certainly be some return customers for Del Mar now.

The group soon swarmed the paddock where they got to go on the inside and began taking pictures in mass. I pointed out jockeys from the show "Jockeys" as they strode by. Some of the group hung by Doug O'Neill's #5 runner Malibu Moon and were able to speak with Tyler Baze before Doug gave him a leg up for the race. Everyone in the group seemed to place a wager on either of Doug's runners for that event. Doug seemed harried, constantly having to split his attention between two distant places at one time.

After the second race everyone was welcome to spend their day at the races however they liked. A member of the TOC came by after the third event and spoke to everyone about the TOC's part in the thoroughbred industry. Fliers for the recent CARMA fundraiser were passed around. Later Donna from the Poway Pony Club notified me that several people were very interested in attending. By the fourth race I was completely exhausted, having not eaten or rehydrated since 8:30 am that morning as I never had a moment to do so since arriving at the track. With everyone well situated I made my departure knowing that despite a few hiccups here and there the day had been a success for everyone involved.

Perseverance!