Free Horse Travels the Monrovia Road to Pimlico

By Bob Feld

For over a century, kings, queens, sheiks and billionaires have coveted winning a race in the American Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby (G1), Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) are called “jewels” for a reason. They are highly sought after and difficult to acquire. This year a family living in the All-American city of Monrovia, California could be added to the list of the Who’s Who of Triple Crown lore when they run Caracortado in Baltimore on Saturday.

This family doesn’t pull up to the grocery store in a limo. They jog the streets of Hillcrest, Myrtle and Foothill and they are just another couple sitting next to you at Caffe Opera or the London Gastropub. Yet, they are on the verge of becoming a story, possibly THE story, of the 135th running of the Preakness (G1).

The aforementioned dignitaries of the sport of Thoroughbred racing have historically spent millions, even billions of dollars trying to buy or breed a Classic winner. Many would settle for a strong contender – a so-called “Saturday horse” – which are few and far between.

Imagine going to a Classic race with a horse that cost less than a dime superfecta ticket. When it comes to the Triple Crown there is no doubt that dreams are free. In this instance the Preakness (G1) hopeful was free. Yes..free!

Enter Mike and Dana Machowsky. Dana, the mother of three daughters and a local real estate agent for Coldwell Banker in Arcadia has been married to trainer Mike Machowsky for 10 years. Dana knew going into her marriage what the racetrack life was all about. She had been around horsemen her entire life. Her grandfather was a trainer and her father, Dr. Joe Cannon, is one of the most respected equine veterinarians in the country.

Although Dana was familiar with the racetrack lifestyle, she may not have been prepared for the roller coaster ride of being the wife of a Thoroughbred trainer.

“I knew about the early mornings and no time off, but I was not aware of the stress that is involved,” said Machowsky. “I have learned over the years to deal with it. I know when Mike is stressed out, it is best to leave him be. The business by nature is very streaky and it gets tough sometimes if you are on a cold streak. Things are great right now.”

The free horse that may put them in the racing history books is named Caracortado, which loosely translated means “Scarface” in Spanish.

When a filly Mike was training for a partnership was injured and retired before she ever got to race, his other two partners gave him their shares of the filly, Mons Venus.

Mike told Dana he thought the filly was worth breeding because she had shown him a lot of talent while training. A good friend of the Machowskys found out about their new venture and gave them a free breeding to the stallion Cat Dreams.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“I do remember one summer in Del Mar that Mike was really excited about this filly he had in his barn named Mons Venus,” recalled Dana. “Never did I expect to own her as a broodmare one day. I could never have imagined that the first baby she produced would turn out this good. It’s been very exciting to race Caracortado and we have had so much fun with the whole Triple Crown situation.”

It is no doubt a family affair when you consider that Mike not only bred Caracortado, he trains him and owns him with his wife in partnership with longtime client Don Blahut . The “free” horse got his name due to the fact that when he arrived from the farm to the Santa Anita barn of his trainer, he had seven stitches on his forehead from a minor head injury. The vet bill has been paid many times over as Caracortado has now earned $262,200 in his short career.

The old breeding axiom, perpetuated by the Vanderbilts, Whitneys and Phippses, is “breed the best to the best and hope for the best.” The Machowskys bred “free to free” and got a horse that started off running in a claiming race at Fairplex Park, which is a Triple Crown trail seldom, if ever, used. Yet, Caracortado won his first five races including the Robert B. Lewis (G2) which propelled him into the Kentucky Derby (G1) limelight as one of the top West Coast hopefuls.

When Caracortado came up a little light on graded earnings to get into the Derby, Machowsky set his sights on the Preakness (G1).

The trainer has been quite pleased with his charge’s Preakness preparation so far. Caracortado posted a five furlong drill at Santa Anita on Sunday, May 2 in :59 2/5, the second fastest work of the day.

“He worked great,” said Machowsky. “He has always run well fresh and probably needed a little break. We spent a little time with him blowing an abscess out of his foot, so maybe it will work out for the best. He could be tough with the way he is training.”

He followed that up with a 1:24 3/5 seven furlong workout on Saturday, May 8 at the Great Race Place.

“The work really tightened him up,” Machowsky said. “He looked super. I think he’s ready for a big race.”

Maybe the best things in life are free.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Featured Articles. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.