A Winning Partnership
With the support of jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, trainer Melanie Giddings wins her first Saratoga race as both continue to build a partnership that also expands into breeding.
It has been just a little over 18 months since Melanie Giddings became a trainer after working for Jeremiah Englehart for six years.
During her time as a trainer, Giddings has also been an owner and breeder. Though, one of those people who has played a part in her transition through these roles is veteran jockey Shaun Bridgmohan.
Now, that transition has brought them to the Saratoga Race Course Winner’s Circle.
Giddings and Bridgmohan won Saratoga’s last race with Scaramanga on July 28. This was the first Saratoga victory for Giddings not only as a trainer, but also an owner with a half-interest with Transfiguration Stable, LLC.
“I am super grateful that I got it,” Giddings said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, you always want to come out with a win. At the end of the day, you have others and you have to move on. As exciting as it was for me, and I got to own half of it with a partner, I want my other owners to experience the same thing.”
Giddings is also grateful that Bridgmohan has been with her since the start of her stable. Along with riding horses for the morning workouts and races during the afternoons, he is also assisting and supporting her in other areas of the business.
“He was the one who encouraged me to go out on my own,” Giddings said. “He’s with my stable everywhere we go. As we grew, I think he enjoys being here. He really loves the horses. I think he has learned a lot by staying back here and helping. He’s very good at what he does, and I try to do what I can at this end, and we try to work together.”
Like many starting trainers, Giddings had few horses in Florida where she raced them at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs last year. As Giddings came back to New York, other owners gave her horses, including Bill Parcells with Maple Leaf Mel.
As Giddings started winning races while some of her horses were finishing in the money, she took those earnings to reinvest into her stable.
“I have put a lot of my own money out there in the claiming game,” she said. “When we started winning a couple of races with our own claiming horses, we used that money to buy some two-year-olds.”
This year, her stable continues to expand with 31 horses, including 20 2-year-olds that enjoys training.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Giddings said about working with her 2-year-olds “I feel like you can decide their future to some degree. We can take our time. It’s nice to have owners who are patient. The owners of these 2-year-olds understand that. It’s a proud moment when they do run good.”
For Bridgmohan, this was his first Saratoga win since 2019 when he was aboard Break Even in the Coronation Cup Stakes. Though, this recent Saratoga victory may be just as significant as the first two career winners for Giddings at Presque Isle Downs.
“Being in the winner’s circle never gets old. It can be addicting,” he said. “The more you win, the more you want. This was pretty special because I rode first couple of winners at Presque Isle.”
Besides assisting Giddings around the stable and track, Bridgmohan has also been helping her with purchasing and breeding horses.
In March 2023, both of them bought two mares at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales in March 2023; one of those purchases was Devil at Midnight for $7,000.
Over 11 races that started at Belmont Park in June 2023, Devil at Midnight had a win, two second-place finishes, and three third-place finishes and $52,600. After a fourth-place finish for a $25,000 claiming tag at Presque Isle Downs in May, Giddings retired the filly, who is now at Rockridge Farm in Hudson.
“She has done well for me. She was already right there,” Giddings said. “I always said she never wanted to be a racehorse, at least mentally. I couldn’t see her go down the road of claims. So, I retired her and I plan to breed her.”
However, Devil at Midnight is not the only mare they have at Rockridge Farm. Giddings and Bridgmohan also had Diva’s Delight there for a couple of years, and it has been rewarding.
A few years ago, Bridgmohan privately bought the mare Diva’s Delight after a brief racing career in Louisiana. He bred her to Alternation and they produced Devious Delight just before the pandemic in March 2020.
Devious Delight had just one career race – a second place finish to eventual stakes winner Devious Dame. That’s when Bridgmohan and Giddings decided to breed Diva’s Delight to Grade 1 winner Leofric as that combination produced the filly Canigetaloan.
After finishing second in her debut last year at Saratoga, Canigetaloan went to Finger Lakes a month later to win the Aspirant Stakes. While the win is rewarding, Bridgmohan knows the investment that goes well beyond the financial aspect.
“We have put a lot of time and effort in this,” Bridgmohan said. “It is time consuming, and it can be an expensive venture, but if you can get a nice one that can repay you, it’s rewarding.”
While Giddings and Bridgmohan have embraced those rewarding moments, they have also experienced that challenges that includes last year’s tragedy with Maple Leaf Mel in the Test Stakes. However, Giddings tries to look past those moments with a positive mind frame, especially for her dedicated staff.
“It has been really hard,” she said. “As a trainer, you’re always wanting to have that quality horse. In the back of your mind, it’s always there. This place will always remind me of her.”
“Most people will say that I am positive, even if things aren’t going well,” she added. “I just think it’s hard to dwell on the bad things when there are so many other things that we can be grateful for. No matter how bad, it can always be worse.”
With the second half of the Saratoga meet that started on Thursday, Giddings had Route Sensation entered in a maiden race, followed by Your Man Alex in Friday’s allowance race.