The outrider is an important functionary at any racetrack, and especially so at the oldest of them all, Saratoga. These mounted officials are tasked with ensuring the safety of thoroughbred horses and their jockeys, who assist in leading the entries from the paddock to the starting post, and quickly responding to catch a loose horse.

In Saratoga’s storied past, an outrider named Alexander Murray was part of the coterie that arrived each summer to conduct racing at the Spa. He was from Hamilton, Ontario and had spent part of his youth in England where horses and riding were a large part of his development. He won his first race on the local track at age 14, leading to a professional career, as both an exercise rider and jockey.

Young Murray displayed a distinct empathy for the horse, and developed a specialty in galloping bad-tempered horses in the mornings, skittish juveniles and moody fillies and mares. He realized as a youth that there is always a reason for a horse’s bad temper, and a cure for it, whether it be altering equipment or manner.

Jockey Murray’s riding opportunities came mostly on bush tracks and the wide range of county fairs that featured horse racing, and in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba during the winter. He would frequently travel between tracks on a bicycle, keeping jockey fit along the way. A nagging riding injury in 1916 forced him to appeal to management at New Orleans to let him lead the two-year-olds to the post, and he did so well that he was asked to also handle the sulky and savage horses as well.

Famous London tailor Thomas Pinque designed a garment to be worn by mounted hunters, which is still referred to as “riding pinks” even though this style coat is scarlet in color, and reserved for the master of the fox hounds. Mr. Murray adopted this classic frock coat along with a black velvet hunt-cap, white breeches and shiny boots when he was engaged by the Saratoga Association to be the herald of the post parade, and would become known henceforth by popular proclamation as “Redcoat” Murray.

When a nervous thoroughbred was uncomfortable having tack installed in the paddock, Redcoat Murray was summoned to bring his pony. This often times relaxed the balky horse, while he extended helpful advice and caused them to take a deep breath, as he had made an exhaustive study of bad-acting horses.

The wiry little chap in huntsman’s livery, who led the parade to the post would position himself fifteen yards beyond the starters, and further impressed fans with the way he could catch runaways, his horsemanship outdoing the best trick riding of rodeo stars. 

In the many decades before the conception of the Breeder’s Cup, the Belmont Futurity was an exclusive race that measured breeding quality and offered the largest purse in the nation. In the 1918 edition of this juvenile challenge, a chestnut colt Dunboyne broke away from the post twice, each time apprehended and returned by Redcoat Murray, eventually winning the race.

In 1925, though, he came out of retirement when Max Hirsch could find no jockey to properly handle Devastation. Murray won with him at New Orleans, the first time out, then went to Cuba to ride eight winners.

In Saratoga’s Green Island Stakes of 1929, a three-year-old named Seabright bolted during the parade, threw jockey Tony Pascuma to the turf, galloped past Redcoat Murray and raced two turns of the track before he was captured. Redcoat finally grabbed the blinkers, as the horse had lost his bridle, and brought the recalcitrant nag back down the stretch to the barrier.

In mid-August 1932, a two-year-old bay colt named Blarney Castle, carrying the purple and gold of Mrs. W. E. Martin, appeared particularly anxious to get going when he started for the post. He tossed Jockey Leischmann over his neck and roared out of the track via the Nelson Avenue gate. Redcoat Murray pursued the runaway up Nelson Avenue as far as Union Avenue, where he gave up the chase for the sake of those in their front yards, and pedestrians and motorists on the street, panicking at the clatter of horses’ hoofs. Redcoat cantered back to the track, and Blarney Castle may have been the only horse he failed to capture. The juvenile tired out and stopped on the Schuylerville Road, about five miles from the track.

Redcoat Murray would continue as an outrider at Saratoga and at the Metropolitan tracks into the 1940s, training his successor, Ken Force. A slipped saddle resulted in a fall at Aqueduct during September 1941, which convinced the Redcoat leader that this was a position for younger folks and it was his time to retire. He returned to Hamilton, where he passed away in 1953.

In 1939 Redcoat Murray told turf writer Frank Graham of the New York Sun, “There never was a man that loved horses more than I do. And I never saw a horse I couldn’t handle just by being nice.”

This week we are going to take a look at Joe D’Agostino. This Saratoga resident has turned a lifelong passion for the sport of horse racing into the role of managing partner of Sportsmen’s Stable.

Joe’s formative years began on Ash Street in the area of Saratoga then known as Dublin. It was a tight knit community and home to many of Saratoga’s Italian American residents. There, the streets came alive during the racing season. Just a few blocks from Joe’s home were the restaurants on Beekman Street that were famous for Italian cuisine. The big three were DeRossi’s, DeGregory’s and Fusco’s. A star-studded cast headed from the races to the west side to enjoy their culinary delights. Joe watched from his front porch as the likes of the Vanderbilts, Whitneys and so many other horse racing personalities made their way to the restaurants. Jockeys Eddie Arcaro and Bill Shoemaker were also among them. Joe was awestruck by their presence and demeanor. It was his first taste of the horse racing crowd, and he liked it.

When Joe was twelve, his dad took him to the track for the first time. Needless to say, he was enthralled with the experience. Joe was resourceful. He wanted more than just a taste of the racetrack. He spotted a portion of the Union Avenue wrought iron fence at the top of the stretch that could be breached. The young teenager took advantage of the opportunity and found himself back on the track. He was thrilled with the sights and sounds that were a part of the horse racing scene.

During that timeframe he also shined shoes in front of King’s Tavern directly across Union Avenue from the track entrance. Then he would pack up his tack and head over to the Adelphi hotel to perform his shining skills for the nighttime crowd on Broadway. If the thrill of seeing the hierarchy of the horse racing scene at the Beekman Street restaurants wasn’t enough, the racetrack adventures and shoeshine jobs made one thing perfectly clear. Young Joe D’Agostino’s future would revolve around a sport that had made his hometown famous since 1863.

The following year he went to work for Allied Maintenance. The company provided cleaning services for the racetrack stands and grounds. He worked for the company throughout high school.

Later, in his summer breaks from college, he took a summer job with the New York Racing Association as a White Cap in the reserved seat portion of the track. He lauds Saratoga’s own racetrack personality, Michael Veitch, for teaching him the ropes of his new position. It was a perfect setting to stay close to the sport he loved.

Joe did his matriculating at Siena, receiving his degree in 1976. After his stint there, he forged a successful business career. Fresh out of college, he went to work for Johnson & Johnson where he sold medical equipment. Although monetarily a home run, Joe chose to move on to different ventures. A lifelong real estate broker, his expertise culminated with the opening of his own agency with his sister Jeanne. It operates successfully as an affiliate of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

Despite all his success, horse racing was always on his mind. 

In 1986 he took a part-time job as a hot walker and later a groom during the racing season. Joe’s plans included becoming a jockey’s agent. Vince DeGregory, a fellow west sider, had made a name for himself as an agent for superstars Angel Cordero and later Laffit Pincay Jr. Joe idolized him and dreamed of following in his footsteps. 

Joe soon decided that the route of owning racehorses was the better way to go for him. He created Sportsmen’s Stable in 1991. He relegated much of his stock to claiming races on the New York circuit. He has stated that at the time winning a $20,000 claiming race was a huge thrill.

His big move came in 2023 when his Sportsmen’s Stable partnered with Parkland Thoroughbreds owned by his mentor and great friend Steve Weston. They have forged a winning combination. Joe states that without Steve he would never have reached the big time. Partnered with their talented trainer Jorge Abreu, the joint venture has taken the trio to dizzying heights on the horse racing scene. Joe also gives much credit to the entire team that are a part the operation. 

In 2023, the team raced a two-year-old filly named Jody’s Pride. She took the Grade 3 Matron stakes before being a close second in the Grade 1 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies event. Last year as a four-year-old, she prevailed in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes. Joe was of course ecstatic with the filly’s brilliant performances.

Something even bigger was brewing in the barn, and she would take Joe to the heights of the horse racing scene. Scottish Lassie raced in mind boggling fashion in both her juvenile and three-year-old campaigns.

As a 2-year-old she took the Grade 1 Frizette by almost ten lengths.

It was last July 19 that the racing gods brought Joe a gift that he will never forget. Here at Saratoga in front of a massive hometown crowd of 31,459, Scottish Lassie demolished the field by 15 1/2 lengths in the prestigious Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. It was the ultimate prize for the soft-spoken gentleman who had spent his entire life aspiring to do great things on a racetrack.

This year Joe got another one to remember. His mare Highway Harmony won the final race ever conducted at Aqueduct Racetrack. On June 28, she smoked six furlongs on the outer turf course in 1:06.4 in track record time for the Big A’s swan song.

Joe has aspired to be a part of the horse racing community since he was twelve years old. Doing it his way, he has reached its zenith. When asked if he had further aspirations, he replied that he is just happy that things have turned out as they did. He could not ask for anything more.

Joe’s journey has taken him to racetracks all over the United States and the great racing venues of Europe. He can say with pride that he started out in in a place called Dublin on the west side of Saratoga and along the way he was welcomed in grand style at The Curragh Racecourse, just a short drive from Dublin, Ireland. What a ride it has been.

After 20 years of starting as a volunteer for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Pat Campagna retires as Chief Financial Officer in August

What began as a desire to give back to retired Thoroughbreds evolved into a two-decade career in helping the oldest and largest aftercare organization in the United States.

Now, Pat Campagna is preparing to close that chapter.

Campagna is retiring from the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation after serving as a volunteer, executive director and chief financial officer, helping guide the organization through a period of financial growth, a strengthened Board of Directors and expanded oversight of retired racehorses at several farms, including Wallkill Correctional Facility as part of the Second Chances program and sanctuary farms such as 18 Karat Farm in Schuylerville.

“I will definitely leave with mixed emotions,” she said. “I’m obviously passionate about the mission. I’ve always liked what I’ve done. At some point, I have to retire. The TRF is in a good place. They have a really strong [Board of Directors]. I think the herd is in great shape. Our Second Chances program is strong.”

Many people involved in Thoroughbred racing and aftercare typically started when they were as young as a child. However, Campagna’s career path has been different.

Before entering the horse racing industry, Campagna built a career in the nonprofit and publishing sectors. After the Saco, Maine native earned a master’s degree in nonprofit accounting from the University at Denver, she worked in mental health administration, then became an independent contractor for smaller business mergers and acquisitions in Massachusetts, as well as an interim CFO for Globe Pequot Press.

After moving to the Saratoga Springs area for personal reasons, Campagna became involved in racing partnerships that included West Point Thoroughbreds and Parting Glass Racing.

Among the horses that she co-owned were two-time Saratoga Race Course winner and stakes runner Yolanda B. Too and Fortunate Storm, who won three races for West Point Thoroughbreds before being claimed.

“When one of them won, it was just one of the most exciting things I had done in my life. It was just such a great experience,” she said.

Although she enjoyed the racing partnerships, Campagna wanted to give back to the horses once their careers were over. Her search for aftercare organizations led her to the TRF.

“I kept thinking that I have to figure out a way to give back to the horses,” she said. “I came upon the TRF because it was, at that time, one of the very few organizations that helped Thoroughbreds when their racing days were over. I was committed to doing a donation anytime one of my horses won.”

Within months of attending an adoption clinic, Campagna began volunteering for the TRF for about a day each week. That led to a part-time accounting role, then a full-time CFO position until 2019 when she added the executive director title.

During her tenure, especially over the last two years, Campagna helped strengthen the organization’s finances and led the strategic plan process built around “greatness.”

“Everybody had a different opinion about what that was,” Campagna said. “I think that’s our mantra: What does great look like? As long as we keep working toward that goal, I think the TRF will continue to improve. I think the financial stability is huge. Everything the TRF accomplished, we’ve done as a team.”

The TRF’s annual events around the Saratoga racing season have become an important source of support for the aftercare program that includes the Second Chances program and sanctuary farms. That commitment has helped the organization earn accreditation from the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. This year’s events include:

Gumbo with Kendrick Carmouche: While advanced tickets for this event on July 27 from 5-10 p.m. at the Principessa Elena Society on 13 Oak Street in Saratoga Springs have been sold out, there will be a limited number of tickets available at the door.

Cocktails For Aftercare: The Adelphi Hotel on 365 Broadway in Saratoga Springs is hosting this TRF fundraising event on Aug. 5 from 6-8 p.m.

TRF Polo Classic: The TRF has reimagined its annual summer fundraiser with this inaugural event on Aug. 25 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Bloomfield Farm on 18 Bloomfield Rd. in Saratoga Springs.

More details on these events, as well as other TRF information, are available at trfinc.org.

While there are many retired Thoroughbreds that have played an integral part in the Second Chances program, one of them is still recognized today: Quick Call. A winner of 16-of-86 races that included the 1988 and 1989 Forego Stakes, he was one of the eldest herds until his passing in 2019 at the extraordinary age of 35.

His remains rest at Clare Court on the Saratoga Race Course backstretch. Presented by the TRF, a stakes race is also named in his honor for his career as an aftercare ambassador.

“I made a lot of visits to Wallkill during the years when Quick Call was there,” she said. “I certainly knew the horse and I could see the impact that horse, along with many others at Wallkill, had on the incarcerated individuals there.”

Even one of Campagna’s owned horses became part of the Second Chances program. After winning his final race in a $4,500 claiming event at Charles Town in West Virginia, Fortunate Storm found himself in a “bad situation.”

Campagna helped rescue him and brought him to Wallkill. Now, he is at the Saratoga Springs sanctuary farm, while her other co-owned horse Yoland B. Too, resides at a California farm.

“I think the Second Chance program is something I’ve always felt really proud to be a part of,” she said. “Rescuing horses or taking horses that are being responsibly retired is great. That’s the mission that I signed up for.”

Even though she is retiring from her career at the TRF, she plans to continue supporting the organization.

“I’ll probably remain involved in some capacity as a volunteer,” she said. “I feel like I just need some downtime, then rethink what I want to do and how much I want to stay involved in industry and in aftercare. I’ll always be involved at some level.”

As she prepares for retirement, Campagna hopes she has left a legacy at the TRF.

“I hoped that I’ve inspired other people to get involved,” she said. “I hope that I am leaving the organization in as good or better shape than it was in when I got there.”

Henry G. Crickmore was born in 1839 at Norwich England, which had long been the cradle of the British newspaper industry, and as a young man was apprenticed to a printer and established in that trade. He brought his developed skills to America and settled in Brooklyn. He was among the first volunteers to respond to President Lincoln’s historic proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen to suppress the Southern rebellion beginning the Civil War and was in service during the entire conflict.

An African American regiment was organized in New Orleans, Louisiana, in September 1863 and designated as the 1st Cavalry, Corps d’Afrique. Having displayed leadership ability under fire, Henry Crickmore was made their Captain. 

These horseman proved themselves providing defense and garrison support in and around New Orleans and Baton Rouge, seeing action along the Comite River and participating in expeditions into Mississippi. The unit was redesignated Company D of the 4th United States Colored Cavalry, Henry Crickmore was made a Major.

As the primary method of transport, horses and mules were essential to all aspects of an army at that time. The men who relied on these animals and spent so much of their conscious and unconscious time with them, such as Major Crickmore, developed a sharp sense of equine characteristics. After the great struggle, the former Major was able to make a living through his enhanced sensibilities developed during combat.

Following the Treaty of Appomattox, Major Crickmore, who was widely known as “Krik” or “Old Krik” stayed in uniform and was part of reconstruction politics in New Orleans. As his duties to the nation ended, he returned to his newspaper roots and was employed by the New Orleans Picayune as a turf writer.

In 1871 he returned to the Empire State, joining Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World where his horse soldier and turf writing experience in NOLA prepared him to be the turf editor.

While still covering racing for the World, H.G. Crickmore published Krik’s Guide to the Turf, (frequently misspelled as Kirk’s) from 1876-1885. The Guide contained a complete record of all races run in this country and those run by American horses in England or elsewhere the previous season. In addition, the Guide included the tabulated earnings of all stallions and their progeny, sale of thoroughbreds, and the weights carried, with diagrams of tracks where racing took place.

The Albany Journal in 1878 referred to the upcoming release of the most recent Guide; “It won’t do any good. Men will continue to bet on the wrong horse until the end of time. But then it is a satisfaction to know that you ought to have won, and that you did your part anyhow. ‘Krik’s’ book will enable a man to demonstrate that his bet was a scientific one, and that the blundering was done by the horses and not by himself.” Krik’s Guide in referring to the Saratoga Track operations of 1878 termed it the “greatest success of the year.”

In 1887 Krik began issuing what he termed the “Korrect Kard for the Santa Claus Stakes,” where he included his humorous holiday greetings in the manner of a race card to subscribers.

Krik had the friendship of many in racing, including Maryland Governor Oden Bowie, who named a brown gelding Crickmore, which in the Windsor Hotel Stakes at Saratoga, bested the immortal Hindoo.

Once, when a newspaper story written by a young reporter questioned August Belmont’s horse-sense regarding a gelding named Raceland, rather than speaking to the reporter himself, Mr. Belmont, who knew Mr. Crickmore very well, spoke loudly to his friend in the press-box, and at once proceeded to free his mind for the edification of the reporter who had written the objectionable paragraph, “Now you know, Mr. Crickmore, I have only had a few months’ experience in racing, I don’t know anything about horses, and I am very glad to have the young man who wrote that paragraph point out my mistakes.” It is doubtful that this turf writer criticized Mr. Belmont again.

There was a Jockey Club in Great Britain that established and controlled the rules of the sport, yet in America local jurisdictions prevailed, which led to a discontinuity of regulations. Mr. Crickmore, as a trusted horseman and turf writer, without skin in the game, became an anchor in the industry, and a consultant when the Board of Control was established in 1891. This organization of owners of stables and racetracks would evolve and was reorganized into the Jockey Club in 1894.

In 1890 Krik left newspaper employment to become Secretary of the Monmouth Park Racing Association and later became Secretary of the Jockey Club, as well as becoming racing secretary for the Westchester Racing Association and clerk-of-scales for the Washington, Brooklyn, and Coney Island Jockey Clubs, and also the National Steeplechase Association.

In 1901, as part of his purchase of Saratoga Race Course, William C. Whitney commissioned Krik to compile turf records, filling a gap between 1860 and 1870, a very valuable addition to our turf literature.

In early November 1908, Henry G. Crickmore passed away, a lifelong bachelor. He was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where the face of his tombstone displays his name and vital dates, and the top of the marker, in large letters, reads KRIK.

In the years prior to transpontine jet service, international competition with thoroughbred horses was rare, and required a long ocean voyage. American horses had raced in England and the Continent, and European horses had come to America for breeding purposes, yet no European horses had traveled westward for competition.

During the Saratoga meeting in 1923, August Belmont and other members of the Jockey Club suggested a challenge contest, featuring victors from both shores. Mr. Belmont had raced his horses extensively in Europe during the 1911-1912 New York racing ban.

This resulted in an October 1923 match race at Belmont Park, termed the International Stakes, where the Kentucky Derby winner Zev defeated the Epsom Derby winner Papyrus on a muddy track.

In Paris the following month Pierre Wertheimer, owner of the French champion Epinard, issued a challenge to race Zev, “or any other horse America cares to name.”

Following a meeting with Mr. Belmont in New York, Pierre Wertheimer consented to bring Epinard to the United States, for a series of international races to be run at Belmont Park, Aqueduct, and Latonia, Kentucky in September and October of 1924.

Ironically Epinard’s dam, Epine Blanche, was a mare August Belmont developed in France and after being acquired by Mr. Wertheimer, bred to his sire Badajoz.

Devaluation of the French Franc due to war debts may have inspired Epinard’s owner to travel. Mr. Wertheimer’s French business interest was a theatrical make-up company, which he was at this same time expanding along with Coco Chanel to market her fragrance Chanel No. 5.

Trainer Eugene Leigh was a great believer in giving a horse a change of scene, yet realized Epinard would need time to adjust to the surface change to harder American tracks, and running in the counter-clockwise direction, rather than the European style of running to the right (sometimes referred to as “continental” style).

Gene Leigh was born in Illinois, and had trained and was part owner of the 1894 Kentucky Derby winner Chant. He had also relocated to Europe during New York’s racing ban. He decided to prepare Epinard in Saratoga Springs, which demonstrated that the salubrious reputation of the Spa as an equine training and conditioning center had spread across the ocean to European countries.

The connections of Epinard boarded RMS Berengaria in early July and arrived at Saratoga Springs on the twenty second. Everett Haynes, a bluegrass native, was in the saddle for all of Epinard’s French victories, also traveled to the Spa.

Epinard (the French word for spinach) was known to be a very good starter with a noticeably odd, or crabby gait, similar in action to that of his damsire, Rock Sand. The chestnut won six races out of seven starts as a two-year-old, and much like Man o’ War, was beaten only through a bad start.

Epinard was not always ready to work at Saratoga, and would often fight his jockey, anxious to return to his stable and his mascot/talisman, Peter, an Airedale terrier.

 In order to work Epinard counter-clockwise along the rail, with so many other horses on the main track and the Oklahoma, he was frequently taken to the Simms Estate, the present-day Godolphin facility.

Many admirers of the French champion were at the track each morning to see him work out. The horse, with a very recognizable blaze, delighted his fans when he passed the grandstand, where he stopped and bowed to his audience. Turf writer C. J. Fitzgerald commented on Epinard’s intelligence, “When lined up for inspection he returned the critical appraisement of the public like the monarch he is.”

The final week of the Saratoga meet would see Epinard depart for his Labor Day engagement at Belmont Park. On his final Saturday there, following the fifth race, he was brought to the paddock for all to see, and saddled by trainer Leigh in the picturesque enclosure, who gave a leg-up to jockey Everett Haynes in the blue and white colors of owner Wertheimer. Thirty thousand race-mad enthusiasts, by far the biggest throng that ever watched the races at Saratoga, gave the French horse huge applause.

Heavy rains the night before left the track in poor condition and occasioned much scratching. Eugene Leigh decided to abandon the planned time trial, instead following the bugle’s call, Epinard was led by outrider Redcoat Murray and paraded on the main track, his first appearance under colors in the US.

The large crowd stood at attention and removed caps, as the band honored their guest with playing La Marseillaise, the strains of the French anthem rang out across the racetrack. As the Star-Spangled Banner was played, Epinard was brought to attention in front of the grandstand. The New York Times reported, “the great French 4-year-old was accorded an amazing reception.”

Epinard disappointed his owner by finishing “runner-up” (sous) in all three international races during September and October, and was retired to stud and France in November. Jockey Club Chairman Belmont passed away in December.