It is pretty much fair to say that Anthony Quartarolo had his share of highlights and setbacks over his lengthy career of handling horses – both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.
Now, it seems that Quartarolo could be on the upswing as he is looking to finish out his Saratoga meet by saddling Loooch Racing Stable’s recently-acquired Obviously Two against four other 2-year-old fillies in Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Spinaway.
Ron Paolucci, owner of Loooch Racing Stable, sent Obvious Two, Put a Hex on My Ex, and May B to Barn 86 in the Oklahoma Annex earlier this week. May B, a multi-winning sprinter from California, had been nominated to the Woodward, while Thistledown debut winner Put a Hex on My Ex had also been considered for the Spinaway.
It is going to be a challenging task for Obviously Two, who graduated from the maiden ranks after three starts in Ohio just over 30 days ago after posting a couple of bullet workouts. She will be facing undefeated and recent Adirondack winner Pure Silver, along with impressive debut winners Separation of powers, Lady Ivanka, and Maya Malibu.
This hasn’t been the first time that Paolucci has pulled off a surprise after entering a horse a unique spot.
After winning only a maiden race at Woodbine and finishing fifth in the Frizette Stakes at Belmont, Ria Antonia took the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies after being placed first at 32-1 following a disqualification for Paolucci and partner Christopher Dunn.
A year later, Paolucci went to Quartarolo for the first time to train Global Power, a horse who had been previously owned by Gary and Mary West and conditioned by Chad Brown. Global Power finish third at 60-1 in the Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park. Since then, Quartarolo has been receiving more horses from Paolucci.
“Ron had sent me the horse to run in a Jaipur and he ran third,” Quartarolo said. “He was happy with that. He kept telling me that we were going to do something. Now, Ron is starting to get me some nice horses.”
While Quartarolo is still looking for his first winner this year, and his first career victory at Saratoga, he has been getting closer to the Winner’s Circle with some of the better stock.
After trying to pressure Gun Runner on the lead in the Whitney four weeks ago, Cautious Giant dropped back into a $40,000 claiming race on Monday where he finished third, beaten just two lengths, for the Quartarolo-Paolucci team.
Before getting involved with Thoroughbreds, Quartarolo had a solid career with Standardbreds. He started an assistant trainer at Roosevelt Raceway during the 1960s and early 1970s, then going to California to train and drive horses for about five years.
In 1980s, Quartarolo came back to the East Coast and competed for what he considers his best decade of working with Standardbreds.
One of the trotters who helped Quartarolo’s career was Speed Merchant, who earned nearly $500,000 while winning several stakes races at Roosevelt, Freehold, the Meadowlands, and other raceways in 1984. He also held the track record at Roosevelt.
However, when Roosevelt Raceway shut down in 1988, Quartarolo realized that his harness training and driving career was coming to an end. That’s when considered training Thoroughbreds.
Just like early in his harness racing career, he began his flat racing career by working as an assistant to Juan Serey in New Jersey in the early 1990s. Shortly after, Quartarolo went on his own.
He had moderate success by winning 75 races for close to $1.1 million on the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New England circuit with mostly claiming horses from 1996-2000. He even managed to win a minor stakes race at Delaware Park for one of his owners, millionaire developer Michael Parisi.
But that run changed quickly – and so did Quartarolo’s direction on his training career.
Shortly after Parisi was murdered in 2003, Quartarolo decided he needed a break from training and opened a dry-cleaning delivery service in Delaware.
“I kind of got a little sour about it. I had to get out for a while,” Quartarolo said about the situation. “I had a really good owner and he got murdered. It was a shame. He was a great guy.”
Quartarolo returned to training in 2010 when he claimed Little Nick for $25,000 at Monmouth Park. Not only did Little Nick come back to the Winner’s Circle, he also won a minor stakes race at Belmont Park and Calder.
From there, Quartarolo has slowly kept moving forward with other horses by winning 6-7 races while averaging more than $250,000 in earnings per year.
He has experienced a lot over his years of working with horses, but he knows that for any horseman to survive in this sport, they need some certain elements.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time. The key to this game is having horsepower,” he said. “Without it, you got nothing. You got to have good owners, you have got to have nice horses, and you got to have luck, and you have to work hard.”
