In
the world of harness racing, there’s no better recipe for success than hard
work, perseverance, knowledge and passion for the game.
Sprinkle
in a bit of luck and as some would say, “it’s all good.”
Chicago-based
trainer Donna Lee couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to her son Tony
Alagna, who will be harnessing six Breeders Crown starters on Saturday. Much has been written about Tony and his
first foray into the championships, but Donna says it’s no surprise to her that
her son, at age 40, is in the spotlight.
“Tony
isn’t an overnight success—it’s been years and years of hard work for him,” she
said. “He was determined to go out on his own as a trainer before he turned 40,
as he didn’t want to be a second-trainer for the rest of his life. He had been assistant trainer for two large
stables and knew what it takes to run a large operation. I had been after him for a couple of years to
go out on his own, and he was initially nervous about doing it, but it’s worked
out super.”
Donna,
60, has been involved with Standardbreds since she was a 12-year-old,
horse-crazy youngster staring over the fence at the Champaign County Fairgrounds
in Urbana, IL.
“I
was born in Fairfield, IL, and nobody else in my family had anything to do with
horses,” she recalled. “I saw my first horse when I was five and just fell in
love. I used to go and watch a little
bay horse and a mule in a neighbor’s yard.
I would just stare at them for hours.
One day I started watching this guy at the fairgrounds named Finny
Thompson. He had an old Standardbred
pacer named Smash Key, and he asked me if I wanted to jog a horse, and that’s
how I got started.
“The
following summer Finny had 20 horses at the fairgrounds and offered me a job,”
Donna continued. “Finny was a character.
He was a butcher by trade and got into trouble with the government for
selling meat on the black market, and until the day he died he couldn’t have
anything race in his name. But he hired
me and let me start fooling with the horses.
I was in heaven.”
Three
years later, at age 16, Donna purchased her first horse for $200—a trotting
yearling—from Geff, IL horseman Tom Tetrick, father of driver Tim Tetrick.
“That
horse was Colonel’s Cara, and she dumped me out more times than I care to
remember,” Donna said. “She never made it to the races but she tough me a lot.”
It
was while working for Finny that Donna met and married her husband, Pete Alagna,
when she was 19. Tony was born in 1972
and son Petey was born in 1973. When
things didn’t work out for the couple a year later, Donna found herself raising
two boys as a single parent.
“It
really wasn’t difficult for me because the boys went to the track with me every
morning and the school was right across the street, so they went with me before
and after school,” Donna offered. “Tony
was always horse crazy and wanted to be at the barn more than he wanted to be
in school, and Petey wasn’t as much into the horses then—although later he
developed into an accomplished blacksmith and then began the “Elite Harness
Racing” company, which manufactures race bike wheels. He’s also became a Will Co. (IL) Sherriff
after serving three years in Korea in the military.”
Donna
says that Tony was super focused on learning about horses, even as a toddler.
“When
Tony was three, I bought him a small welsh pony that he rode everywhere around
the track. When he was a few years older
I got him a quarter horse and he started jumping him bareback over the
racetrack hub rail in the afternoons. He always had a bond with horses. When
other kids were out playing ball or running around the playground he wanted to
be in the barn. “
At
9-years-old, Tony’s favorite books were Donna’s collection of Sires & Dams
that sat on the family’s shelves.
“We’d
be watching TV and Tony would be reading the Sires & Dams, and ask me
questions like, ‘who was Victory Song by?’
He was unreal about wanting to study bloodlines, and was always focused on
the horses even when he was that little; he never had any outside interest, and
he always seemed like an older soul, like an 8-year-old going on 25. He was like me, he had the passion for these
animals since day one.”
“I
just loved being in the barn from day one,” Tony acknowledged. “Our school was
very close, and we’d head right to the barn as soon as school was out. Mom would still be at the fairgrounds, and
Petey and I would go there to help put horses away right after school.”
Tony
agreed with his mom that in his mind, the horses always came first.
“The
first horse I ever took care of, that was my full-time responsibility, was a
filly pacer named Kay Rick,” Tony remembered.
“One day, mom went out to train her to the race bike and I was watching
from the backside. I watched her go by
and I’m looking and looking but I don’t see her coming down the front side,
down the homestretch. I wait but I still
don’t see my mom—so I go running across the infield, and I see my mom sitting
on Kay Rick’s head, who is lying on the racetrack.
“I’m
nearly out of breath and there’s my mom sitting there—covered in dust , bloody
and dirty, and the only thing I say is, ‘Is Kay alright?’
“As
you can imagine, the look on my mom’s face was priceless, because I didn’t ask
about her, just about the horse,” Tony laughed. “To this day, we always laugh about this story.”
Tony
was ten at the time.
After
high school, Tony worked with Morgan horses at the Springfield, IL-based Cotton
Hill Farms for several years before joining his mother at Quad City Downs,
where he helped her condition her stable of pacers and trotters for another six
years. He then joined trainer Brian
Pinske as an assistant for several years, before finishing up his college
degree at Florida’s Seminole College in 1997.
After
college, Tony worked for Pat and Ken Walker’s Fox Valley Standardbreds in
Sherman, IL as their private trainer for three years, before going to work for
conditioner Erv Miller for six years.
Tony helped to train such standouts as Lisa Mara, Shark Gesture, Classic
Photo, and Muscle Mass, to name a few.
“The
biggest advantage to working for top trainers like Erv and Brian is that you
learn to manage a large stable, and you learn how to maintain consistency
week-in and week-out with racehorses . Both Erv and Brian were very good at
managing their horses and running a large stable.”
Those
years definitely paid off for Tony, who will harness favorite
Captaintreacherous in the 2-year-old colt pace; Nikki Beach in the 2-year-old
filly pace; Rockaround Sue in the
3-year-old filly pace; Handover Belle in the 2-year-old
filly trot; Mel Mara in the 3-year-old colt pace; and Mr Chicago in the
3-year-old colt trot.
“Tony
said he didn’t want to have over 35 horses and that’s how it worked out his
first year,” Donna offered. “Then it went up to 50 horses and now he’s at
65. It can make the book keeping a
little tough, but it works out.”
Donna
does the book-keeping for the Alagna Stable and also takes horses from her son
to freshen up.
“The
competition in Chicago is a lot softer than what they face out East, so Tony
will send me some of his that need a little break from time to time,” Donna
said. “It works out well for both of us.”
He
said he didn’t want over 35 horses and that’s how it was the first year, then
50 the second, and now 65.
“I
definitely get my work ethic from my mom,” Tony stressed. “She instilled in me
that if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to be successful. Mom always told me that if you don’t take
care of the horse, the horse won’t take care of you.”
Prior to this year, Alagna did not start a horse in the
Breeders Crown. This year, he has six in the finals. Mel Mara (3-year-old colt
pace), Captaintreacherous and Wake Up Peter (2-year-old colt pace), Rockaround
Sue (3-year-old filly pace), Mr Chicago (3-year-old colt trot) and Handover
Belle (2-year-old filly trot).
