Horseracing Special Report – for the love of the race
Allen Jerkens and Bill Higgins are residents of the Saratoga Springs in New York, which is the oldest venue for horse racing in whole America. They have known each other for over 30 years now and have been critics of the famous sport of the area for over the same span of time. Both the experts have different views in almost all the aspects of other sports but when it comes to horse racing, they both agree that the sport is best described as befuddling.
Jerkens is also known as The Giant Killer. Apart from being a sport critic and an expert, he has also been a trainer of the race horses for a very long time. He has been training some of the most talented horses in the land for more than 60 years but now he thinks he cannot carry on with the profession anymore because he has to go through a lot of mental distress when he works day in and day out with the horses and they do not give a satisfactory performance on the race track. Jerkens says that he cannot take the failure anymore.
Jerkens is a very intimate friend of Higgins. Higgins on the other hand was and still is a farmer at his fields, which are not that far from the Saratoga Race Track. One thing that has always amused Jerkens about his best friend and colleague is that how does he manage his Garlic Field and horse racing simultaneously.
81-year-old Jerkens and his friend Higgins have a passion for the sport of horse racing. Jerkens only has a few friends who are even interested in the sport. He has a long list of accomplishments that he has made in horse racing. The horses which were trained by Jerkens have defeated the Triple Crown champion Secretariat two times and the great race horse Keslo thrice. At the age of 45, Jerkens made it to the Hall of Fame.
On the contrary, Higgins is a biology graduate from Cornell University, and he always wanted to adopt a profession in which he could interact with the wildlife. He had to pass a number of competitive tests after which he was finally allowed on the race track and discovered that it was horses that he loved the most.
Higgins started training in 1980s as a jockey and won three of the grandest four races, which took place at the Saratoga Race Course, also commonly known as Spa. He always had the germs of a horseman in him and so he also wanted his two children to share his love for the animal and sport.
Higgins did not move to Belmont after Saratoga, but instead offered himself as an assistant, a foreman or a hot walker for those who trade horses. Jerkens was the first person to find Higgins clients for his new profession.
Jerkens has always been one of the most loved personalities in the arena of horse racing. He has been known as the most emotional trainer in horse racing. He is seen to take his colts’ failures very seriously. Jerkens has devoted his whole life to the sport of horse racing and training horses. He has also always helped his friend Higgins become one of the most successful jockeys of his time.
Higgins worked with the horses owned by Jerome Brody, who was also the owner of Gallagher’s Steak House and the Oyster Bar situated in Grand Central Terminal. Brody and Higgins ended up being intimate friends than just trade counterparts and Brody would often visit the farmer and inquire about what he was growing on his fields. The owner of the restaurant always told Higgins that he wanted fresh vegetables to be cooked and served at his restaurant.
Jerkens and Higgins are the most dedicated names of the horse racing sport, the colts trained by Jerkens are few of the undefeated horses. Moreover, the unique connection that is there between Higgins’ Garlic Fields and his horse racing career is unique and thus amusing for all the fans, trainers and jockeys of the sport.
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