For veteran coach Donnie Habeeb, his morning begins with a well-known routine nevertheless it’s a routine not like most on the bottom of Churchill Downs. Habeeb, who trains for horses, handles each side their care alongside his spouse of 40 years, Beth. Donnie gallops every horse on daily basis and collectively they share working as a groom and hotwalker, embodying a hands-on dedication to each horse of their care.
A Louisville native, Habeeb’s journey in horse racing started on the younger age of 13. Whereas rising up within the Camp Taylor neighborhood of the town, Habeeb graduated from Male Excessive Faculty and went on to work for late coach Dravo Foley, the place he honed his expertise in grooming and galloping.
“I am actually exhibiting my age now, however once I labored for Dravo, I began studying learn how to do loads of issues on this business,” Habeeb stated. “My sister used to work for an equine dentist and that is how I bought launched to horse racing. I began with Dravo being a groom after which began galloping horses out at Skylight Coaching Heart.”
Habeeb took out his coach’s license 40 years in the past and celebrated his first win on June 19, 1985, at Churchill Downs with a horse named Kibosh. Since then, he has amassed 290 victories and $5.4 million in purse earnings. Remarkably, Habeeb has by no means skilled greater than 12 horses at a given time, a testomony to his hands-on, quality-over-quantity method.
“I feel 12 is the utmost variety of horses I’ve had at one time and that was a very long time in the past,” Habeeb stated. “We used to have a farm out close to Valhalla Golf Membership on the east finish of city however bought that about 10 or so years in the past.”
One of many standout horses in Habeeb’s profession is Bruce Hutson’s homebred Personal Faculty, who received 15 of his 42 begins, together with a shocking 16-1 upset within the 1990 Ohio Derby (GII) underneath jockey Jacinto Vasquez. Later in his profession, Personal Faculty went on to win six consecutive races at Turfway Park from Dec. 20, 1992, to Feb. 27, 1993.
“He was a reasonably enjoyable horse to be round, and I feel after he received six races, we bought just a little consideration,” Habeeb joked. “I have been on this recreation a very long time and typically overlook loads of issues which have occurred through the years however, greater than 30 years later, you do not overlook horses like him.”
Because the husband-and-wife duo completed their day by day barn chores Friday, Habeeb shared a lighthearted second in regards to the future.
“She retains telling me she’s going to retire July 1 and that is a pair days from now,” he stated, pointing to Beth. “I’ve bought 290 wins proper now, with a mean of about 4 or 5 wins a 12 months. Perhaps once I get to 300, I will retire, too. Hopefully, earlier than I do, possibly I can get one other stakes winner within the barn.”
The devoted Habeebs sometimes hold their horses at Churchill Downs for eight months of the 12 months, relocating to Truthful Grounds in New Orleans throughout the winter. On Thursday, half of Habeeb’s barn is ready to compete at Churchill Downs: Royal Blood (Race 4) and Dame Maude Chardin (Race 8).
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