A gimpy gam-ble pays off
Bum-leg filly a real winner
By ED FOUNTAINE Post Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:20 AM, August 7, 2010
Posted: 2:35 AM, August 7, 2010
Comments: 0 | More Print
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- A come-from-nowhere filly with a bum leg and one eye -- bought on a gamble by an out-of-luck trainer with his last $2,000 -- is stunning the racing world with her lightning speed and improbable winning streak.
Lisa's Booby Trap, who galloped across the finish line six lengths ahead of the field at Saratoga yesterday for her fourth straight victory, is writing quite the Cinderella story.
Owner and trainer Tim Snyder struggled for years with horses with slim chances at small tracks for tiny stakes.
But in 2003, he seemed to lose his way after his wife, Lisa, died of ovarian cancer, moving to California and drifting further from the horse racing business.
He had $2,000 in life savings, which he reportedly carried in his boot.
And then he found his horse heroine, a gimpy filly with a lopsided gait, clubfoot and no name who was offered to Snyder for $4,500.
He forked over his money, and promised the balance if she ever won, though the chances seemed thin.
She was dismissed as too slow to win anything; he thought, he said in one interview, that he might have made a mistake.
But then he figured out how to fix his filly's hoofs -- finding a shoe that evened out her gait.
And he named his filly after his wife and favorite Florida strip joint.
She then went undefeated in her first three starts at upstate Finger Lakes Racetrack.
And the victories were decisive: by more than 17 lengths in the first, 10 in the second, and 8 in the third.
"I was thinking of my wife all day," Snyder told The Post yesterday at Saratoga after his 3-year-old filly's fourth win.
Her jockey, Racing Hall of Fame member Kent Desormeaux, said, "His late wife told him that she wanted to come back as a racehorse, and here she is, living vicariously through Lisa's Booby Trap.
"As far as we believe, she's inside -- they have the same heart, and she's carrying this horse. No matter what your economic status or ethnic background, you can amass hero status through the racing industry and this is a perfect example."
And, he said, the filly has now proved her worth. In fact, Snyder even turned down a half-million-dollar offer for the horse.
With her $42,000 purse yesterday, the filly's total earnings hit $75,660.
"This story hasn't ended yet -- we have a long ways to go," Snyder said. "We're going to wait it out, but we're thinking about the Victory Ride," an Aug. 28 stakes race at Saratoga with a $100,000 purse
Bum-leg filly a real winner
By ED FOUNTAINE Post Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:20 AM, August 7, 2010
Posted: 2:35 AM, August 7, 2010
Comments: 0 | More Print
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- A come-from-nowhere filly with a bum leg and one eye -- bought on a gamble by an out-of-luck trainer with his last $2,000 -- is stunning the racing world with her lightning speed and improbable winning streak.
Lisa's Booby Trap, who galloped across the finish line six lengths ahead of the field at Saratoga yesterday for her fourth straight victory, is writing quite the Cinderella story.
Owner and trainer Tim Snyder struggled for years with horses with slim chances at small tracks for tiny stakes.
But in 2003, he seemed to lose his way after his wife, Lisa, died of ovarian cancer, moving to California and drifting further from the horse racing business.
He had $2,000 in life savings, which he reportedly carried in his boot.
And then he found his horse heroine, a gimpy filly with a lopsided gait, clubfoot and no name who was offered to Snyder for $4,500.
He forked over his money, and promised the balance if she ever won, though the chances seemed thin.
She was dismissed as too slow to win anything; he thought, he said in one interview, that he might have made a mistake.
But then he figured out how to fix his filly's hoofs -- finding a shoe that evened out her gait.
And he named his filly after his wife and favorite Florida strip joint.
She then went undefeated in her first three starts at upstate Finger Lakes Racetrack.
And the victories were decisive: by more than 17 lengths in the first, 10 in the second, and 8 in the third.
"I was thinking of my wife all day," Snyder told The Post yesterday at Saratoga after his 3-year-old filly's fourth win.
Her jockey, Racing Hall of Fame member Kent Desormeaux, said, "His late wife told him that she wanted to come back as a racehorse, and here she is, living vicariously through Lisa's Booby Trap.
"As far as we believe, she's inside -- they have the same heart, and she's carrying this horse. No matter what your economic status or ethnic background, you can amass hero status through the racing industry and this is a perfect example."
And, he said, the filly has now proved her worth. In fact, Snyder even turned down a half-million-dollar offer for the horse.
With her $42,000 purse yesterday, the filly's total earnings hit $75,660.
"This story hasn't ended yet -- we have a long ways to go," Snyder said. "We're going to wait it out, but we're thinking about the Victory Ride," an Aug. 28 stakes race at Saratoga with a $100,000 purse
