Celebrating Racetrack Romances in New York

It's often said horse racing is a game of connections and those bonds and love for the sport don't just limit themselves to the horses and their jockeys, trainers, owners and fans.

Depending on the right circumstances, love can lead to lasting relationships between people. In honor of Valentine's Day, The New York Racing Association looks at some of those lasting relationships formed through an initial love of our sport.

Happily married for 46 years, Hall of Fame jockey Jorge Velasquez was 21 years old when he met his future wife, Margarita, who was 18 at the time. Jorge, now a jockey agent, and Margarita, a New York Racing Association guest services representative, each reflected on the start and the strength of their relationship through the years including the birth of three children and five grandkids.

"I was riding in Florida [Hialeah Park] and she was vacationing there [Miami]," said Jorge. "A good friend of mine and fellow rider Fernando Valdizan was staying in the same place as her and told me one day to come and meet this girl. Initially, I wasn't interested until Fernando insisted. I met her the next day, my family happened to be visiting from Panama at the time and I took her to meet my mother. Later that day, my mother told me that she's the one."

"At the time, I didn't follow racing at all," said Margarita. "I went away to Santo Domingo [Dominican Republic] and eventually ended up in New York working on Wall Street. I was riding the subway and a gentleman had a copy of the [New York] Daily News open. On the back cover was a picture of Jorge and I recognized him and said, 'that's my friend!' I went to Aqueduct Racetrack to meet him that Saturday and we've been together ever since."

New York-based trainer Tom Morley, originally from England, and NYRA TV paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale's relationship began three summers ago at Saratoga Race Course. 

"It took a few months for the relationship to take start in the beginning," started Tom.

"For me to give him the time of day!" Quickly interjected Maggie.

"Yeah that's basically correct," said Tom. "A few months later once we returned to Belmont Park, we officially began dating."

Working together closely with Maggie, who also works as exercise rider for Morley, the two are now engaged and are set to marry on June 13. They both relayed the importance of being able to separate their work environment from the home as a key to their relationship.

"He's a lot different in the barn then he is at home," said Maggie. "He's a little bit more militant in the barn as he should be and so I don't really get my way [at the barn] as I do at home.

"We're both really country people at the heart," commented Tom. "I think one day down the line we'd like to move somewhere like Fair Hill [Maryland] to start a family of our own."

Of course, on track romances don't just exclusively belong to those who spend their mornings on the backstretch. New York Racetrack Association Chaplain Humberto Chavez who has served in his role for eleven years can attest to that, having proceeded over many marriages between the Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course properties.

"The uniqueness of horses being around bring a different touch to the wedding itself," said Reverend Chavez. "I've had the privilege of officiating a wedding in the Belmont paddock in front of the Secretariat statue and it was beautiful. Horse fans like to be and feel a part of the industry and getting married at the track offers them the opportunity to do so."

Already the site for many surprising and gleeful marriage proposals over the years by visitors to historic Saratoga Race Course, starting this spring couples will now have the opportunity to host their nuptials at the venue. Weddings will be available in the shoulder seasons surrounding the annual summer meet - May and June; September and October.

Exclusively catered by Mazzone Hospitality, the first wedding is scheduled to take place in June 2015. The bride is the daughter of Saratoga Springs resident Rod Sutton who is a partner at Sutton and Tarantino.

Certainly not a new phenomenon, romance at the racetrack, intrinsically tied through a love for the equine athletes on display, can lead to loving relationships for all.

Source: NYRA Communications