Former Contessa assistant Chichakly runs a 'tight barn' out on her own
Amira Chichakly, a longtime assistant
to recently retired trainer Gary Contessa, said she is looking forward to
saddling her first starter when live racing is able to resume at Belmont Park.
She is currently overseeing a bustling stable of 17 horses at Belmont Park,
mostly inherited from Contessa's stock, which employs up to 11 staff at any
given time. Rather than dreaming of Triple Crown glory, Chichakly said she has
set her sights on a more attainable goal.
"I would just like to race. Can we start there?" laughed Chichakly.
"My first goal is to get in the paddock to saddle a horse.
The New Hampshire native comes by her horsemanship naturally.
"I grew up around horses. My family had started out breeding Arabians as
trail horses, but they stopped that very shortly after having children because
Arabians are tough horses to work with," said Chichakly. "When I was
around 10, we started breeding Welsh ponies to retrain. We would travel around
the country looking at horses and conformation of the horses and deciding what
broodmares we would get for our breeding program. We bought a stallion and four
broodmares and sold a bunch of those babies. Mostly, I was responsible for the
training.
A trip to Saratoga inspired Chichakly to consider trying her hand with Thoroughbreds.
She started out as a hot walker and eventually began to gallop horses, climbing
the ladder up to assistant trainer.
"I grew up running barefoot in the fields next to Arabians and Thoroughbred-crosses
and quarter horses, so I never hesitated. ... Thoroughbreds just seemed like
the next step," said Chichakly.
"Being patient is a big one," said Chichakly. "Every horse is
different and there are some horses where you have to stop yourself and realize
they're not going to move at your pace on your schedule. And there are others
that will make you realize you're babying them too much and they're ready to
move on.
"Horses have good days and bad days, just like people do. They aren't
machines," added Chichakly. "I remember watching Catalano on the rail
in the mornings, watching sets of horses come out, and he would call the
exercise riders over and change instructions, 'back this one up ... gallop
around once and come back... .' It was all based on what he felt the horse
needed that day, rather than just relying on what his notes had set out for the
morning."
Chichakly said she wants to bring this type of natural horsemanship to her
stable.
"It ties into having patience with horses and it's something I like to see
with all my staff and how I handle my horses," said Chichakly. "These
horses are very strong and quick but they don't necessarily act out without
cause, so I like to be able to react calmly and pause and figure out what
really is going on in each horse's mind.
"It's good to have a plan and to set everything up as a business, but you
have to keep in mind that you're working with living creatures," she
added. "You can't remove that from the equation or you won't get them to
their full potential."
One horse she's looking forward to helping realize its full potential is
Virginia-bred Liam's Fire, a dark bay son of Bayern who graduated at
third asking in December at Laurel Park for owners Shawn Thomas and Richard
Levy.
"He broke his maiden on the dirt, and Gary always wanted to try him on the
turf," said Chichakly. "I got on him a week or two ago and he's one
of the nicest horses I've ever ridden. They were laughing at me in the barn
because once I got on him, I couldn't stop talking about him.
"We're going to try and get him in a turf race and hopefully he'll perform
the way we think he can," added Chichakly. "Getting on him, he's so
powerful and there's just so much horse there. He has a beautiful stride, and
you can feel something in him. It's hard to describe, but you know it when you
know it."
Another promising individual ready to strut his stuff for Chichakly is Bustin
Bieber. Bred in New York by Linda and Bruce McConnell, the 2-year-old son
of Bustin Stones has breezed twice at Belmont.
"He's a very typical 2-year-old colt. He has plenty of attitude and no
idea where to put it, but when he gets into a work he's like an older horse and
knows what he's doing," said Chichakly. "I've enjoyed watching him
train. Although he's only worked a couple times thus far, I'm liking his
potential.
"It's a fun process to watch them grow and figure things out," added
Chichakly. "He's a Bustin Stones colt and he looks every bit the part –
stocky, big behind and strong muscles. He's out of a mare I worked with for
Gary named Classical Fashion."
The hard-working trainer boasts a wide array of talents and has worked as a
photographer during the past two Belmont Stakes while assisting NYRA's Adam
Coglianese. She also is handy with a paint brush, having created a wonderful
portrait for Lady Sheila Stable of their 2015 Eclipse Award-winning Champion
Female Sprinter La Verdad with her 2018 Tapit foal.
"When I'm not at the barn, I don't like to sit idle. I've done paintings
on commission of horses we have in the barn and of famous horses too,"
said Chichakly. "I'll paint horses that are appealing to me because of
their action or motion. I also do a lot of anatomical drawings. I think it
helps me as a trainer to keep my mind on things, just thinking in the rhythm of
the everyday, but from a different angle."