(‘It’s My Game and I Love It’ Says Nation’s Top  ­­­Trainer)

As a reporter for the Mayefield Messenger, Thomas Carroll attempted to capture the soul of his hometown by writing about “real people,” not just those considered newsworthy.  His feature stories were well regarded and occasionally came to the attention of the metropolitan daily, the Beacon Light, which published Thomas’ stories under the heading “Dispatch from Mayefield.”  The following is one of these Dispatches, published in 1975.

Rex Montgomery:  ‘It’s My Game and I Love It’ Says Nation’s Top Horse ­­­Trainer

By Thomas Carroll

 Mayefield Messenger

Rex Montgomery loves to talk about horses and racing.  In fact, he says that if a conversation turns to another topic, he usually isn’t interested.

Montgomery assumes many roles while discussing horses.  He is a businessman, figuring won-loss records and tabulating profits.  But he also becomes a child daydreaming about horses in school, a lonely soldier yearning to return to his native state, and always an ardent fan loving equestrian competition whether or not he has a part in it.

Montgomery was the number one horse trainer in the nation this year with 322 victories, 50 more than his next competitor.  This honor came after two consecutive years of being second in the country.

Being the best in his field is more that just a job for the 44-year old Montgomery.  It’s a life-long love of what he calls “my game.”

Last month, when it became apparent he would win the national title, Montgomery’s personal life changed from industrious quiet to the pandemonium of acclaim.

“It has been incredible,” he says, referring to the constant newspaper and television interviews.

Linda, his wife, says she feels like she’s married “to a star.”

“At the track the other day, they even took a picture of him wearing a crown,” Linda says. “You know – ‘King’ of the trainers,” referring to the meaning of his first name.  “It’s corny, but a lot of fun.”

Montgomery’s job of training 70 horses for 24 owners gives him little time for relaxation, but one evening last week he took a few moments away from his work to build a warming fire in the fireplace of his Mayefield home, and sit back and reflect on his 19 years in horse training.

“My father had a small stable, and that’s how I was introduced to racing,” he recalls.  “I grew up with horses on our farm on the bay.  When I was in grammar school, I spent holidays and Saturdays at the races.

“When I attended college, I would ride out to the local track after classes to catch the last few races.  I really got into it then.  I’ve always like to gamble, it seemed natural to me.”

After college, Montgomery joined the Army and spent two years in the South, where there was no racing.  He yearned for a return to his game.

“When you’re taken away from something you like, you just like it more,” he says.

Returning to the state after his discharge, he obtained a trainer’s license and started to work with his father’s horses.  Becoming this successful wasn’t his intention at the beginning.  He had no plan, just doing what he liked to do.

Gaining success in the world of racing was not easy, but he slowly earned a reputation and began to win.  He won his first stakes race in 1961, and gradually business began to “snowball.”

Montgomery calls racing in the state very competitive and exhilarating:

“The fever of competition gets you.  The battles over claiming, especially, are fierce.  You buckle down under the competition.

“We have extreme competition among the trainers here, unlike anywhere else in the country.  One top out-of-state trainer came here for one meet, and he left in a hurry.  It was too much for him.”

Although he says he loves his work and wouldn’t consider doing anything else, Montgomery shuns sentimentality towards horses or a romanticism of the sport.

“My favorite is the one who wins. I’m not a sentimentalist who falls in love with a horse.  This is a business, not a hobby.

“But you could call it my hobby too, I guess, since I don’t have time for any other.  It’s my hobby, my work, my recreation, my life.  It has to be like that in this business.  You have to be dedicated.”

What little spare time he has is spent doing research on (what else?) horses, especially breeding, a venture he is currently attempting on his farm.

Although Montgomery overtly distains a romanticized view of horse racing, a glimpse of the romantic sneaks out as he talks about his game:

“I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent in horse racing.  When I walk onto a track, I still get a thrill.  It’s my game; it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.

“When I don’t have a horse in a race, I turn into a fan.  I look at the form, pick out a horse and place a bet.”

In giving advice to young people who might consider becoming trainers, Montgomery urges them to take a job, any job, on the track, learn the business and eventually try to venture out on their own.

“But most important,” he says, “you have to love it.  You don’t even think about the money.

“You do it for love and hope you can make it.”

(Robert J. Marton)