{"id":139,"date":"2015-08-27T18:21:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T18:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertmarton.com\/?p=139"},"modified":"2015-08-29T17:42:36","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T17:42:36","slug":"dispatch-from-mayefield-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.robertmarton.com\/?p=139","title":{"rendered":"Dispatch from Mayefield (3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(\u2018It\u2019s My Game and I Love It\u2019 Says Nation\u2019s Top \u00a0\u00ad\u00ad\u00adTrainer)<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a reporter for the Mayefield Messenger, Thomas Carroll attempted to capture the soul of his hometown by writing about \u201creal people,\u201d not just those considered newsworthy.\u00a0 His feature stories were well regarded and occasionally came to the attention of the metropolitan daily, the Beacon Light, which published Thomas\u2019 stories under the heading \u201cDispatch from Mayefield.\u201d\u00a0 The following is one of these Dispatches, published in 1975.<\/i><\/p>\n

Rex Montgomery:\u00a0 \u2018It\u2019s My Game and I Love It\u2019 Says Nation\u2019s Top Horse \u00ad\u00ad\u00adTrainer<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Thomas Carroll<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Mayefield Messenger<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Rex Montgomery loves to talk about horses and racing.\u00a0 In fact, he says that if a conversation turns to another topic, he usually isn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n

Montgomery assumes many roles while discussing horses.\u00a0 He is a businessman, figuring won-loss records and tabulating profits.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Montgomery was the number one horse trainer in the nation this year with 322 victories, 50 more than his next competitor.\u00a0 This honor came after two consecutive years of being second in the country.<\/p>\n

Being the best in his field is more that just a job for the 44-year old Montgomery.\u00a0 It\u2019s a life-long love of what he calls \u201cmy game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, when it became apparent he would win the national title, Montgomery\u2019s personal life changed from industrious quiet to the pandemonium of acclaim.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been incredible,\u201d he says, referring to the constant newspaper and television interviews.<\/p>\n

Linda, his wife, says she feels like she\u2019s married \u201cto a star.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the track the other day, they even took a picture of him wearing a crown,\u201d Linda says. \u201cYou know \u2013 \u2018King\u2019 of the trainers,\u201d referring to the meaning of his first name.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s corny, but a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father had a small stable, and that\u2019s how I was introduced to racing,\u201d he recalls.\u00a0 \u201cI grew up with horses on our farm on the bay.\u00a0 When I was in grammar school, I spent holidays and Saturdays at the races.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I attended college, I would ride out to the local track after classes to catch the last few races.\u00a0 I really got into it then.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always like to gamble, it seemed natural to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After college, Montgomery joined the Army and spent two years in the South, where there was no racing.\u00a0 He yearned for a return to his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re taken away from something you like, you just like it more,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Returning to the state after his discharge, he obtained a trainer\u2019s license and started to work with his father\u2019s horses.\u00a0 Becoming this successful wasn\u2019t his intention at the beginning.\u00a0 He had no plan, just doing what he liked to do.<\/p>\n

Gaining success in the world of racing was not easy, but he slowly earned a reputation and began to win.\u00a0 He won his first stakes race in 1961, and gradually business began to \u201csnowball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery calls racing in the state very competitive and exhilarating:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fever of competition gets you.\u00a0 The battles over claiming, especially, are fierce.\u00a0 You buckle down under the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have extreme competition among the trainers here, unlike anywhere else in the country.\u00a0 One top out-of-state trainer came here for one meet, and he left in a hurry.\u00a0 It was too much for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he says he loves his work and wouldn\u2019t consider doing anything else, Montgomery shuns sentimentality towards horses or a romanticism of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite is the one who wins. I\u2019m not a sentimentalist who falls in love with a horse.\u00a0 This is a business, not a hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you could call it my hobby too, I guess, since I don\u2019t have time for any other.\u00a0 It\u2019s my hobby, my work, my recreation, my life.\u00a0 It has to be like that in this business.\u00a0 You have to be dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Although Montgomery overtly distains a romanticized view of horse racing, a glimpse of the romantic sneaks out as he talks about his game:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed every minute I\u2019ve spent in horse racing.\u00a0 When I walk onto a track, I still get a thrill.\u00a0 It\u2019s my game; it\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever wanted to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I don\u2019t have a horse in a race, I turn into a fan.\u00a0 I look at the form, pick out a horse and place a bet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut most important,\u201d he says, \u201cyou have to love it.\u00a0 You don\u2019t even think about the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do it for love and hope you can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Robert J. Marton)<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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