In the sixth article of his series looking back at the formation of the New York breeding program, Robert D. Fierro details how he sought to bring the state’s breeding industry together – with a little help from his friends
The year 1992 saw sea-changes in the economic and political fortunes of the world, particularly in the United States where recession and generational shifts led the way to Bill Clinton capitalizing on both issues to oust George H.W. Bush from the presidency, a rare occurrence in our history.
One wonders how many in today’s booming Thoroughbred industry who survived the early 1990s can recall how devastating those years were to the North American industry as high interest rates, crashing credit lines and general emotional panic paved the way to a massive departure of racing and breeding stock to Japan, Europe and especially the Middle East, where wealthy investors helped reshape the game into the international market it has become.
New York not immune
New York racing and breeding was not immune from these events, but there were several other factors indigenous to the Empire State’s economic and political psyche which were far more serious to the industry’s future than the currently ubiquitous aphorism ‘it’s complicated’ could possibly explain.
Your correspondent was fully aware of these complications when I ventured into the political side of the industry in the late 1980s.
Simply put, the industry was basically managed by the New York State Breeding and Development Fund (hereafter The Fund), a beast that was defined under the law as a ‘public benefit corporation’.
However, this was an oxymoronic definition because figuring out what public was being served often uncovered reasons why that sector was not receiving a proper share of the benefits, to say nothing about having any say-so in how those benefits were defined and distributed.
Harvey Pack and the ‘New York-bred guy’
Most boarding farm owners, stallion promoters and breeders had very little idea why this was the case, and I wanted to find out why. I undertook several excursions to the major breeding centers of the state, introducing myself and listening to what people wanted.
My credibility was buttressed not only by what Omar Khayyam had done for my reputation as a breeder but also by the fact that I had become somewhat of a regular guest on the iconic daily television show hosted by the immortal Harvey Pack, who basically dubbed me the New York-bred guy.
Somewhere along the way I wound up at McMahon Thoroughbreds, a modest enterprise off Saratoga Lake owned by Joe and Anne McMahon, a spirited example of Irish-Italian coupling which was becoming rapidly familiar in a state where both ethnic groups had spent much of the first half of the 20th Century discriminated against by many Americans as well as disliking and not trusting each other. Having coupled with an Irish girl myself, the four of us were comfortable from the start even though our personal situations were vastly different.
Built like a football fullback
A native of nearby Mechanicville, Joe McMahon looked like a football fullback but thought like a detective – during our many talks he always impressed me with his ability to see most sides of a situation before grabbing the ball and heading for the open hole. He and Anne had five children who all have remained in the industry, one of whom you will meet along our way eventually.
Though from completely different economic and social strata, Joe was quite friendly with John Hettinger because both knew achieving their interests was contingent upon trying to move the industry past the hegemony of the state and into the hands of the people who did the work.
Getting there was going to be a trick, so Joe and I joined forces with several other breeders to initiate some moves which were designed to bring the various regional breeders’ associations together into one formidable statewide entity. That was accomplished in 1991 when Joe and I, along with Gerry Nielsen, were elected to the newly reconstituted 11-member board of New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (hereinafter NYTB) along with seven other breeder members; I was elected president, Joe vice president and Gerry secretary-treasurer.
Yes, three and seven do not add up to 11. That’s because to please the state’s functionaries, the executive director of The Fund was installed as an automatic board member, basically with veto power over whatever the breeders wanted to have accomplished by state law or regulation.
Stonewalling, trickery and deception
In that respect I was not quite prepared for the stonewalling, trickery and deception that was a direct result of the way these functionaries were mostly interested in holding on to what they considered to be their power over the people who spent their time and money breeding and racing New York-breds.
This fact-of-life forced Joe and Gerry and I to walk many tightropes because at the same time a small, but influential, number of breeders were pushing NTYB to approach The Fund about adjusting or eliminating the breed-back rule.
In retrospect I can admit that my focus was more of keeping-the-peace with The Fund, so I didn’t take this matter very seriously until one Friday afternoon at the horsemen’s room at Belmont Park when in walked veterinarian and budding breeder Doug Koch (pronounced Cook), who supported the change and verbally pounced on me about the issue.
You must understand that Doug and I were not really acquainted, but I did know that he was a native of Chicago and as a boy from Queens that initial exchange prompted me to verbally pounce back.
Indeed, we continued to spar so loudly that we were asked to vacate the premises and continued our bickering for more than an hour on the backstretch – a scene which, had it taken place in this century, would have instantly gone viral on social media, it was that intense.
Those 90 minutes formed the basis of what turned out to be an extraordinary revolution among breeders major and modest that could be compared metaphorically to the skirmishes that played out on the Empire State’s turf centuries before in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars.
Too much of a metaphorical reach you say? Come back for the final chapter of a saga that few expected and some to this day have difficulty believing actually happened.
• Visit the New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) website
Bob's Business #5: After the honeymoon but before the divorce
Bob's Business #4: Across the threshold and before the honeymoon
Bob's Business #3: Serendipitous and fortuitous meetings with the movers and shakers
Bob’s Business #2: A lot more than fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
Bob’s Business #1: How I met Steve Crist – then serendipity took over
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