health news today: More on rodeo icon-turned-throughbred trainer: Shawn Davis' day at ...

I was at Arapahoe Park Sunday and Monday, working on the story on throughbred owner-trainer Shawn Davis that appears in the Wednesday paper.

As the story details, Davis, 70, was a three-time world champion in saddle bronc riding and also is renowned as a former president of the Rodeo Cowboys Association, a 1979 inductee into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, and the long-time manager of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

He has dived deeper into throughbred training following his retirement as a rodeo coach and professor at the College of Southern Idaho.

I wasn?t able to get much narrative of his Monday at Arapahoe Park in the story.

So here it is, and consider all the background from the the newspaper story already read into the record:

AURORA ? It was five minutes to five on Memorial Day morning, and the 18 horses in Arapahoe Park?s Barn One, to the west of the racing oval, probably were used to the routine, too. This was Shawn Davis? regular arrival time, and he made the short journey from his trailer on the grounds to the barn.

But why four fifty-five?

?I like to get here ahead of the hour,? he said.

The barn is a row of stalls, with Davis? little ?office? at the end.

On his desk was a clipboard, with the head groom?s notes on forms about each of the 18 thoroughbreds in Davis? racing stable at the Arapahoe meeting. The horses were fed at 4:30, and the head groom checked on them all. The page on top showed that the horse in question ate all his grain and half of his hay, drank three-quarters of a bucket of water, and had a normal temperature.

First post still was eight hours away, and Davis had two thoroughbreds entered on the holiday Arapahoe card, which also included Quarter Horse and Appaloosa races. The two:

? Silver?s Lady, a 4-year-old filly that had yet to win in five career starts, was in the 5 1/2-furlong fourth, a $5,000 maiden claiming race. Pueblo stockbroker Ronald Icabone is her owner, and he has four horses in the Davis stable.

? Itmakeshermean, an intriguing 3-year-old filly brought in after disappointing runs at Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park, was in the 5 1/2-furlong eighth race, a $12,000 allowance. Davis is listed as the owner of Itmakeshermean, but he said he?s partners in the horse with an old friend, television producer and executive David Glodt of Houston. ?This is his first horse,? Davis said. The filly came to Davis ? and Glodt ? because Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger, a former rodeo rider and one of Davis? best friends, called and offered her for a bargain price, given her $45,000 original purchase price. ?I said I?d take her because she was pretty inexperienced and has that huge pedigree,? Davis said. After the sale agreement, but before the official transaction, Itmakeshermean went out and won her next race, a maiden claimer at Tampa Bay Downs on April 20.

The same kind of referral was involved for Roman Racecar, a 4-year-old gelding which was second for Davis in a Sunday Arapahoe race. It had finished no higher than third in six starts, all higher class maiden special weight races at Keeneland, Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs, when Nafzger called. ?They had given $220,000 for him and it didn?t work for them,? Davis said. ?They gave him to me and then they said, ?Would you pay the last month training fee?? I think I paid $3,000 for him and transportation.? Now Amber Buetler is listed as the horse?s owner, and it won a maiden race at Turf Paradise in its first start for Davis before coming to Arapahoe.

In the day-before-a-race routine, both of those horses had jogged Sunday and were taken to stand in the starting gate for another acclimating visit with the Arapahoe equipment. But that wasn?t going to be part of the Monday routine because the next race day wouldn?t be until Friday.

Shortly after 5 a.m., nine of the Davis horses were prepared to go to the track ? three for officially clocked workouts and six just to gallop. The problem was that it was foggy, and Davis tried to wait it out. Finally, shortly after 7, he rode in a golf cart to a spot between the sixteenth pole and the finish line and watched ? or tried to watch ? the workouts through binoculars. The three horses were Dancewiththedevil, Celtic Sunday and That Tiger. They?re three decent horses, with a combined 19 wins in 67 starts. But Davis was frustrated because of the foggy conditions and had to ask the exercise rider what they did beyond the finish line. ?When they finish,? he explained, ?I like to see how they gallop out. If they?re tired, they?ll stop. If they gallop out, that tells me how fit a horse is. That?s as important to me as the actual work.?

Dancewiththedevil was clocked at 1:03.80 for five furlongs, Celtic Sunday at 51 seconds for four furlongs, and That Tiger 1:05 for five furlongs.

The horses then returned to the barn, where they were bathed and placed on the walker for cool-down. Eventually, when That Tiger returned to his stall, he joined his buddy, a goat named Ardin. For some reason, Davis said, the two hit it off, so they hang out together.

Then the horses were brushed and groomed, and examined for any possible warning signs. None popped up Monday.

?The horses that are racing, a lot of times we?ll take them to the paddock and stand them so they?ll be calm this afternoon,? Davis said. ?Then we?ll bathe them, too, and put a light sheet on them so they don?t get dust and dirt on them.?

I left the barn about an hour before Monday?s first post. Later, I watched Davis come to the paddock for his two races, help get the horses ready, then help jockey Russell Vicchrilli get aboard as the post parades were about to begin.

He watched the fourth race from an outdoor medal grandstand near the finish line, with his wife Jeanna, plus Icabone and his wife, Cathy. Silver?s Lady, making only her sixth career start, was the 13-10 favorite and won by a length and a half. There were high fives all around among the Davises and Icabones, and then the scramble was on to get to the winner?s circle for the photo.

Later, the intriguing filly, Itmakeshermean, ran seventh in a field of eight. Davis quickly conferred with Vicchrilli, who reported it almost seemed as if the filly was holding her breath and wasn?t in the mood to run. ?I think she?ll do well here once we get her acclimated,? Davis said. ?She had a long trip (from Florida), and the weather was such that we couldn?t train her like we wanted to.?

Davis then rejoined his wife and the Icabones in a clubhouse box to watch the final race of the day ? and debate over where they would go to dinner to celebrate Silver?s Lady victory in the fourth race. They settled on a barbeque restaurant. After the raceday ended, Davis quickly made a run through the barn for another look at the horses, went to dinner, and returned to the trailer to try to get some sleep before his early Tuesday morning flight to Las Vegas, where he had a business meeting tied to his role as an independent contractor for Las Vegas Events.

It hadn?t been a bad day.

?There?s always the thrill of winning, whether it?s here or your grandkids winning a soccer game,? Davis said.