“The horse that changed my life is Clarkston Hope. When I first met her in the fall of 2013, she was a 2-year-old. I was filling in for the usual groom so they could have a day off. As I walked into her stall, pitchfork in hand, she flew to the back of the stall, timid, afraid and shaking. She went home to the farm shortly after that. The following year, I became her full-time groom. She came back to the track with the same timid, fearful personality. The next several months would be a challenge working with Hope. The more questions I asked about her, the more terrible information I would receive.
Unbeknownst to me, she had flipped over in the shedrow as a 2-year-old and then laid on top of her rider, nearly breaking his leg and putting him out of commission for the rest of the working year. This led to her being labeled as a "rat" by nearly everyone in the barn, most of whom eagerly stated, ‘she will never make it.’
For me, hearing, ‘she will never make it,’ had become all too common. You see, I was recently rejoining the workforce in 2013 when I met Hope. I had returned from having a baby and was suffering from extreme post partum depression and anxiety. In a state of mind where I was scared of everything and anything, I knew how Hope felt. Many had either said aloud or whispered to themselves about me, ‘she will never make it.’
A couple more months passed and training continued as usual for Hope and for myself. The better and more comfortable Hope got, so did I. Hope would make her first start in a race in the fall of 2014, albeit a good effort at best. Hope's second start, she made a winning one, with a margin of 71/2 lengths ahead of everyone else. Hope would continue on to win a total of five races and tallying more than $200,000 in purse money.
I believed in Hope when no one else did, and Hope trusted me more than anyone. We had now been through almost everything together. She made me realize that it’s not how strongly or how many others believe in you that matters, it’s how strongly you believe in yourself.
Hope is still currently racing at Woodbine, and now runs under my last name as I got my trainer's license this year.
So I suppose both her and I can say that we succeeded together.”
By Shana Lopez, for Ontario Racing
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