“This was easy for me. The horse that changed my life was Market Control, a horse I groomed for Roger Attfield in the late 80’s. I was taking a year off between high school and college and went to groom for Roger, as I had been grooming in the summers since I was young, having grown up in racing.
I wanted to travel to Florida for one winter and check it out. I came back and ‘Mr. Pudge,’ as Market Control was known around the barn, became my big horse by winning the 1987 Queen’s Plate. It was an amazing time and I was hooked for life. I decided not to go to college and kept grooming horses, which led me to an assistant trainer position with Mac Benson and then a career in the Racing Department at Woodbine.
All of it is owed to the year I had with Market Control. He was a great horse to work around and allowed me to see how amazing it was to groom a top horse.
I wasn’t around ‘Mr. Pudge’ much after he retired to stud as he was moved to Texas. The one thing about it is you always remember the good times you have with horses and you will compare the ones you have later to the good ones you had when you started. He is a horse, to this day, that I will never forget. His Queen’s Plate portrait hangs in my home, so basically, I see him every day and get nostalgic sometimes when I think of him.
When I think of him, the first thing that comes to mind is the excitement of winning the Queen’s Plate as a groom. It will always be with me when I think of Market Control. I learned a lot with him and working with Roger that summer and you never forget the great memories made.”
By Karl Lagerborg, for Ontario Racing
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