Back in my stereoscopic 3D photography phase, I took two Nikon Df cameras to Saratoga Harness for an attempt to create an entry for an upcoming 3D competition. One of those images was called “Pacing the Trotter,” in which horse trainer and safety rider Robyn Mangiardi (on the horse) guides driver Chris Long (in the bike) around the track.
Specifically, this photo.
If you relax your eyes, and let the two images blend together, you can see the 3D effect.
The photo was not selected for the competition; and I chose instead to prepare it as a single image for Competition Season 2023. But after a while, other photos caught my attention, and even though I had printed the image … I kept it aside, waiting for a better opportunity.
Robyn Mangiardi and Chris Long spent many years building a stable of top-quality standardbred horses, many of whom won big bucks at the track. They’re very nice people, and when I photograph races at the track, Robyn always says hi – she even allows little kids to pet and feed her safety horse (usually it’s Wally, but the past few weeks it’s been another horse, Chowdah).
Earlier this week … some horrible news from the track. One of the backstretch barns caught fire. Seventeen horses perished in the blaze. A horrible tragedy under any circumstances.
Eleven of the horses that died were from the Mangiardi Racing stable.
This is just devastating. Imagine what that means. These were not just racehorses. They were family. They were a connected part of life. They, along with six other horses, perished in an unbelievably heartbreaking calamity.
The standardbred community rallied behind the trainers who lost their champions. Financial and material donations have poured in from all over. Even donations and words of support from the thoroughbred track up the street.
Last Saturday was the first day of racing at the harness track since the horrifying fire. Everyone that day – riders, officials, patrons – were encouraged to wear white in memory of the 17 horses.
If you’re wondering – these were the horses’ names.
- Arlanda
- Conquest As
- Crazy Jet
- Five Star Lou
- Free Willy Hanover
- Gimlet Hanover
- Influencer
- Lyons Dukey
- Muscle Dynasty
- Our Father Lindy
- Perfect Bang
- Quite Like Me
- Race Me Bombshell
- Shalamar Hanover
- Trackstar
- Tropical Cyclone
- Red
I arrived at the track at around 11:30. And before the track’s first race, I dropped a framed 2D copy of Pacing the Trotter at the photographer’s booth, with instructions to make sure that the Mangiardi / Long team received the photo after the day’s card finished. They already have enough on their plate to worry about. Maybe there’s some joy in that photo – a smile from less trying times.
Everybody was encouraged to either wear white, or don white ribbons in honor of the Saratoga Seventeen. I did the same. White Saratoga Harness souvenir T-shirt.
As I set up one of my film cameras for a potential experimental photo shot … I noticed a white-tressed rider in the distance. The rider carried an American flag. The Star Spangled Banner played.
And I quickly snuck a photo before returning to reverence.
Eventually the racing card commenced. I won a few dollars, lost a few dollars, the typical Saratoga track day for me.
I also found out why I hadn’t seen Junior at the track in a very long time.
Junior is Pay Me To Knight, a horse I’ve followed and blogged about in the past. Apparently age and illness has caught up to the blue roan, and he’s now enjoying retirement. His stable owners told me that Junior has a stablemate, and once that pony reaches four years old, he’ll race for the stable. I told them to let me know the moment he takes the track. I’ll reserve a $20 for his nose.
I also made some money off the horse Transparency – whom I blogged about – and I said I would $20 on his nose after the last time I saw him take a chomp out of one of the drivers in mid-race.
Horse won in the third by the skin of his teeth. Ha.
I shot some film images for the first six races, then went home. And on the way home, I thought about the fragility of life. And the tremendous bond between human and equine that make harness horses more than just ponies that specifically gait twice around the half-mile track.
The harness track lost seventeen of their own. Trainers, grooms, workers, bettors all lost seventeen treasures.
They will never stop running in our hearts.
Later that night, as I scrolled through my Facebook feed, I discovered that one of the local Saratoga bars has an upcoming fundraiser for the trainers and owners of the Saratoga Seventeen.
I contacted the bar and offered one of my prints – this one – and will bring it up to their establishment later today.
Trust me. You have to do what you can in moments like this. You help when you’re able. This is what you do.
This is what I do.
This is what we call can do.
Chuck The Writer 