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55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, September 10, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 14, 2004 Sally Reid leads In Gold We Trust back to the stall after a workout at Grants Pass Downs. Reid will send two of her horses to the gate in Saturday�s opener. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Reid’s labor of love Sally Reid puts in countless hours at Grants Pass Downs and her efforts will come full circle when the season begins Saturday By FRANK SILOW Mail Tribune GRANTS PASS — Retirement hasn’t slowed down Sally Reid. The 65-year-old former college professor gets to the race track by 7 a.m. and doesn’t leave until early afternoon seven days a week. Filling those countless hours since late February has been Reid’s work in developing her stable of five thoroughbred horses at the Josephine County Fairgrounds. Her efforts will come full circle Saturday when she sends two of those horses to the gate during the opener of the 19-day season at Grants Pass Downs. Advertisement Post time is 1 p.m. for the first of 10 races on the card. Reid and her husband, J.W., moved to Southern Oregon from Yakima, Wash., in 2000 to live on a 15-acre ranch in Hugo they had purchased several years earlier. "We came down here mainly because of the track and the opportunity it offers," Reid says of GP Downs. "This facility is better than most and on par with many." Reid’s horses In Gold We Trust and Miss Congeniality will get their initial opportunity here the opening day of the season. In Gold We Trust will be in the first race for maiden fillies and mares going 4½ -furlongs. The 4-year-old mare has competed for two years on the California fair circuit. As a 2-year-old, she finished second in a $35,000 claiming race. "(In Gold We Trust) is smaller and might do better on the bullring," Reid says optimistically. Miss Congeniality is nicknamed Sandra for Sandra Bullock, who starred in the movie of the same name as the horse. The 6-year-old mare will break from the three hole in race No. 6, a $3,500 claimer for non-winners this year. She won the Fresno Handicap as a 4-year-old and has earned about $20,000 in purses. "She’s my favorite," says Reid. "She’s just so honest. She’ll give it everything she’s got every time." Another of Reid’s horses, In Love With Loot, will get a start in next weekend’s Southern Belle Handicap. Reid purchased the aforementioned horses at a California sale when they were young because she wanted females. "I can’t afford expensive brood mares," explains Reid, "so I’ll buy fillies and race them to see what I have. Then I can pick and choose if I want to breed them." Reid has a 2-year-old in the barn she’s preparing for the races and a 2-month-old in the pasture at home from her mare Miss Love Someone. The energetic Reid was born in Washington D.C., but learned to ride on an Indian reservation in northern Idaho where her father was teaching. She became an avid rider but a serious injury on a jumping horse ended those pursuits. "I had a 6-week-old baby," Reid adds. "It’s hard to raise a family, work and haul on the weekends. It didn’t come together." While the family owned a dairy farm in Idaho, Reid went back to school to get a master’s degree and became an education professor at Boise State University. It wasn’t until 1981 that Reid developed an interest in race horses. "I bought a thoroughbred mare that was going to have a baby and that was the start of it," she says. "Good horsemanship is the same at all levels. The conditioning is different, but you can transfer the skills over." Reid retired from Boise State after 17 years of teaching, and the family sold the dairy farm to move to Yakima, Wash., to be near the Yakima Meadows race track. Reid then became a commercial horse trainer, and had as many as 19 horses and 14 clients from 1992-99. "It was less glamorous than I thought it would be," says Reid. "When you have to produce, it wasn’t as much fun. I already had a career once, I didn’t need another one." A big influence on Reid came on a trip to Australia in 1997 when she spent three days with renowned Australian trainer George Hanlon. "He’s the consummate horseman," says Reid. "He opened a lot of ways of thinking for me. "He said ‘You don’t train the body, you train the mind,’" she explains. "If given the opportunity to exercise, a horse will get fit. They walk a horse in Australia for one hour before it runs. Now I put my horses on a walker for 40 minutes before a race." When Yakima Meadows closed, the Reids sold the hay farm bought when they moved to Yakima and headed to Southern Oregon. Reid first raced horses at GP Downs in 1998, but became acquainted with the region when her parents lived in Shady Cove in the mid-1960s. Last year Reid took her horses to the California fair circuit, but altered those plans this season. "This year I made up my mind to support the meet (at GP Downs)," says Reid. "We need the horses to keep the meet good. With having the training year-round, it all ties together." Rod Lowe, president of the Southern Oregon Horse Racing Association, has welcomed Reid’s input to the organization as a board member. "(Reid) is very motivated to promote horse racing here and to make it better," says Lowe. "She’s been a real positive force." And she’s quick to note that her motives are not monetary. "If I had to live on it, I’d be short on groceries," she laughs. "Some people like to go boating or traveling, I like to race horses." And the sport provides an extra spark in Reid’s life. "I’m an adrenaline junkie," she says. "There’s nothing I’ve ever done in my life that is as exciting as seeing my horse coming across the finish line first." Reid hopes to see that happen some at GP Downs this season. Reach reporter Frank Silow at 776-4480, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities