The 'Fight' That Healed The Hearts Of Melanie Giddings and Shaun Bridgmohan
“I promised this horse I would bring him home and, every time we watched him run with someone else, our hearts just broke. He may be just a claimer, but to us he’s family, and I’ve never been so happy to see his goofy face again.”
This Saratoga meet was a tough one.
I’ve heard the word “cursed” used so many times.
Not to detract from the barns that had good to great success. But, many had - at best - bad luck and, for some, unthinkable sadness.
Because of this, I haven’t really posted much since early August. I’ve certainly taken a lot of photos - tens of thousands since June - but I wasn’t motivated to do much with them when friends were struggling through difficult times. But I’m trying to get back in the swing of things, and I wanted to do that by starting with a “feel good” story, which I think we can all use.
Anyone who knows me knows I get very attached to certain horses. Some trainers have been known to just accept seeing me in their barns every day, loving on one horse or another.
I think one of the toughest parts of a jockey’s job must be having to detach themselves emotionally from the horses they ride regularly. It’s all part of the job, right? But, every
once in a while, there’s that one horse that grabs their heart. Usually, it is either their first winner, their first stake winner, their career maker, or those once-in-a-lifetime racehorses.
But, for multiple graded stakes-winning jockey, Shaun Bridgmohan, the horse who touched his heart was none of these. It is a cool horse, a talented horse, a good looking horse, but not a stakes horse and certainly not one that made his career. The horse who grabbed his heart is a 4 year-old gelding by Keen Ice named Fight.
I met Fight on my daily stop at my friend Melanie Gidding’s barn the day they arrived in Saratoga. I was thrilled to see Maple Leaf Mel again, but all of the other horses in her barn were new to me. From day one, I found myself focused on Fight, an oversized chestnut with a handsome face and great personality. Mel quickly told me I’d be in competition with Shaun for the gelding, as he was his favorite.
That was an understatement!
Fight is not easy to train. He’s quite a handful under tack, even for a seasoned pro like Shaun. I suspect this is why he was in a claiming race so soon after being a $70K OBS 2 year-old purchase.
Shaun and Mel watched him train in Florida and something about him caught Shaun’s eye and captured his interest. At the end of October last year, Mel claimed Fight at Gulfstream Park where he was one of the first horses in her newly formed MG Racing stable.
It was obvious from the start that Shaun felt and spoke differently about this horse. He would come off the track each day and let Fight decide which route to take back to the barn based on the best grazing along the way. I’m pretty sure Shaun didn’t have any misconceived notions that Fight would be his next big graded stakes horse, but still his pride in this big chestnut was palpable.
It’s tough to be a small barn being stabled at Saratoga, the most prestigious summer meet in America, especially in your first year. What makes a great trainer is knowing when and where to enter each of your horses to set them up for success. Fight was entered in a maiden claimer at Presque Isle Downs at the end of June with Shaun aboard.
The big horse won in style, but he was claimed. No need for details other than to say Shaun would miss his horse greatly. Both he and Mel had said they’d get him back if this were to happen, but the reality of Shaun’s boy staying in Pennsylvania was tough on him.
They kept a watchful eye on Fight and, a little over two months later, on September 4th, Fight again ran in a claiming race at Presque Isle Downs. To everyone’s dismay, Melanie was unable to claim him out of that race.
Refusing to lose him again, without saying anything to Shaun, she managed to purchase Fight privately after the race and have him shipped back to Saratoga the next evening.
First thing the following morning, in the dark and hazy fog, I arrived at the barn to catch Shaun’s reaction when seeing Fight back in the barn — The big reveal did not disappoint!
Fight was in a stall in the barn behind MG Racing’s stall webbing and Mel asked Shaun to help her with something. I could hear Shaun as he walked over say, “Wow, that’s a good looking horse!”
Then, it hit him…and all was right with the world again.
I took a lot of pictures of Shaun with Fight and it made me realize that there is no competition, Fight is all Shaun’s. But no one was happier for their reunion than Melanie.
Anyone involved in racing felt the pain and devastation this team, especially Melanie, experienced this summer with the tragic loss of Maple Leaf Mel. For her and Shaun to finish the meet with a heartfelt story and a happy ending was everything to me, and deserving of the first of several “feel good” stories to share to go along with my pictures.
