VINSON EARNS TRAINER OF MONTH HONOR; PICK-5 CARRYOVER SATURDAY

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – John Vinson has trained some durable Thoroughbreds in his career. His 9-year-old gelding Red Crescent, a stakes winner who was retired to the Vinson family’s Verbarctic Farm in Ocala today, raced 54 times and earned $469,410.

Homebred gelding Gray Beau, owned by Vinson’s mother Elaine Vinson, competed 63 times, delighting Tampa Bay Downs fans by winning his first start as an 11-year-old in 2021. Gray Beau took home $338,409.

Another Vinson favorite was Florida-bred gelding Splash Rules, who won the Groomstick Handicap and the Alabama Jack’s Handicap back-to-back in 2017 at Gulfstream Park and earned more than a quarter-million.

But despite his philosophy of not demanding too much from his charges early in their careers, the 64-year-old conditioner says the lion’s share of the credit for their longevity goes to the horses themselves.

“That’s where it usually starts,” said Vinson, the Boot Barn Trainer of the Month after putting together a four-race winning streak at the Oldsmar oval. ‘Those horses were kind on themselves. They liked their jobs, and they knew how to go out and take care of themselves. They’d come back after a race and you could work with them, because they were professional racehorses.”

Back to Vinson in a moment. There is a carryover pool of $28,180 heading into Saturday’s late 50-cent Pick 5 wager after 59-1 shot Bourbon Blast, a 5-year-old mare trained by Joseph Cheeks and ridden by Scott Spieth, won today’s ninth race. The late Pick 5 will begin with the fifth race. Additionally, there is a $6,432 carryover into the 20-cent Ultimate 6 wager and a $3,399 carryover into the Super High 5.

Somewhat ironically, Vinson’s recent 4-for-4 run at the Oldsmar oval came with three 3-year-olds and a 4-year-old. But the common thread was that none were pushed early in their development to make the races, giving them time to mature physically and be well-prepared for the mental demands of racing.

“A lot of 2-year-olds need more time (than they are given) to grow and develop,” he said. “They make you wait. Usually if you try to rush them something shows up, and when you rush through it you wind up cheapening the horse.

“But racing is such a big business that time is money, and you don’t always have the luxury of taking that time.”

The Vinson name is well-known in racing circles. John’s late father Garner Vinson saddled 305 winners, including the family farm’s namesake horse Verbarctic, who won the Grade III Westchester Handicap in 1985 at Aqueduct and was second or third in four other Grade III Stakes. Garner trained extensively at Suffolk and Rockingham in the late 1980s and 1990s near John’s birthplace in Gloucester, Mass.

John’s mother Elaine, who owns Verbarctic Farm, handled the books for the family’s racing operation and was a fixture around the barn while her husband supervised the horses’ training. A younger brother, Lee, trained from 1987-1995 and oversees much of the current farm operation in Ocala.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Vinsons shifted their focus to the farm and to breaking and preparing young horses for the racetrack. From 1996-2012, John didn’t make a single start under his name.

“We sent them out to other people, trainers like Kathleen O’Connell and Donald Barr in Maryland. We had babies for Frank and Patricia Generazio and we broke horses for Maryland Stallion Station, horses by El Prado, Broad Brush, Relaunch, Waquoit. For the first time, we had a chance to do stuff in the afternoons, play in a golf league, those kind of things, and not have to worry about a post time.”

If you love racing, you know what brought John Vinson back. When the racetrack lifestyle gets in your blood it never leaves, and he’s had enough success since to let his mom and brother take care of things in Ocala while he runs the operation here and from Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach during the summer.

Now, 10 years after returning to the track, John is contemplating retirement. The last couple of years have been difficult, with Vinson suffering a heart attack and undergoing a triple bypass in July of 2021 and Garner Vinson passing away last summer from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease.

After learning he had diabetes, John cut his stable down to seven horses and changed his diet, enabling him to build his strength back. And days such as Wednesday make it easy to push thoughts of retirement to the back burner.

In the ninth race, a maiden special weight sprint for 3-year-olds, John watched helplessly as his first-time starter Infamous Nono bumped another horse at the break and dropped back to last in the nine-horse field. It seemed the best Vinson could hope for from the 3-year-old gelding was a minor check.

Infamous Nono and jockey Jose Ferrer had other ideas. Gobbling up the ground through the stretch, they got up for a neck victory. Making the victory sweeter is that Infamous Nono was bred by Elaine and Lee (in partnership with Lee’s girlfriend Pamela Edel and Irish Eyes Stable) and is owned by Edel.

“It shows you the work is paying off,” Vinson said. “He gave up a lot of ground, but he (Ferrer) rode him with a lot of confidence.” As for winning four in a row, Vinson deflected credit: “It’s just timing, I guess.”

Nature’s time, not his.

Around the oval. Thoroughbred racing continues Saturday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:18 p.m. The feature is the sixth, a $32,000 allowance/optional claiming contest for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-40-yards on the main track. The 9-5 morning-line favorite in the seven-horse field is trainer Tim Hamm’s gelding Mikey Bananas, who makes his first start since an unplaced effort in the March 11 Grade III Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby won by leading Kentucky Derby contender Tapit Trice. Angel Rodriguez is named to ride Mikey Bananas.

Tampa Bay Downs is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.