On the day Deep Roots was entered in a turf race at Arlington Park, Omar Razvi had the flu. But some horses are worth getting out of bed for.
He’s been into the horses since he was a student at Rolling Meadows High School. One afternoon his mother gave him $150 to pay the air-conditioning repairman. The repairman decided to spend the money at Arlington, and invited Razvi along. They bet together and split the winnings. There’s nothing worse than winning $200 on your first trip to the track. Razvi was hooked.
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The day after his $10,000 win Razvi blew the money on a second horse, Northern Catch, who’d begun his career with much promise, winning a race at Florida’s Gulfstream Park while ridden by Pat Day, the best jockey in America. Razvi bought the horse from Brereton C. Jones, the former governor of Kentucky. As soon as Northern Catch arrived in Chicago, Razvi asked a friend who works with horses to take him for a gallop. “This horse is bad, real bad,” the friend said as soon as he hopped off. “His knees buckled. I think he’s got bone chips. Get out of this horse as soon as possible.”
“Right then I was at breakeven,” he said. “I had to win a race.”
On August 1 he entered Sassiness in a six-and-a-half-furlong race, hoping the extra half furlong would give her enough time to run down the leader. Before the race, as the horses were led around the walking ring, he stood in the paddock with Dini. Lucky was there too. So was the high roller who often lets Razvi sit in his private box.
“You and your statistics,” he said scornfully.
Looking up into the stands, Razvi formed an X with his arms, imitating his stable’s emblem. The gesture was aimed at a friend who’d told him Sassiness couldn’t win.
