George joined his first Greenhill Racing partnership in 1997 by buying a share of a horse named Private Dreams. Unfortunately Private Dreams was not a world beater even though once he did look like the winner in mid-stretch in a Churchill Downs maiden race at about 60-1 only to be caught and finish 3rd that day. But I digress.

While Private Dreams did not prove to be a “good thing” our relationship with George has. George was born in Chester, PA, and became interested in horse racing at about 5 years of age when his dad took him to the, now defunct, Brandywine Raceway to watch harness racing.

George followed the trotters for several years but the monotony and repetitiveness of the way the majority of the races unfolded, single file to the stretch and then dash to the wire, always left him craving more excitement. Then in his teens, while following a big red horse named Secretariat, George discovered thoroughbred racing. The different ways the races unfolded, the pace scenarios, horses winning from the front or from behind, the variety of distances and surfaces was much more to his liking. He was hooked.

Finally as a young adult George decided he wanted to become a race horse owner, and set out to find ways of fulfilling his desire. While surfing the internet, he came across the Greenhill Racing website, emailed me and the rest is history.

After the slow start with Private Dreams, George took a share of the horse that would prove to be his favorite partnership horse to date. A small bay bundle of pure speed, named Rare Rocket. Rare Rocket loved to blast out of the starting gate and play his favorite game, “catch me if you can”, and he loved to play it going 2 turns. Once at Hoosier Park and once at Keeneland he won the game. George got a couple of win photos and started a collection that, to the best of my accounting, now numbers nineteen (19) different win photos.

When I asked George which has been his most memorable win thus far, his answer did not surprise me. Amy Again at Keeneland. We had claimed Amy Again early in the 1998 spring meet at Keeneland for $15,000. When I decided to run her back in a NW1X allowance race, George recently confided to me that he concluded that I had lost my mind. Well, she went wire-to-wire to win by 6 lengths and collect a big check. A win at Keeneland, “on the raise”, wire-to-wire, by many, in allowance company. There’s a lot to like about a win like that.

I asked George what he enjoyed most about horse ownership (other than winning). That answer surprised me a bit. He said he really liked visiting the backside. Seeing his horses and talking to the stable crew. He said even the various smells of the stable area were exhilarating. I can relate. It’s long been my opinion that few things smell better than horse sweat.

George attended the University of Tennessee, fell in love with the beauty of the Knoxville, Tennessee area and still resides there today. He is involved in the business of communication tower leasing and management.