By Joe Bianca
It's tough to imagine a more auspicious beginning to a trainer's career than the one Jorge Abreu enjoyed Sunday at Saratoga.
His first starter, a 4-year-old chestnut filly named Woodville (Ghostzapper), was bet down to 13-5 for her belated debut in a New York-bred maiden special weight. Tracking the pace from third, she sidled up to the leading favorite nearing the turn for home with rider Manny Franco looking back under his arm for competition. There was none. Woodville easily took control at the top of the stretch and drew off with every stride en route to an 11 1/2-length romp.
It was the culmination of a long journey for the 41-year-old conditioner, who most recently had been an assistant for the Chad Brown barn, and he made sure to savor the moment.
“It was a very emotional day for me,” Abreu said. “Very exciting. Being my first horse that I started as a trainer, and winning at Saratoga no less. I was thrilled with the filly. I expected her to run very well, but I never expected her to win that far.”
Abreu, a native of the Dominican Republic, came to the United States in 1984 when he was nine years old and has steadily worked his way up the ladder to where he could finally commandeer his own outfit.
“My first job in racing was with Murray Garren,” Abreu recalled. “Then I galloped for Billy Badgett. My first assistant trainer job was with John Terranova and I galloped for him too. Then, from Terranova, I switched to Nick Zito when he had all the nice horses like Bellamy Road and Sun King. I worked for Nick for six years as assistant trainer and galloped. And I've been with Chad Brown for the last nine years as an assistant trainer.”
Woodville, a $100,000 graduate of the 2014 Fasig-Tipton March 2-year-old sale, is owned by Doheny Stable, Off The Hook LLC and Thomas Coleman. She is the lone runner currently in Abreu's barn, although he says he has “three or four more” coming to him this meet.
As for sale activity, Abreu doesn't plan on it with his current ownership, but has his eye on being represented “with some new guys” down the road.
Any additional horses will have big shoes to fill, after a filly named Woodville made Abreu's dream a reality, in emphatic fashion.
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