Author: Sam Parzych

Kind of A Big Dill (formerly known as Vineyard Harbour) is still on stall rest with hopes to have him start training by the end of March with groundwork beginning in just a few weeks. Stall desensitization has begun with bag tarps and hula hoops and is going well. Check out his previous update here.

1.What attracted you to the horse racing industry? Around the early 1980s, I went to Laurel Park for the first time with my parents. They had a friend that had racehorses. Ever since then, I was hooked. I would visit here and there a few times a year. About 20 years ago, I started visiting different racetracks to drop a wager and watch. And now it continues to a weekly event and as Co-owner and Ambassador with Wasabi. 2.What aspect of horse racing do you enjoy the most? The thrill of the emotional swing, the excitement and the thunder as…

Kind of a Big Dill (formerly known as Vineyard Harbour) has had a rough start to his career in barrel racing. On his first turn out, Big Dill got a bit over excited and ended up getting tangled up in the fencing. Luckily, the cut was superficial but he did end up needing a handful of stitches in his back fetlock. He has had half of the stitches removed already and is now doing stretches in his stall to prevent him from getting stiff before his big debut back to training. Despite the minor injury, he is still as goofy…

Meet Wasabi Ventures Co-Owner Club Member and Ambassador, Lauren Floyd! She grew up riding horses in northern Virginia. Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown run sparked her interest in racing, but she didn’t become a serious fan until 2014. Lauren rode horses all through college at the University of Mary Washington and graduated in 2014 with a degree in English. Currently, she works in the software development industry in the DC area, which helps finance her horse racing hobby. She joined Wasabi Ventures Stables in May 2018 and is now one of two Maryland track ambassadors for the club. 1.What attracted you…

1.What does the Retired Racehorse Project do? At its core, the mission of the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) is to increase the value and demand for Thoroughbreds after racing as riding and show horses. We do this through a number of ways, including putting on the annual Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium (the largest and most lucrative retraining competition for recently retired racehorses in the world), publishing Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine (a quarterly magazine on-par with MidAtlantic Thoroughbred or Blood-Horse, but focused on all topics related to Thoroughbreds outside of (and often including) racing); putting on demonstrations, clinics and seminars around…

1. Where are you based out of? Our main farm is located in Chesapeake City, MD - there we do some rehab, most of the retraining and adoptions from this location. We have satellite farms in Thurmont MD (rehab), Westminster MD (retraining) and Salley SC (retraining). 2. How long has your group been active? Ginny Suarez and I started in September 2002 with 3 horses on a rented 3-acre field with a shed. We built our program gradually from there. Today we have a permanent home on 158 acres along the Sassafras River, just south of Chesapeake City MD. The…

Wasabi Ventures Stables recently had an interview with Beyond The Wire, an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Maryland Jockey Club, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland jockeys, that is designed to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retired Maryland based racehorses. 1.What are some factors that can contribute to a horse retiring? Horses retire for a number of reasons. Some are just too slow to be competitive, some sustain injuries and still others have raced for years and the owner and trainer make a decision to let the horse go on to new, enriching activities.…

Meet Alyssa, Lyss for short. She is 28 years old and either had or has been around horses since she was about four years old. She was born in Arizona and growing up split her time between Arizona and Illinois. She now lives, works, and goes to school on the Space Coast of Florida and lives across the Indian River from Kennedy Space Center. She loves to read, watch movies and is an amateur photographer. What attracted you to the horse racing industry? I did not have a real interest in horse racing outside of the three races of the…