David Cassidy on the Web
C'mon, get happy at Spa with Cassidy
September 1, 2005
www.nydailynews.com
By Sherry Ross
SARATOGA SPRINGS - At the height of his frenzied Partridge Family fame, David Cassidy used to sneak into the grandstand seats at Saratoga wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and even a fake beard.
Nowadays, it's easy to spot the singer and actor, especially since, at 55, he doesn't look much different than when he was every teenage girl's pinup dream. He sits in the clubhouse, sans disguise, and his box bears a plaque with his name, in bold red and white. "After I played SPAC (the Saratoga Performing Arts Center) in 1974, I sent a letter to the New York Racing Association requesting a clubhouse box," Cassidy said. "You know when I got it? Last year. It took me 30 years."
Over those three decades, Cassidy has been a devoted student of thoroughbred racing. Yesterday morning, despite the rain and the wind and the steamy tropical humidity, Cassidy was enjoying himself at the Oklahoma training track. "It was miserable, but there was still something magical about it. It was eerily quiet," Cassidy said. "Just watching them go out and jog is such a beautiful thing."
After falling in love with racing at a young age, Cassidy has developed a modestly successful small-scale breeding and racing operation, largely with New York-bred horses. Last Wednesday, his 2-year-old filly, Sleeping, an auction purchase by Cassidy, won a maiden event. His homebred, Half Heaven, finished second in an allowance race on Monday. Cassidy delivered a charming speech as the keynote speaker at this year's Racing Hall of Fame inauguration on Aug. 8, breaking up the audience when he joked about telling his son, "Sorry about your college fund, but I understand she's training very well."
Introduced to racing by his grandfather, Cassidy bought his first thoroughbred, a broodmare, in 1973, and she produced a Grade II winner. He purchased his first yearling in 1974 at the Fasig-Tipton sale across the street from the Saratoga racetrack. Now Cassidy owns a small broodmare band, most in partnership with other interests, sending some to auction and keeping a few in training with Gary Contessa. He scopes out all of the matings himself, and is particularly proud of discovering a young sire before he becomes fashionable. Cassidy bred one of his first mares to Storm Cat during that stallion's first year at stud, when the fee was $20,000. It's now $500,000.
"We don't have a hundred horses, so if we get five good ones a year, we have to make the most of it," Cassidy said. " The last two years I've had a successful, profitable business. Mildly profitable, but I get to do what I love. I am living my dream."
