Former horse trainer for Cubby Broccoli recalls working for the 007 producer
07-Jul-2007 • Bond News
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But the trainer on the Pleasanton grounds who has arguably achieved the most success in big races â specifically the Breeders' Cup â is no longer training horses.
Randy Winick saddled three horses in Breeders' Cup races, winning the Juvenile in 1993 with Brocco, but now spends his days as one of the three stewards (racing officials) at the Alameda County Fair, which runs through Sunday.
After training horses mainly for Mr. and Mrs. Albert Broccoli â known for producing the James Bond movies â Winick decided to change careers after both Broccolis passed away.
Albert died in 2003, then his wife passed away two years ago, leaving Winick without many horses, as well as at a crossroad.
"After Mrs. Broccoli passed, the family didn't want to stay in the business," said Winick. "My stable had dwindled down, but I was looking for a way to stay in the business, and this opportunity presented itself. Horse racing has been in my blood my whole life, and this opportunity gave me achance to stay in the business at a high level."
But before he became a steward, Winick enjoyed a career many trainers only dream about.
Winick attained one of the highest levels in racing.
Brocco was the third horse Winick took to the Breeders' Cup for the Broccolis. He finished third in the Distaff in 1985 with Don'tstopThemusic and was second in 1991 with La Spia in the Juvenile Fillies.
Winick always felt Brocco would be better as a 3-year-old, but when the horse easily won his first two starts as a 2-year-old, running in the Breeders' Cup became an option, simply because of the logistics.
"They were running the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, and we had to run (Brocco) somewhere," said Winick. "We thought our horse was absolutely made for two turns, so we took a shot and won by five lengths."
Brocco then won the Santa Anita Derby and went off to Kentucky Derby as one of the favorites. On a sloppy track, Brocco had trouble early but rallied to finish fourth.
"I still think to this day, if he had a better start out of the gate, he could have won the race," said Winick. "He got in trouble out of the gate, was dead last early and did run all the way up to second at the quarter-pole. But I think he hung a little bit and finished fourth."
Winick and the Broccolis opted to skip the Preakness and focus on the longer Belmont Stakes. But during the three weeks of training leading up to the Belmont, Brocco got a stone bruise in his foot, and they scratched the horse the day before the race.
"After that, we had one problem after another, so we retired him and sold him to stud," said Winick.
After stepping away from training, Winick set his sights on becoming a steward.
After testing and interviewing for the position, Winick was hired by the California Horse Racing Board and was sent to work at Los Alamitos in late December.
After working at Los Alamitos until the end of April, Winick was given three fair meetings to work. Now instead of being a trainer and having to follow the rules, Winick is on the side of enforcement.
"It's been an eye-opener to me," said Winick. "I did always look through that one pair of glasses as a trainer, and now I'm on the other side. It's a big learning curve, but I have been fortunate to work with some good stewards so far. I am really enjoying it."
But there are some things about training Winick does miss.
"When you have a good, young horse, the mornings were great," said Winick. "The high level racing was fun. The pressure was intense, but it was one of the great highs when you won a race. Overall, I do miss it, but there were so many good years. I won over 40 stakes races, so I got a little taste of all of it ... I was there."
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