Sometimes, it takes something as simple as watching a horse race on the television for someone to eventually make a career of being in that sport.
That’s what Eddie Cibelli has done.
Over 34 years of working at the racetrack, Cibelli has spent the majority of that time handling thousands of horses as a member of the starting gate crew in New York. However, a popular horse was the starting point to his career.
When he was 15 years old, Cibelli watched the excitement on television when Secretariat cruised by 31 lengths for the Belmont victory and the Triple Crown. At that point, he wanted to work at the racetrack.
“I was mystified by this horse,” Cibelli said. “I saw that race and I saw everyone go crazy. From that moment, I had the bug. I said to myself, ‘This is what I want to get into. I want to do this.’”
Cibelli had been working with Morgan show horses when he lived in Millbrook, just a little over 100 miles south of Saratoga Springs. After graduating from Arlington High School in Poughkeepsie, he lived with a friend attending Hofstra that allowed him to take the bus to Belmont.
Cibelli’s first job was a hotwalker with Gilbert Puentes, who was also in his first year of training, in 1976. From there, Cibelli became a groom Stephen L. DiMauro as he regularly rubbed three horses in which two of them won at Finger Lakes and the other was beaten just a nose at the same track.
Trying to get away from the cold Long Island winter at Belmont and Aqueduct, Cibelli worked for Maryland-based trainer Edmond Gaudet as a groom before becoming a foreman and an assistant.
“I have learned a lot,” Cibelli said. “One thing I have learned is what to do with the horse’s legs – how to feel and look for something. You learn through the years to where your eye is your best friend.”
Cibelli took that knowledge to become a trainer himself in 1984 and started working with thoroughbreds and quarterhorses in Florida and Louisiana. Three years later while galloping in New York, he asked the late assistant starter Fred Lewis about becoming a member of the gate crew.
“I had asked Freddie if there was a shot for me to get on the gate,” Cibelli said. “I wanted to learn that aspect of the game because that was one thing that I hadn’t done. I was good with horses and reading horses. He got me involved and I have been there since.”
The job of being an assistant starter can be challenging, but Cibelli has used his knowledge, experience, instincts, patience and care with any horse going into the gate – whether it is in the morning during training or in the afternoon at the races – for that calming experience.
“I watch their actions to see if they are jumping around. I look at who is lathered up and who is extremely calm,” he said. “With the ones who are moving around a little bit, I pay attention to them a lot more.”
“I do a lot of talking to them,” he added. “I try to keep that calm gentle voice around them so they aren’t headstrong and might hurt themselves. The whole thing is being calm and patient with the horse, and to let them know that everything is OK.”
While Cibelli has been attentive to the horses entering the gate, there have been some tough moments, such as Pomeroy kicking him at the start before winning the King’s Bishop Stakes in 2004.
“One of the toughest parts of this job is when the horse rears up and goes over,” he said “Sometimes, you feel like it’s your fault and how you could have prevented it. These horses are 1,200-1,400 pounds. Once they make a move, it’s already done.”
“I think the biggest aspect is not getting hurt,” he added. “I have been kicked at the back of the gate while putting these horses in there. When I got kicked by Pomeroy, it was a little embarrassing since it happened on TV.”
Still, Cibelli has memorable moments of working with champion horses that include Curlin and Rachel Alexandra, both who he helped school in the gate before they won the Woodward Stakes in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Even then, those moments cannot happen without a solid gate crew.
“I think the biggest aspect is the teamwork you need to have in the gate,” Cibelli said. “Everyone has to know each other and how they can help each other. You need everybody on board. What we do in the morning, we bring it in the afternoon.”
The 62-year-old Cibelli, who lives about 1½ miles away from the Great Sacandaga Lake in Northville from April through November before going to Florida for the winter, started scaling back on his hours last year as he now works in the mornings on the Oklahoma Training Track.
Even though he has worked grueling days starting 6 a.m. to the last race, which could be as late at 7 p.m., Cibelli knows it has been worth it for everyone involved in the horse.
“It has been a long road,” he added. “It is a good feeling to know that you have done your part to make it easier for everyone around you. We have had some really good horse racing over the years and I am glad to be a part of that.”
