HEADING INTO THE LAST WEEK OF THE SARATOGA RACE COURSE SEASON, it’s common for many college students to leave their jobs at the track and head back to the dorm and classroom. For many of those students, the goal was making some money. For others like Evan Anouna, it was about an educational experience.
Every day from 5-11 a.m., and sometimes longer for racing days, Anouna spent most of his summer in a learning setting by working for Todd Pletcher, under the guidance of foreman Justin Miller. Along with doing a variety of tasks that included hot walking horses and assisting grooms, Anouna learned a lot more about his skill set of handling and working with horses.
“The reason I like working for him [Miller] is that in the past when I work for anybody, they expect you to know what they want to do,” Anouna said. “He actually took the time to teach the way things are done around here. I have gotten better at bandaging horses, and I noticed that my handling skills have gotten a lot better.”
Before leaving for the State University of New York at Morrisville for his last semester as a senior in the racing management program, the 21-year-old from East Brunswick, N.J. had walked with two winners for Pletcher: Wooderson, the half-brother to Hall of Fame mare Rachel Alexandra, and claimer Bon Raison.
Anouna’s path to working with Thoroughbreds has been a unique one. Along with riding and being around horses since he was six years old, he became a self-taught handicapper by coming to Saratoga Race Course while visiting his grandparent’s lake house in Galway. Today, along with blogging on handicapping races throughout the country, Anouna also is part of a handicapping radio show.
“I have always been a fan of racing,” he said. “As I got more involved, I started learning more. I actually taught myself to handicap by watching the races. There are very few things about this game that I don’t know.”
Continuing to learn more about horses and races, Anouna commuted to Monmouth Park during the latter part his senior year of high school to work for Douglas Nunn. Anouna quickly learned about working with horses are the long hours, especially if the stable is short on help.
“When I was still working for Nunn, one of my co-workers got into a biking accident and was in a hospital for a week. So I had to come in and cover his horses. I would come in at 3 a.m., and since I was also working the races, I didn’t get finished until 8 p.m. It is basically a 24/7 job, even if it’s not your hours.”
After graduating from high school, Anouna wasn’t considering college until his mother suggested the idea. He explored the handful of thoroughbred racing and equine industry college programs throughout the country that include the University of Arizona, the University of Louisville, and even Blue Grass Community and Technical College for the North American Racing Academy that once featured Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron.
However, Anouna was looking for a program in which he could work with active racehorses in the Northeast, and that’s when he found SUNY Morrisville.
“I wanted to work in the industry while I was still in school. This was a requirement,” he said. “I also didn’t want to go that far away. I did applied to Blue Grass Community College and got accepted, but I didn’t want to work with retired Thoroughbreds, though, it would have been nice to have Chris McCarron as a professor.”
Over the last 3.5 years at SUNY Morrisville, Anouna has taken advantage of every educational opportunity that includes being a teaching assistant for freshmen and receiving his exercise riding license, which was a challenging and lengthy two-year process.
“The problem is you have to develop your skills outside the racetrack,” Anouna said about working on his exercise riding license. “There’s not a lot of places to do that. Luckily, I was able to develop my skills at school before I was able to go out on the track.”
Shortly after earning his license, Anouna had an opportunity to work with one of Morrisville Stable’s horse at Finger Lakes: The Giant Is Lit. Anouna knew this is one of the things he wanted to do in this industry.
“There is something about having a half-ton animal just thundering underneath you that gets my blood pumping. I was smiling from ear to ear,” he said. “I wanted to continue working as an exercise rider.”
While Anouna was working on his exercise riding license, he was also recommended for a fellowship through the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development program, which allowed him to work at Saratoga for one of the trainers for a stipend and housing at Skidmore College over the summer. He couldn’t pass on the opportunity of working for the top racing stables in the country.
“When [New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Executive Director] Tracy Egan asked me what I wanted to do, ideally, I told her I would like to train and ride on the NYRA circuit,” Anouna said. “When she asked me if I wanted to work for Todd [Pletcher], I said, ‘Sure.’”
Anouna has just four months remaining at SUNY Morrisville. While Anouna would like to exercise horses after graduation, he is willing to explore other possibilities on the East Coast that includes working for Pletcher or any other trainer within the New York circuit, New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic or even Florida.
“I would to continue to work as an exercise rider,” Anouna said. “This is kind of a fallback. If I work here, it will take a long time for me to advance. I honestly don’t know what I want to do. I would like to keep my options open.”
