Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Grillmeister enjoying Standardbred Ownership

January 31, 2006

George Foreman has stood on the top podium at the Olympics with a gold medal around his neck. He has stood in the center of the boxing ring with his hand raised as heavyweight champion. And, yet, there is one more place that Foreman has always dreamed of standing after a victory – the winner’s circle.

Foreman, the 57-year-old former boxing champ turned grillmeister, has taken his first steps toward making his dream a reality. In November, he bought five harness racing horses at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and several weeks ago he turned them over to George Teague Jr., the trainer of 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue, to get them ready for competition.

"I’ve wanted to be in the winner’s circle all my life," said Foreman, who has a 500-acre ranch in his hometown of Marshall, Texas. "I’m so excited about this. I’m looking for big things to happen."

Foreman has been involved with Standardbreds since the mid-1970s. He jogged horses at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island, N.Y., while preparing for his second fight against Joe Frazier, and he has a track that is a little less than five-eighths of a mile at his ranch. He also has been known to race against friends in Marshall.

"That’s where the lies get bigger and bigger," Foreman said with a laugh. "All of a sudden I realized that these horses need to be on the track, not here with me. These are athletes that you have to respect, not pets. I wanted them to be able to show what they had. I always said that one day I would do this. It’s all about getting into the winner’s circle."

Last week, Foreman visited Teague at his training base at Harrington Raceway in Delaware and later had dinner while enjoying the races at Dover Downs. The affable Foreman turned down offers to have fans kept away during the evening, gladly signing autographs and posing for pictures.

"He’s real nice, a real gentleman," Teague said. "He was nice from the moment he got here, which was about 10:30 in the morning, until the time he left at 10 at night. He got to ride in the starting car and really enjoyed it. He sure is having fun with it. It’s great for the sport to have someone like him involved."

Foreman’s horses are Summer Shadow, Stunning Mama, Bisquit Hanover, Juliano Hanover, and Warrawee Iris. Summer Shadow is an Angus Hall colt while Stunning Mama and Bisquit Hanover are SJ’s Caviar fillies and Juliano Hanover is an SJ’s Caviar colt. Warrawee Iris is a Real Desire filly. Foreman selected the horses himself.

"I think heart is the most important thing," Foreman said. "You can see when an animal has heart. No matter what, they’re always trying to cross the finish line first. And it’s not about size. I fought a smaller guy who taught me all about that. His name was Muhammad Ali. You don’t have to tell me about heart."

Foreman, the 1968 Olympic heavyweight champ, won the professional heavyweight title in January 1973 by beating Frazier in their first meeting and successfully defended the championship twice before losing to Ali in the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" in Zaire in October 1974. Foreman retired in 1977 to become an ordained minister, but returned to the ring a decade later. In November 1994, the 45-year-old Foreman beat Michael Moorer to became the sport’s oldest heavyweight champ. He later retired with a 76-5 career record and registered 68 knockouts.

Teague, who has been training horses for more than two decades, said he wasn’t worried about conditioning horses for such a well-known owner – even one with a big punch.

"I don’t put too much emphasis on pressure," Teague said. "There’s pressure, anyway. You just do the best you can do and if something happens, you deal with it. This isn’t a given; it’s not easy. There’s a risk involved. He understands that part."

Foreman wanted Teague as his trainer specifically for his straightforward approach.

"Everyone told me to get hooked up with someone honest, someone who is going to tell you where it is," Foreman said. "George is like that. He will tell you what’s going on, good or bad. That’s all I can ask for."

Foreman said he isn’t looking for "instant gratification," but would like to someday compete in harness racing’s premier events like the Hambletonian or Little Brown Jug.

"Wouldn’t that be something?" Foreman said. "I’d just love to have a horse that could be in races like that, with all that history. None of my friends would be able to live with me."