by Murray Brown

It was on Dec. 20, 2020 when I first wrote a column with Sam Bowie. It seems like so much longer. The world then was in the midst of a terrible pandemic through which its residents had never before seen. It is now going on five years later and although the worst days of COVID-19 are well past, things in this world of ours are far from settled – now mostly from a political and trade standpoint.

Nevertheless, two of the most influential areas in Bowie’s life, harness racing and basketball, still occupy prominent places.

It’s on the eve of the NCAA’s Final Four and the time when most stables are preparing for the stakes season to come that we got together for this conversation.

When I last wrote about you, you had just finished a terrific 2-year-old season with your great filly Hot Mess Express. After a racing career where she earned $949,284, she is now a broodmare, having given birth to her first foal a colt by Captaintreacherous a few weeks ago.

“I don’t own her anymore. I sold her to a group organized by and including Myron Bell. I’ve dabbled in the breeding arena, but I decided it’s not for me. I much prefer the action of racing. I don’t have the patience required to wait the years involved in waiting to see what the future might bring.”

Which leads to my next question. How is your racing stable presently constituted?

“Right now, I have three head in training. Six-year-old Energetic Hanover ($428,421) is the backbone of the operation. He is a solid open pacer who is just getting ready to qualify. He is with Tony Alagna with who he has been since I first bought him.

“Tony and his late mom Donna Lee have guided him successfully all the time that I’ve owned him.

“I also own a lightly raced Catch The Fire 3-year-old Catch The Express that I bought late last season and a Catch The Fire 2-year-old My Boy Pank.

“Both those two are with Ronny Gillespie. They are in Ohio and hopefully will be factors in the Ohio Sires Stakes this coming season.

“I’m always on the lookout for something new. I watch racing from all over on a daily basis.

“When I see a horse that catches my eye, I’m not hesitant to contact its owner to see if it’s for sale. I thought I had one bought a week ago. We agreed on a price. I was going to New York to look at the horse. A couple of nights previous, the owner called me to say that he wanted $40,000 more than what we had agreed upon. I told him thank you, but no thanks.”

I don’t know many people who have a greater interest in harness racing and a greater love for the sport than you do.

“I just love the game; everything about it. But especially the part of it that most people do not see.

“Here in Florida, I’m often at Sunshine Meadows six mornings a week. I love learning as much as I can absorb. I enjoy watching the babies make the transition from just learning their lessons to becoming the great racehorses which I believe that some of them will become. I love being the proverbial fly on the wall overhearing the conversations about the history and breeding of our great horses between people like Myron, Tom Merriman and you. I cherish the many great friends I have made through my involvement in the sport. We generally stay in Florida until early May when we move to Lexington where we will stay until after the sales in October.

“In Kentucky, it’s more of the same, except that my base of operations has switched from Sunshine Meadows to The Red Mile.

“Those that I learn from there have switched to Bobby Stewart, Steve Waller and the recently passed Mike Zeller. Later on, when Grand Circuit racing starts, I like to spend as much time as I can possibly find with all the stars of the game.

“When I think back, I’ve transitioned from being friends with the Campbells, O’Donnells and Pierces to the Dexter Dunns, the McCarthy brothers and Jason Bartletts.

“Of course, being in Lexington I also spend a good deal of time following basketball, specifically University of Kentucky basketball.”

Let’s pick up there. UK has had a significant change in its basketball fortunes this season.

“It certainly has been rewarding and a great deal of fun to be a UK fan this season. I cannot stress how much of a great job that Mark Pope has done as our coach. Nobody, I stress nobody, could have done better. It’s no secret that he wasn’t our first choice. He was probably our third or maybe even our fourth pick.

“I have no doubt that if he had even been our twentieth choice, he still would have come here and done great things for the program. Such is that guy’s love for UK and its basketball traditions. This guy was born to lead UK. Nobody bleeds Kentucky Blue more than he does.

“He played here, being captain of the champion 1995-96 team. The team he inherited this season was non-existent. There was not a single returning member of last year’s Calipari team.

“What did Mark do? He built his own team made up of players he brought in through the portal and a couple of freshmen.

“What did the team do? They acquitted themselves extraordinarily well in college basketball’s toughest conference the SEC and made it to the Sweet Sixteen, something that the previous Calipari teams loaded with blue chippers had failed to do.

“I have often said that the University of Kentucky has the greatest fans and yet the most unrealistic fanbase of any school.

“Yet in only one season, Mark Pope has won them over. The future of UK basketball is very promising.”

Let’s talk about the competition. The basketball world has been enthused by a freshman by the name of Cooper Flagg. What are your thoughts on this young man?

“Using only one word, I would say fantastic. I am so very impressed by this exceptional kid. Just about everything that people say about him is so and maybe even more so.

“Just think, he entered the season as a highly touted 17-year-old.

“In this era of the portal and NIL, he was expected to compete with grown men in their mid-20s. Not only has he done so extremely well, but he has shown an extraordinary maturity in his game. He is respectful, well beyond his years. Many young people are inclined to become frustrated. I have yet to see any of that from him.

“I am not a person who is ordinarily starstruck by anybody.

“I have been privileged to have met and known many great people, both on the basketball court and off of it. Nevertheless, I would be privileged to meet this young man and shake his hand.”

The Final Four begins on Saturday. Who are your picks?

(Editor’s note: We did publish this question and answer in our Friday, April 4 issue just so it was documented prior to the Saturday games)

“In the first game I like Florida to defeat Auburn. Of course, a lot will depend on the physical readiness of Auburn’s star Johni Broome. If Broome is alright, it should be one heck of a game.

“In the second game I like your Duke Blue Devils over the University of Houston. I just believe they are bigger, faster, deeper and yes, better.

“In the final, I like Duke to win it all.

“When I watched our UK team defeat Duke early this season, I thought to myself ‘This team barely resembles the team we will see by the time the tournament comes along. They start three freshmen who have barely played a dozen games in the totality of their careers. Those freshmen, plus two others are now battle proven stars.’”