by John Berry

Get the trombones out, longtime horseman Jim Mattison, now approaching his 76th birthday is looking and feeling spry as ever these days and, though now retired, still has a love for the sport and its equine athletes.

Mattison is very concerned that the best days of our sport are gone, but continues to be outspoken when it comes to several aspects of the sport — the main one being about safety for its participants.

Thanks so much for your time and input on a very touchy subject matter. First, though, how did you get your start in the business?

“Well, I’m a Vermont guy and my folks bought me a racehorse [Lebanon Boy], I was 12 years old at the time. In fact, the horse was older than I was. He didn’t set any track records or anything but that’s when the bug bit me, so to speak.

“I have had a lot of family in the business, and after serving in the Army in 1971, I met a gentleman by the name of Emile Johnson, Jr.

“He was looking for a young trainer and I was looking to do some good for an owner, so it was kind of a mutual thing.”

Don’t you mean ‘pari-mutuel?’

“Great line! We became partners and, in all the years we’ve been together, we’ve never had a disagreement; pretty amazing. 

“Emile Johnson, Jr. was, you could say, a blessing for me when we met and we’ve had a good bit of success over the years, but we had a lot of family in the business, so it was in all of our family blood. The only Mattison that wasn’t in the business was my father.

“In fact, my uncle Wallace Mattison, is going to be 101 years old on Sept. 4, pretty amazing, he was the one who introduced me to jogging.”

The USTA’s Ken Weingartner wrote about the horse you two owned early on, Mar Con Cadet. How long ago did you have that horse?

“Yes, that goes back 50 years or so in New Hampshire in their Sire Stakes. He won over $100,000 and that was a pretty good start for us.”

Since then, you’ve owned some pretty nice racehorses like Hypnotize, Pan Prix, Century Endeavor and, of course, Panocchio. What can you tell me about them?

“Hypnotize was just a terrific mare and she dominated the Pompano open class for the mares — and they had some great mares in there like Tintabella [N] and a couple of other Down Under mares.

“As for Panocchio, well, I guess the only way to put it is, there are some horses that sustain you so you can survive in the business, and there may be one that changes your life. Panocchio was the one that changed our life. He was the one horse that changed our life and, in our eyes — Vicky’s [Jim’s wife] and mine — that was Panocchio.

“I told Vicky that he was so smart that, one day, he might talk to us. Vicki always said ‘That there will never be another like him.’ She was right.”

Am I correct that you got him out of the sale for $23,000 after his 2-year-old season and, eventually, set the track record at Pompano Park, 1:48.3?

“Yes, he won more than 75 races, over $690,000, and he was our once-in-a-lifetime horse.

“We visit him whenever we go up north in the summer months and he looks as great as ever in retirement at [Michelle Clarke’s] farm. He looks great, they ride him a lot, he’s won ribbons, but he looked so good when we saw him just a few days ago that he could go behind the gate to race tomorrow.”

OK. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty here. You wrote me a note recently about the severity of accidents lately on our tracks. What would you like to say about that?

“Yes, and it’s been on my mind for a long time. This sport can be very rewarding, but it also is very dangerous.

“These horses are traveling in very close quarters and at [literally] break-neck speed these days and, yes, just like in every sporting event, there are going to be accidents, and I really believe that many could be avoided.”

But isn’t it fair to say that accidents have been a part of racing for over a century? Pop Geers died in an accident back over 100 years ago at a fair honoring him, and, of course, we don’t have to remind you of Billy Haughton, Shelly Goudreau, Smullin and others, and most recently Hunter Myers.

“Hal Belote, too, and how many accidents are there that cause injury? Fifty times that, 100 times that?

“I truly believe that many of these accidents can be avoided, and the removal of the hub rail has helped.”

Why do you think this all started?

“Well, the drivers are the ones getting into these wrecks and I notice that the handholds are in the driver’s lap. The only power a driver has is in front of the buckle, and they lean back so far these days. You can’t tell me, or convince me, that the driver’s vision isn’t impaired and impacted.

“If you’ve never played tug-of-war, the winner is always the one who grabbed the highest on the rope and then pulled. If you ever want to try something, put the handholds way back while jogging and zero in on something and see your reaction time. Then, put the handholds in front of you and see how quickly you react.”

I guess that sounds plausible. Anything else?

“My next pet-peeve is lameness.

“You know, a lot of us like to use Wally [Hennessey]. He is one of the best and complete horsemen that we all know. The great thing about Wally is that he’s a complete horseman both on and off the track.

“I saw him in the paddock one night looking at his catch-drive saying, ‘Looks like the hobbles are an inch longer this week.’ He notices everything and, if he sees that his horse is not going as he should [showing some lameness], he’ll send him back to the paddock and recommend he be scratched.

“It’s a horse’s health above the money, as it should be. Trainers try and make sure that everything is in order when the horse goes on the track.

“A lame horse has no business on the track! Not only doesn’t he have a chance to get a check, the horse puts others in danger at the same time. Yes, the money aspect is important — the most important in most everyone’s eyes — but one bad step can end the race and career, as well as the other horses in the race, both physically and mentally.”

In Part 2, Mattison will share a few more of his thoughts on the sport.

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU