by Murray Brown

I have never met Dr. Nena Winand. However, we have “known” each other for the last few years through the sometimes-demonic entity called Facebook. Demonic, because sometimes it seems like Facebook insidiously takes over much of one’s being and causes one to spend much more time on it than is good for one’s well-being. Through this acquaintanceship, I have become certain that Winand has been stricken with the malady that I call equine fanaticism: more distinctly fanaticism of the harness horse variety.

How did this come to pass? Let’s start at the beginning.

Winand was born and raised in the then small town of State College, PA, home to the main campus of Penn State University. She does not come from a horse racing background. She was smitten with the love of horses from the very first time she was around them, in her case being exposed to the Percherons then in residence on the school’s campus. It was at the age of 13 that Winand decided that she wanted to spend her life being involved with large animals: more specifically with horses. She attended her hometown school, graduating with degrees in Animal Science and Veterinary Science from Penn State. She then went to Iowa State where she pursued research in virology.

She became a pathology resident and later a faculty member at Cornell University where she taught for the next 25 years.

In the interim, she and her husband Greg became the owners of a 17-acre farm in Groton, NY, only a short jaunt from Cornell.

It was perhaps through Facebook that she became enamored with harness racing. Two of her earliest friends on Facebook were Iowa harness racing devotees Royal and Barbara Roland. She began to follow the Iowa fair circuit and became intrigued with the sport. The Rolands had planned to come east to attend the Morrisville yearling sale. They made arrangements to meet Nena there.

It was at the same sale, two years later, where Nena made her first harness horse purchase. She had been wanting to get involved for some time. The prevailing advice had always been that if one were going to become involved in the sport, the best way to begin would be to get involved with older horses who were already racing.

Not one to take good advice, Nena met Charlie Longo, founding member of Winners Circle Racing partnership group and with them became part-owner of the yearling filly Summer Storm. Summer Storm turned out to be an adequate first purchase. She took a trotting record of 1:56.3 and has earned over $36,000. Now 5, she is still racing, but hasn’t hit her best form yet this year.

Summer Storm was Nena’s first purchase, but far from her last. She has since bought into several more. At present she has seven in training and boards six at her farm.

Let’s begin with your six residents at the home farm, specifically Lady Mattgalane.

“You might say that I am horse poor and you would undoubtedly be right. They are not all harness horses. We have two retirees, the now 15-year-old gelding Archangel Hanover, the 21-year-old Winners Only and the pride of the group, 19-year-old Lady Mattgalane. There was quite a circuitous route leading to my becoming the owner of Lady Mattgalane. She was initially bred and raised by Hanover Shoe Farms. She was purchased by Perretti Farms and Clay Horner for $50,000 at the 2005 New Jersey Classic yearling sale. She turned out to be a fortuitous purchase becoming a Grand Circuit Stakes winner with earnings of $378,257. After her racing days were over, she entered the Perretti Farms broodmare band. One might be inclined to say that, at least initially, she was a disappointment as a broodmare. Her first six foals did little of consequence.

“It was only after she was switched from Rocknroll Hanover to Bettors Delight that she in effect hit paydirt. Her seventh foal, Velocity Lady, did not race until she was 4, but then took off. She is now racing in Ohio. She has a record of 1.49.4f and has earned in excess of $220,000. Lady Mattgalane was part of the 2013 dispersal of Perretti Farms and was purchased by Mark Evers. She was subsequently sold to the Amish for whom she toiled on the road and became a prospective broodmare. She became lame and was thought to be barren when I purchased her from a New York horse dealer for $700 to prevent her from going through a low-end auction.

“The so-called barren mare turned out to be in foal to an unknown Percheron stallion. On August 1, 2021 she gave birth to a big strapping colt who I named Cantore. Cantore is about to be shipped to R.J. Bradford at Lone Birch Stables who will train him as a riding horse. Initially, I had no plans to breed Lady Mattgalane. The plan was to allow her to live out her days at our farm. As I became aware of her lineage, I became intrigued with the idea of raising a foal from her. Last year, she was booked to So Surreal. She was bred to him through two heat cycles and failed to catch. I decided to revert back to plan one.

“As time went on and Velocity Lady continued to race well, I decided to give her one more shot, this time to Velocity Lady’s sire Bettors Delight. There were several issues to go through to get there though. The first was money. How was I going to pay the high stud fee that Bettors Delight commanded? A close cousin of mine, Lydia Ann Miller, had recently passed and bequeathed me an inheritance. If I decided to go ahead with the mating that would be used to pay the stud fee. I reached out to Blue Chip Farms — the stallion manager of Bettors Delight — to attempt to get a booking. That was granted and plans were made to ship her to Blue Chip to be inseminated. She is now safely in foal and will soon be back domiciled with us. She is due to foal on Feb. 24, 2024.”

You have seven head in training today. How do they stack up?

“We have four at Vernon Downs which isn’t too far from us. We have two with Rob and Patti Harmon including a 2-year-old International Moni colt that we bought at Harrisburg last year. The preliminary reports on him are quite promising. We also have one racing in Minnesota. In a relatively short period of time, we have managed to cover a decent geographical swath: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Minnesota with Ontario to look forward to.

“We rarely leave the farm mostly because of the responsibilities of horse ownership require that we be around. I follow harness racing, specifically our horses, avidly. I watch The Meadowlands, Pocono, Chester, the New York tracks, Iowa racetracks and Running Aces regularly. Of course, I follow Velocity Lady’s races without fail. I enjoy cooking and love exploring different food venues. Caring for the horses, which I regard as a true labor of love, following just about every facet of harness racing and cooking make for a pretty full life.”

Have you had any people who you regard as your teachers?

“Actually, you are one of them. I read your columns and posts on Facebook without fail. Rarely does a day go by when I don’t pick up something of value. Another that I follow is Bob Marks as well as Clay Horner and Rick Armstrong. I miss Ronnie Gurfein. Also, such people as Charlie Longo, the extended Roland family from Iowa, Rob and Patti Harmon and Sarah and Joe Osmeloski, New York trainers that are neighbors of mine.”

If all goes as planned, you will be getting a new arrival next year. What are your plans as of now?

“If she carries safely, she will be shipped to Cornell approximately a month before her due date where she would foal. I’m hoping for a filly, but I will be more than happy to get whatever comes, so long as it is healthy. Lady Mattgalane has carried her age well. Although she is 19, if you were told that she is only five you would have no problem accepting that.

“I’m hoping for a filly for two main reasons. The first is that I hope to continue the line. The second is that based on my experience with Cantore, I have my doubts about my ability to raise an entire stud colt. Cantore got quite rambunctious at a relatively young age necessitating that he be promptly gelded. I see very little, if any advantage to raising a Bettors Delight gelding. Regardless of whether it’s a colt or filly it won’t be destined for any ownership other than my own. I hope to raise it myself and even perhaps to begin its ground training before sending it for race training. But that is a long way in the future.”