Michigan’s David Omicioli, owner of the successful mare Turbo Diva, recently reached out to The Raceway at Western Fair District after reading up on some profile pieces that the London, Ont. track has been producing.

“We’re also on lockdown,” Omicioli reported. “Hopefully we see a vaccine developed soon for this coronavirus. I miss my horses and I miss hanging out at the racetracks.”

Turbo Diva raced in London for trainer Tim Myers and now finds herself stabled in Hamburg, New York. “She was able to race one time at Buffalo Raceway (a fourth-place finish on March 11) before that track closed,” Omicioli said. “My cousin (Frank Mahiques) is now training her there. She’s enjoying her life in Buffalo. There’s a pool, a walker and a ten-acre paddock at the farm. Plus, she also has a new best friend in Mya – my cousin’s nine-year-old granddaughter. Buffalo is scheduled to re-open (on) May 2, but I think that could be just a mark on the wall.”

Omicioli has raced pacers Qarma Blue Chip and Surf Report (both trained by Myers) at the Western Fair District over the last few seasons, and he’s also enjoyed watching and cheering on Reel, a Preferred-class pacer conditioned by Myers. “I really like that big horse. He rarely seems to get an easy trip, but he’s always a contender whenever he races.”

Myers and Omicioli now co-owns a two-year-old that was purchased at the London Selected Yearling Sale last fall. “There’s a funny story how I bought him,” Omicioli chuckled. “My oldest son Nick, Tim and I were at the sale and we weren’t having any luck buying a yearling on that final Sunday, but we liked a few horses that were going to sell late. So getting a bit restless, Tim says ‘Let’s go look at those yearlings we picked out.’ Then, after looking over those potential stars again – for a third or fourth time – we returned to the sales arena. We chose a spot up high in the bleachers. Tim, Nick and I had just sat down when we saw that a yearling was stuck on a price of $3,000. Now I just knew it was a Control The Moment (yearling) and I didn’t even have my catalogue open, but Nick did, so I turned to Nick and asked ‘Do you think the horse is worth $4,000?’ Nick replied, ‘I think so!’ So I raised my hand and I got the horse for $4,000.

“I was thinking, at the time, even if he didn’t make it as a racehorse (that) I’d get my $4,000 back. Nick said, ‘You should have seen Tim’s face!’ Tim was a little upset with me because we didn’t even go look at the horse beforehand and I remember as we walked down the bleacher stairs to go sign the sales slip Tim asked me if it was a colt or a filly. I turned to him and said, ‘Hell, I don’t even know!’ Nick and I laughed about it all the way back to Michigan.”

Trainer Jim Jarvis and his son Dillon had been with the three gentlemen at the sale earlier on the weekend. “They were with us, but they had to leave because Dillon had hockey,” Omicioli said. “Dillon told me on the way out that he wanted in if I bought anything, so now Dillon and Tim are going to be added to the ownership line with me. It should be fun!”

And the yearling sale story doesn’t quite end there.

“Nick had suggested a name change to ‘Just Trust Me Tim,’ but I’ve come to like his registered name of ‘Thatmomentinlife.’ Anyhow, the colt is doing well and he paces right along free-legged. We have him paid up for the Ontario Sires Stakes and hopefully we’ll be talking about his sale story and some racing stories in the years to come!”

(Shannon ‘Sugar’ Doyle for The Raceway at Western Fair District)