Robyn Mangiardi fed her horses every night at the same time with either her or Chris Long returning late every night to check on those horses, fill waters if needed and make sure all the fans were off. 

Every day, it was the same routine. Morning chores, jogging, training and racing in the afternoons at Saratoga Raceway on the four race days at the Upstate New York half-mile oval. Every day, there was a mental plan for what had to be done, what needed to be handled before heading to the paddock, and who needed to do it. Between trainer Robyn Mangiardi, driver Chris Long, Robyn’s mother Laura Mangiardi, caretaker Cheyanne Mandy, and caretaker Yoselin Paola Castillo Cermeno, it is a team effort to get everything done at the right time and in the right way. 

Every day, Robyn and her team pulled into the stable gate, one at a time, and made their way to Barn 21. The barn fit 12 horses on her side with one stall dedicated to hay and grain, one for equipment and an office space. It was a single shedrow on one side, enclosed with walls, a large door for the wash stall and three doors for entry on the front side. The barn was shared with a similar shedrow on the backside, stabling seven horses for trainer Tim Benson. 

Every day, as with most horsemen, it was just the same thing. Get up and get the work done. It’s routine. It’s second nature. It’s home. 

On June 16, Robyn was awoken in the middle of the night to a phone call. It was about 2:30 a.m. and pitch-black outside. She grabbed for the phone and answered. Over the phone came the voice of her caretaker Paola, who, unfortunately, does not speak much English with Spanish as her primary language. She was screaming. She was incoherent. The only word Robyn could make out was, “Horse… horse!”

Chris Long was woken up by the phone call and Robyn talking. He asked Robyn what was wrong, to which she replied, “Nothing, Chris, it must be a loose horse. I’ll go over; you go back to sleep.”

As Robyn got up to head to the track, she could make out a second voice on the line, a male. He just kept cursing and swearing. The same thing, over and over again. At that point, she knew. Her heart sank. She just knew. She alerted Chris and said, “It has to be a fire, let’s go!”

As soon as she ran out of the house, wearing the same clothes she had on for bed, not ready at all, she could see the orange glow from over at the track. They jumped in the car and sped to the track as fast as they could. 

Upon arrival in front of Barn 21, the same barn she pulled into so many times before, there was a complete inferno. The barn was fully engulfed in flames that lit the whole sky up in orange and red. She screamed hysterically, knowing her horses were inside and there was nothing she could do. 

Two cops ran over to her and Chris and exclaimed, “We got your horses out! Don’t worry we got them out!”

Chris nearly fell to his knees and hugged them, thanking them repeatedly. The cop reassured them that they got the horses out, gesturing towards Barn 22. Chris, smiling and ecstatic that his horses were fine, motioned towards Barn 21 and confirmed that his horses were safe.

The faces of the officers dropped. They were not aware of the horses in that barn and upon their arrival, it was too late to help anyway. 

And that was that. Chris and Robyn now faced their greatest fear. It was the reason they made sure to come back at night to turn the fans off. It was the reason they made sure their barn was clear of fire hazards and any heating appliances. It was the reason they’ve always done everything right by their barn and their horses and now, even despite all of their precautions, they were facing their very worst fears. All they could do now was watch, feeling the heat of the fire on their faces, watching the fire roar as firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames while also dowsing the barn next door with water to protect it from going up in flames, too.  People rushed around, working, and Chris and Robyn just stood there in shock, knowing their horses and their stable they’ve built for the last 20 years was all gone. 

The light had come up and at 7 a.m., Robyn and Chris stood between the horse trailers adjacent to their barn, watching as it still smoldered. Smoke draped the sky like a black curtain and there was a horrible smell of that smoke and fire in the air. Nothing was left. The roof was caved in and the fate of the horses inside was clear. The sounds of screams suddenly filled the air, when owner Rick Cortese collapsed in Chris’ arms. Two other owners of horses trained by Robyn stood nearby, quiet, in shock. 

As the roof was peeled off and removed, first responders carefully placed white blankets over the remains of the horses inside. A long process of investigation was initiated and still, Robyn and Chris stood nearby. Finally, at about noon, Chris and Robyn were instructed to leave as the next part was not one to be witnessed. So, they got in the car and left. 

Seventeen horses died in Barn 21 on June 16 at the Saratoga Raceway. Eleven of those horses belonged to Robyn Mangiardi and Chris Long. Robyn trained every one of those 11 horses and she owned at least part, if not all, of each horse. Chris Long drove every one of those 11 horses. They were a team. Between Robyn, Chris, Laura, Cheyanne, and Paola, they were all well cared for and well loved.

Free Willy Hanover was the oldest horse involved in the Saratoga barn fire on June 16. At 13 years old, the gelded son of Credit Winner and the Dream Vacation mare Free Spirit was a veteran on the track and a gentleman in the barn. Hanover Shoe Farms bred the trotter and after a lengthy career with many different trainers, he had found his forever home with Mangiardi, who bought Free Willy Hanover along with owner Cortese in January 2024.

Cortese and Mangiardi enjoyed nine trips to the winner’s circle with Free Willy Hanover. His last start was on June 15, when Cortese called and asked for photos of the horse in post parade and on the track because he was preparing to retire him and find a forever home for him. The forever home he wanted was with Laura Mangiardi, at her local farm so he could visit any time he wanted. In that start, Free Willy Hanover was nabbed at the wire for the win by a neck, finishing second. In his career, he made 294 starts with $967,910 made and a record of 44-52-49.

“He was Willy, Willy Bear. He had a few different names we called him, but I can’t think of them right now. He was just really, really good for us,” said Robyn. “He was getting older and we were talking about his future. Rick loved that horse more than anything and he wanted my mom to keep him so he could come up and visit him any time.

“He was my horse to jog. I would jog here and there the others, but always jogged Willy. You would take him out on the track, he would walk as far as you’d let him. Sometimes, he would walk all the way towards the ramp to the main track and eat the trees as he was going by. He was a character. He was a good boy.”

For her birthday, Robyn surprised Cheyanne with the opportunity to jog him and warm him up before the races. It was her first time sitting behind a horse on her own and it was just one week before the fire.

“I’m so thankful to have that memory with him,” said Cheyanne.

Chris would feed Willy blueberry Munchkin doughnuts and even save him a part of his cinnamon raisin bagel, too. Chris loved him. Rick would feed pre-cut apples for hours, just staring at each other as if they were in love, according to Robyn. 

“I remember one day early in the winter he didn’t want to come back in the barn and made a full lap around the paddock, stop and roll in the mud. It took about an hour before he finally gave up and came to me. He was a beautiful animal,” added Laura.

Arlanda was eight years old, owned by Robyn in partnership with Anthony Loiko. Bred by Zeron Palermo Stable, James Walker, Dean Lockhart and Van Camp Trotting Corp, the gelded son of Kadabra and the Chapter Seven mare Chapter Heaven was foaled in Ontario. The only trainer to condition Arlanda before Robyn was Rick Zeron. 

Most of his starts were made under Robyn’s guidance and in line to Chris, with their having owned him since he was just three years old. He was another horse that Robyn would jog daily. He made 169 career starts with a record of 16-37-25 and $297,533. His mark of 1:56.3 was made at the age of five at Saratoga. His last win was on April 20 of this year.

“I don’t even know what to say about him, he was just one of the nicest little horses you could have. Just a pleasure. He really didn’t do anything wrong. He just did whatever you wanted him to do, he did it for you,” said Robyn. “Chris absolutely loved driving him. He was beautiful to drive. He was a try hard.”

Arlanda, known as Arly, was one of three known as the three Amigos to Laura. Along with Robyn’s recently passed retiree Outback Papeete as well as her recent retiree Northern Virgin, Arlanda would go out in Laura’s fields to play together. They were inseparable and loved each other. 

“I used to call him my little Amish horse because, like I said, he was my horse to jog and he would wait for me to get on the jog cart. He would not move until I got on the jog cart. I was just getting Gimlet Hanover spoiled, too, but I had Arly and Willy spoiled that they’d eat grass as I was unhooking them.”

“I called him a perfect horse because he didn’t do anything wrong,” added Laura. “He wouldn’t come running when you called him from the paddock, but when you shook a pail of nicker makers, he came running as fast as he could go.”

Conquest As was a nine-year-old bay gelded son of Conway Hall and the Kadabra mare Cordele As. Bred by Acl Stuteri Ab in Kentucky, he was purchased by Robyn in 2022 and with her, he made his greatest number of starts. 

In 166 starts, he earned $334,518 with a record of 26-27-25 and a mark of 1:54.3 taken at Woodbine Mohawk Park at the age of five. His last win was on May 11 and he had been taking a hiatus from racing since May 18.

“He was a character. He would make noises every time you put a harness on him. He was very talkative and very vocal. I don’t know where he learned to talk, but he would make so many noises,” said Robyn. “He loved to lay down. He would lay like a praying mantis with his knees up, just up on his toes. He was just a goofball and anything you had, he had to have it.”

Conquest As was known as Connie or Conman in the barn.

Gimlet Hanover was a four-year-old gelded son of Bar Hopping and the Donato Hanover mare Ginger Tree Bren. Hanover Shoe Farms bred the bay trotter and he was sold through the Standardbred Horse Sale in 2023. After two years with trainer Douglas Ackerman, Robyn purchased Gimlet Hanover in partnership with Donald Eccleston in October 2025. 

After a few hiccups at the start, Gimlet Hanover returned in 2026 with a fresh look at the track, finishing second in two starts before picking up his first win of the year. He went nine straight starts picking up cheques and a couple wins before making a break. The following week, he went to Vernon Downs and finished poorly. After coming back to Saratoga with a second, he ran into a three-start spell of eighth-place finishes. On June 15, one day before the fire, Gimlet Hanover won his qualifier, ready to return to racing. 

In his career, Gimlet Hanover made 41 starts with a record of 8-6-3 and $151,957 made. His mark of 1:55.2 was taken at the age of three at Pocono Downs.

“Gimmie was a good boy,” said Robyn. “He had a feisty attitude, so it was kind of hard to get really close to him, but I loved that little horse. He was just so timid and you had to work so hard to win his affection. He kind of became my horse. Chris and I fought over selling him many times and I guess I wish I did. I always wanted to keep him and keep trying with him. He was good for us this year until the last couple starts. 

“He was just so timid. Everything you did, you had to work get him to trust you. He had to eat outside. He loved hay cubes. He was a little bit of a picky eater, so you had to find things to get him to like to eat and the hay cubes were just his thing. Add in hay cubes and he ate all his food.”

Influencer was a four-year-old bay gelding and son of Muscle Mass and the Angus Hall mare Jjs Jordan. Bred by Winbak Farm, the trotter started his career in Canada under the guidance of Kyle Bossence. In September 2025, he was purchased by Robyn in partnership with Gary and Patricia Poirier along with their son, Derek Poirier. 

In 23 starts under Robyn's care and in line to Chris, Influencer only missed one cheque and hit the board 16 of those 22 times. Every week, his lines improved, lowering his mark to 1:59.3 this year. In his career of 35 starts, he had a record of 4-9-7 and $71,619 earned. His last start was on June 10 with a second-place finish.

“He was a sweetheart,” said Robyn. “Anybody could pet him. He loved people and loved to eat. He loved bananas and loved watermelon. He was a kid’s horse, maybe not to jog, but anybody could be around him in the barn. He was just a sweetheart, he really was. 

“He was just getting the hang of racing this year. Last year, when we bought him, we weren’t really sure if we were going to keep him over the winter, but the Poiriers' other horses were sold, so he lasted the winter. He was good this year. We gave him a little extra time and he was getting the hang of it.”

Laura tried to get the name Flu to stick as a nickname, but it didn’t work, so he was called Influey, pronounced as “In-floo-wee.” He was another one that Robyn regularly jogged.

“He was gentle giant, just the sweetest, nicest horse,” added Laura.

Crazy Jet was a five-year-old daughter of Crazy Wow and the Classic Photo mare Escrow Blue Chip, also owned in partnership by the Poiriers with Robyn. Bred by Vallelunga Z L and Jamie Marra Racing LLC, she was foaled in New York and bought out of the Goshen Yearling Sale for trainer Erv Miller. After only six starts with Miller, she was bought in October 2024, making 59 starts in total for Robyn. 

In her 65 lifetime starts, she earned $141,105, made a record of 9-14-16 and trotted to a career best time of 1:57.2 at Pocono Downs. She had gone winless since October 2025, dealing with racing against the boys as a mare trotter, outside posts and a few breaks. On June 15, one day before the fire, she finally got her win. After her win, her owners stayed with her for a few hours and fed her watermelon.

“We called her Jet or Crazy,” said Robyn. “She was a feisty little mare. She never could have her feed tub because she would just kick it right off the wall. We had to have a plastic gate on her because she would kick that, too. She kicked a brand-new steel gate right almost in half one day. She kicked terrible all the time. 

“She just loved to eat, that was her problem. Just loved to eat and at feed time, she would do that. She just had to have all her buckets on the outside. I don’t know. She was pretty nice, though. She was difficult in the beginning, but she turned out to be a really nice trotter for us.”

Lyons Dukey was purchased this year at the start of the year. He was a four-year-old gelding by Stay Hungry and out of the Sportswriter mare Princess Layla. Bred by M T Pockets Stables and Victoria Howard, he was foaled in Kentucky and raced by Canadian connections in the United States and Canada. About half of his starts were made with Robyn, starting in February of this year after she bought him in partnership with Cosmo DeMagistris, Nancy DeMagistris and Jennifer Russ. 

He earned a record of 4-6-8 and $65,062 from 34 lifetime starts with his mark of 1:52.3 taken at Mohawk at the age of three. Now four, his last win was on March 7. 

“Dukey, or sometimes known as Lyon, was a nice horse, tough to rig in the beginning, but we got him right. He had a little bit of health issues lately, but he was just starting to get healthy. As far as in the barn, he was a pain. He just always tried to test you. Everything, everything. You walk by his stall, he’d push you. You’d walk in his stall, he’d push you. He’d pull on your clothes and play. He loved to be turned out, he loved to have a friend. They all did.”

Muscle Dynasty was purchased by Robyn just in April of this year and he had made eight starts with her since. The eight-year-old gelded son of Muscle Hill and the Kadabra mare Miss Liv was bred by Steiner Stock Farm and raced under a number of trainers throughout his career of 135 starts. In that time, he banked $585,740 with a record of 29-18-17 and a mark of 1:52.2 taken at the age of six at Hoosier Park. 

His last win was in January with Walter Callahan at Dover Downs, but he finished second by a neck at Saratoga with Robyn on May 25. He was known as Muscle in the barn, though Robyn tried to get Doc to stick given his initials were M.D. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time in the barn for it to stick.

“We didn’t really know a lot about him. He was kind of a ‘leave me alone’ kind of horse. He just really didn’t settle in with us yet,” said Robyn. “He was kind of standoffish, just a serious horse, just all about his job. He was friendly when you had him on the crossties and he loved the attention, but in his stall, it was more like that was his place. Not mean at all, I had no mean ones, but he just wanted to be left alone in his stall. He was finally just starting to get comfortable and lay down.

“He was just a nice, big horse and loved the turn out time, too. He spent a lot of time at my mom’s farm.”

Robyn was also the only owner on Shalamar Hanover, who she bought at the start of this year, too. Shalamar Hanover was a four-year-old daughter of Cantab Hall and the Muscles Yankee mare Setntheworldonfire, bred by Hanover Shoe Farms. Cody and Todd Schadel had the mare for most of her career until 2026 when Robyn purchased her. 

She had 64 career starts, $164,798 earned, a record of 13-13-12 and a mark of 1:57.3 taken at the age of three at Pocono. Her last win was on May 19 at Saratoga with Robyn and Chris. In 16 starts for Robyn, she was only out of the money three times.

“We just called her Shalamar,” said Robyn. “She was a sweetheart and loved kisses. Chris used to kiss her like crazy. She absolutely loved kisses. She would never move away from him. Chris could give her a hundred kisses and she would just stand right there and take them. 

“On the crossties outside, she could be a bit tough. She almost double barrelled a couple times. Chris got it a couple times and then Paola got it a couple times. She was tough. She was a nice mare for us.”

Tropical Cyclone was another newcomer to Robyn and Chris’ barn. She was a tiny three-year-old filly by Big Jim and out of the Bettors Delight mare Hurricane Irene. Bred by Gregg McNair in Ontario, the filly started out her career as a sophomore with trainer Amanda Riley at Mohawk and Flamboro Downs. After a hard decision by her Canadian connections, the choice was made to sell the filly online. The winning bidder was Robyn in April of this year. 

She finished second in her Saratoga debut, then fifth in her next start and then, in what would become her one and only time in the Saratoga winner’s circle, she won on May 18 from wire-to-wire in 1:58.3. In only 16 starts in her young career, she had three wins, three seconds and a third with $35,273 earned and a mark of 1:57.3 taken at Mohawk. 

“We didn’t have her long enough,” said Robyn. “She was a tiny little mare. She would try hard, though, she really did. We called her Tropical or Trop. She didn’t have any quirks that we saw yet. She liked to kick at feed time, that was the biggest thing. She liked her food, but other than that, she really wasn’t settled in yet, either. She was a little pleasant mare, didn’t do much wrong, just a normal horse. I just didn’t get to know her enough. She liked to be pet, but not really lovey-lovey yet.”

Trackstar was the final horse in Robyn’s barn. He was only three years old and a son of Muscle Hill and the Father Patrick mare Oracle, bred by Hinkston Creek Farms. He only made six career starts, finishing second twice and third once with $9,402 earned. His sixth start was his first start for Robyn and his last ever start. 

“We didn’t know him very well, but he was our horse. He was just a pretty nice horse,” said Robyn. “He liked to bite at you as you walked by, but just a playful bite. He was always chewing on his stall webbing, too. Other than that, he was just a baby.”

The little things, the memories, are what Robyn and Chris and the entire Mangiardi Stable have to hold onto. The routines, the personalities and quirks of the horses they had, the day to day and more. One of Chris’ favourite things was to soak alfalfa pellets the night before and after breakfast, he would give everyone a little scoop and talk to each horse. It was one of those little things he loved to do. 

The list goes on. The memories live on. Every horse had a story, a lengthy one, one that could fill a book. Every day at the barn was something different. Robyn spent over 20 years in that same barn. 

After the fire, Robyn went through the barn to salvage some memories like a shelf built from horseshoes by her brother and the lawn jockey that was painted for Christmas two years ago as well as horseshoes left behind in each stall. Some things, like a set of custom browbands, were found in near perfect condition with just singed and melted ends or even the grain she had set out for breakfast for the next morning, still as if it was just set out right then. 

The horses that the first responders released from Barn 22 included three of Robyn’s in her overflow barn. One was sold after the fire and the other two were brought to Laura’s farm for some time off while Robyn and Chris grieved and processed everything.
All of Robyn’s horses were brought to Laura’s farm for turnout time each week. Each and every week, she hooked up the truck and trailer and loaded up different horses to go out with a friend. They would go out with Northern Virgin, too. Just to kick up their heels and have fun. 

This week, it was Charly Blue’s turn to be turned out. He was in that 12th stall, the only empty stall in the barn. Chris calls him the luckiest horse in the world. He would’ve been there, in that fire, but he was out with Northern Virgin at the farm. 

Moving forward, Chris and Robyn do plan to continue in the business. They want to honour the horses they have lost. They also hope to stay in Barn 21, facing the spot of their fallen barn, to be close to the horses they had lost. 

The only thing Robyn kept repeating on Tuesday morning, the only thing she asked for, was for her horses to be buried respectfully and at a nice place. And the track did just that for her and for all 17 horses.

The final resting place lies in a green grass field in between the racetrack and an enclosed field that horses around the track play in daily. The way Robyn described the final resting place was as if the horses were overlooking the track they raced on for so long, still watching the races of others. It’s as if they will be watching over the others and keeping an eye on things. 

The way the burial was handled was one of immense respect, planning and delicacy. Each horse was buried in their own individual plot, as opposed to a mass grave. Each plot was layered with a bedding of sawdust before the horses were placed on top, similar to the beds of sawdust they spent their lives in, rolling in, sleeping in and just living in. 

Each horse was moved one by one and buried with care, dignity and respect. After the burial was completed, a process that had taken over two hours, Lily Mattison, the daughter of trackman Boone Mattison who had assisted in the burial process, placed flowers on each grave site. 

When it’s completed, there is talk of enclosing the area, incorporating a statue and/or bench for a proper memorial park to honour the lives of these horses.

Now, Robyn just hopes something good can come out of all of it in the form of safety in the barns, so no one else has to go through what she did.

“If I can get anything out of this, it’s that people will wake up and know that this can happen in 20 seconds; it’s real. I need to know that my horses did not just die for nothing and that changes are made for safety,” concluded Robyn.

In tribute to the 11 horses from Robyn Mangiardi’s Stable: Arlanda, Conquest As, Crazy Jet, Free Willy Hanover, Gimlet Hanover, Influencer, Lyons Dukey Muscle Dynasty, Shalamar Hanover, Trackstar and Tropical Cyclone.

(Submitted Story)