"Dave said, 'Don't let the dollar value fool you. ... For $3,000, this one's a steal.'"
Although reluctant at first, Mike Guerriero took the plunge into horse ownership in 2007 and hasn't looked back. He now co-owns undefeated sophomore colt Hes Watching, a $3,000 bargain purchase who is eligible to for Canada's richest race, the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup.
"My father and my uncles have been [owning horses] for as long as I can remember," Guerriero was quoted as saying in Dave Briggs' latest Guelph Mercury article. "I've been fighting it and fighting it and fighting it and finally ... I cracked."
Guerriero first bought two yearlings in 2007, including Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots filly FBs Gal, when a friend took him to a sale at Mohawk.
"I don't know what it was, the atmosphere, the horses. I've always loved the horses," said Guerriero of his initial purchases. "I was like, 'God, OK, I'll try one.' I cracked, and I actually tried two."
One year later, he bought a share of Ontario stakes winner FBs Terror, a career earner of more than $440,000.
"Win or lose, I enjoy it. The fun is the atmosphere, the people [at the track]."