Emily Bost was in college and knew nothing about harness racing when she answered a newspaper help-wanted ad for a racehorse caretaker at Pocono Downs. Bost, who had previous experience with horses thanks to her years as a competitive rider, fell in love with the Standardbreds.
Two decades later, Bost is in her sixth year as a trainer and will head to Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs on Saturday seeking the most lucrative win of her career when she sends Big City Daisy behind the gate in the $68,493 Bobby Weiss Series final for three-year-old female pacers. Bost took care of the filly’s mom, Big City Betty, in the three years prior to getting her trainer’s license, making the moment even more significant.
“It’s special because of the family tradition, with her mother, and just developing this horse from a baby,” said Bost. “It holds a really special place in my heart to have the opportunity to train one of [Big City Betty’s] babies. I love it.”
Big City Daisy, a daughter of stallion Always B Miki, has won two of five races this year and is 9-2 on the morning line in Saturday’s Weiss. She will start from post six with driver Jim Pantaleano, who guided the filly to a lifetime best 1:53.3 victory last week in the series.
Last season, Big City Daisy won one of seven starts and did not race after Sept. 4.
“We kind of took our time with her,” said Bost, who owns Big City Daisy with Steve Salerno and breeder Bruce Potter. “I think she had a lot of growing and maturing to do; more physically, and maybe a little mentally. But we always liked her. She always had the speed, but she started making breaks. I’m hoping the time we gave her helped. So far so good. She’s got two wins under her belt, and that’s great.”
When she’s not doing her work, Big City Daisy enjoys taking long naps. At first, the behaviour concerned Bost a bit.
“Then she started winning races and I thought, obviously, she just likes selfcare,” the trainer said with a laugh.
Big City Daisy’s mother was trained by Salerno, who owned the pacer with Potter during her racing days. She was a winner on the Grand Circuit and earned $185,987 lifetime.
“I see a lot of similarities in them,” Bost said about Big City Betty and Big City Daisy. “Betty was a sweetheart, just lovely to jog and train. She had great quick speed.”
Bost also is preparing Big City Daisy’s half-sister Big City Maybelene for her two-year-old season.
“They have a great work ethic, all three of them,” said Bost. “They try to please. They’ve been a pleasure to work with.”
Bost has nine horses in her stable, including Diamante Hanover, who competes in Tuesday’s $20,000 (USD) Weiss Series consolation for three-year-old female trotters.
“I’m happy,” said Bost. “We’ve been trying to branch out to younger horses because I really enjoy the process of developing them and seeing them through. And hopefully seeing them succeed or hit some milestones.”
Bost has won 67 races in her career as a trainer and seen her purse earnings increase each of the past three years. Last season, her horses banked $248,879.
“We’ve been progressively making the stable a bit larger every year,” said Bost, who is based in Northeast Pennsylvania, not far from Pocono Downs. “I’m not looking to scale up too much, but I’m certainly hoping to keep the upward trend continuing. That would be fantastic. I’m very grateful for the opportunities Bruce Potter has provided. He has sent some lovely horses my way.”
Bost was born in Baltimore and lived there until the age of 10 when she moved with her family to Pennsylvania, near where she is located today.
“I was always a horse-crazed child, but I didn’t know about harness racing,” said Bost. “I did a lot of competitive riding, and I was in the barn every day all day. Something about horses was in my blood.
“When I saw the ad in the paper for a caretaker at Pocono, I thought it sounded cool, to get paid to be around horses. Up to that point, in the riding aspect of things, you pay to be with the horses. It’s all money out. The prospect of having a job working with them, it was an absolute yes, and I just fell in love with the breed.
“I worked for multiple trainers over a 20-year period in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania. I met some great people. I decided several years ago that I was going to get my trainer’s license rather than just continue to be a groom. I had some money saved, I had some investors, so I started my own stable. We’ve been plugging along since then. Steve has been a huge help to me as a resource. It’s been a great growth experience.”
Now, Bost will look forward to watching Big City Daisy in the Weiss final.
“We did not expect this,” said Bost. “I think she’s feeling good. She has some real quick speed, but I think she’s still putting it all together. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
“This is like a dream come true. I’m basically back in the town where I grew up, doing my dream job. It’s pretty amazing.”
Racing begins at 1 p.m. (EDT) at Pocono Downs. A free race program, courtesy the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, is available here.
(USTA)