A Lover And A Fighter

Moving from Quebec to Ontario at age 17, Tanya Mitchell was looking to fulfil her dream of making a life working with horses. Now, 25 years later, Tanya has done just that, at the highest level.

Along the way, among other things, Tanya found and fell in love with her favourite horse, lost her favourite horse, got him back again years later, got cancer, beat cancer, and watched her horse die. Tanya has come through it all however, with help from the community around her, and can truly be considered to be the epitome of the word ‘horseperson’. By Keith McCalmont.

For just a moment, take a deep breath, shut out the rest of the world and meditate on what is truly the best part of your day.

For longtime horsewoman Tanya Mitchell, the answer is simple.

“First thing in the morning at the barn is my favorite time of day,” said Mitchell. “I usually get to the barn around 4:45 a.m. regardless of whether I raced anything the night before.

“I like the quiet,” she continued. “It’s just the horses and me. It’s therapeutic.”

For one glorious hour each morning, Mitchell walks the shed row at trainer Ben Baillargeon’s barn and revels in the solitude of taking care of the herd.

“There’s nobody there and you get so much done,” she continued. “I have a routine and if it gets messed up it messes me up for the rest of the day. I do their feed tubs and water pails. I talk to them like they’re human and I swear they understand me sometimes. They understand the tone. And they look for me, not just because I feed them breakfast.”

Mitchell’s bliss is hard earned. She left home at 17 and gave up post-secondary education to pursue a life at the track. She burned the candle at both ends, all the while honing her horsemanship.

She fell in love – albeit with a bay pacer named Lennon Blue Chip – and she battled cancer and won.

As far as Mitchell is concerned, 2020 has nothing on the hardship she endured just three short years ago.

“2017 was a shit year,” the 42-year-old said Mitchell emphatically.

But a quarter century in racing passes in the blink of an eye and in the midst of a pandemic, Mitchell finds herself as the caretaker of a murderer’s row of horses that includes OSS Super Final winner Rhythm In Motion, OSS Grassroots champion HP Mama B, along with OSS Gold winners Voelz Delight and HP Royal Theo.

“I’m so grateful to the Baillargeons for entrusting me with these horses,” said Mitchell. “If it weren’t for horses I don’t know where I’d be. I treat every one of them to the best of my ability because they deserve it whether they’re stakes horses or overnight claimers.”

The Baillargeon barn is red hot this year with 96 wins as of press time; good for third in the Woodbine Mohawk Park trainer standings, sitting within striking range of stables that sent out nearly double their modest number of starters.

“I got really lucky,” said Mitchell, who also rubs veterans Traceur Hanover and Zig Zag. “Most people are happy to have one really good stakes horse and I had four. And my older horses made almost $100,000 each this year, too. It’s unheard of, for me.”

* * * *

Mitchell grew up in Montreal but found her home at the racetrack.

“In high school, I would take two buses and a subway after school to go to the racetrack and paddock a horse for $25,” said Mitchell. “Horses were definitely a passion.”

After finishing high school and enduring two months of college, Mitchell hitched a ride to Ontario with a friend and found a place to live in the dorms at Mohawk.

“A friend of mine was coming to Ontario to work with the horses and I just decided I was coming with her,” said Mitchell. “I’ve been here ever since.

“My first job here was for Eddie Howard. I traveled a bit in the States and wintered in Florida. It’s been an adventure,” added Mitchell with a laugh. “I was wild from the time I was 17 until I was 24. It was working, partying and sleeping. I don’t know how I did it. I couldn’t do now, what I did then.”

Mitchell spent six years working with multiple O’Brien Award-winning trainer Casie Coleman, a period of her life she credits with sharpening her skills beyond just a love for the horses.

While working for Coleman, Mitchell was the caretaker of McWicked, who retired last year as the richest pacing stallion in harness racing history and open class pacing mare Monkey On My Wheel, a Breeders Crown and O’Brien Award winning millionaire.

“When I first started for her [Casie], I had all the problem children with lameness and other issues and it made the wins that much better,” said Mitchell. “Casie always had great horses. You learn more with those horses. Horses don’t go lame from not trying. The ones that try get all the issues and you learn a lot with the ones that need the most help.”

In August 2010 at the Meadowlands, Coleman claimed Lennon Blue Chip, two years removed from a fifth-place finish to Somebeachsomewhere in the North America Cup, while under Coleman’s care, and shipped him home to Ontario.

“A girl I worked with said to me, ‘you’re going to love this horse,’” recalled Mitchell. “I told her I love all horses, but she just shook her head and said, ‘you’ll see.’”

Mitchell figures it was love at first sight.

“The first time I saw him – oh my God - I took his bandages off and his front legs were the size of stovepipes and I was like, ‘oh my, what a mess we have here,’” recalled Mitchell. “Casie gave him a couple weeks off and he trained in :55 at the farm. She put him in at Mohawk and he wired the field in :50.4. He wasn’t out of the top three for months and worked his way up to the Preferred.”

As far as Mitchell was concerned, Lennon Blue Chip could do no wrong.

“He was my heart horse,” said Mitchell. “I have him tattooed on my leg. This horse would follow me without a halter.”

But love affairs with claiming horses are short lived and two years later, the hard knocking gelding was haltered by Richard Moreau.

“I was devastated,” said Mitchell. “I told myself I’m never getting attached to a horse like that again. Giving that horse a happy retirement became the number one thing on my bucket list.”

From time to time, Mitchell and Lennon Blue Chip would cross paths in the paddock.

“He showed up in the paddock one night and I saw him and yelled his name and he started going nuts,” recalled Mitchell. “If you ask anyone, the connection that horse and I had was out of this world. He eventually ended up in the States.”

* * * *

Two decades into her racing career, Mitchell had solidified her home in the big leagues of Ontario horse racing. She had found her tribe, a close knit group of friends that includes Dr. Liz Shiland, DVM and Nikki Bourgeois, daughter of trainer Rheal Bourgeois.

“My friends are the family I got to choose,” said Mitchell. “These are my friends that I’ve known for 20 plus years. I met Nikki at the Mohawk cafeteria when I was 17 years old.”

And in late 2016, another old friend, five years removed, was about to step back into her life. After 10 years of racing, 272 starts, and $962,731 in earnings, Mitchell got word that Lennon Blue Chip had reached the end of the line as a racehorse.

In order to fulfill her goal of retiring him, Mitchell needed to raise enough money to buy back her old friend and have him shipped to Ontario. But caretaking isn’t the most lucrative profession – even though it deserves to be – and at the end of her rope and with limited funds, she reached out to Steve Calhoun, who used to own part of the horse.

“Steve had always told me that when the horse retires he would make sure I got him back,” said Mitchell. “So, I messaged him and he sent me a cheque.”

The videos of Mitchell and Lennon Blue Chip being reunited in December 2016 would bring a tear to a glass eye.

“He still recognized me. I’ve kept the videos of it,” said Mitchell.

Briefly, all was right with the world for Mitchell. She had her chosen family, her favorite horse and a good job at Milton Equine Hospital.

“A friend of mine broke Lennon to ride and he was thrilled and enjoying life. Things were great for me,” said Mitchell. “In the last week of December [2016] I went on a trip to Cuba with some friends and things were good, but when I came home I had this pain in my side. I tried to ignore it but it got progressively worse and Liz told me to go to the hospital.”

Mitchell was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and told she had a 21 centimeter mass on her right ovary. Tanya named the offending tumour “George” and would joke with her army of friends about his pending eviction date.

“The first specialist I saw said, ‘this is very curious,’” said Mitchell. “Right. Curious George. I figured this was the closest I’d come to having a child because they said it was the size of a 7-month old fetus.”

Mitchell continued to work even though the pain was unbearable, and she was losing weight at an alarming rate while awaiting surgery to remove the tumour along with a hysterectomy and appendectomy.

“I’d eat half a sandwich and be full. I was weak because I couldn’t eat and the oncologist figured the tumour had been growing in me for two years,” said Mitchell. “Milton Equine Hospital were great to me. I could only work a couple hours at a time.”

Shiland said Mitchell struggled with having to be away from her horses while recovering from her surgery.

“She has devoted so much of herself to the horses, it was a real challenge to be away from them and being physically unable to do the incredibly hard physical work required of all grooms in the industry,” said Shiland. “She said to me one day, ‘Lizzy, I don’t know how to not work.’ She lost 40 pounds. She could barely walk for 10 minutes. Eating anything bigger then the size of her palm was too much. It was a really hard time for her.”

At one point, Mitchell said the doctors drained five liters of fluid from her abdomen, which brought back her appetite temporarily. Adding heartbreak to agony, while in hospital awaiting surgery, Mitchell received a call that her grandmother, who had practically raised her, had passed away.

Shiland and Bourgeois accompanied Mitchell to her surgery on February 22, 2017.

“She went in for surgery at 8 a.m. and she didn’t get out until nearly 7 p.m. that evening,” said Bourgeois. “She’s so strong and she just kept fighting. It was only in that half hour before surgery that I saw a weak moment in her. It was just her being vulnerable and letting her guard down and realizing what could happen.”

“George” was successfully evicted, but Mitchell had an infection after the surgery that again saw her hospitalized.

“I had the tumor removed and it was 6.5 pounds,” said Mitchell. “They took everything I didn’t need.

“I don’t know how people go through that battle alone,” added Mitchell. “I couldn’t have done it without my army. My friends.”

But, she also admits she couldn’t have made it through the ordeal without the love of her horse, Lennon Blue Chip.

“There were times when I was in the hospital that the pain was unbearable and I would think about all the things he’d overcome and I knew he was there waiting for me,” said Mitchell. “To this day, I think I got Lennon back because I needed him in my life to help me get through it. He came back when I needed him most. All the stars aligned and he was back home where he belonged.”

Mitchell however, closed out that difficult year of 2017 with the loss of Lennon Blue Chip.

“He passed away on Christmas Day,” she said through tears. “He was my reason to keep going instead of giving up. 2017 really was a shit year.”

* * * *

When you’re going through hell, keep going.

Mitchell worked her way back to health and despite enjoying her time working at Milton Equine Hospital and the University of Guelph, she craved a return to the racetrack and accepted an opportunity this spring to work for Baillargeon.

“I couldn’t stay away,” said Mitchell. “I missed that personal connection with the horses I was looking after. There’s no higher high than your horse winning a race and the daily connection. They’re like children to me.”

Sara Baillargeon, Ben’s daughter and top assistant overseeing a stable of 50 horses, said Mitchell has been a great addition to the team.

“Tanya is shy and she keeps to herself, but she is a great individual,” said Baillargeon. “You couldn’t ask for a better friend or co-worker. If anything, one of her downfalls is she cares too much and it takes a toll on her at times.”

Baillargeon and Mitchell share a bassline for life and work.

“I did go to school but 9-5 life wasn’t for me. I like the outdoors and the horses,” said Baillargeon. “I’m definitely a workaholic, I take after my parents. There’s no better feeling than when you take a horse to the track and it performs for you.”

Baillargeon said she chose a specific set of horses for Mitchell that she felt would thrive under her care.

“She was the best fit for them because she has been there and done that looking after big horses for previous barns,” said Baillargeon. “She’s dealt with the stress and knows how to handle it. Horses like HP Royal Theo, Voelz Delight and Rhythm In Motion were picked out for her because of her attention to detail.”

However, Baillargeon said that in the case of HP Mama B, it was the horse that insisted on being cared for by Mitchell.

“Mama B just claimed Tanya for herself,” said Baillargeon with a laugh. “She didn’t have a choice but to look after Mama B. She’s a homebred named after my mother. If it wasn’t for Tanya, I don’t know if Mama B would have made it to the races. All the credit for that goes to Tanya.”

HP Mama B, a two-year-old daughter of Royalty For Life, didn’t make it to the races until July and didn’t hit the board in her first two starts.

“She was one of the most difficult babies to break and refused to have a bridle for the longest time,” said Baillargeon. “Tanya was the only one that was able to bridle her and harness her and not have her make a big fuss about it. Mama B made Tanya her human and they have a crazy bond.”

Mama B was wild and it seems somehow fitting that it took a fellow (former) wild child to settle the impudent filly.

“She was stubborn and had a streak to her,” said Mitchell. “There were days she wouldn’t jog if I wasn’t there.”

In August, HP Mama B picked up her first win (in her fourth start) in an OSS Grassroots event at Woodbine Mohawk Park. She failed to fire in the Champlain in August, but completed her season with three straight wins culminating in a victory in the $75,000 Grassroots Championships.

Shiland said Mitchell’s ability to connect with a difficult horse like HP Mama B stems from her unwavering commitment to the animal.

“People are hard to communicate with for Tanya sometimes, but horses, horses she can read like a book,” said Shiland. “And she loves them for who they are and works 110 percent to help them to be the best athlete they are capable of being. She believes in the horse and is completely dedicated to them, and in-turn the horses absolutely love her. And because of this she forms an incredibly deep bond with the horses she cares for.

“She will never be the same after experiencing what she did with cancer,” added Shiland. “But her loyalty and dedication for her horses has shown this past season that she is as strong as ever.”

For Mitchell, seeing HP Mama B thrive on the track was the highlight of an incredible year.

“It was a long road with her but we never gave up and neither did she,” said Mitchell. “You can talk about Rhythm In Motion winning the Super Final but Mama B winning that Grassroots Final, was like winning the Breeders Crown for me. She did more than anyone thought she could.

“She ended up being a real sweetheart,” continued Mitchell. “I think the trust she had in me made her come out of her shell and made her realize we aren’t so bad. If you saw that last winner’s circle photo, you can see me glowing through my mask. It was beyond satisfying.” (see photo on Pg. 62)

* * * *

Mitchell is a survivor. She overcame a troubled start and found family. She bested cancer. She loved and lost and had love find her again with Mama B.

In her 25th year of racing full time, Mitchell is living her best life and living it out loud.

“Oh, Tanya is very invested. She can be heard,” said Baillargeon. “It doesn’t matter where you are at the track, you can hear Tanya. Her laugh and her cheer are very distinct. She’s extremely loud. It just comes from the heart. She’ll cheer them home and it doesn’t have to be just for a win. She’ll cheer them home for second, third and fourth. She just wants a solid performance and an improvement over the previous week, so when she’s cheering one home it doesn’t have to be for a win, and it comes from her heart 100 percent.”

Mitchell readily admits to being a cheerleader.

“When I worked for Casie I took Bay Girl to qualifiers and got a little bit loud,” started Mitchell. “Casie was laughing at me and said, ‘Tanya, it’s qualifiers. You don’t need to scream.’

“But I don’t even think of the money,” she continued. “I just love to look at them go. It makes me happy.”

In October, when Rhythm In Motion [known around the barn as ‘Rowan’] turned the tables on familiar foes Tattoo Artist and Beaumond Hanover in the OSS Super Final at Woodbine, Mitchell was again in full voice, but she puts it on the record that Baillargeon and the rest of the team were just as vocal.

“Sara and a couple girls that paddock for us were down at one end yelling, ‘come on, Rowan,’” said Mitchell. “Everyone was screaming, not just me.

“People say to stay an arm’s length away from me to not be deafened,” added Mitchell. “But if you can’t get excited you shouldn’t be in it. You put all this time and effort into them and they go out and give it their all. What’s more exciting than that?”

After a long, successful season of racing, Mitchell has had to say goodbye to a few of her friends for a while.

“The morning Voelz left to go back to Montreal to be turned out, she was nickering at me like she knew something was going on,” said Mitchell. “It was the middle of the morning and the trailer pulled up and I loaded her on the trailer and she nickered at me again. I told her I’d be here when she gets back next year, I promise.”

Even wild horses couldn’t keep Mitchell away.