Maryland trainer Chris Grove grew up in Frederick, lives in Frederick and stables his horses at the Bowie Training Center. His favorite race has always been the Preakness. Saturday, one of his horses, Norman Asbjornson, is about to make Grove's longest-held dream -- a dream so unimaginable he never really believed in its possibility -- come true.
Saturday, Grove will see Norman, as he calls him, go to post in The 136th Preakness Stakes.
"Did I ever think I'd have a Preakness horse?" Grove said, taking on the role of self interviewer. "Did I think I'd ever have one? Ever?"
Grove is the son of Maryland steward and former jockey Phil Grove. His dad went to post 26,901 times and had a lot of success, winning 3,991 races in his career. But he never rode a horse in the Preakness. And Chris Grove, Maryland's top trainer at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park last year, has been training for 14 years. Until now, he'd never had a Preakness horse.
"I come from humble beginning, and I never thought I'd have one," he said. "I never thought I was the kind of trainer who would have one, because to have a horse in the Preakness they have to be accomplished by May of their 3-year-old season. At that age, mine are usually just getting geared up because I don't push my 2-year-olds. But as a 2-year-old in training, Norman told me he wanted to be pushed."
Grove said the horse told him with resiliency during workouts, by how easily he would do things and how strong his mind was. Norman, bright and beautiful, couldn't get enough training.
Still, sitting in his tiny office, surrounded by white concrete walls, Grove is more nervous than excited.
"We've got to get through this week," he said, watching every horse's movement as it passed his open door. "They're fragile animals. I don't' want my hopes up too high. We saw before the Kentucky Derby how horses can get sick or injured."
About 90 minutes away at the Fair Hill Training Center, another Maryland trainer, Graham Motion, is an example of the complexities of the game. His best Derby horse, Toby's Corner came up lame days before the Derby after an ordinary workout. But Motion, as everyone knows now, had an unbelievable backup, Animal Kingdom, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby in his first race on dirt.
There are no backups here. In fact, Grove's having a Preakness horse is so unlikely, it even caught the Maryland Jockey Club's director of racing, Georganne Hale, by surprise.
"Horses are in short supply here," Hale said. "And I try to keep all my horses home. They stable here [for free]; we want them to run here. And I'm hearing about this horse, who is having his second or third start out of town and I've never seen the horse. I sent Chris a note saying we'd appreciate it if he's using one of our stalls, that he run here. … Of course, I didn't know he was a Preakness-caliber horse. Honestly, I didn't have any races for him to run in except the Preakness. I saw him work here last week for the first time and he's beautiful."
Unexpected versatility
Norman is the largest 3-year-old in Grove's barn and very muscular. He is also a bit of a loner, said his trainer, and, at times, has focus issues, something Grove was working on with him at the starting gate Wednesday at Bowie. After a strong second-place run at the Gotham Stakes in New York, he was late out of the gate at the Wood Memorial. Still, he came on from last for a strong fourth-place finish.
"Going into the Wood, we thought he wanted to go to the front exclusively," Grove said. "But he was shuffled to last in the Wood and came on nicely. He's more versatile than we thought. We're giving him as much time in the gate as we can so he'll relax. He looks comfortable now, but he knows he's not racing. We'll just keep bringing him here and hope it carries over."
Grove met Thomas McClay, one of Norman's owners, for the first time at the Timonium sale last year and hit it off. When McClay suggested to his partner, Harry Nye, that they send some horses Grove's way, Nye agreed. Norman was the first horse they sent.
"What a pleasure working with Chris has been," Nye said. "He's the real deal. He doesn't think he's a big somebody. He's not pompous. He tells you the truth, and he calls you back when you call him. A lot of trainers don't."
Grove, whose stable has grown to more than 70 horses (55 of them at Bowie), has a lot of admirers. One of them is Nick Zito, who is bringing Derby favorite Dialed In to the Preakness. It turns out Zito tried to buy Norman in March and called Grove. Though Zito couldn't make a deal for the horse, he did get to know Grove and his family through their conversations and learned about the Maryland trainer's son Noah, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in his left leg in 2004.
Noah, though not really interested in horses, has been involved with the sport since his birth.
This is the way his dad described his son being born during the 1999 Kentucky Derby won by Charismatic to The Baltimore Sun just before the "A Night for Noah" fundraiser in 2005: "His head popped out just as the horses were going into the gate. The doctor held him up and said, 'It's a boy,' when they were turning for home."
Noah underwent a leg amputation at the knee that saved his life when he was 5 years old. At that time, Maryland Jockey Club personnel, local horsemen and strangers all came together for the Night for Noah to raise money to help the Groves with his medical bills and the prostheses. Noah needs an average of two a year until he stops growing, around age 18 or 20. Insurance pays only part of the cost of the prostheses, which Grove said cost $22,000 apiece.
"We were embarrassed that they wanted to raise money for us," Grove said. "But we had no idea how expensive the prostheses were going to be. The Night for Noah raised more than $100,000 and there was more than $40,000 donated prior to the fundraiser. My wife invested it well and that money is still seeing us through.
"And we donate the old ones to an organization that sends them to Third World countries."
A boy's dreams
Noah is 12 now with red, curly hair, freckles and a beautiful smile, and his dad says he is "doing excellent and making straight A's -- though he had one B this year." And he notes that his son has diverse interests in school and in sports.
"I feel almost normal," said Noah, via his cellphone. "I can do almost anything I want. I think horse racing is pretty cool. I like that my dad works with the horses, and I'm really excited about the Preakness. I think for a trainer, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm going to the race, and I'm looking at it as if our horse can win."
Unlike his dad, Noah doesn't want a future in racing. He likes playing goalie for his soccer team. He plays street hockey nearly every night. And, as for a future job, being a military engineer would be his dream.
"I was watching a kind of behind-the scenes-thing about 'Ironman' -- it's a movie -- one day, and they were talking about military engineers," he said. "If I can do one thing when I grow up, I'd design weapons for the military."
For now, however, his big project is Noah's Courage Foundation of the Georgetown University Hospital. He holds a fastball Wiffle Ball tournament that raises more than $20,000 a year to help other kids who are at the hospital for treatment.
This year, Noah's foundation is taking in even more. Zito called Grove to say he wanted to donate to the tournament and later said that if his horse wins the Preakness, he'll be adding to his donation.
Zito's Dialed In, who won the Holy Bull and Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, is eligible for the Preakness' 5.5 bonus that pays $5 million to the owner and $500,000 to the trainer on top of the $600,000 winner's share of the purse.
"When you talk about things, you need proper perspective," Zito said. "We talk about how much courage a racehorse has when he goes to the track and runs. Well, meeting Chris on the phone and hearing about Noah was amazing. I had to see what Noah has done, and it is amazing [Zito looked him up on the Internet]. It was easy for me to donate after what Noah has to have dealt with in his life. I mean, he was born when Charismatic was winning the Kentucky Derby."
Zito added that Noah has two horses to root for now in the Preakness.
"If Dialed in wins the Preakness, the Grove family will be happy, let's put it that way," Zito said.
Over the years, Grove has joked that he was first known as Phil Grove's son and now as Noah's father. He told Hale, the racing secretary, he would like to be known as himself. Hale suggested if Norman wins the Preakness, Chris Grove might get his own identity soon.
And watching Grove watching his own horse working round the Bowie training track, one has to believe a win by Norman would be satisfaction enough.
"Look at him," he said, pointing to the horse, with the reddish coat, four red socks, red bridle and red shadow roll, all gleaming in the sun. "He's a shiny thing. He looks like a new car."
sandra.mckee@baltsun.com