As a kid,
Nick Costa would peer through the open slots of the white walking ring fence at Fort Erie Racetrack, always awed by the seemingly endless sights and sounds. And each time he stood in his favourite spot, he wondered what it would be like to one day be on the other side.
It was the colours he noticed first, a kaleidoscope of different shades and hues the jockeys wore as they walked past the crowd that gathered before each race.
But, it was what came next that Costa, with his father at his side, always eagerly anticipated.
“There was just something - you really couldn’t describe the feeling - when you would see the horses up close,” recalled Costa. “I’d just stare at them. They were just amazing to look at.”
Consider it love at first sight. And the more time Costa spent at the races, the more he hoped to see the sport through a different lens.
“When I was younger and would be at Fort Erie at Woodbine, I would watch the horses parade around and the jockeys leg up,” he remembered. “I always said to myself, ‘I’d like to be on the other side of that fence one day.’”
Costa had plenty of opportunity to be around thoroughbreds at the racetrack dubbed the Border Oval, a short drive from his parents’ home in Niagara Falls, New York.
He didn’t have to be asked twice if he wanted to spend an afternoon at the races.
“Racing dates back for me to 1963 when I was five-years-old,” Costa recollected. “My dad would take me and we’d always have a great day. It was what you saw and heard, the crowds, watching my dad study the racing form. I remember picking up old tickets off the floor and asking my dad if any of them were still cashable. Every single thing about it was just so much fun.”
As he grew older, Costa’s affinity for horse racing never wavered.
“It’s something that stayed with me through my childhood, teens and adult life. I just loved the sport the very first time I was introduced to it.”
He was introduced to the ownership side of racing 17 years ago through a family member’s friend.
Whenever the two would see one another, the topic of owning a horse – a conversation initiated by Costa – was a certainty.
“I just happened to know him and knew he was an owner,” Costa said. “I’d see him every now and again, and I’d always express to him my desire to get into ownership. He finally offered me an opportunity to get involved with him in a partnership.”
An Ontario-bred daughter of River Special, Gift of Life was Costa’s first horse as a licensed owner.
Thirty-seven years after his first trip to the racetrack and the first time he stood outside of the walking ring fence, Costa finally got his chance to see things from the other side.
“She raced at Woodbine and she finished second,” noted Costa, of the six-furlong main track race on May 5, 2000. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty easy.’”
He soon realized it wasn’t.
“The luck didn’t extend over her next few races,” Costa said. “She didn’t perform well at Woodbine, so we sent her down at Fort Erie, where she won her very first race. It was an unbelievable feeling.”
Two months after his first win as an owner, Costa’s partner lost his job, and talked about moving on from racing.
Soon after experiencing the elation of a milestone moment, Costa wondered if he was one and done when it came to his ownership experience.
“When that year ended, and my partner was out of the game, our trainer asked me if I wanted to be partners with him,” he recalled. “I ended up doing that and I never dropped out. I’ve had different trainers over time. Sandy McPherson was the first. Phil Sutton and I were partners for six years and then he moved away. I then went to Wendy Wolff. We were partners for about six years and when Wendy retired, I joined forces with Nick (Gonzalez Jr.). Nick, his wife, Tish, and I have three horses (Demawatchmi, Good Deeds Indeed and La Foresta) together.”
The trio’s most notable score came courtesy of English Holiday, a daughter of English Channel, who triumphed in one of the biggest races on the Fort Erie calendar in 2015.
Ridden by Martin Ramirez and sent off as the even-money favourite in the 1 1/16-mile turf Molson Cup, English Holiday drew off down the lane for a 3 ¼-length win in the $30,000 stake.
At year’s end, the filly was recognized as the track’s turf female of the year.
“My biggest racing thrill so far was winning that race,” said Costa, who figures he has owned between 20-25 horses since 2000. “But the biggest thrill is to have an opportunity to be a licensed owner. It’s an honour, really. I’m thrilled to say I’m part of this fantastic sport.”
Costa also shares his passion for racing through his contributions as a blogger on the Horse Racing Nation website, his articles written as Trackside with Trackman.
“I never get tired of this great sport,” he offered. “My enthusiasm at 58 is just the same as when I was 5. It’s just over 50 years later. The camaraderie, people that are strangers talking to one another - I still enjoy that, too. I enjoy meeting new people. Whether you’re talking about the horses, horse racing, a football game, what the weather’s going to be tomorrow – I love that camaraderie you find at the racetrack, sharing a laugh, just having a great time. The fun is still there and the excitement is still there.”
Something he’s reminded of every time he sees the horses.
“I’m still staring at them like I did as a kid. They’re just as magnificent now as they were back then.”
Even better, he admits, from the other side of the fence.
By Chris Lomon
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