We Are Horse Racing

My name is Stephen Romano and I support horse racing.

Another night and I can’t sleep. I received my second call this week about a dear friend of mine who died from Corona Virus 19. A few days ago, it was my friend George who was only 45 years old and yesterday it was Charles Festa, a longtime friend and horseman. He was an owner for almost 50 years. I have been posting on Facebook for almost a month about the need to take all necessary precautions just in case. Please have a generous supply of vitamins B12, C and D. They say it is very good for you to drink a lot of water or hot tea with lemon or perhaps garlic and honey mixed together. Have hot soup and Tylenol available. And please, rest as often as you are able to rest. If you feel sick the most important thing to do is don’t panic. Please relax. Engage with friends on Facebook. The most important thing I want everyone to continue to do is to stay home. My wife Gigi and I became ill but it looks like we’re are going to survive this cruel disease, however, my friends George and Charlie did not. They were kind caring people that did not deserve to die like this. And you know what’s even more heartbreaking about this? For the health and safety of others, people who die from this cruel virus are often cremated. To me, to exit this beautiful world that they loved like that is sad.

You all know I love horse racing as much as anyone. I’ve spent the past 50 years at the track day and night while most of you had normal lives. I didn’t go to my prom because I wanted to go to Roosevelt Raceway instead. I never went on spring break because being at the “Mecca“, (Aqueduct racetrack) to see the Wood Memorial was my spring break. I did not go to the Hampton’s or Jones Beach because the meets at Belmont Park and Saratoga Springs were my beach vacations. I did not attend Bible study because the only Bible study I knew was at the racetrack. So for me to say a few weeks ago that all racing should stop was huge; I saw what was coming for us. I urged New York Public schools to close a long time before our leaders did. I advocated for many things that could have been done much earlier but people didn’t listen. It took a long time for our New York City representatives to recommend that we all wear masks. And yet it’s still not mandatory. I am angry. We all need to take this seriously. Please each of you who reads this, do whatever you can to help stop the spread of Covid 19. The sooner we take precautionary action, the sooner our tracks will be open again for live racing.

Photo, l to r, is of trainer John Toscano, jockey Kendrick Carmouche and on the far right is my friend who died, Charles Festa.