Canadian and US horseracing Hall of Fame trainer Attfield loves horses

Miss Keller in Stakes Barn at Saratoga. PHOTO CREDIT: TOD MARKS PHOTOGRAPHY — MISS KELLER, trained by Canadian and US horse racing Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, nuzzles a stuffed animal during a quiet moment in the Stakes Barn at Saratoga, 2010. PHOTO CREDIT: TOD MARKS PHOTOGRAPHY. (click to enlarge)

A number of noteworthy high-achieving humans plus two Thoroughbred champion racehorses Ghostzapper and Planet were inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame today. Congratulations to the others, but the one I am most interested in apart of the horses (who did not attend) is Roger Attfield. I like his thinking. He really appreciates horses. Attfield has earned over $88M while doing it.

Clare Novak writing for The Blood-Horse reports:

“Attfield, already a member of the Hall of Fame in Canada where he bases his stable, took the opportunity to speak from the heart to the audience. The 72-year-old Englishman has trained three Canadian Triple Crown winners among his winners of 1,731 races with earnings of more than $88 million, and has found considerable success in the U.S. as well as Canada.

“Without the horse, none of us would be here,” Attfield said. “They’re special animals—noble, beautiful animals—that, if kept healthy and sound and well, will always run their best for you. I think it’s very, very important that we respect this. I’m kind of sad what’s happening in racing today, all the bad publicity we’re getting. I feel very strongly that we should be getting back to the way racing is supposed to be, where years ago on the heath in England one person would say to another, ‘my horse is faster than your horse,’ and they’d run against each other. The best horse should be able to win, and we’ve got to clean up some of this stuff that’s going on out there and get rid of the rubbish.”

“The trainer was introduced by David Willmot, former CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group.

“Roger has an amazing capacity to train anything to do anything,” Willmot remarked. “He just has feeling for any animal that is almost unequalled. His love and concern for the health and welfare of the horse is almost unmatched. He has an amazing ability to put a horse in a big race and at the same time keep that horse performing at a high level through the year and right through their career. He knows a happy horse, he knows how to keep a horse happy, and how to extend their careers.”