By Dick Jerardi
Standing by the Parx Racing paddock Tuesday a few minutes before saddling his horse of a lifetime, trainer David Dotolo reflected on a race track life.
“My uncle owned horses and my dad was there at Suffolk Downs,” he said of his beginnings. “It was back in the 70s for god’s sake. I’ve been on the track forever.”
The New England accent remains. So do memories of winters at Suffolk Downs, a trip to Narragansett and summers at the Massachusetts fair meets – Great Barrington, Northampton, Marshfield – described memorably in a chapter title of one of Andrew Beyer’s books as “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime.”
Winter racing in New England?
“You had to be strong because you had to break the ice out of the bucket,” Dotolo said. “Everyone thinks this is winter down here when you might get a little crust over the water bucket. Those buckets were frozen solid.”
So many memories that were just reinforced when Dotolo spent a few minutes speaking with Parx legend Stewart Elliott, back at the track for the first time in a decade to participate in a Smarty Jones documentary and see his 18-year-old son Chris ride. Dotolo and Elliott knew each other from their New England days and then their time at Parx. Been a long run for both of them.
Thirty years as a licensed trainer, Dotolo has done it the hard with 194 winners from 2,105 starters and purse earnings of $5.3 million.
He trained a tough old horse named Layers who raced 58 times from 2010 to 2016. The horse won nearly $400,000 in his career, $306,124 for Dotolo. He had eight wins, 12 seconds and eight thirds.
“He was a cool horse,” Dotolo said. “I actually still speak to the lady that has him in Kentucky. She always sends me pictures.”
Dotolo got Layers after his career had already begun. He had the horse gelded so he could find his potential as a race horse.
“There’s nothing like getting a horse from a baby watching (the horse) develop into what it can be,” Dotolo said. “A lot of times, you get disappointed and nothing is where it is supposed to be. Sometimes you get lucky.”
And once in a lifetime, you get to train a filly like Aofie’s Magic, the Parx Horse of the Year in 2023 when the daughter of Smarty Jones was unbeaten in four starts. When asked if she was worth the wait, Dotolo said she “definitely was.”
Dotolo will be getting a full sister to Aoife’s Magic who will be turning 2 in 2025. Aoife’s Magic has not won in five starts in 2024, but the Pennsylvania bred has been running in open stakes and, in her last three starts, against older horses.
She was a strong second in the race Dotolo was waiting for Tuesday. It seems only a matter of time before she gets back to the winner’s circle.
“You always hope to get a good horse,” Dotolo said. “You just want them to win. It doesn’t really matter what level they’re at as long as they can go out there and try their hardest and win. I hate to have a horse that just doesn’t try because I’ve had a few of them.”
The bottom line for Dotolo is this: “You love the animals. There’s never been a problem in the barn with the animals. It’s always the people.’
This one animal, this Aoife’s Magic, has now earned $304,680 for owner Art Hetherington’s A & J Racing Stable LLC. And what was that moment like last winter at the annual Parx Horsemen’s Awards banquet when the Horse of the Year announcement was made?
“I was surprised,” Dotolo said. “I knew she would get (champion) 2-year-old filly…It was something. Now, we’ve got to win a race this year.”
Sometimes, you just have to wait. Could be years, could be months, could be the next race.
