Fiftyshadesofgold

On January 21st, the Texas Thoroughbred Association announced that Fiftyshadesofgold, who is currently at Hidden Brook, had been named the 2014 Texas Horse of the Year. 

The three-year-old finished 2014 with a record of 6-2-1-0 while earning $322,731. 

Fiftyshadesofgold started off her award-winning year with a victory in the Two Altazano Stakes, marking her second stakes win in four career starts. 

In March she finished 2nd in the G2 Fair Grounds Oaks, losing only to eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Untappable. She followed that up with her second stakes win of the year in the G3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs. 

Later in the year she would finish 4th in two consecutive G1 races - the TVG Acorn Stakes and the Test Stakes. 

She retired in September of 2014, finishing her career with a record of 9-4-1-1 and earnings of $420,521. She was bred by the late Clarence Scharbauer Jr., and is owned by his son, Douglas Scharbauer. She is scheduled to be bred by leading sire Tapit in 2015.

Happy My Way

Happy My Way, who was purchased by Hidden Brook in 2012 for owner Mel Paikoff, was voted by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association as the Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Male of 2014. 

In 2014, the four-year-old had a record of 7-3-3-0 and earned $371,667 along the way. The most notable of these starts came in a three-race stretch from March to August in which he won two stakes races and finished 2nd in the Grade-1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by just one length. 

He won the Sir Shackleton Stakes and the G3 Maryland Sprint Handicap, both by a commanding 5 ¾ lengths. Happy My Way finished the six furlong Maryland Sprint Handicap in 1:09.21, just a tick off the track record of 1:09.00 that was set in 1990.

His wife, Suzy, has been a schoolteacher for 30 years.  

Has 3 kids:  Alyssa, 27, a lawyer; Jeremy, 25, a former   professional baseball player; and Jonathan, 20, a junior at

the University of Texas. 

Owns his own company - Schaffer Mechanical.

Is involved in several partnerships with Hidden Brook Farm. 

When did you first become interested in horse racing? 

When I was 16 years old my friend told me he wanted to sneak to Delta Downs in Louisiana. The track had opened like two weeks before, so we snuck down there on a Friday night - we told our parents we were spending the night at each other's houses. We went to the track, got there 20 seconds before the 3rd race, I ran up to the counter and made a two dollar bet on the 3 horse, not even knowing how to look at a racing form. The horse ended up winning and paid thirty-seven dollars, and I thought I had a million. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between me and the horse. 

Are you big into handicapping now?

I love to handicap. I have a handicapping book from 1972 that still pertains to today. It still picks winners, it still eliminates losers. The art of handicapping is just to eliminate as many losers as possible, and then from there you're left with 2 or 3 horses that you hope will win and you work backwards from there. I like to eliminate losers before I start picking winners. Those losers I pick lose 90% of the time. 

What is your own personal most exciting moment in racing so far? 

In the paddock at Saratoga this past summer, being the owner of a horse entered in a Grade-I race, and just sitting in that paddock with all the other owners and trainers - Bobby Flay, Todd Pletcher, knowing that this little schlemiel from Houston, Texas, is in that paddock with those great horse people with a chance to win a Grade-I race. And that was with Catch My Drift. 

Tell me a little about Schaffer Mechanical?

We're an air conditioning and heating company that air conditions new apartment buildings, whether they're two story or fifty story. My dad started the business in 1948 and I took over in 1990, and he's since passed away but we're still running and gunning. 

What made you take the leap and get started in the horse industry? 

In 1995 or 1996 my cousin Kent Schaffer and I decided we were going to own a racehorse, and when I get my mind on something I don't let it hold me back - we're going to do it no matter what. I didn't have any money but we were still going to do it. So we went to the Houston yearling sale in Memorial Park, and he and I and our trainer decided we're going to go buy a horse. We bought this horse as a yearling, her name was Revuelta, and the very first horse I ever bought, she won about $200,000 on the racetrack in about three years time, and that of course gets you hooked. 

How did you discover Hidden Brook?

My really close friend Roger Sofer had been talking to me about it. I said, "What partnership are you in?" He says, "These guys at Hidden Brook. They're the most amazing guys in the world. I love being with them." I said, look, if there's any piece of any partnership left any time soon, let me know because I want to get in with some legit people this time. He called me one day and told me there was a little piece of this horse left and I took it. From there, I met Dan Hall, who is the greatest guy ever, and that horse is Catch My Drift. If it wasn't for Roger Sofer I wouldn't have found Hidden Brook, and he's the one I thank for that. 

What has been your overall experience with Hidden Brook?

With Hidden Brook, the thing I like the best is that everything is on the table, everything is transparent. They don't hide anything. I've been in a partnership before where I was just told to send a check and that was it. Well, Dan Hall texts me, emails me weekly with results, updates on our new horses. I can always call him and always get in touch with him and he just makes it really fun for everybody involved. 

What is your favorite racetrack to visit?

I had never been there before, but I went to Saratoga this summer and I was always told that the backside early in the morning is the place to be if you own racehorses. Dan and Roger and I went over there on a Friday morning around six o'clock and I fell even further in love with this sport. The horses in the morning are just amazing. All of the trainers are nice back there, all the grooms are nice, all the jockeys talk to you, and it's just like a little fraternity back there. I will be going back every year. 

What's your favorite horse of all time?

My favorite horse of all time was a horse called Grand Canyon, who was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who was the best two-year-old that I had ever seen on a racetrack. I thought Grand Canyon was going to sweep the Triple Crown easily. Then I believe he got hurt and maybe he had to be put down. But he was the single best horse I'd ever seen, besides Secretariat of course. 

Favorite movies? 

My absolute favorite movie is The Godfather I and II. And my second favorite movie is Pretty Woman, believe it or not. 

What advice would you have for someone who wants to break into the horse business?

For someone who wants to break into horse racing, they should stick their toe in the water. Do not stick your whole foot, because it is very risky and you can lose a lot of money really quick. But when you get that first winner it becomes worse than heroin, I can assume, for a drug addict. It will hook you and you cannot get out of it, and it's not the gambling part. I like to gamble, but in the horse business I've never bet one penny on one of my horses because I think the purse money is enough and just the enjoyment of watching them win a race is just crazy. 

Thank you, Jack Schaffer, for giving us a few minutes of your time Inside the Winner's Circle.