Horses music and art. Feel free to “nose around”, and write me if you have any questions!
First there was this horse thing…
I’m a long time veteran of the Harness Racing sport, starting out like many kids, working at a barn in exchange for free board, grooming thoroughbreds at Laurel Racecourse in the 70’s, then shifting over to Standardbred trotters and pacers at Rosecroft Raceway, a totally different world, which became our “second home.”
After years of wonderful mentoring by old school trainers like Morris Skinner, Basil Hough, and Wayne Smullin, I became second trainer which lasted for 12 years for Maryland trainer of the year George Warthen through the 80’s…racing Ohio horse of the year Majestic Falcon for him, then finally at long last becoming a trainer in my own right, training many winners, such as Maryland champion Sarah’s Double, Virginia Stakes winners and Meadowlands hard hitter Sea Salt. I operated a modestly successful local stable, alternating between Rosecroft and neighboring track Freestate Raceway near Savage, Maryland from the 80’s through 2010, winning races by developing, testing and implementing my own natural remedies, herbal formulas, and juicing techniques. We used plants such as this little one here.
The Lisi stable goes to Rockingham Park: 2001-2003 We had a great time for several summers and made many New England friends ~
Right: photo below: Rockingham Amatuer Club left to right:
- Judge Gene Cossette (sadly deceased
- Diane Helen
- Dustin Ingraham
- Nancy Lisi
- Shoukry Elmarey (also deceased)
- Tim Lancaster
- assistant race secretary Joe Auger
Right photo: Rockingham Amatuer Club
~In June of 2010, after appearing in court to defend the Rosecroft Raceway stable area, all trainers were evicted from the track and the barns were demolished in 2012. Like many DMV trainers, we had few options near our homes to train. After a two-year attempt to race a couple from nearby farms, we thought we had necessarily retired from harness racing. Upon the closure of the Rosecroft backstretch, all of my clients went to other trainers, some of the trainers ironically were the board members that had voted to evict us. Our good trotter Graham Grace Ace had been claimed by (also ironically) the president of the board, just before we had to leave. We sold the horses that we owned. Sea Salt, SJ’s Dawning, King Blue Chip. Little SJs Goldie, only keeping two. It was sad to watch them go.
Our last act at Rosecroft was to save 110 barn cats from the bulldozers. (Here’s that whole story…about the Rosecroft Cat Rescue)
It looked the end of the road, but those horses were burned into my blood, my brain, my very being. Their touch, the sounds they made every day, even their smell…giving them up left this indescribable empty spot. The evicted horsemen put out of business were told to “move on”, “adapt”… some did, some didn’t, some died… like Bill Jordan, or Johnny Lee, looking blankly out into the woods from the lawns of his apartment complex.
I was capable with multiple music and artistic skills, but the empty spot was there, it gnaws away inside every ex-horseman, don’t let the smile from the stage fool you.
~God must have known this, and a twisted path of events took us down a strange unforeseeable road.
After a feeble attempt to race and train our last two horses from a farm in Catlett, a filly we bred who fell and broke her hip while being broken by another trainer named Rosecroft Survivor, and our once tough little Spinning For Gold, we gave up and quit with them. Spinning For Gold sadly passed away from Lyme disease, and we gave “Rosie” away to a trainer interested in her. We were done
Arthur built a shed in the backyard and he put all our horse equipment away, the horse trailer became rusty, and so was the old Ford 250. The jog carts and race bikes collected spider webs and dust.
The trainer we gave Rosie to couldn’t get her to trot, moved away and gave her back, surprisingly in foal! The old truck was missing a few cylinders, but we managed to get Rosie and take her to a farm where she gave birth to a big beautiful colt, Rocky Bomber. We had no equipment or way to train, so Leigh Louthan took him for the stakes in Delaware.
Named after my foster father Harold J aka “Rocky” Racherbaumer. Rocky was ok! He made enough purse money from the Virginia and Delaware stake races and later overnight aged races to allow us to replace our equipment and rig, and purchase two sisters who are Virginia bred and get them going. My dear friend Dee in Maryland took Rocky’s mom Rosie for a pet.
By this time I was thankfully back training them myself at the Swenton farm in Waldorf, Md. Russ and his brother Tom were a powerful force at Rosecroft and the Meadowlands back in the day. The Swenton’s still have one of his hard hitting horses, Laagendaaz, retired at the farm,
Russell really didn’t expect to have Racehorses back there, as he was a peaceful country living family man now and managed to keep up his parents farm once they passed, even though he is disabled. But he stepped up to the plate, plowed out his little track fenced up the paddocks and got the place fit for us to keep our three horses there. His daughter Sophia and he have two other rescues there as well now, along with a menagerie of totally spoiled animals. Russ isn’t afraid to occasionally climb in the cart and show off his considerable driving skills.
Unlike the majority of horse, trainers and myself in my younger days who would race from track to track all over the country, we only race the seven weeks spring meet and the seven week fall meetings at Shenandoah Downs Racetrack in Woodstock, Virginia. The rest of the time they are turned out, living a life of leisure at Russell‘s farm. The stable area at Shenandoah Downs fairgrounds have made it possible to keep the horses at a nearby track and for us to train again, in a seasonal way.
The Big C thing…
Right when I had to start training the horses myself, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. During my operation and recovery I had the fillies broken and trained by Archie Buford.
Unfortunately, not two years later, it had spread to my sternum, thus I go through various treatments in between everything else. I’ve been stable in my scans for two years, after radiation and a good plan of care by my Oncologist.
Fortunately, I get a lot of help from my excellent son, ace blacksmith and horseman, Arthur Lisi Jr. you can find him on Facebook and skateboarding around and playing music with his brother mostly on Instagram. Our other grown kids pitch in with chores like cooking, yard work and gardening.
This music thing…
Before, at Rosecroft, when the barn chores were done, we often held enjoyable jam sessions in the paddock, begun by fellow horseman and mandolinist buddy “Swede” Smith, and our friends we had met at local jams like CABOMA, FOB and the memorable jams at the now gone Good Deale Shop in Maryland. We learned, laughed and played a tremendous variety of music, from Bluegrass to Jazz.
What morphed from those racetrack jam sessions was sort of a musical “posse”, if you will…or more like a “cornucopia” of musical friends. Forming bands of widely varying genres, we’ve knocked around town, out of town, and even Ireland. From the flooded streets of Old Town Alexandria to big stages, from empty clubs to sold out auditoriums. We created and sold recordings and did the things musicians love to do. Sing, play their instruments and entertain for appreciative, admiring, and applauding audiences, not very far removed from the early days of racing in front of big crowds, come to think of it, both forms of entertainment.
Russell, you know, from the farm? He’s the lead singer in our Surf Jaguars band. Turns out he can sing like a bird!
I help them get gigs and accompany where required. Here’s a list of the bands.
And there’s the Artwork thing.
Having been taught to draw and paint by my multi talented coal miner Uncle, Pete Bartolovich, and privately mentored in mixed media, and all fine arts by my fine arts teacher Anne Bradley, I made a side living doing mostly animal portraiture. My renderings of racehorses, pets, and wildlife hung in owners’ living rooms, racetracks and online. I signed very few of them, and will never track them all down. Examples of my artwork here.
The Covid Thing
It must have been serendipity that Robert Swain bought a property before Covid hit, when all the bars, auditoriums and venues were shutting their doors, we were able to livestream and conduct our socially distant parties, charity jams and concerts alongside the beautiful Dogue Creek. We call it Dogue Cottage check it out!
We hope you enjoy looking around this site, feel free to shoot a letter if you’re more curious!
All my posts are solely my personal opinions and not those of any organization, employer, or associations.
Musicalhossgal 