Roddy Valente's 2-year-old homebred Bustin Pietre, by Bustin Stones ran Nov. 21 in the $100,000 Notebook Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. He won a Belmont Park maiden claiming race in his first start by 5 1/2 lengths, then stepped up to stakes company, running second to multiple stakes winner Senbei.
"Do you think I wanted to run against Senbei?" Roddy Valente said with a laugh. "We've been pointing to the New York Stallion Series Stakes for $500,000 on Dec. 18, but Bustin Pietre didn't have any seasoning. We had to get a race in him, and I'm happy to finish second to Senbei. There were a couple of Laobans in there, too. We did the dirty work upfront and challenged the favorite to be second, and we got done what we had to do. Our goal has been Dec. 18, because it's so much money and it's the biggest race for New York stallions."
Roddy Valente spoke to BloodHorse MarketWatch about his horses, family, and eight-year running turkey giveaway at Thanksgiving to the community in the Capital District.
MarketWatch: You bred and campaigned Bustin Stones (City Zip), who was undefeated in six races, including the Carter Handicap (G1) in 2008. You stand him at Waldorf Farm in NY, and now you race his progeny. What's that like for you?
Roddy Valente: I've been blessed by that horse since day 1. He won two graded stakes. I've been with (trainer) Bruce (Levine) for 30 years, and he got Bruce his first grade 1-win. I follow all of his babies, and I watch every time one of them runs. It's like having 100 grandchildren.
MW: Do you think Bustin Stones deserves more respect as a stallion?
RV: It's New York, so it's hard. I don't understand why he wasn't better received and why he never really got good mares. If you look at what he's done and the average number of starts of his offspring over the last three or four years, he's the best per capita stallion in New York. I don't know if we did the best job promoting him, but I couldn't be happier with him.
MW: How did you get involved in horse racing?
RV: I had one or two harness horses that I really couldn't afford; I didn't have any money. I started my own business and things started to get a little bit good. One of my good friends is a home builder and I supplied him with building materials, and he asked if I wanted to get in the game. I said, "OK, I'll go partners with you."
He fizzled out because we couldn't find a horse to run at Saratoga Race Course, but I pursued it, and I went all-in on the first horse that I purchased. His name was Gravel King, and he was a New York-bred, and I found him down at Ellis Park.
He was a 2-year-old, and I brought (trainer) Dennis Brida down to Kentucky with me to look at the horse. I brought him back two weeks before the end of the Saratoga meet.
I was green as grass; I didn't know anything. Dennis told me the horse worked a bullet and I didn't even know what that was. He worked :46 3/5 with Richie Migliore, and Dennis asked if I wanted to run in open company. I didn't even know what "open company" was.
We ran the last Saturday of the meet in 1992, and we ran second in open company. We went down to Belmont Park and ran with his New York-bred friends, and he won by seven lengths. From that point, I was hooked.
MW: You have a close extended family. Have any of them joined you in the business?
RV: All my children and all my nephews work with me in my gravel business. It's truly a family-owned, family-run business that I started from scratch. I'm proud of it, and I'm proud to have all of them with me.
My son is a bigger horse junkie than I am, and my daughter does all my books. She knows everything about my business. I can't get away with anything.
MW: We're talking on Sunday afternoon after your horse ran, and you said that you have the family coming over for dinner. What are you cooking?
RV: I made sauce this morning; that's already done. It was done by 6:30 this morning. Brasciole, meatballs, sausage, pork—I cook the pork for 3 1/2 hours and then I make the meatballs from scratch. I have to say, I make a great sauce. And I just dropped off some salad and a big bowl of pasta to my pastor at St. Pius.
MW: Every year you give away hundreds of turkeys to families in the Capital District. How did that get started?
RV: My third grandson, Michael, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when he was seven months old. I didn't even know what that was, but I learned about it in a hurry. He had bilateral eye cancer, and Dr. Verdile at Albany Medical Center helped us get into Sloan Kettering in New York City. This was 12 years ago, and we saw Dr. Abramson at Sloan. He said that at one point, he'd have had to remove one of Michael's eyes and try to save the other one.
He came up with a course of chemotherapy that goes right into the eyes. He started with a small dosage and said that if Michael handled it well, he was going to "hit him hard" with it in a month.
Michael tolerated the chemotherapy well, and the following month, Dr. Abramson saw signs that the tumors were starting to shrink. Within four months, he was able to save both of Michael's eyes.
God looked down on Michael, and I said to my daughter Daniella that even though we were doing a lot for the community, we needed to do more, and we came up with the turkey giveaway.
Roddy Valente and grandson Michael get set for the 5th annual turkey giveaway on Central Ave. #OTB @ShopRiteStores. #longlines @WNYT pic.twitter.com/c9kHJCwAxL
— John Craig (@JRCJMU) November 21, 2018
We started out with 600 turkeys and I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to give them all away. I went to every church in Albany dropping off flyers. We ended up giving them all away in an hour.
This year, we've got 1,400 turkeys. We've got pies, potatoes, vegetables, cranberries, stuffing. We set up at the Capital OTB on Central Avenue in Albany on the day before Thanksgiving. I'll have all my grandchildren there, my nephews, their children—everybody wants to help. People start lining up hours before we start, and the line stretches down two blocks. That tells you how much it's needed, and I think that's even more true this year.
