The crowds have dissipated and habitual activity has resumed at Saratoga Race Course following the end of its 40-day meet, though normality has not quite returned for Dr. Edward Messina.
At 86 and for the first time in decades, Messina attended the races this year without his wife, Tina.
"She passed last July and had she lived, it would have been our 60th year attending the races at Saratoga together as a couple," Messina said.
Concetta "Tina" Messina died July 12, 2021 at 82, just three days before the start of the 2021 Saratoga meet.
Standing in the winner's circle after his homebred Sanctuary City won an allowance optional claiming race Sept. 3 at the Spa, Messina dedicated the victory to his late wife.
The son of Temple City had not crossed the wire first since before Tina's death.
"When Sanctuary won here... It was such an emotional event for me that I sort of lost it a little bit," Messina said. "It meant a lot to the two of us... She never got to see Sanctuary run because she was ill."
Messina recalled growing up near Coney Island, where he fell in love with Tina, and Thoroughbreds.
"We met, we fell in love, and we never fell out of love," Messina said. "I don't know if you've met many 80-year-old or plus couples that sit in front of the television and hold hands together or cuddle together. That's the way we were. We were devoted to each other."
Though Messina's relationship with Tina began in high school, his affection for horses was determined much earlier on.
"I fell in love with horses at an early age during World War II. I guess I was about nine or 10 years old. I saw a couple horses, one was the Borden horse, which enthralled me because he pulled the wagon," Messina said. "The milkman went in and out and this horse knew the entire route, he never had to pick up the reins.
"There was a second horse that I fell in love with whose name was Tony, because I got to know the man (whose name was also Tony)...This was the so-called junkyard horse. Because during the World War II effort, they were collecting aluminum for the airplanes."
Once Messina's father discovered his interest in horses, he would take him for pony rides at Coney Island, which eventually developed into regular riding and then spending time at the track.
"My father took me to Jamaica Racetrack," he recalled. "I thought my father worked every Saturday, but I didn't realize he was a horse fan. That's how I became a fan of Thoroughbreds.
"When I put my face up against that cyclone fence and listened to the hooves hitting the ground and (saw) the movement in the air that these horses made, I fell in love immediately. The things that I was riding at the hack pony stable couldn't compare in the elegance and beauty and speed. I characterize myself as a horse-a-holic."
Messina dreamed of becoming a jockey but realized the lifestyle would not suit him. He pursued an educational path instead, earning a doctoral degree in medical science with a specialty in physiology from New York Medical College in 1973.
He went on to teach physiology at his alma mater, while using his medical knowledge to work as a pedigree analyst and Thoroughbred consultant on the side.
"I always enjoyed the discovery component of life and I finally got my Ph. D in medical sciences with a specialty in physiology," he said. "With that specialty in physiology, I learned about genetics, and I use that in my pedigree methodology."
Trainer Jimmy Ferraro, who has worked with Messina's horses for many years, made note of the doctor's intelligence.
"I've known Dr. Messina since I was a kid...The guy is a brilliant person. When we were younger they used to call him 'The genius,'" Ferraro said. "He's a professor, he taught people how to become doctors for over fifty years. The government used to give him grants to do research for them and everything...He's probably just as smart as Dr. Fauci and probably smarter."
Early on in his career, Messina was mentored by Hall of Fame trainer P. G. Johnson, who helped to develop many of the methods that he currently uses.
"He always said that there's a male component and a female component. Whereas in the industry, you hear people always talking about the stallion or that it's only the female side. Well, it turns out that from genetics and medical school, it's a common feature of science," Messina said.
"You have to determine who's dominant in the equation and who is recessive. Once you can figure that out to some degree, it's not perfect, you can get a dominant stallion and a recessive mare that doesn't have a lot of quality, but if she was consistent in terms of racing and some of the females under her were consistent in the terms of racing with regards to soundness and reproductive consistency, sometimes if you do the right mating, quality emerges."
Eventually, after years spent working for others in the industry, Messina decided to start breeding and racing his own with encouragement from his wife.
"My wife looked at me one night over the dining room table and said, 'Hey, you made a lot of money for a lot of people. Why don't you start doing it for us?' I said, 'What do you mean?' She said, 'Go buy a horse and race it, let's see if we can have some fun.' I said, 'I'll do that, darling. If you want it, I will do it.' And I've been doing it ever since."
Notable runners Messina's program has produced include Doremifasollatido, winner of the 2008 Matron Stakes (G2), Fortunate Damsel who was successful in the 2004 Pebbles Stakes (G3), and the stakes-placed Considerate, Sanctuary City's dam. All three horses are out of Messina's mare Consider It Done who he purchased for $42,000 at the 2000 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
"I've been fortunate enough that the methodology that I developed under P.G. Johnson's tutelage became more and more accurate," Messina said. "I can breed to $2,500 stallions, buy $5,000 mares, and breed to $5,000 stallions, which is what I paid for 'Sanctuary,' and there you go."
Next up, Sanctuary City is likely headed towards a start in a New York-bred stakes race, according to Ferraro. His record currently sits at 5-7-3 from 23 starts, and he has amassed $456,170 in earnings.
What is next in the cards for Messina however, may not be as clear-cut.
"I'm just like every other abnormal owner; I say that tongue in cheek. I want to win a group 1 race and I want to win the (Kentucky) Derby of course. I would like that to happen," Messina said. "Right now my families are so grass-oriented that it's not in the question for me and I did try to breed away from the grass influence and I paid the price for it...Who knows, I might be like Fred Hooper at the age of 99 and go buy some mares and try to get a Derby winner."
Messina's favorite dream, however, is one he has already lived; the one where spending time with horses and his favorite person in the world became gloriously intertwined.
"She knew about (racing) but when I got into it, she became enthralled with it because it was us, it became personalized," Messina said. "She loved it as much as I did. That was the greatest thrill; coming to the track to see our horses race."
