It was bright and sunny on the morning of Aug. 6, the sky over Saratoga Race Course a canopy of blue.
Horses, as they do every day on the main backstretch and Oklahoma Training Track, galloped and breezed. Life, as it always does, continued on.
Maybe with one possible exception. At barn 69 on the Oklahoma, it was almost as if time stopped for a little bit. That’s where Melanie Giddings, a rookie trainer in the sport of kings, works with her modest group of horses.
The 39-year-old did that, as always, but her heart was heavy and the tears flowed freely. Giddings and the rest of her barn still hurt bad while mourning the passing of Maple Leaf Mel , taken from them at the end of the Test Stakes (G1) on Aug. 5. However, the seven other horses in the barn still needed her attention, and she was there to give it.
Maple Leaf Mel, a 3-year-old gray filly owned by NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, was euthanized after breaking down 10 feet from the wire in what was going to be a sure victory. It would have run her career record to six wins in as many starts. Parcells named the filly for Giddings, who is originally from Canada.
Instead of celebrating her first grade 1 win, Giddings was constantly reminded of the horror of Saturday whenever she walked past the empty stall. There was one consolation, a gesture of class and kindness from the camp of Pretty Mischievous , who won the seven-furlong race after Maple Leaf Mel fell.
The wreath of carnations, reserved for the winner of the Test, was hanging in front of Maple Leaf Mel’s stall.
Brendan Walsh, the trainer of Pretty Mischievous, delivered the wreath personally, along with his assistant, Charlie Lynch.
“(Maple Leaf Mel) was the best horse in the race,” Walsh said, sitting on a picnic table outside his barn on the Oklahoma, which was only a few up the road for Giddings. “We got beat fair and square. My filly ran a good race and we’re very proud of her, but we don’t feel like we won. My filly didn’t do anything wrong.”
He shook his head. He was sad, too.
As for the carnations, Walsh said it felt like the right thing to do. It had to be located, though, because the Godolphin team, which owns Pretty Mischievous, decided to forgo the customary winner’s circle presentation after the race, an honorable show of respect for the fallen Maple Leaf Mel.
The flowers were found by Lynch during the morning.
“We weren’t sure whether it would be a nice thing or not to do,” Walsh said. “But the team, and Godolphin, they were all for it. And, I think Melanie liked it. So, it was nice.”
Giddings accepted hugs and encouragement after training hours at her barn, which just seemed fuel for more tears. She huddled with staff and friends—including her boyfriend, jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who still rides periodically in the afternoon and who would ride Maple Leaf Mel in the mornings—at a picnic table outside her barn. When asked if she wanted to talk, she politely declined and said, in almost a whisper, “I can’t. I’m not ready for that.”
The winner’s blanket of flowers from the Test Stakes hangs on the stall guard of Maple Leaf Mel in Giddings’ barn on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga
She had done a brief interview with the New York Racing Association earlier, but it was difficult to talk about Maple Leaf Mel, the star of her small stable.
At half past six on the morning of Aug. 6, she had posted this on twitter:
“Thank you everyone for your messages. I can’t even pull myself together right now or know when I will ever be able to. Maple Leaf Mel’s health and happiness took priority over my own for the last two years and now I’m lost without her. She was a true grade 1 champion.”
A few years ago, Giddings was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian and endocervical cancer. It is now in remission.
All over the backstretch and Oklahoma, thoughts from trainers focused on Giddings and her filly.
“I get chills,” said Jena Antonucci, and her voice cracked. “Any trainer that has had it happen, this brings you back to it. No one deserves it. The horse does not deserve it. We are doing everything we can to steward the best possible lives and outcomes for every horse in our barns. I know that filly meant a great deal to Melanie. I was glad to see her at the barn this morning. Everyone knows that that filly was the winner of the race.
“This is the cruelest of sports,” she said. “I have always said, the 2×4 that hits you doesn’t care where it hits you. I always say a prayer, every race, every time. Be blessed and be safe.”
Antonucci is pointing Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Arcangelo to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) on Aug. 26 and she worked that colt on Sunday. She talked freely about Giddings—who she admits she does not know well—and Maple Leaf Mel.
“I know her story. I know she is a good horsewoman,” Antonucci said. “I know she will get through it. She has dealt with much bigger things in her life than winning horse races.”
Pretty Mischievous was standing in her stall at Lynch’s barn Sunday, alert and bright-eyed. She has now won three straight grade 1 races—the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park preceded the Test.
“When I think about it, if it happened to her,” he said, nodding towards Pretty Mischievous. “I would be an absolute mess. You’ve got to remember, guys, we all came into this game because we love horses. It has happened to me a few times and I just feel horrible because you love them so much. It makes you fit to quit, but you go on.”
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