Dr. Joel Politi

Challenges have defined Dr. Joel Politi’s life. Feeling constricted while working in a small practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Columbus, Ohio, he helped form Orthopedic ONE, the largest physician-owned orthopedic and sports medicine practice in the state, in 2016. “We’ve taken our small group and merged with other groups,” he said. “I’ve been a managing partner. I’m very proud of it.”

Think live TV is a challenge? Politi allows his surgeries to be live-streamed to the local science center COSI (Center of Science Industry), which sends the signal via the Library Science Center in Jersey City to six high schools around the country. Politi estimates the program, called “Surgical Suite,” has cumulatively reached more than 300,000 high school students who are building careers in medicine the last 15 years.

“It’s live and I have a microphone on me,” he said. “I narrate the operation to them and field questions.” 

At the end of the surgery, he introduces everyone—nurses, surgical technicians, anesthesiologists, medical device representatives and physicians’ assistants—and each one describes his or her role, training and education they received to get to this point.

“He’s not only a very successful surgeon, he’s developed tools for others,” his Thoroughbred trainer Tom Amoss said. “He’s a giver. He’s not just a client, he’s a friend.”

In his lifestyle as a newly-minted 50-year-old who is thrilled to be blessed with four daughters, Rachel (22), Leah (20), Annie (18) and Nina (14), Politi and his wife Julie have challenged themselves by running in five marathons and more than 20 half-marathons. “We run together and talk together the whole time,” he said. “We’re not winning any races, but it’s kind of our sanity.” Just to make the challenge of long-distance running a bit more daunting, they’ve signed up to do a half-Ironman: a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike race and then a half marathon (13.1 miles). “I’ll see if I’m still alive after that,” he laughed.

But the deepest-rooted challenge in Politi’s life is Thoroughbred racing, tracing back to the days he shared with his late father Jacques, a pediatric allergist who had a 12-horse barn of Thoroughbreds in their backyard. “My priorities are work, family, exercise and then horse racing,” Politi said. “But I love horse racing. I grew up with a barn in my backyard. I’d get the newspaper every day just to see the horses running at Thistledown and Waterford Park (now Mountaineer). In the winter, we used to drive an hour Friday night to get the Racing Form just to look at before we went to the track at Thistledown the next day. I was 12, or 13. I got into it. I really got into it.”

Politi and his three older siblings, Diane, June and John, earned 25 cents to feed the horses each morning, and they spent as much time as possible watching them race. Most, but not all of those Thoroughbreds were low-end claimers. “We had $1,500 claimers at Waterford and Thistledown,” Politi said. “That’s where I grew up. My dad owned and bred a bunch of Ohio-bred stakes winners. That was a really big accomplishment, especially with a home-bred. I said, `Wouldn’t it be great to win a little stakes?’”

That challenge wasn’t addressed until Politi became a Thoroughbred owner. “In 2005, I put together my first partnership with a bunch of friends,” he said. “We called it Giddy-Up Stables, from Kramer’s line in a Seinfeld episode. We claimed two horses with Bernie Flint.”

Serengeti Empress, whom Politi purchased for $70,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in 2017, took Politi to another level, when winning Politi his first Gr1 triumph, when she captured the Gr1 Kentucky Oaks by a length and three-quarters.

“I don’t know if I’ve recovered from it,” Politi said three weeks after the Oaks. “I would say it’s the greatest thrill—that race, that win. I’d love for her to win a bunch more races (she then finished second after an awkward start in the Gr1 Acorn at Belmont Park), but winning that race that day was a dream come true...a true dream come true.” Politi acknowledged he’s come a long way from Waterford Park: “Oh my gosh, yeah.”

Gatto Racing and All Schlaich Stables

Nick Gatto’s journey in horse racing began with a bucket of fried chicken he’d share with his father at Del Mar, 15 miles from their home in Encinitas, Calif. “I grew up going to Del Mar with my dad and a bucket of KFC ever since I could walk, or before I could walk,” Nick said. “My dad in college, he always joked around that he wanted to own a racehorse. My dad was a CPA. He was a numbers guy. He and a close friend, Jim Cahill, claimed a horse named Senator Maddy with trainer Ed Moger Jr. in 2008. An $8,000 claimer, he won a couple of races for us, and we became hooked for life.”

With both his father and Cahill still working regular jobs (Cahill worked in retail with PriceSmart), they turned to Nick for help. “They didn’t really have the time to manage their horses,” Nick said. “They gave me the responsibility of working with Ed Moger. Then we dipped our toes in the water and got a two-year-old with Jeff Mullins. She became a winner. We started to accumulate a bankroll. We were profitable, and we kept rolling with it.”

Soon, Nick had to make the most important decision of his life. “My dad’s good friend, Will DeBurgh had Tuscan Evening, a successful horse with Jerry Hollendorfer,” Nick said. “I met with them. I asked, `How do I get more involved?’ Will mentioned that Taylor Made had an internship program. I was working as a local EMT for the fire department. I decided I wanted to pursue a career in racing more than I wanted to be a firefighter.”

Nick, now 34, completed the internship program at Taylor Made and then took an offer to stay, working there three years and eventually becoming a barn foreman. Then he worked for trainer Matt Chew at Del Mar one summer. Nick then worked for Jenny Craig before turning his attention full-time to form and then operate Gatto Racing with his partner, Mark Schlaich.

If Schlaich tells you a horse is a lock, take him up on it. He runs a locksmith company in Northern California with three shops and 30 employees. He slipped into the lock business after racing motorcycles and working in a flower shop. “I’m very mechanical,” Schlaich said. Schlaich, 58, got to know Nick through Nick’s father.

In 2018, credit Nick, his father and Schlaich for not getting lost in the moment when their horse War Moccasin got claimed for $40,000 at Santa Anita in her first start as a four-year-old in 2018. Trainer/co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer and his partner George Todero claimed Vasilika for $40,000 in that same race. “Jerry gave me the opportunity to go in on her,” Nick said. “Dan Ward, Jerry’s assistant, takes his job very seriously. He doesn’t smile that much. When he claimed this mare, he smiled at me. So I knew I had to jump aboard. I told Jerry, `Absolutely. Thank you.’”

They haven’t looked back as Vasilika has turned into a once-in-a-lifetime claim. Her victory in the Gr1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita May 27 was her 12th victory in 14 starts since that claim. “When Jerry got her, he put some weight on her and spaced her races,” Nick said. “She was entered in the November sale last year, but we decided to race her another year.”

Smart move. She is four-for-four this year with that Gr1, a pair of Gr2 and a Gr3 stakes score, but it’s been a bittersweet journey for Nick, still trying to heal after his dad died in January at the age of 64. “He was at a golf tournament following Phil Mickelson,” Nick said. “My mother was with him. He had a heart attack when he was on the golf course. This ride with Vasilika has been very emotional. It was very difficult. It still is. What this mare has brought us after losing my dad. He couldn’t have this ride with her.”

Mark Schlaich said, “Nick and his dad were extremely close. Always very supporting and loving. He’s still processing the loss of his father.”

Nick's wife Karla handles all the stable's book work while also caring for their two young children. Nick has long-time partners in Schlaich, Hollendorfer and George Todero. “It’s been great to have a partnership that has been together for so many years,” Nick said. “We’re riding this wave together. That’s what partners do.”

Especially when one of them is gone. 

Grade 1 Winning Owners January and March, 2014

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