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Press Coverage
Going for wins after months of sad losses
Glyshaw copes with friends' deaths
By Jennie Reesjrees@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal • September 17, 2008
Tim Glyshaw has had the best summer of his young training career, including winning five races at Ellis Park and four at Churchill Downs. But it also came amid heart-tugging events.
Much of Glyshaw's small stable came through his connection to Cliff Guilliams, the longtime race chart-caller and turf writer who died in April at age 52. "I just wish he could have been here this summer," Glyshaw said recently at his Trackside stable.
Both Evansville boys, Guilliams became Glyshaw's chief cheerleader, even before Glyshaw opened his own stable four years ago. Whenever Glyshaw was down on horses, Guilliams always seemed to steer some his way.
Through Guilliams, Glyshaw became a friend of Luke Kruytbosch, the Churchill and Ellis announcer who died at 47 the night after Ellis' third day of racing.
It was especially meaningful when Glyshaw-trained Grand Traverse captured Ellis' closing-day Luke Kruytbosch Memorial, an overnight handicap, to give the 5-year-old gelding his fourth straight victory.
Also this summer, their exercise rider and friend, Hoagy Brown, died of a brain aneurysm.
"We have a lot of angels watching us," said Glyshaw's wife, Natalie, who assists in her husband's barn and also is a track photographer for Reed Palmer Photography.
Tim Glyshaw, who grew up going to Ellis Park with his dad, graduated from Indiana University in 1992 and spent two years teaching before pursuing a career in racing.
He started out in Taylor Made Farm's internship program. That led to a job as a hotwalker for trainer Bob Holthus, and he moved up the ranks to be a groom and assistant trainer for Holthus. When Glyshaw started his own stable at Ellis Park, Holthus sent him his overflow 2-year-olds. As such, Glyshaw gave future champion Lawyer Ron his early training.
"He's a very nice young man," Holthus said. "He's a schoolteacher, so they seem to learn a little faster. He was a very loyal employee, and I still support him when I can. Loyalty is hard to find anymore in this business."
Glyshaw, 39, steadily has been building his stable the hard way, an owner and a horse or two at a time.
"When we had five horses, I owned four of them," he said. "All we could afford to claim were $5,000, $7,500 horses, the ones who need the most vet work. We bought one for $1,000 from a hay and feed guy. It finished second three times in a row, then won, then we gave him to the adoption place. It's definitely a work-your-way-up kind of thing."
Glyshaw, who has eight horses at Trackside and will have another five once Fair Grounds' winter meet begins in New Orleans, hopes the momentum from the summer carries over. He has won 18 of 76 starts this season (23.7 percent).
Grand Traverse is the kind of horse who can get Glyshaw the attention of owners looking for a trainer. The gelding had been off a year when Glyshaw got him. He worked his way down to a cheap claiming race, but that started his winning streak, including going 3 for 3 at Ellis, capped by the Kruytbosch Memorial.
Loren Hebel-Osborne is part-owner and breeder of Grand Traverse, nicknamed Woody. She said she's never had a trainer with better communication skills.
"He's absolutely hands-on, he and Natalie both," she said. "They're at the barn every day, putting the hands on their horses. He kisses them on the nose and gives them all the candy and baby-talks to them. … Woody has never been happier. I don't think there's any other magic pill that (Glyshaw has) given him other than TLC."
The Kruytbosch victory was especially poignant.
"Cliff's not gone," Hebel-Osborne said. "He's still up there, got his finger in the soup. That's, quite frankly, one of the reasons why we went back to the Luke Kruytbosch. For Luke and that association with Cliff, but also because Ellis was Cliff's track. … I think in the back of all our minds we said, 'We're going to get Cliff to sort of blow us across the finish line a little bit.' "
Jennie Rees can be reached at (502) 582-4042.
DAILY RACING FORM 9-5-08 by: Marty McGee
Grand Traverse enjoys perfect meet
No horse had a better Ellis meet than Grand Traverse, a resurgent 5-year-old gelding who ended the Churchill Downs spring meet by winning a nonwinners-of-two-lifetime race for a $10,000 claiming tag. At Ellis, Grand Traverse went 3 for 3, winning another conditioned claimer, a first-level allowance, and finally an overnight handicap named in honor of the late race-caller Luke Kruytbosch on Monday, closing day.
Grand Traverse, trained by Tim Glyshaw, earned a career-high 96 Beyer Speed Figure in the Kruytbosch.
"We're absolutely ecstatic with the progress he's made," said Loren Hebel-Osborne, a principal in the Mimicry Partnership that owns Grand Traverse.
Churchill downs update
July 2, 2008
Small stable alert: Tim Glyshaw won two races Sunday with his growing stable. Rob O'Connor had another win and second in two starts last week and is at 8-3-4 for 21 starts.
By Jennie Rees
Cash Storm hopes the Slipper fits
Claiming Crown races highlight today's schedule at Ellis Park
By Cliff Guilliams (Contact)
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Tim Glyshaw The Harrison graduate taught school before switching to horses.
Trainer Tim Glyshaw of Evansville discovered an extraordinarily rare yet easy method of having a horse to run in his name today in Ellis Park's $600,000 Old National Bank Claiming Crown.
He developed a good reputation at his craft, and he answered his phone.
Late last week, trainer Clinton Stewart called from Iowa, asking that Glyshaw saddle Cash Storm in today's $75,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper for fillies and mares going six furlongs.
The 4-year-old bay daughter of Aptitude, owned by Steve Pallardy, is 6-1 on the morning line. She breaks from post position No. 1 under Brian Hernandez Jr. in the field of 11.
"It happened totally out of the blue," said Glyshaw, a 38-year-old Harrison High School/Indiana University graduate who taught school for two years before making horses his vocation instead of teenagers. "I've been around almost 15 years and never had a deal fall in my hands like this one. It was totally unexpected.
"I've heard stories that it happens a lot. Maybe if Cash Storm runs well somebody will take notice and send me a couple of others to train regularly. It certainly can't hurt."
Stewart claimed Cash Storm from a winning effort back on June 12 at Prairie Meadows for $10,000. He had too many horses entered today at Remington Park to make the trip to Ellis.
By coincidence, Stewart's assistant trainer, Diane Treadway, had been stabled next to Glyshaw and his wife, Natalie (who serves as Ellis' track photographer), for three seasons at Hoosier Park.
Treadway saw Glyshaw's meticulous handling and helped broker the deal.
On the eve of a big race, there's not a lot of training involved.
"It's more or less walk her, jog her, make sure that she's as calm and relaxed a possible and then run her," said Glyshaw. "I never expected her to run in my name. But Clinton said go ahead and do it that way. He called the stewards and cleared everything for the transfer."
Glyshaw receives his usual per day training rate and half of any purse money that Stewart would earn. "Can't beat a deal like this," he said.
Cash Storm, 5-6-1 from 16 lifetime starts, isn't the first horse that Glyshaw has lent his name and ability to. He worked many years as an assistant to Bob Holthus, helped develop numerous good ones including the hugely talented Lawyer Ron who raced for the late Jim Hines of Owensboro, Ky. before being sold and sent to trainer Todd Pletcher.
Glyshaw maintains a six-to-eight-horse outfit but still regularly saddles horses on race days when Holthus and guys like Lynn Whiting can't make the trip and has stalls ready when their horses are shipped in from Churchill Downs.
"Nobody can do well in this business alone," said Glyshaw. "It's about relationships and helping people. Sooner or later, if you keep helping others, it's going to pay off."
Each horse running today is eligible for various reasons.
Some come from tracks where there isn't much claiming done in the $15,000 variety. There are the old "safety claims." Trainers run a horse cheap to make them eligible, have friends drop in claims, then "buy" them back privately. It's legal and usually time foolproof.
Some others fall through the cracks, run cheap and get good all at once.
Then there's the rare, absolute freak like Golden Hare. A winner in 12 of his last 13 starts, he was actually claimed for $3,500 and turned into a tiger for Scott Blasi and Steve Asmussen.
Mission accomplished: Darrell H wins, claimed
By CLIFF GUILLIAMS
Courier & Press correspondent equic1@aol.com
Saturday, September 2, 2006
By winning Friday's fourth race at Ellis Park with Darrell H, trainer Tim Glyshaw accomplished two other things.
Glyshaw, an Evansville native, visited the winner's circle and had his picture snapped by his wife, Natalie, the track's photographer.
And the horse was claimed for $15,000, which is what attorney Ron Bamberger, representing the horse's former owner, the late Jim Hines Jr.'s estate, had requested.
Bamberger told Glyshaw to run Darrell H and others like Dick G (on Thursday) where they could win and get claimed. Dick G failed to win, but was claimed.
"Had Mr. Hines lived, Darrell H would have run right back for $25,000, same price he ran for when second in his first start of the meeting," said Glyshaw. "But by November, the estate wants to liquidate all horses except the interest it shares in Lawyer Ron. Hate to lose the horses. But that's the way it is."
Glyshaw, a 37-year-old graduate of Harrison High School and Indiana University, had Lawyer Ron, one of the top contenders in this past spring's Kentucky Derby, and other 2-year-olds here last summer for trainer Bob Holthus.
For the past several seasons, Holthus has sent Glyshaw young horses to prepare.
Glyshaw said winning Friday was great, but noted that added pressure of running a 3-10 favorite. "It's different when you run a 4-1 or 5-1 shot and lose. But when you run a horse that's odds on, you'd better win. Or you're going to hear about it from your friends."
A 3-year-old chestnut Gilded Time colt bred by Hines, Darrell H broke in front under Orlando Mojica and never wavered, romping by 3¼ lengths. He paid $2.60 and completed the 5½ furlong turf test in 1:03.33.
Randall Davidson is the new owner and Joe Cain the trainer.
Evansville Courier & Press
Derby? Who'd have guessed?
By CLIFF GUILLIAMS, Horse Racing
May 1, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The day was April 16, 2005, the place, Ellis Park.
Few people would have guessed that among a dozen 2-year-olds trainer Bob Holthus sent to his assistant, Tim Glyshaw, a lanky chestnut named Lawyer Ron would develop into something special.
But he has. Riding the crest of a six-race winning streak including a 2¾-length triumph in the Arkansas Derby, Lawyer Ron will be no worse than third betting choice in Saturday's 132nd Kentucky Derby.
"Each time we worked Lawyer Ron as a baby, he recorded a bullet (fastest time)," said Glyshaw, an Evansville native whose love for horses began when his family took him to Ellis Park as a child. "I was so certain that he was going to be a nice horse that I told Bob White (racing manager for the colt's late owner, Jim Hines Jr. of Owensboro) to nominate him for the 2-year-old stake (James C. Ellis Memorial) so we would have somewhere to run him after he broke his maiden."
Enthusiastically, Glyshaw told Holthus the same thing. It prompted the veteran horseman to smugly respond, "Lawyer Ron doesn't want any part of Red Raymond."
Holthus knew best at the time. Lawyer Ron was trying to buck shins and was unsuccessful last summer in three attempts over Ellis Park's turf course.
Red Raymond, however, cruised to victory in the Ellis Memorial.
Being a son of top turf sire, Langfuhr, Holthus naturally wanted to try Lawyer Ron on the grass. It's about the only mistake he has made.
Last September, Lawyer Ron also failed to win in two starts over Turfway Park's polytrack. That's forgivable. Results over that surface have sometimes been as strange as the footing. It was a different story last Oct. 21 when Lawyer Ron ran over Keeneland's wet main track. He won comfortably by 3¼ lengths.
Last November, after losing twice more on Churchill's turf course, Holthus said never again.
The colt hasn't lost since. He's a throwback. Unlike most of his generation, Lawyer Ron seems to thrive on a heavy workload. Many refer to him as the "Iron Horse." He's started 14 times, more than any other Derby starer, fashioning a 7-1-3 record and earning $1,220,008. A 1987 product of Harrison High School and Indiana University, Glyshaw never will forget Jan 14, 2006. Not only did he marry his wife, Natalie, who works for Churchill/Ellis track photographer Reed Palmer, but Lawyer Ron won the Grade III Risen Star Stakes run at Louisiana Downs.
"I called Bob (Holthus) and we exchanged congratulations. Then I told him that 'I don't think Red Raymond wants any part of Lawyer Ron now.' We both laughed."
Glyshaw wasn't born into the racing game.
After using his education degree to teach two years, he realized a dream by swapping students for horses.
In 1995, he went to work at Taylor Made Farm in order to learn basic horsemanship. Soon afterwards, he walked into the office of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association seeking direction. John Griffith of the HBPA suggested Holthus as an employer/mentor.
A relationship was struck between the trainer who rarely reads anything besides Daily Racing Form and the college graduate who once perused Shakespeare and the classics.
Glyshaw walked hots for four months and groomed for six. Holthus saw promise, realized that Glyshaw was a quick learner who also understood racing's business end and made him an assistant.
Currently, Glyshaw, who also trains a small stable of his own, is headquartered at Turfway Park. As usual, last month, Holthus sent him 13 more 2-year-olds to prepare.
Saturday, however, Glyshaw will be at Churchill to bring Lawyer Ron to the paddock.
"It's going to be a special day for all of us," said Glyshaw. It may be a once in a lifetime experience. The only down side is that Mr. Hines (who died on Feb. 21) isn't here to see it. He put a lot of time and money into this business. He deserved to be part of this."
Evansville Courier & Press - August 27, 2005
By CLIFF GUILLIAMS Courier & Press racing writer equic1@aol.com
August 27, 2005
Between running trainer Bob Holthus' large stable, owner-trainer Tim Glyshaw of Evansville found time to win Friday's second race with his Go Cassie Jo ($5.60).
Battling for the lead from the start under Calvin Borel, Go Cassie Jo won the 5½-furlong dash for $4,000 claimers by a neck. Wanda and Kermit McCormick claimed the mare.
Evansville Courier & Press - July 15, 2005
13th start at Ellis Park is a charm for owner-trainer Tim Glyshaw
By CLIFF GUILLIAMS Courier & Press racing writer equic1@aol.com
July 15, 2005
Most horse trainers are superstitious. Not owner-trainer Tim Glyshaw of Evansville.
The 36-year-old had all the confidence in the world Thursday when he saddled the 13th Ellis Park starter of his career in the ninth race.
Go Cassie Jo, a 6-year-old mare, rewarded Glyshaw's confidence. She made all the pace over the muddy footing and won by a half-length under Calvin Borel in the 6-furlong test for $4,000 claiming fillies and mares.
She paid $4 and was timed in 1:13.54.
"I had six second-place finishes by horses I owned or trained last year here from 12 starts and couldn't win one," said Glyshaw, who has served as the top assistant to Bob Holthus for several years and still handles numerous chores for him. "I never really thought about this being the 13th until someone mentioned it."
Many horsemen refuse to be stabled in a barn if it is numbered No. 13. Some even go to the trouble of taping over the number if it's imprinted over a stall door. "I never believed much in that superstition thing," said Glyshaw, who graduated from Harrison High School in 1987 and from Indiana University in 1992. "I will tell you this: My mother, Diane Whipkey, and my stepfather, Jim Whipkey, have been to every race we've run here.
"I'm not saying they've been a jinx, or I might lose my rent-free housing for the summer," he added while taking congratulatory call after call on his cellular telephone. "But I was about to tell them I was going to buy them TVG (Television Games Network) so they could just stay home and watch the races in comfort."
Besides overseeing 16 horses for Holthus, Cassie Go Jo is the only horse Glyshaw had personally prior to Thursday. His one-horse outfit doubled when Keith Plaisance, a New Orleans police officer, made a deal to send Glyshaw a veteran turf sprinter for the rest of the summer.
"He's a high-priced claiming horse and a former stakes winner. So all-in-all, it was a great day," said Glyshaw. "Go Cassie Jo earned $4,270 and I doubled my stable. I'd like to do that a few more times this summer."
Evansville Courier & Press - July 13, 2004
Evansville Courier & Press - September 19, 2004
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