Remembering "Gags"

[sonnyp]

mike gagliardi was quite a guy. talk about damen runyon characters! he was larger than life. robin hood of the back side.

middle class jersey kid with movie star looks. started hanging out at johnson park. worked his way to the top. you loved him or hated him. (i loved him)

great, and i mean great horseman.

2 quick stories :

cat manzi (who i like also) and mike (2 paisans) got into it in a race at the big m. the jawing continued down to the drivers' room. cat gave mike a shove, and i never saw a guy go down so fast ! cat was out colder than a makerel !


was watching tv between races in the drivers' room with him. the guard announces "gag, you got a visitor". i had to warm up a horse so i walked up front with him. there was the stunning annette funicello. he had made her aquaintance on one of his sojurns to the west coast.

memory of them so young.....they've both been gone quite a while. mike was such a health nut. hard to believe he died so young.

[Pacingguy]

Mike was a person who certainly had his dark side, but I must confess, I liked him. After all, how bad could a person be if he visited his mother every Sunday afternoon? Regardless, he died too young.

Anyone remember Cobra Almahurst? He was the yearling that crippled his career. There was a short period of time he was recommending yearlings to owners and he was high on Cobra. So much that Cobra Almahurst was purchased for a then record $385,000 as a yearling. End result? Over a three year racing career, he mad eight starts with one win and one third place finish with total career earnings of $2,973. The one win came at Foxboro where he set a lifetime mark of 2:04.1. Needless to say, he was blackballed after that fiasco.

[sonnyp]

Mike was a person who certainly had his dark side, but I must confess, I liked him. After all, how bad could a person be if he visited his mother every Sunday afternoon? Regardless, he died too young.



mike was always a "regular guy" at heart. he worked his way into a circle of wealthy people who, i believe, he never respected. mike would readily tell you, "i'll make 'em millionaires....... as long as they start with two". he could be ruthless with these types.

however, in my early days, i had 2 horses to train. won was good enough for yonkers and roosevelt the other was liberty bell stock. neither race secretary would give me a stall for the "other horse" and the training centers didn't exist then. joe dileo was a vet and a mutuel friend of mike and mine. i never knew mike. after a mention, in passing, about the "politics" of racing (the race secretaries) mike got word to me to bring both my horses to his farm(training facility). he put them up, fed them like they were his and if he had a horse racing on the same night, he shipped them. all he ever said was,"stay as long as you need to......we'll settle up later".

he never took a nickle. when we'd go to dunkin donuts he'd always say,"this is on you......and leave a good tip. don't embarrass me "!

i miss him

[MrBaseball]

sonnyp.............sounds like "Gags" was an okay guy. Naturally I didn't know him and based my opinion upon my wagering experience. SOMEHOW HE ALWAYS WON when his horses got late bet action (like they were behind the gate and Robin Burns was ready to call the race).

Mr BB

[sonnyp]

sonnyp.............sounds like "Gags" was an okay guy. Naturally I didn't know him and based my opinion upon my wagering experience. SOMEHOW HE ALWAYS WON when his horses got late bet action (like they were behind the gate and Robin Burns was ready to call the race).
Mr BB


when they bet their money (no collusion or games, just the right spot and right time) NOBODY WAS BETTER than mike gagliardi and "steady" eddie lohmeyer !!!

they never got, or wanted the public's appreciation of their talents as horsemen and ability to analyze a race and know they were best that night.

[wilderness]

Here's Mike's obit online (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/HARNESS+RACING%27S+GAGLIARDI+DIES-a083851052)