February 7 - Wonder Wheel

This beautiful daughter of Into Mischief is owned and raced by my friend, Len Green. Len has been racing horses for several decades. Len told me that he took his son to the track when he was little boy just as something to do as a family on a Saturday. They had so much fun that they thought they should get into the game. Here we are many years later and Wonder Wheel is their second Breeders' Cup winner. His first was Jaywalk . . . and that is a whole 'nother story but that's when we met.

Wonder Wheel is a very special horse to Len as she was the start of a whole new ownership philosophy and training strategy, and it went very well.

Over the years, I got to know Len and his wife, Lois. She was his rock; she had his back and was his biggest fan and sounding board. Through all of Len's successes, it was Lois that was there cheering him on. Last fall, Lois passed away from cancer. I never knew she was sick; often when Len and I talked, it was on speaker phone with Lois. She was delightful and loved the horses as much as Len. Wonder Wheel had a special significance to both . . . soon, very soon . . . I'll have to ask Len where the name Wonder Wheel came from. Rest assured, there's a story there and I think it has something to do with Len and Lois.

Len is an accountant, and his practice specializes in equine accounting. He also teaches a course on how to be an entrepreneur for Babson College. Len even had me speak to his class online during Covid. Len is a ball of energy and has a great can-do attitude . . . oh, am I supposed to be talking about the horse? Did I mention she's an Into Mischief daughter and an Eclipse Award winner and a Breeders' Cup champion? Yeah, it’s about the horse, but sometimes, it’s about the people, good people.