Sports

Simes in the winners circle

Jockey Wesley Henry on an airborne Sunday Delight during the horse’s August 30 win in Florida.

Former Town Supervisor Jeff Simes is winning races again.


He is the proud owner of Sunday Delight, a three-year-old gelding making tracks on the Florida racing circuit.


Sunday Delight won in the fifth at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens on July 31 and again in the sixth on August 30. Both races were 6-furlong claiming races carrying a $10,000 purse.


“He really wants to run,” Mr. Simes said of his horse when he stopped at the Reporter’s office this fall. Unfortunately, he can’t at the moment — Sunday Delight is recovering from a minor leg wound.


The horse comes from winning stock. His sire was Sunday Break, who won the Peter Pan Stakes in 2002 and came in third at Belmont that year. The mare is Bellah’s Star, an unraced horse whose papa was Risen Star, 1988 Belmont winner. “All she’s turned out is winners,” Mr. Simes said of the mare.


The former supervisor’s interest in horse racing began before he moved from Shelter Island in 2004, but it is paying off this year. Working with trainer Kathleen O’Connell, who he met by chance at the Philadelphia Airport, has been a big part of his success, he said.


In addition to Sunday Delight, Mr. Simes owns another gelding and recently bought a filly, named after his wife — My Estelle. It’s an expensive sport, he acknowledges: “I must have rocks in my head” for wanting more. But with the economic down- turn, it’s been a good time to buy, he commented.


When he raced in New York, he had to drive 200 miles from Shelter Island to Saratoga. Now, living in Margate, Florida, he’s just 28 miles away. “We love it,” he said of racing, He goes to watch the horses three or four times a week, sometimes bringing his grandkids.


Meanwhile, Sunday Delight is on the mend. “Out galloping and jogging” and anxious to race the other horses on the track, Mr. Simes said. “Kathleen will put him on the main track next week.”


So will we see the Simeses in the winners circle of a national race?


“That’s always the hope. You never know. We’ve got the blood line.”