THE TRAINER -- John Servis

John Servis was born Oct. 25, 1958, in Charles Town, West Virginia, growing up a mile from Charles Town racetrack. His father was a jockey, manager of the Jockeys’ Guild for 11 years, then state steward in West Virginia for 18 years. Growing up so close to the track, he and his mother would drive there and sit on a hill overlooking the track and watch the horses break from the chute in 4 1/2-furlong races. “That’s when I started getting the bug,” he said. He got a job working at O’Sullivan Farm, located about seven miles from the track, mucking stalls, foaling babies, and helping with the mares. The following year, he was promoted to the track, walking hots for trainer Frank Gall.

After going to Monmouth Park, where he groomed horses, he was injured and returned home to stay with his parents. It was during that time that he met his future wife. “I was hurt pretty badly. Charles Town was closing and one of the jockeys asked me to come to Penn National with him and take his book.” He took over the book of Shannon Sullivan and did very well, eventually moving on to Philadelphia Park where he became good friends with trainer Mark Reid. “I told Mark that I didn’t want to be an agent, I wanted to be a trainer. He said I should come to work for him, and I became his assistant for five years.” Later, Servis was an assistant to Scotty Schulhofer.

Servis eventually went out on his own and saddled several good winners such as stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Rapunzel Runz and stakes winner Le Grande Pos. He claimed Groovy Feeling, who went on to win a graded stakes, and Rhum, who would later be named champion in New York.

He met Rick Porter through a mutual friend, Joe Viviani, who worked for Porter as general manager at one of his automobile dealerships. “Rick said he was bored and was looking for something to do, and Joe talked him into getting into racing,” Servis said. “I claimed a horse for him for $35,000 and ran him twice, and he won twice before being claimed. Then I bought him a cheap filly at the Ocala sale for $17,000. When she won first out for $25,000, he was hooked. I had no idea how big he wanted to get, until he called me one day at my hotel out of the clear blue sky and said he was thinking about buying You and I. I told him he’d probably cost around a million dollars, and he didn’t even balk at it. I thought, ‘Wow.’ I told him I felt there was better value elsewhere. We almost had Tejano Run bought, but the owners decided not to sell. Then I was going to buy Thunder Gulch, but I dragged my feet, waiting for one more race, and he wound up being sold to Michael Tabor.” Of course, Thunder Gulch and Tejano Run went on to finish one-two in the following year’s Kentucky Derby.

John Servis moved to racing's center stage last year when he developed Smarty Jones to sweep the Southwest, Rebel, and Arkansas Derby before taking both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. For accomodating so cordially the media frenzy surrounding Smarty Jones, Servis was named the 2004 winner of the Big Sport of Turfdom Award by the Turf Publicists of America.

At season's end, Servis ranked fourth on the national list of money earning trainers, his stable having won 68 races and amassed $8.9 million. --edited from NTRA and Oaklawn biographies

THE EXERCISE RIDER -- Roberto Velez, Jr.

Roberto "Bobby" Velez, Jr. was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico on January 14, 1947. He moved to the U.S. in August of 1967 and started his career in horse racing at Arlington Park in Chicago, Illinois. Bobby has been the exercise rider for a number of serious racehorses including Eclipse and Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Eillo, Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck, and 3-year-old Eclipse champion and dual classic winner, Smarty Jones.

Bobby makes his home with long-time companion Maureen Donnelly and has two sons, Budd-Roberto, 25, and Roberto Alex, 20.

THE GROOM -- Mario Arriaga

Mario Arriaga was born in Guatemala City on October 12, 1973. In 1990, his father made a 17-day journey from Guatemala to the U.S., and Mario soon joined him so that they could help out the family who were living in poor conditions back home.

Mario's cousin Marcelo introduced him to horse racing at the farm Marcelo was working at in Santa Ines, California. Mario started work as a hot walker, was the groom for 4 horses a month later, and the groom for 7 horses eight days later. In 1994, he was sent with the horses to Belmont Park, his first time working on the backstretch.

Holidays have special meaning in the Arriaga household. Married with 3 children, the eldest 2 children are twins born on Mother's Day 2002, and the youngest was born on Thanksgiving day 2000.