Trainer Mike Hushion will saddle the final two horses of his near five-decade racing career in Belmont Park’s 6TH race on Sunday, which is also the closing day of Bemont’s spring/summer meet.
Hushion revealed last month he planned to retire at the end of Belmont’s current meet. In the past few weeks, the horseman has been finding new homes for all of his charges, both equine and human.
“I think like anybody my age, I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” said Hushion, who will turn 69 on September 14. “My owners have all been wonderful and this is the right time for it, that’s all. (The runners) keep us busy. It gives us a little something to do, but the winding down has gone pretty smoothly.”
Hushion’s final two starters will be Jupiter Rising and Voodoo Song, both owned by longtime client Barry K. Schwartz. Other longtime owners include Blue Bison Stable, and Chester and Mary Broman.
“I’ve been with him for 25 years, so that pretty much says it all,” Schwartz said. “We’ve had a great relationship. He’s a terrific guy and a wonderful trainer. It’s sad to come to an end but I’m very happy for him.
“It’d be nice for him to win with one of them but, regardless, he’s done such a great job with so many horses over the years. We’ve had some amazing times together, a lot of highs.”
Hushion currently has a clean bill of health, but battled leukemia in 2015.
“With my past experience, the one thing I was sure that I didn’t want to do is go from here to basically the hospital,” he said. “I wanted to take some time and enjoy everything that’s supposed to be in between.
“As soon as I made the phone calls to my owners, there’s never been a doubt in my mind, and that’s a good sign,” Hushion added. “My horses will be getting good care where they go, and I’ll move on and see what happens. Spend a little time out in the big world. We’ll see what comes along, but I have some ideas. No paying jobs, though.”
“He’s been through so much with his owners and to get through that and survive it and be healthy, he’s certainly entitled to enjoy himself now,” Schwartz said. “He’s got grandchildren that he’s very fond of, he’s got three wonderful kids and, after working seven days a week for so many years, he wanted to spend more time with them. He’s going to be doing what he really wants to do. He’ll get to take it easy.”
Hushion started out an economics major at the University of Oklahoma, but fell in love with horses. He was hired by trainer Allen Jerkens thanks to a friend’s recommendation and spent six years working for the Hall of Famer before eventually taking out his trainer’s license.
Husion’s first winner was Tugboat Ryan at Aqueduct in 1975. Thus far in his career he’s saddled 1,426 winners who have earned more than $52 million in purses from 7,072 starts.
“Probably the horse I remember the most about was a horse I groomed, Step Nicely,” Hushion said in reference to a Jerkens trainee he cared for. “He was just a tough guy in a lot of ways. Between working for Allen Jerkens and being around that bully, I learned a lot about horses.
“(Step Nicely) was a big-time overachiever. He went head-to-head with Forego from the top of the stretch to the wire and beat him in the Jerome. I think he gave Allen his first two-year-old stakes winner. He ran against the greatest crop there ever was, in my opinion, the 1970 crop with Secretariat and all of them. You could name 20 serious horses out of that crop, and he held his own with all of them.”
Just as Hushion served as an apprentice to Jerkens, others have benefited from the trainer’s tutelage over the years.
“As a trainer starting out, he was always very supportive and has been a great personal friend through the whole process,” said trainer Leah Gyarmati, who worked and rode races for both Jerkens and Hushion before training on her own. “Huge kudos to him for being able to do what he’s doing now, because there are very few people who can walk out of this business and still look forward to having years and years of fun.
“I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of him, whether at dinners or at the rail when he gets bored; I expect a few retirement parties,” she added with a laugh. “I’m just really happy for him. Little by little, this business is changing and we’re really going to miss people like Mike. With all that he’s learned, he’s a great source of information and advice. He’s a very, very good horseman and, integrity-wise, you couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
Hushion’s retirement plans include spending time with his three children – sons Ryan and Quinn and daughter Casey – as well as his three grandchildren and one on the way; Quinn will welcome his first child in a few weeks.
Other plans include once again summering in Saratoga Springs with the Schwartz family, though fishing and golfing will take the place of sending out runners this time around.
“I love Saratoga like anybody else and I’ll be able to take advantage of all the other stuff there,” Hushion said. “I’ll find some things to do, I don’t think I’ll be spending too much time at the track. I think I’ll know how to enjoy Saratoga: fish, play golf, go to dinner with friends. That doesn’t sound like a bad couple weeks to me.”
“We were always kind of ships passing in the night because he’d be leaving at five in the morning,” said Schwartz. “So I told him, ‘Well, Mike, now you can get that second cup of coffee and we can go out and catch the last set.’
“But he’s not going to be out there at 5 o’clock, I can promise you that,” he added.