The life of pageants and ponies

The voice on the other end of the phone from Gulfstream Park is talking Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Accelerate and City of Light, maybe the two best dirt horses in training, will meet a final time Saturday in what should be a terrific race over a mile and an eighth.

“Going with City of Light,” the Stronach Group television analyst/handicapper said. “Could be a very quick pace and he’s got a lot of early speed. I like his post position (three). Hope he gets a good break and a clean trip. Accelerate will be tough to beat. Have the utmost respect for him. Proved me dread wrong winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It would be fun to see him go out a winner, but I’m gonna try to beat him.”

At this point, maybe you’re envisioning some bald dude, cigar dangling from his lips, binoculars dangling around his neck, imparting thoroughbred expertise.

Toss that ticket on the floor, railbird. You’re not even close.

Acacia Courtney won the Miss Connecticut USA pageant on Jan. 5 at The Palace Theater in Stamford. The 26-year-old from Hamden will compete later this year in the Miss USA pageant and — who knows? — maybe in Miss Universe. In 2014, Courtney won Miss Connecticut and finished in the Top 15 in Miss America.

She knows the ponies. She loves the ponies. And in a sometimes unforgiving business, Courtney brings an altruism that is admirable. She is the founder and

president of Racing for Home, a nonprofit dedicated to finding new careers for off-track thoroughbreds (OTTB).

“It is,” Courtney said, “my great passion.”

She began riding a little pony when she was 8.

“My mom is an accomplished horsewoman and she passed her love of horses on to me,” Courtney said. “It started with something as simple as Breyer figurines in our house.

“As I got a little more advanced, at 9-10, I did hunter/jumper and dressage and I rode an ex-racehorse. Nobody wanted to ride her because she was so fast. I loved her. Her name was Siren and I thought she was the best thing ever. We won ribbons together. Looking back, I guess that foreshadowed things.”

Courtney danced, too. She studied with the Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She entered pageants and was named Miss Connecticut’s Most Outstanding Teen 2009. She graduated from Hopkins School in New Haven and later from Fordham. She was 17 when she got involved with the OTTB.

“There were horses that weren’t making money on the track or were injured and could end up in bad situations,” Courtney said. “I wished somebody would do something about it, and then I said, ‘Wait a minute. Why don’t I do something about it?’ ”

She went to Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts and got a horse that was finished racing straight off the backside.

“She was kind of the catalyst, she’s still with my family,” Courtney said. “More than 25 horses have gone through the program since. We’re still very small and as Miss Connecticut USA, trying to grow the program is a big goal this coming year. We’re in the process of accreditation with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

“As I got involved with ex-race horses, I felt really inadequate not knowing anything about the racing world. I literally sat down and Googled things and tried to figure out what each symbol on racing forms meant. I watched analysis and tried to follow along. I was embarrassed to ask questions. I learned how to handicap that way in a very elementary level. But I got sucked into the racing world.”

She worked for the NYRA community relations department. And after winning Miss Connecticut, she was doing an interview on WINY in Putnam. The ride to the Quiet Corner, in the dark early cold of December, was worth it. Courtney said she was interested in getting into horse racing. A gentleman from NASCAR heard the radio interview and put her in touch with Kurt Becker who calls races at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. He put Courtney in touch with Mike Penna of the Horse Racing Radio Network.

“Mike took a shot on me,” Courtney said. “The first race was the Kentucky Derby where American Pharoah won. Right into the deep end. I knew nothing. I was Googling images to make sure I knew what the trainers looked like.”

Courtney learned fast. Six months later, she was emceeing an event in Florida in conjunction with the Eclipse Awards. “Dave Joseph (vice president of communications) approached me and gave me an incredible opportunity to work at Gulfstream,” she said. “Everybody at Stronach Group (which owns tracks around the nation) has given me a lot of freedom to try out new things at Gulfstream, Laurel Park, all over.”

You got to have thick skin to handicap. People bet on your picks. They lose. They aren’t happy. “Amen,” Courtney said. Guess what? She developed thick skin a long time ago. While Courtney believes her work ethic would have led to success, she is equally staunch in her belief pageants steeled her for the success to arrive earlier.

“People debate the relevance of pageants,” Courtney said. “Sometimes there’s a stereotype of how much can we take this girl seriously? But more than anything pageants give you a very thick skin. You have to be able to learn how to handle rejection and put yourself out there.

“You have to be able to know and love yourself. If you don’t love yourself, no way you’re going to convince the judges you are worthy of the title or potential sponsors. I learned to accept myself. That was something I really struggled with when I was younger. I think many girls go through those feelings of inadequacy, growing up in the dance world and struggling with body image.

“People bring up the relevance of the swimsuit competition (Miss America dropped it, Miss USA continues it), too. I’ve never felt more empowered than when I’ve been able to show off all the hard work I’ve done to prepare for the swimsuit competition.”

So she prepares for competition. Courtney calls herself “a visual handicapper.” She takes extensive notes. She insists studying video replay of races is vital.

“I’m in the paddock every day, trying to give people information they can’t find on paper,” she said. “I notice changes in horses. I have a pretty good photographic memory. Every horse is unique to me.”

Even the ones no longer running. Courtney has contacts now. Trainers with horses. Clients looking for horses. She runs Racing For Home with her mom, Sherrie. She said her dad, Brian, an attorney, helps out with everything from legal matters to horse grooming at DeCarlie Farm in Ellington where the family subleases.

“You don’t ever want to look at an animal and think there’s no second chance for you,” Courtney said. “It’s inspiring to see how these horses can transition (from dressage to riding lessons to companions) and bring so much joy to people we adopt them out to.”

In the meantime, Courtney has two races with two of the biggest purses in North America to consider. The $9 million Pegasus for 4-year-olds and up features some of the best thoroughbreds before they retire to a second career as stallions. Accelerate is a slight favorite over City of Light in a rubber match. Courtney has City of Light. And in the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, for 3-year-olds and up? “Short price, but I’m all in on Yoshida,” she said.

Win or lose, the skin is thick.