Arkansas native brought O'Neill, Reddam together

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Doug O’Neill might not have won a Kentucky Derby at this point in his career were it not for a man who grew up just a few miles from Oaklawn Park.

Mark Schlesinger asked friend Paul Reddam to partner with him on a horse he planned to claim and have with O’Neill more than a decade ago in Southern California. It was the first time Reddam, who was already in racing, had any dealings with O’Neill.

“That was the connection that’s kind of been amazing ever since,” O’Neill said. “If it wasn’t for Mark Schlesinger, I wouldn’t know Paul, and the last eight to 10 years would have been a lot different.”

Instead, Reddam and O’Neill have reached racing’s pinnacle. The men won the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with I’ll Have Another and this year have a leading contender for the classics in champion Nyquist. In addition, Reddam and O’Neill have Frank Conversation and Ralis on the Kentucky Derby trail, with Hopeful Stakes winner Ralis set to run Saturday at Oaklawn in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel.

Schlesinger will be in the house. He now owns and operates a travel agency in Little Rock, Ark., that caters to many in the racing industry, including his close friends, jockeys Corey Nakatani and Mike Smith. Schlesinger has come home after spending 12 years in Southern California, but while out West, he forged what have become long-standing friendships with Reddam and O’Neill.

“Paul and I got to be friends at the track, and we played golf together,” Schlesinger said. “I had horses with Doug, who is such a good guy, a real people person. He enjoys meeting people and traveling places and seeing new things, and that’s one of the reasons he and Paul hit it off so well, because they’re both so likeable.”

Schlesinger, 56, eventually ended up being partners with Reddam on horses such as the O’Neill-trained Sharp Lisa, who won the Grade 1 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita in 2005. Overall, Schlesinger was in on about 10 horses with Reddam. He got out of racing when he returned to Arkansas, as he has kept seriously busy as a single father raising 8-year-old Sofie.

Sofie was the inspiration for the name of one of Reddam’s horses, Sofie S., and she and her father regularly spend Christmas with Reddam and his wife, Zillah.

“They’re the most wonderful, generous people you’d ever find,” Schlesinger said. “They take care of a lot of people, and it’s good to see people like that do so well in the horse business. I’m looking forward to them coming to Arkansas this Saturday.”

As for Schlesinger, he will be returning to his old stomping grounds, as his first win as an owner came 30 years ago at Oaklawn with the Terry Brennan-trained horse Sunnybunces.