Fan club still growing for A Jealous Woman

ARCADIA, Calif. - Some of the facts are a little fuzzy.

How many people were in the winner's circle at Santa Anita last Sunday when A Jealous Woman won her third straight race? Keith Lineman, one of the five men who own A Jealous Woman, counted 82. Trainer Bill Spawr thought that figure was low. "Somebody said it was more than 100," he said.

Regardless of how many showed up, Santa Anita may need larger accommodation for A Jealous Woman's next race.

What started out for the five-man partnership as a way to be more heavily involved in the sport has become an excuse to get family and friends together at the races.

"We've all loved the racetrack together," said co-owner Richard Reid. "We wanted to get involved in some way. This came up. It was tough in the beginning - a lot of bills and nothing coming back."

A Jealous Woman is putting a big dent into those costs. In her four career starts, A Jealous Woman has earned $97,520 for Reid, Lineman, Don Ladd, Martin Mueller, and Nick Tamborrino.

Reid, who lives in La Crescenta, Calif., Lineman, and Tamborrino worked together as postal workers. For the retired Reid, 59, owning a filly such as A Jealous Woman represents a lifelong involvement in the sport.

"I've been going to the races since the 1950s, since my grandparents took me," he said.

The partners bred A Jealous Woman with Kim Thorson. It was Thorson who arranged the breeding of A Jealous Woman, who is by Muqtarib out of the Fly So Free mare Miss Free Bird. Later, the partnership bought out Thorson.

Miss Free Bird won her only start, in 1998, and has produced four foals to race. A Jealous Woman is the most successful of those. The partnership sold one horse as a yearling a few years ago - the four-time winner Roar of Eagles - but vowed to keep the next for themselves.

A Jealous Woman, 4, made her debut for Spawr last summer, finishing second at Hollywood Park. She emerged from that race with bruised feet that kept her out of racing for the rest of the summer. Last fall, when A Jealous Woman went back into training, she developed the habit of "running off" during morning workouts, Spawr said.

Jockey Richard Migliore, who has since moved back to his native New York, worked with Spawr to teach A Jealous Woman patience.

"Richard did a lot with her," Spawr said. "She wanted to go in 22 [seconds]. He worked with her in the mornings and got her to come back to him. I really owe him a lot."

A Jealous Woman beat maidens at Hollywood Park on Nov. 22 and returned to win an allowance race against statebred females on Dec. 20. Last Sunday, A Jealous Woman won a first-condition allowance race against open company. Ridden by Joe Talamo, A Jealous Woman led throughout a one-mile turf race, winning by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:34.52. All three of her wins have come on turf.

A Jealous Woman's winning streak suggests that she will be starting in stakes later this year, though Spawr, realizing her potential, says he is in no hurry to try such a spot.

The Sunshine Millions races for California-breds and Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita on Jan. 30 will not include A Jealous Woman, he said.

"We've got all her conditions and we'll space her a little bit," he said. "She's had three races that were good races."

For Reid, the early days of A Jealous Woman's career have been a dream. This is much farther than Reid and the partners expected to progress.

"Early on, we thought she had a way about her, but nothing close to this," he said.