Forrest Kaelin, 83, sends out meaningful winner

Trainer Forrest Kaelin and his wife, Betty, have wintered off and on in Tampa since 1956, when the track was known as Sunshine Park and Forrest was still a jockey. The couple enjoyed quite a sentimental victory here Sunday when My Monkey captured the fifth race, for maiden claimers, at an $18 mutuel.

My Monkey, a dark bay 3-year-old filly, is named in honor of the couple’s late granddaughter Ashley King, who died at age 32 in a car crash in Louisiana six years ago. Another granddaughter, Brittany King, bred the filly.

Ashley “was the first one to start calling me ‘Monkey,’” Betty Kaelin told Tampa publicity, “and everybody else started doing it after that. I know Ashley is up there smiling right now. For this filly to win today is like a million dollars. It’s like winning the Kentucky Derby for us.”

Forrest Kaelin, 83, has been in frail health in recent months but still soldiers through his ailments to make regular appearances at his barn, which is adjacent to the racing office in the far corner of the Tampa backstretch.