Harness: Daniels dreaming big with Unsung Hero

Trainer Curtis Daniels may not be a household name, but he knows his way around a horse, and none of the people that truly know him were surprised to see the 58-year-old standing in the winner's circle at The Meadowlands for the first time on February 11.

Although Daniels did not get his trainer's license until the start of the century, he's been working with horses since he was about 8 years old. His dad worked for the Gilmours (John and Buddy) and Hall of Famer Ron Gurfein, among others, and Daniels learned the tricks of the trade from names like Clint Galbraith, Sonny Dancer, Jerry Silverman and others.

"He's a very good horseman but just doesn't have the money behind him," said driver Corey Callahan, who knows Daniels from his time in Maryland. "He's an old-school guy who always seemed to make chicken salad out of chicken crap."

Daniels had a successful run working with his father-in-law Jack Talley in the claiming game and has picked up 113 wins in 984 career starts as a listed trainer, but ultimately his passion was with molding younger horses.

"I was always into breaking and training colts," said Daniels. "I ended up doing that for about 15 years. I broke colts, trained them down and sent them to the trainers. I knew that would keep me a job, and I would always buy one or two that nobody wanted. That's how I started out. I think only one horse in all the time I've been breaking horses hasn't made it to the track. I have an outstanding record.

"I took every part of what I learned from each horseman and molded it into what I do with the horses. I came to the conclusion that not all horses can be trained the same. A lot of the big stables train the same, and they don't end up keeping some horses because they don't think they'll end up being stakes-caliber. I'm just looking to get a horse to the race track and get the best I can out of them ability-wise."

After nearly two decades campaigning a small barn, the last couple of years have been hard for Daniels due to the pandemic. In addition to rehabbing about five other horses, Daniels works as a rider for Noel Daley.

While he didn't know it at the time, his luck changed dramatically in 2021 when he had the opportunity to purchase the aptly-named unraced colt Unsung Hero. A well-bred son of Always B Miki, out of the Yankee Cruiser mare Sweet As Sugar, who is a full sister to three-time millionaire Sweet Lou, Unsung Hero was originally purchased for $70,000 at the 2019 Harrisburg Sale by Val D'or Farms, with breeder Binam Wood Farms staying on board.

Daniels, who can recount a number of horses he purchased for under $5,000 that eventually made it to the races as mid-level claimers or better, bought Unsung Hero for $3,500. He admits that a name change was in the works, but he thought better of it.

"I was going to change his name to Always B Grumpy because he was very grumpy or after my grandson Always B Jason, but I decided to leave his name alone because it was a nice name, and I thought if he turned out to be a superstar it was a good name," said Daniels. "I'm always looking for horses, and I've gotten them off Joe Holloway before. He told me that he was a good horse and if I gave him time he might be alright. I had to train him differently. I distance-trained him like a mile-and-a-half to make him think he wasn't working that hard. Some horses don't like to work but now he likes it.

"At the beginning he had a lot of attitude problems. In today's society a lot of horses have them, but you have to find a way to go around the issue. He didn't want to go to the track a lot. So, I turned him out a lot more, and when I jogged him I would only make him go up a little bit in speed at a time so he didn't know he was training. That changed his attitude."

As an unraced 2-year-old, Unsung Hero is in good company. Many horses have missed the opportunity to race due to injury, soreness, greenness or other issues but gone on to become special. Perhaps the most recent example is 2020 Dan Patch-winning 3-year-old filly pacer Party Girl Hill. Despite never seeing the track as a freshman, Party Girl Hill went on to win 15 of 16 races at age 3 while winning $880,345.

The list of horses which never saw the track pari-mutuelly at 2 in recent years but went on to succeed later in life doesn't end with Party Girl Hill. Little Rocket Man didn't race in 2018 but has gone on to win well over $500,000. Weslynn Quest also missed her 2018 season and went on to become a world record-holder in 2021 with a 1:50 4/5 win at Northfield Park. Really Fast missed his 2020 campaign and came back to win the New Jersey Sire Stakes final at the Meadowlands last year.

That Unsung Hero began his career winning at the Meadowlands and did so in impressive fashion with a 26 1/5 final quarter on the end of a 1:53 2/5 mile brings back memories of many lightly-raced horses which would annually show up at the East Rutherford, New Jersey, oval for winter late closers. One such attendee was a horse with just one career start that went on to become perhaps the most popular horse of the last decade.

Seven years ago on the same weekend that Unsung Hero won his debut, Wiggle It Jiggleit showed up at the Meadowlands a virtual unknown in the Sonsam and went on to win nine straight races before finishing second in the North America Cup. At the end of the year, he would have 22 wins in 26 stats, over $2.1 million in earnings, and a Horse of the Year title.

Placing that type of weight on the shoulder of Unsung Hero is premature and unjustified, but a man can dream.

"I've always dreamed of having a good horse for myself. When you train for owners there is a lot of pressure. When you own your own there isn't as much pressure," said Daniels.

Daniels admits that the Meadowlands start almost didn't happen. He tried to race Unsung Hero at Yonkers Raceway, but an issue with filling out a form which would allow Daniels to race at the track and a cancellation led to fate deciding that his first start would be in New Jersey.

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"He was short," said Daniels about the 1:53 2/5 winning mile at the Meadowlands. "I had a program set up for him leading up to the race but because of the cancellation he didn't train like I had him set up for the qualifier. I told [driver] Troy Beyer that I was a little concerned because the stretch drive is long at the Meadowlands, and I thought he'd be a little short."

Even before the start at the Meadowlands, Corey Callahan said there was a buzz in the paddock at Dover Downs about the 3-year-old, and the hype has only built since.

Daniels was reportedly offered six-figure sums for Unsung Hero and turned it down. The money would be a healthy profit off his purchase price and represent a life-changing sum for the veteran conditioner, but as of Monday afternoon he was standing firm.

"Even though right now I need a truck, and I have a couple of credit cards I could pay off, I just feel like I need to take the ride for a change. When my wife was alive, she would always make me sell the horses because they were in her name," said Daniels with a hearty laugh.

With the February 15 deadline looming and costs of $5,000-$10,000 staring him in the face to properly stake Unsung Hero, Daniels decided to phone a friend at 11 P.M. Monday night.

"He told me he had to sell a third of the horse because he needed the money to stake him," said now co-owner Howard Taylor, who was happy to help his friend not only monetarily, but also with a staking process that can be tricky for a newcomer to the arena.

After Taylor and Daniels went over the stakes schedule and the costs involved, they agreed to become 50/50 partners. Taylor was reluctant to be "that guy" who rides in and takes a potentially good horse from the "little guy" but ultimately the partnership resulted in the best of both worlds where Daniels could continue to train and manage the horse while affording to pay him into a full slate of stakes if Unsung Hero is up to it.

Taylor confirmed the colt is now eligible to the Meadowlands Pace, Adios, Hempt, Cane, Little Brown Jug, Breeders Crown, Matron, Progress, and a few other smaller stakes. As a son of Always B Miki, he also has the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, which will likely be his stakes debut if all goes according to plan.

"I really wanted to let Howard into this horse because he's always had my back for anything. He's the best owner in sport to me, and he's a good friend to me," said Daniels.

Outside of Daniels, and ownership aside, no one wants to see Unsung Hero succeed more than Taylor.

"I can't say enough about the guy, and I hope this horse is what he thinks he is," said Taylor. "I'm just happy I provided the opportunity for this horse to put him on the map. He deserves it. He's been at it for way too long and has gotten zero credit for it."

Unsung Hero will continue his racing journey with start two of his career on Friday (February 18) at the Meadowlands in the fifth race from post seven with Troy Beyer back for a second ride in the bike. Whether the start will be another building block on a fairytale year remains uncertain, but Daniels is hoping the sky is the limit.

"There's going to be a great story to it if everything turns out the way I want it to be," concluded Daniels.