Magnuson decides to play the racing game

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Art Magnuson left the employ of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin last fall following the Saratoga meet, he wasn’t necessarily planning to start training on his own.

But it appears it’s going to work out that way.

Magnuson, 51, has four stalls at Saratoga. He has a pair of 2-year-olds of his own – Callant and Dulcita – and the unraced 4-year-old Sweet Cider. He is also preparing another 2-year-old, Saint Patrick Frost, who will go to Pat Kelly.

Magnuson, who worked as an assistant to McLaughlin for about 23 years, moved from Long Island to upstate New York with his wife, who had gotten a good job at a law firm, and family. Magnuson opened Across the Board Stables, a 65-acre facility in Princetown, in Schenectady County.

“We opened up a layup facility, and people sent up horses to break,” Magnuson said. “We got into a routine, and we enjoy it.”

“We” includes Michael Caputo, Magnuson’s 23-year-old stepson.

“We make a good team,” Magnuson said. “We’ll see where these 2-year-olds take us. I know how the game works. Mr. Panza” – New York Racing Association vice president of racing operations Martin Panza – “was very nice to give us stalls. You have to race horses to keep them.”