Sisks on shopping spree at Saratoga

Mike and Mickala Sisk are doing some Christmas shopping in July – at Saratoga.

This is the time of year the Sisks start to build up their stable to prepare for the Oaklawn meet, which opens in January. The couple has won the last two owner titles at the Hot Springs, Ark., track and in April set a single-season mark for owner wins at Oaklawn when they broke a 1974 record established by Dan Lasater.

“Remember the Sears Wish Book that would come out at Christmastime?” said Mike Sisk, 50. “Saratoga horses are in our Sears Wish Book. We want to buy as many as we can.”

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The Sisks – a self-made couple that operates 47 Low T Centers in 11 states – are more Neiman Marcus Christmas Book these days. They have about 55 horses in training, with 10 to 12 at Saratoga, where they won the meet opener July 11 with Armament and Wednesday’s third race with Pete’s Play Call. The couple also has horses at Ellis Park, Lone Star Park, Prairie Meadows, and Woodbine.

Mike Sisk said the plan is to build up to about 75 head for the Oaklawn meet. Last year, he set a goal of breaking the track’s record for owner wins – 48. The magic number of 49 was reached April 7, on a card when he won four races, all trained by Robertino Diodoro.

“That was a fun weekend – everything fell into place,” said Sisk, who brought about 20 people with him to the races, including two-time Super Bowl champion Neil Smith.

The Sisks, who overall won 61 races at the Oaklawn meet, which ended May 4, had 120 horses at the height of their title bid. Mike Sisk said 50 were at Oaklawn, and others were spread out at area tracks and training centers.

“We spent a year building the barn to do that mission,” Sisk said. “It’s so aggressive claiming there at Oaklawn, we knew we’d only get to run them one time. You don’t get to keep a horse at Oaklawn. We had 89 head claimed off of us, and we bought 62 during the course of the meet.”

When it was all said and done, Mike Sisk said he missed the action.

“There was a huge vacuum,” he said. “You go from running 15 a weekend to running one or two.”

Sisk said to avoid the feeling next season, he’s set a new goal of winning the owner title at his home track of Lone Star, near Dallas. The meet, which closes Sunday, runs each April to July.

The Sisks, who got into racing in November 2016, spent the Oaklawn meet introducing groups of people to the sport. Many of the folks were friends and neighbors from North Texas.

“Now my friends all have Daily Racing Form accounts,” Sisk said. “My country club added TVG to their network package. Everyone’s enjoying racing.”

This weekend, the Sisks hope to make a trip to Saratoga for some racing – and shopping.