Posted on 11/29/2007 5:22:03 PM

Horse Wagering – Rushin to Hushion

By Brian Mulligan

Horse Bettors that just go to the top of the standings to wager on horses in New York, and primarily bet Todd Pletcher, Richard Dutrow or Bruce Levine are missing out on a nice little underbelly of success in Mike Hushion.

The guy strikes early, often and under the radar. At the current Big A meeting, he is 7 for 19 early in the stand and only 9 of his runners have been out of the money.

He can win with a number of different types, but to get to know the man and to get a leg up on his trends that can lead to winning horse bets, let’s look at his history.

Some horses are late developers; some people are, too. Hushion didn’t get interested in the sport of horse racing until well into his college career, but he’s made it a “major” for his life and it has graduated laude cum laude.

Born in September of 1948 in New York, Hushion always knew a little about money and was concentrating on economics at Oklahoma University in Norman, Oklahoma when the racing bug bit him.

He left the university one-year short of a degree and headed home to explore his new love.

Earlier a friend who worked at the track took him to Belmont and Hushion was introduced to Allen Jerkens. Upon returning to New York, Hushion struck up the relationship again and worked as a groom for the Hall of Fame legend. He paid his dues, had his share of feed buckets to clean and learned from the bottom up. After seven years of working for one of the greatest horsemen in the country, Hushion went out on his own, and took out his trainer’s license.

Sometimes things are just plain meant to be. Low on cash, struggling to make ends meet, things opened up a bit for Hushion. His first winner was a runner named Tugboat Ryan. He was named after Hushion’s oldest son and it was, to say the least, a very emotional victory. Hushion almost literally bought the horse with his last line of financial defense. The horse was sick but Hushion brought him around. After paying $44, the young trainer was on his way.

Hushion goes cheap and goes big and he gained recognition for his work with a hard-nosed claimer named Reappeal. He red-tagged the runner for $14,000 in December of 1991. Under Hushion care, the gutsy horse won 10 races, and over $175,000. He lost him via the claim box a year later and at an $11,000 purchase profit for the owner.

What’s the best way for handicappers to approach his runners?

He still deals in the every day stock and his runners are dangerous in the claiming and allowance ranks. He’s just over 19% in his career but he doesn’t start very many young horses.

Hushion is super first off the claim and at prices to boot. He can also set up horses with moves like two sprints and then a route.

With comebackers, bettor may be wise to watch a race or two as the trainer is about 22% with second time starters off the long layoff.

The conditioner likes to do just that and when he goes dirt to turf or visa versa, he is super dangerous.

When Hushion legs them up on the lawn, and brings them back in a not so obvious a spot, he is double live.

The final thing bettors should know is that he doesn’t sizzle his horses in the morning. He lets them get fit and they he cashes so look for steady works with a purpose for an optimum horse betting opportunity.

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