Gary Contessa looks over Dose of Reality at Saratoga Racecourse in 2008.
Four years ago, horse trainer Gary Contessa realized he had to take better care of his health after dealing with his most prized 3-year-old, his son Raymond.
Contessa was taking nine to 10 pills a day to control his Type II diabetes and deal with a heart issue.
Now, 56, Contessa is down to one pill a day, his allergy pill, after dropping 90 pounds and switching to a vegan diet that his wife, Jennifer, a holistic nutritionist, started him on.
“I was falling apart,” said Contessa, who was taking Coumadin, to deal with his abnormal heartbeat. “Raymond was an unbelievable gift we received and I realized I need to live longer than I probably thought I was. I had to be responsible. Losing the weight resolved the diabetes and, knock on wood, my heart is as good as it’s been.”
A vegan diet excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients.
“I used to be a T-bone steak guy from way back,” said Contessa, who has five children, three with Jennifer, who turns 40 in April. “But I’ll tell you what, I really like being a vegan. I don’t miss meat. I don’t miss a lot of food, but bagels call me by my first name. I do like carbs. If I cheat it’s for a bagel.”
On Saturday, Contessa will saddle his talented 3-year-old with four legs, Uncle Sigh, in the Grade III Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
The Withers is a Kentucky Derby prep that offers 10 points to the winner, followed by 4-2-1 points to the second, third and fourth-place finishers, respectively. The top 20 points earners will earn a berth in the May 3 Kentucky Derby.
After Uncle Sigh finished second, beaten just a head, in his debut on Dec. 7 going six furlongs, Contessa took to Twitter and said, “All I can say is watch him run two turns.” On Dec. 27, trying two turns, Uncle Sigh broke his maiden by 14 1/2 lengths.
“This (the Withers) is the acid test,” said Contessa, who is the president of the Exceller Fund for the help and caring of retired racehorses. “The horse is doing good, training good and I have him right where I want him to be.”
On Sunday, the 3-year-old worked five furlongs over the Belmont Park training track in 1:01, which was the fastest of 15 workouts at that distance.