Tampa: Granitz Quietly Celebrates 1,000th Victory

Blood-Horse

If trainer Anthony Granitz seemed a bit subdued after scoring his 1,000th career victory Jan. 4 in the sixth race at Tampa Bay Downs with Wedding Savior, it was perfectly understandable.

“I’ve got to dedicate this one to my dad Chris, because he’s the one who got me started in racing when I was 13. He wasn’t in racing himself, but he followed the horses and was the one who took us to Arlington Park and introduced me to the sport,” Granitz said.

“He is 80 years old now and suffered a stroke recently that left him partially paralyzed, but he is doing a lot better now,” Granitz said.

Granitz, 51, was accompanied by 10-year-old daughter Eve to the winner’s circle following Wedding Savior’s victory in the $8,000 Claiming event at one mile and 40-yards. Wedding Savior, owned by Tommy G. Ligon, rolled to a 2 3/4-length victory that jockey Antonio Gallardo said was about as easy as it looked.

“He (Granitz) has his horses very ready, and I felt comfortable the whole race,” said Gallardo, Tampa Bay’s leading jockey.

Granitz was relieved to get the milestone behind him, since his wife Joy and Eve are returning home to Illinois so the youngster can resume school. Eve, who has a German Shepherd-Bull Mastiff mix dog named Zenyatta, is a huge fan of racing and her dad’s biggest booster.

“He is an awesome trainer because he’s been doing it for a long time and he has a great relationship with his horses,” Eve said.

Granitz has been competing at Tampa Bay Downs for nine years.

“We like everything about racing here, plus horses win all over when they leave here,” he said. “It’s a great place to winter your horses.

“It’s great to do it for Tommy Ligon, because I’ve had horses for him for about 20 years and he has been a great supporter of mine and of racing,” Granitz said of the Atlanta resident. “And Gallardo rode him perfect. How can you go wrong with him?”

Granitz took a summer job at Arlington Park cleaning stalls when he was 13.

“I was able to help out on the backstretch during the summer, but back then you had to be 17 to go to the races, so we had to stand outside to watch the horses run,” he said.

Granitz was an assistant to his brother, Chris Granitz Jr., before Chris took a job with the railroad and Anthony took over the stable. He saddled his first winner in 1984.