TEXAS TUESDAY WITH TRAINER SARAH DAVIDSON

It’s always nice to see the smiles from the winning connections in the Sam Houston Race Park winner’s circle. On Wednesday, February 12, a popular mother and daughter duo had their pictures taken, not once, but twice. It was a great day for trainer Sarah Davidson and her mom, Colleen.

Sarah won the opener with Prospector Fever, a 6-year-old Arkansas-bred gelding owned by Brian Goodman. She claimed him last May at Louisiana Downs for $7,500 and the versatile runner has rewarded her with two wins and several on the board finishes.

“Sarah did her homework on that horse,” said Colleen. “Some horsemen will claim a horse and drop them a level for the purse money. Prospector Fever has been a great claim and we are happy for (owner) Brian Goodman.”  

Midway through the card, another Davidson trainee, Mists of Time, finished second at odds of 67-1 and was placed first via the disqualification of the winner, Paul With All.

Sarah Davidson is a third-generation horsewoman. She grew up in the small Texas town of Paris and learned from her father, M. Brent Davidson, and her grandfather, who were “hands-on” horsemen. Brent broke all the 2-year-olds until he had a serious accident in 2016 in which he was hospitalized in intensive care for over a month.

When she was in high school, Sarah thought briefly about going to college. Eclipse Award winning trainer, Steve Asmussen saw something special in the redhaired teen.

"I remember the year that Steve broke the record for wins (over Jack Van Berg)," recalled Sarah. "My mom wanted me to go to college and he just asked her 'why would you make her go to college if it's not what she wants? He said, 'if she's good at this and really wants it, why not let her do it?"

Sarah put her energies into Thoroughbred racehorses.

She served as assistant trainer for her parents and played a pivotal role in the success of several stakes winners, including Another Bond Girl, as well as Miss Photogenic, who is gaining newfound recognition as the dam of Mr Money Bags, 2019 Texas Thoroughbred Horse of the Year.  She lovingly cared for the hard-knocking Texas-bred gelding Bullet Crane, who made 84 starts, winning 17 races.

"We focus on good feed, rest and keeping them happy," Davidson stated. “Horseracing has so many ups and downs. When it's good, you've got to enjoy it."

The 33-year-old Davidson went out on her own in July 2018 and has horses running in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. She is a working mom to her 12-year-old son, Emerson.

Sarah and Colleen are very close, and she credits her mother for helping her keeps things in perspective.

“She is a very positive person,” stated Davidson. “Maybe ‘bubbly’ is more like it! She’s always very encouraging and she’s helped me to realize that patience is the key. You have to keep trying, even when it’s frustrating and never give up.”

Colleen Davidson reflects on the purse increases this year in Texas and what it means to the Davidson family.

“It’s a great thing,” she said. “We stayed loyal to Texas racing when so many horsemen went to other regions. We are blessed with wonderful owners who believed, like we did, that things would turn around.”

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Martha Claussen has been prominent in the Texas racing industry since 1997 as a publicist, writer and handicapper.