Michael Calderone has returned to one of the loves of his life following a near 30-year absence from the sport. Calderone has enjoyed recent success at the Meadowlands and has a host of horses racing there this weekend. It was surprising when we caught up with Calderone on Wednesday that he wasn't as concerned with the quality of the results his horses were achieving on the track as much as he is their welfare and overall health. "What's the most important aspect about the well-being of a horse?" Calderone said, posing a question to explain his passion. "The feed. It's something we've taken for granted all these years but look, if our horses aren't healthy and have liver issues and are tying up constantly, it impacts them, the owners, trainers and the entire sport." Calederone has been involved in racing for many years and held a key marketing position for the Stronach Group 10 years ago. He understands the racing dynamic but mostly is an animal lover who thinks much of what ails this sport relates directly to the inability to keep our horses fit and treat them like the athletes they are. "Go back to when you were a kid," Calderone said. "It was always about your diet first to be healthy and say fit." Calderone has been pushing health in other industries for years but now at the age of 63 has decided to take his career in another direction in a project he believes could have a positive impact on harness racing as well. "This sport has been going downhill and I think a large part of that is related to the health of the horse and the costs involved in horses that are unable to perform through no fault of their own, other than a fixed diet that no longer tackles the issues horses are facing today," said Calderone. It was that type of analysis which has led Calderone to start his own stable, buy his own horses, and with a group of scientists, do his own field testing, if you will, to find out how he can come up with a diet and an overall program to improve the wellness of each horse and in doing so, achieve longevity on the racetrack. "This is not something you do overnight," said Calderone, who has invested his time and money to grow his stable to roughly 25-head and take plenty of time before moving forward aggressively to see his work play out. "We've been doing it for a few years," said Calederone. "There's a lot of trial and error and A-B testing to see what the components of the diet need to be that best serve our horses. The one thing I can tell you that none of our horses have any liver issues or tying-up issues." Those were the most important words Calderone uttered, since if his claims remain over the course of time, it will be a sign that he's discovered a key component to not just the Standardbred horse but all horses' physical health that could transform longevity going forward. "There have been studies done to try to find the causes of liver and tying-up issues before," said Calderone, "but this is not something you can replicate in a lab with racehorses." That's the premise behind Calderone's ambitious effort to test the diet of racehorses in-training and in their natural habitat to find the perfect feed to keep them healthy and provide them the chance for success on the racetrack. Calederone has built a stable full of horses that, ideally, he believes he can help improve with a new diet and training regimen, and perhaps the early results at the Meadowlands are an indication of success, with seven wins in 27 starts at the end of 2023 and a stable ready to race as the New Year begins. "It's not the results as much as how my horses look and feel. To me it's about treating the horses right and having them healthy and fit to last a long time," said Calderone. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Essentially Calderone's horses are now a test case of their own as he tries to complete his study and advance a business that he believes is a cornerstone to future success in the horse industry. "I'm hoping that the feed we are producing ourselves will be something we can market directly to customers," said Calderone, who clearly recognizes the forces he is up against yet is passionate that something needs to change radically to put this sport, as well as Thoroughbred racing, on a different trajectory. "People have accepted the feed and the preservatives that have to be in it in order for it to be sold and distributed without going bad," said Calderone. "I think we can take out the middleman and ship direct to the customer for the horse's benefit." Calderone has seen this business from all sides and is laser-focused on remedies to all sorts of maladies that have dragged the industry to this point. "I think health of the horse is the number-one priority, but we also need to introduce a new audience. The grandstands are empty," Calderone said with another eye on hopefully capturing a new audience. "I think fractional ownership is the key to introducing people and getting them excited about racehorses." Calderone is currently working on a different ownership model that he hopes to reach past the current core markets it has succeeded with and beyond to the general populace. In just a brief conversation, Calderone showed how his ideas for the industry's success, as well as his path to future prosperity, is unlimited. In addition to the racehorses he's purchased, he bought the stallion Force N Fury, a son of Captaintreacherous that will stand in Indiana this year. "He's a brother to Treacherous Dragon and Stay Hungry that we bought and put on our feed program," said Calderone. "He was a $300,000 yearling that didn't look that good when we got him." According to Calderone, a healthier version now resides at Schwartz Bros. breeding center. On the racing side, Calderone has looked for a particular type of horse that would fit well through his program. "We're mostly looking for younger horses that have shown some kind of speed along the way and that can benefit from our program, as well as maturity," said Calderone, with an understanding that the forces of this business tend to push horses harder at an early age to a detriment to many. "Ideally I only want to race over the mile track at the Meadowlands," said Calderone. "I love what Jeff [Gural] has done. He's put his money where his mouth is. I'm a big fan." Calderone has put his money where his mouth is as well, providing what he hopes is the foundation for the future of the horse, the sport, and hopefully racehorse ownership. He's moved his operation to Dovington Training Center in Felton, Delaware, and is focused on the welfare of his current 25 horse stable. "Ivan Llopez was training our horses and did a fine job for us but now that I'm here [Delaware] I have them all," said Calderone. An animal lover with a passion, Michael Calderone sees the bigger picture and hopes to be an integral part of changing what people feed their horses as a first step in seeing horse racing not just survive but thrive in the future. We're rooting for him.