This award is not given lightly, and not only must a trainer perform better than average, he must do it with the horses he has in the barn. The winning trainer must have an eye for a horse, and see potential where others do not. A trainer must have the nerve to spend money on unraced horses, without anything to go on but their own skill and instinct. They must not back away from the challenges presented, but go up against the best and beat them. It takes a great deal of talent to do this consistently and that is what we find with our award winner for the year 2000. Tfv did all of that and did it well. He took the horses in his barn, upgraded when he could, made do when he couldn’t. He knew when to let go of one and when to give one some time. It was this knowledge and ability that brought him to the forefront of all the other Sim trainers and garnered him the award.

If one were to look through Tfv’s barn, one would think that this was a person that had horses running through his blood. One would think that this man grew up on a horse. One would think that all the knowledge of all the fathers had been passed down to live in the mind and hands of this son. But this is not so.

Tfv grew up in the city. He liked horses and went to the races occasionally with his parents. By the time he was a teenager, there was one thing that stood out about this young man and that was the desire to succeed. He was an excellent student and was considered highly intelligent. When he set his mind to do something he became totally focussed. In fact people called him that all the time -Totally Focussed. It was his friends (?) that added the Viper. Yes, that was his nickname all through his school days. When he got hold of something, he was like a Viper - he would not let go until it was swallowed and digested. If he started a project he would carry it through! And so it happened with horse training. One day Tfv had taken his best girl to the races and while watching his favorite horse Might And Power run, he turned to Kyliette and said, “I can do that!”

With the thoroughness that he did everything, he set about to make it happen. At that time his goal was only to train a winner, he had never even heard of an Eclipse other than the kind that happen in the sky. He apprenticed himself out to the top man in the business and worked his way up. He was quick, didn’t mind doing the dirty work and soaked up knowledge like a sponge. He asked a million questions and seemed to have total recall. He set up programs and more programs. He adjusted them and refined them and was willing to share them with others. It wasn’t long before he became an assistant trainer and then within a year he had a license of his own.

Two years later he is on top of the Sim world and is an Eclipse winner. In his barn you will find great horses like Blue Ant and Huge Tale as well as several that are not “names” but just solid, better than average performers. Again, it is the quality of doing the best with all of your horses that gave him this award.

If you visit Indy’s Sim Stats you will find Tfv prominently displayed in all the categories. He finished first in Percentage with a 42.86 and first in Overall by many. He was second in Purse/Start and also managed to finish in the top five in Classical and in the top 10 of Reliable.

“I am not ready to quit yet,” he said in response to my question - What next? “I like the daily challenge of the horses - no two are alike. My next goal is to be in the Sim Century Club.” This writer has absolutely no doubt that he will get there. Congratulations to The Eclipse Award Trainer of 2000 - TFV.