Game Changers: Philip Banks

TORONTO, April 7, 2025 – Once a week, from January to April, Woodbine will profile a horse who had a life-changing impact on one of their closest connections in 2024.

This week, groom Alexa Wisnoski and unraced 3-year-old Philip Banks.

Wisnoski, who works in the barn of trainer Tony Gattellaro, was born and raised around horses.

“My mom has been riding ever since she was a kid. When she moved to Canada [from Germany, near the Black Forest] – her dad actually bred Trakehner horses [the oldest warmblood breed in the world] in Manitoba. So that’s what I grew up with. My grandpa loved horse racing and when he came to visit us in Ontario, we would go to the racetrack. I was a kid, so obviously I didn’t know too much about the sport, but I thought it was really cool.” 

Foaled: March 9, 2022

Sire: Silent Name (JPN)

Dam: Fresh Princess

Starts: 0

Trainer: Tony Gattellaro

Owner: Tony Gattellaro, Asta Torokvei and Dave Carlson

Groom: Alexa Wisnoski

Breeder: Tony Gattellaro

“Tony bred this horse from the mare he used to have, Fresh Princess. When he came in last year, he was this big, beefy boy. I have always been a sucker for a colt, but this guy was a challenge. He was a bit of a brute, but with the kindest heart. He would never hurt you on purpose, but he was a tank on four legs. So, that made it a challenge itself.”

“I had to teach him a lot of nitpicky things and make him gentler – like teaching an elephant how to do ballet. It was so challenging to understand him but also rewarding at the same time. He and I bonded so quickly over those moments. Tony would work with him and he would revert back to that brute, so I was the one who spent the most time with him.”

“One day, I asked Tony if could take the horse out to the track. I knew he was a sweetheart, and he just walked out, no issues at all. Tony said to me, ‘It’s obvious that he loves you.’ Every single day he would train last year, I had to babysit him, to take him to the track so that he wouldn’t be hell on wheels.”

“I remember every time we would go to the main track, I would sit in one of the little glass booths by the track and watch him. He would come around the turn and I would see him looking over at me and then keep going. I remember one time I hid behind the glass, but he was looking around for me, panicking, and pulling the rider. I had to step out and tell him to relax – he was always looking for me. It was very special.”

“Near the end of the season – it was getting a little late to push for a breeze and work up to a race – you could see him really coming around. The idea of racing this big baby just didn’t seem like that right call. You always take care of the horse and do what is best for them. I think late last year his body had a lightbulb-type moment, but there was no point in pushing him. We wanted to have his brain catch up to his body over the winter.”

“This month, you can see that it was the right decision. He is a different horse – his mind has grown up that little bit more. I went out with him the first time to the track, but the next time, I told the exercise rider that I wasn’t going to walk all the way over to the main track. I walked halfway through the tunnel with the horse. He looked back at me, and I said, ‘You’re a big boy… you got this.’ That was a little proud mom moment.”

“Strong. Cuddly. Enthusiastic.”

“He is the reminder of the bond grooms make with their horses. He just kind of hit a special spot and I am so grateful for that.”

“All horses change you in some way – you learn something from every horse and through that, you learn something about yourself. Every horse is different and so is every story with them.”

“When he has his first race, I am going to lose my mind. I know I am going to be so excited. You will see me on the rail and hear me too.”

Chris Lomon, Woodbine