Racehorse TSM Photo Bugger retires after long, decorated career

Ted Tomson has a special connection with TSM Photo Bugger, starting all the way back at the racehorse’s birth on his farm in Natrona Heights.

The horse was stuck in an awkward position in the womb of his mother, Rewarding Wink, and Tomson had to help guide him out.

“Normally, they come out with their face and two front hooves first, but he had only one leg out and the other one was folded up and stuck inside,” Tomson said. “I had to reach in and pull the other leg out and get the head out. Then I was pulling on the two legs as the mother was walking away. I felt like I was a water skier, because she was pulling me around. Finally, he eased up enough that we could get him out.”

At the time Tomson had no idea he was meeting a horse that would end up becoming one of the most lucrative and longest-running racers out of his stable.

TSM Photo Bugger ran his final race last Thursday before heading into retirement, finishing fourth in a race at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in North Strabane Township to conclude a career in which he amassed more than $800,000 in 345 career starts.

As a 14-year old, TSM Photo Bugger has to take a mandatory retirement. Getting to that point is a rare feat and doing so with the same owner and trainer is also uncommon. He amassed all his winnings in overnight races, where entries are determined a set number of hours before running compared to stakes races where entrants close weeks or months before the race.

He went into retirement in style, eclipsing $50,000 in winnings in 2021, including more than $28,000 during a 14-race stint in Pocono.

“He’s just an unbelievable individual,” Tomson said. “He’s 14 years old, and he beat the hell out of the 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds at the Poconos and the Meadows this year. He’s a tough guy from the A-K Valley. That’s all I can say.”

TSM Photo Bugger got his name in segments. TSM stands for Tomson Scrap Metal, which is the family-run business in Brackenridge. The Tomson family also operates Lernerville Speedway in Buffalo Township.

Photo is an homage to his father named SJ’s Photo. The “Bugger” part comes from a nickname he got, while staying at a clinic in Ohio shortly after his birth.

“He kept coming up behind the girls that worked there and biting them in the butt,” Tomson said. “They weren’t mad or anything, but they kept saying “He’s a little bugger,” so I thought that would be a good name for him.”

Tomson placed TSM Photo Bugger with the husband and wife training team of Jan and Karen Fread. The Freads trained him for his entire career. Keeping a horse with the same trainers for his entire career is uncommon in harness racing, but not for Tomson. He tends to like to keep things the same as long as they are working.

“Jan and Karen have trained a lot of horses for me. If a horse does well, it makes sense to keep them with the trainers that have been with them,” Tomson said. “They did a great job with him. They are very nice and caring people. They take good care of them. Everybody that works with my horses keeps in mind the welfare of the animal, because the animal counts on you 100%.”

Tomson said TSM Photo Bugger has a natural instinct when it comes to racing and believes that helped the longevity of his career. The worst thing a driver could do to him is give him a whip to try and get him to go faster.

“He gives you everything you have every time he races, but don’t hit him, because you are liable to go across the finish line before he does,” Tomson said.

TSM Photo Bugger is a gelding, so he won’t spend his days in retirement as a stud horse. Tomson has a job for him as a mentor for his young racehorses. He did a similar thing with another successful retired horse in the past, Jake and Ellwood, and it produced desirable results.

“His job is going to be to watch over the young horses when I take them to a farm away from their mothers,” Tomson said. “When you take the young ones away from their mothers, they kind of turn into restless teenagers. A couple of the young horses right now are actually (TSM Photo Bugger’s) nephews, so he’ll hang out with them and keep them in line.”