Partnerships in sports are a common phenomenon. But, a partnership between the two most prominent sporting entities garners more attention. The same was the case with a partnership between Bill Parcells and Mike Francesa in equestrian sports in the 90s. They owned a horse stable together.

Parcells was the head coach of the NFL team New York Giants and Francesa was a radio host on WFAN. But, the partnership didn’t last, and both parted ways with the former keeping the business under his name and running it. Francesa, after years of splitting up, revealed the reason behind it.

Mike Francesa spills the beans on equestrian partnership

Mike Francesa and Bill Parcells, the sports influential personalities, were very close once upon a time. In the 1990s they entered into an equestrian partnership and had a stable by the name August Dawn Farm. But, later on, the two split up and Parcells kept the farm and is running it under his name since. The August Dawn Farm has been participating in horse racing since 2011. In these years, it has earned $4,758,932 in total 364 starts to date. The farm had many notable horses, with the most recent prominent name being Maple Leaf Mel. The mare who was euthanized after getting injured during the race.

Mike Francesa was discussing the tragic incident of the horse on the podcast when he revealed the reason behind the split with the former NFL coach. He said that the NFL was behind their split. Speaking on the topic Francesa said, “He and I got into it together, and then when he came to the Jets, they felt we needed to split up because they thought it was a conflict of interest“. He further said. “The NFL did. So, we split the stable then“. During their partnership, Parcells was head coach of the New York Giants, and later on, he joined the Jets. At this time, the NFL saw the conflict of interest and asked them to split.

Though he is no longer the equestrian partner with Parcells, Francesa had quite extensive knowledge about his horses. He considered the Maple Leaf Mel incident tragic and her injury catastrophic.

Maple Leaf Mel tragedy in equestrian sport

A few days back, a Grade 1 $500,000 Test Stakes were being held at Saratoga Racecourse. The seven-furlong race was for three-year-old fillies where Maple Leaf Mel owned by August Dawn Farm and trained by Melaine Giddings was also participating. In the race Maple Leaf Mel was in the lead when just before the finish line it fell and rolled, unseating the jockey, Joel Rosario. The horse got injured and after consultation with vets; she was euthanized.

The incident shocked the equestrian world and left them extremely saddened. Maple Leaf Mel was a talented horse who in a short career had six starts in which she claimed the podium position in five. The filly had also won graded stakes. Her total earnings from six races were $399,650.

The famous radio talk show host has finally revealed the reason behind his split with the former NFL coach from the equestrian partnership. With this, he has put aside all other speculations that were rooming in the papers and market since the split.

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