laughed and said no. I don't think he
thought I was serious, but I was. He
said, 'No way. I'm not worried about
the horse, I am worried about all the
other riders out there.'"
There's a glint in Malarkey's eye
when he tells the story, but there al-
ways seems to be a glint in his eye.
He's boyish and charming and there's
nothing about his demeanor that
leads you to believe he's putting on
an act. There's a little Peter Pan to
him, but if he ever does decide to
"grow up," he already has the next
chapter in his life planned.
"If life is good, my kids are grown
and I'm just hanging out, there's noth-
ing that I'd rather do than be a trainer
and go out there and try to figure out
the mind-set of a race horse," he said.
"I still have in the back of my mind
that when I retire from the restaurant
business I am going to put my fedora
on and become the second coming of
Charles Whittingham. I'll have a small
band of about 40 premium horses, all
stakes caliber, nothing but the best.
I'll smoke a pipe and train my horses
every morning."
He's serious, by the way.
Until then, Malarkey will contin-
ue to run his restaurants and pre-
pare to work with Bobby Flay at the
*LQ/DYHQGDU
