Suffolk Downs trainer’s horses will have one day of rest

Among the 40 or so horses owner-trainer Giuseppe Iadisernia will ship to Suffolk Downs for the 2009 meet which opens Saturday is Delosvientos, a graded stakes winner who is likely good enough to run in the track’s signature race, the Massachusetts Handicap. But if the race is run on a Saturday, which is a virtual certainty, Delosvientos will not get near the starting gate.That’s because Iadisernia is a devout Seventh-Day Adventist who strictly observes the Sabbath (Saturday) as a day of rest. That means no work, no sports, no TV – and no racing horses.”I don’t think it’s much of an issue for him at all,” said Iadisernia’s son, Joe, who often serves as a spokesman for his father, whose English is limited.Iadisernia, who was born in Italy and moved to Venezuela when he was 7, converted to the religion about a dozen years ago, his son said, and he has fully embraced it. That would explain why Delosvientos’ last four races, all stakes, were run on Friday and Sunday. Considering the vast majority of stakes races are run on Saturday, Iadisernia can have just as much difficulty finding a race as winning it.That doesn’t matter, according to his son: “He has principles. He puts God above everything.”Other than his star, Iadisernia has a string of horses that should fit much better at Suffolk Downs than they did at Belmont and Monmouth Park last year. That’s why his friend, Florida trainer, Dubis Chaparro, encouraged him to come to Boston this year.”I told him to go there,” said Chaparro, who worked as a groom at Suffolk 30 years ago. “He has the type of horses to race there. He can still ship to New York or Monmouth any time he wants.”Iadisernia caught the racing bug as a young boy when his father used to take him to the track in Caracas. By the time he got involved in the business in 1997, he had built a very successful company in Venezuela that sells electrical parts and equipment. The company has 400 employees and gross sales of $60 million, Iadisernia said.He trained in Florida and Puerto Rico for a few years, but left the business for about five years to concentrate on running his company. He returned to the horses in 2003 and started buying and training his own horses. One of his goals was to win Venezuela’s biggest race, the Gran Premio Clasico Simón Bolivar. In 2005, he saddled the horses that ran 1-2-3 in that race.Iadisernia picked up his first two U.S. wins at Gulfstream early in 2007 with first-time starters who paid $61 and $72 to win. He bought Delosvientos for $15,000 as a yearling in 2004, but the horse did not make it to the track until March of 2007 when he was 4. A long-distance specialist, Delosvientos won 5 of 8 starts last year, and his career earnings sit at $361,800.Iadisernia and his horses were scheduled to arrive at Suffolk Downs today – just in time to rest tomorrow.Suffolk’s 2009 live meet starts on Kentucky Derby Day and concludes Nov. 7, the final day of the Breeders’ Cup. In May, live racing will be conducted Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as Memorial Day (May 25) and May 31, the day of the Hot Dog Safari. From June-November, racing will be held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Post time is 12:45 p.m., except for days of Triple Crown races (tomorrow, May 16 and June 6), when it is 1:15.The date for this year’s MassCap has not been set yet, though the race, which has been upgraded to a Grade III stakes, will be in the fall.The Commitment to Community program returns this year and will feature a series of Saturdays honoring individuals and organizations that make a difference in their communities. Honorees will be recognized in a winner’s-circle ceremony and the track will make a contribution to a cause of their choice.Communities that will be recognized include Lynn (July 18), Winthrop (July 25), Revere (August 1), Saugus (August 8) and Salem (July 11).The track will again host the Hot Dog Safari, a benefit for the Joey Fund, on May 31 and the Greater Boston Walk Now for Autism, a fundraiser fo