Horse 'Mayor Marv' off to races

A 2-year-old colt bred from Distorted Humor and Miss Wineshine and named in honor Carson City's longest-serving mayor, Marv Teixeira, will run his first race today.

"Mayor Marv, he's a memorable figure, so we're going to have a memorable horse named for him hopefully," said Mike Pegram, the horse's owner.

The horse named after 73-year-old Teixeira, who will retire at the end of this year after serving his third four-year term in office, will run at 12:15 p.m. today at the historic Saratoga Race Track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., one of the oldest tracks in the country.

Pegram, co-owner of Bodines Casino in Carson City, said Mayor Marv comes from good blood, with Miss Wineshine as mother of Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide and Distorted Humor being a top-rated stud.

"But we got to wait until this horse wins," said Pegram who has owned horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Sprint. "There's another 40,000 just like Mayor Marv that everybody thinks is good, but they're not good until they prove it."

Teixeira said Pegram gave him a choice between the names of Mr. Marv and Mayor Marv, but would have been flattered by either.

"You know, politicians will sometimes get a building named after them or a room or a street," he said. "I get a horse named after me."

But Teixeira wasn't always happy about having the horse named after him, said Pegram's son, Tim Pegram.

He said he was able to convince the mayor for a while that the horse had been castrated to improve its performance.

"He was very proud of his namesake," Tim Pegram said, "but when he found out (the horse) was lacking, he wasn't sure how he would explain that to people."

Teixeira said he was kidded by some who said the offspring of horse's parents, Distorted Humor and Miss Wineshine, would have to be a "funny drunk."

The mayor pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor drunken driving.

Despite jokes, Mayor Marv has a 2 to 1 chance of winning today, Tim Pegram said.

"Come Thursday morning, we may be talking big or we may be back in the corner hiding," Mike Pegram said.

Bodines Casino, at the corner of South Carson Street and Clear Creek Road, will show the race. It will also be shown on DirecTV channel 602 and Dish Network channel 405.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.