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Profiles Articles
Calvin Borel - the Kentucky Derby winning jockey in profile
Calvin Borel’s portrayal on the mural of Kentucky Derby-winning jockeys at Churchill Downs, painted by the renowned artist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq, had already undergone minor surgery in 2009, when the jockey followed up a 2007 Derby on Street Sense with a win aboard Mine That Bird. His caricature was modified to hold up two fingers, but in 2010, after Super Saver charged up the rail to give Borel his third Derby, Peb rearranged his left hand to show three fingers.
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Linda Rice - a racehorse trainer making her mark on the big stage
If you win the training title at Saratoga, people will notice you. Linda Rice, catapulted into national recognition when she became the first woman to achieve this coveted honor in 2009, has been turning the heads of those in the know for many years now.
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Mark Johnson - The English Voice of the Kentucky Derby
“My first season at Churchill Downs exceeded my expectations a thousand-fold.” These words belong to 43-year-old Mark Johnson, the Londoner who took up the position as racecaller at Churchill last spring.
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Carl Nafzger - an old-school trainer with traditional values
Carl and Wanda Nafzger stand trackside with Ian Wilkes, monitoring the horses training under the white saddlecloths with a red border. That some of these are marked with a plain “N” and others a “W” comprised of two boomerangs is irrelevant.
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Gary Contessa - the hard-working New York trainer at the top of his profession
Gary Contessa has been New York’s leading trainer for the past three years based on his ability to get the best out of his horses with hard work. But now he is building a reputation beyond being known as the king of the claimers.
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The Other Half - what life is like being married to a trainer
Single-minded person, driven by a passion for training horses, would like to meet partner who is also tirelessly dedicated to the Thoroughbred seven days a week, 365 days a year, with no guarantee of success...
...So, who in their right mind would marry a trainer?
John Shirreffs - a great ambassador for the sport of horseracing
Having previously won the Kentucky Derby with Giacomo, media-shy John Shirreffs is back in the spotlight with his unbeaten filly Zenyatta. John Shirreffs is a man genuinely unaffected by fame and who lives for his horses and the pleasure their success gives his owners and fans alike.
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Reade Baker - Sovereign Award-winning racehorse trainer
Reade Baker didn't intend to become a trainer, but since starting out in 1990, his stable has grown to 61 horses and includes Canadian Horse of the Year Fatal Bullet.
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Butch Lehr - Churchill Downs's track superintendent
The home of the Kentucky Derby has gone through numerous management changes during its 135-year history, but for more than 40 years Raymond ‘Butch’ Lehr has worked at Churchill Downs to become one of the sport’s most respected track superintendents.
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NICK ZITO - the racehorse trainer speaks about the game that will humble kings
Nick Zito is in his barn at Palm Meadows, watching horses circle the shedrow. In his distinctive voice, he affectionately addresses them as they pass. “Hey there, buddy. Where are you going?” Or: “How you doin’, buddy?” Clearly, Zito is in his element communicating with his horses. When it comes to people, he is less self-assured.
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Evening Attire - a firm favourite with fans
An old-school trainer’s old gray gelding became a rock star at the age of 10 before retiring last fall. Last summer his final race, a dazzling, 8 ¼-length track-record victory in the $250,000 mile-and-a-half Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park July 19th, was featured on YouTube.
Read full story...JJ Crupi - from conditioner to consignor
It was a seamless transition for J.J. Crupi as he successfully made the change from conditioning horses at the racetrack to being one of North America’s leading two-year-old consignors. Crupi owns the 150-acre Crupi’s New Castle Farm in Ocala, Florida with his son Robert.
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Jonathan Sheppard - an interview with the champion trainer
Jonathan Sheppard could be on the cusp of history. The 68-year-old trainer navigated a stellar season with Augustin Stable’s Forever Together. In March, the 4-year-old filly refused to train. By November, she had won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and a possible Eclipse Award as the leading turf filly or mare. With her Eclipse Award, Sheppard would join fellow Hall of Famer Sidney Watters Jr. as the only men to train a champion over jumps and on the flat.
Read full story...The Gate Crew - behind-the-scenes but in full view
On Blue Grass Day in 2008, roughly 26,000 people in the stands went crazy as Visionaire, the last to load into the starting gate, took his place in the lineup. When the doors shut behind him, it was the signal that the feature race of Keeneland’s spring meet was only seconds away, and the crowd cheered, wild with anticipation. Everything fell perfectly into place, and head starter Robert “Spec” Alexander released the field: the shrill clang and sharp burst of the metal gate springing open gets the blood flowing like no other thrill associated with horseracing.
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From Good to GREAT - the pain of losing a good horse to another trainer
Losing an under-achieving horse is a reality trainers live with daily. But how do you lose a horse who performs spectacularly in his debut? How do you lose a horse you’ve waited your whole lifetime to train?
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Better Talk Now - the multi-millionaire BC winner
It’s hard to imagine that Better Talk Now, Graham Motion’s remarkable, late-running nine-year-old gelding, would ever cost his trainer a good night’s sleep. After all, Better Talk Now’s victory in the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf gave Motion a national presence, one which has only grown as Better Talk Now continues to perform at the highest level of racing with 14 victories in 47 career starts and earnings of more than $4.2 million.
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Richard Mandella on the basics that make racing work
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella is not in his tack room office between sets at Del Mar this morning. Instead, the son of a blacksmith is at the end of the long indoor barn, artfully sweeping a rasp across a back hoof of a two-year-old Storm Cat filly. When prompted, he says, simply, “The basics are what make this game work. Believe me, basic horsemanship will hold you in good stead. It’s the most important thing. Knowing that a horse is shod as correct as he can be, that the blacksmith’s doing a good job –” “You?” Embarrassed, he downplays his handiwork. “No, I tinker around, that’s all. I don’t do it every day. And it doesn’t make me any better than anybody else.”
Read full story...Andrew Lakeman - life after being paralyzed
Andrew Lakeman was paralyzed from the waist down in a racing accident at Belmont Park. Originally from England, Lakeman came to the United States in the mid-1990s and worked for Michael Dickinson, Hall of Famers Nick Zito and D. Wayne Lukas, Barclay Tagg and Tom Skiffington before finding a home with Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens. Jerkens, who used Lakeman extensively in the mornings and afternoons, said, "Naturally, it's tough. He has better days than others. It's got to be an awful thing to get used to." It is.
"In the beginning, sometimes I thought, 'Why me?'," said the 33-year-old Lakeman. "Now I'm handling it better."
Bill Heller talks to the ‘Chief' Allen Jerkens
Ask anyone in Thoroughbred racing to name the savviest trainers in the history of the sport, and you may hear: Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Woody Stephens, Charlie Whittingham, Laz Barrera,D. Wayne Lukas, John Nerud and, certainly, Allen Jerkens.Jerkens has never saddled the winner of a Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup race, yet he's still training winners and winning stakes at the age of 79, 34 years after his induction into the Hall of Fame. At the time, he was the youngest trainer ever enshrined.Known as the ‘Giant Killer' for his historic upsets of Buckpasser, Kelso and Secretariat, and as the "Chief" for his incredible horse knowledge, Jerkens was honored by the Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) with a Lifetime Outstanding Trainer award at a benefit dinner in Sands Point, Long Island on May 28th this year.Rather than being passed by time, he has adapted. Though he doesn't own a computer, he has a cell phone and a website, www.AllenJerkens.com.
Read full story...Michael Dickinson - "The Mad Genius"
Michael Dickinson is welcoming and instantly likeable, suffused with energy as he bounces around Tapeta Farm on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. “I don’t say I’m good or great but I’m not boring,” he promises. Along that vein, the burning question is, why do people call him “The Mad Genius,” as coined by an American turf writer? Dickinson’s standard reply is that the nickname is “only half right,” without declaring which half. No relentless line of questioning will drag it out of him. “Who do you think you are, Barbara Walters?” he deadpans. “Or the guy with on CNN with the braces [suspenders]. Larry King.” What does his wife, Joan Wakefield, think? “Don’t answer that. Keep quiet! Could be divorce proceedings here!” teases her husband. She says only, “I know which half is right!” Draw your own conclusion. If he’s mad, or if he’s a genius, or if he’s both – he embraces it.
Read full story...A day in the life of Todd Pletcher
In utter darkness on a Thursday morning in early February, Todd Pletcher rolls down the window of his car and punches in an access code that raises the gate at Palm Beach Downs, the private South Florida training center housing 102 of his Thoroughbreds, including his, recently retired, champion filly Rags to Riches. It's 4:40 a.m.
Read full story...Tom Amoss - the secret behind his amazing success rate
Thoroughbred trainers rarely win races at a 20 percent clip for an entire year. Tom Amoss does so religiously. His 26.4 percent success rate in 2007 marked his 15th consecutive year over 20 percent and his eighth straight over 24.0, upping his career winning percentage to a sensational 23.9. “The greatest thing I can say about our stable is that we are out to win, period.” Amoss said.
Spooky Mulder - winning the hard way
The Daily Racing Form’s comments following Spooky Mulder’s 78 past performance lines tell you all you need to know about the nine-year-old gelding named after David Duchovny’s quirky FBI TV character on “The X-Files.”
Read full story...Dale Romans - his career and his views on welfare issues
Dale Romans is a second generation horseman who came up under father Jerry, Romans learned his ABC’s from the condition book and received his Ph.D. – of sorts – in August of 2004 when Roses in May gave the conditioner his first Grade 1 with a hard-fought victory in the Whitney Handicap. For good measure, Kitten’s Joy proved Romans’ thesis was on point with a win in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes exactly one week later on his way to Eclipse champion turf male honors. Romans has also handled the careers of Grade 1 winner Dawn of War and Sharp Humor, who had Barbaro fully extended in a half-length loss in the Florida Derby.
Read full story...Jerry Hollendorfer - interview with a racing legend
Jerry Hollendorfer is the classic case of the big fish in the small pond. Small in stature but giant in achievements, “The Dorf” has become a training legend in Northern California.
Read full story...In at the deep end - Mike Back, the trainer and mechanic
Fair Meadows racetrack in Tulsa, Oklahoma is sheltered under the shade of the city’s imposing skyscrapers, yet once there the eye is riveted by the busy jumble of pick-up trucks and horse trailers, cowboy hats and shiny belt buckles. The stabling area is well stocked for the mixed racing meet. Walk down the barn and pick a nose to scratch from among the heads stretched over the doors of their cedar chip-bedded stalls: Quarter Horse, Paint, Appaloosa or Thoroughbred.
Read full story...Meet the Cauthens - a horseracing dynasty
At the end of a shady road in Walton, Kentucky, in the land that time is just beginning to remember, sits the farmhouse that saw the scraped knees of Tex and Myra Cauthen’s three children: Steve, Doug and Kerry. As his nickname suggests, Tex is a transplant from Texas, while Myra was raised on a horse farm in Kentucky.
Read full story...Neil Drysdale - Hall of Fame racehorse trainer
He’s seen the sport of Thoroughbred racing change drastically in the past few decades. Here, he discusses some of the important issues facing his fellow trainers both in his home state and across the country.
Read full story...Classic Races are gaining a new role
How good are our Classic races these days? And, if we ask this question, how should we come up with a reasonable assessment of the strength of races like the Epsom Derby, Kentucky Derby, Prix du Jockey Club, or the Guineas races? Not as good as they used to be, you may say. Is this true? Not as good compared to what? Compared to Classics staged in a distant past, or not as good compared to other championship events run nowadays? Whichever way you look at these races as a group, you are likely to come up with the same answer “we are on a downward curve here”. The races simply take less winning.
Read full story...Johnny Jones - we profile the legendary Kentucky horseman
When John T.L. Jones Jr. props his cowboy boots up on his desk, he leaves behind the mud accumulated from 72 years of being the Jones to keep up with. Unlike the speedy Quarter Horses that jump-started his livelihood by making a mad dash to the finish line, Jones’ ascent in the racing industry has taken him several circuits around the racecourse.
Read full story...Valfredo Valiani - we profile the successful Italian trainer
Valfredo Valiani (46), the man who discovered Electrocutionist, trains around 50 horses from his base in Pisa, Italy. In love with his motherland, he admits to having had thoughts of moving his operation abroad, to England or France perhaps. ”But I am getting older, it would be tougher to move now”, he explains. He wants to run more horses abroad though. His raids abroad have been very selective and successful. Two runs in England have resulted in two Group One wins. ”When I have the right horse, I like to race internationally”, Valfredo says, and soon reveals his views on how racing is developing in Europe these days. How does he see the current state of affairs?
Kenny McPeek on his love of pedigrees and importing horses from South America
Kenny McPeek sounds just slightly frustrated. At his home in Louisville, with an on-line copy of “Turf Brasil” on his lap-top, a file folder chock full of pedigree information and news clips on his desk, the Kentuckian is trying to find a buyer for a Brazilian filly he’s had his eye on for a while.
Read full story...Frank Stronach and his growing global Magna empire
WHEN Frank Stronach says he is optimistic that “down the line” his company can control “ten per cent of all the gambling in the world”, the queue of punters wanting to bet against him may be very short. He has a record of reaching his targets, and if he ruffles a few feathers along the way, so what.
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