10 – Higher Power

The Breeders’ Cup Classic would end up being the final start for Higher Power, and it was his second try in the race after finishing third in 2019. He retired with five career wins and earnings over $1.5 million, highlighted by a victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.

Higher Power retired to Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season, and his first foals are 3-year-olds of 2025, and he’s still looking for his first stakes winner at stud. He’s moving to Ohio for the 2026 breeding season to stand at R.C. Cline Thoroughbreds.

Related: Higher Power Moves To Ohio's R.C. Cline Thoroughbreds In 2026

9 – Tom’s d’Etat

The Classic was also the career finale for Tom’s d’Etat, who ended up with 11 wins in 20 starts and earnings over $1.7 million. The centerpiece of his on-track resume was a win in the G1 Clark Stakes in 2019.

Tom’s d’Etat retired to WinStar Farm in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season and his oldest runners are 3-year-olds of 2025. It’s taken some time, but his stud career is gradually picking up steam this year, headed up by Grade 3 winner Take Charge Tom and Grade 3-placed Strong State. Still, he’s struggled to gain traction with breeders, and he bred just 10 mares in 2025.

Related: Tom's D'Etat And The Stud Deal That Could Have Changed Everything

8 – By My Standards

By My Standards raced for one more year after the 2020 Classic, testing his mettle against the best older males in the country. That earned him a win in the listed Oaklawn Mile Stakes, followed by a runner-up finish in the G1 Met Mile.

He retired in 2021 seven wins and earnings of more than $2.2 million.

By My Standards retired to Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky for the 2022 breeding season, and his first 2-year-olds are on the track in 2025. He’s still looking for his first stakes winner from his freshman class, but he’s gotten close with a couple stakes-placed runners in A Million Dreams and Kid Charlemagne.

Related: Spendthrift Farm Announces 2026 Stallions And Fees, Led by Six-Time Champion Sire Into Mischief

7 – Title Ready

The Classic was just the middle point of Title Ready’s career, with two more seasons still ahead of him. He kicked off his 2021 campaign with a win in the G3 Louisiana Stakes, but that would be the last victory of his career. He went overseas to run in the Dubai World Cup after that win, and he was never quite the same after he came back.

Still, he frequently tested the best in the older male division, and his best effort in that final run was a third in the G2 Alysheba Stakes. He retired at the end of his 2022 campaign at age seven with five wins and earnings over three-quarters of a million dollars.

Title Ready retired to Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky for the 2023 breeding season, and his first foals are yearlings of 2025.

Related: Darby Dan Farm Announces 2026 Stallion Roster And Fees

6 – Tiz the Law

The Classic was the final start for Tiz the Law, who ended his career with six wins in nine starts and earnings of more than $2.7 million. Among those victories were Grade 1 scores in the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Florida Derby, and Champagne Stakes.

He retired to Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season, and he’s gotten off to a hot start at stud. He sent Tiztastic to this year’s Kentucky Derby from his first crop after that horse won the Louisiana Derby.

Tiz the Law was North America’s most active stallion during the 2025 breeding season, covering 274 mares.

Related: Which Stallions Saw The Biggest Spikes In Popularity In 2025?

5 – Maximum Security

The Classic brought an end to a controversial career on and off the racetrack fpr Maximum Security, that saw him be disqualified for interference in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, and saw his original trainer Jason Servis face a federal indictment in 2020 for his role in distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs for racehorses.

Servis was jailed after pleading guilty to those charges in 2022, and Maximum Security was disqualified from first in the 2020 Saudi Cup as a result, which cost him $10 million in purse earnings.

When the dust settled, Maximum Security’s record finished at nine wins and earnings of $2.4 million.

He retired to Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season, and his oldest runners are 3-year-olds of 2025, led by French Group 3 winner Rosa Salvaje and multiple stakes winner Instant Replay. He’ll be moving to Indiana for the 2026 breeding season to stand at Breakway Farm.

Related: Champion Maximum Security Moves To Breakway Farm In Indiana For 2026

4 – Tacitus

Tacitus stuck around for one more season after his try in the Breeders’ Cup, but he went unplaced in two starts, finishing up with four wins and earnings of more than $4.2 million. In that time, he earned wins in the G2 Tampa Bay Derby, Wood Memorial, and Suburban Stakes, and he finished in the money in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Tacitus retired to Taylor Made Stallions for the 2022 breeding season, and his first 2-year-olds hit the track in 2025. He’s still looking for his first stakes winner from his freshman class.

Related: Not This Time Leads Taylor Made Stallions' 2026 Roster At $250,000

3 – Global Campaign

Like a lot of horses in the field, the Classic was the final start for Global Campaign, ending a career where he won six of 10 starts and made more than $1.3 million, highlighted by a win in the G1 Woodward Handicap.

He retired to WinStar Farm for the 2021 breeding season, and his oldest runners are 3-year-olds of 2025. He’s sired Grade 3 winner Warming and a trio of stakes winners, and he’s even gotten a Grade 1-placed runner in Champagne Stakes third-place finisher Universe, but demand has been slow for Global Campaign, who bred just four mares in 2025.

Related: Warming Overcomes Tardy Break To Earn First Stakes Victory In Autumn Miss

2 – Improbable

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Improbable retired after the Breeders’ Cup with seven wins and earnings of $2.7 million.

He earned the Eclipse Award as champion older male of 2020 on the strength of a resume that also featured Grade 1 wins in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Whitney Stakes, and Awesome Again Stakes.

Improbable retired to WinStar Farm in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season, but he died in 2024 after suffering a broken right tibia after falling awkwardly due to ataxia. He sired four crops, and his oldest are 3-year-olds of 2025.

Leading the way among them are Grade 3 winner Governor Sam, and multiple stakes winner Pay Billy, who ran in this year’s Preakness Stakes.

Related: 'It Is Tragic': WinStar Farm Stallion Improbable Euthanized At Age 8

1 – Authentic

The winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic was Authentic, who secured the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year with his win at Keeneland. The Classic was the bow on top of a year that also included Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Derby, Haskell, and Santa Anita Derby, as well as a runner-up finish in the Preakness Stakes.

The Classic was the final start for Authentic, who retired with six wins in eight starts for earnings of $7.2 million.

He entered stud at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season, making his oldest runners 3-year-olds of 2025. His debut crop has been led by Rodriguez, who won the G2 Wood Memorial earlier this year, and his second crop features Grade 1 winner Iron Orchard, who will compete in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Related: 'A Good One To End On': Authentic Arrives At Spendthrift Farm After Breeders' Cup Victory

The first Breeders’ Cup to be hosted by Del Mar was in 2017, and the winners of its 13 races went in a wide variety of directions after stepping out of the winner’s circle.

For some, the journey led to seven-figure auction prices before joining high-profile broodmare bands. 

Others joined stallion rosters around the world to varying levels of success, while some of the geldings that won are enjoying the pensioner’s life. For one horse, a Breeders’ Cup win was his launching point to a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Check out this video to see where life took your favorite Breeders’ Cup winner of 2017 after their time in the spotlight.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills takes a look at where every member of the 14-horse field is today, 11 years after the race. Some have gone on to notable stud careers, some have ended up standing at stud overseas, some have gone on to succeed in fields outside of the racing and breeding industry, while others left us too soon.

Included in the 2013 Belmont Stakes field were the winners of the Kentucky Derby (Orb) and Preakness Stakes (Oxbow), the Belmont’s eventual winner (Palace Malice), and the future Eclipse Award winner as that crop’s champion 3-year-old male (Will Take Charge). 

At stud, the field included future leading freshman sires in the U.S. (Overanalyze) and Canada (Frac Daddy).

Domestically, runners in the 2013 Belmont Stakes have stood at stud in Kentucky and Maryland. Internationally, their reach has included residencies in Canada, Japan, Korea, and Uruguay.

But, what happened to those seven other horses?

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills tracked down all eight runners in the 2015 Preakness Stakes to see what they’re up to today, nine years after meeting at Pimlico Race Course to be part of history.

One obvious member of the field is a Hall of Famer and one of America’s top stallions, but the rest of the field took wildly differing paths from that race. Some entered stud in Kentucky, many have ended up in other countries, and some have left us too soon.

Among the horses in the 2015 Preakness field, its runners have most recently resided in the U.S., Canada, Korea, Uruguay, Panama, Saudi Arabia, and The Philippines.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills takes a look at where every member of the 19-horse field is today, eight years after the race. Some have gone on to prominent stud careers, some have ended up standing at stud overseas, some have gone on to succeed in fields outside of the racing and breeding industry, while others left us too soon.

Included in the 2016 Kentucky Derby field is the eventual winners of all three Triple Crown races, the champion 2-year-old male of the previous year, two eventual Breeders’ Cup winners, two future Eclipse Award winners, and a member of the 2024 class of inductees for horse racing’s Hall of Fame.

After their careers, horses in the field have stood domestically in Kentucky, New York, California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Wyoming, and they’ve stood internationally in Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

Two members of the field competed in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover, and several have gone on to post-racing careers that didn’t involve the breeding shed.

Grindstone, pensioned since 2019, turns 29 in late January and Giacomo will be 20 in February.

“We are very, very fortunate and blessed to have two unique and special horses,” said Ben Root, operations manager for the facility founded in 1996 by his parents Dr. Jack and Margaret (“Cookie”) Root. “These stallions give us an opportunity to be ambassadors for Thoroughbred racing. We get calls a few times a month from people wanting to see them and we welcome them.”

The Derby stars have totally different personalities.

“Grindstone still thinks he is king of the world,” Root said. “He screams and yells and bangs on his stall door when a horse walks by. He loves attention. When he is led in or out of the barn, he announces his presence to the other stallions. He knows he’s special, he knows he’s cool.

“Giacomo is as tame and sweet as you could ever imagine. He might nip a little bit but you can get right up to him and even hold him to get a picture taken. We even have had older school children do that. Especially for non-horse people, Giacomo is an angel.”

Both have their quirks. Grindstone inexplicably removes his halter from his head almost daily. In perhaps a subtle show of dominance, Giacomo backs away if his halter is touched but willingly stands still for treats, pettings and photos. When turned loose in his paddock each morning, the son of Holy Bull performs his self-taught routine that includes pirouettes, bucks, rears and a few laps at a gallop.

Prior to pandemic restrictions, Oakhurst hosted Kentucky Derby parties for several hundred friends, family and clients and a “Breakfast with the Stallions” event where Giacomo was in a nearby pen so guests could get up close and personal.

The occasional admirers who visit the stallions include owners of their offspring for racing and non-racing activities.

“They just want to see the dad,” Root said.

Track announcer and publicist Jason Beem, a longtime friend of the Root family, has made frequent stops to mingle with Giacomo. Another notable devotee is a man who came during his layover at the Portland International Airport.

From Bluegrass to Pacific Northwest

Grindstone and Giacomo launched their breeding careers in the heart of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass region prior to landing in their forever home. Grindstone, by Unbridled, was at owner-breeder W. T. Young’s Overbrook Farm before being purchased by the Roots in 2009. Giacomo campaigned for breeders Jerry and Ann Moss until Frank Stronach became a partner for his four-year-old season. He initially was on the stallion roster at Stronach’s Adena Springs before hopscotching to other states.

Grindstone was leased to Oakhurst when the Stronach conglomerate operated the now shuttered Portland Meadows with the goal of infusing enthusiasm into the area’s small Thoroughbred market.

Giacomo eventually was sold to the Roots with the understanding he would remain under their care regardless of his results as a stallion.

Both have had a measure of success as sires to augment their celebrity status. A current headliner is Milords Oathkeeper, a Root family-bred son of Giacomo and the Grindstone mare Milady Rocks. The gelding brought honor to his connections in winning the Josephine County Juvenile Stakes at Grants Pass Downs in November. With two wins in five starts, he has earned a meager $14,831, but the figure is irrelevant to the family. The Root clan has long participated with more profitable racers in Washington, California, and Arizona, but Milords Oathkeeper has an intangible value. Ben Root summarizes the significance of the victory in three words.

“Oregon is home,” he said.

To punctuate the point, Root said they have declined attractive purchase offers in favor of racing him as a three-year-old in 2022.

“The emotional attachment kind of throws financial reality out the window,” Root said. “My father walks by his horses every day and says ‘look what we have here.’ We treat them like kings. They have beautiful stallion halters with brass name plates. Their paddock fences are black because my father designed the farm to look like Kentucky. We never take any of this for granted.”

For more information on Oakhurst Equine Veterinary Services and Thoroughbred Farm, visit https://oakhurstequine.com/

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Alphabet Soup turned 30 in March at Old Friends Equine Retirement, a hybrid living history museum and horsey petting zoo, in Georgetown, Ky. He has resided there since 2015 after being pensioned from his longtime stallion duties at Adena Springs about 30 miles northeast in Paris. Former stud barn mate Touch Gold — winner of the 1997 Belmont Stakes — is also at Old Friends. Awesome Again, another Adena Springs stalwart who won the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic before evolving into a breed-shaping sire, passed away at Old Friends at age 26 in December.

“When Adena Springs called and said they were going to let us take care of some of their horses — in particular Alphabet Soup — I was astonished,” said Michael Blowen, who founded Old Friends in 2003. “We were thrilled that they think so highly of us.”

The far-flung Adena Springs breeding and racing operation started by Frank Stronach, is revered for producing quality runners exemplified by seven Eclipse Awards as outstanding breeder. Before Thoroughbred aftercare moved to the forefront, Adena Springs established their own rehoming program for their former racers. Stronach fully funds the Adena Springs-connected horses that reside at Old Friends.

Soup at home

Alphabet Soup’s glamorous looks were once summarized by Blowen as “the most gorgeous horse who ever stepped foot on the farm.” Paired with his exceptionally gentle nature, Alphabet Soup is reminiscent of a hornless unicorn. He quickly settled in to life as host to admiring fans.

“We hear the most amazing stories,” Blowen said. “Handicappers tell stories about cashing bets on him. Some people have pictures of his babies in their wallets. His former jockey [Hall of Famer] Chris McCarron visits all the time.”

Alphabet Soup met the farm’s first resident donkey Gorgeous George when Blowen introduced the little long-ear to potential paddock mates. Gorgeous George showed particular interest in the famous racer and the two soon became inseparable. They share a water bucket and treats and when Alphabet Soup is led to and from the barn, Gorgeous George follows untethered.

“It is like watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace only better,” Blowen said. “George is like the Secret Service. If you try doing something to Alphabet Soup that George takes exception to, he lets you know it. He is a protector.”

Read more about Gorgeous George in this 2018 edition of Barn Buddies.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Southeast Associates, Alphabet Soup was listed as not sold on a final bid of $28,000 at the 1992 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The following May, he again did not meet his reserve at $29,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Maryland 2-year-olds in training auction. On April 2, 1994, he debuted with a third-place effort at Santa Anita for Ridder Thoroughbred Stable and trainer David Hofmans. A winner in his third start five weeks later at Hollywood Park, Alphabet Soup methodically climbed the class ladder prior to becoming a graded stakes winner late in his four-year-old season.

He peaked as a 5-year-old in a season highlighted by three graded stakes scores in Southern California prior to the Classic.

He returned in early 1997 at age six with a runner-up performance in the San Antonio Handicap (G2) at Santa Anita with Adena Springs owner Frank Stronach as a new partner with Ridder Thoroughbreds in what would be his 24th and final start. He was officially retired a few months later and began his stud career in 1998 for Adena Springs. His record stands at 10-3-6 and $2,990,270. He won six graded events including his lone Grade 1 score in the Classic.

Decades removed from those glory days, Alphabet Soup remains a crowd pleaser. Blowen is perhaps his biggest fan and marvels daily at the stallion’s exuberance for life in general and his intelligence in particular.

“He taught me that he would rather have his back scratched than eat carrots,” he said. “He gets right up to the fence and then moves to place he wants me to scratch.”

For more information about donations and tours, visit www.oldfriendsequine.org

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America began rather modestly in 2013 with 26 off-track Thoroughbreds at Pimlico Race Course. This year’s renewal, held Oct. 12-17 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, has attracted hundreds of entrants showcasing the endless skills of the breed. The competition has achieved the original goal of creating demand for former racers that too often were considered one-trick ponies known only for speed. Along the way, the Makeover has brought attention to the value of high-mileage Thoroughbreds for their “been there, done that” attitudes suited for countless activities when properly retrained.

This month’s Lost and Found spotlights three of those so-called “war horses” entered in the Makeover—Granny’s Kitten, Imperative and Talk Show Man.

Granny’s Kitten (Kitten’s Joy-Granny Franny, by Grand Slam)

Record: 32-6-5-4 and $480,928

Stakes wins: 2017 Col. E. R. Bradley Handicap (G3) at Fair Grounds, 2016 Alphabet Soup Handicap at Parx Racing 

Age: 9

Gail Canan was aware of Granny’s Kitten, thanks to a friend who knew him well during his racing days for breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trainer Mike Maker. The mellow fellow’s pedigree and record made him an attractive stallion prospect but when no deal was finalized, he was channeled to Canan and subsequently gelded so that he could easily transition to life with pasture mates.

Instead of choosing a discipline for Granny’s Kitten, she is going to let him pick. She said he seems to enjoys cross country jumping so she is hoping to reshape him into an eventer.

Canan marvels at his attitude that she describes as “unflappable” regardless of his surroundings or tasks.

“That longevity (of racing) says a lot about the constitution of the horse,” said Canan. “He is always ready for a new adventure. I can take him anywhere (because) he was so well traveled. His first time at a show grounds, he was a little ‘looky’ but not like he was going to be naughty. He was more like, ‘This is interesting.’ He was a little hesitant when I took him cross country as if he was saying ‘I am not sure what you want.’ He looked around a lot, just checking what was going on.”

Some off-track Thoroughbreds have flashbacks when hearing a public address system for the first time, but Granny’s Kitten was unfazed after racing 32 times.

Granny’s Kitten won his first two career starts at ages two and three and then spent most of the next several years in the stakes ranks. His most profitable triumph was the 2017 Col. E. R. Bradley Handicap (G3) at Fair Grounds.

As a former exercise rider who grew up participating in horse shows, Canan said she understands both worlds of OTTBs.

“They know a lot more than you think they know, but you might have to ask [for some things] in a different way than they’re used to, such as with flying lead changes,” she said. “I encourage people to not overlook a horse that might be a little older and has raced a lot. If they have raced for that long, there is something about them. Give them a chance.”

Caban believes that after changing caretakers and barns for years, the workaday racers have a great appreciation for stability.

“It is like they know ‘this is my home and this is my person,’” she said.

Imperative (Bernardini-Call Her, by Caller I.D.)

Record: 50-7-8-4 and $3,302,812

Stakes wins: 2017 and 2014 Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2)

Age: 11

After racing 50 times from coast to coast and earning more than $3 million, Imperative remains eager for any new assignment.

“He has the most incredible work ethic of any horse I have ever met,” said Louise Atkins who acquired him via the National Thoroughbred Welfare Organization. “He is very smart and retains everything he is taught. We started with very small local shows, he was tense and distracted but did his job.”

Atkins said in his early time away from the track, Imperative was aloof and distant but is now so attentive and curious that he has been nicknamed The Mayor. He craves attention and is exceptionally social with equine pals.

“He hates to do anything alone so we kind of cater to him a little bit,” she said.

Atkins said Thoroughbreds that had an abundance of racing are more likely to remain sound in their second careers.

“For someone looking for an OTTB, I recommend going through a reputable agent or a resale organization,” she said. “We take horses from the track and start their turnout and transition them to regular life. We assess their temperament and needs. It takes the guess work out for someone looking for a partner.

Talk Show Man (Great Notion-Mark Me Special, by Haymaker)

Record: 40-8-2-7 and $456,556

Stakes wins: 2018 and 2014 Maryland Million Turf Stakes at Laurel Park; 2015 Henry S. Clark Stakes at Pimlico

Age: 11

Talk Show Man made all but three of his 40 starts in his native Maryland and he saw plenty of action on major event days that would prepare him for a new career.

“He’s seen so many things,” said Lindy Gutman who will ride him in the Makeover. “He ran on big race days like Maryland Million Day and Preakness Day when the areas around the track were so different than other days with banners, tents, bands, flyovers and lots of people.”

Gutman opted to enter the field and show hunter divisions of the Makeover to add to their versatility.

“I really like to try new things and I like to be able to take my horses anywhere,” Gutman said.

Talk Show Man was a bit hesitant around strangers during his early retraining but he has since become exceptionally social.

“He will even poke you with his ear so that you’ll rub it,” Gutman said. “He likes you to jam your knuckle way down in there and rub. It’s really gross, but he will walk up to strangers while I’m riding him and give them one of his ears.  It’s funny to see their expressions when I tell them what he wants and they go to gently rub on the outside of his ear and he keeps pushing it at them. I have to tell them that he wants them to poke their knuckle in there and look for his brain!”

Gutman had four previous off-track Thoroughbreds, but Talk Show Man is her first restart.

“There is an OTTB out there for everyone, but not every OTTB is for just anyone,” she said. “Take the time to find the horse that works for you. I never thought that I’d ride OTTBs again, at age 53, because I’m not a brave rider and I was wrong. Plus, the OTTB people are the absolute best. They are so supportive of each other. I’m happy to talk to anyone about why they need an OTTB.”

Talk Show Man raced throughout his career for his breeder Dr. Michael Harrison, who channeled him to Gutman for the Makeover.

Follow the results for these and other competitors at the Makeover at this link. Preliminary competitions continue through Oct. 14.

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Nearly a decade after saddling his final starter, Juan “Paco” Gonzalez still goes to Santa Anita most mornings but now the activity is strictly a hobby.

“I love watching the horses train,” he said. “I still have some friends at the track, so we walk the length of the grandstand back and forth to keep fit.”

Most of Gonzalez’s success was condensed in the span from 1992 to 2002 when the barn raked in at least $1 million each year. One of his most popular runners was the blaze-faced gray Free House, the 1997 Santa Anita Derby winner who finished third in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and second in the Preakness. Gonzalez accomplished a similar feat with Mane Minister six years earlier, finishing third in the three Triple Crown races. Both raced for John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery, Gonzalez’s only clients throughout his career. Another headliner was Grade 1 winner Came Home for the partnership that flourished with primarily homebreds led by Free House who banked more than $3-million.

“We started with the original six and in 10 years, the owners had 120 horses,” Gonzalez said.

McCaffery died in 2007 and Toffan began downsizing the stable prior to his passing in 2019. Gonzalez offered to retire in 2012 so that the remaining five racers could seamlessly transfer to other conditioners. The transition left a legacy that began by happenstance and closed as one of racing’s most successful stables.

Gonzalez became acquainted with Toffan and McCaffery when he was an exercise rider for their trainer Joe Manzi. When Manzi passed away unexpectedly in 1989, they asked him to be their private trainer.

“I really didn’t want to do it; too chicken,” he said. “My brother Sal talked me into it and said he would work for me, so I took a chance.”

In addition to the aforementioned Free House, Mane Minister and Came Home, the team churned out a steady stream of high-level performers such as graded stakes winners Bien Bien, his son Bienamado, Del Mar Dennis and Nice Assay (dam of Came Home).

Gonzalez relished those glory days but his true passion was his time at the barn.

“I miss interacting with the horses,” he said. “Seeing what will help them train better, eat better and anything else we can do to improve their performance. Very smart animals. They can’t talk with a voice, but there are many ways to listen to them.”

The opinionated Came Home presented the Gonzalez crew with many challenges including the simple process of getting shod. The colt had little patience for the procedure so a compromise was reached—two new shoes one day, two more the next.

Gonzalez now is satisfied to watch others’ racehorses and enjoys his more leisure after his morning track time.

“I come home, eat some lunch, turn on TVG and watch races,” he said. “I still take a little siesta for about 30 minutes. In the early evening, I take another walk around the block.  I sometimes go to the park when there is a tai chi class and join in.  And I visit the doctors for check-ups.”

His free time includes extended visits to Mexico to see his sisters and their families.

“I’m happy I retired when I did,” he said. “I never liked to talk on the phone too much. I see trainers today that have to be on the phone all the time with owners and agents and studying the condition books for five different tracks.  It is different and a lot of work. I’m ok with retirement.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Racing aficionados likely are aware of the meanings behind the names of long-running stakes while others might find them both perplexing and amusing. The Peter Pan Stakes — New York’s traditional Belmont Stakes prep — comes to mind. Some may think of a peanut butter brand or the forever young character, but the race honors the 1907 Belmont Stakes winner and Hall of Famer of the same name.

The Preakness Stakes is widely known as the second leg of the Triple Crown and few connect the event with the durable star of the late 1800s who was named for a New Jersey township. In 1870, he won a stakes on opening day of Pimlico Race Course’s inaugural meeting and was still campaigning when the track’s signature event was rebranded three years later. The tradition of honoring the very best continues today, often after a marquee winner retires. Such is the case with Churchill Downs’ Wise Dan Stakes, formerly known as the Firecracker for its spot on the calendar around the July 4 holiday.

This month’s Lost and Found highlights some “lost” meanings of well-known stakes “found” on the summer schedule. The sampling is arranged in chronological order.

Matchmaker Stakes (July 17 at Monmouth Park) This fixture was conceived with an unusual incentive to attract the best fillies and mares. In addition to the financial reward, the prize for the top three finishers came with breeding options to premiere stallions. The original edition was held in 1967 at the now-idle Atlantic City Race Course. As sponsorships gained traction in the 1990s, Kentucky’s leading stud operations began adding their brand to the title in addition to seasons to their stallions. Known as the WinStar Matchmaker since 2014, the 2021 renewal offered matings to Audible, Global Campaign and Tom’s d’Etat.

Molly Pitcher Stakes (July 17 at Monmouth Park) Whether Molly Pitcher was a real person is a subject of debate, but the general consensus or legend is that she was a woman who carried water to troops at the Battle of Monmouth during the American Revolutionary War in 1778. The modern-day Molly Pitcher, first held in 1946, is undeniably a race that has attracted countless champion fillies and mares to the Jersey Shore track.

Jim Dandy (July 31 at Saratoga) The naming origin sometimes gets lost in translation for this test that is synonymous as the prep for the Travers Stakes, the Saratoga season’s headliner. The race is a nod to the Thoroughbred who won the inaugural Travers in 1930 in a stunning upset over Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox. The surprise was one of the many that resulted in the track being dubbed “the graveyard of favorites” that has morphed into “the graveyard of champions.” Jim Dandy never came close to duplicating his best when it mattered the most. In his 141 starts, he produced just seven victories. By the stallion Jim Gaffney, Jim Dandy’s label most likely reflected the definition for something of superior quality, a term that may have been inspired by a minstrel song of the mid 1800s.

Yellow Ribbon Handicap (August 7 at Del Mar) In racetracker slang, “get tied on” for this explanation of a pretty name with a pretty convoluted background. For starters, the summer edition is the rebranded Palomar Handicap while the first incarnation at Santa Anita is now the Rodeo Drive. The original was first held in 1977 during Santa Anita’s autumn meeting when the Oak Tree Racing Association traditionally leased the facility. A popular song of the era was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon (Round the Old Oak Tree)” and somehow the wording grew into a good idea for a race. The varied symbolism and history of yellow ribbons includes awareness of the military although the hit song apparently is about a freed prisoner and his girlfriend.

Best Pal Stakes (August 7 at Del Mar) In short, the race for 2-year-olds recognizes the California-bred gelding but the story goes deeper. Best Pal was one of the most popular horses of his time thanks in part to his folksy name, West Coast roots and consistency during 47 races spread over seven seasons. His first of 12 graded wins came at Del Mar at age two in the Balboa Stakes which reflected area locations honoring the Spanish explorer. Best Pal retired in early 1996 and later that year the Balboa became the Best Pal. His 47-18-11-4 and $5,668,245 record includes Grade 1 victories in the Santa Anita, Charles H. Strub and Oaklawn Handicaps, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Hollywood Futurity and a runner-up effort in the 1991 Kentucky Derby.

A homebred of the revered Golden Eagle Farm of John and Betty Mabee, Best Pal returned to his birthplace but was less than thrilled with a life of too much leisure. He became a stable pony to accompany young horses to the track at Golden Eagle’s training division. He died of an apparent heart attack at age ten and was buried on the property.

Beverly D. Stakes (August 14 at Arlington Park) The race for fillies and mares was designed in 1987 as the counterpart to the track’s marquee Arlington Million that is run on the same day. The event honors the late wife of Richard Duchossois, whose name is forever linked with transforming Arlington Park into a spectacular setting for world-class racing. This year the Million will be contested as the Mister D. with a purse of $600,000. The Secretariat Stakes, the track’s signature test for 3-year-olds, has been rechristened the Bruce D. to commemorate the couple’s son who died in 2014.

Alabama Stakes (August 21 at Saratoga) Since 1872 some of the nation’s finest fillies have been associated with Alabama which can be a head scratcher when glancing at headlines. The stakes refers to the home state of William Cottrell, a prominent owner-breeder of the era, who declined to have a race named for himself.

Singspiel Stakes (August 21 at Woodbine) First held in 2005, this race pays homage to the remarkably consistent international runner whose only two North American starts were at Woodbine. After winning the Canadian International at the Toronto track, the Irish-bred Singspiel was runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Turf to earn the 1996 Eclipse Award as champion grass horse. In his 20-race career, Singspiel was first or second on 17 occasions and banked just shy of $6 million. His triumphs include the 1997 Dubai World Cup. That triumph is commemorated with a race in his name that is contested early each year at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. After a productive stud career in England, Singspiel was euthanized in 2010 following complications of laminitis. By definition, Singspiel is a German opera with spoken dialogue. He is a son of In the Wings (GB) which is a theatrical term for a player waiting to go on stage.

Riskaverse Stakes (August 26 at Saratoga) This lyrical label sounds racehorsey, but with a hyphen after “risk” the term relates to investors reluctant to take certain gambles. A newbie on the calendar with an inaugural running in 2009, the 3-year-old filly feature is named for the mare who earned more than $2 million before closing her five-season campaign in 2005. Her record includes consecutive victories in the G1 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park.

Ballerina Stakes (August 28 at Saratoga) First run in 1979, the label easily conjures up images of athletic and elegant dancers so one might not consider an equine version. However, the name is a nod to the standout filly of the 1950s who won New York’s inaugural Maskette Handicap (now the Go for Wand).

Travers Stakes (August 28 at Saratoga) Arguably the most famous race of summer, the “The Midsummer Derby” is revered for highlighting returnees from the Triple Crown trail and the late bloomers getting into stride and for memorable victories and defeats. Dating back to 1864, the showcase honors Saratoga Race Course co-founder William R. Travers, who won the inaugural running with his horse Kentucky.

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Tim Doocy was fastest to the finish 5,061 times in his well-traveled riding career but he has acclimated to a much slower pace these days. A self-described full-time husband, Doocy and his wife of 43 years, Terry, reside on the banks of Lake Catherine in Hot Springs, Ark.

“Life’s good,” Tim Doocy said to summarize the couple’s relaxed routines that include cruising the lake a few times a week and gardening.

He said he occasionally goes to the races at nearby Oaklawn Park to socialize with friends but prefers watching on television when the mood strikes.

“I was lucky enough to have 35 years (as a jockey),” he said. “I don’t look back. There are little things I miss but to me it was a lifetime ago.”

Doocy rode mostly in the Midwest with plenty of profitable time in the late1980s and early ’90s at Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows in Northern California. He shifted back to the Midwest where he has done some of his best work as evidenced by his inductions into the Nebraska, Prairie Meadows and Remington Park Halls of Fame.

Before the question is asked, Doocy is quick to note that his spouse is a key to his success and longevity in the saddle.

“Everything we have is because of her,” he said. “All I did was ride. She took care of everything else so that made it easy for me. I just showed up for work and she took care of all the stuff away from the track.”

They have a son, Trey, who lives in Florida with his wife Kelley and their two daughters, Hendrix and Swayze, both under age two. Venturing to Florida to visit them is on the radar to make up for the lack of travel in 2020. Plans also include going to Omaha this summer to see Tim’s mother and then road tripping to see other family and friends.

Unplanned decision
Doocy grew up in Iowa, but frequently visited relatives in his native Minnesota where his cousins had small ponies on which he learned to ride bareback. His uncles were amateur boxers who were encouraged to transfer their stature and athleticism to race riding. Instead, they steered Doocy in that direction. Through that connection, Doocy obtained his first track job during a high school summer vacation as a groom and exercise rider at East Moline Downs, which had a short-lived Thoroughbred season in Illinois near Davenport, Iowa.

After graduation, Doocy went to Commodore Downs, the long-shuttered facility in Erie, Pa., where he rode his first winner in 1974. From there he became productive at the major Midwest tracks and made his mark on the Northern California circuit. He compiled an impressive list of stakes wins including the 1990 Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) at Monmouth Park on Restless Con and 2000 Ack Ack Handicap (G3) at Churchill Downs aboard Chindi.

“It is always fun when you are on a roll when you are riding good horses and things are going good,” he said. “There is probably no better feeling because you feel like there is nothing you can’t do.”

While enjoying another steady season as 2009 was drawing to a close, retirement was far from Doocy’s mind. But a morning training accident a few days before his 55th birthday resulted in several fractures and a damaged knee that ended his career. He is philosophical about the unexpected turn of events.

“It took a few years for me to get my head wrapped around a lot of stuff,” he said. “We have a lot to be thankful for. It was a chance to start over. I asked myself what I wanted to do with that chance. No job, but finances were good. It gave my wife and I a chance to be together full time, so that was different.”

With no need to travel the racing circuit, the Doocys left their Oklahoma residence to build their Lake Catherine abode in 2014.

“I wasn’t going to live in the past,” he said. “All good things have to come to an end. Everybody says they want to go out on their own terms, well, sometimes I think it is easier when the decision is made for you.”

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Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

June is a special month for former jockey George Martens and his sister Cheryl: both will be celebrating 40th anniversaries of different kinds this year. For George, the sixth day of the month marks the day he guided Summing to victory in the 1981 Belmont Stakes a few days before Cheryl married Tony McNeil. It is easy to imagine the festivities surrounding those occasions with some of racing’s biggest names in attendance four decades ago. Now, their lifestyles are much quieter and far from the energized atmosphere of Belmont Park in the New York City suburbs.

Martens is semi-retired and sharing a home with the McNeils near Remington Park where Tony, who closed his own race riding career in 2012, works as a racing official. Martens’ 1976 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice is on full display at the residence.

“I am pretty proud of my accomplishments,” Martens said. “I had so many great people who were behind me, from Hall of Famers to people who were just trying to make an ordinary living training horses. I remember almost every single one of them.”

While meandering down memory lane, Martens rattles off names of leading jockeys, stakes winners, famous stables, high-profile horsemen, and lesser knowns that impacted his productive but relatively brief career centered primarily in New York and the East Coast. With generations of jockeys in his pedigree, including his father Buddy, he naturally gravitated to the track.

“I was raised right outside the gate in (the town of) Elmont,” Martens said to underscore Belmont Park’s influence.

He went to the barns with his father whenever time allowed to learn all he could. Not surprisingly, he was skilled enough to obtain his jockey’s license when he turned the minimum age of 16. After those initial two mounts in 1974, Martens established himself within the legendary New York jockey colony that included eventual Hall of Famers Angel Cordero Jr., Jorge Velasquez, and Jacinto Vasquez.

“When I started, I was real shy,” Martens said. “I learned so much competing with them every day. They were all great help to me.”

He rode 70 winners in 1975 and another 105 while still an apprentice in his 1976 Eclipse Award season. He transitioned seamlessly when his weight allowance expired later that year and closed his championship season with a career-high 132 victories including 27 as a newly minted journeyman.

Some years were statistically far better than others and with just one win in 1988, Martens decided he was more comfortable being a morning rider. He lost 30 pounds to make a brief comeback in 1995. His record stands at 888 victories including Grade 1 scores in the aforementioned Belmont, the 1986 Selima Stakes on Collins and 1981 United Nations Handicap on his all-time favorite Key to Content.

Martens’ life reached a turning point in 2008 when his father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and he relocated from Florida to the outskirts of Oklahoma City, where his parents had retired to be near the McNeils and their children. He spent about five years as an exercise rider for Steve Asmussen and then became a jockey’s valet at Remington Park. The track is 1,500 miles southwest of Belmont Park where 60,000-plus watched Summing capture the third leg of the Triple Crown under a hometown celebrity. Echoes of that afternoon no doubt will be heard again this month when the Martens and McNeil families celebrate the milestone anniversaries.

“There is no better feeling that I can have in my life now than reminiscing about racing during the best times of my life,” Martens said. “I have made so many friends with people in the horse business. If it wasn’t for the horses, I wouldn’t know all these good people who are involved in racing. That is what I take out of what my accomplishments mean to me.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Not all Thoroughbreds excel in the family business. A glance at any catalog page highlights the overachievers’ accomplishments with barely, if any, mention of relatives that were less than stellar on the track.

A look at the bloodlines of second-crop sire Protonico is a prime example of the genetic mysteries that propel Thoroughbreds in vastly different directions. A multiple graded stakes winner and near millionaire, Protonico has quickly gained attention as the sire of Medina Spirit, who crossed the wire first in this year’s Kentucky Derby. While he capitalizes on that new-found fame, his younger half siblings Kakadu and Lock Keeper have become champions in the eyes of their owners.

Protonico (2011 by Giant’s Causeway), Kakadu (2013 Tizway mare) and Lock Keeper (2016 Quality Road gelding) are offspring of the A.P. Indy mare Alpha Spirit, who was unplaced in two starts. Like her aforementioned offspring, she raced as a homebred for Oussama Aboughazale’s International Equities Holding. In contrast to Protonico, the records of Kakadu and Lock Keeper are nearly identical to their dam. Their connections recognized they were better suited to a non-racing line of work and channeled them to T & B Sporthorses of Brooke Schafer and Tay Wienold for initial reschooling in Lexington.

Kakadu now is being refashioned as an eventer by Lexington-based Heather Goumas. The mare has a natural inclination for the jumping portion of the sport, which also includes the precision movements of dressage. Lock Keeper is continuing his education with Emily Joyce in Massachusetts with a dressage focus.

Goumas and Joyce knew their show prospects were closely related to some of racing’s biggest names but neither was aware that the winner of America’s most legendary race is their horses’ “nephew” Medina Spirit.

“That is excellent; that is pretty neat,” said Goumas, who was knowledgeable of Kakadu’s bragging rights as the dam of American Pharoah’s first foal named First Pharoah. First Pharoah’s unique status made him a headliner for awhile but his stout build made him an unlikely racing candidate. He, too, found his way to life as a pleasure mount after Kakadu’s subsequent reproductive difficulty left First Pharoah as her only offspring.

The lofty lineage of Kakadu and Lock Keeper certainly is a conversation piece but it is their demeanors that have charmed their owners.

Kakadu, now known as Luna, was originally purchased for Goumas’s 16-year-old daughter. When their personalities did not quite click, her daughter switched to showing Goumas’s Warmblood mount instead while Goumas continues with Kakadu.

“With mares especially you have to find the right fit,” Goumas said. “She and Luna are both pretty sassy.”

Goumas lovingly explained that sassiness.

”Just recently I had Kakadu in the (barn aisle) cross ties and she deliberately swatted her tail at my daughter when she walked by,” Goumas said. “When I gently brush her knees, she squeals and stomps her foot. She very plainly says ‘this is what I like, this is what I don’t like.’ She is sweet, too, and really curious. She is very interested and is always looking for the next jump.”

Lock Keeper, whose barn name is Keeper, has endeared himself to those at his stable with his “puppy dog” ways and eagerness to learn according to Joyce.

“He is very calm,” Joyce said. “Most people could not believe that he was only four when I got him last year. He is so willing under saddle. He is generally better behaved than most horses who are much older than him. He is not spooky. He would rather go up to something and sniff it. If you leave something near his stall door, it will be in his mouth and he will shake it up and down. He is a very bright, curious horse.”

Both Goumas and Joyce emphasized team work and a steady program to fully transition racehorses into their new assignments.

“It was important to me to get a horse who had been restarted and had come from a reputable home,” she said. “I have the right boarding facility and the right trainer to develop a program for him. Horses like a routine and like to work.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Life for a jockey can change in an instant. For Channing Hill, unrelated events took him in a new direction and in hindsight could be viewed as setbacks or opportunities.

A 2005 Eclipse Award finalist as outstanding apprentice, Hill sees the proverbial glass as half full. A year after being sidelined by severe neck and back injuries, he is relishing time with family as he eases closer to a return to the saddle.

“I am lucky,” he said. “I have seen these same types of injuries and how much different it can turn out. I feel very fortunate.”

Hill was injured at Oaklawn Park when his mount went down on April 17, 2020. Three days later, he underwent surgery in Hot Springs, Ark., and shortly thereafter returned to his Louisville home. He has no timetable, but is optimistic for a return.

“I am just taking it as it comes,” Hill said. “I don’t want to push myself now and maybe get worse later on. I am going to let my body and my doctors tell me when I am ready.”

Except for issues with his left hand, Hill said he is in great shape for looking after the three children he has with wife Shelbi, daughter of trainer Wayne Catalano. The youngest two — at ages 18 months and nearly three — have the usual age-related requirements, while their 7-year-old son gave him a surprise assignment he could not foresee. In addition to his role as a dad, Hill took on the job of educator when schools closed due to the pandemic. Like so many youngsters who were required to stay home and learn virtually, Waylon did not adapt well.

“I became his teacher,” Hill said.

Fortunately, that task concluded when schools reopened this spring after nearly a year. The Hill clan will reside in the Chicago area this summer while Shelbi works for Arlington Park in what is expected to be the track’s final season.

“I will stay home with the kids and try to get better and healthier and see where the year takes me,” he said. “I feel really good. I have been doing some exercising on my own. I really can’t use my left hand but the rest of me feels really good.”

Like father, like son

In some ways, Hill’s lifestyle mimics his own upbringing in which he was closely connected to his father, Allan Hill, a Nebraska exercise rider and jockey.

When he was about 12, he began traveling the racing circuit with his father, who won 667 races from 8,520 mounts. The experience included working at odd jobs in the jockeys’ quarters that inspired his interest in following his father’s career. He had no personal knowledge of horses until he took lessons on ponies at the farm of a family friend. A natural talent, he quickly graduated to Thoroughbreds.

As soon as he turned 16, Hill obtained his jockey’s license and rode his first three races at the track in Columbus, Neb., in 2003. By 2004, after competing at Columbus, Lincoln Park, and Prairie Meadows, he shifted his base to Aqueduct. He was a logical choice for the Eclipse Award when he closed 2005 with 135 wins and $5 million in purses. With slightly better statistics, the honor went to Emma-Jayne Wilson, who sat near Hill, his father and friends at the awards ceremony at the legendary Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

“The one thing that struck me as the biggest that night was Emma-Jayne,” he said. “She and her agent were the nicest, most gracious winners I have ever seen. They were so classy. That made me cheer for her even more.”

As Hill proceeds to his return to race riding, his record stands at 1,204 victories and $51,355,057 in earnings from 10,987 mounts. His triumphs include the Grade 1 Forego Handicap in 2008 for Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel and owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms on First Defence. Other achievements include several graded scores aboard Catalano-trained Farrell and finishing third in the 2017 Preakness Stakes aboard Senior Investment.

As Hill looks forward to adding to his stats, he is capitalizing on his extended holiday.

“I am happy that I am able to be home and take this as an opportunity to be with my family,” he said. “This is the only way a jockey can get a long vacation. I am maximizing my time with my kids for however much time I have off.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

There’s an old saying that the best way to become a millionaire in the Thoroughbred industry is to start with $2 million. A corollary could be that a horse can sell for $1 million and earn a few thousand or, in rare cases, sell for a few thousand and earn a million. Twilight Eclipse exemplifies the latter in the extreme.

As a newly-turned yearling at the 2010 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages, Twilight Eclipse was sold to trainer John Langemeier on a $1,000 bid. As superior horses often do, Twilight Eclipse won his career debut on June 2, 2012 at Indiana Grand. He returned to Indiana Grand 17 days later and won again. And as often happens, his performances came to the attention of those seeking a potential star. Langemeier capitalized on the opportunity and sold him to West Point Thoroughbreds.

In his fourth start in the black and gold silks, Twilight Eclipse became a graded stakes winner by capturing the W.L. McKnight Handicap at Calder Race Course in late 2012. He concluded his remarkable run for West Point and trainer Tom Albertrani as an 8-year-old in 2017 with a $2,103,953 bankroll and lifetime record of 40-8-5-11. Highlights include his Grade 1 triumph in the Man o’War Stakes at Belmont Park in 2015 and four appearances in the Breeders’ Cup Turf topped by his third-place effort in 2014 at Santa Anita. With the exception of seven races, Twilight Eclipse competed only in the graded ranks throughout his career.

With his glory days behind him, Twilight Eclipse is enjoying full retirement with his 16-year-old next-paddock neighbor Seminary Ridge at Erin and Daniel Birkenhauer’s farm near Bowling Green, Ky. As the daughter of West Point President Terry Finley and his wife Debbie (West Point Chief Administrative Officer), Erin is quite familiar with Twilight Eclipse.

“I vividly remember a hot, muggy day in the summer of 2012 when my husband and I saw him for the first time at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington,” she said. “We saw him on the shank and my dad called when we were on the way home and asked what we thought. I said, ‘He’s a plain brown wrapper, but there’s something about him.’ The fact that my husband and I were the first members of the West Point family to lay eyes on him was very special, and we often reminisce about that day.”

Birkenhauer has zeroed in on the quality that is easy to recognize but impossible to explain in superior horses. She also noticed that his movement made him a prime candidate for other endeavors.

“I watched Twilight Eclipse train and always loved his big, floaty trot,” she said. “With him having such a long and successful career, I had myself convinced he was just going to race forever. But a few weeks after his final race in May of 2017, the partners graciously agreed to allow us to provide their champ with a great home.”

Birkenhauer began reschooling him on their property and then transferred him to a boarding facility to fine-tune him for jumping and the precision movements of dressage collectively known as eventing. In late July that year, he strutted his stuff at a show. By September he was at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington where he won the “most money earned” and “war horse in hand” divisions at the New Vocations All-Thoroughbred Show. He also made a stop in Pennsylvania, where Erin guided him in the Real Rider Cup that highlights celebrity riders and well-known mounts to promote second careers for racehorses.

When the Birkenhauers decided to start a family, Erin stopped riding regularly and briefly considered allowing someone else to continue with Twilight Eclipse’s progress.

“It weighed heavily on me how he’d react to not having a job,” said Birkenhauer, West Point’s racing manager and communications director. “We brought him back home and turned him out alongside Seminary Ridge and he settled right in. I haven’t ridden him in a couple of years, but the last time I did, he was convinced we were in the post parade for the Breeders’ Cup!”

After six years of the energized atmosphere of the track, Twilight Eclipse has fully adjusted to a life of leisure and requires little attention.

“He doesn’t like being groomed at all and we’ve nicknamed him Hangry because of his antics at feed time,” she said. “He also is not one of those horses who is lovey-dovey and in your lap, but he is very sweet and gentle with kids, which makes me very happy.”

That affection for youngsters is special to the Birkenhauers, who a have a nearly 2-year-old son and a second child due in April.

“Sometimes I feel a ping of guilt that he’s not out there galloping and jumping around big cross-country tracks, but those feelings quickly subside when I look out my kitchen window and see the ‘two ole geldings’ fat and happy as clams,” she said.

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Racehorses have long been focal points for Tom Durkin. Since retiring from his 43 years as a track announcer, Durkin keeps those passions in the forefront but in different locations.

Most of the time Durkin resides in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but escapes for part of the winter to the somewhat milder climate of Pinehurst, N.C., a village in a parallel universe to his year-round residence. The similarities include exceptional golf courses, historic racehorse facilities and scenic surroundings. The Pinehurst venue, which specializes in Standardbreds, was part of the attraction for Durkin.

“I used to spend my winters in Tuscany from around 2000 to 2010,” Durkin said. “Then I started going to Naples, Fla., but it got too crowded. My sister is in Pinehurst and I have friends there.”

His buddies include a few of his Standardbreds and their people, who he visits during training hours. An avid harness racing fan, Durkin enjoyed great success as co-breeder and co-owner of Coraggioso, a 21-time winner who banked nearly $700,000 and has become a productive sire.

Durkin’s holdings extend to Thoroughbreds. As an equity partner in West Point Thoroughbreds since retiring in 2015, Durkin had a “minuscule” interest in Always Dreaming that paid dividends by giving Durkin access to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. His role in West Point’s business development and partner relations is just one of the many activities that keep him closely connected to the Thoroughbred world. Another is his role as a tour guide at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame during the racing season.

“I love it,” he said. “I am a horse racing nut and a bit of a history nut. When I first retired, I thought I would go back to Florence, Italy and be a tour guide. When I lived there, I would see these guides going around and I would stand behind the group and soak up what they were saying. So, I know as much about Florence and Renaissance art as any tour guide. I am a performer at heart. That is basically my nature — to get in front of people and talk to them. It might be about a painting, the history of Seabiscuit or the cultural history of racing in America via the outlet I have at the museum.”

Another outlet for Durkin’s affinity for entertaining is acting. His voice-overs include a canine in “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and race callers in other movies. While a theater major at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, he appeared in school productions. He has not done a play since 2015, when he was both Mr. Macy and the drunken Santa Claus in “Miracle on 34th Street” at the Spa Little Theater on the grounds of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

“I have been looking for parts,” he said. “I prefer comedy. If anybody has a part for me in the area, I’ll do it. The part has to be for a guy who is 70 and has a certain look.”

That certain look is easily recognizable during the Saratoga racing season.

“I will be walking down the street and someone I have never met says hello or has something nice to say,” he said.

His fans are particularly engaging at the museum.

“When I retired, I did not expect what I got in terms of affection,” he said “It blew me away. I had no idea that was coming. Racing fans are passionate about the sport. And the depth of that passion and how many people love it is something that I did not quite realize. I’ve had people recite some of my race calls verbatim. A lot of them I have no recollection of whatsoever. It might be because they cashed a trifecta or exacta or longshot—I get a lot of those.”

Durkin is mindful of his unexpected celebrity status.

“I am a much better-behaved person in Saratoga than I am elsewhere,” he said. “If someone cuts me off in traffic in Manhattan, I’ll give them the finger right there. In Saratoga, I just smile back. I don’t want someone saying that I gave them the finger—this is a small town and word travels fast which makes me a socially better person.”

Durkin’s popularity and professionalism might best be summarized by his many prestigious honors most notably the 2014 Eclipse Award of Merit for lifetime achievement.

“I was happy for what I was able to do and for as long as I did it at that level,” he said. “No one has been more fortunate than I have in many respects. In my next life, I want to come back as me.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Optimism and dedication served Rene Douglas well during his career as a jockey, in which he rode more than 3,500 winners. Now he is capitalizing on that same mindset since turning his attention to being a jockey agent last year.

“It is kind of like what I used to do when I was riding races,” he said. “I was always hustling and trying to get named on the horses I wanted to ride. It is very similar except that now, I don’t ride them.”

The recipient of Douglas’s effort is Angel Arroyo, who ranked seventh in the win and earnings categories at the Gulfstream Park West meeting despite missing the final days because of a minor injury. He returned to action on Dec. 13, a week after the start of Gulfstream Park’s premiere winter season that attracts some of the nation’s top jockeys.

“He lost the momentum he had going into the big meet and lost some of the business he had,” Douglas said. “We had to start over, little by little. Things will pick up again because he is a good rider.”

Douglas is up early each morning to begin his work at home and spends much of his time contacting trainers for future mounts, a task that requires in-depth knowledge of upcoming races that suit specific horses. He gathers such information on a daily basis by watching racing on television and studying results.

“I like to watch every race,” he said. “I can pick up things that make me think I can get Angel to ride those horses.”

On entry days, he joins fellow agents and racing office staff on Zoom for post-position draws and finalizing mount assignments.

When not engaged in those tasks, Douglas is content to be in the comfy confines of home with his wife Natalia, their sons Christian and Giancarlo, who are in their early 20s, and Douglas’s older son Michael.

Douglas’s current vocation follows a previous endeavor of forming racing partnerships with dear colleagues. Under their Good Friends Stable banner, the group enjoyed particular success with Grade 1 winner Private Zone and Prince of Wales Stakes winner Golden Moka. Douglas specialized in importing and exporting runners between his native Panama and North America such as Panamanian G1 winner Coltimus Prime and the aforementioned Private Zone. While he said he is always on the lookout for potential horses, he prefers to stay focused on improving Arroyo’s resume.

The need to reinvent himself came after an abrupt end to his two decades as a jockey in 2009 when his mount fell on him during a race at Arlington Park. The accident left Douglas without the use of his legs.

“Things happen in life that you never expect, but life continues; what are you going to do?” he said. “I just have to do the best I can as a person and a husband and move forward.”

He credits his “amazing” wife and his loyal friends for their support in helping him overcome severe depression while adjusting to a new way of living. Their dedication and commitment mean more to Douglas than his accomplishments in the saddle, including topping leader boards at Arlington Park and other tracks and winning such high-profile races as the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Dreaming of Anna.

When asked about his favorite memories from his prime, Douglas takes a long pause before casually mentioning that he won the 1996 Belmont Stakes on Editor’s Note for D. Wayne Lukas.

“When I first moved to Chicago, there was something about that place that made me a happy person—the people and the racing,” he said. “Arlington was a special racetrack for me.”

Those experiences were so special that Douglas and Natalia continue to spend summers there while living in South Florida the rest of the year.

Despite major and minor setbacks, Douglas looks on the bright side while facing the challenges.

“I have always been very positive in life,” he said. “That is why I think I won a lot of races. I encourage others to do the same thing.”

Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer who has spent her entire career in Thoroughbred racing-related jobs in barns, press boxes and offices. She has worked for stables from Saratoga to Ak-Sar-Ben and from Canterbury Park to Oaklawn Park and about another dozen tracks in the eastern two thirds of America.  A longtime contributor to Thoroughbred Times, her articles have appeared in Keeneland Magazine, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News, Breeders’ Cup website, Horse Illustrated, European Bloodstock News, KyForward, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider and other publications.  She is a seasonal member of Keeneland’s media department.

Nearly three decades after riding in his final race, John Lively is still competitive, still athletic and still enjoying camaraderie. Instead of the racetrack, he and his wife Pat have found those same elements in playing pickleball, a hybrid of tennis, table tennis, and badminton.

“We play two, three, sometimes four hours a day,” he said. “We feel that it is good for our health to stay active and fit. It is fun and we enjoy meeting other people. It is very big in Florida and Arizona where we used to spend the winters and it is getting bigger all the time.”

The Livelys, married since 1961, now reside in Hot Springs, Ark., where their daughter, Patrice, works for the Arkansas Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. Their son David has made a career as an assistant to nationally ranked trainers.

Lively’s resume has 3,468 victories, including the 1976 Preakness Stakes aboard Elocutionist, who he guided to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. His trophy collection includes the 1990 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award that “honors riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.”

“At the time and still today it means an awful lot simply because I was elected by my fellow riders who I was competing against day in and day out,” he said. “It is meaningful that they chose me as a good role model even away from the racetrack.”

A regular at Oaklawn Park in winter, Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha in summer and other tracks such as Louisiana Downs, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in between, Lively pocketed many riding titles while keeping steady statistics throughout his career. Recognizing that his opportunities were starting to dwindle, he strategically retired with no regrets.

“If I had still been winning two or three races a day, I would not have been ready but I was ready for something different,” he said.

That something different was far removed from Thoroughbred racing.

“We are both from northeast Oklahoma and we went back there and went into the cattle raising business,” he said. “Then an opportunity came along for a poultry raising operation. We did that for about three years along with the cattle. Then we got out of that and retired completely.”

They sold their house and traveled the country in their motor home for 10 years of summer sightseeing and winter sojourns in Arizona or Florida. While in Arizona in 2014, Lively developed health issues that affected his balance. The condition eventually was brought under control with medication and physical therapy but concern about relapses inspired them to cease traveling and move to Rogers, Ark. In 2019 they settled in Hot Springs, where Lively will occasionally go to the Oaklawn Park races to see old friends. He also gets that opportunity in various celebrations such as the inductions of former jockeys Tim Doocy and Ken Shino into the Nebraska Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year. (Lively was inducted in 1979.)

A few win pictures decorate their home, most notably his scores on Bold Ego in the 1981 Arkansas Derby, Lets Dont Fight in the 1981 Arlington-Washington Futurity and Billy Jane in the 1980 Apple Blossom Handicap. Other winner’s circle photos are kept out of sight but within easy reach to bring back memories of the workaday Thoroughbreds and people that blended to make traveling racetrackers a community. He especially notes the fraternity amongst the jockeys.

“Each and every one of us knows what we all went through to pursue this and be successful,” he said. “You know how tough it is for yourself, so it forms a bond knowing we all struggled to get there. And we spent so much time together. We were around each other in the mornings getting on horses and then in the jocks’ room all afternoon every day. Some of us were around each other more than we were our own families.”

Family played a key behind-the-scenes role in Lively’s success and life in general thanks to pickleball partner.

“Pat has kept me grounded and been a wonderful support even before I became a jockey,” he said. “It took me a long time to break in as a jockey. I rode in match races at (informal) ‘bush’ tracks but it was years before I got started at a pari-mutuel track. And she was wonderful about raising our kids more or less by herself while I was away riding and she would join me when the kids were out of school. Pat was very supportive the whole time — whatever I wanted to do, whatever ever I wanted to try, she was there.”

Hall of Famer Wise Dan and his trainer Charlie LoPresti always have been homebodies. Now they can enjoy more of that hominess together in Lexington, Ky., at Forest Lane Farm, which is owned and operated by LoPresti and his wife Amy.

During his stellar career, Wise Dan wintered at Forest Lane which has become his permanent residence. The 13-year-old Wiseman’s Ferry gelding closed his career in 2014 with a $7.6-million bankroll and 23-2-0 record in 31 starts. His 11 Grade 1 victories include the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2012 and 2013, the same seasons he earned Eclipse Awards as Horse of the Year, champion older horse and champion grass horse for a total of six trophies. He was named to the Hall of Fame this year.

Admirers have not forgotten Wise Dan and routinely send cards, holiday greetings and treats. Although he has made guest appearances at Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Park, Wise Dan has not left the property since starring in a fundraiser at Old Friends Equine in nearby Georgetown last year. LoPresti is reluctant to take Wise Dan out of his familiar surroundings but welcomes visitors by appointment, including the gelding’s former jockeys and their families.

“He has people who want to see him and if we can accommodate them, we will,” LoPresti said. “John Velazquez has been out numerous times and Jose Lezcano came to see him when he was in town for the Breeders’ Cup. I even legged him up so he could sit on him in the stall.”

When not mingling with guests, Wise Dan does a whole lot of nothing in his natural yet pampered lifestyle. He spends most of his time in a spacious paddock with his G2-winning half brother Successful Dan, a 14-year-old Successful Appeal gelding who banked just shy of $1 million while winning eight of 15 starts. The sons of the winning Wolf Power mare Lisa Danielle were bred and raced by Morton Fink, who passed away in 2019 at age 89.

The siblings are brought into the barn each morning for breakfast and grooming. Then they “just hang out” in their stalls until being turned back out in mid-afternoon after an early dinner. This is their routine unless extreme weather such as an ice storm keeps them stabled.

“They like to be outside,” LoPresti said. “Cold weather doesn’t bother them. They grow a good winter coats. The more time horses are outside, the better off they are.”

LoPresti said he offered them blankets but they were intent on pulling them off each other.

Describing himself as semi-retired, LoPresti will be spending more time with “the Dans” this winter while he concentrates on breaking yearlings instead of commuting to Keeneland where he trained racehorses year-round for the past two decades.

“I enjoy the young horses and taking care of the farm,” he said. “And there is much less pressure.”

Looking back

Wise Dan was a fan favorite for countless reasons including his somewhat humble beginnings, longevity at the highest level, the loyalty between LoPresti and Fink and their horse of a lifetime, and Wise Dan’s remarkable comeback.

Fink owned and bred Thoroughbreds for more than half his life with considerable success before Wise Dan and his elder brother came to him through sentimentality and incredible good fortune. As Fink downsized his Thoroughbred holdings, he was unwilling to part with just one of his horses because she was named for his granddaughter. So he kept the somewhat ordinary mare and bred her to Kentucky stallions with moderate breeding fees.

The results have been astounding. In addition to Wise Dan and Successful Dan, Lisa Danielle has produced six runners that earned nearly $200,000 each at the track including stakes winner Our Royal Dancer and G2-placed Enchanting Lisa.

As a racer, Wise Dan was particularly popular at Keeneland, where he is the only horse to win seven stakes races. His status as a local hero was maximized because he was a year-round Lexington residence. Except for trips for stakes engagements, Wise Dan was housed at Keeneland or Forest Lane. When he took his show on the road, he made the locals proud with triumphs at Santa Anita in two Breeders’ Cups and at Woodbine in two renewals of the Woodbine Mile.

Of all his accomplishments and fond memories, the one LoPresti thinks of first when looking back on Wise Dan’s career was his score in Saratoga’s Bernard Baruch Handicap in the summer of 2014. Just three months earlier, Wise Dan underwent emergency colic surgery. His recovery is testament to his greatness.

“I had a lump in my throat because horses usually don’t come back to that level the way he did,” LoPresti said. “I was very fortunate. I was just a little trainer with 15 or 20 horses. I never thought that doing things the way I did — not traveling, not having multiple divisions, turning horses out for winter — that I would ever have a horse like Wise Dan. It was just amazing.”

A name change was a game change for Patricia J. Cooksey. Women were still a bit of a novelty when she launched her jockey career in 1979 so at the suggestion of an associate, she was listed by her initials in the track program to imply she was a man. The rebranding was brilliant and trainers increasingly requested P.J. for their entrants.

Cooksey delights in telling stories about trainers’ reactions to meeting her in the saddling paddock. One exclaimed, “Oh my god, you’re a girl!” to which she replied something to the effect of, “Yes, I have been all my life.”

Another felt awkward giving her a leg up.

When she closed her career in 2004, she had accumulated 2,137 triumphs primarily on the Kentucky-Ohio-West Virginia circuit and briefly ranked as the top female rider before being overtaken by Julie Krone who holds the title with 3,704 wins.

Those who know her best still call her P.J. or Patti. Professionally she is listed as Patricia “PJ” Cooksey in her role as the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s Assistant Director of the Kentucky Breeders’ Inventive Fund. She went to work for the organization three months after becoming restless in retirement. In her current role, she visits farms to ensure that resident broodmares are indeed living in Kentucky so their resulting foals can be registered for bonus state-bred money. She also is called upon to serve as a racing steward and Standardbred judge several times a year including a recent gig for Standardbred racing at county fairs.

“I have the best job in state government,” she said. “But I have never stopped missing race riding.”

Her most memorable moments include winning the 1983 Hollywood Prevue Stakes in Southern California on Kentucky-based So Vague in part because of the congratulatory hugs from idols Bill Shoemaker, Chris McCarron and other members of the extraordinary jockey colony. The following year So Vague became her only Kentucky Derby (G1) mount. In 1985 she became the first woman to ride in the Preakness Stakes (G1) when she piloted Tajawa. She notes that she has bragging rights that she “rode a Kentucky Derby winner” because she guided eventual Derby hero Monarchos in his career debut.

“The only reason I retired was because of the rod in my leg from my broken femur that was causing a lot of pain when I rode,” Cooksey said. “If I had known I could have gotten the rod removed, I might still be riding. I miss the camaraderie of my fellow riders. We were over-the-top competitive on the racetrack but family back at the jockeys’ quarters. We used to have softball teams in the summer and bowling teams during the winter. Everyone would get together after the races for cookouts and drink beer and have a lot of fun back in the early days.”

The native of Youngstown, Ohio occasionally returns to the saddle. She has participated in the team penning fundraiser at the Kentucky Horse Park in which three riders separate designated steers from a small herd and she takes an annual extended trail ride in the Ozark Mountains with girlfriends that include ex-jockeys. She stays connected to other past colleagues in her work with Horses and Hope, an initiative that seeks to increase breast cancer awareness among Kentucky’s horse industry.

In reinventing herself when her career concluded, Cooksey served as a racing commentator for Louisville television stations and ESPN on major race days with assignments that included reporting on horseback.

“It takes a lot of work and many hours to prepare for a show and although I thoroughly enjoyed working as a commentator, it just wasn’t something I had a real passion for,” she said.

Of all her endeavors and accomplishments, Cooksey is most appreciative of her daughter with former husband John Neal, a longtime track-employed outrider. Despite her heritage, Chelsea Neal found her stride far from the equine world. With a degree in international relations, Chelsea has taught English in Spain, has been instrumental in establishing child-care facilities in Africa and currently works for God’s Pantry.

“Chelsea was a very good rider and we did a lot of horse shows with her when she was younger, but I guess growing up as a racetrack kid she had enough of horses,” Cooksey said. “I am so proud of her servant’s heart to always be striving to help others.”

Although her child found fulfillment elsewhere, Cooksey notes there are vast opportunities for employment in the Thoroughbred industry.

“My advice would be to start working at a farm and learn on the ground, ‘in the trenches,’” she said. “There are many satisfying jobs available but it does take hard work, commitment and passion. It’s definitely not for lazy people.”

The eponymously-named First Pharoah has a distinction shared by no other Thoroughbred. As the first offspring of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, the colt made headlines soon after he was born on Jan. 3, 2017. Three years later, First Pharoah has displayed more of a likeness to his dam rather than favoring his sire, who quickly proved himself as a source of quality runners.

First Pharoah showed little promise in training, so late last year owner/breeder Oussama Aboughazale (of International Equities Holdings and Sumaya U.S. Stable) sent him to Brooke Schafer and Tay Wienold to redirect his talent. The Lexington-based business partners are experienced in schooling off-track Thoroughbreds in general and members of the First Pharoah clan in particular. The women were first introduced to the family when a friend recommended them for First Pharoah’s dam Kakadu. A well-beaten ninth as a 2-year-old in her only start, Kakadu retired to the broodmare ranks but she experienced reproductive problems and never produced another foal. With Schafer handling the ground work and flat work and Wienold doing the jumping, Kakadu made a seamless transition to show horse. Now seven, Kakadu’s specialty is eventing, combining refined movements of dressage with jumping in open fields and arenas.

Aboughazale was so impressed with the refashioned Kakadu that he channeled First Pharoah and Kakadu’s half-brother Lock Keeper (by Quality Road) to them. Schafer and Wienold transformed Lock Keeper’s laid-back personality and athleticism into a willing pleasure mount and sold him to an amateur rider who enjoys dressage with him. As a racehorse, he was unplaced in two starts as a 3-year-old in 2019.

First Pharoah’s evolution has been slower than his relatives because of his physique. He is built like his dam with a stout body reminiscent of larger breeds so he was given plenty of downtime to develop into his frame.

���We ride him lightly just to keep him reminded about his job and to slowly mold him into the sport horse we know he is capable of becoming,” Schafer said. “Tay rode him first and he rode beautifully. She said he is one of the most comfortable horses she has ever sat on. She looked at me grinning during the first ride and said ‘I could sit this trot all day.’ “

During this growing phase, First Pharoah mostly has been doing a whole lot of nothing while socializing with pasture mates and human friends.

“He is like a playful teenager who enjoys challenging his buddies to a game of tag when he’s feeling frisky,” Schafer said. “He loves his horse companions dearly and gets very attached to every horse we put with him. He lives outside 24/7 in a field with a large run-in shed but loves to come in on hot days and take a nap in his stall. He gets checked daily and gets lots of treats from the neighbors.”

Schafer and Wienold balance their sport horse business and recreational riding with full-time jobs. Schafer is a speech pathologist in a Central Kentucky public school system and supplements her income by selling her customized painted drinking glasses and other equine-centric artwork. Wienold is an accountant who moonlights with a monogramming service. In their OTTB endeavors, they have established a reputation for transforming their projects into reliable mounts for other activities and placing them with suitable owners. Both strive for the perfect match and offer advice for those obtaining an OTTB with fundamental retraining.

“Take your time and start with the basics,” Schafer said. “Most Thoroughbreds are started in professional programs and know how to tie, lunge, get bathed, stand to be mounted, etc. But just because they do, don’t assume they know how to do that in a new environment. Take the time to get to know the horse before you give them too many new pieces of information.

“Horses love routine and the more you can work with them on a daily basis, the better. I like to learn about my horses by working with them on the ground before we ride them. I like to know their personalities and what they are comfortable with. By knowing this, I feel like it gives Tay and I a better expectation of what we may encounter under saddle.”

As the first foal of Hall of Famer Zenyatta, who became a megastar for her charisma and near perfect record, Cozmic One made headlines even before he was born.

Years later, the son of Bernardini still gains plenty of attention but not for his racetrack or stallion success. Better known these days as “Coz,” he is a versatile show horse with a steady stream of admirers and social media followers via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Now eight years old, he has appeared in several venues to promote the amazing abilities of off-track Thoroughbreds. A participant in the 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover event, he recently returned to action after an extended vacation.

“He had a strained muscle in his glute so we gave him the year to heal and just relax and I think that did wonders for him,” said Isabela de Sousa who shares riding with her father Sergio de Sousa, managing partner of Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Kentucky. “It allowed his mind and body to mature.”

Isabela said Cozmic One is polishing his natural jumping skills that are suited for a variety of specialized competitions.

“We are really taking our time with building the right muscles and putting proper flat work on him so that he can use himself to his very best ability,” she said. “When we jump at home, we work on his form and his rideability. The jumping part comes easy for him, but it is important that we work on putting all the pieces together before we move him up.”

Tentative plans call for Cozmic One to participate next year in shows limited to Thoroughbreds if he continues his enthusiasm.

“Our goals are for him to enjoy what he does.” Isabela said. “He is in ‘retirement’ so this should be fun for him. We never want to take away his joy from his new career. I will be a freshman at Florida Atlantic University in the fall, so my dad will be taking the reins back over and hopefully next year they will be doing some Take 2 Thoroughbred League Classes.”

Cozmic One’s athletic ability was repurposed soon after it became clear that he would not be following in his family’s illustrious hoof steps. A homebred for Jerry and Ann Moss, who also campaigned Zenyatta, Cozmic One was winless in five starts at ages three and five. The closest he came to victory was a fourth-place effort when he was beaten three quarters of a length at Del MarJuly 23, 2017. Like Zenyatta, Cozmic One was trained by John Shirreffs, whose wife Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs is the Mosses’ longtime racing and bloodstock adviser.

Sergio de Sousa knows Ignordo-Shirreffs’ son David Ingordo, who purchased Zenyatta for $60,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. De Sousa expressed his interest in Cozmic One as a prospect for the Thoroughbred Makeover while he was still testing his racing skills. About a year later, the idea became a reality. Not only did Cozmic One find his best stride in jumping, he served as an ambassador of his breed by flaunting his endearing personality at the Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

“Coz still has a huge fan base,” Isabela said. “It’s super fun to take them through his journey from racehorse to show horse. He still gets lots of attention and fan mail. We didn’t have any pressure to keep the fans posted about him, but it’s something we wanted to do. He still gets visitors and lots of treats. People who know him at shows will get their photos taken with him. We let little kids sit on him. He truly loves the spotlight.”

That love of the spotlight is inherited from Zenyatta, who galloped and pranced her way to celebrity status as her undefeated winning streak grew. She charmed pre-race onlookers with her “dance” of strutting her front legs. After capturing her first two starts late in her 3-year-old season at Hollywood Park in 2007, the daughter of Street Cry (IRE) went on to win 17 graded stakes including the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) and 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) at Santa Anita. Her sensational streak ended in her final start when she was edged by Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. A month later she left her Southern California barn for her new life at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky.

Her broodmare status is well chronicled at www.zenyatta.com, where archived blog posts detail her 2011 initial breeding and 60-day pregnancy confirmation from a subsequent mating that resulted in Cozmic One. The blog has inspired Thoroughbred industry and mainstream media to report on Zenyatta and her foals.

Her second offspring is a 2013 Tapit colt named Ziconic, who followed Cozmic One in being a non-winner on track but a talent in the show ring and a social media darling. Her 2014 War Front filly died as a weanling after suffering a pasture accident. Zenyatta was not bred for the 2015 foaling season and her 2016 War Front colt died a few days after birth from a lung condition. Her 3-year-old daughter Zellda, by Medaglia d’Oro, is training steadily in Southern California for her career debut. Zenyatta has no progeny from 2018 and 2019 so the youngest member of the clan is a Candy Ride (ARG) filly born May 17.

As the eldest, Cozmic One received massive attention that carries through his second career as a shining example on an off-track Thoroughbred. Isabela said patience is key to refashioning racehorses.

“Not everything is going to happen in the first weeks, months, or maybe even years,” she said. “Two years later, Cozmic One is mentally and physically where we want him to be. You have to be able to recognize they have potential and help them mold into the horse you know they can be. Enjoy them and don’t rush them.”

Thirteen years after the final mount of his Hall of Fame career, life moves at a steady, if different pace for Jose Santos. In his prime, Santos was busy, winning 4,083 races including the 2003 Grade 1Kentucky Derby and G1 Preakness Stakes on Funny Cide and 2002 G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Volponi. Additional career highlights include the 1988 Eclipse Award and 1999 George Woolf Memorial Award that honors jockeys whose “personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.”

The rewards came with sacrifices including time away from his older children as they grew up. But he now has plenty of time to spend with his wife Grace and their only child, 6-year-old Manuel. Their family interaction includes evening walks and playing video games.

“It is a lot of work and a lot of fun to raise a little kid,” Santos said. “I spend a lot of time with him.”

Santos balances family hours with his Monday-through-Friday job for a South Florida feed company that he once owned. The business supplies products to Palm Meadows and Palm Beach Downs training centers and to Gulfstream Park.

“What I do is mingle with people and take orders (for delivery),” he said.  “I get to see a lot of my old friends. That is my favorite part. I have a lot of friends who are jockeys, exercise riders, grooms and hotwalkers. I talk to everybody. We talk about the horses, what happened the day before at the races, stuff like that. I try to watch some horses during training.”

Santos also dabbles in buying and selling Thoroughbreds and has been instrumental in importing purchases from his native Chile.

He has adjusted to a lifestyle that includes going to the races on big event days but he admits his forced retirement was once a struggle. Known for his easy-going personality and competitive nature, Santos expected to compete at least until age 50, but the plan fell apart on Feb. 1, 2007 when he suffered multiple spinal fractures in a three-horse spill at Aqueduct. He officially announced his retirement at age 46 on July 30 of that year, a week before his induction into the Hall of Fame.

“I don’t miss riding anymore but the first year was tough,” he said. “Now I am good; I have accepted it.”

Santos said he mostly misses the camaraderie of the jockeys’ quarters.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “We had competition with each other but we were like family.”

In addition to keeping in touch with those former colleagues and other jockeys, Santos has a strong connection to racing through his son Jose Jr. who is agent for Kentucky-based Declan Cannon and Miguel Mena. The younger Jose intended to follow in his father’s footsteps but his size quickly stopped that idea. While attending Bellarmine University in Louisville, he gravitated back to the track.

“In a way he got lucky because he grew up too much,” the elder Santos said. “He is a very good agent. He has a very good mind and a good head on his shoulders. He is very smart and very good with people. My friends always tell me what a nice guy he is. That makes me very proud.”

As a father to a total of three sons and three daughters, Santos set an example that diligence and appreciation of others leads to success.

“Work hard and be respectful,” he said. “That will bring you to a different level and take you a long way in the end.”

Mary Eppler has started horses in more than 6,000 races but none are quite as memorable as what should have been an ordinary race on an ordinary day at Pimlico Race Course on April 13, 2013. Video best tells the extraordinary story of Spicer Cub veering out in the stretch and sprinting through a narrow gap between the parked starting gate and outside rail with Xavier Perez still aboard. Despite losing his stirrups, Perez managed to keep riding and keep Spicer Cub in the race, but the pair was nosed out for the victory in the maiden claiming event at 1 1/16 miles.

“I really thought he would go over the rail,” said Eppler, who watched from the grandstand. “I had a great view and I might have been as white as Xavier when he came back. I didn’t expect it at all. He had done some spooky things in the mornings but nothing like that. Just darting over a couple of paths.”

Owner David Butts was observing in a different grandstand section.

“My brain said ‘is he going to jump it, hit it or turn?’” he said of the gelding bred by his wife Deborah and raised at their Libertytown, Md., farm. “I am not one of those people that panics. I had ridden the horse and I knew all about him.”

Six weeks after his most notable performance, Spicer Cub was back in action. To avoid a repeat incident in his return, subtle and clever precautions were taken at Pimlico. His race at the same 1 1/16 miles distance was carded early to eliminate long late-day shadows and the gate was motored to the turn beyond the finish line. Spicer Cub finished a nondescript second and then won his next two starts at Delaware Park that summer. He went on to compete 11 more times without incident including his second in the 2013 Maryland Million Starter Handicap.

His connections had many theories about the cause of his bizarre bolt such as the gate’s shadow, glare from puddles inside the rail or innate fear of being alone on the lead.

“When he is in company, he is great. When he is by himself, he is not so great,” said Butts, who gave him his early lessons under saddle. “When he sees something, he will stop, he will spin, he will move 50 yards away.”

Butts still knows all about Spicer Cub even though he closed his 22-race career in 2015. He earned $96,504 with two wins and six seconds. Butts got in touch with Katherine Rizzo, who foxhunts and events horses in Maryland, to see if she would take on the quirky horse.

Butts, an equine dentist by trade, uses many of his former racers for his hobby of eventing that requires the athleticism of jumping and refined movements of dressage. He reasoned that Spicer Cub’s separation anxiety would not be suited for the solo portion of cross-country jumping but that he would be comfortable surrounded by equine buddies in hunt fields. He took Spicer Cub to a hunter pace, a low-key team competition that mimics foxhunting where he handed the reins to Rizzo.

“Sometimes in a group they will turn into racehorse mode but he just followed,” she said. “He jumped everything on the first try. While riding I kept telling Dave ‘this is a cool horse.’ Afterwards he told me to look him up on YouTube.”

Rizzo recognized Spicer Cub’s versatility and willingness, forgiving his distaste for being away from other horses. She said in his initial dressage lessons of traveling in circles, he tried easing out of the pattern but soon accepted the routine. His big test came in the cross-country phase. Spicer Cub trotted out and went over the first fence but was reluctant to continue moving away from the group in the warm-up area.

“He was hesitant but he kept going,” she said. “He trusted me to go by himself for the first time. He jumped clean and we finished second.”

After that first exposure, Spicer Cub gained further confidence with Rizzo while foxhunting through the winter. In the spring, Spicer Cub returned to hunter paces and eventing for Rizzo, who divides her time as editor of the Maryland-based equine publication Equiery with retraining off-track Thoroughbreds and giving advanced lessons to young equestriennes. Like others familiar with him, she describes him as “cute,” an asset which he has always had. His adorable nature actually inspired Butts to name him for his father-in-law’s childhood Little League team.

“He grew into a well-rounded horse who does whatever we ask him to do,” she said. “He is still not the best to trail ride alone but he is better if my dog goes ahead of him.”

Twenty years ago this month, Xtra Heat was an unassuming prospect at Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic 2-year-olds-in-training sale in Timonium, Maryland. These days she lives a life of leisure at Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Fla. In between, she crafted a career that earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 2015. She continues to serve as proof that great horses often emerge from unlikely sources.

Woodford Thoroughbreds owner John Sykes said Xtra Heat will remain at his facility for the rest of her life after spending most of her broodmare career at the farm’s Kentucky division. She moved to the Sunshine State to produce her final foal, a 2019 Outwork colt scheduled to sell at a yearling sale. After weaning, Xtra Heat was paired with fellow pensioner Bless, a full sister to Kentucky Derby (Grade 1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus.

“The two ladies live a life of leisure now,” Sykes said. “Xtra Heat knows her place in the world and is always first at feed time. The mares spend most of their time grazing, but are brought to the barn for routine vet and farrier care. Xtra Heat is confident in her bearing but easy to be around. The little brown mare with a great big heart inspires our team to look for potential in every horse.”

John Salzman Sr. saw that potential in the daughter of Dixieland Heat as he was watching the prospects in their final lead-ups to the auction stage at that Midlantic sale. Unaware of her less-than-satisfactory veterinary report, he had the final bid at $5,000.

“She was small but she was powerfully built for speed,” he said. “She was good looking with a big rear end. She had long hair and had worked slow so nobody paid much attention to her.”

No one paid attention either when Salzman unveiled her in a maiden claiming race on June 30, 2000.

“Six weeks before, no one bought her for $5,000 so why would anybody claim her for $25,000?” he correctly reasoned.

Xtra Heat won by a neck that afternoon at Laurel Park. She subsequently raced exclusively in stakes races and closed her 35-race career in 2003 with 26 victories including the Prioress Stakes (Grade 1) and a $2.4 million bankroll. Her three Breeders’ Cup starts were highlighted by her narrow defeat in the 2001 Sprint that was part of her Eclipse Award-winning season.

Salzman vividly recalls Xtra Heat’s mild-mannered professionalism.

“She was laidback and nothing bothered her,” he said. “When I shipped her to New York [for a race], she would hang her head out of the stall like she was sick. Her head was so low over the [stall guard] that she looked like she might choke herself. But when you put the bridle on her and took her to the paddock, she was a different horse. She was ready to go.”

He need only look down his shedrow to see a reminder in the similarities of Wicked Son, her 3-year-old Wicked Strong gelding.

“He’s got a lot of speed and he is real sensible,” Salzman said. “He is about the same size as her, maybe just a little taller. We were fortunate to get him. (Connections of Xtra Heat) told me he was in the sale and that I could get him for a reasonable price.”

His son, John Jr., went to the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall yearling sale and purchased Wicked Son for $6,000. Campaigning for Salzman Sr. and Kenny Taylor, a partner in Xtra Heat, Wicked Son was victorious against $25,000 claimers in his second career in November and is gearing up for a return. He is one of seven winners produced by Xtra Heat. Her most accomplished runner is her first foal, Southwestern Heat (by Gone West), who is a stakes winner and graded stakes placed. Others include stakes winner Elusive Heat and stakes-placed X Rated Cat (by Storm Cat).

Out of the stakes-placed Hatchet Man mare Begin, Xtra Heat was bred in Kentucky by the McLean family of Crestwood Farm, Peter Feringa Jr. and Scott Rion. She was sold for $9,100 as a weanling at Keeneland’s November sale and for $4,700 as a yearling at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s October auction before coming to Salzman’s attention in Maryland. In her final appearance in the sales ring, she was listed as unsold on a final bid of $1.7-million at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall sale.

Many Thoroughbreds are remembered more for their dramatic defeats than for their exceptional achievements. Arguably the most well-known is Thunder Snow (IRE) who bucked his way to notoriety shortly after the start of the 2017 Kentucky Derby (Grade 1).

Unlike Thunder Snow who incredibly remained paired with his jockey and came to a halt, Bodexpress launched his pilot when the gates opened in the 2019 Preakness Stakes (G1) and ran with the field throughout the race. Those escapades transformed Bodexpress into an internet sensation.

In less spectacular style, Scrappy T became known as the rival who swerved in front of Afleet Alex and caused him to go to his knees on the final turn of 2005 Preakness. Afleet Alex miraculously went on to win, Scrappy T was the runner-up, and from there they went their separate ways. Afleet Alex closed his career three weeks later with a victory in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and these days he continues his productive stallion career at Gainesway Farm in Lexington.

After the Preakness, Scrappy T finished second in the Indiana Derby (G2) and Discovery Handicap (G3) before closing his sophomore season that was highlighted by his Withers Stakes (G3) score three weeks before the Preakness. On the sidelines for more than two years, Scrappy T was unplaced in four starts as a 6-year-old. Bred in Kentucky by Upson Downs Farm, the son of Fit to Fight was trained throughout his 17 starts by W. Robert Bailes. Scrappy T had a 3-7-2 record and banked $645,919 for Marshall Dowell, who purchased him as two-year-old for $35,000 at the 2004 Ocala Breeders Sales April auction.

A footnote in Triple Crown history, Scrappy T was reschooled as a pleasure mount and then ridden sparingly. The sturdy dark bay gelding still had plenty of usefulness left when then-college student Jamee Albright was casually seeking an off-track Thoroughbred about four years ago. She was told of one that “needed a job” and agreed to take him.

An accomplished all-around horsewoman, Albright was well versed in Thoroughbreds but less familiar with racing history. After Scrappy T was shipped to Jamee and her twin sister Alexis, she saw his name on the paperwork and looked up his background.

“I had no idea he was famous,” she said.

Somehow Scrappy T knows that he is no ordinary equine and with kindly confidence he sends that message to his pasture mates. He is fond of humans especially those with goodies.

“He knows he is the old man and he bosses the other horses in his pasture,” Jamee said. “Around people, he begs for treats. He is very quiet and he loves people.”

Scrappy T’s class shone when he was asked to perform under saddle.

“Alexis rode him for the first time,” Jamee said. “He is very powerful but does not act like a racehorse. He is very laidback. You would never know he raced. He has very good movement—a nice stride that is very consistent. He is very balanced. There were no issues at all when we first started riding him.”

Scrappy T arrived mostly blind in his left eye which eventually caused pain and head shaking. After the eye was removed, a relieved Scrappy T returned to normal. He participates in hunter/jumper shows and is docile enough to be ridden in street parades. He resides in Suffolk, Va., on a 150-acre boarding barn for all breeds that is owned by the Albrights’ grandparents.

They grew up in that equine-centric environment of mostly American Quarter Horses, Arabians and Warmbloods before a barn was leased to longtime Thoroughbred aftercare specialist Lisa Molloy. The Albrights fine-tuned their horsemanship with the steady stream of ex-racers that passed through the program.

After graduating two years ago with a psychology degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, Jamee turned to horses full time, including preparing young Thoroughbreds for racing. She offers words of wisdom for those considering off-track Thoroughbreds.

“Thoroughbreds take time and patience because they all have different personalities and different needs,” she said. “Before taking one in, think of the responsibilities, your farm set-up and what you want to do. In some ways, they require more maintenance that other horses but in the end you will get more from them.”

On March 27, 1996, Cigar added to his growing credentials by winning the inaugural Dubai World Cup at Nad al Sheba Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates. The victory was the 14th in his famous 16-race win streak, and part of a career that included two Horse of the Year titles and a 2002 induction into the Hall of Fame. After proving sterile as a stallion, the fan favorite was a popular attraction at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington for his remaining years until his passing in 2014. The story of his life and those around him is eloquently detailed in Jay Hovdey’s Cigar: America’s Horse, which includes more than a mention of Alex Hassinger, who was instrumental in the initial portion of his career.

Although perhaps best known as the legendary Cigar’s original conditioner, Hassinger enjoyed a relatively brief but overwhelmingly productive career, the likes of which others only dream about.

Hassinger has vivid memories of getting to know Cigar when he arrived at Allen Paulson’s Brookside Farm in California as a newly minted 2-year-old. Hassinger’s role was preparing young horses and readying sidelined older runners for Paulson’s racetrack trainers. He ran horses under his name and also prepared horses to go to trainers such as Bill Mott, Ron McAnnally, and Bill Shoemaker.

Cigar caught Hassinger’s attention early on in part for sentimental reasons. While working his initial racetrack job as a groom for Charlie Whittingham, Hassinger took care of his sire Palace Music.

“Cigar was the kind of horse that did everything you asked,” Hassinger said. “He was friendly and easy to be around. He was a horse with a personality who was looking to talk to somebody. He had a beautiful shoulder, head and neck and beautiful eyes. One of the grooms gave him root beer every morning. I was always impressed with how he walked and how he looked. He swaggered; he had a great look.”

He won at second asking on May 9, 1993 at Hollywood Park on the dirt for Hassinger, who keeps the win picture in his home office in New Braunfels, Texas. Because of his turf-style pedigree and minor soundness problems, Cigar made his next seven starts on grass, where he chalked up another win that season.

“I am known as ‘the guy who ran Cigar on the turf’ but there was a method to the madness,” Hassinger said.

Cigar went to the sidelines after finishing 11th in the 1993 Hollywood Derby (Grade 1) in his final start for Hassinger. Considered a top prospect for the East Coast, he joined other Paulson-owned horses with Mott for whom he went winless in his first four turf starts. He returned to dirt on October 28, 1994 at Aqueduct with the first of his 16 consecutive victories.

Hassinger continued his association with Paulson—for whom he had won the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Eliza—even after relocating to Kentucky to accept additional clients. They parted ways when he accepted a private position with The Thoroughbred Corp., which led him to victory in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) with Anees. After Anees finished unplaced in the 2000 Kentucky Derby (G1), Hassinger worked as an assistant to Laura DeSourex when she had Azeri for the Paulson family. He then was a key member of Godolphin Racing under Eoin Harty and began selling LubriSyn part time. As sales increased, he turned his full attention to the business around 2005 and is now Vice President of Business Development for the company.

Gateway was Gaines

Hassinger grew up in New Jersey, where he excelled on the show jumping circuit and competed all the way through high school. His gateway to the Thoroughbred world was his uncle, the visionary John R. Gaines, who is renowned as founder of the Breeders’ Cup and for his Gainesway breeding operation in Lexington. Hassinger started working for Gainesway on the farm and at the auctions as a teenager and worked in the stallion division for two years after graduating from Lexington’s Transylvania University. From there he launched his racetrack career at Whittingham’s barn.

These days, Hassinger spends much of the year promoting LubriSyn at trade shows, tracks on major racing days and competitions including the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas. He married his wife Anne, a fellow racing enthusiast in 2001, and the couple often hit the road together.

“Being around the horses is the biggest thing I miss about the track,” he said. “I loved being in the barn all day, especially the quiet times when nothing was going on. I liked watching the horses—seeing how they ate, how they rested.”

Hassinger treasures his star-studded track memories, trophies and pictures but has no regrets with changing careers.

“I won two Breeders’ Cup races, ran horses in all three Triple Crown races and traveled the world with The Thoroughbred Corp. and Godolphin Racing,” he said. “I kind of did it all. If I hadn’t done all that, maybe I would still be chasing that dream at the racetrack.”

In their careers as jockeys, Vicki Warhol-Essman and her husband David Essman won more than 1,500 races each – sometimes competing against each other. They have not been in jockey silks lately, but they still spend plenty of time riding at Turf Paradise and in different tack during their summer gigs as mule-mounted trail guides on the Grand Canyon’s north rim. Their assignments include navigating the mules on search-and-rescue missions.

“It is fun.” Vicki said of the seasonal job they began in 2017 and plan to resume when the Turf Paradise season concludes May 3. “First time I have ever been away from the racetrack in my life. It is a nice break and I don’t miss riding races so much.”

Vicki’s father Ted was an all-around horseman who performed at rodeos and circuses and spent plenty of time at the track with her mother, Rhoda and brother Jay, who both were trainers. She started her jockey career at the unsanctioned tracks of her native Minnesota and Canada before getting her first official ride in 1979. Her early success at Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba transitioned seamlessly to Canterbury Park’s inaugural season in 1985. She consistently ranked among the leading jockeys at Canterbury and then Prairie Meadows when Iowa began pari-mutuel wagering in 1989.

She has not ridden a race since 2017 but is still on horseback for much of any given day. She multi-tasks by galloping racehorses in the mornings and serving as either an outrider or pony rider in the afternoons at Turf Paradise. Her hobby is barrel racing.

David, who hung up his racing tack in 2015, is now an exercise rider and earns extra income on the track maintenance crew. Both were mainstays at Canterbury Park and Prairie Meadows and Nebraska’s Fonner Park.

Two of Vicki’s most memorable runners were fan favorites Hoist Her Flag and Hot Rocket. North Dakota-bred Hoist Her Flag was a crowd pleaser in Canterbury Park’s early years in part because of her nearly white color and for the victories she won when Rhoda Warhol was her trainer. Texas-bred Hot Rocket was a bottom-level claimer who was endearing for the durability that carried him to 70 top three finishes in 136 starts.

Throughout her career, Vicki was known for extreme determination exemplified by the birth of her daughter Teddi Jean in 1991. Only her parents and David knew of the pregnancy as Vicki set her sights on the leading jockey title at Prairie Meadows. Her planned maternity leave came a week early when she suffered a broken leg in spill. After delivering her daughter via Cesarean, doctors told Vicki to avoid activities such as vacuuming.

“But I didn’t want to vacuum,” she said. “I wanted to ride races.”

Two weeks after Teddi’s arrival, Vicki was back in the winner’s circle. Growing up surrounded by horses, Teddi Jean considered following in her parents’ footsteps. Despite her natural talent in the saddle, she left the track life and lives in California with her husband and their 3-year-old daughter.

Vicki said that David claims he knew the first time he saw her at Canterbury Park that he would marry her.

She said the key to nearly three decades of togetherness as competitors on track and partners off track is simple.

“We like each other,” she said. “It might seem easy to walk away, but it is better to stick it out.”

Four decades removed from his sensational jockey career, Steve Cauthen lives the life of a typical Thoroughbred insider in his hometown of Verona in Northern Kentucky.

Best known for capturing the 1978 Triple Crown aboard Affirmed, Cauthen had established himself as a potential superstar in his first full year as a jockey in 1977. He was honored for that season with three Eclipse Awards—outstanding apprentice and journeyman and Eclipse Award of Merit.

Other accomplishments in his 15-year career include Racing Hall of Fame induction, being featured on covers of Sports Illustrated (which proclaimed him 1977 Sportsman of the Year) and Time magazine, being champion jockey in Europe, where he spent the second part of his career so he could participate at a higher weight, and being voted 1984 George Woolf Memorial Award winner by his fellow riders. His rise to celebrity status is eloquently chronicled in Pete Axthelm’s 1978 book The Kid.

After retiring from the saddle in 1992, Cauthen returned to Verona to operate his Dreamfields Thoroughbred breeding facility and hold a position as a vice president of Turfway Park that he left around 2007. These days Cauthen blends seamlessly at the races and auctions and during mornings at the track.

“I go to watch my horses train as often as I can,” he said. “More than watching them train, I like to go to the barn to see how they look and how they act.”

Cauthen had five 2-year-old fillies in partnerships in 2019 including Churchill Downs fall meet winners Palace Avenger (with trainer Wesley Ward), Miss Imperfection (Kellyn Gorder) and Queen of Verona (John Ortiz).

He balances his own stable holdings with an array of duties including serving as racing manager for Lexington-based Dixiana Farm, buying young horses to resell, and being truly hands-on with those and other Thoroughbreds at Dreamfields. The property has 100 acres designed for horses, 40 stalls and another 200 acres of farmland.

A life filled with horses

Cauthen rises well before dawn and starts the day by drinking coffee and bringing coffee to Amy, his wife of 27 years. The couple’s three grown daughters are pursuing their mother’s passion for dance and fashion despite their early interest in riding.

After feeding the dogs and catching up on some news, Cauthen walks to the barn by 7:00 a.m. With eight to 12 horses on site at any given time, Cauthen has one employee for all-around chores. Cauthen enjoys grooming the horses and trims their hooves as needed, a skill learned from his late father Tex, a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame. He also learned from his mother Myra, a trainer on the Kentucky/Ohio circuit where Cauthen launched his career. His younger brothers Doug and Kerry both gained that parental inspiration and are Central Kentucky-based bloodstock agents.

Cauthen commutes to Lexington several times a week for various activities such as purchasing horse-related supplies, meeting with the Dixiana Farm team and visiting his Keeneland-based runners.

With his schedule, it’s difficult for Cauthen to find time for riding, so he mixed a little business with pleasure this past spring. When Miss Imperfection was receiving her early lessons at a facility a few miles from home, Cauthen got back in the tack.

“I have always enjoyed teaching young horses,” he said. “Before that I probably had not ridden in eight years.”

After dabbling in ownership through the years, Cauthen said he is having fun with his active racehorse string.

“I feel totally blessed that I got into horses,” he said. “When I started as a jockey, I was hoping I would be good enough to be leading rider at River Downs (now Belterra Park.) In just two months I was. Being a jockey took me around the world and allowed me to meet amazing people. I am still involved and I still love it. Racing has given me a great life and it brought me back home.”

In 2005, jockey Otto Thorwarth had become disenchanted with race riding, particularly the battle against his weight. He returned to his hometown of Hot Springs, Ark., but struggled to close out his jockey career because he believed he eventually would pair with a champion mount. Then, he says he received a directive from above.

“I had gotten serious about my walk with God,” Thorwarth said. “I was praying one day and asking for direction. I felt like He wanted me to go back to the track. That made zero sense to me because I had gotten so sour. I fought it for six months but went back to the races in Indiana.”

Thorwarth soon began winning at a steady clip and was still seeking that elusive champion when Thoroughbred industry publicist John Engelhardt encouraged him to try out for a part in the 2010 Disney movie “Secretariat.”  Thorwarth was reluctant, but his wife Brandi convinced him to go. Driving to the Lexington audition, he told a friend via phone where he was headed.

“It clicked for him,” Thorwarth said. “He said, ‘Didn’t you get a prophecy about riding a champion?’ Then I realized—this is it. As soon as I got the role, I figured I was done being a jockey.”

Thorwarth played in scenes filmed at Keeneland and Churchill Downs and in Lafayette, La. He had enough speaking lines to earn Screen Actors Guild membership.

“One of the most challenging scenes was when I was supposed to ride ‘Secretariat’ through (machine-made) fog,” he said in a 2016 interview. “The cameraman was standing on the track and I couldn’t see him, so I took my boot and drew a line so I knew what path to ride through. I took the horse through the fog a few times slow and when it was time to shoot the scene, we started through and the horse stopped and I went flying through the fog on my own. But we finally got the shot.”

Satisfied he had fulfilled the prophecy, Thorwarth returned to the track as an exercise rider. After four years away from competitive riding, Thorwarth made a brief comeback in 2014 before closing that chapter as the winner of 1,378 races. He continued as an exercise rider until February when he turned his full attention to ministry.

Otto’s odyssey

Thorwarth’s size and location were the catalysts for his professions.

“Growing up I dreamed of becoming a professional athlete,” he said. “When I started high school, I started following the races and I found out there were pint-sized athletes there and I realized my dreams could come true. I had never ridden until I graduated high school. I worked at Oaklawn as a groom and hotwalker for Frank Brothers and he sent me to a farm in Texas to learn to ride. A few years later I came back to the track and galloped for another year.”

Thorwarth debuted on Oaklawn’s opening-day Jan. 24, 1992 with a victory aboard Color Me Softly for trainer Hoss Inman. He estimates there was a hometown crowd of 50 people in the winner’s circle.

Competing daily against such Oaklawn regulars as subsequent Hall of Famers Pat Day and Calvin Borel and 6,388-time winner Larry Snyder was particularly special to Thorwarth. One of his fondest memories was winning five races on March 28, 1993.

His triumphs and challenges would serve him well in his second calling, steeped in serving those who tend to the Thoroughbreds. He typically spends his morning strolling through the Indiana Grand barn area and watching horses train. Then he goes to his office until noon to field requests for assistance such as taking people to doctors’ appointments and handling their paperwork. He returns to give a daily devotion in the jockeys’ quarters and stays for the racing program to offer assistance if needed. Throughout the year, he is available for speaking engagements at conferences, churches and tracks.

Thorwarth resides in Indiana with Brandi (to whom he has been married 20 years), their two daughters and a foster son. With no racing at Indiana Grand until spring, he will spend time furthering his education at Lifestyle Christianity University near Fort Worth, Texas.

“I love the ministry and helping people grow,” he said. “What is neat is that I can do it at the track because I have worked on the different levels — hotwalker, groom, exercise rider and jockey. I know what people on the backside go through. I have lived in tack rooms and from paycheck to paycheck. It is easy for me to identify with people when they come to me with a problem. I understand where they are at because I have been there.”

Otto Thorwarth can be reached at goottomatic@yahoo.com

Former jockey Shane Sellers’ daily routine is far different than his previous lifestyle, yet he’s only 15 miles from Keeneland where he had some of his most successful moments on the track.

In a career that closed in 2013 after 30 years, counting a five-year premature retirement, Sellers won 4,393 races. His mounts, including Hall of Famer Skip Away, earned more than $130 million. Since his final race, Sellers has found his stride in farm life. He is content in his role as a key crew member at Safari North, the former Pauls Mill that was purchased in 2018 by his girlfriend, Susan Moulton. The picturesque facility has mares, foals, yearlings and racetrack lay-ups for a total of about 50 horses. The property also houses a few retired racers that Sellers and Moulton ride.

“It’s great that I can stay in the game,” he said. “I love the babies and the young horses. I like to see them mature and go on to their racing careers whether it is with us or someone else.”

Sellers’ transition from boots in the saddle to boots on the ground had some unusual detours.

While sidelined in 2001 by a knee injury, Sellers dabbled in country music and had a local following especially with his song “Matthew, Mark, Luke and Earnhardt” written before the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.

“I had a friend in Nashville who said, ‘Why don’t you demo some songs?’”, Sellers said. “I had nothing to do, so I did. We came up with that song and it went to No. 58 on the (country music) charts. We had nine other songs to go with it, so we produced an album. I had fun with it and we did some shows. I counted it as a good time.”

Sellers returned to what he did best — riding races as he had been doing since his preteen days at informal tracks in the Lafayette region of his native Louisiana. Again he was productive with a steady stream of winners. Late in 2004, Sellers announced his retirement. He returned to his Louisiana roots and purchased a farm with the intention of preparing young horses for the track.

Back in the saddle

His plan was more challenging than anticipated and Sellers felt drawn back to what he knew best. He headed to Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino in Opelousas where he had earned his first official triumph at the original Evangeline Downs in 1983.

“I was off for four years and I had an itch to try to ride again,” he said. “I started getting on horses and I lost 35 pounds. My great friend Mark Guidry — he’s like a brother to me and we rode a lot of years together — was training there. He told me he had a horse to put me on that would win. I was still a little heavy and not completely fit but I could not say no.”

Guidry, who rode more than 5,000 winners and is now a steward at Evangeline Downs, was correct. The horse Ide Ball made Sellers a winner in his 2009 comeback. After a four-year absence, Sellers was firmly back in business and soon back competing on his usual circuit of Fair Grounds in the winter and then Kentucky.

Sidelined by a shoulder injury in the summer of 2012 and nearing age 50, Sellers recognized his career was nearing an end. He became a partner in the operation of Parker View Farm near Lexington as it transformed from an American Saddlebred property to a Thoroughbred business. He stayed until he transferred to Safari North last year.

Sellers and Moulton, who met at a fundraiser, soon realized they had more than a passion for Thoroughbred racing in common.

Moulton had spent decades as an exercise rider and her father Naylor Morton campaigned his runners in Louisiana.

“We knew that I rode some of her dad’s horses,” Sellers said. “I looked through some win pictures and we found one with her family in the winner’s circle with me on the horse when I was just a kid. But we didn’t know each other. Things have come a long way for us.”

A self-described racetracker, Sellers is more than satisfied at the farm while cherishing memories of a much faster pace. Those thoughts returned on a recent November morning when he and a co-worker were at Keeneland to pick up recent sales purchases.

“There were still horses on the track,” he said. “It made me miss riding on the track and the camaraderie in the morning and getting on good horses. Keeneland was always nothing but the best and I miss that part of it. It was my lifestyle.”

Visiting Keeneland, where he won 412 races, also gives him the opportunity to reconnect with those he knew at the track.

“I appreciate the people who ask about me and still remember Shane Sellers,” he said. “There was a time in my life when I had a big following. I probably took it for granted. Now that I am out of the limelight, I remember those days and it is nice to know there are still people who wonder where I am.”

Despite retiring, longtime trainer Hal Wiggins could not stay away from the racetrack so he returned to the traveling lifestyle with sojourns all the way back to his roots.

In his 33 years as a trainer, Wiggins won nearly 900 races, highlighted by the 2009 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with Rachel Alexandra for Dolphus Morrison, his client for more than three decades. That triumph was a turning point for Wiggins and his wife of 53 years, Renee, when the filly was sold and transferred to another trainer for her Hall of Fame legacy.

“I never had a bunch of really good horses,” Wiggins said. “You work your whole career and you get one and then she gets sold but they couldn’t turn down the offer. That morning before daylight when she walked out of the barn was a feeling you never want to have. It gets to you.”

The moment was softened by the generous bonus the seller gave Wiggins that inspired him to close shop.

“It was time,” he said. “I was able to do it financially. Like most trainers, I thought I would train until they buried me. I loved it. There were tough times and there were good times. I Ioved being with the horses and the horse people.”

By the end of 2009, the couple retired and sent barn equipment and many of their owners to their son Lon, a trainer since 1997. While Hal Wiggins had focused on caring for the Thoroughbreds, Renee was an integral part of the operation as bookkeeper and social coordinator while enjoying the races with clients (more accurately described as friends) they met at their many stops. During his training career, Wiggins was a regular at tracks such as Fair Grounds, Louisiana Downs, Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park and Remington Park. His name has appeared on programs as far north as Minnesota’s Canterbury Park, at Florida’s Calder Race Course, as far east as Saratoga Race Course and out west at Albuquerque Downs. If there was a track in America’s eastern two-thirds, Hal Wiggins probably made a stop including closed venues like Birmingham Turf Club, Jefferson Downs and Trinity Meadows.

With memories of the racing stable in the rearview mirror, Wiggins and his wife opted to leave their Louisville home of 16 years and return to their native Texas to be near their other son and his children. Wiggins realized that Houston — in his words spoken like someone who has logged many miles — is “only 12 hours” from Ruidoso, N.M., where Wiggins became enchanted with racing. As a young teenager, he lived in a camper in the barn area with the leading trainer for whom he worked. He had not returned since those formative days so they made that 12-hour drive.

The initial visit back to Ruidoso evolved into long weekends with the couple renting a condo during the summers while spending time with friends. As the grandchildren got older, Wiggins and his wife returned to Louisville but his vagabond shoes were not happy standing still for long. When a call came asking him to fill the newly created position of Racing Integrity Officer at Oaklawn Park, he readily agreed and the couple was on the road again for the winter.

Wiggins is scheduled to be a steward at the upcoming Oaklawn meeting that begins January 24 after working previously as a steward at Fair Grounds and Kentucky Downs.

“Going to the barn, I never felt like I was going to work,” he said. “Renee and I always talk about the wonderful friends and wonderful people we met at all the tracks. You have to be about half gypsy to be a horse trainer because you travel so much. I keep working so I can stay connected to the horse business.”

Family has always come first with Kenny “Chopper” Bourque. During much of his race-riding career, he opted to stay close to his family rather than competing on out-of-state circuits. In his semi-retirement, he savors time with them at and near the home he and Mary, his wife of nearly 50 years, have between Louisville and Lexington.

“My six kids and nine grandkids live within a 30 mile radius so we get together often,” Bourque said. “A typical day for me is being entertained by grandchildren from early morning to late at night.”

During the Keeneland and Churchill Downs seasons, Bourque works as the assistant clerk of scales in the jockeys’ quarters, a role that keeps him close to his career in which he rode nearly 2,500 winners.

“I still enjoy the camaraderie of the jocks’ room,” he said. “It is the place where I grew up. But I never realized the responsibility of the clerk of scales.”

A clerk of scales is best known for overseeing the weighing of jockeys before and after each race. In between there are many tasks, including relaying information to other locations and ensuring that jockeys are punctual in getting to their mounts.

Like so many other outstanding jockeys, Bourque got his start as a youngster in informal races in south central Louisiana near Lafayette. He rode his first official winner in 1969 at the original Evangeline Downs in that region. He soon migrated to the East Coast where he capitalized on his apprenticeship status at Charles Town in West Virginia.

Bourque spent time on the East Coast and Chicago circuits but Louisiana kept calling him home. By the 1980s, he perennially was at or near the top of the Fair Grounds and Louisiana Downs leaderboards. He contemplated searching for even better options but realized he would rather have a home-cooked meal than eat out, preferred to play with his children instead of seeking off-time activities and wanted to wake up each day surrounded by his brood. Bourque did some moving with family to various race meets but mostly abandoned that schedule when the children became school age.

Some of his children have followed him into racing. Tiffany is a Kentucky racing official and Kenny Jr., known as “Cotton”, is a jockey’s agent.

With 2,467 wins and $20 million in purse earnings from 19,873 mounts, Bourque retired in 1999 to spend even more time with his clan. Before finding his niche in the jockeys’ quarters, he had a job driving vehicles onto railroad cars for transport.

“The racetrack has been good to my family and me,” he said. “I was very fortunate to retire with no serious injuries.”

He also had the good fortune to be a natural lightweight and still maintains a jockeys’ build. His younger brother Curt struggled with weight but still had an amazing career with 3,536 victories and a string a stakes triumphs before retiring in 2010. He and his wife Rachael own and operate 5B Farm on the outskirts of Lafayette.

Although not geographically located where the brothers were raised, Kenny Bourque will always carry many parts of the area with him including his Chopper nickname.

“In school there were two of us with buck teeth,” Bourque said. “One was Beaver and I was Chopper. People still call me that. It is burned into my skin.”

After reinventing himself many times, Bill Boland now lives as a typical retiree with golf always on his schedule.

Seven decades before his current incarnation, Boland won the 1950 Kentucky Derby aboard Middleground as a 16-year-old apprentice. That triumph and so many others earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Other segments of his life include being a noted trainer, working as a racing official, raising a family, and holding a part time job before focusing fully on a life of leisure.

When not on the links or driving range, Boland said he likely is working on the “honey do” list from Sandy, his wife of 68 years. His chores are minor home repairs and landscaping in their Florida house 25 miles south of St. Augustine. Dining out, entertaining with friends and church activities also are on the agenda.

At age 86, Boland is comfortable in his latest role that no longer includes employment at the golf course as a “cart boy” responsible for tending to the carts and assisting players to the first tee. He is mostly out of touch with Thoroughbred racing except for following the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup events. His most recent visit to the track was a trip to Churchill Downs for a celebration of Derby winners several years ago.

Thoughts of Boland’s 51 years at the track rarely enter his mind.

“When I quit riding, I never missed riding,” he said. “When I quit training, I didn’t miss training. When I decided to leave being a racing official in New York, I didn’t miss that. I don’t even think about it.”

Boland’s road to the races began in his native Texas, where his family lived near rodeo grounds. As a child he had his own horse to look after and also tended to the rodeo mounts.

“I would go there every morning to take care of the cowboys’ horses—feeding, grooming, whatever,” he said. “I wanted to be a rodeo bull rider. I rode calves, but I never did ride a bull.”

The family moved to Rivera, Texas, about 20 miles from the massive King Ranch famous for producing the finest cattle, American Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. His mother met the King Ranch veterinarian who frequented the restaurant at which she worked. She asked him about hiring her sons as riders. Both were hired but Boland’s brother became homesick after 10 days and left.

“At the beginning, we broke yearlings without using stirrups,” he said. “I was used to riding bareback so that was no problem. It was a learning experience to [later] ride with short stirrups but I caught on quick.”

When the stable shipped to New York in the spring, Boland went along. He was soon riding races and the victories became routine. He captured the Gallant Fox Handicap aboard Better Self and a week later rode Ari’s Mona to victory in the Kentucky Oaks. The next day he won the Kentucky Derby on Middleground.

Boland was presented with the 1959 George Woolf Memorial Award which “honors riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.” He closed his career with more than 2,000 victories after losing interest in being a jockey.

“I got sour on riding but I always wanted to train,” he said. “But I quit too quick. I should have waited a few more years to set myself up better.”

As a trainer, Boland had nearly a two-decade run highlighted by the gray Wise Philip whose 10 victories include the 1978 Gallant Fox Handicap. Based at Belmont Park, Boland left training in 1988 with 100 wins to his credit from a stable that never exceeded 15.

He then took a job for ten years as a New York Racing Association racing official handling various assignments including being a steward.

“That was my favorite part,” he said. “I knew riding and I watched races forever so I knew what was going on. It came easy to me. I was an alternate steward for about eight years.”

Boland said his favorite part of training was the mornings and the best part of competitive riding was the camaraderie.

“I liked the people I was around,” he said. “We were like enemies on the track but when the race was over, we were friends.”

When Phil Hauswald disbanded his small stable in 2006, he figured he would be back in business within a year with a barn of quality runners. His plan never materialized and instead he has found a comfortable niche as a Belmont Park-based shipping agent for Sallee Horse Vans.

From the late 1980s through the 1990s, Hauswald routinely won top shelf races for high profile owners. The roster included the 1987 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Epitome, 1986 Blue Grass Stakes with Bachelor Beau and 1987 Arkansas Derby with Demons Begone.

Hauswald regularly wintered at Oaklawn Park and also was well represented during his career on the Chicago and Kentucky circuits and the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions. He downsized when he relocated his operation to Belmont Park around 2000 in a move that enabled his wife Mary to continue her longtime career in the executive offices of the New York Racing Association.

“I went from about 50 horses to about 30,” Hauswald said. “Looking back, that might have been a mistake. Maybe I should have left a satellite division in Kentucky. At the time, I wanted only what I could keep under my thumb and have a personal watch over. But now, 20 years later, trainers with 200 horses or more in three or four locations are not a rarity.”

The victories kept coming but at a slower rate with fewer horses and for less money. By 2006, Hauswald’s string produced a single victory and he opted to regroup when the Saratoga season concluded.

“When I left the game I was down to eight or ten horses,” he said. “A few were the kind that gave you a chance to make a living. Half of them were struggling to be competitive at the New York level. It was tough to make a living with them.”

Hauswald grew up in New Albany, Ind., just across the river from Louisville. With family members who were trainers and his close proximity to Churchill Downs, Hauswald was attracted to Thoroughbred racing at a young age. After graduating high school, he detoured to construction. In less than two years in that business, he gravitated to the track. Around 1980, he went to work for Shug McGaughey. When McGaughey left the Midwest to be a private trainer for the Phipps family in 1985, some of McGaughey’s clients, including John A. Bell III and John Ed Anthony of Loblolly Stable, shifted to Hauswald.

By 1986 Hauswald was firmly in racing’s spotlight with runners like graded stakes winners Sumptious and Hail a Cab.

The following spring, Loblolly’s Demons Begone stamped himself a Kentucky Derby contender by capping his three-race winning streak of Oaklawn Park’s Derby preps with his Arkansas Derby victory. Two weeks later, he became Hauswald’s second Run for the Roses starter following Bachelor Beau’s 14th place finish the previous year. As the Derby favorite, Demons Begone bled and was pulled up.

As the year was drawing to a close, Bell’s Epitome earned her first career victory. Three starts later, she rallied from the back to win the Juvenile Fillies by a nose at 30-1. Hauswald’s trips to the winner’s circle in graded stakes continued after that with winners Banker’s Lady, Dual Elements, Barbarika, and Middlesex Drive.

Hauswald said those upper echelon triumphs are obviously among his favorite memories, but he especially enjoyed developing young horses into their full potential regardless of their talent.

“I miss dealing with the horses,” he said. “I get asked if I miss training and I really do but I see the struggles of others. Would I ever consider going back to training? It would have to be the kind of offer that would never happen.”

While focusing on recruiting new clients with reliable horses, Hauswald served as agent for Mike Smith. When Smith opted to return to Southern California in 2007, Hauswald was at a crossroads. So when Sallee Vans offered him a spot in their company, he accepted. Based primarily at Belmont Park, Hauswald spends much of the summer in Saratoga Springs and is posted in Lexington for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“They take good care of me,” he said. “The job allows me to be at the track and with the people I am familiar with. It gives me the feeling of being a part of racing.”

If success is measured by personal well-being and kindness to others, Fabio Arguello Jr. is a superstar. He also achieved the more traditional definition of success during his jockey career, in which his mounts won 1,251 races and banked more than $23 million from 1990 to 2018. He was a 1991 Eclipse Award finalist for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey and won the 1992 Kentucky Oaks aboard Luv Me Luv Me Not.

Although he has not ridden a race in more than a year, the 46-year-old admits he still has the urge but prefers to help others in business. Arguello serves as agent for apprentice Jairo Rodriguez on the Kentucky-Ohio-Indiana circuit and continues his profession as a financial adviser with clients that include several top jockeys. He extends his economic guidance to other Thoroughbred industry employees through the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs.

“When I was a young rider, I had bad experiences with people taking advantage of my financial situation because of a lack of speaking the language and not understanding how money works,” he said. “I am very fortunate that I made the time while still riding races to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from University of Phoenix in business administration and later obtain my licenses in the financial industry to provide financial security in my life.”

Arguello embraces the challenge of mentoring whether he is coaching Rodriguez into fulfilling his riding potential or directing a person’s investments.

“I am very competitive and no matter what I do, I try my hardest,” he said. “I like to help people out especially when they need it the most. All my respect to all the agents for the dedication and hard work they put into getting the best horses for their riders.”

From Colombia to Calder

Arguello’s route to personal, statistical and monetary gain began in his native Colombia. His father, an accomplished jockey, dreamed his son would follow in his footsteps. The elder Arguello, who divided his time between the United States and Colombia, moved his 14-year-old son to South Florida, where he held jobs in the barns of Calder Race Course and eventually became an exercise rider. The remainder of the family subsequently made the move to Florida.

At the 1990 Calder summer meeting, Arguello launched his jockey career and recorded three victories by the end of the year. When 1991 drew to a close, Arguello had added another 166 victories and was an Eclipse Award finalist as he gained recognition as a hard-working individual with a likable demeanor.

While honing his skills in the saddle, Arguello also concentrated on gaining command of English.

“It took me many years to really learn the language because I was shy,” he said. “But the hard work studying and dedication really paid off.”

As he seamlessly transitioned from remarkable newcomer to reliable journeyman, Arguello was hailed as a potential Hall of Famer. On track he was revered as a quick study with a natural sense of timing on horseback. Out of the saddle, his cheerful nature made him popular with colleagues. He continued accumulating victories and lucrative purses and had the novel opportunity to ride against his father in several races. The senior Arguello passed away in the spring of 1995.

“He was my mentor, my friend, my hero,” Arguello said. “I sure lost a big part of me. Mentally I was too young to deal with his absence. I was not prepared for anything like that especially at a young age.”

Arguello’s 24-year-old son Christian with partner Janet Arguello had ideas of being a jockey himself but that goal was unattainable because of his size. Instead he rerouted his energy into a criminal justice degree from the University of Louisville.

Arguello’s good times rolled through the end of 1994 when he suffered knee damage that became part of a series of injuries, returns, slumps and setbacks. Despite his best efforts, Arguello’s stats did not rebound to the highpoints of his prime.

The numbers changed but Arguello did not. Youthful and energetic, he mixes the meeting of new people with reminiscing among long time associates. He balances his agent’s role with his financial duties that include assisting non-profits with providing financial guidance for all ages.

With his distinguished riding career behind him, Arguello looks ahead to other satisfactions.

“I miss the connection between the jockey and the horse to become a strong, powerful team,” he said. “I miss riding on the turf and using my ability to use my head more than my strength and the adrenaline rush to make split decisions. It is in my blood, but I am truly focused on providing my clients with professional guidance that they deserve. I love to help people.”

One day in 1987 at Keeneland, Kaoru Tsuchiya was wondering why one of her peers had not arrived in the female jockey quarters. A short time later she realized why — Sandy Hawley was a man.

The two relish telling the story of their initial introduction, especially since all these decades later they are now husband and wife. They were married on March 10 in Lexington, Ky., surrounded by friends including Hall of Famers Pat Day (who officiated), Steve Cauthen and Chris McCarron.

Long after their race riding days concluded, the two are like any other retirees who share their daily lives with ordinary activities such as reading, gardening, dining out, entertaining at home, going to movies and simply watching history and nature shows on television. They continue to enjoy the residual effect of the celebrity status of their prime and they spend time giving back in many ways.

Sandy’s career can best be summed up in a single sentence — he is a racing Hall of Fame member in both the U.S. and his native Canada. Tsuchiya was well known on the Kentucky-Ohio circuit in part because she was the first Japan-born female jockey to ride in the United States. Statistically, while competing from 1986 to 1992, she won 263 races, a number that surprised her when reminded of it recently. Hawley’s 6,450 victories (1968 to 1998) put him 13th on the all-time North American leader list.

While relishing the memories of his time in the saddle, Sandy is never far from racetrack life, especially in his job as Woodbine Racetrack ambassador in Toronto.

“I visit with a lot of lunch and dinner groups at Woodbine, especially for fundraisers,” he said. “I greet them when they arrive and sometimes give a welcoming talk to the whole group. Then I mix and mingle.”

The Hawleys divide their time between Toronto and Lexington, where Kaoru operates her Diamond Masters business of buying and selling jewelry, gems and coins. They are active in Thoroughbred industry charity events, especially those directly connected to jockeys. During Kentucky Derby week in Louisville, their fundraising social calendar included Jocktails that raised money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. At Keeneland’s spring meeting, they were front and center for the same cause.

Mentors led the way

Sandy Hawley never set out to be a jockey but his small stature, athleticism, an uncle’s suggestion and good fortune steered him in that direction. An accomplished high school wrestler who dabbled in hockey and baseball, Hawley obtained a job at Windfields Farm in his hometown of Oshawa when he was 16. With only an occasional ride on his resume, Hawley recalls he was terrified to be aboard a horse. But trainer Duke Campbell — an eventual Canadian Hall of Fame inductee — recognized Hawley’s untapped talent. The teenager honed his skills initially in confined areas and then in the open fields. He furthered his horsemanship with a one-year job as a groom for Campbell. He then became an exercise rider before obtaining his jockey’s license. After guiding his first winner in the autumn of 1968, his success never slowed.

Hawley was North America’s leading apprentice the next year, overall leader in 1970 and in three subsequent years. Through the decades, his success grew with highlights that included induction into the mainstream Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 1976 he earned the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey and received the George Woolf Memorial Award for jockeys whose “careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.”

Hawley was a regular at Woodbine and wintered at the South Florida tracks of the era. He also spent time competing in Maryland and ten years in Southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

When the Hawleys first crossed paths at Keeneland, Kaoru had found her niche as a hard-working fearless rider. She first gained attention when she won her North American debut aboard Marvin and Akiko Gothard’s Slender Linoa at Turfway Park (then Latonia) in early 1986. An accomplished jockey in Japan on the minor circuit, she came to the United States at the suggestion of Akiko Gothard, who knew her in their Japanese homeland. The Gothards produced a string of winners from their modest stable with Akiko filling roles as trainer, bloodstock adviser and Kaoru’s sponsor.

With their active social life, the ageless pair can still enjoy the camaraderie that makes racetrack life so special.

“It is pretty neat when I walk through the grandstand because I have people who stop me and want to chat,” Sandy said. “I had no idea my career would go so well. I had an amazing agent in Colin Wick. Without him and Duke Campbell, I would not have had the career I had.”

Statistically, Mark Guidry is one of only 34 jockeys to win more than 5,000 races. In addition to those glittery stats, he is so well regarded by his peers that he received the 2006 George Woolf Award that honors jockeys whose character and career reflect positively on themselves and Thoroughbred racing.

When he received the Woolf award, Guidry credited his Louisiana upbringing that emphasized respect. He said that treating others the way one wanted to be treated was “pounded” into youngsters while growing up. In those formative years in a racing-rich culture, Guidry had easy access to horses and, like so many premiere jockeys, he started riding in informal races during his youth.

He learned his lessons so well on and off the track, Guidry soon was riding a steady stream of winners. His quick success eventually sent him away from his home state but ultimately back to his roots after he untacked for the final time in 2014.

Guidry is now a steward at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., during the season and a full-time family man the rest of the year. He and his wife Tina have been married 38 years and live in the Lafayette area about 30 miles south of the track. As he awaits the return of racing in April, they enjoy time with their people. The Guidry clan members who live in the area include their three children, blended brood of six grandchildren, all but one of Guidry’s siblings and his 90-year-old father.

“Being a steward is what I wanted to be when I retired,” he said. “It took a long time to achieve that and I am grateful that (Evangeline owner) Boyd Gaming gave me the opportunity. I had a couple of opportunities in different states but I didn’t want to go. It is great to be home and do something that I love.”

After completing two seasons as a steward, Guidry said his favorite part of the job is helping the next generation.

“Some of the young jockeys say I am mean but I just come across too strong sometimes,” he said. “But if they are not listening, I put a little bass in my voice but it is only to try to help them. For me, it is giving back.”

After gaining his first victory as a teenager, Guidry remained on the Louisiana circuit until relocating to Fairmount Park in Illinois. From there he went to the Chicago circuit, where he secured his place as a top rider and earned many leading jockey titles at Sportsman’s Park, Hawthorne Racecourse and Arlington Park while often wintering at Gulfstream Park.

Along the way, Guidry won marquee races including the 2006 Kentucky Oaks on Lemons Forever, 2005 Santa Anita Derby on Buzzards Bay, 2001 Turfway Spiral with Balto Star and 2005 Washington Park Handicap (and a subsequent third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic) aboard Perfect Drift.

He attempted retirement after closing 2007 with another consistent year but he missed race riding too much to say goodbye. Any doubts about a return were erased when he made repeated trips to the winner’s circle in 2011 after one comeback mount in 2010. Despite rejuvenating his career, Guidry became his own toughest critic and began questioning his ability and competitive moves with thoughts of injury on his mind. On March 29, 2014, after finishing second in a Fair Grounds stakes and two days after riding a winner, Guidry took off dirt-encrusted silks for the final time.

“It came to the point where I did not want to fall,” he said. “I feel like maybe I wasn’t taking the (chances) that I should have been. Sometimes I was not satisfied with my performance. It kind of hindered my performance. That is when I said it was time to give it up.”

With 5,222 triumphs from 32,377 mounts, he is 28th on the all-time leader list by wins as of early April, despite retiring five years ago. His mounts earned more than $106 million.

To stay in touch with the track, Guidry became a trainer after his initial retirement and accumulated 30 victories from 301 starters in a four-year span. Following his final retirement, he was as a jockey agent before reinventing himself for a front side job.

“I miss being a jockey when the big races are on — Breeders’ Cups and Triple Crown races,” he said. “I miss that part of the game. But I don’t miss the everyday part of the game. I loved being with the guys and all that stuff. All my life I have been in the jocks’ room. That was the fun part — getting to know everybody and having relationships. I can still do that a little bit.”

Despite profound changes in his life, Mark Johnston is fundamentally the same. He still loves horses, the racetrack, winning and camaraderie. In his past, Johnston enjoyed those experiences as a jockey who won 3,085 races and the 1990 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice. These days from his Paris, Ky., base, he gains similar satisfaction using his truck and trailer to transport runners to their races primarily for trainer Dane Kobiskie and PTK stable.

“I feel like I am part of the PTK team,” Johnston said. “I know all of their horses and their people. We have fun. When they win, I feel like I have won, too. I still get that rush.”

Growing up in Lexington, Johnston got his first taste of the Thoroughbred world by attending the Keeneland races with his mother. A family acquaintance invited him to the barn area, where he found his way to trainer Lee McKinney. She agreed to teach the young teenager how to be a jockey in exchange for doing barn chores without pay. Johnston vividly recalls his initial experience trotting a racehorse in the barn a few days later.

“I felt like I was flying,” he said. “I knew that was where I belonged.”

With only limited past riding experience, Johnston soon graduated to galloping on the track and honed the skills that would propel his career.

“When I won the Eclipse Award, Lee was one of the people I took with me to the ceremony,” he said. “Things might have been really different if I hadn’t met Lee.”

At 18, Johnston obtained his first mount and to everyone’s surprise, the mare Simple Flair was victorious on May 1, 1989 at Churchill Downs. A steady stream of winners followed. By year’s end, he opted to relocate to Maryland, where the region known as a proving ground for potential stars was ready to welcome another young talent.

Johnston was soon guiding winners for eventual Hall of Famer King Leatherbury and ended 1990 as the nation’s leading apprentice by wins and earnings. His overall stats, including those without his apprentice allowance, placed him fourth in the nation in the win category. After that championship season, Johnston maintained his place as a nationally ranked jockey in Maryland. He left for a brief stint in Southern California in 2003, then dispatched himself back to Kentucky while struggling to keep his weight down on his nearly 5’ 10” frame.

“Fighting my weight was a battle every day,” he said. “It doesn’t just affect you physically. It is mentally draining and it starts to take its toll on relationships and your whole life.”

Turning point at Turfway Park

February 4, 2004 began as an ordinary day but became a turning point for Johnston that night at Turfway Park when he and his friend Michael Rowland were involved in a three-horse spill. Rowland died from his injuries five days later and Johnston suffered a severe concussion and broken shoulder.

Johnston returned to competitive riding three months later but soon retired. On May 19, 2004, he closed his career where it began at Churchill Downs and focused on being an exercise rider and assistant to Rowland’s widow Tammy.

“I finally accepted the fact that race riding was detrimental to my health,” he said. “It was hard to grasp.”

The two eventually married. Tammy saddled her last starter in 2014, returned to school and now works at a family medical facility in Lexington. They have a blended family of two children and six grandchildren.

“We always talk about Michael and we have never forgotten him,” Johnston said. “We were really good friends going back to my Maryland days. We like talking about him and keeping his memory alive.”

The couple has a few horses on their farm and occasionally they go trail riding. But at 180 pounds, Johnston’s jockey days are in the rear-view mirror.

“Tammy and I are proud of me being a jockey but I ask her not to tell people,” he said. “When she does, they look at her like she is nuts. We have gotten some pretty strange looks. If I could make the weight, I would ride races. It is who I am. It was hard to accept that that part of my life is behind me. As time has gone on, it has gotten easier.”

Staying involved via his transportation business has filled some of the void.

“I am still part of the game,” he said. “It might not be exactly what I want, but it is enough. Life is about being happy with what you got. But it is not always easy.”

A decade after a seamless transition from Classic-winning trainer to semi-retired bloodstock advisor, Frank Brothers continues to enjoy the Thoroughbred industry.

Called “Frankie” by all who know him, his name is forever linked with a long list of high-profile runners topped by Preakness and Belmont winner and 1991 champion Hansel and 1997 Blue Grass Stakes winner and breed-shaping stallion Pulpit. Brothers keeps a much lower profile now as a member of Keeneland’s yearling inspection team and as a seasonal bloodstock advisor for Starlight Racing.

“It’s a fun thing for me,” Brothers said of his Keeneland role. “It is about six weeks during the summer where we inspect the yearlings for (inclusion in premiere) Books 1 and 2. Most of them are in the Lexington area but we do take a few road trips. It keeps me in the game and it keeps me involved.”

Brothers assists Starlight Racing with selecting prospects at high-end yearling sales and making a few visits to see their acquisitions’ progression in Florida. Starlight Racing principal Jack Wolf consults with Brothers throughout the year on an as-needed basis.

Away from his bloodstock work, Brothers lives the laid-back lifestyle of a retiree, spending time at the gym and with his dogs without a stringent schedule. He and his wife Donna, the former jockey now serving as mounted television commentator for NBC, reside in Louisville and recently purchased a secondary home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

In his training career that began in 1974, Brothers compiled more than 2,300 winners from 10,000-plus starters and a robust roster of top tier runners. In addition to the aforementioned Hansel and Pulpit, Brothers’ graded stakes winners also include First Samurai, Madcap Escapade, Arch, Dansil, Secret Hello and Auto Dial.

“The second part of my career, I was fortunate to train Grade 1 winners,” he said. “Those races are hard to win. Some people have won a lot of them but for a little guy like me, it was a big deal. For the first part of my career, I mostly trained claiming horses. There were a number of those horses — the tough old claimers that had ailments and tried hard — that were among my favorites.”

Van Berg graduate

Brothers’ love of horses and racing began while growing up in New Orleans where he had a Quarter Horse and competed in Western-style shows. He regularly attended the races with his family at Fair Grounds and eventually obtained an entry-level job at his home track with legendary trainer Jack Van Berg.

At the track, Brothers learned to exercise Thoroughbreds and developed a powerful work ethic alongside such co-workers as eventual trainers Bill Mott and Wayne Catalano. He stayed with the stable for 10 years and never took another job until he obtained his own trainer’s license.

“If you worked hard and paid attention you could learn and Jack would give you a chance,” he said.

After making a name for himself as a trainer for various clients, Brothers took a semi-private role with Joe Albritton’s Lazy Lane Farms. Under the format, Brothers trained primarily for Albritton but was permitted to have a select few runners for others.

Their success together included Hansel before Brothers became semi-private trainer for Claiborne Farm, which campaigned Pulpit. When Claiborne downsized its racing division in 2001, Brothers and Albritton joined forces again.

By 2009, Brothers was no longer under contract and knew that it would be difficult to sustain a successful stable without large numbers or a high-number client, so he opted to walk away from the racetrack life he loved.

“The backside is a wonderful community,” he said. “There are a lot of characters back there from the owners all the way down to the hotwalkers. That was interesting but the biggest thing for me was the horses. I just loved the horses — always did and still do today.”

Secure in every way with his decision, Brothers kept an open mind about accepting advisory roles without actively searching. The Keeneland and Starlight Racing positions proved to be a perfect balance.

Of all his accomplishments, Brothers is perhaps most proud of being the first Thoroughbred trainer inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

“The game has been so good to me and I am extremely grateful,” he said. “I never thought I had any special talents but the good Lord gave me a feel for a horse and an eye for a horse. I’m thrilled with that.”

The name Diane Crump carried celebrity status a half-century ago and now is known for brokering sales of sport horses including off-track Thoroughbreds. Doing business in Linden, Va., as Diane Crump Equine Sales, she describes her job as similar to being a real estate agent who acts as agent between buyers and sellers without owning the inventory.

“The idea had been brewing around in my head for a while to find horses for people,” she said. “I thought with the name recognition, it just might work. I would say that quite a few of my customers know who I am but at this point in time, many just know my website”

The moniker made headlines at Hialeah Park in south Florida on February 7, 1969 when Crump became the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race. The event attracted so much attention that she had a police escort to the saddling paddock amid cheers from supporters and sexist shouts from naysayers.

“I never felt like a pioneer or trailblazer,” she said. “I just wanted to live my dream and I most certainly did.”

The dream began in early childhood with a carnival pony ride in her native Connecticut. Crump was smitten and her parents subsequently sent her for riding lessons at a local stable. When Crump was in middle school, the family moved to the Tampa area where she continued riding and began working at a local farm. Unbeknownst to her, the farm horses were Thoroughbreds that led the way to finding work as an exercise rider at Tampa Bay Downs.

From winner’s circle to cyberspace

After her milestone ride, Crump closed 1969 with 24 wins from 249 mounts. In 1970, she reached another milestone by becoming the first of only six women to ride in the Kentucky Derby when she finished 15th on Fathom. From there her life was normal, if a racetrack career can be considered normal. Crump worked side by side with her trainer husband, raised a daughter who spent many hours at the barn, traveled the seasonal racing circuits, got divorced, launched her own training career and sporadically rode races until 1999.

She then left the racetrack routine she cherished and went to Virginia to assist her mother who was in failing health.

“I’ve never done anything except work with horses my entire life and I needed to stay in one place and make a living without riding anymore,” she said. “My (agent) business was slowly coming into existence by the fall of 1999.”

In an era when the Internet was relatively new, Diane and her mother developed a website to promote her sport horse project.

“My mother was very creative and artistic although not at all tech savvy,” she said. “With lots of help, we bought a computer and she learned to use it. She then went about designing my website as we searched for someone in that field to bring it to fruition.”

At the same time, Crump explored the finer points of horse shows involving jumping and dressage and other equine activities such as foxhunting.

“Through few dear friends that knew about show horses and sport horses, I started learning all of these different disciplines,” she said. “One thing led to another and I met people that sold show horses for a living. When I mentioned advertising them on my website they thought it was a great idea. I realized that much of the sales were done by an agent, so it was the perfect plan.”

Horses and dogs

Based about 25 miles from the equestrian-rich communities of Middleburg and Upperville, Crump’s daily routine mimics that of a real estate as she takes clients to see horses and scouts prospects for her website listings.

“I meet people at different farms by appointment to see specific horses that they have asked about,” she said. “From there they follow me to other farms and we watch the horses go. If they like them, then they ride each of them to try to find the perfect match. On days that I don’t have customers, I could possibly be out looking at the horses that are for sale. I take pictures and do videos if needed of the horses that will be posted on my website.”

In addition to visiting with her daughter, who is a school teacher, son-in-law and their three children, Crump’s leisure time is spent hiking the scenic trails of northern Virginia and taking her three miniature Dachshunds to visit hospital patients.

“It’s a great program and I can see how much comfort and happiness the dogs bring to people,” she said. “It brings me a tremendous amount of satisfaction. I love my dogs and I love helping people.”

Crump also uses the word “love” to describe her past at the racetrack. She no longer rides at all because of the residual effects of her injuries but she has no regrets.

“I loved everything I did at the racetrack; it was my life for 35 years,” she said. “When I left, I never looked back. I knew it was time for the next phase. The horses that gave me their heart when they ran was like no other feeling. The amazing people that I worked with and met along the way are probably too numerous to mention. The good times and horses are stamped on my heart for all time.”

In many ways, Tom Bohannan has the perfect job with the perks of training Thoroughbreds but without the problems. He still enjoys mixing and mingling with horses and horse people at the track while wintering in the warmth, but his current role lacks the dramatic highs and lows of his former career.

Bohannan has been a van agent for Brook Ledge Horse Transportation for five years after holding a similar position with Sallee Horse Vans. His duties are far removed from the spotlight that shined on him in the early 1990s, most notably as trainer of consecutive Preakness Stakes Pine Bluff (1992) and Prairie Bayou (1993), the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby.

“My favorite memories of the track are the ones with the good horses and the big races,” he said. “I do miss being in the shedrow and being hands-on with horses but I don’t miss the headaches (of training) at all.”

Bohannan still maintains a seven-day a week schedule while acting as the liaison between trainers and Brook Ledge’s dispatch headquarters in Oley, Penn. (The company has hubs in Lexington and Ocala.)

For departures, horsemen give their requests to Bohannan, who contacts the office for scheduling. Van drivers then relate the finalized itinerary to Bohannan to coordinate details such as barn and loading dock locations, specific time restrictions and special instructions. For intakes, dispatchers contact Bohannan with arrival time and other information so that he can be present for the unloading process. He also attends the loading routine when stables ship out.

Through the years, he has been offered training positions and other posts but thus far, Bohannan has declined.

“I am happy with what I am doing now,” he said. “I am still on the racetrack and I still get to talk to the people I know.”

He is spending the winter at Fair Grounds and is based in Louisville the remainder of the year.

Looking back

In his first year as a trainer in 1989, De Roche started the steady parade of Bohannan’s high profile winners by capturing the Grade 1 Jerome Handicap at Belmont Park for John Ed Anthony’s Loblolly Stable. The stable name of the mighty pine tree was a nod to Anthony’s Arkansas lumber business, and De Roche, like so many of the Loblolly runners, was named for a place in his state. Anthony races now as Shortleaf Stable.

Bohannan was in the right place at the right time to accept the Loblolly fleet, which in that era was handled by several trainers including Rusty Arnold for whom Bohannan was an assistant. When Anthony decided to consolidate, Bohannan was hired as his private trainer to take Anthony’s Thoroughbreds to Oaklawn Park for the winter and beyond.

After De Roche’s Jerome, the victory procession rolled on with graded stakes winners Idabel, Foresta, Lost Mountain and Pine Bluff, who put Bohannan on the map in 1992. Christened for one of the largest cities in Arkansas and campaigned by one of the state’s most successful businessmen, Pine Bluff naturally was an Oaklawn Park fan favorite. He added to his reputation by winning the G3 Rebel Stakes and the G2 Arkansas Derby. After finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby,  he etched Bohannan’s name in the history books by winning the Preakness.

The following year, Dalhart fueled Derby dreams for Bohannan and Loblolly Stable at Oaklawn while Prairie Bayou took the Kentucky route. Dalhart won the Rebel but bypassed the spring classics after finishing ninth as the favorite in the Arkansas Derby. Prairie Bayou was victorious in Turfway Park’s G2 Jim Beam and Keeneland’s G2 Blue Grass Stakes and was runner-up in the Kentucky Derby prior to giving the Bohannan-Anthony team their final graded stakes victory together in the Preakness.

By 1999, Anthony and Bohannan parted ways and Bohannan discontinued his training career. He left the track completely to work in a brother’s golf course construction company but renewed his license in 2006 when he and Anthony teamed up again. After saddling a handful of winners through 2009, a colleague suggested Bohannan parlay his skills into being a shipping agent and he made a smooth transition into working for Sallee Horse Vans.

Bohannan concurs with other longtime insiders who say training racehorses is more challenging than ever in part because of competition from conditioners with massive stables. He said aspiring conditioners should be 100 percent sure they are ready for the challenge.

“It is difficult especially now when you might have six or eight horses and going up against stables with 100 or more horses,” he said. “It is tougher for a small stable to get started more so than it was 20 years ago.”

Elvis Trujillo, statistically idle since spring after riding more than 2,000 career winners, is targeting the first of the year for his return to action. He has been tuning up by riding each morning for his uncle, trainer Jose Corrales, at Laurel Park.

He is capitalizing on his temporary afternoon freedom by spending time with his family—wife Raquel and sons Elvis Trujillo (age 15), Emanuel (nine) and Jorge (six).

“When I finish work, I come home to my wife and kids,” he said. “I am having family time. Family is first.”

Trujillo has not ridden competitively since he was involved in a three-horse spill at Laurel on March 10. Originally assuming he was only body sore, Trujillo took a one-day hiatus with plans to be back in the saddle by week’s end, but further diagnosis revealed fractured ribs and sternum and a neck injury.

Mornings at the barn have given Trujillo insight into the efforts of all involved with the Thoroughbreds and new understanding of how a jockey’s mistake can be costly. In addition to breezing and galloping the horses, Trujillo assists with other chores.

“Now he realizes what it takes to get there,” Corrales said. “We need to be ahead by that nose. A nose can cost you big money not only to the owners and trainers but also the bettors.”

Trujillo’s injuries have not hindered his passion to race ride, a feeling not satisfied by working horses during training hours.

“When you are on the horse in a race, you feel free,” Trujillo said while struggling to describe the intangible. “It is different.”

The 35-year-old native of Panama has relished that feeling across North America on 12,752 mounts that have banked more than $70 million with 2,102 victories. He began his North American career in 2001 in Southern California after a successful start in Panama and Mexico. He then became one of the leading riders on the New Jersey/Florida circuit. In 2017, Trujillo rode for four months in Macau on China’s southern coast.

He appreciated his time in Macau with his family and would consider a return if the opportunity arose.

“It was so cool and the people are so nice,” he said while adding he quickly adjusted to racing in the opposite direction.

Trujillo’s sense of freedom on horseback reached a pinnacle in 2007 when he won the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park aboard Maryfield.

While the Breeders’ Cup triumph is clearly his most high profile victory, Trujillo said some of his other favorite moments came aboard Presious Passion, whose unorthodox style attracted a fan following.

“He would open 10, 20 lengths in front,” he said.

The gelding provided Trujillo with a lucrative triumph when he won the United Nations Handicap (G1) at Monmouth Park in 2009. His lengthy lead dwindled to 13 lengths after a mile and then to eight lengths with a furlong remaining. Presious Passion held on to win the 1 3/8-mile marathon by two lengths. A similar strategy produced a runner-up effort in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.

Trujillo is eager to reboot his career in Maryland, where he came late last year after returning from China. He previously had stakes engagements in the state.

“I feel good and my body is working good,” he said.

Corrales said Trujillo is an exceptionally smart rider and predicts he will return better than ever.

“(Working in the barn) has made him more mature,” Corrales said. “He comes to the barn early every day to help with everything. I think that will make him a better rider. He is already a great person—always happy, always smiling.”

Rosemary Homeister Jr. may have hung up her racing saddle, but she hasn’t slowed down. If anything, she’s living in double time.

When she’s not taking care of her daughter Victoria or putting together a marketing plan, you might find Homeister taking or teaching a boxing class or sharing her thoughts on meal planning.

“Racing’s very fast-paced, and your mind is non-stop,” she said. “Probably 80 percent of the riders out there, we all had insomnia. Your mind just couldn’t shut down. You’re winning, you’re not winning. It was a constant roller-coaster of emotions. When I retired, I was still on ‘go.’”

Homeister, 46, ended her racing career in 2015, a few years after taking some time off to have her daughter. She had always planned to retire when Victoria turned five and began kindergarten, avoiding seasonal moves and giving her a stable home base. After 23 years, she left the sport with an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice and multiple graded stakes victories and meet titles. Like many jockeys, she knew she had to have an exit strategy, and a challenging pregnancy gave her an idea of what she wanted to do.

Homeister gained 50 pounds while carrying Victoria – a completely foreign experience for a jockey.

“I had never been that heavy before,” she said. “I followed a plan and changed my diet. I lost 45 pounds in 10 weeks, but I did it naturally, through food. I didn’t take diet pills or anything. I worked out six days a week, and I mean some days I worked out twice. I would wear a sauna suit. I remember doing a Zumba class at the YMCA and sweat was flinging out from my arms, and people were looking at me like I was crazy. I was determined to come back and ride.”

“I had to come back because I wanted to retire on my terms.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Homeister learned more in those few weeks about diet and exercise than she’d ever known as a professional jockey. She echoes the concerns of other experts in the racing industry about the lack of education provided to riders about fitness and nutrition. Homeister said she saw riders go all day with no food other than a handful of sugar-heavy snacks to keep their energy up, and starve themselves until dinner.

“For me, the more I ate when I rode, the lighter I was, because your body needs the fuel,” she said. “I used to tell people when I was doing personal training, I’d tell them, ‘You need to eat.’ And they would, they’d gorge and then they’d puke.’ I’d say, ‘No, that’s not what I meant!’”

Her crash course in diet and fitness convinced Homeister that was what she needed to do after she left the track. She became a certified personal trainer, taught boxing and outdoor fitness classes, and began representing a hemp oil product which she says has helped her focus her high energy levels.

While Homeister was taking a series of classes at the gym near her apartment, her trainer suggested she enter a fitness competition.

“I never in a million years thought I would do something like that. I’d heard of it before and I’d seen it, but I used to picture these big, bulky women and I didn’t want to do that. I never knew there were so many categories,” she said. “I said, ‘Ok, I’m up for a challenge. I’ll do it.’”

Preparing for a fitness competition required Homeister not just to up her workout routine but to become uber strict about her diet. She had to cut out certain foods, and stick to a strict pre-portioned meal five times a day, in addition to drinking two gallons of water daily. To her surprise, she placed well at national-level competitions in Fort Worth and Las Vegas.

“It was such a great experience and it was a ton of fun, but would I do it again? I don’t think so. It’s really tough on your body,” she said. “I was leaner and more ripped when I was a jockey than when I competed. Riding a racehorse in a six-furlong race, that one minute and change is like a 20-minute aerobics exercise. It was like I was working out six to eight times a day riding races.”

Since completing her fitness competition, Homeister has gotten offers to do marketing for an orthopedic surgeon and a new chiropractic clinic in Texas, using the skills she picked up from promoting her fitness classes and hemp oil products. Although she has just begun that enterprise, she said she’s excited to see where it takes her.

“If I’m healthy, everything else is a bonus,” said Homeister. “When I wake up in the morning, I want to thank God for everything I have.”

Before there was Ben’s Cat, there was Eighttofasttocatch.

The hard-knockinggelding spent four years running at the stakes level, primarily at Laurel Park and Pimlico, becoming the first millionaire for trainer Tim Keefe. His name popped up again on the East Coast Thoroughbred radar last weekend when he competed in the Real Rider Cup, a jumper competition featuring prominent racing personalities facing off to raise money for Thoroughbred aftercare. Fans of the flashy chestnut may have wondered – what’s he been doing all this time?

When it came time for Eighttofasttocatch to leave Keefe’s barn, it turned out he didn’t have far to go.

“He’s a very special horse to Tim as far as his racing career,” said Rumsey Keefe, Tim’s wife. “So he will be at the farm forever.”

In the four years since he left the track, “Catcher” has come to mean something very special to the rest of the Keefe family, too. Rumsey Keefe is a lifelong rider who grew up breaking and training horses for father Bill Gilbert, and learning about show horses through the local Pony Club, which her mother ran. As a young rider, Rumsey Keefe represented her region in team competition at the two-star level, picking up individual silver and team gold medals.

She has taken young prospects off the track and trained them into the middle levels of the sport, including several which have gone on to excel under professional Philip Dutton. Owner Arnold Heft had died by the time Catcher finished his career, but Rumsey said he was always clear about his wishes: that the Keefes should keep Catcher, or find him a secure home and second career. Rumsey decided to enter him in the inaugural Retired Racehorse Project as an eventer, where she learned he had athletic potential for the discipline, but needed some mental development.

“He was sort of an insecure horse,” she said. “He would do work but it took him a long while to be confident in himself that he could last 20 minutes and not go running back to the barn or checking in with his friends.

“Whenever he got nervous at the racetrack, he always had a goat that kept him happy, or someone coddle to him and met his needs when he got nervous. It just took a long time to get him to learn ‘If you’re going to have a hissy fit, I’m not going to coddle to you. It’s time to grow up.’ Then once he did that, he was actually quite good.”

Keefe has learned Catcher has a lot of opinions. He prefers to be outside at all times when at home on the Keefes’ farm, no matter the weather, and has one corner of his paddock where he likes to eat. Catcher has partly overcome his separation anxiety, but Keefe has learned he must be the one to leave the field. If the mare he is turned out with (a retired lawn ornament) leaves him behind, his anxiety takes over.

Eventually, Keefe brought Catcher far enough along to turn him over to her daughter, Ryan, who ran the gelding through the training and preliminary levels. Catcher was a more challenging ride for Ryan than her previous mounts, and needed a little finesse. He’s brave on the cross country course but his sneaky-long stride can make him a challenge in stadium, as his rider must finesse his way of going to set him up properly for each jump.

“She’d been on things that were a little ‘been there, done that’ so this was her first greener horse she brought along herself,” said Keefe.

After Ryan went to college, Catcher took a step back—he’s capable of continuing to compete at the preliminary level or even a one-star, but Keefe has realized he’s happier with smaller, simpler fences. Now, he has a new student – a much younger one. Keefe’s 11-year-old daughter Carlin is ready to transition from pony to horse. Like so many clever horses, Catcher seems to recognize the precious nature of his cargo when Carlin is aboard and adopts a quiet, school-horse way of going.

“She’s jumped him a couple times in the ring and really wants to take him x country. I’m kind of dragging my feet on that one,” Keefe chuckled. “He’s actually quite obedient. He wants to do well.

“The other day she was riding him around and could barely get him to canter. She had to keep kicking to get him out of a trot. I was told her, ‘Well I guess he’s not ready for Maryland Million this year.’”

Follow Catcher’s off-track journey at his Facebook page, which is maintained by Rumsey.

It’s been a little more than three years since jockey Oriana Rossi vowed she would return to the saddle, and she remains fixated on that goal.

Rossi was aboard Top Priority in the fifth race at Indiana Grand on July 22, 2015 when a horse in front of her clipped heels and went down. Top Priority, unable to avoid the downed rival, went down also, landing on Rossi. The lifelong rider has watched video of the spill over and over in the years since, trying to analyze and understand what happened. She remembers nothing of that day, or the one before it, and she doesn’t remember the two weeks that followed at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital.

“I really wish I would remember it, actually. People have described it to me blow by blow and people have described the replay to me. But I’d like to remember it in my own head,” Rossi said. “I had a bit of head trauma during the accident so I don’t know if it’s that or I don’t know some kind of protective mechanism. I’d still like to.”

Rossi suffered multiple fractures to her back and neck, including the T6 vertebra, which was broken in half. The motion of that vertebra breaking damaged her spinal cord, but doctors told her it was an “incomplete spinal cord injury” which means there is hope the spine could repair itself.

Unfortunately, doctors can’t tell her the chances that she could regain full function of her legs or how long it could take. It’s not unusual for this type of injury to heal slowly, over a period of years. That’s one of the toughest parts about it for Rossi – the unknown.

“The problem with this kind of injury is there is no firm prognosis which is the frustrating thing about it,” she said. “They can never tell you whether you’ll be ok in five years or two years or ten years. They can’t tell you how much recovery you might have. It’s too complicated of an injury and no two injuries are the same.

“It would almost be easier to deal with if you had a set time frame or a set goal to work towards.  It’s basically a huge question mark. It’s possible medical science may need to catch up with my ambitions. I just don’t know if that’s the case.”

Rossi said she deals with this uncertainty in the same way jockeys often say they deal with the knowledge each day in their saddle could be their last – by putting that aside, focusing on the moment, and soldiering on.

“It’s not something you dwell upon,” she said. “Because you don’t have an answer, you might drive yourself crazy trying to think of the what-ifs and whens. You put your energy into trying to improve as much as you can.”

In the first months after her fall, Rossi regained feeling and some movement in her right ankle, foot and lower leg, but no movement in her left. Now, she’s able to walk with assistance. She continues a rigorous program of physical therapy and works also. She has also renovated her house, doing some of the work herself.

Rossi grew up riding in England, starting with a naughty Welsh pony named Eddie her mother bought when she was two. She recognized early on there was nothing like a gallop in the field to put a smile on her face. She started working at Newmarket in the summers as a teenager, grooming and galloping, making it her full-time occupation when she graduated school at 16. She moved to the States in 2006. Rossi didn’t start riding races seriously until she was in her twenties. She told the Indy Starher jockey career launched because of a slightly lazy Thoroughbred. The horse worked well for her in the morning but seemed dull and uninterested in the afternoon. She went to the starting gates hoping she could inspire him. She had limited success motivating him, but the horse inspired her. She rode him at Ellis in the summer of 2009 and picked up work quickly, winning her first race 10 rides later. To date, Rossi’s mounts have won 292 races and earned nearly $5.7 million.

Despite the pain of her injuries, Rossi said she’d have no hesitation getting back in the saddle as soon as she’s able. And she doesn’t think that has anything to do with not remembering the trauma of the accident.

“I don’t think I would be scared because it was such an integral part of my life for so much of my life,” she said. “It’s kind of second nature to me. Despite the fact I had a serious injury from it, I don’t know that would stop me wanting to do it again. If I were able to, I would go back to race-riding tomorrow.”

Getting back on a horse is still the end goal, and Rossi said she’s not giving up. As she continues her locomotor training, she isn’t thinking about the next milestone in her therapy. She’s thinking about the last one.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a short-term goal,” she said. “For me, it’s always been about the end game. I want to completely return to normal. That may sound a little glib or unrealistic, but I’m not interested in half-measures. It’s kind of all or nothing, I suppose.”

Spoken like a true jockey.

It’s not often a horse rises to run in an American classic race, falls to a claimer, and then comes back up into the stakes ranks again. But that’s exactly what Uncle Sigh has done.

On the eve of Whitney Stakes Day at Saratoga, the 7-year-old gelding finished a respectable second in his 31st career start, an allowance contest at the Spa. In 2014, Uncle Sigh attracted attention on the Kentucky Derby trail as a lovable longshot. Gary Contessa trained the son of Indian Charlie for owners Wounded Warrior Stables and Anthony Robertson. New York race fans loved him because Uncle Sigh had something of a rivalry with fellow New York-bred Samraat, who bested him in the Grade 3 Gotham and Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct that spring. The gelding got more mainstream attention because he was running for charity.

Owner George “Chip” McEwen changed his stable’s name after encountering an injured service member on a flight through Charlotte, N.C. At least 10 percent of earnings from the stable’s horses went to the Wounded Warrior Project, and McEwen brought an injured veteran and his family, along with another family whose son was killed in Iraq, to his box at the Kentucky Derby.

The gelding, who went off at odds of 31-1, finished a distant 14th in the Run for the Roses, and emerged from the race with a pulled muscle in his back, which took more than a year to resolve. After he returned to the track, the horse began switching barns and moving down through allowance, allowance optional claiming, and finally claiming company, where his price bottomed out at $25,000. Current trainer Chris Englehart picked up the horse for $40,000 in March for owner Mike Repole.

“I was a little nervous about claiming him,” Englehart admitted. “It was Mike Repole who wanted the horse and called me and said ‘What about Uncle Sigh?’ When I was looking for horses to claim, I went right past him because he had a reputation of being on the way down. I wasn’t really interested in him, but then I got looking at him and seen where they had brought him back on the dirt. He seemed like he was running a little more confidently. I told Mike, ‘I’m ok taking a shot at him.’”

Englehart said he’s been impressed by the horse’s return to form.

“He had issues in the past. I don’t know exactly how bad they were, but he got running not-so-well for a while,” he said. “Most of the time, they don’t come back to the upper levels again, but he just has a lot of heart and just enjoys doing it. He’s feeling good right now, so he enjoys what he’s doing.

“At the time [of the claim] we thought we’d maybe just have a race or two, because we didn’t want to make long-term plans, but he’s been a pleasant surprise. I told Mike, ‘We don’t need to be running this horse in claiming races right now.’ I don’t see anything indicating that he’s going to go bad. You never know, but I don’t see any reason he will, so we’ll keep trying the bigger races with him. He hasn’t won yet, but he’s knocking at the door.”

So far, Uncle Sigh has run three times for his new connections, finishing second twice and third in the Commentator Stakes at Belmont in late May. Englehart said Repole, who is a big supporter of aftercare initiatives, is taking things one race at a time with the gelding, as he does with most of his horses.

In the meantime, Englehart enjoys having him in the barn. Uncle Sigh has a prominent spot in the second stall on the shedrow, where he looks out onto the horse path and final turn of the Oklahoma Training Track. Englehart said the gelding likes watching the activity outside, but doesn’t let it – or anything else – ruffle his feathers.

“I have a lot of appreciation for him. He comes over to the paddock just as calm as can be. He knows what’s going on. He’s a real pro,” said Engelhart one morning at Saratoga as Uncle Sigh munched hay in the background. “For Mike Repole, I don’t really make long-term plans with them. He runs them where he wants to run them. Hopefully I get to try some stakes with him at Belmont in the fall, or maybe even here. He’s got some easier conditions still, but he’s capable of running well in the stakes, so it’s up to Mike. As long as he’s doing well, we’ll keep running him, as long as he’s happy.”

Ten years ago, one of the most recognizable names in the sales market handed over the keys to the business he helped build. Russell Jones, 83, has been officially retired since he sold out of Walnut Green, the Pennsylvania-based purchasing and sales consignment company he co-founded with his brother, Richard. Jones worked for the company for three years after the sale to ease the transition to new owner Mark Reid, then decided it was time to step back from a full-time commitment.

He admits there were times when it was tough to see someone else do things their own way under the banner he built, but that’s what happens when you sell: if the buyer’s check clears, they become the decision-maker.

“I worked hard as the devil for all those years running that agency. My brother and I started it in the ‘70s and we did 30 years in a row at Saratoga,” he said. “At the time, we were the biggest sales agency outside Central Kentucky. People today even come up to me and say, ‘Tell me about this Walnut Green filly that sold last year,’ and I say ‘I don’t know who she is.’ If you spend 30 years building something up, that’s likely to happen.”

But Jones’s version of retirement doesn’t exactly look like the conventional definition. A lifelong foxhunter, Jones still rides for much of the year and has four horses grazing in his backyard – three semi- or totally-retired hunters aged between 18 and 23 years old, and a younger prospect Jones’s daughter is legging up for him.

“I’m not ready to start taking on 5-year-olds at this stage of my career,” he quipped. “I need to have 18-year-olds who are just as decrepit as I am, so we take care of each other.”

Jones fell in love with horses as a child and quickly became addicted to the high octane galloping and jumping he experienced in the hunt field. These days, he says his main draw is the hounds, and he rides primarily to watch the dogs in action as close as possible.

When he’s not chasing hounds, Jones is still going to horse sales, reading catalogues and scouting for deals at auctions around the world. Jones is now in business for himself, working on his particular brand of pinhooking. He buys 10 to 15 mares each year, breeds them, and sells them in foal the following winter. This year, he’s got 13 going to the sales. There are two keys to turning a profit this way, he advised: getting a good price on the mare and picking the right stallion. Jones prefers young stallions, since they have a better chance of increasing in value over 12 months. This season’s crop of mares are in foal to Tapiture, Gormley, Nyquist, Will Take Charge, Cairo Prince, Practical Joke, Verrazano, Bayern and Mshawish.

“Your market is limited because not everybody wants an unproven horse. I’m hoping some of these things end up being proven before I get to the market, but some of them won’t have runners,” he said. “I get a big chair and I sit there in the back at Keeneland, and I look at horses, look at pedigrees, look at horses. When there’s a hole in the market, I step in.

“I don’t want my kids to be inheriting a long-range breeding program. They’re going to be inheriting something, when the day comes, that could be liquidated in 12 months or less. And it’s fun. And I’m making a little money doing it, so I’m happy with that.”

Part of Jones’s strategy is also keeping stud fees modest – and fitting them properly to mares.

“Because I managed [Grade 1 winner] Union Rags, I have a lifetime breeding right,” he said. “This is the first year I didn’t use it. None of those mares belong with a $60,000 stud fee. Nyquist is the highest priced horse in there, and he’s $40,000. I don’t mind using $40,000, but he can’t spoil his copybook between now and the time I sell that mare.”

Jones partners with Noel Murphy on several of the mares, and the two work together to research family history on interesting prospects. Jones also owns pieces of four fillies in Ireland, where he has traveled regularly to foxhunt and scope out breeding talent.

As if riding and traveling the sales circuit didn’t keep him busy enough in retirement, Jones is also an active member of the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, where he is serving his second term. The commission recently announced its funding of research into gene doping, which Jones believes will soon become a major problem in equine and human sports.

He also expressed frustration with the sometimes-critical reputation the group has received in the media and peanut gallery.

“The spirit of this commission I think warrants praise, because every one of them has an equine connection. There’s nothing happening in the state that someone in this group doesn’t know about. I’ve got a great deal of respect for the other people on this commission,” he said. “We’ve been inheriting problems from commissions we succeeded, and that’s like trying to roll a rock uphill. There are things that happened just shouldn’t have happened, but we don’t like getting tagged for it.”

Jones believes his busy and varied schedule is part of what keeps him young. As he sits in his sun porch overlooking his farm near Kennett Square, Pa., Jones makes it clear he’s not going to be enjoying the view from a rocking chair anytime soon.

“Just before you came in, I got back from walking. Every afternoon I do 2.5 to 3 miles, just to keep my heart pumping and the joints lubricated,” he said. “You don’t slow down. I learned that. You slow down, you’re finished. I see old people hobbling around and I say, ‘You need to kick [butt] and get moving.’”

Each year during Belmont Stakes week, former race announcer Dave Johnson throws a party for his friends somewhere in the bar of a high-end restaurant in Manhattan. It just so happens the friends of Dave Johnson are essentially horse racing’s illuminati: turf writers, trainers, Vegas big fish, Jockey Club stalwarts. Johnson knows them all.

Johnson positions himself near the entrance to the bar and greets every guest who walks in with booming, sincere excitement which is normally reserved for old friends you haven’t seen in years. It’s easy to figure out where he is in the room at any given time because it’s where the crowd is densest, with partygoers smiling and leaning closer, eager to tell him how critical his work feels to each of them.

At one point, Tom Durkin strides in, shakes Johnson’s hand and tells him, ‘I had the dream again.’ The two announcers, both veterans of the New York racing scene and national television, compare similar recurring nightmares they have each had for years. The dream starts the same: there are a few minutes left to post, and they’re not in the announcer’s booth. They try to get to the booth, watching the time tick down, and can’t find the right staircase or elevator or door. The tracks and impediments are different for each, but Durkin and Johnson agree – no matter how long it’s been since they hung up the mic, there’s still that nagging feeling that it’s about to be show time.

Johnson has spent most of his career on the verge of “show time,” which makes sense because theater and performance are in his blood. Johnson’s mother was a Vaudeville performer, so it was perhaps only logical that when the regular caller at Cahokia Downs in St. Louis became ill during a night card, Johnson saw an opportunity, not stage fright.

“I was in the stands and went up to the general manager and said, ‘I could do that. Would you like me to call the races for the rest of the evening?’” Johnson recalled. “I was in school at the time at Southern Illinois University and I could have memorized the ten points of the Yalta Agreement with no problem. If I could do that, why couldn’t I remember the ten horses in the third race at Cahokia Downs? It was more fun and interesting at night in Cahokia Downs than it was in the classroom.”

Race calling is about the only job combining some degree of theater with racing, and after he graduated (with a degree in American history), Johnson says he lucked into full-time announcing roles – from Cahokia to Hialeah Park, New York, Santa Anita, and the Meadowlands, and even on to calling the Triple Crown for ABC. As in the careers of actors and musicians, Johnson said his run as narrator of some of racing’s biggest moments came down to good luck and good connections.

“I was always at the right place at the right time. That’s the key to my life – being lucky, having wonderful friends, but being in the right place at the right time, and to be available at the right time,” he said. “I just happened to be available when Fred Capossela retired from New York. I just happened to be at the right time to get the job at Hialeah after Fairmount and Cahokia.

“Everybody dies, but not everybody lives. I really have lived. I’m so happy for it. And I’m not quitting!”

Johnson is retired from his role as an announcer but since 2005 has hosted a radio program on Sirius XM alongside Bill Finley and Ed Pappas. The three-hour show called ‘Down The Stretch’ is available Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Channel 93.  

He has also kept an interest in show business, which has been the other constant in Johnson’s life. He has appeared (sometimes, though not always, playing an announcer) in movies, television shows, commercial voiceovers and on the stage. Johnson shares an agent with Howard Stern. Behind the curtain, he also made a name for himself.

“The biggest bets that I’ve made (and I gamble on horses, by the way) were in Broadway shows, and they both became great winners,” he said. “In 1983, I invested in a show called Noises Off, which ran for quite a while, sold movie rights and made me quite a bit of money. In 2000, I was one of the original investors in The Producers, which is actually still running.”

Johnson combined his interests in a long-running segment on the Dave Letterman Show. For 12 years, Letterman had Johnson on the program the night before the Kentucky Derby to call the stretch run of the race as he guessed it would set up.

“He loved the game, and he loved the expression, ‘And down the stretch they come,’ which I’ve trademarked,” said Johnson of his famous racecall crescendo. “I’ve never made a nickel from it. I donate all the money to racetrack charities that I get from it. I’m very protective of it, and I did it really out of self defense. There’s still a couple of announcers that use it … damn it.”

That was the only time Johnson said he made an effort to script race calls in any way. Had he been in Larry Collmus’s shoes, he would not have spent Friday night brainstorming exclamations for the Belmont wire in the event of a Justify Triple Crown. Johnson said his calls were off the cuff, and he didn’t have to do a lot of studying to find the plotlines lurking in each race. Being at the same track day in and day out (six days a week for much of his career) taught him, as if by osmosis, which horse belonged to which connections.

“That’s what an announcer does. He looks through his binoculars and says what he sees and what he feels. The big races of course, you feel more because more people are watching,” he said. “Every race is a story. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime story. It won’t happen that way again. It has a beginning, a middle, and the finale.”

Johnson, 77, still takes on dramatic roles or voiceover work now and then but struggles with balance problems which limit his mobility. He lives in Manhattan and while he said he’s had a few minor health episodes over the years, he’s grateful to be healthy for his age and as mentally sharp as ever.

Johnson hears now and then from people who tell him how much his calls meant to them over the years. For those of us watching at home, Johnson provided the oral history of some of the sport’s greatest performances – by turning in some spectacular ones himself. He takes those accolades as praise of the highest order.

“Long after I’m gone, somebody will look on the Internet or tap a button on a machine, and out will come my call of whatever race you heard, and that’s humbling. I get a chill right now thinking about it,” he said. “That lives longer than I do. And you can’t erase it. It’s there. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime performance.”

For many horse racing fans, the experience of the sport’s biggest race days comes through their television screens. Those of us who watched the Triple Crown more for the horses than the betting tips quickly learned to listen for the lilting voice of broadcaster Charlsie Cantey, who spent three decades giving audiences the horseman’s viewpoint on the horses, jockeys, and trainers. As a child watching the broadcasts from my living room in central Virginia in the 1990s, it became clear that if I really wanted to know what was going on with a horse, I needed to wait for the camera to shift to the lady who was usually sitting atop one.

Cantey retired from her role as a broadcaster in 2005 and her horse-side interviews have since been taken over by Donna Barton-Brothers, but that doesn’t mean Cantey is cut off from the racing world.

“I pay attention to everything that happens in racing, and I still care,” said Cantey, who makes an annual pilgrimage up to Maryland for the Preakness. “I always liked Pimlico. It’s where I won my first race and was always my favorite broadcast.”

Cantey chose to leave the business when she married W. Douglas Davidson, senior vice president and financial adviser at Morgan Stanley. She had trained a string of horses in Maryland from 1996 through 1999 alongside her television career. After winning 46 races from 324 starts, Cantey said it “was a culture shock” to go from catching planes and reading condition books to living the quiet life – but she thinks it was the right decision.

“He was a complete civilian, although he loved the races,” she said. “When we decided to get married, he said, ‘Just keep training your horses, that’s fine.’ I said, ‘No, no, you don’t understand.’ My words, which I took straight from Criquette Head-Maarek, were, ‘You cannot have a life and train horses. That’s just a given.’”

Now, Cantey and Davidson have found another hobby, which she says isn’t so different from horses: sailboats. Both take a lot of time, learning, and money, and she found the Annapolis Boat Show to be not unlike the Keeneland sales – hard to walk away from without a purchase, despite best intentions.

The couple have moved to Spring Island, S.C. and take sailing trips through the Caribbean. Cantey also has three grandchildren she spends time visiting in Texas. The time away from the track has given her a chance to connect more with nature, which is abundant on the peaceful Spring Island.

“I’m going on a birdwatching trip tomorrow,” Cantey said early Preakness week. “I always used to think ‘Birdwatching! Who wants to stand around with a pair of binoculars and stare at trees?’ But it’s a whole other world out there. It’s been fascinating.”

Cantey also stays involved with the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which remains an important cause to her.

“It’s really incredible,” she said. “The horses that have been saved from horrible calamities because of the Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation are just incredible. It’s amazing how few people really are aware of what they do. They keep the horses safe, the riders safe, and the sport’s image in good tact.”

Cantey started in the horse business with sport horses, showing jumpers up and down the East Coast. When she was in college, a friend mentioned the Middleburg Training Center in Virginia, where her friend was galloping horses and breaking yearlings. Cantey rode to work with her one day and instantly knew this was the world she needed to be in. She recalled barely graduating George Washington University because she often cut class to ride at Middleburg and in Maryland. She hit the barns in the early 1970s looking to work as a freelancer at a time when she said few women were exercising horses. When she came by looking for a job, people usually laughed.

“I’d still love to get on one and gallop, I really would. But I’m not even going to think about it,” she said. “All I wanted to do was ride around the clock. I was doing what I would have done for free and they were paying me.”

Cantey based out of New York for much of the 1970s and looks back in awe at the quality of athlete she used to encounter on the horse path at the time.

“How’s that for an office? Here comes Seattle Slew. He’d look great but I’d be more interested in whatever great joke Mike Kennedy, his exercise rider, would tell that morning. It was that commonplace,” she remembered. “Here comes Affirmed. Oh, there went Secretariat. At the time, we just sort of thought ‘This is always going to happen’ that there’d always be Triple Crown winners around. We didn’t take it for granted, but that’s just the way it was, every day, every week.”

It was after Cantey talked herself into a job with trainer Frank Whiteley that she was approached to fill in on a weekly television show for WOR-TV with Frank Wright and Dave Johnson. That gig eventually led to her job with national networks (CBS, then ABC, then NBC), covering the NFL and NBA along with Thoroughbred racing. But Cantey said she never got comfortable in front of the camera. She began dreading Saturday broadcasts starting on Wednesday, and rejoiced on Sundays when they were over and she could go back to the saddle. She quickly learned if she smiled, she could convincingly hide the nervous energy from most everyone. It’s both ironic and humbling when she meets young racetrackers who tell her that as children, they wanted to grow up to be just like her.

“I remember when I was still up at Belmont Park a couple of gals came up to me and said, ‘My mother would have never let me work on the track if it hadn’t been for you’ and that was so validating, I can’t tell you,” Cantey recalled. “That’s one of the nicest things people would say to me: ‘You made the horses real to me.’ They can put that on my epitaph, as far as I’m concerned.”