by Tom Pedulla|08.09.2021|9:46pm ‘I Know How Bad I Want This’: Keithan Starting Training Career With Grit, Hard Work Rachael Keithan can feel the skepticism as she tries to establish herself as a female trainer in what remains a male-dominated realm. Keithan, 32, oversees a fledgling operation of seven 2-year-olds. She awakens before dawn and toils until dark as she grooms and feeds them herself due to financial constraints. She does all of this […]
by Tom Pedulla|07.28.202107.28.2021|11:37am10:23pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Anne And Joe McMahon Celebrate 50 Years Of Raising Good Horses, Staying Close To Nature McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds has grown exponentially since Anne and Joe McMahon established it with a couple of broodmares in 1971, expanding from 90 to 600 acres that nurture approximately 250 horses. And it all started with Christmas trees. The initial tract of land the newlyweds purchased near Saratoga Race Course was filled with Christmas […]
by Tom Pedulla|06.24.202110.14.2021|12:26pm1:28pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Secretariat And Sweat Taught Reid Everything She Knows If only she knew then what she knows now. That may be Virginia Reid’s only lament as she reflects on her 49 years at the racetrack. Reid, the wife of veteran Parx-based trainer Robert “Butch” Reid, is widely known as “Ginny.” She was only 19 when friends persuaded her to leave a job as a […]
by Tom Pedulla|05.26.202105.26.2021|5:04pm9:38pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Behind Wesley Ward Is A Loyal, Larger-Than-Life Crew Of Talent Wesley Ward is on a roll. With 20 victories, including four stakes races, Ward recently secured his seventh training title at Keeneland Race Course, tying him with Henry Forrest for third all-time. Ward, who owns a mind-blowing 11 victories at Royal Ascot after becoming the first American to win there in 2009, is set to […]
by Tom Pedulla|04.22.2021|11:20am Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Paye Looking Forward To Passing Her Love Of Horses To The Next Generation In younger days, Courtney Paye felt obligated only to her horses while she ventured from coast to coast as a groom. She sampled life in Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia while being employed by such prominent trainers as Richard Baltas, Christophe Clement, Dallas Keen, Peter Miller and, currently, […]
by Tom Pedulla|03.30.202103.30.2021|11:34am10:45pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: For Alsagoor, A Long Road To A Dream Come True Abdullah Alsagoor arrived in California from his Saudi Arabia homeland approximately a year and a half ago. He was 18 years old, a teenager bold enough to dream big but with seemingly no idea how to make those dreams come true. “I wanted to see another world,” he said of the decision to leave behind […]
by Tom Pedulla|02.24.202102.24.2021|2:54pm6:58pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Even When Times Are Tough, Keens Do Right By Their Horses Dallas Keen found himself inextricably drawn to a woman riding a dappled gray pony one morning at Lone Star Park in 2004. He had to know her name. “You don’t want to know,” an outrider replied. “She’s high maintenance.” Three years later, Dallas and Donna were married, forming one of racing’s most passionate couples when […]
by Tom Pedulla|01.20.2021|4:53pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Humberto Gomez More Than Just An Exercise Rider To The Stars It is impossible to imagine that any exercise rider can match the resume Mexico City native Humberto Gomez has built since he arrived in the United States in 2000. He learned the importance of keeping his mount in rhythm from trainer Bobby Frankel. John Shirreffs’ emphasis on patience was somewhat offset by Julio Canani’s aggressiveness. […]
by Tom Pedulla|12.29.202012.29.2020|2:08pm2:52pm Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Labarre, Montanez ‘Stronger Together’ After Harrowing Accident Exercise rider Chloe Labarre tuned in to watch the first race at Laurel Park in Maryland on July 17, a 5 1/2-furlong turf contest. Her fiancé, Rosario Montanez, had picked up the mount on Hendaya due to an injury to another rider. Labarre remembers feeling some concern as the runners advanced to the starting gate […]
by Tom Pedulla|12.20.202012.21.2020|8:54pm9:59pm Approaching 30, ‘Lovable Loser’ Zippy Chippy Still Winning Over Fans At Old Friends At Cabin Creek As Zippy Chippy nears his 30th birthday, fans of the lovable loser will be reassured to know he has not lost a step. Then again, he never had a step to lose. The oh-so-slow bay gelding has been retired for the last 10 years at Old Friends at Cabin Creek in Greenfield Center, N.Y., where the […]