by Chelsea Hackbarth|06.26.2022|2:20pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Nothing Like A Horse That Really Inspires You’ When his second-generation homebred Stitched was beaten almost 32 lengths in his first start, Nathan McCauley could have lost faith in the Mizzen Mast colt. Instead, assistant trainer Travis Foley called Nathan and urged him not to give up just yet. “I was thinking, ‘Okay, what’s the cheapest maiden claiming race they run at the […]
by Joe Nevills|06.09.2022|9:48am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Kitodan Goes From Claim To Fame For Foster When a trainer drops a claim on a horse, it’s done with the expectation that the runner will at least make their money back and hopefully earn a few trips to the winner’s circle. Kitodan put trainer Eric Foster on the fast track to that goal on June 4, when he closed like lightning to […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|05.25.202205.27.2022|4:42pm10:37pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: World Traveler, Female Jockey Michel Will Prove She Belongs At Churchill French-born jockey Mickaëlle Michel will have her first U.S. ride this Thursday at Churchill Downs, named aboard a 20-1 shot in the featured turf allowance race for trainer Graham Motion. The 26-year-old made the move to Kentucky after more than four years winning races in six different countries, including on the dirt in Japan, because […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|05.12.2022|3:19pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Derby Day Victory ‘Means The World’ To Single Father, Trainer Jason Cook The tears flowed freely in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle last Saturday as single father Jason Cook embraced his 12-year-old daughter Peyton in the shadow of the Twin Spires on the first Saturday in May; the trainer had just saddled his first stakes winner in 25 years. “I wanted to win that race because I […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|04.29.2022|4:49pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Hernandez Has Made Stevens’ Retirement ‘A Whole Lot Easier’ Scott Stevens is known as one of the toughest jockeys in the sport, earning the 5,000th victory of his career at 59 years of age just days after a fall which may have broken a rib. A year later, however, Stevens was forced into retirement by another fall which left him with a broken C2 […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|04.15.202204.15.2022|10:16am11:21am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Gold’s First Grade 1 A Study In Patience, Perseverance “The Arkansas Derby winner, and his name is Cyberknife!” Racing through his home in Delray Beach, Fla., owner Al Gold burst into the room just in time to watch his colt cross the wire in front and celebrate with racing manager Joe Hardoon. Gold had been planning to watch the race outside on his iPad, […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|03.31.2022|4:38pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Robertson Takes Two Emmys From $4,500 Yearling To Grade 1 Winner Though Arlington Park may have been shuttered, longtime Chicagoland trainer Hugh Robertson has no plans to follow the city’s jewel of a racetrack into the sunset. Not when the 71-year-old has Grade 1-winning horse Two Emmys in the barn, and especially not when he knows exactly how lucky he is to be alive after surviving […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|03.17.2022|5:24pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: First Time’s The Charm For Henley Farms It may be a bit early to get excited about a potential Kentucky Derby horse, especially one that has yet to start in a graded stakes race. When it’s an undefeated colt who has won each of his two starts by five or more lengths, however, and he’s also the first foal ever born on […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|03.03.2022|4:12pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I Love Them Like They’re My Own’ Horses are instinctively drawn to assistant trainer Julie Clark, looking to her for reassurance and guidance as she oversees their training and care on behalf of trainer Keith Desormeaux. Her quiet, firm hands have helped to guide the likes of Preakness winner Exaggerator and Breeders’ Cup winner Texas Red, and soon she’ll head to Churchill […]
by Ray Paulick|02.18.202202.18.2022|1:12pm4:28pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Classic Causeway Puts Idaho Real Estate Developer O’Keefe On Derby Trail Patrick O’Keefe’s on-ramp for the Road to the Kentucky Derby with Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Classic Causeway began more than 20 years ago at an OTB in Wyoming. O’Keefe was showing off his ranch in Bear Lake, Idaho, to Wayne Call, a longtime friend who had moved east and was visiting family […]