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 […]
by Meredith Daugherty|02.03.202202.03.2022|4:26pm8:56pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Mitchells ‘Happy To Take The Ride’ With Oaks Hopeful Secret Oath On Jan. 29, Briland Farm’s Robert and Stacy Mitchell came to the stark realization that their public profile in the Thoroughbred racing world was about to be raised in a big way. Crossing the finish line first by 7 1/4 lengths that day in Oaklawn’s Martha Washington Stakes was their homebred filly, Secret Oath. As […]
by Meredith Daugherty|01.27.202201.28.2022|5:08pm5:12pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Commitment To Learning Paying Off For Upstart Trainer Lindsay Schultz Connecticut native Lindsay Schultz wasn’t exactly sure what her future held when she arrived in Louisville, Ky., as a college student. Enrolled in the Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville, Schultz knew only that she liked horses. Aside from that, she was willing to be open to where the experience would take her. […]
by Meredith Daugherty|01.20.202202.01.2022|5:08pm1:56am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Young Trainer O’Connor Has ‘Clear Vision’ Of His Future On Jan. 8, 2022, less than two years since he sent out his first starter as an independent Thoroughbred trainer, Matthew Brice O’Connor found himself in the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle with Clear Vision. The 6-year-old Artie Schiller gelding had bested his competition going one mile on the grass in the Tropical Turf Stakes (G3T), […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|01.13.202202.01.2022|3:38pm1:56am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: From Quarter Horses To Thoroughbreds, 17-Year-Old Herrera Is Off And Running Several months ago, agent Derek Lawson told his new apprentice jockey he’d had a great idea for a double: the All-American Futurity and the Kentucky Derby, the premier races for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds, respectively. “At that time it was just blowing smoke, but now it doesn’t seem as far-fetched,” Lawson said. Diego Herrera, just […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|01.05.202202.01.2022|3:32pm1:56am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I Was Born For This’ John Hiraldo began learning how to ride horses just three short years ago, but today the 20-year-old is a leading candidate for the Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding apprentice jockey of 2021. The Puerto Rican-born Hiraldo had always wanted to be a jockey like his father, cousin, and uncle, but his mother took a […]
by Meredith Daugherty|12.24.202102.03.2022|2:40pm6:50pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: From Show Jumpers To Racehorses, Hall Of Famer Knows How To Spot A Good One The path to a career as a Thoroughbred trainer can take many forms. For some, it starts with a love of racing—perhaps a parent who imparts their passion for the game onto their child from an early age. For others, it might start with a job on the backstretch, working as a hot walker or […]
by Meredith Daugherty|12.17.202102.01.2022|10:02pm1:56am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Younger McGaughey ‘Has A Real Passion’ For The Horses Less than two full years after striking out on his own, trainer Reeve McGaughey is keeping the family name alive and well by sending his first graded stakes winner across the wire at Aqueduct Racetrack. A homebred for Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck) and Andrew Rosen, 3-year-old Bees and Honey (by Union Rags) sailed clear of […]