Earning Their Stripes: Chris Davis

Last year, we conducted a popular Q and A series called 'Smaller But Still Super,' where we featured veteran trainers who have built a competitive racing stable with relatively small numbers (click here to view the archive). This year, we will highlight trainers who have already cut their teeth as novice trainers, but now have a few years of experience under their belt and are looking to make a name for themselves as they grow their stable. We'll talk about the challenges that come with hanging out your single, advice for trainers setting out on their own, how the incoming class of young trainers differs from previous generations and more.

Arlington Park was one of Chris Davis' first loves and the 34-year-old conditioner is still quick to say that the now-closed historic track will always be his favorite place to watch racing. Davis developed a passion for the sport by following his parents, conditioner Liane Davis and assistant starter Hershell Davis, around the Chicago racing circuit. He worked for local trainers as a teenager and eventually ventured to other tracks across the country to serve as assistant for Wayne Catalano, Michael Stidham and Philip d'Amato.

Davis said that d'Amato was the one who gave him the push to go out on his own in the fall of 2016. It didn't take long for him to saddle his 100th winner in 2021.

With around 30 horses in his stable and several graded stakes wins to his credit, Davis travels the Kentucky circuit throughout the majority of the year and races out of Gulfstream Park in the winter. Already this year, he has had two promising maiden winners on the Gulfstream turf in Dare To Dream Stable's Moon Cat (Malibu Moon) and Gary Broad's Royal Mende (Mendelssohn).

Royal Mende breaks his maiden in January at Gulfstream | Lauren King

What has been the key to your stable's growth since you first opened?

I started with two horses. Town and Country Farms gave me my first two and they've obviously had a lot of success over the years. Shannon Potter and Kiki Courtelis really jump started my career and I owe a lot to them. They gave me a lot of good quality horses from fairly early on, including my first stakes winner Moonlit Garden (Malibu Moon). She had been with Todd Pletcher in New York and they felt like she needed a bit more individual attention. I was riding basically all of my own horses and doing a lot of it myself. Her form was not very good when I got her. We individualized her and she ended up going back to New York a year and a half later and winning the Summer Colony S. She was also second in a stake at Monmouth and was beat by a nose in the GIII Houston Ladies Classic S. to none other than Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute).

It has kind of been a grind since starting out. It's hard to break through as a trainer without the really big connections or the support of a big bloodstock agent or syndicate. Being 34 and with this being our sixth full year now, we've had a fair amount of success in finding stakes horses. We do well at the 2-year-old sales. We stay within our budget and still seem to come out with maiden winners, or maybe a group or listed winner.

What do you believe makes your stable unique?

I think the fact that I've been around to a lot of places from coast to coast and the Midwest. I've worked with a wide variety of horses on the track throughout my career, from the time with my parents to with Mike, Phil and Wayne. Being around good horses, you get a good sense of a good horse and certain horses will remind you of others.

It's about individual attention and trying to fine tune what you have. Obviously you can't train on some horses in a smaller stable like some of the bigger stables because they have more waiting to come in to you. When you're a smaller trainer, you have to be able to get the most out of what you have and still be conservative and keep them sound. I think being able to individualize and keep a horse healthy so it can campaign for longer is a big benefit that we have.

What has been the biggest thing you have learned since going out on your own?

Probably client management. The horses are easy for the most part. They do make fools out of all of us, there's no question about that, but client management is the biggest thing. Richard Mandella told me years ago that people are going to try to tell you what to do. Being able to work with clients is the toughest transition from going to an assistant to being on your own. It's about dealing with the clients on a daily basis, not just the horses.

I do try to work with everyone's needs on a very personal level. We're pretty respectful of what the client wants. Obviously I won't run one for a tag if an owner doesn't want to run for a tag. If we were able to place every horse where they needed to belong, we would all win a lot more races and you would see a lot more 25-30% trainers out there–not just a certain five guys.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone going out on their own this year, what would it be?

Be patient. It's going to test you physically and mentally. The stress level of a Thoroughbred trainer, especially one starting out, is no joke.

Mike told me when I was struggling with two to four horses that you have to keep showing up and keep grinding. I took a lot of weight from his interview that he gave after winning the Dubai World Cup when he said, “It was finally my time.” He had been training horses for 40 years.

People will say, “That trainer came from out of nowhere,” when in all actuality he has been training for 20 years. Or people will say, “This guy is untouchable,” when maybe he wasn't five years ago, but now all of a sudden people are flocking to him. That's what happens because numbers breed success. You have more options, more liberty and you have a different clientele.

What is something that you think this incoming generation of trainers does better than the generations before them?

That's hard to say. Every generation has had to overcome certain things. You think back to when D. Wayne Lukas and Jack Van Berg really started the era of super trainers. Now it's just kind of keeping up with the Joneses as far as when you don't have that many horses coming in like the bigger stables, you have to be able to individualize.

I think the trainers just coming in like myself are facing a lot more medication overhaul than what was previously imposed. There is a lot more veterinary regulations.

Also the expense of owning a racehorse has gone up tremendously, which has caused some of the little owners who would potentially give a startup guy a horse or two to kind of just fizzle out. We're kind of seeing it go back to the “Sport of Kings” in that it's the super wealthy or the big syndicates that are really taking over. That's good and bad. If you're churning for those guys, it's great. If you're not, you're on the outside looking in. When you go to a sale, you know the guys you're going to go up against and you know the money behind them, so you're hoping you can get lucky.

Moonlit Garden wins the 2018 Summer Colony S. | Sarah Andrew

Who is your favorite horse that you've ever had in your stable?

I have a horse named City Drifter (Temple City) who is one of my all-time favorites. He's a barn favorite. He's a very honest horse. I've won six allowance races with him. He's won eight out of 26 starts. He seems like he always shows up and gives us what we have. He's a beautiful, stocky horse and is very easy to be around.

I also just retired a horse named Jimmy D (Haynesfield) who was the definition of a war horse. I got him when he was running for $5,000 in California. Subsequently as a 7-year-old after almost 70 starts, he won his first allowance race. He ended up winning 11 in his lifetime. I just retired him sound because he was at the end of his career and we hope to make him a stable pony.

If you could spend one afternoon at the track enjoying the day (i.e. not working), which track would you go to?

Well they closed it. Arlington Park. That's home and it was one of the best facilities to watch racing. I've been to most places in the country at some point or another and Arlington was probably the premier spot to go watch racing.

Del Mar, Santa Anita and Keeneland are up there with Arlington in terms of aesthetics, but as a patron, the accessability and layout of Arlington was probably the best.

If you aren't at the track, what can you be found doing?

Playing golf and taking care of a six-month-old baby.

If one change was made to racing that would make your life easier, what would it be?

There are a lot of things. In terms of medication reform, higher surveillance in the barns would be key to level the playing field. We had the Servis and Navarro scandal, but that stuff is still very prevalent today in my opinion. I would never be opposed to them putting cameras in every stall at every racetrack throughout the country.

What is your biggest hot take? It can be racing-related or completely random.

Time is only relevant in prison. A horse may work fast or maybe run a race slow, but you might have caught a fast track or a slow track or your horse might have just preferred the surface that day. There might have been a speed bias or a closing bias. I think people overestimate times.

Click here for more from our 'Earning Their Stripes' series.

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Davis Hoping To Use Monmouth’s Sapling As Breeders’ Cup Steppingstone With American Sanctuary

For trainer Christopher Davis to venture East to Monmouth Park, something he has done just once before in his brief career, there has to be a good reason.

Visions of the Breeders' Cup would qualify as that.

Davis, currently based at Arlington Park, will send American Sanctuary to Monmouth Park for Sunday's $200,000 Sapling Stakes at one mile for 2-year-olds, one of the highlights of four straight days of live racing that starts on Friday.

A Kentucky-bred son of American Freedom-Haven's Honey by E Dubai, American Sanctuary will be seeking his first stakes win, with a bigger prize in Davis' sights down the road for the aptly-named Dare to Dream Stable-owned colt. American Sanctuary finished second in the Prairie Meadows Gold Juvenile Stakes in his last start on Aug. 14.

“He got a rough trip in that race, finished really strong and galloped out great,” said Davis. “He's a horse that we want to go long with. He came out of that race in good order and worked back last week. We're trying to make the Breeders' Cup with him.”

Davis, 32, is having the type of career year that suggests that he may not be over-reaching with that goal. He is just two wins shy (with 30 overall) of matching his career best for a year and his $859,457 in earnings are already a personal best. On July 17 he earned his first graded stakes win when Naval Laughter captured the Grade 3 Modesty Star at Arlington Park.

American Sanctuary, though, has not tried more than six furlongs.

“I like the distance of the Sapling for him,” said Davis. “I like going from three-quarters of a mile to a flat mile, as opposed to a mile and a sixteenth. Looking at the nominations I feel we're right there with the top ones in the field.”

Davis, who grew up under parents who were both trainers, has been on his own since 2016. He currently has 35 horses and is looking to branch out beyond the Midwest, with plans to try Gulfstream Park this winter.

His trip to Monmouth will be just the second of his career. In 2018, he saddled Moonlit Garden to a second-place finish behind Divine Miss Grey in the Lady's Secret Stakes.

“I was going to send a couple to Monmouth last year but it didn't work out,” he said. “They were going to give me stalls, but with COVID-19 and the late start they had we had to change out plans and wound up at Churchill.

“With Arlington closing we could potentially have some horses at Monmouth Park next year. We'll see.”

Accompanying American Sanctuary on the trip East will be stablemate Quick Tempo, with Davis pointing that one to the Rumson Stakes on Sept. 11 at Monmouth Park.

In addition to the 87th running of the Sapling on Sunday, Monmouth Park will feature the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes on Saturday and the $200,000 Sorority Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on Monday.

First race post time on Friday is 3 p.m. Post time for the remainder of the meet through Sept. 26 will be 12:15 p.m. starting on Saturday.

The post Davis Hoping To Use Monmouth’s Sapling As Breeders’ Cup Steppingstone With American Sanctuary appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Keep Showing Up’ Motto Pays Off For Davis

It only took four and a half years for trainer Chris Davis to progress from saddling his first winner to his 100th, and shortly thereafter to his first graded stakes win. Statistically speaking, he's ahead of the curve. Watching the filly Naval Laughter crossing the wire first in the Grade 3 Modesty Stakes last Saturday at Arlington, Davis' 105th winner overall, the 32-year-old trainer let the emotion show. 

He celebrated, of course, but like all lifelong horsemen he was right back in the barn before sunrise on Sunday morning.

“It's funny, when you go back and listen to some of these top-tier trainers, and they say the first 100 wins were the hardest to get,” Davis said. “You just keep doing your job, keep showing up and it'll happen. It's a marathon, not a sprint.”

The same could be said for Naval Laughter's career. The 4-year-old daughter of Midshipman was making just her fourth start in the Modesty, having missed the entirety of her sophomore season.

Breeder Anthony Braddock sold the filly as a yearling for $90,000 at Fasig-Tipton's July sale, then watched her run a game third in her first start in November of her 2-year-old season for trainer Ken McPeek. Naval Laughter developed an issue after that race, and the owners decided to run her back through another sale.

Braddock bought her back for $17,000 at the February Mixed sale in 2020, and gave her plenty of time to recover at his Two Hearts Farm. Meanwhile, the owner had been introduced to Davis through jockey Sophie Doyle.

Doyle got her first graded stakes win in the United States for Braddock in 2015 aboard Fioretti, and was aboard Naval Laughter for last Saturday's win to complete the full circle. 

Trainer Chris Davis and jockey Sophie Doyle celebrate Naval Laughter's graded stakes win in the Modesty

“Tony has been extremely patient with this filly, basically allowing us to have free rein with determining what her schedule is going to be,” Davis said. “She'd had plenty of time off, so there was no sense of rushing her back to the races only to get her hurt again. We really just let her take us to her first race.”

That collective “we” refers to Davis' assistant trainer Mynor Ortiz. The man has been with Davis since the beginning of his training career, and works hard to keep both the horses and the stable staff happy. He was instrumental in bringing Naval Laughter back to the races. 

In her first start off the layoff, the filly “just blew us away,” Davis said. 

That first start in nearly 18 months came on June 3 in a maiden special weight on the synthetic at Arlington, which Naval Laughter won by an impressive 19 ¾ lengths. 

In her second start, Davis had tried to get the filly on the turf course but the race was rained off and held on the synthetic once again. Naval Laughter went a bit too quickly early and had a 3 ½-length lead at the head of the lane, but was run down in the stretch and had to settle for second.

Davis finally got Naval Laughter on the turf for the Modesty, and the filly relaxed off the pace to run down the leaders in the stretch and win by a half-length. She completed 1 1/16 miles on the firm Arlington course in 1:54.58.

“It was a pretty awesome feeling,” Davis said.

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Davis has had horse racing ingrained in his soul since his earliest memories of toddling around his mother Liane Davis' shed rows throughout Chicago. She never trained more than 10 to 20 horses at a time, so their care was a family affair; Davis' father was her assistant, an exercise rider, and also served as an assistant starter on the gate in the afternoons.

There was, however, a brief period when Davis considered working outside the racetrack, he admits.

“I was really into movies and acting and theater when I was younger,” Davis said. “I worked at Medieval Times in Chicago, jousting, and I got into film school but I decided not to go. It was more about who you know than where you go to school, so I decided to go to community college and get a business degree instead while I worked at the track.

“I may have done a lot of acting stuff, but I've also always loved the racetrack; once it gets into your blood it's hard to get it out.”

Though he'd already passed the test to take out a trainer's license by the time he graduated, Davis knew he wanted to learn more before setting out on his own. He exercised horses for trainers like Richard Hazelton, Rusty Hellman, Wayne Catalano, and Pat Byrne, then took his first assistant's job for Mike Stidham.

Davis spent 5 ½ years with Stidham, then another two out on the west coast for Phil D'Amato.

“I was fortunate enough to see a lot,” Davis said. “People train so differently from coast to coast. I'd spent a lot of time in the Midwest, gone to New Orleans, New York, Gulfstream, shipping in to other trainers' barns and watching how they do things, but I hadn't spent a lot of time in California. Obviously there are trainers out there that are really strong in the game, so you figure there's got to be some reason for that. I wanted to be able to see what they were doing, how they trained. 

“Out West, they train a little bit harder, just the way they breeze their horses and the work schedules are a little bit different.”

Today, Davis puts all his varied experience to good use when developing individualized schedules for his 35-horse string in Chicago. 

“I never worked for a straight 'program guy,'” he explained. “Whether there were 50 or 150 in the barn, every horse got individual attention every day. So I'm always adapting different things to individualize it for each horse.”

A big part of his success has been Davis' ability to read both horses and people.

“I really try to individualize every client to their needs, just like the horses,” he said. “I think honesty is the most important thing; you're less likely to have a poor effort that's unexplained.”

Trainer Chris Davis

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