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‘We’re In The Game To Run’: $20,000 Colt Proving A Diamond In The Rough For Jimmy Baker

To change up their luck in buying an inexpensive racehorse for themselves, Candie Baker told her husband to get “the biggest, ugliest colt you can find.”

Trainer Jimmy Baker kept getting outbid at the 2017 Keeneland yearling sale — “They sold so fast that I didn't get to raise my hand,” he said — so he settled instead for small and good-looking. Baker paid $20,000 for that colt. Today Spectacular Gem has proven a diamond in the rough, bringing earnings of $248,571 into Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile at the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park.

The race is part of Ellis' third annual Kentucky Downs Preview Day: five $100,000 turf stakes positioned as launching pads into big-money stakes at the all-grass track in Franklin, Ky. The winners of the Ellis stakes races get a fees-paid berth in the corresponding race at Kentucky Downs. The Preview Tourist Mile is an automatic qualifier for the $750,000 Tourist Mile on Sept. 7.

Normally Candie Baker wants to buy fillies, saying, “I just think they have a bigger heart than colts. And Jimmy always did good with fillies.

“But this time I said, 'You know what, let's change our luck a bit. I need the biggest, ugliest colt you can find,'” she recalled. “Then we kept getting outbid, outbid. I was like, 'Just find me one.' He said, 'Candie, I found you one. It's not probably what you want. It's by nothing out of nothing, but he's a good-looking colt.' I said, 'That's fine.' He really liked him, and we got him.”

Good-looking horses who sell for $20,000 tend to come up short as far as fashionable bloodlines. Spectacular Gem was sired by the unproven Can The Man (who actually is a son of the popular stallion Into Mischief), and out of a mare by Malabar Gold, a $1 million yearling whose biggest accomplishment was a Grade 3 victory. Jimmy Baker said he'd never heard of Can the Man when he bought Spectacular Gem.

“He looked fantastic,” he said. “He wasn't a big horse but he was athletic-looking.”

“Jimmy has a really good eye for yearlings. I mean, cheap horses. I never want to get hurt in the business,” Candie said. “You can get a $500,000 horse that can't win for maiden $10,000. We had another filly, Starlight Express, and she made us money. I said, 'I got $20,000 that we can spend, and I know we're going to have to spend another $20,000 to get the horse to the races. We were just using those other horses' money, not my money.”

Spectacular Gem actually won his first career start at Ellis Park in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race. Five starts later, the colt earned his second victory the first time Jimmy Baker tried him on turf. He's raced on grass pretty much ever since.

The colt has lost a stakes on a disqualification and won a stakes on a disqualification. In between Spectacular Gem captured Churchill Downs' $125,000 Jefferson Cup in what's become his trademark style of taking the lead early. That's what the 4-year-old did in his last race, dominating a graded stakes-quality field in a Churchill allowance race off a 4 1/2-month layoff.

“He's not very big. He's long. He looks like a grass horse,” Candie said. “But he has a big heart and he loves what he does.”

To prepare for the Ellis stakes, Spectacular Gem worked a sparkling five-eighths of a mile in 59 1/5 seconds, which he followed up with a comfortable half-mile in 48 2/5 seconds, going the last three-eighths in 35 2/5 seconds under jockey James Graham Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

“Last week he worked exceptionally,” Jimmy said. “He's never worked like that before. I know the track was fast, but he just seems to be on top of his game this year since his break…. His workouts lately are much better than the last two years, so he's definitely on the improve.”

Baker has been training since 1989, having such quality horses as Grade 1 Whitney Handicap winner Mahogany Hall, multiple graded-stakes winner Spinning Round for New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes winner Elite Squadron and Grade 1-placed Pretty Prolific.

“I had a lot of good years in the 1990s, and we've been piddling the last 12 years buying horses, most of them fillies — a lot cheaper, $5,000, $10,000,” Baker said. “We're just really lucky to get a horse like this. It means a lot to us because we're in the game to run. To have a horse to run in these kinds of races is just a bonus for us.”

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‘Starting To Get The Hang Of It Now’: Reeve McGaughey Saddles Second Winner At Ellis Park

Reeve McGaughey earned his first training victory in his home state Saturday as 12-1 shot Nathan Detroit won his debut in the sixth race for 2-year-olds at the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park. But the 31-year-old horseman certainly is no stranger to the winner's circle in Kentucky and elsewhere.

McGaughey is the son of New York-based Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and veteran Kentucky horsewoman Mary Jane Featherston McGaughey. His uncle is Charlie LoPresti, for whom Reeve McGaughey was an assistant for five years during which time the stable had two-time Horse of the Year and three-time turf champion Wise Dan.

Before going out on his own, Reeve served for several years as an assistant to his dad, which made it easier for the elder McGaughey to run more horses in Kentucky.

“I've grown up around it between my uncle, my dad, my mom, my step dad (Brent Smith),” Reeve McGaughey said. “I don't think you're ever completely prepared for when it's your name in the program versus somebody else's, just the responsibility of it. But I think we're starting to get the hang of it now, hopefully.”

Reeve McGaughey sent out his first runner as a trainer on Feb. 2 at Arkansas' Oaklawn Park and earned his first victory in his eighth start. Nathan Detroit was his 20th starter for his Lexington-based stable that now totals 12 horses.

“He's been patient by doing it so he didn't get overrun with maybe not enough help and too many horses to deal with right off the bat,” Shug McGaughey, speaking from New York, said of Reeve building a stable. “I think he's done a very good job of that.”

Nathan Detroit is owned by Joe Allen, one of his dad's clients. Reeve also ran a horse Saturday at Ellis for the Phipps Stable, the powerful outfit that brought the elder McGaughey to New York from Kentucky 35 years ago.

“They'd all been around him,” Shug said of his owners and his son. “They all like and admired Reeve. If the horse wasn't going to do in New York, they wanted to have it with him down there. That's worked out well. It's not me pushing the horses there. We talk every day, because I'm interested in what he's doing. But I've also tried to stay away from it. I don't want to be influencing him one way or the other. If he had a question, I'd be glad to answer it.”

One big difference between being an assistant trainer and being a trainer?

“It's a whole lot easier to sign the back of a check than the front of a check,” Reeve McGaughey acknowledged. And winning? “It's almost more of a relief, to be honest,” he said with a laugh. “I think you stress out so much about every one.”

Each start with each horse means so much financially and otherwise to a small stable, perhaps even more when a trainer is trying to get established.

“You put a lot into each horse going into each race,” Reeve McGaughey said. “Maybe you stress a little more because you don't have three more to run the next day to make up for that one. So yeah, it feels good when they run well.”

Shug McGaughey, who won the 2013 Kentucky Derby with Orb, said he hopes his son learned from him. “But I think he's done a lot and put a lot into it himself to try to get this stuff figured out,” he said. “As he goes along, obviously he's going to figure more and more out.

“One of the good things about him is he's patient. He knows when to go and when to stop, and he's not afraid to do that. When I first started, I probably was a little hesitant on the stopping part of it. But he's not.”

The elder McGaughey said it was clear early on that Reeve would become a trainer.

“I talked to him about getting a job in the racing office, just to learn that part,” Shug said. “He said, 'No, I want to train horses.' It's been on his mind since he was a teenager. When he first started, I said, 'You know, you've got to learn from the bottom up.' And that's what he's done.

“He's put a lot, a lot of time into it. As a father, I wish he had more time to himself. But that's not the way this game is. He understands that. He enjoys being at the barn. That's what he likes to do, and he's not afraid to work. Hopefully it will start paying off for him.”

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Fourth-Generation Trainer Jason Barkley Off To Fast Start At Ellis Park

Jason Barkley, in his third full season of training horses and off to a fast start at Ellis Park, has been around the track since he could walk.

“He always wanted to do something, was always into something trying to help out,” said his dad, veteran trainer Jeff Barkley. “I'd say he was 5 or 6 when he could start doing a few things, I don't care if it was raking the shedrow or mixing feed.

“Of course he was always small. Well, my feed barrel was kind of tall and he was reaching down in the feed barrel to get the feed out and dump it into the feed tub. One day I was doing some horses up and I hear this 'help! help!' He'd reached into the barrel and fell into it. That's how small he was when he was helping.”

Young Jason remained undaunted and now is barreling along in his lifelong ambition of training horses after starting out with one horse in 2017 at Ellis Park.

The 31-year-old Barkley — who grew up in Evansville and now is based in Louisville at Churchill Downs' Trackside Training Center — has won three of 10 starts, with a second and a third, at the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park. That puts him in a tie for second with Ron Moquett for the early lead in the trainer standings. Dane Kobiskie tops all trainers with five wins heading into Friday's racing.

“It's tough,” Barkley said of building a stable from scratch. “Some guys, they take a big string when they start; maybe they worked for somebody a long time. Other guys, such as myself, you build it up as you go. I started with one, then we got to five, that turned into 12 and then 28. You just kind of put yourself out there, talk to as many people as you can, make as many contacts as you can, try to take advantage of being at the races and seeing owners, meet different people. You can only sell yourself so much with your words, but what you can do on the track, that's what they want to see.”

Jason Barkley is a fourth-generation horseman from the Tri-State area, graduating from Evansville Central. He clearly was predisposed genetically to become a trainer, not only on his father's side, but through his mother, Sandy. Her mother, Marcella Byers, was the first female trainer to be licensed in Louisiana and married fellow trainer Jack Byers, while Sandy's grandmother Blanche Koring was one of the first women to be licensed as a trainer in Kentucky, Jeff said of his in-laws. Jeff's father, Bill Barkley, owned and trained horses, acquiring his first racehorse when his son was 10.

Jason worked for his dad until enrolling in the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program in the College of Business, spending his summers working at Churchill Downs for trainers such as Steve Margolis, Paul McGee and Wayne Catalano, along with Nick Zito after graduation. He subsequently worked as an assistant trainer to Wesley Ward and Joe Sharp.

Barkley said wanted to learn from trainers with different styles.

“Wesley was heavily on the babies,” he said. “So I wanted to learn that whole routine. With Joe, it was a little bit of everything. He had the good horses, we had claiming horses, we had babies. You learn how to manage a big stable, not only the horses but the people and everything that goes with it. That was a big benefit to me, from growing up on a smaller track with 10-15 horses.”

Jeff Barkley also was a major influence.

“A lot of the bigger barns, guys will get into a routine. Maybe everything gallops a mile and a half, things like that,” his son said. “But working for Dad, you learned that they are different. If you treat them differently and play to their strengths, in the end it will pan out better for you.”

One thing Jason didn't pick up from his dad was the desire to ultimately have a 100-horse stable.

“He didn't learn that from me,” Jeff said with a laugh. “He's got a whole lot different perspective. I guess the most I ever had at one time was 28. That's what he's at now. More power to him, especially if they're runners. But he's got the 'want to' and the drive to do it.”

Jason last year switched from stabling at Ellis Park in the summer to staying in Louisville. But he enjoys returning home to run horses — all the better when they win.

“Obviously we don't have the fans there, but Dad's there, Mom's there,” he said. “You don't get to go home much in this business; you travel so much. So to go home and see everybody, that's nice. You grow up somewhere, and to be able to go back and win, that's a lot of fun.”

“He's off to a good start,” Jeff said, adding jokingly, “Puts pressure on me to keep up. He's got more horses than I've got, and I can't keep up. Then of course we ran against each other here one day, and he beat me. I'm still hearing about that – not from him but from other people. The other day our buddy Billy Stinson won the first race. Jason won the second. We could have had the Pick 3 but I blew it. I ran second. I've been hearing about that since then, too.”

In another game-changer, Barkley's girlfriend, Shelbi Kurtz, gave birth to their baby girl, Aria Leigh, 11 months ago. Kurtz remains heavily involved in the stable as assistant trainer and exercise rider.

“Everybody seems to make it work,” Barkley said of having a family with horse racing's time-intensive seven-day work week, even on days when the barn doesn't have a horse running. “I get done (training) in the mornings. Before having a family, you'd pour into your condition books and your training chart, getting ready for the next day.

“Now you take time during the day to do other things, then your night's become a lot longer. Because you start pouring into your condition books about 7 at night instead of noon. It adds a little more to your day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

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‘I’m Drawing This As The Line’: After Injury In Fall At Ellis, Trainer Larry Jones Finished Galloping

Trainer Larry Jones has long been well-known for galloping his own horses, and his unique long-stirrup and fast-moving style have always set his trainees apart in the mornings. Those days are now over for the 63-year-old, following a serious spill last Saturday at Ellis Park.

According to the Daily Racing Form, Jones was thrown from an unraced 2-year-old and suffered nine broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a fractured vertebra. He's back at work already, but looking forward, the trainer plans to stick to the pony or stay on the ground.

Six years ago, Jones had to be placed in a medically-induced coma due to a severe head injury after a fall at Delaware Park.

“Every time I'd get hurt, all I'd think about was getting back up,” Jones told the Daily Racing Form. “But not any longer. I'm drawing this as the line. I've looked for the end of that racetrack for 40 years now, but I'm done looking.”