War Chant was bred and raced by Marge and Irving Cowan, and trained by Neil Drysdale. Out of MGISW Hollywood Wildcat (Kris S.), the homebred finished ninth in the GI Kentucky Derby and ended his racing career with a win later that year in the Breeders' Cup Mile. In seven starts he amassed earnings of $1,130,600.

Beginning his stud duties at Robert Clay's Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky in 2001, War Chant performed shuttle duty on occasion to Chile and Western Australia. In 2011, after prolonged negotiations, the late Ron Sayers managed to secure the Southern-hemisphere breeding rights for War Chant for the next three years.

Three years later, the sire relocated permanently to Western Australia following the breeding season. He was responsible for 46 stakes winners world-wide with 12 of those based down under.

The stallion was regularly used to educate young staff in the breeding barn. His professional manner while covering mares meant that he was the perfect teacher for the younger staff who were keen to perfect their handling skills.

“He had the three Ps–Performance, Pedigree and Physique,” said Davy Hanratty, Yarradale's Stud Manager. “His movie star good looks hit you first. He was a quirky devil at times but taught me to be a better horseman. We are very lucky he has built a terrific reputation as a broodmare sire, and rest assured, we haven't seen the last of his name in the record books.”

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“Liver chestnut son of Stevward,” says the man whose career unites this unlikely pair. “You should have seen us trying to figure out how to breed mares on our own. 'Grab her tail.' There were no helmets and vests worn, I can guarantee you that.”

Chris Baker, chief operating officer at Three Chimneys for the past decade, chuckles at the memory.

“My father, in essence, thought that no uterus should be empty,” he says. “From cows to horses, to cats, dogs, everything. Breed, breed, breed. An old Catholic thing, I guess! But that's where the whole horse thing started.”

It has been quite an odyssey since. Crucially, in a sector of the industry that often feels culpably divorced from its ostensible purpose, Baker cut his teeth on the racetrack. He started at a barn that then housed A.P. Indy, and for a time was even a trainer himself. Baker went on to adapt those experiences to the challenges of breeding, so well that 11 years as general manager for Ned Evans at Spring Hill Farm yielded over 100 stakes winners, including another Horse of the Year in Saint Liam. During a stint at WinStar, he welcomed into the world yet another that would earn those laurels; and now Gun Runner and Baker have together brought their careers to fulfilment in the service of the Torrealba family at Three Chimneys.

Baker cuts a striking figure, nowadays, silver hair flowing beneath the broad brim of his hat. But the ease of his demeanor and conversation has been fully earned: the insights kindly shared with The TDN remind us that none of these things happen overnight, nor by accident.

Baker's forefathers were themselves achieving pretty high production. Baker himself is sixth of seven children; his father was one of nine kids from McKees Rocks, Pittsburgh; and his grandfather, in turn, was one of nine, seven being boys.

All seven brothers went into the family business: a bakery, inevitably. The one who became Baker's grandfather was charged with the care of 100 carthorses that delivered bread for the Baker Brothers Bakery.

“My dad tells of going with his father in a buckboard wagon at weekends to try out replacements for horses that had been retired, or come up lame,” he recalls. “One time this horse just wouldn't go and, after driving away at him for a mile or so, they turn round to go back. And then the horse just takes off. They can't stop him. He's running through the cobblestone streets like a lunatic, all the way back into the barn, where he comes to a screeching halt, dust flying everywhere.”

The panting driver leaned down to his sons cowering in the bottom of the wagon. His words have since been humorously invoked at any appropriate juncture in Baker family history: “Boys, whatever you do, don't tell your mother.”

It is to this gentleman that Baker traces his affinity for horses-though there were also weekends and summers at the farm owned by his other grandfather, an hour or so from his boyhood home in Washington, DC. This one was an attorney (as was Baker's own father) but also raised cattle and tobacco on 600 acres.

“So really we did a lot of our growing up in the country,” Baker says. “And we were riding before we could walk. There were horses for everybody- buckskins, palominos, Tennessee walkers-just not saddles or bridles for everybody! If you were the last to the tack room, you'd be riding with a halter and rope.”

The most expensive was a Chincoteague pony bought by his father for $45. But then a neighbors' daughter went away to college and gave her hunting mare, a retired Thoroughbred, to the Bakers. Suddenly they had a new sense of what a horse could be. Soon they started claiming the odd Thoroughbred from places like Charles Town and Mountaineer, Despot among them.

“And then somebody told my father that a stallion needs to be exercised,” Baker recalls. “Which is right. But next thing I'm the one, at 10 years old, getting run off with, all over the farm.”

Sometimes he would also be told to ride a mare to a nearby farm that stood Quarter Horse stallions. ([Its owners were raising a boy of their own into the game: the future veterinarian, Steve Allday.] Baker remembers being told to stand his mare uphill, and put his shoulder into her chest so that she might keep still. One way or another, then, it was a pretty seasoned young horseman who went off to read Agriculture and Animal Science at the University of Maryland.

It was during his college years that Baker first sampled racetrack work, at Bowie, and subsequently a three-year grounding at Lane's End included stints at Churchill and Keeneland with the farm's trainer at the time, Neil Howard. Baker had been a sufficiently able high school athlete-football, track, wrestling-to have developed an interest in physiological preparation. First and foremost, however, he had grasped that anybody intending to breed racehorses should understand the requirements of those who trained them.

Baker served as Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella's assistant for several years | Benoit

“I believe my experience on the racetrack makes me a way better farm manager,” Baker acknowledges. “And that was very intentional. It was something deeply ignited in me at that age, my early 20s: how could I breed and raise an athlete without seeing that athlete in training and in competition?”

True, that apprenticeship extended far beyond his expectations. He went to Australia and England, to see how things were done there; and ended up serving four years as assistant trainer to Richard Mandella. His resume by then included a year with Neil Drysdale, on hand when a $2.9 million son of Seattle Slew broke his maiden at Santa Anita. Baker was still very junior, at that time, but A.P. Indy gave him a glimpse of the elite Thoroughbred; and Mandella would now provide a wider perspective.

“Richard was a great teacher,” he recalls. “A great taskmaster, as well! I mean, you were going to learn, or you weren't going to be around at all. So I learned a tremendous amount about hard work and horsemanship, the kind that leaves no stone unturned. But also in terms of character, and approach to life.”

Within months Phone Chatter and Kotashaan (Fr) had won at the Breeders' Cup, while the South American conveyor belt would bring the likes of Siphon (Brz) and Gentlemen (Arg).

“Those horses had to go through a lot of filters to make it here,” Baker reflects. “Some had a lot of stamina in their pedigrees and, especially in California, you had to have speed as well. But most of them had good foot, good bone, some constitution. Watching Richard adapting both South American and French horses to U.S. methods, the acclimatization process, the patience required, was a fantastic education. At the same time, of course, he's getting horses like Afternoon Deelites and Soul of the Matter. At one time we had 40 horses in the barn and eight were Grade I winners. It was just a great environment, a great lab to study in.”

Eventually Baker became so absorbed by the track that he thought he might never leave. He took out a license, trained 11 winners over a couple of years. But then he got married, soon a daughter appeared, and a nomadic and uncertain existence became impractical. He returned to Kentucky and worked on a couple of farms until sounded out by his former employers at Lane's End about their client, Edward P. Evans, who was seeking a manager for his farm in Virginia.

Inauspiciously, Evans was doing so for the fourth time in five years. But it suited Baker, as a young father, to be close to family and he backed himself to forge a relationship with this notoriously demanding employer.

“He was tough but fair,” Baker says. “And he expected results. As his brother Shel told me, 'In Ned's life, nobody avoids the penalty box.' But so long as you were doing what you were supposed to, and helping him achieve his goals, he was a great guy to work for. So I just went in and worked hard, was honest and clear with him. And, as we got to know each other, we built some trust and mutual respect.

“He was a very intelligent guy. He could take what looked like complex situations, and distill them to one simple actionable item that would drive success. He read people well, read business well. And he had a highly developed bullshit monitor!”

Evans had been only 27 when buying the farm back in 1969.

“He'd always bred to good stallions: Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, Halo,” Baker says. “He'd bred to The Minstrel at Windfields in Maryland and got Minstrella, a champion 2-year-old [in Europe]. But having been operating with 20, 30 mares, the whole scale changed when he sold out of Macmillan [the publishing firm]. That was when he got right up to 90 mares, and his whole intent and focus changed. So when I fell in, it was Year 31 of a 42-year experiment. All the ingredients were there-the physical plant, the bloodstock-and he just needed somebody to help orchestrate things, from an operational standpoint. So, again, it was fortunate timing on my part.”

By that stage Baker had long been absorbed by pedigrees. He was barely 10 when his father would throw him the stallion edition of Maryland Horse to help pick a $1,500 sire. But now he could mix from a much larger palette, including Pleasant Tap-Evans had inherited a third share from his father-and homebreds like Silver Ghost and Stormin Fever.

By the time Evans died, on the last day of 2010, they had raised Saint Liam [sold as a yearling] and Quality Road, whose stud career has lavishly benefited his late breeder's charitable foundation.

“I didn't know everything about managing a farm,” Baker says. “Still don't. But I knew what I didn't know, and knew people to call to fill in the gaps. Working for Mr. Evans was like getting an MBA. We'd go over the financial statements on a monthly basis, we'd go over the annual budgeting with his controller in New York. To that point, I had focused my entire career on developing my horsemanship. But he opened my eyes to the macro, business level.”

Three Chimneys owner Goncalo Torrealba | Keeneland

In the process Baker also obtained a rare, cradle-to-grave perspective on equine potential. When preparing the Spring Hill dispersal, then, Baker was still presiding over matings and foalings, still liaising with pre-trainers and trainers. The authority with which he did so plainly impressed Benjamin Leon, who bought several of the mares and invited Baker to follow them into his operation. Baker having committed to WinStar, however, Leon said: “Chris, these mares are your handiwork. They should be with you. Will you ask Mr. Troutt if I can board them at WinStar?”

So it was that Baker came to be present when Saint Liam's $3 million half-sister Quiet Giant (Giant's Causeway) delivered a Candy Ride colt on 8 March, 2013. He still has a photo of the foal standing for the first time. A few months later, Baker was hired by the new owners of Three Chimneys-but he would not be parted long from Gun Runner.

By typical horseracing happenstance (Goncalo Torrealba's sister and Leon were both clients of the same Miami hairdresser) Leon invited the Torrealbas to his suite for the 2014 Kentucky Derby. Leon hit it off with Torrealba, and was invited to stay at Three Chimneys next time he was in town. When he did so, they look Baker to see all Leon's stock-and very soon sealed a partnership in everything that had come out of Spring Hill.

“So then all those horses were here with me at Three Chimneys,” marvels Baker. “If that's not luck, I don't know what is. It's fantastic, just makes the whole thing very, very meaningful. Because of the long connections, the multiple generations of multiple families.”

This has allowed Baker an emotionally gratifying stake in the outcomes of his own long diligence. Sure, he has only ever monetized his contribution as a salary; but he has felt privileged, throughout, to participate in his employers' far-sightedness.

“For so many people in our industry, just to make ends meet, the goal is to make a profit every time they can,” he acknowledges. “I've been fortunate to benefit from a completely different mindset: to focus on results, on accomplishing things, and ultimately to make a business profitable that way instead.”

The point being that with adequate resources and patience, this approach will eventually pay off commercially, too.

“I remember sitting down with Mr. Evans one time, and we were deciding between two stallions for this mare,” Baker recalls. “And I said, 'Well Mr. Evans, Pleasant Tap suits her greatly, but it's not really a commercial mating. Commercially, you'd want this one instead.' And he replied, 'Commercial sires? Racehorse sires? Who doesn't want a racehorse?' I mean, he could afford to kind of push that aside. But it was so black and white to him: if you can breed a racehorse, you'll be doing the right thing for your mare, for the family, for the whole thing.”

Of course this all ties in with Baker's grounding on the backside. His whole career has been oriented to finding a runner.

“Plenty of people that haven't had that racetrack experience have raised a lot of good horses,” Baker stresses. “I just know that for me, it makes me significantly better, because I understand what's going to be asked of them. I understand physically, mentally, even socially, things that might set them up to succeed. At the end of the day, as producers, we can't make them faster or better than they're individually hardwired to be. But by doing or especially not doing certain things, we can stay out of the way of them reaching their full potential.”

Gun Runner | Sarah K. Andrew

Gun Runner, as such, could not be better named. He's only top “gun”, after all, because he was all “run”. To Baker, of course, the horse will always have an unusually personal resonance. Knowing him so intimately, how does he account for Gun Runner's genetic prowess?

“Well, I certainly can't attribute it to any one thing,” he replies. “I think he's an alchemy of so many things that just came together. The only extremes of Gun Runner are his athleticism and his temperament, his will to win. Mental constitution, as much as anything. If you look at him, he's not too big, not too small; and his pedigree, also, suits a broad spectrum of mares. There's a melding of so many things: the brilliance of Candy Ride, the stamina and durability of Giant's Causeway. And you can go all the way back to Gallorette [foaled in 1942]. Just read her race record, and then keep tipping up the line!”

With this fulfilment of former patrons' legacy, then, Baker's present employment has brought things full circle. He repeatedly insists that he has been fortunate, “all the way through my career, to be in the right place at the right time.” But you also make your own luck. It was only because three different people-Evans, Leon and Torrealba-all recognized the skills of this “fabulous Baker boy” that a single set of fingerprints has remained, almost the whole way through, over one of the most remarkable Thoroughbreds on the planet.

“The Torrealba family has afforded us the opportunity to work with a lot of great horses, and a lot of great people,” Baker says gratefully. “All the way through my career, accomplishment has come through people having the right goals, the right stock, doing the right work. I do think I've worked hard for everybody who's been willing to employ me, but I also think I've been very fortunate to have people that believed in me, and in the teams that we could put together. It always takes a team effort, backed up with good stock and good facilities, and Three Chimneys is certainly an extension of that. So really the only way of looking at it is probably that I've been spoiled, right?”

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As the first Derby winner of the 2000s decade, this high-spirited, headstrong son of Mr. Prospector had commanded a $4-million price tag at Keeneland July, then the highest price paid for a yearling at that sale in 13 years. And to this day, that auction price remains as the highest ever paid for any starter in, let alone winner of, the Derby.

At 2.3-1 odds, Fusaichi Pegasus was the first favorite to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979. At the dawn of the 21st Century, recall that the Derby was mired in a deep drought of well-backed losers. At the time, its streak of losing favorites (since 1979) was almost as long as the span back to the sport's last Triple Crown champ (in 1978).

Although it wasn't evident at the time, beyond the numbers, the Derby victory by Fusaichi Pegasus would become a benchmark in the globalization of the sport.

Fusao Sekiguchi, who owned about 80 horses in Japan, became the first horse owner from that country to campaign a Kentucky Derby winner. Japanese connections have yet to win a second Derby, but horses based in Japan now have a points-based qualifying path to get into the Derby each year, and Japanese-campaigned horses have steadily been making their presence felt in other elite American races like the Breeders' Cup.

“FuPeg” got pounded to 3-10 favoritism for the GI Preakness S., but was upset by Red Bullet on a wet track, finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind in second. He was pointed for the GI Belmont S., but a minor foot injury kept him from starting. In an era when top contenders were still more or less expected to dance every dance in the Triple Crown series, his defection in 2000 meant that it was the first time since 1970 that neither the winner of the Derby nor the Preakness contested the Belmont.

Sekiguchi sold Fusaichi Pegasus to Coolmore Stud in June 2000 in a deal that was widely reported (but never officially confirmed) to be in the neighborhood of $60-70 million. At the time, that was the highest price ever paid for a racehorse.

The sale called for Sekiguchi to control FuPeg's racing for the rest of that sophomore season. Under the care of trainer Neil Drysdale, the colt won the then-GII Jerome H. at Belmont Park on Sept. 23, missed the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup with another foot ailment, and finished sixth as the beaten 6-5 favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic to close out his career.

Fusaichi Pegasus went on to sire six champions worldwide, and his Grade I winners included Roman Ruler, Champ Pegasus, Haradasun (Aus) and Bandini. Southern Hemisphere stints at Haras Don Alberto and Haras Philipson yielded champion older horse Bronzo (Chi). Fusaichi Pegasus was pensioned in 2020 and had been living in retirement at Ashford.

Now nearly a full generation (human, not horse) has passed since that 2000 Derby. The official chart of the race reads like a Who's Who of A-list jockeys and trainers.

In fact, the 1-2-3-4 jockeys from that 2000 Derby (Kent Desormeaux, Alex Solis, Craig Perret, John Velazquez) are now all inductees in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. So too are the top four trainers (Drysdale, Bobby Frankel, and Todd Pletcher, who ran third and fourth). Fellow Hall-of-Famers Jerry Bailey, Chris McCarron, Pat Day, D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert rounded out an impressive list of also-rans in FuPeg's Derby.

Pletcher's Understatement…

That 2000 Derby was the first for Pletcher. He saddled Impeachment (third), More Than Ready (fourth), Trippi (11th) and Graeme Hall (eased to last). Then 32, he said post-race with a positive vibe, “We showed we belonged here.”

Now fast-forward 23 years. Two Derby wins and four scores later in the Belmont S., Pletcher looks loaded for this year's edition of the third leg of the Triple Crown, with 'TDN Rising Stars' Forte (Violence) and Tapit Trice (Tapit) vying for favoritism.

Forte, the 2-year-old champ, is two breezes back after being scratched as the morning-line favorite for the Derby with a bruised right front foot on the morning of the race. He'll attempt 12 furlongs off a 10-week break.

According to DRF's Formulator, Pletcher has won at a 21% clip (45-for-217) with all starters who were off between nine and 11 weeks over the last five years. Within that group, his strike rate dips to 1-for-12 (8%) in just Grade I races with the same layoff parameters.

Tapit Trice may end up attracting more pari-mutuel attention, simply by the virtue that his running style begs for 1 1/2 miles over a vast, expansive oval like Belmont's.

Although seventh in the Derby after yet another characteristically slow break and some backstretch momentum loss, that poor result masks a decent middle move that is also emblematic of Tapit Trice's way of going.

It takes this burly gray quite a while to fully uncoil, and in both the Derby and in his previous win, in the GI Blue Grass S., he launched his bid from six furlongs out, which is something no other contender on the Triple Crown trail has been able to do with any degree of success this season.

Pletcher also said that GII Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), 14th in the Derby, will bypass the Belmont after demonstrating signs of colic Friday morning. The colt did not need surgery and is recovering after treatment with fluids.

Derby winner and Preakness third Mage (Good Magic) is being freshened for a run at the GI Runhappy Travers S. in August. Derby runner-up Two Phil's (Hard Spun) will reportedly take aim at the June 24 GIII Ohio Derby.

Wire-to-wire Preakness victor National Treasure (Quality Road) is listed as probable for the Belmont, as are deep-closing Derby third Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), Il Miracolo (Gun Runner), Raise Cain (Violence) and Red Route One (Gun Runner).

Belmont “possibles” include Arabian Lion (Justify), Arcangelo (Arrogate), Prove Worthy (Curlin) and Reincarnate (Good Magic).

Meanwhile, on the Left Coast…

Santa Anita's top colts all had to opt out of this year's Derby because of illness. Two of them are back on the work tab and being considered for the $100,000 Affirmed S. at 1 1/16 miles June 4, according to that track's notes team.

Geaux Rocket Ride, (Candy Ride {Arg}), who was scratched from the GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 8 with an elevated temperature, worked seven furlongs in 1:26.40 (1/1) Friday for trainer Richard Mandella in preparation for the Affirmed.

In just two lifetime starts, Geaux Rocket Ride has paired 92 and 96 Beyer Speed Figures. He was narrowly favored in the betting for the GII San Felipe S. in just his second lifetime try and first around two turns. A speed-centric threat, he gamely forced the issue on the front end of a high-tempo pace, yet still managed to finish determinedly in the final furlong to hold second when faced with a fresh challenge from a more experienced winner.

The late-developing Skinner (Curlin), who was third in the Santa Anita Derby for trainer John Shirreffs, shipped to Louisville and was entered in the Kentucky Derby. Then he, too, missed a start with a fever.

Skinner has returned with three works at Santa Anita since then, including five eighths in 1:02.20 (33/44) on Sunday, with the Affirmed as his next possible target.

Practical Move (Practical Joke), who beat both Geaux Rocket Ride and Skinner at Santa Anita, has yet to post a published workout since a fever caused him to be scratched from the Derby two days before the race.

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When it was announced that trainer Todd Pletcher would be inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame this summer, most could not have been surprised that the 53-year-old would have been granted the honor in his very first year of eligibility. In truth, there was never really any doubt that it would happen so quickly. Having accomplished more in the last two decades than most trainers will achieve in their lifetimes, the Dallas, Texas native towers over his competition with $406 million in career earnings. In fact, he leads his nearest pursuer, fellow Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, by a tick over $50 million even though his counterpart has started twice as many runners. Pletcher's resume is commanding: Seven Eclipse Awards as the nation's outstanding trainer; 10 Eclipse Award winning champions, and five winners of Triple Crown races. Among the plehtora of equine athletes that have helped him place seventh overall with over 5,100 career victories are Rags to Riches, Ashado, Always Dreaming, English Channel, Honey Ryder, Palace Malice, Wait a While, Fleet Indian, Shanghai Bobby, Speightstown, Super Saver, Stopchargingmaria and Uncle Mo.

While there is no guarantee for success in racing, apprenticing under some of the game's biggest names certainly couldn't have hurt. Similarly to a formidable slew of equine champions and human proteges, Pletcher hails from the formidable program of D. Wayne Lukas, who was also inducted into the great hall in his first go around in 1999. While attending the University of Arizona, Pletcher served summer stints working as a groom for Lukas at Arlington Park between his sophomore and junior years before joining another Hall of Famer, Charlie Whittingham, between his junior and senior years.

Upon his graduation, Pletcher joined Lukas's New York string in May of 1989, initially serving as foreman before being promoted to assistant in 1991. Splitting his time between New York and Florida, he managed Lukas's powerful East Coast string through 1995, and in that time, helped develop a bevy of stalwarts, including Horse of the Year Criminal Type and champions Thunder Gulch, Tabasco Cat, Open Mind, Steinlen, Serena's Song and Flanders. Lukas is responsible for 14 Classic victories, 20 Breeders' Cup wins and has trained 26 divisional titles and a trio of Horse of the Year champions. The horseman was the first trainer to reach $100 million and later the $200-million mark in career earnings. A native Antigo, Wisconsin, Lukas was the leading North American trainer in earnings 14 times. And it speaks volumes that Pletcher is one of only a handful of trainers who have been able to breath the same rarified air as his predecessor. Pletcher, who is responsible for seven Eclipse Awards and 10 earnings titles thus far, surpassed the then-leading Lukas in lifetime earnings in 2014 before going on to become the first trainer to reach the $300-million mark in 2015.

Soaring With Eagles

Whittingham would make only a brief appearance in the career of the newest Hall of Fame trainer inductee, however, the 'Bald Eagle' would have a far more meaningful influence over another future Hall of Famer. Based on the West Coast, Whittingham annexed a trio of Eclipse titles throughout his career, in addition to leading all North American trainers in earnings on seven occasions. Himself a former assistant to another Hall of Famer, Horatio Luro–best known for training Classic winner and legendary sire Northern Dancer–the Chula Vista, California native would go on to become the all-time leading trainer of stakes wins at both Hollywood Park and Santa Anita. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974, he was responsible for five future Hall of Famers–Ack Ack, Cougar II, Dahlia, Flawlessly and Sunday Silence. Whittingham also guided the careers of champions Turkish Trousers, Perrault, Kennedy Road, Estrapade, Ferdinand and Miss Alleged.

Neil Drysdale and Charlie Whittingham's wife, Peggy | National Museum of Racing and HOF

In a career that spanned 49 years, Whittingham served as a mentor to a long list of horsemen and women, and one of the most well known was English transplant, Neil Drysdale. After spending two years with John Hartigan at Tartan Farms in Ocala, Florida, Drysdale worked in Argentina and Venezuela before returning to the U.S. to serve as an assistant to Roger Laurin for two years. He subsequently joined Whittingham as an assistant for five years before going out on his own. Since launching his stable in 1975, Drysdale has trained a trio of Hall of Fame members: A.P. Indy, Princess Rooney and Bold 'n Determined. To his credit, he has won over 1,500 career victories, including the 2000 Kentucky Derby with Fusaichi Pegasus, and the Breeders' Cup on six occasions, including with champions Tasso (Juvenile) and Hollywood Wildcat (Distaff), in addition to Prized (Turf) and War Chant (Mile). Also included among his most notable runners are champion Fiji.

Jumping to Glory

Another English transplant that found success in America, Jonathan Sheppard, who received some of his early inspiration from Hall of Famer W. Burling 'Burley' Cocks (inducted in 1985), who also had a hand in the illustrious career of Hall of Famer Tom Voss (2017). Launching his stateside training career in 1965, Shepperd registered his first victory on the flat, however, he would grow into a powerful force on the American steeplechasing circuit. He led all steeplechase trainers in purses from 1973 through 1990, heading the list 29 times in total. He is also responsible for Hall of Famers Café Prince and Flatterer, in addition to champions Forever Together and Informed Decision. In 2010, he became the first trainer to win 1,000 career steeplechase races, before following up the next year by surpassing the $20-million mark in earnings. Sheppard, who was inducted in 1990, retired from racing in 2021 with 3,426 victories and earnings of $86,679,925.

Ensuring his lasting influence, the Englishman was followed into the Hall of Fame in 2009 by another steeplechase luminary, Janet E. Elliot, the only female trainer currently in the great hall. Serving as an assistant to Sheppard for 11 years, the Irish native went out on her own in 1979, and in 1991, surpassed Sheppard as the leading trainer in purses, ending the 18-year stranglehold of her mentor. Elliott's runners have earned a trio of Eclipse awards with Correggio (1996) and Flat Top (1998 and 2002). With over $8-million to her credit, she also developed 1986 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase winner Census.

Midwest Connection

Marion Van Berg dominated the Midwest, first as an owner, winning over 4,600 races, before assuming the mantle as a trainer in 1945. Leading all owners in number of victories 14 times, Van Berg was also the leading owner in money won four times. Before retiring in 1966 with 1,475 wins, the Columbus, Nebraska native saddled stakes winners Rose Bed, Knights Reward, Estacion, Rose's Gem, Spring Broker and Grand Stand. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Jack and Marion Van Berg | Keeneland Library

Following his retirement from training, Van Berg's son, Jack, took over the reins, achieving even greater success than his forerunner. After sending out his first winner in 1957, the junior Van Berg was the leading trainer at Ak-Sar-Ben in Nebraska for 19 consecutive seasons, and topped all trainers by number of wins nine times between 1968 and 1986. Becoming the first trainer to win 5,000 races, Van Berg ultimately retired with 6,523 victories and purse earnings of $86 million. Joining his father in the Hall of Fame in 1985, he ranked as high as fourth in all time wins at the time of his death in 2017. Van Berg was responsible for a host of top rung winners, but was probably best known for a pair of Classic winners–Gate Dancer and Alysheba. The former won the Preakness in 1984, the year Van Berg earned the Eclipse Award training title. The latter, won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and came back at four to win six Grade I's, including an epic renewal of the Breeders' Cup Classic. After garnering the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male in 1987, the son of Alydar was named Champion Older Male and Horse of the Year at four. He retired with a then-record $6,679,242 in earnings, surpassing the previous record of future Hall of Famer John Henry (1990).

The Van Berg stable was well established by the time a young horseman from Mobridge, South Dakota–Bill Mott–appeared on the scene. A year after joining Van Berg, Mott was promoted to assistant–alongside Frankie Brothers–and the stable enjoyed unprecedented success through the 70s, including a banner campaign in 1976 when Van Berg earned the training title at Arlington Park in addition to leading the nation with 496 wins.

After Van Berg decided to head West, Mott opted to remain in the east, launching his own public stable in 1978. Through the ensuing four decades, Mott was responsible for six champions; Theatrical, Paradise Creek, Ajina, Escena, Royal Delta and most notably, Horse of the Year Cigar, who won a tick under $10 million in earnings before his retirement. Voted the Eclipse Award trainer three times, Mott ranks sixth among all trainers with 10 Breeders' Cup victories and over $19 million in earnings. Mott set a then-record for number of wins at a single Churchill Downs meet with 54 in 1984. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.

Creme de la Creme

In stark contrast to Lukas and Van Berg who operated two of the most expansive operations of their era, Frank Y. Whiteley Jr. commandeered a much lighter ship. However, what the Maryland native lacked in breadth, he more than made up for in brilliance and talent. Through a career that spanned five decades, he trained 35 stakes winners, although is best known for his quartet of champions. Arguably the most famous of the group is Ruffian, Champion 2-year-Old Filly of 1974, who became only the fourth horse in history to win the Filly Triple Crown at three en route to another divisional championship. Tragically, while facing 1975 Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure in a match race on July 6, 1975, the black filly suffered a catastrophic breakdown and was subsequently euthanized.

Although Whiteley never won on the First Saturday in May, he did annex the second jewel in the Triple Crown twice, the first with Tom Rolfe (1965) and later with Damascus (1967), who also added the Belmont. Damascus was inducted in 1974, while Ruffian took her place in the hallowed halls two years later. Whiteley also trained the mighty Forego, a three-time Horse of the Year and winner of eight Eclipse Awards who was inducted in 1979.

Forever etched in history through his equine stalwarts, Whiteley, who retired from training in 1984, also played a significant role in the career of his son David, himself a much-lauded trainer with a select number of runners, and with Barclay Tagg, responsible for dual Classic winning Funny Cide. He is probably best known as mentoring future Hall of Famer Claude 'Shug' McGaughey III. McGaughey took on a public stable in 1979, but it was his tenure as the principal trainer for the Phipps family that would help cement his claim to the Hall of Fame.

Listed among the champions trained by the Kentucky native are Hall of Famers Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Heavenly Prize, Inside Information and Lure. In addition to those luminaries, McGaughey also conditioned champions Honor Code, Queena, Rhythm, Smuggler, Storm Flag Flying and Vanlandingham. Earning the Eclipse Award in 1988, McGaughey collected his first Classic victory in the 1989 Belmont with Easy Goer before capturing the Run for the Roses in 2013 with Orb. With nine Breeders' Cup victories already to his credit, the 70-year-old has collected over 2,100 in victories and earnings in excess of $155 million, ranking him 10th among top active trainers. He was inducted in 2004.

All In the Family

The 2007 inductee, John Veitch, holds the distinction of having served as an assistant to not one but two Hall of Fame trainers–his father Sylvester, who was inducted in 1977 and John Elliott Burch, who earned his own admission in 1980. Both generations of Veitch men had the opportunity to train for some of the most influential stables of their respective eras. The elder Veitch, arguably best known for training C.V. Whitney's champion juvenile filly First Flight and George Widener's What A Treat, 3-year-old champion filly of 1965, also developed Classic-winning champions Phalanx (1947) and Counterpoint (1951). A third generation horseman, the junior Veitch trained a pair of Hall of Famers–Calumet runners Davona Dale and Alydar–in addition to champions Before Dawn, Our Mims and Sunshine Forever during a career that spanned three decades. Veitch also won the second renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with Darby Dan's Proud Truth.

John and Sylvester Veitch | Keeneland Library

Another third generation horseman, Elliott Burch, succeeded father Preston M. Burch (1963) and grandfather William P. Burch (1955) into the Hall of Fame. The most recent inductee, Elliott Burch trained six champions and four members of the Hall of Fame–Horse of the Year Sword Dancer, Arts and Letters, Bowl of Flowers and Fort Marcy. Owner, breeder and trainer Preston Burch developed stakes winners both on the flat and over the jumps in the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe. The breeder of Hall of Famer Gallorette, he took over training duties on 1916 Kentucky Derby hero George Smith, and later defeated Derby winners Exterminator and Omar Khayyam in the 1918 Bowie H. Burch also won the 1951 Preakness with Bold. Heading the Burch trifecta is William Burch, who was among six inductees during the initial round of admissions into the Hall of Fame in 1955. Among the notable horses trained by Burch were Wade Hampton, Burch, Telie Doe, Biggonet, Inspector B., Mart Gary, Grey Friar and Decanter.

One can count on one hand the number of trainers who can boast having had a single Triple Crown winner in the barn, but the father-son duo of Benjamin A. Jones (1958 inductee) and Horace A. 'Jimmy' Jones (1959) were blessed with a formidable pair courtesy of Calumet Farm–Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948). The elder Jones conditioned six Derby winners, including Lawrin, Pensive, Ponder and Hill Gail, and was also the trainer of record for Citation's Derby score, however, it was widely understood that his son, Jimmy, actually campaigned the champion colt through his Horse of the Year season. Following in the footsteps of his father when assuming training duties for the powerful Calumet stable, the junior Jones was responsible for seven champions, including Armed, Coaltown, Bewitch, Two Lea and Tim Tam, all of whom are members of the Hall of Fame. The leading money earner five times, Jones was the first trainer to surpass the $1-million mark in a single season in 1947.

Capt. Rochefort, Ben and Jimmy Jones with Citation | National Museum and  Hall of Fame

Another name synonymous with racing excellence is the Hirsch family, represented by Maximillian (Max) J. Hirsch (inducted in 1959) and William J. 'Buddy' Hirsch (1982). Armed with a slew of powerful patrons, the elder Hirsch dominated the Classics, winning nine from 1936 through 1954, including sweeping all three with King Ranch's Assault (1946). The Texas native also conditioned Classic winners Bold Venture, Middleground, Vito and High Gun.

Supporting the old adage that 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree,' Hirsch's daughter, Mary, became the first woman to be granted a trainer's license in the U.S., and his one-time assistant and son, Buddy, would follow him into the Hall of Fame. Earning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart while serving in the Army, Buddy continued to train for many of the names that would help define his father's training career. In addition to King Ranch, Hirsch's stable of owners included Alfred Vanderbilt, Greentree Stable, Edward Lasker and Jane Greer. Standing atop his leading runners was King Ranch's Hall of Famer Gallant Bloom, champion juvenile and 3-year-old filly. The California native also conditioned To Market, Triple Bend, Intent, Rejected, Golden Notes, Cyrano and O'Hara.

Also continuing along family lines, Texas-born George Carey Winfrey, who apprenticed under Hall of Famer Sam Hildreth, launched his own stable in 1917, and through almost five decades, won 940 races and over $2.4 million in purses while never having more than 10 horses in his stable at once. He was succeeded by his stepson, William C. 'Bill' Winfrey, who developed Alfred Vanderbilt's Hall of Famers Native Dancer and Bed o' Roses, in addition to champion Next Move. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bill Winfrey later took over the powerful Phipps stable following the retirement of Hall of Fame trainer 'Sunny Jim' Fitzsimmons, and developed champions Castle Forbes, Queen Empress, Bold Lad and Buckpasser, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Branching Out

A handful of candidates come to mind that are likely to give rise to a new Hall of Fame branch, however, arguably none more so than Chad Brown. After working for a time with McGaughey during his college years, the native of Mechanicsville, New York joined the powerful stable of legendary Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel (inducted in 1995) in 2002. Venturing out on his own in the fall of 2007, it didn't take long for the young trainer to earn his first graded stakes win with Maram in Belmont's GIII Miss Grillo S. The 2-year-old filly went on to annex the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Fillies at Santa Anita later that fall. Since then, the 42-year-old has earned the Eclipse training title four times, has developed 10 Eclipse champions, including Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar. Ranked just behind Frankel in seventh with career earnings over $204 million, he has also accounted for 15 Breeders' Cup wins to date. And although yet to win the Kentucky Derby, Brown has registered a win in the Preakness, taking the race with Cloud Computing in 2017.

Like the Pletchers and D. Wayne Lukas' of the world, many of the most high-profile trainer/assistant teams to enter the great hall are typically fairly easy to single out long before their induction. However, it remains just as likely that several more names that escaped mention could have also been added to the expansive list of horsemen herein. And what might future iterations of the Hall of Fame tree look like? Arguably, not a whole lot different than it does today. Because, while the source of experience and the breadth of accomplishment may vary vastly among the horsemen and women already bestowed the great honor, the constant remains the ability to absorb the best gleaned from previous generations of masters, and to roll that into a winning formula that is successful in a contemporary world. And for 99 trainers in the Hall of Fame, it is a fait accompli.

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Hall of Fame conditioner Neil Drysdale, who is winless in 36 starts at the current meet, has a big shot to get off the schneid with Majestic Eagle, who won the 2019 American and will be ridden on Sunday by Mario Gutierrez.

With two wins from his first seven starts when trained by William Morey, Neptune's Storm blossomed in the care of Baltas, winning his first start for him, the ungraded Singletary Stakes at one mile on turf, on April 28, 2019. A winner of the Grade 2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park eight starts back on Oct. 5, 2019, Neptune's Storm notched his second graded stakes win three races back by taking the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on June 14, 2020.

Subsequently third, beaten one length by classy United in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes July 26, Neptune's Storm went to the sidelines following a fourth place finish in an ungraded one mile turf stakes Sept. 7, 2020 at Kentucky Downs.

A 5-year-old gelding by Stormy Atlantic, Neptune's Storm has a pressing style that has enabled him to avoid trouble and has resulted in a total of 10 finishes in which he has run first, second or third dating back to his win in the 2019 Singletary.

Owned by John Rochfort, Saul Gevertz, Lynn Gitomer, Mike Goetz, Michael Nentwig and Daniel Weiner, Neptune's Storm is 19-6-3-6 and is the leading money earner in the field with $848,085.

Second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths in his first start of the year, the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs on turf May 29, Majestic Eagle, who had been idle since Nov. 28, should improve with the race under his belt and a return to a route of ground. A game neck winner of the 2019 American, Majestic Eagle, a 6-year-old gelding by Medaglia d'Oro, is 11-1-4-1 at one mile on turf.

Owned by Rave Green Racing, Majestic Eagle brings an overall mark of 28-3-7-3 and earnings of $340,541.

THE GRADE 3  AMERICAN STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 11 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

1. Tiz Plus—Trevor McCarthy—122
2. Restrainedvengence—Tyler Baze—124
3. Neptune's Storm—Flavien Prat—122
4. Border Town—Mike Smith—122
5. Majestic Eagle—Mario Gutierrez—122
6. Sash—Juan Hernandez—122

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Originally run at about 6 ½ furlongs down the track's Camino Real Hillside Turf Course, the 47th edition of the Las Cienegas will be contested for the first time ever out of Santa Anita's all-new turf chute.

Idle since running a big second in the G1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland going a mile and one sixteenth on turf July 11, the Richard Mandella-trained Jolie Olimpica took last year's Las Cienegas at 5 ½ furlongs on turf in her U.S. debut four starts back on Jan. 11, 2020 and is a two-time graded stakes winner over the Santa Anita lawn.

A Group 1 winner in her native Brazil, Jolie Olimpica, in her third start for Mandella, held off a late surge from Oleksandra to prevail by a half length in the G2 Monrovia Stakes going 5 ½ furlongs on turf here May 25. Although Oleksandra had a full head of steam, she never got by Jolie Olimpica on the gallop-out in what was a very impressive win.

Trained by Neil Drysdale, Oleksandra was most recently ninth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint versus males on Nov. 7 and returns to her home turf with the services of regular rider Joel Rosario. A winner of the G1 Jaipur Stakes going six furlongs on the Belmont Park turf two starts back, she rallied from far back to be second, beaten a half length by Jolie Olimpica in the Monrovia.

In what will be her first stakes assignment, veteran trainer Art Sherman's Acting Out will be bidding for her third consecutive win with regular rider Abel Cedillo up. Forwardly placed in all three of her wins to date, this 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Blame seems to relish a fight and has won her last two allowance sprints by a combined 10 ¼ lengths. A maiden 5 ½ furlong turf winner here in her second start, Acting Out has three wins from five starts.

THE GRADE 3 LAS CIENEGAS WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 10 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

1. Bohemian Bourbon—Juan Hernandez—120
2. Charmaine's Mia—Drayden Van Dyke—120
3. Acting Out—Abel Cedillo—120
4. Lighthouse—Umberto Rispoli—122
5. Superstition—Flavien Prat—120
6. Oleksandra—Joel Rosario—122
7. Jolie Olimpica—Mike Smith—122

Early first post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12 noon. All of Santa Anita's races are offered free of charge at santaanita.com/live and fans can watch and wager at 1st.com/Bet.

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“She’s doing very well,” said trainer Neil Drysdale. “She doesn’t need speed because she’s very fast. She worked in company behind another horse and started a half dozen lengths back and finished well.”

Oleksandra has worked six times on the Belmont main track this month, including a trio of half-mile breezes in close succession, ahead of a strong five-furlong effort in 1:01.58 last week.

“That was because of the layoff to get her fit,” Drysdale explained of the work pattern. “We gave her some small easy works and then we’ve only done two serious works–this one and the last one.”

Oleksandra won the GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. over the Turf Sprint’s 5 1/2-furlong distance at Keeneland last October. The 6-year-old mare has made just two starts this term, finishing second in the May 25 GII Monrovia S. at Santa Anita before rallying from last to win the Jaipur last time out.

“She’s won down there [at Keeneland] and if it comes up a bit soft, she doesn’t mind,” said Drysdale.

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“She's doing very well,” said Drysdale. “She doesn't need speed because she's very fast. She worked in company behind another horse and started a half dozen lengths back and finished well.”

The ultra-consistent Animal Kingdom mare, Team Valor homebred, sports a record of 15-7-3-3 with purse earnings of $537,353. She rallied from last to beat the boys in the six-furlong Jaipur on June 20.

Oleksandra has worked six times on the Belmont main since October 2, including a trio of half-furlong breezes in close succession, ahead of a strong five-furlong effort in 1:01.58 last week.

“That was because of the layoff to get her fit,” said Drysdale regarding the busy work pattern. “We gave her some small easy works and then we've only done two serious works – this one and the last one.”

Oleksandra won the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County in October 2019 in her only start at Keeneland.

“She's won down there and if it comes up a bit soft she doesn't mind,” said Drysdale.

A six-time Breeders' Cup winner, Drysdale won the 1992 Belmont Stakes with A.P. Indy and added a Kentucky Derby win to his ledger in 2000 with Fusaichi Pegasus.

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By that standard, Tasso's road from the sale ring to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner's circle was an unmitigated success, making him the first 2-year-old sale graduate to win the race in the same year. By the standards of a commercialmarket racing prospect, Tasso was an economic dud whose true value would only be appreciated after his time in the ring.

From the first crop of Grade 1 winner Fappiano, Tasso was bred in Florida by Timothy Sams of Waldemar Farm and his business partner Gerald Robins. The same operation had produced Hall of Famer Foolosh Pleasure a decade earlier. Both men owned five shares in Fappiano, purchased during his racing career, meaning their incentive to get the stallion off to a fast start was high.

The Waldemar Farm consignment had a pair of Fappiano colts on offer for the 1984 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale, with the first selling to $250,000 – the most anyone paid for a foal by the stallion at the marquee auction. Tasso, on the other hand, was brought home after hammering at $50,000, under his reserve.

In the months that followed, Tasso was trained toward the 1985 Fasig-Tipton Florida Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale at Calder Race Course. After being the less-impressive half of the Fappiano tag team among Waldemar's Saratoga consignment a year earlier, the bad luck continued for the colt who was cataloged as Hip 1; a notoriously hard spot for a horse to maximize its value, while buyers are still straggling onto the sales grounds, finding their seats, or saving their bullets for later offerings or sessions.

Sams knew he was going to be up against it in that spot, so called in a favor from prominent owner Bertram Firestone, a Virginia-based horseman who earned the 1980 Eclipse Award for outstanding owner with his wife Diana. That early in the sale's proceedings, Sams knew he'd need someone to prime the pump for him.

“Bert is a good friend of ours, and I saw him in the walking ring before the sale and asked him if he would bid this horse up to $100,000 for us,” Sams said in a 1985 interview with BloodHorse. “He said 'Sure.' Then he came up to me later and asked me if I liked the colt, and I told him that I did. He suggested that we send the horse to Aiken to Marvin Greene and see what Marvin thought about him, and said 'If Marvin likes him maybe we can make a deal.'”

The colt went to South Carolina to begin his formal racetrack training, but an injury kept him on the shelf for much of his time there, Greene decided there wasn't room for him in his barn, and Firestone walked away from the arrangement.

Newspapers reported that Tasso's beleaguered owners spent more time trying to shop the horse out for private sale, but at some point, a juvenile has to prove himself on the racetrack to be worth selling. Tasso was placed in the California barn of Neil Drysdale, and he made his debut in May of his 2-year-old season, three months after his trip through the sale ring at Calder.

Tasso quickly cast aside whatever the buying public failed to see in him, winning five of seven starts during his juvenile year. Showing the ability to win from a deep close or a stalking trip in the preceding starts, Tasso earned his first major win in the G1 Del Mar Futurity. The going was much smoother two starts later when he dusted the G2 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland by six lengths.

The colt was not nominated to the second-ever Breeders' Cup in 1985, but his purse earnings from his Breeders' Futurity rout were just enough to cover the $120,000 late entry fee, ensuring him a spot in the gate at Aqueduct.

Despite coming into the race off an impressive victory, Tasso left the gate in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile as the field's third choice. Everyone looked up to even-money favorite Mogambo, a homebred for Peter Brant who obliterated the G1 Champagne Stakes by 9 3/4 lengths, and beat several of the field's hopefuls in the process.

The betting public's second choice was Storm Cat, a Grade 1 winner who appeared to have the race in hand after a well-placed stalking trip until the very last jump, when Tasso and jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. completed a wide-running closing move to outkick the future superstar sire by a nose. Mogambo never threatened, and ran sixth.

The Breeders' Cup win later clinched Tasso's case for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male of 1985.

Tasso wasn't the first graduate of a 2-year-old sale to win a Breeders' Cup race. That honor went to Wild Again, the winner of the inaugural Breeders' Cup Classic, who was an RNA during the 1982 Fasig-Tipton juvenile sale at Calder. However, Tasso's victory was proof of concept that a young horse could go through the ring at a 2-year-olds in training sale and win at the fledgling marquee event just a few months later. The fact that he was essentially unwanted at the sale is just icing on the cake.

Tasso continued to race into his 4-year-old season, but he never won another graded stakes contest after his juvenile season.

He retired to Lane's End in Kentucky for the 1988 breeding season, but he never found significant footing at stud domestically. Tasso finished his stud career in Saudi Arabia at Al Janadriyah Farm, an operation once owned by the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz that became a popular stop for visiting U.S. presidents.

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