Howard, who sent out the final starter of his 43-year career Monday, Oct. 11 at Indiana Grand, had his final Keeneland starter Oct. 8 when Wing Commander ran fifth in an allowance race.

“I am officially done,” Howard said Thursday afternoon. “I had a couple of horses that Shug graciously took over and I put them in his name. I'm just an assistant trainer now.”

Howard is eighth all-time in Keeneland victories with 166 and is 13th in stakes wins with 20. His first stakes victory came in the 1990 Blue Grass (G2) with Summer Squall. He won the Ben Ali (G3) five times, including in 2003 with Horse of the Year Mineshaft. Howard also won the race in 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2016.

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“This is a business of change,” Howard, 72, told DRF. The last year or two, I'd been thinking of doing something like this. Shug recently presented me with this opportunity and I took it. That's the long and short of it.”

Howard is best known for his conditioning of Horse of the Year Mineshaft, as well as Preakness winner and Derby runner-up Summer Squall. Over his 42-year training career, Howard saddled 1,256 winners from 6,934 starters, including 186 stakes races (85 graded). Howard was also the private trainer for Lane's End Farm from 1983 through the late 2000s, when Farish began employing multiple trainers, including McGaughey.

Howard plans to make the transition over the next several weeks.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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