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Trainer Wilson Supporting Louisiana Downs, Lauds ‘Commitment To The Horsemen’ Through COVID-19 Crisis

When the 2020 Thoroughbred racing season got underway on June 6 at Harrah's Louisiana Downs, there were several new horsemen stabled at the Shreveport racetrack. The most successful of the group has been trainer Shane Wilson.

It is the first time in eight years that the Haughton, La. native has shifted his base to Shreveport. There was no hesitation when he was asked about returning for the meet.

“We were all in limbo several months ago,” said Wilson describing the impact of COVID-19 on the resumption of racing in Louisiana. “However (Director of Racing) David Heitzmann was the first to step up with a plan. We knew the early May date was not possible, but David set June 6 as the opening date at Louisiana Downs and quickly got the condition book posted.”

From that point, Wilson set his training schedule and “was ready to roll”.

In addition to the support from Heitzmann and his racing office staff, Wilson gives high marks to track superintendent, Billy McKeever, who oversees both the dirt oval and the Franks Turf Course.

“The main track is amazing,” said Wilson. “We arrived with some sore horses and they are now sound. Billy does an outstanding job.”

So far, it has worked out well for Wilson and his main owner, Wayne T. Davis. They are in second-place in the trainer and owner standings, trailing Karl Broberg and End Zone Athletics, Inc.

Wilson, 49, worked summers at Harrah's Louisiana Downs, starting when he was 15. He mucked stalls and hot walked for trainer Jack Van Berg. His brief foray to college did not last as he realized that he wanted to pursue a career in racing. He served as assistant to Sam David for seven years before going out on his own in 1998.

His top horse is the multiple-stakes winning Mocito Rojo, a 6-year-old son of Mutadda. Wilson claimed the Kentucky-bred for owner Wayne T. Davis for $10,000 in a December 2016 maiden race at Delta Downs. The six-time stakes winner has amassed a record of 17 wins from 30 starts and earnings of $818,063. In 2019, Mocito Rojo won the Steve Sexton Mile Stakes (G3) at Lone Star Park and the Lukas Classic Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. He returned to the Grand Prairie, Texas racetrack on Sunday, June 28, finishing fifth in the $75,000 Lone Star Mile.

“He never likes dirt in his face and came back covered by a half of an inch of sand,” said Wilson. “It would have been nice to win as it was my owner's 91st birthday, but the horse cooled out fine and we made it back to Louisiana Downs late Sunday night.”

Davis, who resides in Plain Dealing, La., a small town in Bossier Parrish, is appreciative of the care Wilson gives each of his horses. His winners this meet at Harrah's Louisiana Downs include Green Monster; Cap Roc Miner, Artic Peace, Lucky Dare and most recently, a five-length score by Luvmewhenimgone.

Another key member of the Wilson team is veteran jockey Filimon Rodriguez, who is a full-time employee. The 53-year-old has ridden on the Texas and Louisiana circuits for three decades. He gallops the 30 head of Wilson's stabled at Louisiana Downs and rides the majority of the Wilson trainees in Shreveport.

Aside from his racing ties, Wilson has another notable connection to Harrah's Louisiana Downs. He met his wife, Becky, the daughter of horseman Jim O'Brien, here. The couple has two sons. Peyton is 19 years-old and his brother, Connor, 16, have both been helping their dad this summer.

“It's a tough business,” stated Wilson. “You have to make some very difficult decisions. I started the same time as some very successful horsemen, including my good friend, Bret Calhoun. To reach a really high level, you have to travel, and I chose to stay in Louisiana to be closer to my family.”

He will ship select horses to Evangeline Downs this summer but is more than content to be stabled at Harrah's Louisiana Downs.

“They showed their commitment to the horsemen,” he said. “So, I am happy to run here and support their meet.”

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Monmouth: Trainers’ Race Appears Wide Open Ahead Of Shortened 2020 Meet

Kelly Breen would normally embrace the role as the early favorite for what appears to be a wide-open trainers' race when Monmouth Park launches its 75th season of live racing on Friday, July 3.

But this year has been anything but normal.

Breen, who owns Monmouth Park training titles from 2005 and 2006, is the leading returning trainer from a year ago in terms of wins with 36. But the Covid-19 virus has changed everything about the sport, forcing Monmouth Park into a condensed 37-day meet.

“I don't have the number of runners right know to think about being leading trainer,” Breen said. “When you have 40 horses and quite a few are 2-year-olds they're going to make minimal starts, especially over a shorter meet. Until I start claiming some horses I can't think about a title. We'll see how that goes.”

Breen is one of six trainers stabled on the grounds who have a Monmouth Park training title to their credit, a list that includes Jane Cibelli, Tim Hills, Bruce Alexander, Dan Lopez and Ben Perkins, Jr.

If there's strength in numbers, veteran Michael Stidham should be a factor with 71 stalls, the most of any trainer.

Yet for all of his career success, Stidham has won just one training title – in 2016 at Fair Grounds.

“Generally we don't run the type of operation that goes for a training title because we don't do a lot of claiming,” Stidham said. “We tend to get well-bred young horses that we're trying to develop. That's usually not the formula for a leading trainer.

“Having said that, we did win the title in 2016 at the Fair Grounds. You have to see how things develop and whether the barn gets rolling quickly in a shorter meet. It just kind of happened at the Fair Grounds that year as a byproduct of winning.”

With 25 winners a year ago – from just 81 starts – Jose Delgado is the second-leading returning trainer from Monmouth Park's 2019 meet. With a claiming stable and a high percentage of success he looms as a factor as well.

“I don't know. So much depends on luck,” said Delgado. “I think I've got the right horses to make a run for the title. The thing about being leading trainer is you have to have the right horses for that meet and you have to have a lot of horses. I only have 25.

“But it is a shorter meet and if they're ready to go from the beginning you have a chance. I'm definitely going to give it a shot.”

Delgado, 41, said it would especially significant for him personally to win his first training title at Monmouth Park.

“It would mean a lot to me because I couldn't do it as a jockey,” he said. “I would have loved to have won a riding title as a jockey. Now I have another chance to do it as a trainer.”

Pat McBurney, coming off a successful 2019, should be in contention as well, along with Cibelli, Gregg Sacco, Kent Sweezey and Mike Dini, all of whom are well-represented in the Monmouth Park backside.

With 35 horses stabled at Monmouth, after winning 10 races from just 19 starts a year ago, Jonathan Thomas said “numerically, this is the biggest stable we've ever had in any one place.”

But he doesn't expect to be in contention for leading trainer because of the makeup of his stable, with up to 25 of his 2-year-olds calling Monmouth Park home this summer.

“We're top heavy with 2-year-olds, the majority of which we'd like to get started here,” he said. “We've found it to be a great place for young horses. Maybe if the meet were longer would could be a factor. At this juncture we're more focused on individually starting a campaign for a horse and seeing where that takes us.”

Monmouth Park's semi-sesquicentennial season will feature live racing from Friday, July 3, through Sunday, Sept. 27. Post time on Fridays will be 5 p.m. (except for Sept. 4, which will have a 12:50 post), while Saturdays and Sundays will start at 12:50 p.m. The exception to that will be a noon first post on Saturday, July 18, when the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes headlines a stakes-filled program.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Andrew Cary Quarterbacking For Breeders Of No Parole

Last Saturday, No Parole became just the eighth horse bred in Louisiana to win a Grade 1 race when he dominated the Woody Stephens at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. That the colt did it in particularly impressive style was just the icing on the cake for first-time Grade 1-winning breeders Keith and Ginger Myers.

The proprietors of Coteau Grove Farm in Sunset, La., may not have watched the race live, but they were beyond thrilled to see their years of patience and faith in good people rewarded at the sport's top levels.

One of those good people is bloodstock agent Andrew Cary, employed by the Myers' since 2014. In fact, No Parole's dam, Plus One, was only the second mare Cary purchased for the couple, plucking her out of the 2014 Keeneland November sale for $67,000.

“I actually spotted her in the back ring, and it was just kind of one of those things when you see a horse and they blow you away with how they look,” Cary explained. “She had a lot of presence, and I love fast, hard-knocking stakes mares. I also liked Bluegrass Cat as kind of an under-the-radar broodmare sire, and she was out of a good family of just good, hard-knocking race mares.”

The stakes-winning Plus One was in foal to Violence at the sale, and her colt born the following spring brought $85,000 as a weanling back at Keeneland. Subsequently named Violent Ways, the colt won a trio of allowance races in Louisiana.

Plus One was bred back to Songandaprayer in the Louisiana program the following spring, but Cary and the Myers' had liked her first Violence colt so much that they bred her back to him for 2017.

Maggi Moss, a long-time supporter of the Louisiana racing program, purchased the yearling No Parole for $75,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale.

“We were thrilled Maggi bought him, because we knew she understands the Louisiana program and he'd be given every chance to succeed,” Cary said.

No Parole as a weanling

His first few starts were particularly impressive, winning by double-digit lengths in Louisiana-bred company at the Fair Grounds in December and January.

No Parole stepped up to win the Louisiana-Bred Premier Night Prince Stakes at Delta Downs in his third start, but struggled in the step up in distance when tried in the G2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, finishing eighth. Trainer Tom Amoss immediately took the colt back to sprint distances, and he won an allowance race at Churchill before winning the G1 Woody Stephens by 3 3/4 lengths.

“It's pretty special for me personally,” Cary said. “It's the first Grade 1 winner I've had where I purchased the mare and picked the mating, so it's very gratifying to see her go on and produce a horse like this. I would go see him in Louisiana every five to six weeks, and my best friend Jay Goodwin prepped him for the sale in Lexington, so I really got to see him grow up.

“After Maggi bought him, he was started by my friends the Gladwells before he went to Amoss, so there have been a lot of really good people associated with this horse all the way through.”

As for Plus One, she foaled a filly by Connect that will head to the Keeneland September sale this year, and she is currently pregnant to the cover of Curlin. Cary and the Myers are definitely looking forward to what she can do next.

“It's just so cool to see her become a big-time producer,” Cary said.

The Myers had previously enjoyed good success in the state of Louisiana since launching their racing and breeding program in 2008. Their homebred Little Ms Protocol is one of the top 20 Louisiana-bred earners in history, racking up $731,290 over her 30-start career, and another homebred, Harlie's Dreams, earned just shy of $400,000 in their colors.

But it was another home-grown project that changed the trajectory of the Myers' racing interests. Their LHC Group, which Ginger Myers launched in the couple's Louisiana kitchen in 1997, was growing exponentially, and they found themselves with less time to enjoy making it to the races to watch their horses run.

Enter Louisiana legend Jake Delhomme. The Louisiana-born NFL quarterback is a friend of the Myers family and a fellow horse racing enthusiast. Cary ran into Delhomme at the sales about 12 years ago and developed a friendship as well, so when Keith Myers was looking for an agent to help transition his program in 2014, Delhomme made the connection to Cary.

“Mr. Myers called and we hit it off,” said Cary. “They'd had a lot of fun with racing, but they were getting to a point with their business that they were just getting busy and couldn't go to the track as much. He wanted to get more involved with breeding; they really enjoyed seeing the babies born on the farm and wanted to do more of that.

“We talked about where his program was, where he wanted to go, and how to get him there. I flew down and looked at the 15 horses in training and 10 mares, evaluated them. We started by selling off some racing stock and adding better mares, and now we're up to 30 mares and had 25 foals this year.”

Primarily, the Myers breed commercially, though they'll keep and race a promising filly or two if they own the female family to be able to take advantage of multiple updates.

“They really want to do everything the right way, and they put a lot of time and money into the business so it's good to see that rewarded,” Cary said.

Cary had also seen Grade 1 success prior to No Parole, but it wasn't quite as personal. As a founding partner in Select Sales, Cary was involved with horses like Tepin, Sharp Azteca, and Promises Fulfilled, but the now-solo bloodstock agent's association with No Parole is just a little bit sweeter.

“He's such a talented horse,” Cary said. “It's so awesome to watch how fast he can go, and he makes it look pretty easy. I'm excited to see what he'll do next.”

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Krone Returns To Monmouth In New Role As Agent For Veterinarian/Apprentice Jockey Peterson

Julie Krone immediately saw some familiar traits in Ferrin Peterson the first time she met her, and then after she watched her ride: the burning desire to succeed, the competitiveness, the work ethic, how comfortable she was on and around horses.

“When I see someone like that it reminds me of myself,” she said.

That mirror image was enough to prompt Krone, the retired Hall of Fame jockey, to return to the sport she loves after years watching from afar as a mom to her daughter, who is now 15.

Krone will be back at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. – where she won riding titles from 1987-89 – when the 37-day meet begins on Friday, July 3, in a new role as the agent for Peterson, an apprentice trying to make inroads as a rider.

At 28, Peterson is much older than most jockeys trying to launch their careers. But she has a valid reason for that. She's a licensed veterinarian who completed medical school at the University of California-Davis in May of 2019. That was after excelling as a pole vaulter during her undergraduate college years at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“Anyone who is changing their career path like this after going to medical school clearly has a passion that won't go away,” said Krone. “The drive is there to succeed as a jockey. That's what it takes. That's what impressed me so much and drew me to her.

Julie Krone

“She has a love for the sport that is infectious. She made me remember how much I love this.”

Peterson, who has spent the past few months galloping horses at Overbrook Farm in nearby Colts Neck in preparation for the Monmouth Park meet, met her future agent when Krone was doing a book signing in California. They hit it off immediately.

“Having a mentor like Julie Krone is a tremendous benefit for someone like me,” said Peterson. “She has done so much for the sport. I just try to be a sponge around her, learning whatever I can from her.”

Peterson began her career in January of 2019 at Golden Gate before trying the competitive Del Mar meet. Krone convinced her to come East this summer and to use Monmouth Park as her home base, with the added benefit of being able to ride at other tracks within easy driving distance during Monmouth Park's dark days.

“The goal is to ride to ride as many days as possible within reason,” said Peterson, who is also a certified acupuncturist. “That's one of the advantages of being on the East Coast and at Monmouth Park.”

Krone isn't sure that being a licensed veterinarian will be much of an advantage to Peterson right now – “It's not going to help you out there splitting horses,” she said – but she can see long-term benefits because of her familiarity with horses.

Peterson, though, says you can never have too much knowledge about dealing with horses.

“Working with horses on the ground helps when you are working with them on their backs,” she said. “Understanding horses, how they function anatomically, helps you think of how to balance on a horse. It helps knowing how their mind works and their behavior. The more you're around horses the better you get to know them. They're such intricate creatures.”

The 5-4, 108-pound Peterson does get some quizzical looks about her career shift, but says she would not have done it any other way.

“It's interesting becoming a jockey through becoming a veterinarian,” she said. “But I'm really glad it happened this way because it was the right order for me. I want to know as much as I can about horses. I am always wanting to learn more about them.

“I don't think I would be satisfied just being a jockey and clearly I wasn't satisfied just being a veterinarian either. So combining the two has been the perfect fit for what I am seeking in my life.”

Having Krone's star recognition doesn't hurt either when it comes to securing mounts.

“People know who she is right away,” said Peterson, who currently owns 15 career victories. “She has been good for the sport. Trainers are happy to hear from her. She has the credibility that people listen. And being mentored by her is an amazing opportunity.”

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