A Winning Ride For Wonder Ride In Spa Maiden

Wonder Ride (Gun Runner) is by one of the best sires in the sport and comes from a winning barn in the Kenny McPeek stable. But Saratoga bettors overlooked her in Sunday's first race, a seven-furlong dirt maiden for 2-year-old fillies. She was sent off at 10-1.

You probably won't get 10-1 again on her anytime soon. Ridden by Julien Leparoux, Wonder Ride was never far back, but the jockey remained patient. She got rolling near the top of the stretch, split horses and then took over in the final yards to win by a half-length over race favorite Stellamaris (Catalina Cruiser). She covered the distance in 1:24.60.

“We weren't surprised at all,” McPeek said. “She's done everything from the beginning really well.”

That Wonder Ride was able to sit behind horses and allow her jockey to be patient was exactly what McPeek was expecting.

“We want them to sit behind horses and learn to relax,” he said. “I think Julien had the chance to take the bait and send her up in there but he stayed steady and relaxed. That's my typical instructions to my riders. Be patient with young horses and teach them to finish. She's learned her lessons and she's fast and smart. I think she wants to go longer than this.”

Wonder Ride is owned by Scott Leeds's Walking L Thoroughbreds. Leeds is the co-breeder along with Fest Miles. Leeds owned and McPeek trained Wonder Ride's dam, Wonderment (Cosmonaut), the winner of the GIII Bourbonette Oaks.

“Scott has put a lot of heart, energy and money into this game and now he has this filly who has been training like a really good thing,” McPeek said. “I really need to get him a Grade I winner. Fingers crossed, maybe this one is the one. He puts a lot of energy into this game.”

Just a week earlier, Leeds sold Wonder Ride's full sister at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale for $650,000.

1st-Saratoga, $111,300, Msw, 8-13, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:24.60, ft, 1/2 length.
WONDER RIDE (f, 2, Gun Runner–Wonderment {GSW, $394,870}, by Cosmonaut) went off as the 10-1 shot in this debut and though she bobbled at the start, the first timer rated along the rail just off the speed up the backstretch. Rounding the far turn, the gray filly built a head of steam, was initially in tight at the eighth pole, but once she tipped to the outside, she ran on nicely to win by half a length over the favorite Stellamaris (Catalina Cruiser). The winner, whose yearling full-sister was bought for $650,000 by Barstool's Dave Portnoy at last week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, is out of a GIII Bourbonette Oaks winning dam who visited Medaglia d'Oro for next year. Third dam SP Video Babe (T.V. Commercial), a half-sister to GII Forego H. hero Ziggy's Boy (Danzig), is responsible for MGISW Videogenic (Caucasus). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O-Walking L Thoroughbreds, LLC; B-Walking L Thoroughbreds LLC & Fest Miles (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek.

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From Camp Hope to Hollywood Derby

Camp Hope, a 3-year-old son of Summer Front who made it to the winner's circle on both opening day and closing day of Keeneland's fall meet, will take on Grade I company in Saturday's Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. The Kenny McPeek trainee carries the silks of owner Walking L Thoroughbreds, but his earnings go toward the important facility he was named after.

An intensive residential program in Houston, Texas, Camp Hope provides treatment for combat veterans suffering from trauma and PTSD. The facility opened its doors in 2012 and has since brought in over 1,600 veterans.

“Camp Hope is the residential program of the PTSD Foundation of America,” the program's Executive Director David Maulsby explained. “We bring in combat veterans from every era of war and every military branch. It is a peer-to-peer based program and is about six to eight months in length, although it can be up to a little over a year on occasion. Everything we do is absolutely free for our veterans and their family members. It's all about changing the trajectory of their life and trying to stop the ever-increasing suicide rate in our military.”

Scott Leeds, the founder of Walking L Thoroughbreds, was drawn to support Camp Hope through his racing stable when he learned of their goal of decreasing the average of 22 veterans who are lost every day to suicide.

“The simple mission of Camp Hope is for that number to become 21 or 20 or any number closer to zero than to 22 every day,” Leeds said. “Their goal is to let these guys live a life that isn't about whatever problems they might have. It's about being able to go to the grocery store without worrying about if there's something in a trash can that's going to blow up. You listen to these guys tell their stories and it just makes you want to do more.”

Residents of Camp Hope facility celebrated as the equine Camp Hope won on debut last October and brought attention to his namesake when he made it to the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but they waited until nearly a year later for him to claim his next win.

David Mausby (far left) with staff and residents of Camp Hope | photo courtesy PTSD Foundation

The tables turned this summer when the colt switched over to the turf. After a pair of third-place finishes at Saratoga and Kentucky Downs, Camp Hope defeated allowance company by over five lengths on Keeneland's opening day and then took his second straight victory three weeks later in the Bryan Station S.

The next morning, residents of Camp Hope gathered for their weekly Sunday morning meeting. As the group sat down, Maulsby began playing the video of Camp Hope's win from the day before.

“I didn't tell them what to expect,” Maulsby recalled. “I just said, 'Hey guys, here are some great friends who are helping share our story and they named their horse in honor of what happens here.' As Camp Hope pulled away, it got pretty rowdy inside the multipurpose building. It was very exciting for them to see somebody recognize what's going on here and want to tell the story to the rest of the world.”

Camp Hope's residential program has seen a dramatic increase in intake since the onset of the pandemic. Early in 2020, their capacity averaged 65 residents. Today, that number has increased to 95.

“Many veterans who were going to the VA were told not to come back because they closed the doors to anything other than physical emergencies,” Maulsby said. “So our numbers increased not only with our intake here, but with our outreach programs as well.”

Maulsby shared the story of one recent graduate  who came to the facility during the height of the pandemic. The Vietnam veteran had been struggling with addiction and self-medication for five decades and was receiving help from the VA in his home city until they closed their doors.

“When they told him not to come back, he converted back. It was the only coping mechanism he had. About three weeks later, he ended up having to be taken back into the hospital because of the addiction and because he was suicidal.”

A case worker at the hospital told the veteran about Camp Hope. After participating in the program for over a year, he was able to return home.

“He is connecting with family members who never wanted to be a part of his life because of his behaviors,” Maulsby said. “It's exciting to see that joy back in his life and see family members come back in his life after three destroyed marriages over the years. He's rebuilding those connections and he points to Camp Hope for all of that.”

Despite an increased number of residents, the facility felt the impacts of the pandemic when they were forced to cancel their annual funding events last year.

“Camp Hope is operated primarily through fundraising events more so than a lot of nonprofits that might have endowments that could keep up with the lack of events,” Leeds explained. “These folks had to scramble to look for other ways to raise funds. Everyone who works here puts in seven days a week and it's not all success stories. One veteran just graduated and it was his fourth time being there. But they kept opening the door and saying, 'Yes, we're going to try this again.' The fourth time around, he spent eight months there and finally had his success story.”

Leeds and his wife Dana first became involved with Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation through their colt Fighting Seabee (Summer Front), winner of the 2019 GIII With Anticipation S.

Residents of Camp Hope receive training in behavior modification, emotional control, anger management and workforce development | photo courtesy PTSD Foundation

“For both Camp Hope and Fighting Seabee to be stakes winners, we know this business and know there's a very small percent chance for that to happen, so there's karma at work when we picked those two horses [to race for a cause],” Leeds said. “The funds they have earned are great and add to what we already would have been giving to Camp Hope anyways, but the ability to use their success to get the message out is what, to me, has been the greatest benefit.  Now that Camp Hope is in a graded stake, there's an opportunity to get broader media exposure to share that this horse has a cool name for a reason.”

Leeds said that between Camp Hope and Fighting Seabee, over $40,000 has been sent to Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation, including $13,000 from Camp Hope's back-to-back wins at Keeneland last month.

“Going into the allowance at Keeneland, we expected him to win, but we didn't expect him to win by five lengths,” he said. “The timing worked out well to put him in the stakes race on closing day. The horse has matured significantly as the year has gone on and our biggest concern coming out of the Bryan Station was that there were no turf races at Churchill Downs and we didn't want to slow down on a horse that was in such a groove. We thought the Hollywood Derby was a really good spot. It's a step up, but we feel good about how he matches up.”

Leeds added that trainer-jockey connections Kenny McPeek and Brian Hernandez, Jr. share his confidence going into the Grade I.

“Kenny's feedback has been that this is the best shape this horse has ever been in,” Leeds said.” After the last race, Brian said he had plenty of horse under him, which you can see with how he finished the race. The mile and an eighth is not a concern because he won the allowance at the same distance. I think it all lines up to be a good way to finish the year off . The way this horse has matured and with the surface change, there are a lot of opportunities as we look ahead to his 4-year-old campaign.”

Walking L Thoroughbreds has been in the Thoroughbred business for less than a decade, but Leeds shared that they have recently ventured into the breeding side of the game with an ownership share in Lane's End first-crop stallion Unified.

Camp Hope gets his first stakes win in the Bryan Station S. | Coady

“We made the decision that for anything we own that is related to Unified-the horses we breed to race, any yearlings or weanlings we sell-the proceeds are going to be shared with the PTSD Foundation. We like that because it's something that will keep on giving without us having to choose a specific horse. Now it's going to be any horse that comes through our Unified connection.”

For Leeds, the draw to support these organizations came through his grandfathers, who were both WWII veterans. Through his exposure to the work done at Camp Hope, he said the programs have become even more meaningful.

“Until the day my grandfather died, the thing he was most proud of besides his family was the time that he served our country,” Leeds shared. “The WWII veterans didn't even know what PTSD was, but I know for a fact that it was something that affected my grandfather for the rest of his life. I know if he knew what we were doing and what was happening at Camp Hope, he would want to be talking about it to everyone he knew. It's this little spot of land nestled in the suburbs of Houston, but to know what happens there, if we can tell one person every time we get a chance, I want to do that. These guys touch your heart, knowing what's going on there. It's just a really special feeling.”

The holiday season is a busy time at Camp Hope. Volunteers come in with dozens of smoked turkeys and twice as many freshly-baked pies. Hundreds of presents are wrapped and shipped out to the veterans' families back home.

And yet, it's almost inevitable that a veteran will show up on their doorstep on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

“It's heartbreaking to watch,” Maulsby said. “You think, 'How dark does your life have to be that this is the day you step away from your family and into a program where you're going to be gone from them for six months to a year?' But on the brighter side of that, they are starting on that day the work that needs to be done to change the trajectory of their lives.”

“Some pretty amazing things happen on these five acres of land,” he continued. “We have a great community that supports us and they understand that it takes more than a bumper sticker on the back of your car to support our troops.”

For more information on Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation of America, click here.

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Cheering for Hope from Houston

Nearly a thousand miles from Keeneland Race Course, a watch party in Houston, Texas is sure to be cheering just as emphatically as if they were in the grandstand.

Residents of Camp Hope, a facility that provides support and mentoring to combat veterans suffering from the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress, will tune in on Friday to watch a juvenile colt named after the residential program. If Camp Hope (Summer Front) ends up in the winner’s circle for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, his earnings will go back to the facility he represents.

Camp Hope heads into the Breeders’ Cup coming off just one career start, but it’s a flashy four-length winning one on Oct. 25 at Churchill Downs. The son of Summer Front is campaigned by Walking L Thoroughbreds, a company owned by Scott Leeds and his wife Dana.

Leeds stopped in at the Camp Hope facility early this week to make sure the residents would be watching the races this weekend.

“When I walked in, everybody knew who I was and they started saying how much they were looking forward to it,” Leeds said. “They’d seen the race from Churchill and were pretty excited. They were asking if horses normally win in their first race and I had to explain to them that I’ve had horses that didn’t win the first 14 times they raced.”

Leeds has hardly had bad luck as an owner in Thoroughbred racing. When he retired from the oil and gas business five years ago, he decided horse racing might be an interesting new venture. He got connected with Kenny McPeek, and was quickly hooked.

“We started out with some small shares in a few horses he had bought,” Leeds recalled. “Before any of them ever ran I was already in so deep that we went to the sales in the summer of 2015 and started buying horses ourselves.”

Since then, they’ve already had several top stakes contenders including Cairo Cat (Cairo Prince), who won the GIII Iroquois S. two years ago but was held back from a Breeders’ Cup start due to an injury, as well as Envoutante (Uncle Mo), one of McPeek’s top fillies this year who most recently claimed the GIII Remington Park Oaks.

Leeds presents Camp Hope staff with Fighting Seabee’s win photo | Scott Leeds

Camp Hope is not the only Walking L horse that races for a cause. It all started with a colt they named Fighting Seabee (Summer Front) in honor of Leeds’s great-grandfather who was a Navy Seabee in World War II. When the colt ran undefeated in his first two starts, including a win in last year’s GIII With Anticipation S., Leeds and his wife decided to share Fighting Seabee’s earnings with the Seabee Historical Foundation, the PTSD Foundation of America and Camp Hope.

“We’ve been supporting the PTSD Foundation of America for a few years,” Leeds said. “Their mission is to support veterans who suffer from PTSD with an expectation that if they can provide peer-to-peer support and temporary housing at Camp Hope, the lives of these folks who come back from the service and have a hard time transitioning will be impacted.”

According to their website, Camp Hope offers a minimum of a six-month program. Residents attend group counseling sessions, as well as individual mentoring sessions with a certified combat trauma mentor. Veterans will also receive vocational preparation, workforce development and job training.

“One of the statistics that knocked us over was that 22 veterans a day, on average, commit suicide in the United States,” Leeds said. “That’s one every hour and six minutes. Their mission is to stop one. If they can make one less veteran make that decision and help them cope with PTSD, the mission is successful. The groups have been so supportive and grateful for what Fighting Seebea has done. We made great racing fans out of the folks at the foundation and at Camp Hope.”

There will be much for the new fans to cheer for on Friday as Fighting Seabee will run in the ‘Future Stars Friday’ undercard in the Bryan Station S. hours before Camp Hope is set to make his second career start.

Camp Hope came to be purchased by Walking L in large part from Fighting Seabee’s early success. Leeds purchased Camp Hope, a son of Summer Front, at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton July Sale just three days after Fighting Seabee became the second winner for the Airdrie stallion.

“We had actually already bought three horses and it was getting pretty late in the day,” Leeds recalled. “We were talking about where we were going to eat dinner that night when Bret Jones called Kenny and suggested we come look at a horse he was going to take through the ring in a few minutes. So we went back and ended up liking him a lot.”

When McPeek chose to enter Camp Hope in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race, Leeds said he had been excited to see the juvenile take on two turns.

Dana Leeds poses with a yearling Camp Hope | Scott Leeds

“We thought he would end up being pretty strong first-time out,” he said. “But you also expect a horse would get tired going two turns in his first start so you don’t really expect to win. Coming down the backside, I saw where he was positioned and I saw the time was slow and could tell Brian had him pretty well in hand. Then I had a feeling we were in for a big performance.”

After Camp Hope’s easy four-length victory, the team sat down to discuss where to go from there.

“There wasn’t much to think about,” Leeds said. “Kenny and I both felt strongly that with no Lasix, coming back in 12 days really wasn’t that much of a stretch. The horse didn’t get asked for a lot and he galloped out even further than he won by. Brian [Hernandez, jockey] said they were on cruise. We pre-entered with the expectation that if he didn’t bounce back as quickly or if there were any issues, we would obviously scratch. But he’s done everything above and beyond what we’ve expected and I think it’s going to work out great.”

While McPeek is still winless at the Breeders’ Cup, he couldn’t be coming in with a hotter hand this year with four other contenders including GI Preakness S. heroine Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil).

Leeds said that he and his wife will be making the trip from Texas to Lexington on Wednesday, and that they will be on-site for the rest of the week sporting their Camp Hope gear.

“We told them we’re going to look for every opportunity to spread the word,” he said.

And while Leeds would certainly be thrilled with their first Breeders’ Cup win, there’s no doubt he would be even more excited for the rest of their connections.

“We’re very fortunate and we feel like we’ve already outdone the expectations we set for ourselves,” he said. “If we run good, that’s our goal- to show that this horse has a really bright future going into his 3-year-old campaign. But if we happen to win, we’re just going to be over-the-moon excited for the horse, for Kenny, and then for Camp Hope. Being able to write the check to those people would truly be special.”

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