Smaller, But Still Super: Steve Margolis

The concept of the super trainer is by no means a new phenomenon in horse racing, but the huge stables run by super trainers have undoubtedly changed the landscape of the sport in many ways, from the backside to the racing entries. Are super trainers bad for the sport?  Are there any benefits for an owner in using a “smaller” trainer? We asked these questions and more to a few trainers who may not be considered super trainers in terms of their stall numbers, but they have made the most of the horses they're given to build competitive racing stable over their careers. 

Steve Margolis spent one summer walking hots at Monmouth Park when he was in high school and has spent just about every morning on the backside since. The New York native worked for various top-level trainers before going out on his own in 1999. He quickly rose to the top of the game with a Kentucky Derby starter in 2002 and a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint with Cajun Beat (Grand Slam) the following year. Since then, the horseman has continued to amass a list of talented performers including GSW Bouquet Booth (Flower Alley) and, most recently, six-time stakes winner She'sonthewarpath (Declaration of War). Margolis said his favorite aspect of training is the hope and excitement he feels every time a new horse joins his stable.

KP: How did you first get involved in horse racing?

SM: When I was in high school, I worked one summer at Monmouth Park walking horses and it evolved from there. I wound up working at Belmont for quite a few years with John Veitch when he was training privately for Darby Dan around 1985. I also worked for Pat Byrne along the way. He was my first foreman and assistant job and then I went to Howie Tesher, who was like a dad to me. I worked for him from 1989 to 1996.

At that point I wanted a change and I wanted to get out of New York, so I came to Kentucky in the spring of '97. I worked for Stanley Hough for a few years and he was very good to me. I was on my own for most of the time working for him. A few years later, I went out on my own with a few horses.

I started at Turfway Park and it grew from there. I spent a couple winters at Turfway and then I spent three winters in Gulfstream at Palm Meadows, but this is now our 15th year coming to Fair Grounds in the winter and we spend the rest of the year in Kentucky.

Margolis and Breeders' Cup champion Cajun Beat | Horsephotos

KP: How many horses are normally in your stable?

SM: Right now we're pretty light. We've been hovering around 15, 16 or 17 horses and of course are hoping to get some more. It's tough right now. The foal crop is down and with the big stables getting a lot of horses, it's very competitive.

KP: What do you believe makes your stable unique?

SM: I'm very hands on and I'm here every day. I'm seeing my horses basically seven days a week. I'm feeding them and doing a lot of stuff myself, so I'm able to get more of a feel of what's going on with the horses, which is how I like to do it.

The biggest stable I ever had was back when we were training for Bertram, Richard and Elaine Klein, who were great clients. We got up to close to 60 horses and it was a little tough, but it all depends on who you train for and how you manage your time.

We used to go to Saratoga and Churchill Downs, but over the past few years I've pretty much had one string that goes to Fair Grounds in the winter and spends the rest of the year in Louisville.

KP: Is there a particular division of horses that you feel your stable is particularly strong with?

SM: It's funny, Tom McCrocklin is a good friend of mine and he breaks some of the horses that I train. Last winter, we were winning a lot of grass races and he called me up and said, 'Oh, I didn't know you were a turf trainer.'

It's all about the horses you get. If you get horses with turf pedigrees, you win turf races. But they're all individuals and when you first get them, you have to figure out who they are and what best suits the horse. With anything you get, you have to be able to maximize the horse's effort and ability.

KP: What horse has been the most influential to your career?

SM: Years ago I had Cajun Beat (Grand Slam) and we won the 2003 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. It was a cool story because I got the horse from Satish Sanan [Padua Stables] and John and Joseph Iracane. When we got him, he was coming in off a bad race but had won a few listed stakes. We figured out a few things with him, nothing major, but we got lucky and the horse got good. We won the GIII Kentucky Cup Sprint S. in the fall at Turfway and then he went on to win the Sprint.

I also had a really good filly named Wine Princess (Ghostzapper) about eight years ago who won a couple of graded stakes and then I had a really cool mare named She'sonthewarpath (Declaration of War) who we just retired recently for Robert and Lawana Low, who have probably been my greatest owners to date. They're a class act and I've had horses for them for about 14 years now. This filly was a hard-knocking daughter of Declaration of War and I won six stakes races with her.

KP: What do you believe are the benefits for an owner in using a “smaller” trainer?

SM: I'm hands on and I go back every afternoon to see how they ate and to look at them as individuals. A lot of times with these horses, it's just about paying attention. I think if you see them every day, you pick up on some extras that you would miss if you aren't there as much because you have several different strings.

She'sonthewarpath takes the 2021 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf S. at Ellis Park | Coady

KP: Do you think super trainers are bad for the sport?

SM: I give those guys credit because it's a really hard thing. It just seems like this is the trend now and in some ways, it makes it easier for these big owners if their trainer has four or five divisions because they can utilize those other tracks as opposed to me being at just one track. On the other hand, I guess it does hurt [the sport] because with trainers who have 100 maidens, it can be an issue at some tracks when it comes to filling races. But again, for an owner, if your trainer has five outfits and your horse doesn't fit in one division, they can just send them to the other division.

With training in general, you're trying to manage the horses and handle the clients and do right by them. When you have four divisions, it's like managing four different businesses, so it becomes a challenge. I can remember back in the early 1980's, D. Wayne Lukas was one of the first guys to have the big divisions. When I worked for John Veitch at that time, if someone had 30 or 40 horses, that was considered a huge string. Nowadays that's not nothing, but it might be considered small.

It's an owner's prerogative and it's their choice. Everyone has their reasons of why they go to a certain trainer and of course the better you do as a trainer, it seems to be the best advertisement for getting new clients. It's a numbers game. When you have more horses, you're going to run more and you're usually going to win more.

It's a trade-off in different things. Most of the guys that have the big outfits have really good help, like Dave Carroll who is the assistant trainer for Mark Casse. Dave trained on his own for 20 years. So it all depends on the owner. I have some good, loyal people who always send me horses.

KP: What do you enjoy most about your job?

SM: It's about the excitement of coming in every day and having new hope. When new horses come in or you get some young horses, you always have that hope that they're going to turn out to be something really good. Working with the young horses, teaching them about the gate and the other different things you teach them before they get to the races is a challenge, but it's exciting. After you've put in the time and effort with the horse and they turn out to be good, it's a great accomplishment for everyone involved.

KP: What is the most frustrating aspect of your job?

SM: In this day and age, it's harder finding employees with the way things have gone and with me having a smaller stable.

It's always disappointing when horses get hurt. You always try to do right by them and give them the time between races and works. It's never easy, no matter how long you've been training, if they get an injury that they can't come back from. Unfortunately that comes with the territory of training.

KP: If you could change one thing about the state of racing today, what would it be?

SM: I thinks things are going in a positive direction. Since I started in the industry, most things are better in terms of medication and I'm glad of that. I think basic things like licensing can be frustrating and would be much simpler if you could get a general license, but I know all these jurisdictions make money on it so that's a hard thing.

It is hard that over the years, there are these guys like the Navarro's of the world who have pushed the envelope and then there are people like me who play by the rules. Everyone gets penalized and every trainer gets put in the same box. If you do really well, people think you are cheating, but when you don't do well, people look at your statistics and say that this trainer doesn't know what he's doing.

It's disappointing that people have made it come to this because of what they've done. I'm all for doing right by the horse in not over-running them and not over-medicating them, but I do feel like taking away Lasix for these horses is wrong. You're asking these horses to perform and if they do turn out to bleed, they're not getting the Lasix that they need so they can run at the level they're supposed to, so it's unfair to the horse.

KP: What is your bucket list race that you hope to win someday? 

SM: Of course, it would be so exciting to win the Kentucky Derby. I actually ran a horse, Request for Parole (Judge T C) in the Derby in 2002 and he finished fifth. That's the race that all your friends who don't following racing know about. To win a race of that magnitude or to get another Breeders' Cup win would be unbelievable.

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Kentucky Downs Takes Entries, Draws Post Positions For Sept. 11 Graded Stakes Card

The fields are set for the summer's biggest day of turf racing, as entries were taken and post positions drawn Saturday for the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs' blockbuster Sept. 11 card featuring five graded stakes at the Franklin, Ky., track.

The Super Saturday is the marquee attraction among six huge days of racing Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sept. 11 and 12. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central. All the races will be shown on TVG.

Purses for next Saturday's 11 races total $4,692,000, of which $2.2 million comes from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund for registered Kentucky-bred horses. That's the vast majority of the horses running, but even the base purse that everyone competes for reflects some of the richest pots in the country.

“The card is amazing,” said Kentucky Downs Vice President for Racing Ted Nicholson. “Hats off to our racing office.”

The headliners are the $1 million Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles and the $1 million Grade 3 FanDuel Turf Sprint at six furlongs. Both are “Win and You're In” stops on the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and will be televised live by NBC. The Turf Cup winner will get a fees-paid berth in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and the FanDuel winner the same in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 6.

Donegal Racing's Arklow, the 2020 and 2018 Calumet Turf Cup winner, renews his rivalry with Michael Hui's 2019 victor Zulu Alpha, who was sidelined after last year's stakes and is 0 for 2 this year. Arklow would be the first three-time winner of the race. But they'll have to beat another Grade 1 winner in Channel Cat, returning to Kentucky Downs for the first time since he captured the 2018 Dueling Grounds Derby. He's owned by stakes sponsor Calumet Farm.

Arklow won Churchill Downs' Louisville Stakes and most recently was seventh in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, but beaten only 1 3/4 lengths for everything.

Mike Maker, a five-time meet-leader and Kentucky Downs' record-holder in career wins, has five of the 12 horses in the body of the Calumet Turf Cup, headed by Zulu Alpha. The others are Tide of the Sea, a Kentucky Downs winner last year and Gulfstream's Grade 3 McKnight this year; Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview winner Bluegrass Parkway; Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup third-place finisher Ajourneytofreedom, and Glynn County, third in Arlington Park's Grade 1 Mr. D, the race formerly known as the Arlington Million. A sixth Maker entrant, Dynadrive, needs three scratches to get in the field.

Also in the field: Breakpoint, a triple Grade 1 winner in his native Chile, goes for his first U.S. win in three starts; Irish Group 3 winner Crossfirehurricane; Grade 1 United Nations runner-up Imperador and United Nations third Epic Bromance. Big Dreaming, second in last year's Dueling Grounds Derby, needs a defection to get in.

The FanDuel Turf Sprint brings back last year's top three finishers in Imprimis and the dead-heat runners-up Bombard and Front Run the Fed, who finished a neck behind the winner. But the favorite is likely to be boys-beater Got Stormy, winner of last year's Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint over very soft turf in her first attempt at sprinting. Got Stormy is the only filly or mare to win Saratoga's Grade 1 Fourstardave, having done so in her last start and in 2019 after taking second last year. She has been second in three other Grade 1 starts against males, including in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Mile.

“We've never backed down from a challenge,” says Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, who acknowledges his desire to pad Got Stormy's own Hall of Fame credentials.

Other challengers: Casa Creed, winner of Belmont's Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur at the six-furlong distance; multiple graded stakes-winner Diamond Oops; the blossoming Fast Boat, a past winner over the course who last out won Saratoga's Grade 3 Troy Stakes, and Born Great, who last year won a Kentucky Downs maiden and allowance race in the span of a week.

The Richard Baltas-trained Venetian Harbor ships in from California for the $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint. The 4-year-old filly has been worse than second only once in 10 starts. In two turf races, she was second in her debut and won Santa Anita's Grade 2 Monrovia.

Also in from the West Coast is the multiple stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Superstition for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. John Sadler sends out Santa Anita stakes-winner Constantia in the overflow field of 14.

The beer will be flowing in Henderson if Yes It's Ginger prevails. There were so many people connected to Henderson beer distributor Mike “Hotdog” Utley, as well as the Brilliant Racing and Tagg Team Racing partnerships, that the winner's circle presentation had to move to the main track after “Ginger” prevailed in the Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint, which gave her a free roll in this 6 1/2-furlong race.

The Casse-trained Jeanie B lost a Grade 2 stakes at Woodbine by a nose in her last start for owner CJ Thoroughbreds, whose managing partner Corey Johnsen was president and part-owner of Kentucky Downs before its sale to Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone.

Violenza enters the race off victory in a $100,000 turf sprint at Colonial Downs in her stakes debut for trainer Ian Wilkes and his son-in-law jockey Chris Landeros. The Maker-trained Jakarta has been off form but won a starter-allowance race here last year.

The $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Mile is headlined by 5-for-6 Princess Grace, winner of three straight stakes capped by Del Mar's Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon. The Mike Stidham-trained Princess Grace shares the 126-pound high-weight with 2020 One Dreamer winner Dalika.

She'sonthewarpath, an eight-time winner out of 19 starts, is in peak form off of two stakes victories at Ellis Park. Florida trainer Saffie Joseph has the horse to catch in Shifty She, a two-time stakes-winner at Gulfstream and a good third in Saratoga's De La Rose won by 2020 Ladies Mile winner Regal Glory.

Summer in Saratoga, an allowance winner here last year for trainer Joe Sharp, won Indiana Grand's Indiana General Assembly Distaff in her last start.

With The Lir Jet, Qatar Racing will try to win the $600,000 Franklin-Simpson for the third straight year, and the first time with the stakes a Grade 2. Qatar Racing won last year's stakes with Guildsman, who like The Lir Jet is trained by Brendan Walsh, and in 2019 with the Doug O'Neill-trained Legends of War. The Lir Jet won Royal Ascot's Group 2 Norfolk as a 2-year-old but is winless since. He makes his debut both in the United States and as a gelding.

Sharing high weight status of 124 pounds with The Lir Jet is the Eddie Kenneally-trained Point Me By, winner of Arlington Park's Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes (formerly the Secretariat).

The field of twelve 3-year-old stakes-winners, with three others on the also-eligible list, includes the filly Miss Amulet, a Group 2 winner in England and a close second in a Group 1. Other contenders in a talented field: Woodbine's Grade 3 Marine winner Easy Time; the Wesley Ward duo of Churchill Downs' War Chant winner Next and Ellis Park's Dade Park Dash victor Into the Sunrise, and American Derby winner Tango Tango Tango. Other stakes-winners are Bodenheimer, King of Miami, Omaha City, and County Final. Last year's Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint runner-up Fauci, also trained by Ward, needs a scratch to get in the field.

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Margolis Readies She’sonthewarpath For Ladies Mile At Ellis Park

Trainer Steve Margolis was looking for just a maintenance work Saturday morning at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., when he sent Robert and Lawana Low's She'sonthewarpath out for a half-mile work eight days before the 5-year-old mare runs in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Mile.

“I just told Melvin, 'She's fit, just get her a maintenance work,'” Margolis said of exercise rider Melvin Quevedo. “She doesn't need a lot, just a half-mile. Let her gallop out on her own and be comfortable.' And that's what he did.”

Apparently quite comfortably, She'sonthewarpath finished up her work assignment in :48 flat, the fifth fastest of 45 timed workouts at the distance. (The “bullet” clocking was the :47.40 uncorked by the Brendan Walsh-trained Amazina, who also is nominated for the Ladies Mile.)

“If you ask her to go, she'll go,” Margolis said. “She's a very good work horse. She'll give you everything if you ask her.”

She'sonthewarpath will try to improve on last year's second-place finish over very soft turf. That 2020 winner, English Affair, is set to make her first start since April in the Ladies Mile.

As with last year, She'sonthewarpath comes into the Ladies Mile off of a stakes victory. Last year, it was at Indiana Grand, while this year she edged even-money favorite Dominga to take the Ellis Park Turf. Regular rider Adam Beschizza will be aboard.

“She's training very well, knock wood,” Margolis said. “Eating good. Coat looks good. She's able to graze here. She likes the atmosphere. We don't have to ship. She's a class horse. You can put her on a van and send her anywhere, and she'll always do the right thing. But it's good. We're stabled here, and she has a solid win over the track. We're looking forward to the race next Sunday.”

While she still ran well over last year's soft turf, Margolis said She'sonthewarpath prefers her grass on the good to firm side. With the expectation for sunshine all week, she should get that course condition.

“She's always going to try,” Margolis said. “This course can handle a little water anyway. It looks like it's in real good shape.”

Margolis said he and the owners have wanted to try the mare at Kentucky Downs and hope the opportunity presents itself this year in the $750,000 Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Sept. 11.

“I think it would be a good track to take a shot for the money,” Margolis said. “If the filly comes out of this next one good, roll the dice (for a) big purse, Grade 3. I look forward to maybe giving it a shot.”

She'sonthewarpath sports a 7-1-2 record in 15 turf starts, with the vast majority of her $432,820 earnings coming on grass. She owns five stakes victories and is graded-stakes placed.

“She's always been a pro,” Margolis said. “We tried her on the dirt, and she actually didn't run too bad. Just a class act. Always shows up. She's got a little edge to her, like some of those fillies get. But in the paddock, just to train, she knows her business. She goes out there and is a real pro. A little tough to gallop, but we've got her figured out over the last couple of years. She'll try a rider if they don't hold on. But she's smart and has a great attitude and always tries for us.”

Margolis knows how hard it is to come up with stakes horses.

In his third full year of training in 2003, he earned his first graded-stakes victory with the 3-year-old Cajun Beat, who two races later captured the Breeders' Cup Sprint to be voted Eclipse Award champion sprinter. He had a steady trickle of graded stakes horses during the next decade. But the racing game became severely tilted toward the mega-stables in the years since. Against that backdrop, She'sonthewarpath truly has been a gift that's kept on giving for three seasons now.

“Over the last couple of years, we only had 15-20 head,” Margolis said. “Smaller pool of horses, you're not going to have as much of a chance to get those kinds. So it's been great to have her. I'm just so grateful that Robert and Lawana decided to sent her to me and to keep her going” at age 5.

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She’sonthewarpath Holds Off Dominga To Take Ellis Park Turf

She'sonthewarpath was. And the result was a neck victory over favored Dominga in Sunday's $75,000 Ellis Park Turf at the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky.

Trainer by Steve Margolis for Robert and Lawana Low, She'sonthewarpath closed from mid-pack to win three stakes last year. However, facing a field devoid of natural front-runners in the field of six fillies and mares, jockey Adam Beschizza didn't wait on anyone else to do the dirty work for She'sonthewarpath.

Beschizza sent the 5-year-old mare to the initial lead out of the gate from her outside post, before letting her settle just off of the Brad Cox-trained Dominga, who broke on the rail under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Dominga loped through a crawling early pace, but Beschizza kept She'sonthewarpath within pouncing position and went after the favorite heading into the far turn.

“I told Adam, 'Bridgmohan is on a nice filly for Brad. Just don't let her steal it. Keep her in your sights,'” Margolis said. “You let a horse like that get loose, it's going to be tough to catch her.”

Rounding into the stretch, She'sonthewarpath wrested a narrow lead in a bunched-up field and had a length advantage with an eighth of a mile to go. Dominga wasn't finished and tried to come back on the rail only to fall a couple of feet short.

“We know she's pretty fast,” Beschizza said. “She ran at 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs this year, so we know she's got speed. We know she can rate. She's probably one of those that can turn it off and turn it on. You just have to be a little bit more aggressive with her out of the gate. She seemed to get a nice perch going around there. We know she's got the ability and the engine, and that turn of gear.

“We were in prime position, and as soon as I pulled the trigger, she delivered. She's got that turn of gear that can sort of put horses into shock mode as soon as we turn into the stretch. We took Brad Cox's horse in there seriously. We knew she was going to go to the lead. The field size was small and sometimes when they get an easy ride on the front end, it can get a bit tactical. It doesn't usually go to plan like that. But super-pleased for Steve. He's done a great job with her, and she's a real barn favorite.”

It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to the late-running Pass the Plate, followed by Sister Hanan, High Regard, and Nope. Enjoyitwhilewecan and Alnassem were scratched.

“I got to the spot where I needed to be, and she was comfortable,” Bridgmohan said. “She was game, though. She tried to come back on the other horse. She tried hard.”

Said Paul McGee, trainer of Pass the Plate: “They got away with slow early fractions, so it's hard to close into that. She ran a good race.”

She'sonthewarpath, a daughter of Declaration of War, completed the mile over firm turf in 1:44.07, the last sixteenth-mile going in :05.84 seconds as she picked up the pace throughout. The fractions were :25.43, :50.65, 1:15.65, and 1:38.23.

The bay mare now is 7-2-3 in 18 starts, earning $432,820 for the Lows, who are also her breeders.

In her last start, Beschizza backed out of a potential jam early on and She'sonthewarpath closed to be third in a tough field for Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep.

“I probably wasn't aggressive enough as I should have been, getting a position,” he said. “She rated on me going into the first turn and got a little bump. It just took her off of her game. She came with a flying run at the end. She's all heart. But we got her day today.”

She'sonthewarpath ran in last year's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf, showing speed that day and finishing second. Margolis said that stakes is a logical objective, with the ultimate goal being the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs.

“The Lows are great,” Margolis said. “They always do right by the horses they give me. She's a hard-knocker who always tries. Just grateful to have her. When you have a mare like her, a horse who always tries, you know they're going to always fire. You just hope everything goes right. She's such a classy mare. You ask her to go, like Adam says, she gives you everything she's got.”

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