Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector breezed four furlongs in 49 1/5 seconds at the Skylight Training Center on Thursday, his first major move since finishing fourth in the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes. Trainer Tommy Drury told drf.com that the 3-year-old son of Bernardini is under consideration for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
Regular rider, Brian Hernandez, Jr., was aboard Art Collector for Thursday's workout.
“They say the track's been pretty heavy, but he still got his last eighth in 11 and 2,” Hernandez told drf.com. “He's as good as ever, from what I can tell.”
While his Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Authentic is the program favorite for the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Saturday, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said his other starter should not be overlooked.
“Thousand Words has been very good here. I expect him to run a big race, too,” Baffert said Friday morning.
Thousand Words is a son of Baffert-trained Pioneerof the Nile, who sired Baffert-trained 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. He was scratched from the Derby after rearing and falling while being saddled in the paddock. A lackluster work on Sept. 19 put his Preakness status in question, but he stepped back into the picture for the Maryland classic with a sharp breeze while wearing blinkers on Sept. 26. He will be equipped with blinkers again in the Preakness after having competed without them in his last two races. Florent Geroux will ride the colt, who is 6-1 on the morning line, for the first time.
Purchased for $1 million as a yearling by Albaugh Family Stable LLC and Spendthrift Farm LLC, Thousand Words won his first three starts and was a prime member of Baffert's crew of Triple Crown prospects early this year. Even though he was being successful, Baffert said the colt was a bit behind the other members of his core group of top 3-year-olds: Authentic, Nadal and Charlatan.
“He was so immature mentally,” Baffert said. “It's started to catch up slowly with him. He's always been a bit of a slow learner, but he's getting with it now. He still has to fill out. He's got a beautiful frame; that's why he cost so much money. He's doing really well. They're both doing really well.”
Thousand Words was fourth to Authentic in the San Felipe (G2) in March and stumbled at the start of the Oaklawn Stakes in April. With blinkers off, he was second by four lengths to stablemate Uncle Chuck in the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) on July 4. Four weeks later, he won the Shared Belief, holding off Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Honor A.P. After the Derby paddock fiasco, he is at Pimlico playing second fiddle to Authentic in Baffert's band and getting good reviews from the maestro.
“He's getting over the track really well,” Baffert said. “He's happy. He's pretty sharp. He's fresh; he didn't run in the Derby. He's pretty honest. So you never know. He's getting better. I can tell that he looks better now than he did for the Derby.”
Baffert schooled both his colts in Pimlico's indoor paddock Thursday and said saddling Thousand Words will not be a problem.
Asked to make a case for Thousand Words in the Preakness, Baffert said: “He's fast. He gets away from there. I added a little blinker to him. He's got a lot of speed. He's not as quick as Authentic. If he gets into a nice rhythm and is right there you just never know. As the gamblers say, he is the 'other Baffert.'”
Both of Baffert's Preakness colts galloped on the track Friday morning.
Baffert has won the Preakness with each of his first five Derby winners and will try to extend that record to 6-for-6 with Authentic. With the first five, the Preakness was two weeks after the Derby. The pandemic changed the Triple Crown schedule.
“I've never come in here with a horse that I've had a month to prepare him for it,” Baffert said. “I can see a big difference out of him, what he's doing. To me, I think he's getting better. He's stronger. You can tell he is filling out. At this stage of the game they are ready to run with older horses. Back in May, they are still filling out.
“He's doing good, but I've watched those other horses that are in the race train and everybody looks good. Art Collector looks good. Mr. Big News, he looks good. It's exciting with everybody that is here. There are some new faces here and they are excited about their horses.”
Art Collector
Trainer Tommy Drury Jr. got his first look at Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector training at Pimlico Friday morning and was happy with what he saw from the colt who is rated second at 5-2 in the morning line for Saturday's Preakness Stakes (G1).
“I'm just glad to be able to watch him go this morning. It looked like he skipped over the racetrack,” Drury said. “That's all we can ask for. We've all done our part. Maybe a little jog in the morning – we may decide to walk him – and we'll turn our keys over to the jock and hopefully he'll use good judgment and we'll go from there.”
Art Collector will seek his fifth victory in a row since being transferred to Drury this year, including dominating wins in the Aug. 9 Ellis Park Derby and July 11 Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland in his two most recent starts.
“He's pretty straightforward and easy. We just tried to stay out of his way and use good judgment and make logical decisions,” Drury said. “He won off the shelf the right way. The next logical step was to try him around two turns. We did that. The next logical step after that was to try stakes company. He's kind of earned his way into this stuff.”
Art Collector went about his business Friday morning in a thoroughly professional manner.
“He's pretty laid-back and easy going, which is a good thing because I get nervous for both of us,” said 49-year-old Drury, who celebrated his first graded-stakes success in the Blue Grass.
Art Collector has shown versatility during his winning streak while either setting the pace or stalking the leaders under Brian Hernandez Jr.
“He's a kind horse to ride. As Brian kind of jokes, 'He's a fingertips kind of horse.' He's got a little stop-and-go to him. You can use him to get yourself out of a spot if you need to and he'll shut back down,” Drury said. “We're hoping that will be beneficial come raceday.”
The son of Bernardini didn't make his first start this year until May 17, when he came off a 5 ½-month layoff to win a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance at Churchill.
“If the Derby would have ran on a normal schedule, this horse was only five-eighths fit. Not to mention he had 0 [qualifying] points,” Drury said. “[The reshuffling of the Triple Crown] has actually been beneficial for me. You've got to give Bruce credit for stopping on the horse and letting him mature and thinking about the horse first. I think that's the biggest reason why we're here today.”
Swiss Skydiver
Trainer Kenny McPeek pronounced Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver ready for her clash with the boys in Saturday's Preakness (G1) following her early-morning gallop over a wet Pimlico racetrack Friday.
“She's a model of consistency. She just keeps it even. She's very professional. She keeps it even every day,” McPeek said. “There's nothing complicated about her.”
The daughter of Daredevil has finished first or second in her last six starts, including victories in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn, Santa Anita Oaks (G2) and Alabama (G1) at Saratoga, as well as runner-up finishes in the Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland and the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill.
Swiss Skydiver, who will be ridden for the first time by Robby Albarado, has tactical early speed but has shown the ability to rate off the pace.
“I'm not going to guess the pace of the race. I learned that a long time ago – you can't guess the pace. She's an honest '12s' horse. When you go 24 and 48 [seconds] and then let her do her thing after that – that's her best race. If there's no pace and they go 48 on the front end and she's up there, that's fine. If they go 46 and she's 10 lengths back, I'm fine with that too,” McPeek said. “Robby's going to have to get her in a nice rhythm. He's been around. He knows how fast horses are going and whether they're doing too much.”
Mr. Big News
Allied Racing Stable LLC's Mr. Big News, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby, had a strong 1 ½-mile gallop over a sloppy Pimlico track Friday morning in preparation for a start in Saturday's Preakness (G1).
“He had another good day. Everything has gone well since we got here. I don't know if he's had an opportunity to get across the track like it's going to be Saturday, but he's training very good and he's sharp,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “I feel good going into it, so now it's up to him.”
The son of Giant's Causeway closed from 10th to enter contention at the top of the stretch in the Derby before finishing evenly in the stretch. Calhoun expects that Mr. Big News will once again be sitting well off the early pace in the Preakness.
“He is who he is. I think he's a closer. That's the style he has developed and I think that suits him best. Sometimes they change their style – some will want to show more; some will want to show less. It's kind of strange over time how they can change their styles sometimes, but this suits him well,” Calhoun said. “We're going to leave him alone and let him run how he wants to run and forget what's going on in front of him.”
Gabriel Saez has the return mount.
Liveyourbeastlife
Whether it's horsemen or horseflesh, trainer Jorge Abreu has learned from and worked with some of the best.
Six years spent as an assistant to 72-year-old Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito gave him an up close look at champions Storm Song and War Pass and stars such as Bellamy Road, Birdstone and Commentator. Nine years as an assistant to trainer Chad Brown, a five-time Eclipse Award winner already with Hall of Fame credentials at the age of 41, exposed Abreu to a steady wave of talent including champions Big Blue Kitten, Dayatthespa, Flintshire, Lady Eli, Stacelita and Zagora.
Abreu, a 46-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, also spent time as an assistant under trainer John Terranova, getting the chance to gallop horses that Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert would ship East for stakes that took residence in Terranova's barn.
“He used to send us horses like Captain Steve, Congaree around that time,” Abreu said. “I'm lucky. I've been around a lot of nice horses.”
This week, Abreu has shared a shedrow with Baffert at Pimlico Race Course for Saturday's 145th Preakness Stakes (G1). Baffert will send out two contenders, including Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and program favorite Authentic, and Abreu will counter with William H. Lawrence's longshot Liveyourbeastlife, runner-up in the Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga.
Liveyourbeastlife galloped 1 ¼ miles over the main track Friday morning for Abreu, who is making his Triple Crown debut. Baffert owns a record 16 Triple Crown race wins, including historic sweeps with American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018). Also in town for the Preakness are Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and trainer Ken McPeek, both Classic race winners.
“I can't describe it. I'm speechless. Really. It will be my first time. It's a big step. I'm very blessed to be here,” Abreu said. “You're in the barn with Bob, Kenny, Steve Asmussen – you're talking about the big guns. I'm very proud of myself.”
Abreu saddled his first two winners (from two starters) while under Brown's employ in 2016 before going out on his own full-time in 2017. He was thrilled when Stellar Agent ran third to Brown-trained Newspaperofrecord in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
“She was 71-1 walking over, and I felt like she was 8-1. I had great confidence she was going to run good, and she got beat for second right on the wire,” Abreu said. “Being here, it's a different feel. It's just nervous.”
Liveyourbeastlife is listed at 30-1 on the morning line for the Preakness, but Abreu has similar confidence in the son of Hall of Famer Ghostzapper, who had to be supplemented into the race because he was not originally nominated to the Triple Crown.
“He seems like he's really improving since the last race. He had two really good breezes at Belmont Park, and Mr. Lawrence told me, 'If you want to take a shot, why not? Let's take it,'” Abreu said. “The horse is doing everything right, so why not take the shot? I'm not here just to be here. If I know the horse has no chance, why waste time? It's a very competitive race, but I think my horse belongs in there, So why not give him the chance?”
Lawrence won the Preakness in 2017 as co-owner with Klaravich Stable of Cloud Computing. Liveyourbeastlife will leave from outside Post 11 under champion Maryland jockey Trevor McCarthy, riding in his second Preakness and first since 2015.
“Everything in this game has its ups and downs, but I've been around a lot of nice horses,” Abreu said. “It helps a lot, just to define what kind of horse you're dealing with because every horse is different. Some horses are just late bloomers, some horses are good 2-year-olds or 3-year-olds and then you don't see them anymore. I think this horse is coming around, and I think he's going to be even better as a 4-year-old.”
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Authentic is favored at 9-5 in the morning line for Saturday's 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, providing Hall of Famer Bob Baffert an excellent opportunity to become the most successful trainer in the storied history of the 1 3/16-mile classic.
Authentic, who registered an impressive front-running victory in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, is scheduled to face 10 other 3-year-olds, including Thousand Words, who, at 6-1 in the morning line, figures to give Baffert a solid second chance to saddle his eighth Preakness winner.
Authentic is owned by Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing. Spendthrift Farm LLC also owns Thousand Words, who was scratched from the Derby after rearing and falling while being saddled in the paddock, in a partnership with Albaugh Family Stable LLC.
The Preakness, traditionally the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, will conclude the series on Saturday after being postponed from May 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Maryland Jockey Club's signature event will be run without fans in attendance, as were the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 20 and the Kentucky Derby Sept. 5.
Fans can watch and wager on the entire 12-race Pimlico program at 1st.com/bet/ and xpressbet.com.
The Preakness will be broadcast live on NBC from 4:30-6 p.m.
“Without the fans, it sort of takes away from it. It didn't feel like the Derby until the gates came open. Once the gates came open, I felt like it was on. Once he hit the wire, it felt like the Derby,” Baffert said. “It makes you forget about everything else.”
Should Authentic or Thousand Words prevail Saturday, Baffert will surely be hit with that old Preakness feeling to which he has become all too accustomed.
When Baffert saddled Triple Crown champion Justify for a victory in the 2018 Preakness, he tied the record for most wins by a trainer with Robert Wyndham Walden, who saddled seven winners between 1875 and 1888. From his seven Preakness winners, all five of Baffert's Kentucky Derby winners won at Pimlico two weeks later. Authentic, however, will seek his second leg of the Triple Crown with four weeks between classics.
“He would have been ready to roll in two weeks. I feel pressure now because I never lost a Preakness with a horse I won the Derby with,” Baffert said. “Now the pressure's on me.”
While he is well aware of his accomplishments at Pimlico, Baffert is making an effort to focus on the 2020 Preakness without reliving his past successes or his chance to become the winningest trainer in Preakness history Saturday.
“The reason I've won it so many times is I've always had the best horse. That's why I won. I've won the Derby with the best horse and I've lost the Derby with the best horse. The losses bother me. I think about the losses more – the ones that got away from me,” Baffert said. “The Preaknesses have never gotten away when I'm here with the best horse.
Authentic will once again be guided by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who has ridden three Derby winners and two Belmont Stakes winners, but will be seeking his first Preakness success. Thousand Words will be ridden by Florent Geroux for the first time Saturday.
Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby in the days leading up to the race due to a minor foot injury, is scheduled to join the Triple Crown fray Saturday.
“We were going to miss a few days of training and that's just not the way you want to go into the Kentucky Derby. I've been waiting for 30 years for this horse to come into my life. I'm sure not going to do anything to jeopardize his future for just one race,” trainer Tommy Drury said. “It certainly stung a little bit, but having this race right behind it, you kind of had to turn the page pretty quickly and start thinking about the next one.”
Art Collector, who is rated second at 5-2 in the morning line, has finished first in his last five races (by a combined 23 ½ lengths), including four straight victories since being turned over to Drury this year.
Art Collector, who won the July 11 Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland and the Aug. 9 Ellis Park Derby in his two most recent starts, has shown the ability to set the pace or stalk the pace under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
“He knows this horse like the back of his hand. I don't think I've ever given him instructions on this horse,” said 49-year-old Drury, who celebrated his first career graded-stakes success in the Blue Grass. “I've just told him to ride as it comes to him. By doing that he's gotten several different trips. That's where having a horse that's versatile enough that he will allow you to do that is very beneficial.”
Drury has been impressed with the son of Bernardini's preparation for the Preakness.
“The Derby was disappointing because he was training so well leading up to it, but, gosh, I feel like he's doing equally as well right now,” he said. “We're ready to take our best shot.”
Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver, who is rated at 6-1 in the morning line, is scheduled to clash with the boys for a second time in her career. The multiple graded-stakes winning daughter of Daredevil finished second as the favorite behind Art Collector in the Blue Grass. She will make a bid to join a group of five fillies who have captured the Preakness: Rachel Alexandra (2009), Nellie Morse (1924), Rhine Maiden (1915), Whimsical (1906), and Flocarline (1903).
“I don't know if we have to differentiate genders. In Europe, fillies run against colts all the time. I don't think Enable has run straight fillies [more than a few times] in several years,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “Here it seems to be more of a big deal, but for the most part when you bring a good one into the game, it doesn't matter.”
Swiss Skydiver captured the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 29 before going on win the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn Park and the Santa Anita Oaks (G2). She set a pressured pace in the Blue Grass before being overtaken by Art Collector, losing by 3 ½ lengths but finishing 4 ¾ lengths clear of the third-place finisher and next-out winner Rushie. The McPeek trainee bounced back to score a dominating 3 ½-length victory in the 1 ¼-mile Alabama (G1) at Saratoga before finishing second in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Swiss Skydiver is the latest in a long line of McPeek-trained Grade 1 stakes-winning fillies and mares, topped by Take Charge Lady, who earned nearly $2.5 million.
“It seems to me I've had better fillies than I've had colts. Maybe it's just a coincidence. If you look back on my career I've had some good colts,” said McPeek, who saddled Sarava for an upset victory in the 2002 Belmont Stakes. “We try to treat them all as individuals, but maybe my program does fit fillies better. I'm not sure.”
Swiss Skydiver will have her sixth different jockey aboard for the Preakness when McPeek gives veteran Robby Albarado a leg up on his ultra-consistent filly. Albarado rode Curlin to a Preakness victory in 2007.
Allied Racing Stable LLC's Mr. Big News, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby at 46-1, is slated to take on Authentic again Saturday. The late-developing son of Giant's Causeway broke his maiden Jan. 20 at Fair Grounds in his fourth career start. He earned a 'Win & In' berth in the Preakness when he won his first stakes in the Oaklawn Stakes April 11 before disappointing with an off-the-board finish in the Blue Grass.
“Mentally, he's always been a great-minded horse. He's done everything the right way his whole career. Physically, he just wasn't as strong as he is now. He had to fill out and get stronger. That's what he's done gradually,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “It's been a continuous development over the past five, six months to get where he needed to be. To be strong enough to be at the top of his game.”
Calhoun never lost faith in Mr. Big News.
“The trainer has to be patient. The owner needs to be patient to allow the trainer to be patient. It's kind of a team effort,” Calhoun said. “This horse showed talent early on. I know not everybody was a believer. I think a lot of people were wondering, 'What do you see in him?' We saw something in him in his early works. He was getting better and better, making big leaps forward in his development. I told some people, 'You're going to read about this horse someday.'”
Gabriel Saez, who was aboard for the Oaklawn Stakes win, has the return call on Mr. Big News, who is rated at 12-1 in the morning line.
Trainer Steve Asmussen, who saddled Rachel Alexandra and Curlin for their Preakness scores, is scheduled to saddle three starters Saturday in his bid for No. 3 – George Hall and Sport BLX Thoroughbreds Corp.'s Max Player, Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Pneumatic and Calumet Farm's Excession.
(Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, in 2013, was the last trainer to saddle three starters, including Calumet's victorious Oxbow),
Max Player is the only horse entered in all three Triple Crown races this year. The son of Honor Code, who finished a non-threatening third in the Belmont for trainer Linda Rice, was never able to get into the race in his first start for Asmussen in the Derby, in which he finished fifth after breaking from the rail post.
“Obviously, I was a little bit disappointed in his race in the Derby but his post cost him considerably, just getting covered up early and being way too far back to be effective,” Asmussen said.
Pneumatic, who finished fourth in the Belmont, is coming off a 2 ¼-length victory in the ungraded Pegasus at Monmouth Park; while Excession will make his first start since finishing second in the Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn Park March 14.
Asmussen expressed gratitude to the participating Triple Crown tracks for making adjustments to make Triple Crown 2020 a reality.
“They're only 3 once and they deserve this opportunity. I'm glad the tracks got together and made sure the races were run,” Asmussen said. “We're very excited to have three talented horses in such an important race.”
Paco Lopez is scheduled to ride Max Player for the first time Saturday, while Joe Bravo and Sheldon Russell will have the mounts on Pneumatic (20-1) and Excession (30-1), respectively.
Ny Traffic, who faded to eighth after attending the early pace in the Kentucky Derby, will seek a rebound effort in the Preakness for owners John Fanelli, Cash is King LLC, LC Racing, Paul Braverman and Team Hanley.
The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained son of Cross Traffic had finished second, beaten by a nose, behind Authentic in the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth.
“And that's probably what gives us the hope probably to give it a try again,” Joseph said. “Sometimes in racing you don't come up with reasons why horses don't perform and then they come back and they run the race that you were hoping for the time before.”
Maryland-based Horacio Karamanos is set to ride Ny Traffic, who is rated at 15-1 in the morning line, for the first time Saturday.
William H. Lawrence's Liveyourbeastlife (30-1), who finished second in the Jim Dandy (G3) at Saratoga last time out; and Grupo Seven C Stable's Jesus' Team (30-1), who finished third in the Jim Dandy; round out the Preakness field.
Tommy Drury, Jr. had never won a graded stakes race until Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector captured Keeneland's Toyota Blue Grass (G2) less than three months ago. But he'd certainly played a role in the training process for a lot of graded-stakes winners.
Now, after more than 30 years in the trenches and behind the scenes, Drury is embarking on his Triple Crown debut with Art Collector in Saturday's Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico. His sudden burst into racing's spotlight follows decades of paying his dues, both with horses at the top of the game and low-level claimers. Drury's own racing stable consisted mostly of the claimers and horses likely to race at smaller tracks in the region. Any stakes horses or well-bred 2-year-olds likely were being prepared for other trainers.
“I always joked with everybody, 'Eventually one of these horses is going to fall through the cracks,' ” Drury said. “We've kind of been patiently waiting, and that's exactly what happened with Art Collector. The stars aligned for us and it just worked out.”
The 49-year-old Drury represents the thousands of men and women in this country and the world who work seven days a week with horses and never get a chance in the spotlight. On the racetrack, it's known as waiting for the big horse to come in.
Of all things, the health pandemic put the big horse in Drury's life.
Lunsford planned to make a training change when he sent Art Collector to Drury in January to get ready off a layoff. But with the intended trainer, Rusty Arnold, stuck down in Florida for a couple more months in the wake of the COVID outbreak, Art Collector ran with Drury officially his trainer for the first time on May 17 at Churchill Downs. He won by 2 3/4 lengths.
Drury assumed Art Collector would be leaving his barn. But Lunsford — and Arnold — had decided that Drury deserved to keep the colt. That was also the conclusion of Seth Hancock, the head of Claiborne Farm, which long has boarded Lunsford's mares and stands the owner's Grade 1 winner First Samurai at stud. Claiborne also has had horses with Drury.
“I sent Bruce a text and said, 'We're never going to know if he's a good trainer if we don't give him a chance,'” Hancock said of Drury. “Bruce was going to leave him with him anyway, and the rest is history…. And I admire the heck out of Rusty because I think he sent Bruce a text and said, 'You know, that horse ran too good for Tommy Drury. Don't move him to me.' Boy, that's something that doesn't happen anymore.”
Art Collector is Drury's first real shot at the big time, and, so far, he's handled things flawlessly. The son of 2006 Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini is 4-for-4 in his care, winning two Churchill Downs allowance races, the Blue Grass and then the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby — all by open lengths and in fast times.
When Art Collector nicked the fleshy part of his left front heel during a routine gallop the day before entries for the Kentucky Derby, Drury did not hesitate to take the colt out of the race. Never mind how big it would have been for Lunsford and him to have their first Derby starter at their hometown track. If he couldn't be 100 percent, Drury didn't want to run. The focus immediately turned to the Preakness.
“I admire what he did before the Derby,” Hancock said. “He could have patched him up, got him over… that's why I like the guy. He always does the right thing by the horse.”
Brian Hernandez Jr., who rides Art Collector, knows what a single horse can do for a career — as Fort Larned did in carrying the jockey to victory in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
“It's huge for Tommy,” said Hernandez, the trainer's close friend. “I think that's been the best thing about this whole deal, all the press and everything he's getting. People are finally starting to see that, hey, he can get a good horse to the right races. He's done a great job for his whole career training. Now it's gotten to the next level, and that's what you need. It just took the right horse for everybody to see it. And it will be good for him in the long run as well. His stock will get better, and hopefully it will snowball for him.”
Two understated labels of honor in horse racing are calling someone a “horseman” and “a worker.” Drury, by all accounts, is both.
Patty Drury had her only child when she was 16. Thomas Drury Sr. was an exercise rider who generally trained a cheap horse, two or three on the side. Patty Drury can't remember a time when her son didn't want to train horses, at least once he realized his dream of being a jockey wasn't going to happen.
“Tommy is the only person I have ever met who has always known what he wanted to do and has worked toward that without ever changing,” she said. “Tommy has always, always wanted to work with the horses. It's the love of the horses. When he was born, we lived on a horse farm so he's been around horses his entire life.
“He's been telling me since he was about 9 that he was going to have a horse in the Derby some day. As I watched him grow, it seemed like he found his spot in racing. It didn't look like it would really lead to the Derby, but he was making a really good living. Gosh, I'm his mom. If he wins any race, I'm excited. It might as well be the Derby for me if Tommy is in the winner's circle.
“The way he's just stuck to it and built his business, it stays in the back of your mind that, yeah, he could just make this happen. Getting one into the Preakness is every bit just as good. It's not at home, but it's just as fantastic… It's just exciting, unbelievable. I don't even know the words, to be honest. I love it. I love each interview. Maybe it was Mr. Lunsford who said Tommy is the best-kept secret around the racetrack. I have to agree with that.”
Drury attended Marion C. Moore High School near the southern Louisville suburb of Okolona, an area best known in the sports world for producing star quarterback Phil Simms. Okolona is about 14 miles from Churchill Downs, but Drury found a way to get to the track on weekends. He quit school over Patty's objections, telling his mom that they couldn't teach him what he needed to learn.
Drury later earned his GED, but in the meantime, his education moved to Skylight Training Center in Oldham County, east of Louisville and where his dad was working.
“It seemed like he always had something that had been turned out for a year,” Drury said of his father's stock. “There was always something. You couldn't gallop it; it would run off. You don't think about it at the time but now, looking back, I got a lot of education from those horses. It certainly wasn't uncommon to walk into his barn and there would be three horses and two would be standing in ice tubs. Those kinds of horses, they make you a horseman.”
At the same time, Drury Sr. preached to the teenage Tommy, “If you're going to do this, you need to work for the bigger outfits.”
Drury officially began as an exercise rider at age 17 and got his trainer's license at 18. Like his dad, he also worked for other trainers — Frankie Brothers, Bill Mott, Brian Mayberry, a short time for D. Wayne Lukas and Steve Penrod.
“I was kind of like my dad for the next 10 years,” said Drury. “I'd always have a horse, a couple of horses, and galloped on the side. You could just pay attention to how those guys did things, and I started to incorporate some of that into my program.”
Still, he said, “I never thought in a million years I'd be in this situation….
Yeah, there were a lot of days where I drove back from Beulah Park after the last race, had a four-hour drive home and we beat one horse in a 'non-winners of two' for $3,500. It wasn't like I just showed up and got these kinds. There were a whole lot of years getting to this point. It's certainly not something I'm ever going to take for granted.”
A career break came in the unlikely form of Drury being turned down for stalls at Churchill Downs. Drury and his tiny stable returned to the Skylight training center. But rather than being banished, it proved an opportunity, with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott sending him a few overflow horses.
“That's when guys started giving me the opportunity to leg up young horses and things of that nature, guys I'd galloped for,” Drury said. “Bill put me on the map. He gave me an opportunity when no one else would, sent me a couple of horses. You tell people for years, this is what I do, this is what I want to do. And nobody really pays much attention. Then all of a sudden you're able to say, 'Hey I've got horses for Bill Mott', and suddenly you have the credibility you need to get going. That's helped me expand. Whether it's Bill or Frankie, Ralph Nicks, Al Stall. All these guys have been such lifelines.
“One of the things I learned from Bill was that you might not be where you want to be today, but with a little patience and time, six months from now you might be exactly where you want to be.”
Horses such as current top older horse Tom's d'Etat, 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 2-year-old champion Hansen and Grade 1 winners Lea and Madcap Escape were all in Drury's care at some stage. The Frank Brothers-trained Madcap Escape, who earned $1 million while going 7 for 9, was one of his first horses for Lunsford.
“He's had his hands on quite a few good horses. He just never had the opportunity” to keep them, Hancock said. “And he's getting that opportunity with Art Collector and making the most of it.”
Today, Drury's operation has about 50 horses at Skylight and 10 at Churchill Downs. His business is about evenly split between his own racing stable and preparing 2-year-olds to race and older horses to make a return to the races for other trainers.
“I've watched him very closely, and I came to the conclusion that if you look at Mott, Frankie and Shug (McGaughey) — all of whom I'm close to — they started as claiming trainers and small guys building their thing,” Lunsford said. “As they did, they did a lot more direct work on horses. So when they got to the better horses, they knew how to get them through injuries and how to do things. Tommy does, too. He had the same kind of background.”
For Drury, it was like winning the Breeders' Cup Classic when Claiborne Farm's 6-year-old gelding Departing – a five-time stakes-winner and $1.9 million-earner who ran in the 2013 Preakness for trainer Al Stall – won a $100,000 stakes at Indiana Grand in his first start for Drury in 2016.
“Can't believe I just won the biggest race of my career, and doing it for Claiborne Farm just makes it that much more special!” Drury wrote on Facebook. The trophy, which he strapped behind the seatbelt, rode shotgun on the drive back.
Departing was second in his next start, coming out with an ankle problem. As much as Drury wanted the gelding to get to $2 million, just because he thought the horse deserved it, he told Hancock he thought it best that Departing be retired.
“Tommy said, 'You know, given who he is, I don't want to try to patch him up and go on. I think it's best we stop on him,'” Hancock said. “That was the right thing to do. Every horse we ever had with Tommy, whatever he would tell me, in my mind it was always the right thing to do. I thought, 'Well, this guy is sure enough all right.' I just became really fond of him, not only as a trainer but as a human being and person. I admired his work ethic, everything about him.”
In a two-month span two years ago, Drury, the father of 19-year-old Matt and 16-year-old Emma, went through the death of his own dad, who had led a difficult and sad life in later years that included addiction and homelessness, and an unexpected divorce. Amidst it all, the dog who'd served as his trusty companion for many years died.
Hancock said he couldn't change anything or alleviate the pain Drury was experiencing, but just maybe this was the time for him to start thinking about his career, his own dreams. As part of that, Drury again started having horses stabled at Churchill Downs, which boosted his profile even before Art Collector. This winter, he might have a small string in New Orleans — the first time he's had horses stabled outside the Louisville area.
“Throw the horses out of it,” Drury said of Hancock. “He's taken me under his wing, and he's a close friend and advisor. His support and encouragement give me the confidence to go out and swing for the fences when it comes to my career.”
Whether Art Collector wins or loses the Preakness, he definitely has raised Drury's trajectory. Lunsford withdrew Art Collector's yearling half-brother (out of the mare Distorted Legacy and sired by the super-hot stallion Into Mischief) from Keeneland's recent auction. The youngster figured to fetch a huge price, but Lunsford instead will race the horse with Claiborne as partner and Drury the trainer.
“We want to help Tommy have a great career,” Lunsford said.
