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Colebrook Sends Two Runners to Blue Grass Debut

Five weeks ago, Ben Colebrook had to jump through quite a few hoops to make sure he could see both of his top 3-year-old colts make the starting gate on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Without so much as pausing to get his picture taken after Raise Cain's (Violence) victory in the GIII Gotham S., the conditioner hopped on a plane bound for Kentucky to saddle Scoobie Quando (Uncle Mo) ahead of a runner-up effort in the John Battaglia Memorial S. at Turfway just over four hours later.

This time around, Colebrook decided to avoid the tumultuous travel schedule altogether, ensuring that he would be on-site to watch both of his stable stars perform, as the pair of colts are pointed for Saturday's $1 million GI Toyota Blue Grass S.

While Colebrook said it would have been ideal to keep the two sophomores–who are both campaigned by Andrew and Rania Warren–separate for their final Kentucky Derby preps, he opted against shipping Raise Cain back to Aqueduct for the GII Wood Memorial S. and ultimately decided it would be best to remain at their home track.

Raise Cain has already proven himself at Keeneland. The son of Violence broke his maiden and ran third in the Bowman Mill S. there last fall and then trained at the Lexington oval throughout the winter. Following his 7 1/2-length score in the Gotham, where he earned a career-high 90 Beyer Speed Figure going from eleventh to first over a muddy Aqueduct track, the bay has put in two works at Keeneland, most recently going four furlongs in :47.80 on Mar. 30.

“He came out of the Gotham in good shape and he's had two nice works here,” Colebrook explained. “He's familiar with the surroundings and he's won here before, so he's coming into the race really well.”

Entering his first Grade I contest as the third choice with morning-line odds of 9/2, Raise Cain will break from post 10 in an 11-horse field with Joel Rosario aboard. Colebrook explained why he believes the race–and the post position–will favor the colt's closing running style.

“On paper it looks like there will be some pace and hopefully from that outside post [he can] just get over and work out a trip like he did in the Gotham where he can make that one run and sustain it. We're just looking for a good race and something to build off of to hopefully go on to Churchill.”

While Raise Cain has already secured 54 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, his stablemate Scoobie Quando will need a breakthrough performance on Saturday for a chance at making it to the Derby starting gate.

Unraced at two, Scoobie Quando was confidently placed for his winning debut in the Turfway Prevue S. in January. He ran second in his next two starts at Turfway, getting lost in the pack and making late moves in both races.

“He went all the way back to last at the top of the stretch and then he flew home,” Colebrook said of the colt's second-place effort 3 ½ lengths behind Congruent (Tapit) in the John Battaglia last time out. “Nothing against the winner, who ran a great race, but I think the margin would have been closer and it would have been a horse race had we gotten out earlier.”

Scoobie Quando was initially slated for the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks on Mar. 25, but a minor skin issue the morning of the race forced him to scratch. While Colebrook considered running the son of Uncle Mo in the GIII Lexington S. on April 15, he ultimately decided that the timing of the Blue Grass would be the ideal setup for a Derby bid.

That initial setback from the Jeff Ruby scratch may have proven to be a blessing in disguise as Colebrook said that Scoobie Quando seems to have taken to the main track as he prepares for his dirt debut. The colt breezed a sharp five furlongs in :59.80 (1/13) over the Keeneland main track on Mar. 30.

“We worked him very aggressive on the dirt and he worked really, really well,” Colebrook noted. “[Jockey] Luan Machado was on him and thought he got over the dirt surface better than the Tapeta. So Scoobie over the dirt is a little bit of an unknown, but in the mornings he certainly seems like he really relishes the track.”

'Scoobie' may be the less experienced of Colebrook's two Blue Grass contender, but the trainer spoke highly of both horses.

“They're both very quality horses,” he said. “I think Scoobie has always shown a little bit more brilliance in his works. Raise Cain has always been kind of workman-like and does everything you ask of him. He was one that when you ran him first time, he didn't even know what was going on because he was so relaxed. He's just very reliable. Scoobie has certainly done nothing wrong so far, but he's just a little more inexperienced at this stage because he got a later start.”

A native of Central Kentucky, Colebrook grew up attending the Keeneland race meet with his father. The horseman is now in his eleventh year of training and Keeneland has become the setting for some of his best achievements. He saddled his first winner there in 2013, scored his first graded stakes win with Sparking Review in the GIII Pin Oak Valley View (Lemon Drop Kid) a year later, and celebrated his first career Grade I victory with Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity in 2018. This weekend, he hopes to add another 'first' to the list as he saddles his first two runners for the famed track's premier Derby prep race.

“This will be my first time with a runner in the Blue Grass and to have two in it is crazier,” he said. “It's a dream come true just to have a horse that's good enough to run in the Blue Grass because I grew up watching the Blue Grass as a kid. It's one of the biggest preps for the Derby and it's here at our home track so it's a big deal to even be in the race. We're super proud of that and hopefully they both can give a good account of themselves, which I think they will.”

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Keeping Up With Jones

British horseracing may have its fair share of issues, but that does not appear to be a deterrent to a swathe of young trainers, and one of the newer names to appear in race cards is Jack Jones, who has just celebrated his first full year with a licence.

A former point-to-point rider who has cut his teeth by working for a wide variety of trainers internationally, including David Simcock, Richard Spencer, Ger Lyons, Mikel Delzangles and Chris Waller, Jones has notched four wins so far in 2023 from 14 starters. His most recent success came last Friday with Shot (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) on his first appearance for the trainer.

Jones has also recently taken charge of Winter Moon (Ire), a twice-raced daughter of Roaring Lion owned by Barbara Keller, Cambridge Stud and David Redvers.

“I think if I look back to a year ago, from where we started, I'd have to be very happy,” says Jones, who is based within Rae Guest's Chestnut Tree Stables close to Newmarket's Rowley Mile racecourse.

“Last year we had lots of seconds, but, bar a little two-year-old filly, everything we had was placed, so they were running well.”

He adds, “So in a way last year was a little bit frustrating, but I probably learned a lot through doing different things through the summer. They were running well, and Chagall was our first winner in November, which was great. We got him from Ireland, and he's been a great addition. He's finished second again twice and the plan is to go to Bath with him on the seventh for the Good Friday meeting.

Not only has Jones worked for a range of trainers, but he also has several in his pedigree. His grandmother Gill Jones trained from Upton-on-Severn in Worcestershire, while his father Nick trained point-to-pointers, including Real Milan (Ire), who was ridden to victory by Jack on five occasions. Jones's mother, also named Jill, was racing secretary to David 'The Duke' Nicholson, while his uncle Tim Jones is well known to many with the racing and breeding industry.

“I've always been based around horses at home, mum and dad were involved in hunting and racing and my grandmother used to train,” he says. “When I went to uni, but I was lucky enough to ride out for Nicky Henderson during the week. I also had two stints with Paul Nicholls and Kim Bailey and then had a year working out in Australia, which was awesome. Great fun.”

“Then I've been in Newmarket ever since. I had two and a half years with David Simcock and then before I set up training I was with Richard Spencer as well, so I've learned a bit about both sides of town, which was good.”

No trainer is likely to forget their first winner, and for Jones it was particularly memorable as the horse in question, Chagall (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}), won from 10lbs out of the handicap, with his lowly mark when he joined the stable being just 36.

“I wouldn't say I've got a five-year plan as such, but we're here with 14 boxes, a small barn. We'll grow as and when. We'll continue to have more horses in, slowly upgrading the quality. Look, Chagall and Navy Drums, they're rated in the mid-to-low 50s but they're in the right grade,” he says with a heathy dose of realism.

“Navy's won two and finished second, Chagall has won two and finished second twice, so they're in the right grade and hopefully they can keep progressing.

“This new year everything has fallen into place. Navy Drums we picked up cheap online and, again, he's been a great addition.”

The stable has grown steadily from the handful of horses under the trainer's care last spring, and he's not afraid to utilise his old riding skills when required.

“With the sort of scale of operation we are, it's a lot of hard work. I'm not going to pretend it's not,” he says. “When we had only a handful of horses, myself and Polly, my other half, were doing a lot of the work ourselves, which is great because you are saving, and I'm lucky enough that I can still ride out. But it's about getting a balance.

“I think at the stage where I started–small scale, low overheads, renting a barn from Rae Guest–I'm very pleased to be getting that filled now and then hopefully we can start to build and grow from there.”

Jones adds, “We started off very much with small family and friends' syndicates, and they're crucial. Obviously you've got to back it up with the winners but you've also got to be continuously at the sales, meeting people, [looking for] new stock and improving your pedigrees. The one thing about being here in Newmarket is, as and when yards pop up, hopefully it will fall in right to move and grow accordingly. But really, just to keep getting as many winners as we can; that's the main aim.”

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Earning Their Stripes: Jordan Blair

Last year, we conducted a popular Q and A series called 'Smaller But Still Super,' where we featured veteran trainers who have built a competitive racing stable with relatively small numbers (click here to view the archive). This year, we will highlight trainers who have already cut their teeth as novice trainers, but now have a few years of experience under their belt and are looking to make a name for themselves as they grow their stable. We'll talk about the challenges that come with hanging out your single, advice for trainers setting out on their own, how the incoming class of young trainers differs from previous generations and more.

A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Jordan Blair grew up immersed in the Thoroughbred industry of the Bluegrass, but he didn't find his way onto the racetrack until later on his career. He spent his high school and college days working for various farms and sales consignments, from Pin Oak Stud and Dromoland Farm to Taylor Made. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, he went on to earn a Master's Degree in Agribusiness Management. Soon after, he found his true passion on the racetrack and served as an assistant for eight years, learning from the likes of Kenny McPeek and Mike Maker, before taking out his trainer's license in 2013.

Based in Louisville, Blair has steadily built his operation since and now stables around 20 horses. Last year he reached 100 career wins and celebrated his best year yet in earnings.

Blair normally heads south for the winter, but decided to race out of Turfway this year. It proved to be a lucrative decision, as his stable already has six wins on the year and is winning at a 22% clip.

What was the biggest challenge in those first few years as you were getting started?

A big part of it is financial, just paying the bills and making sure your owners are paying the bills. It's about making sure you have good-quality horses and owners in your barn. I've found that a lot of people will try to take advantage of you early on, wanting to do deals. We went through those people very quickly because I learned those lessons the hard way.

When I was first starting I didn't care if a horse was bred in Kalamazoo, I was just trying to fill stalls. Honestly, we were running horses in spots that they didn't belong in because I didn't want to lose them. Now if I have a horse in the wrong spot, I can promise you that it's not my idea. Now we just want to win and I'm not worried if we lose a horse in the claim box.

Debut winner Midnight Rising runs in Saturday's Rushaway S. At Turfway Park | Coady

What do you think makes your stable or your training style unique?

Training is not rocket science. It's paying attention to details and focusing on the little things. When I was younger, I had to learn about work ethic. One of my old bosses from Pin Oak Stud Clifford Barry told me, as he was kicking my tail end every day, focus on the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. I've kind of lived by that as a trainer as I've grown my business.

As I've evolved as a trainer and rules have changed and the veterinary inspections have gotten more rigorous, I've made a focus on the soundness of the horse. Not that I didn't pay attention to that before, but it's more important now than it has ever been. We're constantly going over the horse and I'm hyper-focused on the details and the health of the horse.

This is your first winter at Turfway. What went into that decision to stay in Kentucky?

Tampa Bay Downs was the first place I went and I went there every winter. I knew it was a good surface, a great turf course and a circuit where I knew I could win races down there. Most owners are just looking at numbers, so I wanted to keep our numbers decent. But then I had a family and leaving them every year was awful.

I really hadn't had the opportunity to stay until this year. The first year that Turfway started to get better and purses went up a bit, my owners were not on board yet. Last year I really wanted to stay but I didn't get any stalls at Turfway. This year the facility we stay at all year, Trackside, stayed open. So it was an easy decision.

It has gone really well. We've won our share of races, purses are significantly better, and I've been able to see my kids every day. We had a relatively mild winter with only a few days of jogging in the shedrow, but overall it's been a delight and we've saved a ton of money not having to ship a stable south.

Is a trainer's success defined more by the quality of the horses they receive or their abilities as a trainer?

If you're a college basketball coach, you can be Rick Pitino and be one of the best coaches in history, but you can't win a national championship at Iona. If you're talking about the top of the game, you need the right type of quality of horses to get you there. You can't make a horse faster than their potential unless you're doing something illegal. You can't get to the top without the right horse.

Who is your favorite horse that you've trained?

I have one in the barn now that could be something for Surfside Stables. Midnight Rising (Mendelssohn) broke his maiden at Turfway impressively. He runs in a stake at Turfway this weekend. His last breeze was just amazing. He acts like he's very special.

One of my first horses was a Donegal horse named Oatfield (Candy Ride {Arg}). I thought he was awesome, but he bowed a tenon at the beginning of his 4-year-old year. At the time he was the best horse I had ever had.

Oceanic gets his first stakes win in the 2022 Woodford Reserve Da Hoss S. | Coady

Do you have a horse that you had to overcome obstacles with that you are most proud of getting to the starting gate?

Oceanic (Constitution) is my first and only stakes winner and he is pretty special. He has been in our care since he was two, but he didn't win a stake until he was five. He had immense potential early on, but he was a thumper. Thumping is an electrolyte imbalance that causes a flutter in their diaphragm when they run. It's almost like a hiccup, so it makes running as fast as you can impossible. Figuring that out was a long process and it was frustrating, but his owners and I were patient and kept on with it. He's that horse that overcame obstacles and we had the patience and wherewithal to figure it out with the help of a lot of people along the way.

If one change was made to racing that would make your life as a trainer easier, what would it be?

I'm not a big fan of HISA, and it's not because it's a governing body. I don't think what they're doing is improving the game because it's putting unnecessary pressure on people who follow the rules. If they really wanted to clean it up, all this money should be put into investigations like those that were done with the Navarro and Servis case. That's what's going to clean up the game. It's not catching guys with a small overage on bute or something like that, it's getting rid of this off-market clenbuterol and all this other crap that people are using to cheat and win. We know who they are now and we knew who they were before they proved it with Servis and Navarro. If I was a governing body of horseracing, I would put my resources into these investigations.

I thought HISA was supposed to make uniform rules across the board, but it does not. Tracks or states can make their own rules as long as they are more stringent than HISA. I thought HISA would make all that the same and it hasn't, which is really frustrating.

If you could spend one afternoon at the track enjoying the day (i.e. not working), which track would you be at and where would we find you hanging out?

It's gotta be Keeneland. It's close between Keeneland and Saratoga. Back in college, we were in row 20 tailgating. They didn't have tailgating on the Hill back then. We would be there at nine in the morning and tailgate until the second or third race. Now I don't think I have a spot because I don't really go unless I'm running.

If you aren't at the racetrack, what can you be found doing?

I would be either with my family or working out. My kids are into sports, gymnastics and horseback riding. My hobby is exercise, so I'd be at the gym or the gym in my garage.

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Earning Their Stripes: Dan Blacker

Dan Blacker said he always knew that he wanted to be a trainer. His first job was with British jump racing champion trainer Nicky Henderson and he spent school holidays riding out in his native England and in France. But it wasn't until a trip to the U. S. during the Godolphin Flying Start program that he fell in love with the racetrack way of life.

As part of the Flying Start program, the horseman spent time learning from Richard Mandella and he returned to work for the Hall of Fame trainer in 2007.

After working under Mandella for two years, Blacker spent two years with Tom Albertrani on the East Coast. In 2011, he jumped at the opportunity to launch his own stable.

Since then, Blacker has made a name for himself within the training ranks in California. Last year he not only reached 100 career wins, but he also celebrated his best season yet with 16 wins on the year and over $880,000 in earnings.

Blacker's name has long been associated with his leading earner Hit the Road (Medaglia d'Oro). After going through the ring unsold during Book 1 of the 2018 Keeneland September Sale, Hit the Road was picked out by Blacker and associate Craig (Boomer) Rounsefell for $160,000. Hit the Road took Blacker to his first Breeders' Cup at two and then gave his conditioner his first Grade I victory as a 3-year-old in the 2021 Frank E. Kilroe Mile S.

How did you ultimately take the plunge in going out on your own?

Jamie Lloyd, a bloodstock agent in England now, was training here in California and he was going back to England. He asked me if I wanted to start up, but I wasn't sure if I was ready financially. But Jamie got me a few owners and I started with three horses.

I had met Gary Stevens when I was working in France for Jonathan Pease. When I was starting out, Gary had just finished training. I asked if I could borrow some equipment. He told me to go to this container in Sierra Madra and take whatever I needed. I opened it up and grabbed two saddles, some webbings, all the stuff I needed, and took it back to Hollywood Park. I went and got my first three horses from Jamie and then found two grooms and asked if they wanted to work for me. I didn't have a whole lot of money, but thankfully I had some friends who helped me get going.

We've built it up from there and now 10 years later, we have 30 horses.

Blacker got to spend plenty of time with future supersire Into Mischief during his time with Richard Mandella | Horsephotos

What was the biggest challenge in those first few years as you were getting started?

The first major challenge is going from an assistant to a head trainer. As an assistant, you always have an idea of how you want to do things when you're the boss. You take a piece of the routine from everyone you work for and then formulate your own routine that's unique to you. So you have this idea in your head, but then when you do take the plunge, it's a massive difference when you don't have that person to ask what to do. You're the person that has to make the decisions for everything and ultimately if something doesn't work out, you're the one that has to answer to it with the owners. You never really deal with owners when you're an assistant, but when you go out on your own, all of a sudden you have all this responsibility. There are a lot of things you don't think about when you're an assistant that you now have to do on a day-to-day basis.

You have to learn to wear many hats. You have to be a good communicator, a good horseman and you have to be good with finances. I started my business having no real background in running a business and I had to learn as I went. I opened a QuickBooks program and started learning.

Is there anything the industry as a whole should do to make it easier for trainers starting out?

That's what is really unique about America. It's one of the best places for young trainers to start without a huge amount of financial backing. Back home in England, it's so hard to get going as a trainer. You need a lot of financial backing because you need your own private yard. Here you can have three horses and three stalls and away you go.

In general, I think young people in America are given opportunities much more readily, especially compared to where I'm from back home in England. I think Americans in general are much more open to giving young people a chance if you prove that you work hard and you're passionate about what you do. You don't need a well-known last name and it doesn't matter what you look like. If you have a bit of success, people will give you a chance.

I think the finances are the hardest point. Running a business in any industry takes a lot of planning. I was really winging it in the beginning and it would have been nice to have some sort of guidance in terms of setting up a viable business.

What do you think makes your stable or your training style unique?

We really focus on individual routines for each horse when it comes to training and feed.

We put a lot of emphasis on communication. We send out weekly updates. We film every workout and send workout reports. Most of my owners are not local, so it's great for them to be able to see the works. I think that's one of the most important things. It's why we're here. If I can get the owners more involved with the process of getting a horse ready for a race, I think I'm doing my job. The more you can get them involved, I think the more they enjoy it and the more likely they are to be longtime owners.

I like to think that in terms of training horses, I can train any type of horse. I know I have a British accent but ironically, my statistics are actually a little bit better on the dirt just because we've had a run of decent dirt horses lately. I worked for Richard Mandella and he has won Grade I races on every distance on every surface. I hope that one day I can get close to his kind of record.

Hit the Road gives Blacker his first Grade I victory in the 2021 Frank E. Kilroe Mile | Benoit

What was the main takeaway from your time working for Richard Mandella?

There are so many different things I learned from him that I still think about today. He's the best horseman I've ever been around.

The main thing would be attention to detail and really focusing on each horse. Training a horse is not just about what they're doing on the track. It's their whole life–how they behave in the barn, how they behave in the paddock, how they're eating. The whole package of a horse's life can impact the outcome of a race.

As assistants for Mandella, we spent our entire time in the barn watching how they were behaving. It was about all the little things that I don't think a lot of people think about. Winning and losing is a matter of inches sometimes, so for Mandella it was about trying to tweak these horses and their routines to gain every kind of advantage.

What is something that this incoming generation of trainers does better or different than previous generations?

The obvious one is communication. There is a lot more emphasis on communication these days.

In terms of training, I think training horses has evolved everywhere around the world. There is a lot of talk about how horses race less often than they used to. I think it's a combination of many different things at play. Maybe the breed has been bred over generations to run faster and possibly the breed might have become tougher to keep sound. But more likely, with statistics and numbers being analyzed more these days, trainers have been able to see that horses run better with more time between races. When you're spacing out races more, horses tend to run bigger and have better performances. If you're running against a trainer that spaces his races out, you're going to be at a disadvantage.

That's not always the case. You can get a horse that runs well every two weeks. But statistically on the whole, I think that trainers have learned over the years that horses run a much bigger race when the races are more spread out. It's difficult to compete with the guys that do that unless you're doing the same thing, so I think it's just the way that training styles have developed over the years.

Could you tell us a bit about the Keeneland Files you did with Boomer Bloodstock? Will we see those again this year?

I really owe all of that to Vicky Leonard and Boomer [Craig Rounsefell]. They came up with the idea and I was just along for the ride. I was a little skeptical at first as I'm not one to jump in front of the camera. But once we got going, I realized that what they were trying to achieve was great and it was crazy how much positive feedback we got from it. So many people were coming up and saying how much they loved the videos. If it can shed some light on the process that we go through with buying horses, then I think we're doing our job. Boomer really does his homework leading up to it and in the videos you can see how much work he puts in. I had some calls afterwards and people were interested in coming in, so I think we definitely got some new partners from it.

Who is your favorite horse that you've trained?

That's a pretty easy one–Hit the Road (More Than Ready).

He had some minor injuries after the Pegasus last year so we gave him some time off. He has come back and was a bit disappointing, but after his last race a splint bone became inflamed so we've been going easy with him recently. This will be his last year of training. Hopefully we will have him back to the races before Del Mar this summer.

I genuinely believe he deserves a shot as a stallion. He has a great pedigree, he was precocious and he has always had a great mind. As a trainer, those are the kind of horses I want to train. He had a spotty racing career, but that was mostly due to the pandemic. He really has everything that I would hope to have in a racehorse. He's so competitive and he's won a stakes race at two, three and four. I hope he gets a chance to be a stallion because has all the attributes you look for in a racehorse.

Is there an up-and-coming horse in your barn that we should know about?

A horse called Arrowthegreat (Arrogate). He ran second in a straight maiden last summer at Del Mar. After a little issue we ran him back and he was a bit disappointing here last month, but was really sick after the race. He's a really beautiful horse and I have high hopes for him for the second half of the year. He'll be getting back on the work tab next week.

We have some exciting 2-year-olds arriving soon, including one by Good Magic. We've heard good reports about him from Ocala.

If you aren't at the racetrack, what can you be found doing?

I have three daughters. I spend a lot of time with them. They're all active in softball and soccer.

What is your favorite restaurant to go to after celebrating a win?

My wife [TVG host Christina Blacker] and I like to go out and try new places. There's a good one in Pasadena, a new Italian place called Piccolo. But all you Breeders' Cup people, don't be taking up my reservations.

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