Frank Taylor

No chance. I mean, you just had to take one look at the guy. The tattoos, the words tumbling nervously through gaps in his teeth, the sheer damage he's soaked up. You didn't have to look up his record. It was like he had an invisible ball and chain. So, no, thank you very much for asking, but we don't need any help right now. He could be someone else's problem. No chance? Not even one? That was all Chris Courtney wanted: a single opportunity to break the cycle, a...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Trainer Gary Contessa believes in Becky's Joker (Practical Joke) and is not going to waver from his against-the-grain approach with the massive 2-year-old filly. On the opening day of the Saratoga season, July 13, Contessa had her make her career debut in the GIII Schuylerville. She won for fun by 3 1/4 lengths at 21-1. According to Equibase, she is just the fifth horse since 1991 to start its career with a graded-stakes victory. After she worked four furlongs in :48.40 seconds on July 26, Contessa said she...

Stable Recovery, a program based in Lexington that provides individuals in early recovery from substance abuse the  opportunity to live in a sober and supportive environment and to train to become exceptional horsemen and horsewomen, hosted its first Spring Meet Gala at Spy Coast Farm last Saturday. The gala was attended by over 100 people and emceed by Scott Hazelton of FanDuelTV with music provided by Stephen Lynerd Group. A hybrid auction, along with donations, brought in approximately $60,000 for the non-profit. "We wanted to put together an event during...

LEXINGTON, KY - In the end, not even Mother Nature could slow down the steady progress of the Keeneland January Horses of Racing Age Sale, which concluded Thursday in Lexington on par with its 2022 renewal despite a short delay to the start of the final session due to tornado warnings in the area. "We've got to be very happy with the way the sale turned out," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "It's been very busy in the barns.  A lot of sellers have been very pleased...

Kyle Berryman has a lot to look forward to as he opens a new chapter in 2023. He recently celebrated six months of sobriety and, two weeks ago, his boss Will Walden asked him if he would be interested in running the stable's shedrow. "It's just a title, but it's pretty cool," Berryman said after wrapping up a busy morning at Turfway Park. "I only have maybe five months of experience working with horses right now, so I'm still brand new and still learning a lot." He may shrug off...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which began sluggishly Monday morning, built up steam throughout the day and ended with a trio of firework offerings and figures largely in line with the auction's 2022 renewal. "The beginning of the day was definitely slower than we probably expected," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "It was a little sluggish. But as the day went on, it became more promising." At the close of business Monday, 224 head had sold for $16,261,900. The average was...

Stable Recovery, Inc. (Stable Recovery) hosted the inaugural John Hall Memorial Golf Scramble at Thoroughbred Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky Oct. 10. Nearly one hundred people attended the event and over $90,000 was raised from more than 50 sponsors and participants. All contributions went to Stable Recovery to fund its ongoing operations. "We were really pleased to be able to honor John Hall and to raise money to support a program we believe he would be really happy with," said Christian Countzler, President and CEO of Stable Recovery. "With the...

Dazzlingdominika (Ghostzapper), a two-year-old filly who broke her maiden at Churchill Downs May 13 for trainer Will Walden, sold for $120,000 as the sole offering in Fasig-Tipton Digital's Ready Made Racing Flash Sale, which closed Thursday. Eric Waller purchased the filly from consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Ready Made Racing. Bidding opened on Monday, May 23 at noon EDT and closed Thursday, May 26 at 2 p.m. EDT. A new venture, Ready Made Racing bought the Ghostzapper filly as a yearling for $30,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September...

When Dazzlingdominika (Ghostzapper) won a May 13 maiden special weight race at Churchill her connections were ready to pounce. The 2-year-old filly had become a hot commodity and they wanted to cash in. In year's past that would have meant selling her privately or waiting for the next horses of racing age sale on the calendar. Instead, she will be sold Thursday by Fasig-Tipton in a one-horse digital, "flash sale," a new means of selling horses that promises to make it easier for those looking to move horses fast. "This...

One year ago, Taylor Made Farm launched the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship-a program created to work with people recovering from substance abuse and teach them a new vocation in the Thoroughbred business. The pilot year was such a grand success that plans are now in the works for how the program can grow from here. The School of Horsemanship was designed by the farm's Vice President Frank Taylor, who now oversees the project along with the program's coordinator Josh Bryan. "Frank started this because he wanted to help people...

He always says that had he been born in Detroit, he would have gone into the automobile trade. In other words, whatever kind of horseman he might allow us to credit him, first and foremost he came into the world a businessman. Now that Duncan Taylor is stepping down from the helm of one of its most remarkable family concerns, then, the Bluegrass can count itself fortunate that fate instead applied his flair to a more literal type of horsepower. True, the old school can't have been enamored by his...

By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued with strong demand during a lively session of bidding Thursday in Lexington. The auction's first of two Book 2 sessions concluded with both average and median up and the buy-back rate down from the corresponding session in 2020. "Incredible," Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said of Thursday's action. "It was a really vibrant market again today. I think people were a little frustrated in buying, but we had a lot of happy...