John Ropes

George Weaver has trained his share of talented fillies and mares, but few have shined quite like the two stable stars preparing to leave his shedrow. Grade I winners Dorth Vader (Girvin) and Sacred Wish (Not This Time) have been fixtures in the Weaver barn for several years, announcing their talent early and steadily building resumes worthy of millionaire status. Sacred Wish made her final start with Weaver at Kentucky Downs this summer, while Dorth Vader will have one last dance for her connections at the Breeders' Cup before both...

You have to shake out a lot of grit from the riverbed before you glimpse that glint of gold. John Ropes started panning just about 40 years ago. He had a girl working for him at the time whose father, Andy Smithers, trained in Canada. When Ropes told her that he'd decided to buy a racehorse, she tried to save him. "No," she implored. "I'm telling you, don't do it." Ropes was adamant. He had always loved horses. His parents took him racing as a kid in Miami and, though...