trainer

It's not that Nicholas Tomlinson didn't have a great job. He worked for Mark Casse for 10 years, learned from the dual Hall of Famer and was around some of his best horses. But he had always wanted to see what he could do on his own and Saturday at Gulfstream will begin the next chapter in his career. That chapter starts when he send out Insolenta (More Than Ready), who is owned by Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC and Tiger Racing, Inc, in a $17,500 maiden claimer. He knows he...

A few hours after winning this year's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes with World Beater (Oscar Performance), Riley Mott was home with his family eating takeout pizza. He shared a beer with his father, Bill, and was in bed by 9 p.m. The celebration was quiet, almost ordinary, but the milestone was anything but. Less than three years after going out on his own, Mott, age 33, had claimed his first Grade I win at the track that he had once called his playground and the town where he had...

In the TDN's Breeders' Cup Breakthrough series, we catch up with the six trainers who celebrated their first win at the Breeders' Cup World Championships in 2024. We discuss the road to securing that victory and what they hope to accomplish from here. Next up is Ger Lyons. After scoring in last year's GI Juvenile Turf Sprint with Magnum Force (Mehmas), the successful Meath-based trainer is hoping to get back to the same race this year with Lady Iman (Starman), who makes her next start in Friday's G2 Flying Childers...

The mission was simple: go to the Keeneland September Sale with half a million dollars and come back with a horse that could get to the Kentucky Derby. Easy, right? Tom Benson had been out of the sport ever since he purchased the New Orleans Saints back in 1985. But now it was 2014 and he was ready to get back in the game. He recruited three trainers he knew from the Louisiana circuit--Dallas Stewart, Al Stall and Tom Amoss--and laid out the assignment. The outcome surpassed even the most...

Trainer James Owen made his first foray to the United States a winning one when Wimbledon Hawkeye scored in the GIII Nashville Derby. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland.

Miguel Clement has many memories of the conversations he had with his father about Deterministic (Liam's Map). In Christophe's book, a good horse could perform well across different surfaces and distances, and he always believed Deterministic fit that description. Over the past two years, Deterministic has proven him right, checking both those boxes for the Clement racing stable and serving as a steady presence through a poignant period of change following Christophe's passing in May. "My dad and I both loved him from the get-go and he has been a...

Kevin Attard never doubted that he had what it took to train a racehorse. What he wasn't sure of, at least back then, was whether that confidence would be enough. The lifelong horseman was from a family of Canadian trainers and jockeys and he had practically grown up on the backside at Woodbine, but in 2005, his barn was down to five horses. He wrapped up the year with just four wins. "It was the first time in my life that I wrote a resume," Attard recalled. "I had a...

The 2025 GI Bing Crosby marked the race of a lifetime for trainer Librado Barocio when he earned his first Grade I victory with Lovesick Blues. Barocio was still over the moon with the upset win at Del Mar when he joined us on this week's TDN Writers' Room.

Trainer Michael McCarthy joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss his superstar trainee Journalism. What were his takeaways from the Haskell win? Where is the son of Curlin headed next? We cover this and more.

NYRA racing analyst Acacia Clement joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the start of the Saratoga race meet and provide a summer update on the Clement racing stable.

Nick Vaccarezza, 25, won his first race from 12 starts as a licensed trainer June 30 at Presque Isle Downs. Although every conditioner's first victory is a special accomplishment, Vaccarezza's was unique because it occurred in a stakes race. Off at even-money odds, Keeneland-based shipper Golden Afternoon (Goldencents) prompted the pace and drew off by 2 1/2 lengths to capture the $100,000 Tom Ridge Stakes over six furlongs. The win was also sweet because Golden Afternoon is owned by a partnership of friends (Eddie and Pat Greco, Scott Jaffe, and...

Some of the most influential people in the life of Wayne Lukas-and some of the people for whom he was the most influential--took part in a special TDN Writers' Room podcast in order to pay tribute to `the Coach,' who passed away Saturday night at the age of 89. Lukas worked almost up until his last days in the sport which he revolutionized upon his arrival in the early 1980s. Before it was over, he would win 20 Breeders' Cups, 15 Triple Crown races, five Eclipse Awards as leading trainer,...