BREEDERS' CUP WEEK THIS WEEK!
HAPPY BREEDERS' CUP WEEK, EVERYBODY!
It should be lots of good betting opportunities this weekend and I'm looking forward to it this weekend, particularly Friday where two-year-olds are on the spotlight.
Meanwhile, here is a story by Chelsea Hackbarth
Chelsea Hackbarth is an avid equestrian with experience ranging from ponying on the racetrack to jumping her own off-track Thoroughbred around the Kentucky Horse Park. She is a graduate of the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program, and has an MBA from Indiana University. She is passionate about equine advocacy and bettering the human-equine relationship.
'He Really Loves His Job': Canterbury Hall Of Fame Trainer Gets First Shot At Breeders' Cup
David VanWinkle would much rather talk about his horses than himself.
Yet the 63-year-old horseman is dealing with a new degree of media attention this week at Del Mar as he prepares to have his first starter in the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
"My dad is really quiet, and a hard worker; he rarely ever misses days at work, said Taylor VanWinkle, the trainer's daughter and assistant. "He really loves his job. Not a lot of people can say that, but he does.
That love for the sport of horse racing is never more evident than when the elder VanWinkle talks about his stable star, Mad House. The 3-year-old son of Vekoma pulled a 23-1 upset in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing on Sept. 20, giving the trainer the first graded stakes win of his 36-year career.
"I've been training for years, and having a horse like that is definitely exciting, VanWinkle said. "I thought he'd run well, but I can't say I expected him to win. It was a tough race; we'd have been happy even if he got a piece of it.
It took Mad House some time to figure out how to be a racehorse, VanWinkle explained. Owner James Thares purchased Mad House for $47,000 at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training, but the colt didn't break his maiden until his sixth start.
After his first race, VanWinkle thought he had something as Mad House had finished second to a highly-touted Brad Cox-trained horse at Tampa Bay Downs, but things didn't seem to click.
"He was a little bit tough to teach anything to when he first came to the track, because he almost had too much talent for the company that I had lined up for him, the trainer said. "They couldn't keep up with him, and he just wants to run, so it was a little bit challenging teaching him the basics of being a racehorse.
After several failed attempts to rate the colt and an unsuccessful stretch-out in distance, VanWinkle concluded that sprinting was the way to go.
That elusive first win came in a maiden special weight at Canterbury Park on June 29, 2025. It was like a lightbulb came on for the colt when he dominated the field by 11 ½ lengths.
After Mad House compiled two more allowance wins at Canterbury, the Minnesota track where VanWinkle was a three-time leading trainer and is now a Hall of Fame member, it was time to start chasing bigger fish.
"We wanted to see what we had," VanWinkle said.
The Gallant Bob, a six-furlong sprint restricted to 3-year-olds, came up quite salty with the Bob Baffert trainee Barnes entered to run.
"It scared me a little bit, trust me," said VanWinkle. "But I told [jockey] Paco [Lopez] that he runs better if he can make the lead, and he said, ‘We can do that.' Paco gave him a great ride.
Lopez did make the lead on Mad House in the Gallant Bob, setting fractions of 21.58 and 43.94 seconds and carrying his speed through the wire to finish six furlongs in 1:08.77, winning by 2 ¾ lengths.
Taylor VanWinkle reflected: "It was unreal. I had every faith that he would run well, but it's just crazy. It was my dad's first graded stakes win – such a good feeling – and he really deserved that. They both did."
Mad House now brings a four-race win streak into the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1, where Luis Saez will partner him.
"It's a tough spot, and I try not to get overconfident with my horses," VanWinkle said. "I've been that way my whole career, but we'll certainly give it a try."
The Southern California seaside oval at Del Mar, decked out in the royal purple of the Breeders' Cup, is a long way from VanWinkle's Nebraska roots in the construction business.
He grew up in an age when racing in Nebraska was as good as any place in the Midwest, attending the races at Aksarben and Columbus with his father. VanWinkle owned a couple of racehorses before deciding he'd be better off pursuing his passion for horse racing as a career, so he picked up a job as a groom. He went out on his own in 1989 with two horses.
Without much formal mentorship in the sport, VanWinkle's work ethic is the trait that attracted owners to his stable.
"I liked it; getting up early wasn't a problem for me, and I really, really liked being with the horses," he explained. "[A few owners] were around me enough where I was working that they had enough faith in me to give me a shot. They'd been around me enough to know that they could trust me."
VanWinkle was at Canterbury Downs in the late 1980s, and returned to the Minnesota track when it reopened as Canterbury Park in 1995. He made his home on the circuit between Minnesota and Turf Paradise in Arizona for nearly 25 years, winning the training title at Canterbury in 1995, 2002 and 2003.
He was inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame in 2006. From 2001 to 2004, VanWinkle trained four consecutive Canterbury Horses of the Year in Shot of Gold, J. P. Jet, Prime Step, and Chisholm.
VanWinkle now winters at Tampa Bay Downs following uncertainty at Turf Paradise, but one thing hasn't changed: his love for the horse and the sport.
"I didn't know if that would ever happen for me," Van Winkle said of the World Championships entry. "We might as well go try it, have fun, and enjoy the day!"
HAPPY BREEDERS' CUP WEEK, EVERYBODY!
