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Macho Again

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Arrival to Pimlico photo by Jim McCue/MJC

Macho Again, a solid winner of Churchill Downs’ Derby Trial, has been an on-again-off-again prospect for the Preakness Stakes. Owner West Point Thoroughbreds had been considering the Ohio Derby for the Macho Uno colt, with the prospect of West Coast-based El Gato Malo going to the Preakness.     However, El Gato Malo was sent to the Lone Star Derby, where he was a winner, and Macho Again became a Preakness prospect again.

TRAINER - Dallas Stewart, originally from McComb, Miss., now resides in Louisville, Ky.     Dallas Stewart is another of those young assistants to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas who has left the fold and made quite an impact on the racing business on his own.     Stewart was given a riding horse by his grandfather when he was 10 and he wasted little time training the horse for match races in Mississippi. After finishing school at 15, Stewart went right to work on the racetrack, galloping horses at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds for trainer Connie Tassistro. In addition, he worked as a valet in the jockeys’ room during the afternoon. While at the Fair Grounds in 1986, Stewart met Lukas assistant Randy Bradshaw and went to work for him as an exercise rider and foreman.     At the time, Stewart already had a trainer’s license and had saddled his first winner in the early 1980s. Stewart worked for Lukas for 11 years, eventually taking over the Kentucky division after Mark Hennig, for whom Stewart was an assistant, left to go on his own. When Stewart, himself, chose to go out on his own in 1997, Lukas gave him a pony, a saddle and his blessing. Stewart started with 12 horses.     He remembers that clients didn’t come easily, but his early success -- winning seven of his first 21 starts -- helped pave the way for the success he has known since. His first stakes victory came with Rod and Staff in Turfway Park’s Prairie Bayou Stakes in December 1997. In 1999, he won the Grade II Louisiana Derby with Kimberlite Pipe, who then went on to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby, beaten less than three lengths by the winner.     He saddled Dollar Bill in the 2002 Derby, and the colt finished 15th.     While he’s had no Derby winner, he posted his biggest career win on the day before the Derby in 2006 when 47-1 longshot Lemons Forever scored the biggest upset in the Kentucky Oaks’ 132-year history with a 1 1/2-length victory for Stewart.     Stewart’s purse earnings for 2007 totaled $1,998,986.

JOCKEY - Julien Leparoux was born July 15, 1983 in Senlis, France and now resides in : Louisville, Ky. Leparoux was Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top apprentice rider for 2006, and rode in his first Kentucky Derby in 2007, finishing fifth with Sedgefield. Finished the year with purse earnings of $12,188,975, good for 10th in the nation; posted 261 victories. Among best horses ridden on the year: Shamdinan, Lady of Venice, Mauralakana, La Traviata, Texas Fever, Danzon and Cosmonaut.     In 2007, won his first Breeders’ Cup championship day race with Nownownow in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Stakes, one of three new championship races. He finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf aboard Shamdinan and third with Cosmonaut in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. He led the nation in victories in 2006 with 406.His purse earnings for the year: $12,491,316, placing him eighth on the national list. He rode first call for trainer Patrick Biancone.     Best runners in 2006: Gorella, Asi Siempre, Cosmonaut, Lady of Venice, Happy Ticket, Stream Cat, Man of Illusion, Hot Storm and Likely. Lost his apprentice allowance on Sept. 25, 2006. Grew up around racing at Chantilly, France. Said he knew at age 5 he wanted to be a jockey. Came to Southern California Jan. 29, 2003 to work as an exercise rider for fellow Frenchman Biancone. As his talents became more obvious, he began his professional career as first-call rider for the trainer upon retirement of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens .     Began his riding career at Saratoga in 2005, with his first win coming aboard Easter Guardian on Aug. 18. Moved on to Belmont Park, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Turfway Park. His first stakes victory came on Feb. 11, 2006 at Turfway Park aboard Cat Quatorze in the Likely Exchange Stakes for trainer Helen Pitts. He posted his first Grade I win on Aug. 12, 2006 aboard Gorella in the Beverly D. at Arlington Park for Biancone . Duringn that year, won meet titles at Turfway Park, breaking the winter-spring meet record for wins and setting a record during the fall meet; Churchill Downs as the first apprentice to win the title since 1949, and Keeneland, where he tied Rafael Bejarano with 17 victories to become the first apprentice to earn the title in track history. Also posted 28 wins at Saratoga, the most ever by an apprentice at the Spa.

OWNER - West Point Thoroughbreds, Inc. organizes a Limited Liability Company (LLC) for each individual horse partnership venture. West Point Thoroughbreds was founded in 1991 by Terry Finley, and during its history has syndicated more than 150 horses.     West Point Thoroughbreds generally keeps a stable of approximately 60 horses at various stages of training.     Leading the way in 2007 for the partnership group were Flashy Bull, Dream Rush and Awesome Gem. Flashy Bull won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, Dream Rush captured a couple of Grade I New York stakes – the Prioress and the Darley Test – and Awesome Gem put in three straight runner-up finishes (Grade II San Diego, Grade I Pacific Classic and Grade I Goodwood) before finishing a strong third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.     Also in Breeders’ Cup championship races, Dream Rush finished fifth in the Filly & Mare Sprint, High Finance was eighth in the Dirt Mile, Lear’s Princess was 10th in the Distaff and Irish Smoke was 12th in the Juvenile Fillies.     Finley was born Jan. 3, 1964 in Philadelphia and is a resident of Mount Laurel, N.J. His family includes his wife, Debbie, who is the operations manager for the company; daughter Erin and son Ryan.     Finley is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a former Airborne Ranger. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University.     He has been involved in the Thoroughbred industry for about 25 years. His father, Daniel Finley, a lifelong racing fan and high school chemistry teacher, inspired Finley’s interest in the sport. He got hands-on experience while working with Thoroughbreds as a teen-ager and began developing racing partnerships in 1991. His initial acquisition was a $5,000 claimer from Philadelphia Park named Sunbelt. The gelding debuted for WPT two weeks later and won for a $6,500 claiming tag.     The group’s first stakes victory came in 1995 with Big City Bound, and Ethan Man became WPT’s first graded stakes winner by capturing the Grade III Swale Stakes in 2002. Among the company’s trainers: Patrick Byrne, Steve Klesaris, Mike Machowsky, Kiaran McLaughlin, Dallas Stewart, Craig Dollase and Richard Violette Jr.

BREEDER - Milan Kosanovich bred Macho Again in Florida. The colt was bought for $150,000 by West Point Thoroughbreds at the 2007 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s 2-year-olds-in-traning auction. The colt had been bought originally at the 2006 OBS yearling sale for $85,000.