Barn Tour: Shane Wilson steps up his game in Louisiana

Shane Wilson is stepping up his game in Louisiana. The leading trainer at Louisiana Downs for three the last seasons, his earnings have been on the rise, easily topping the $2 million mark for the first time this year.

He cites several reasons for this. One is the owners who send him horses.

“I've had some guys I've been with just forever, but we've been making a pretty conscious effort to try to upgrade and get some better horses,” Wilson told Horse Racing Nation from Fair Grounds on Tuesday. “Some of these new people we've picked up have really entrusted us with some nice horses that we've been able to win some races with this year.”

Another reason is his youngest son and assistant trainer, 20-year-old Connor.

“He kind of opened up a lot of different avenues to where whenever I was doing it all myself, I really couldn't branch out and run two tracks at the same time and stuff,” Wilson said. “And now that he's with me every day, he's able to go run more at Evangeline or Remington, in places where I can stay in one spot and he can be running in other places. So that's increased earnings and the numbers a lot this year too.”

It’s also about picking his spots. He’s at the top of the training list at Fair Grounds for now, but don’t expect that to last as big-name operations arrive.

Wilson said he started coming to Fair Grounds about three years ago, and “we got beat up pretty good.”

“So last year, and throughout the year, we made a very conscious effort to try to collect as many Louisiana-breds as we can because those guys coming in here from up north don't have Louisiana-breds,” he said. “Steve (Asmussen) will have one or two, Bret Calhourn will have some, Dallas Stewart. But for the most part, whenever we get to run … in Louisiana-bred races, we generally have just as good horses as they have. So the last two years we've made a really an effort to try to have more Louisiana-breds for the wintertime, when we have money to run for.”

Another factor is go-to jockey Jose Guerrero. “I think he's by far the best router in the state.”

Wilson provided an update on some of his top horses for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Ova Charged. The 5-year-old daughter of Star Guitar returned from an eight-month layoff to win the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint Stakes on Dec. 9. “She’s doing really good” and will run in the Bob Wright on Jan. 6.

Spirited Beauty. Also a 5-year-old daughter of Star Guitar, she’s 0-for-6 this year and was sixth in the race won by Ova Charged last out. She also will start in the Bob Wright.

Deccan Prince. The 3-year-old Kingman colt broke his maiden in March for the first of three straight wins, but he’s 0-for-3 since. Wilson claimed him in December 2022 for $50,000, “and of course he ran poorly the day we took him (to finish fourth). He was on the dirt sprinting. But we got him back, took the blinkers off and stretched him out and got on a little roll. And with the numbers he was running, we're hoping we can take a shot in this Woodchopper (on Saturday at Fair Grounds), being the last straight 3-year-old turf race. And that's where we're at this weekend. He ran against older horses and got a race over the turf course when he first got in here. Now this would be a second time over the course with straight 3-year-olds. See what we can do. … Should be one of the speed horses in there. And if anybody wants to go with him, they're going to go fast because he likes to go fast.”

Clearly a Test. The 2-year-old daughter of Clearly Now broke his maiden in a black-type stakes at Fair Grounds in November then was second in the Louisiana Champions Day Lassie Stakes. She’ll start Sunday in the six-furlong Louisiana Futurity. “Clearly a Test is a really nice filly, she's a big filly. I really think we're going to see her best whenever we can go two turns. They have to really ride her to get her going, get her rhythm going in these sprint races. And I believe her mother, being a stakes-winning, two-turn horse, and even the sire Clearly Now, he was stakes-placed at a mile on the turf and was third in the Holy Bull Stakes. I think we'll run her here in the Louisiana Futurity and then she'll come back in February, they have a Louisiana-bred, 3-year-old filly race going one mile. And if that goes the way I hope it'll go, then we'll finish up in Crescent City Oaks going a mile and 70.”

Lulu’s Magic. A 2-year-old filly by Cloud Computing, she won her Dec. 8 debut after leading at every call. “We nominated her to the Louisiana Futurity also, but she's not going to run there. She'll come back in a non-winners of two allowance. Her numbers don't really match up with the Futurity. But Lulu has an interesting pedigree, out of a Cherokee Run mare that might even put her on a turf. She has kind of a high action like she might like the turf. But she's done everything right, just a filly that breaks really fast and we thought that'd be important getting her maiden broken. She was able to get out there and lead them around. But she can only get better, I believe, as she goes on. She's kind of a slow to figure it out kind of horse. She has a chance to be a decent filly and maybe stretch out to go two turns and even turf, I hope. … Her next start will be a non-winners of two allowance at Fair Grounds on Jan. 5. We'll get out of the stakes race. I just don't want to throw her to the wolves.”

Oh My Aching Arch. The 6-year-old gelded son of Archarcharch won three of six starts this year and was second last out in the Aug. 5 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic. “He's on the shelf right now. He finished second at Louisiana Downs on champions day in the turf race and had a little traffic trouble and finally got through and got beat a half a length. Could have easily been a winner that day. But he came back with a basal sesamoid fracture after the race and we sent him to LSU and had a chip taken out of his ankle. He's at Louisiana Downs. We actually own half of him with Mr. (Wayne) Davis, and so my wife won't let anybody rehab him but her. So he's up there hanging out with his mom, and he'll be back for the summer on the turf. He really likes the turf at Louisiana Downs, so hopefully we'll make another run through there this summer if everything comes back well.”

Calicoco. The 3-year-old gelded son of Calibrachoa has two allowance wins in his last three starts, with a second in between. “That's Mighty Mouse, that's the littlest horse we have in the barn. He came in last year as a 2-year-old, broke his maiden first time out and went down here and was second in an open stakes on a sloppy racetrack, then came back was third in the Futurity and then had a few kind of mediocre races. … And we got him to Evangeline, decided to put him on the turf even though he lacks any turf breeding whatsoever. He's out of a Valid Expectations mare, and a few of those have run on it through the years. Put him on the turf and he won a non-two allowance and did it pretty handily. And then got into a really fast pace at Louisiana Downs in his last race and he ended up running a second. And then we got here on champions day and it looked like the turf had been playing speed pretty well that week. So I told Jose (Guerrero) just to let him rock. Because when you get out there, three or four in front, they're going to expect to run you down in this long stretch, they'll give it to you. And they gave it to him and boy, he really responded well. Looked like he loves this turf course. And that was an a-other-than an allowance race. So he'll come back on Jan. 13, they have a Louisiana-bred two-other-than on the turf going a mile. And that'll be his next start. And if he runs as well or continues to improve, we'll probably try him in one of the Louisiana-bred turf stakes after that.”

Tryinmyheartout. The 3-year-old Into Mischief filly is 3-for-11 this year and won an optional-claiming allowance off the turf at Fair Grounds by 8 1/2 lengths on Dec. 16. “Really exciting the other day,” Wilson said. “… Pretty excited about her, just a 3-year-old and ran a big number there. So hopefully she'll be able to step up into the stakes program here, and we'll have a good older mare going into the year.”