Barn Tour: Tom Drury is hitting his stride since move to Churchill

You might not have heard much about trainer Tom Drury before he won his first graded stakes, the Grade 2 Blue Grass with Art Collector in 2020.

But he had been well-known for years among his fellow trainers, working to help their horses recover or get into racing shape at Skylight Stables outside of Louisville. Trainers such as Al Stall and Bill Mott. Owner Bruce Lunsford gave Drury a vote of confidence with Art Collector during the pandemic pandemonium of 2020, and now it appears that, at age 52 and after 34 years as a licensed trainer, Drury is gaining respect across a broader spectrum.

The Art Collector year was the first that Drury topped $1 million in earnings. The next year, the figure was $1.7 million, then $1.8 million last year. He’s at $1.7 million again this year with a month to go.

Drury attributes much of his recent success to his move to Churchill Downs five years ago.

“Before that, we always ran a few at Churchill and we always had a presence in Ohio and places like that,” Drury told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday. “I think the year I had Art Collector, I only had five stalls that spring. And then I came back that fall and I went from five to 12, and I came back the next spring and went from 12 to having a whole barn of 24. Once I got settled into Churchill, it's just kind of taken off.”

Now, he trains for blue-blood owners such as Claiborne Farm and Phipps Stable.

“Some mornings you're driving to work and you just kind of pinch yourself knowing the situation that you're in. I mean, I grew up on the backside, and that's two of the most historic owners in the history of horse racing. So to be able to work for them, it's just such a blessing and a big opportunity, and it's certainly not something that we ever take for granted.”

One of his stars right now is Who Dey, a 2-year-old Ohio-bred colt by Liam’s Map. An optional-claiming allowance win at Churchill on Saturday brought his record to 4-for-4.

“I was sure proud of him the other day,” Drury said. “That was his first start outside of the Ohio company. We had him at Churchill all summer, so he was working with some pretty nice horses at Churchill and was showing us good things in the mornings. But there's a big difference between state-bred competition and open competition, especially on 2-year-old day at Churchill Downs. So that was kind of the highlight of our meet to have him jump up and run the way he did in open company. I was really proud of him.”

Who Dey will get a break and resume training at the start of the year, Drury said.

“I don't want to do anything that's going to interfere with his Ohio races, just because we've got that card. And we want to make sure that we're able to play that to the best of our ability, if needed. But that said, it wouldn't surprise me, if he gets over the track at Turfway well … you could maybe see a horse like him show up in the Rushaway (at Turfway on March 23) or something like that. It wouldn't be shocking if we ended up there. We'll probably nominate to some other races just to kind of cover our bases, but I'm really not looking to do a whole lot with him this winter.”

Drury, who has about 70 horses in training, discussed some of the other talent in his stable for HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Trial. This 2-year-old Runhappy filly won her debut at Churchill Downs on Nov. 18, rallying in the six-furlong sprint to win by 1 3/4 lengths. “Gosh, I was just so proud of her. She'd come from so far back that day, she was inside, she was outside, at one point she split horses. And to have a first-timer be so professional and to do the things that she did, that's just something as trainers, we can't always put that into a horse. They have to want to take the rider somewhere. And as quick as that filly got her feet underneath her, she was just kind of taking Edgar along. Even into the lane, she's still stuck in behind horses and Edgar kind of swung her around, let her see daylight. And here she came. We'll take her on to Turfway, we'll work her over the track up there, we'll see how she gets over it. They've got a little 2-year-old filly stake coming up there the the end of December that we'll certainly be nominating to it and we'll see how she's doing and how she works over the track. We might entertain that. If that didn't work, then I'd say you'd probably see her in a first-level allowance race at Oaklawn.

Tenenbaum. Lunsford’s 3-year-old daughter of Jimmy Creed debuted at Churchill on Nov. 10, winning the six-furlong race by 5 1/4 lengths. “She's another one that we've been kind of waiting on, and thankfully she ran to expectations first time out. And Bruce Lunsford, his year's been a little bit of a roller-coaster ride and I was just thrilled for Bruce. He was there the day she ran, and I think he really enjoyed seeing her. I would say she'd be another one, just because she's only run once, we'd probably run her back once at Turfway if she gets over the track OK up there. If she doesn't, then you might see her pop up at Oaklawn or somewhere like that. But I would say we'll try to give her an opportunity against the first-level allowance company. Most of my clients, they live in Kentucky, they want to enjoy their horses. So at that point, we'd probably be working backwards to Keeneland.”

Pigalle. This 3-year-old Blame filly is a Claiborne Farm homebred with a record of 8: 3-3-0, with all her starts coming this year. “What a neat filly she is,” Drury said. “She tries so hard. I actually sent her home and we're going to give her a little break. I'm a little old school. I like to run the horses during the spring into summer mindset, and you love to see them get a little break during the winter. So we actually sent her to Hermitage Farm, and she's going to take about 60 days off and we'll pick her up in the spring. Not only did she earn her vacation, but I think she earned herself the opportunity to try allowance company at Churchill again next year. So we're kind of working backwards from the latter part of Keeneland or the first part of Churchill in the spring, and I would imagine you'll probably see her showing up back sometime in that timeframe.”

Misread. Also a Claiborne Farm homebred by Blame, this 4-year-old filly has a record of 5: 2-2-0 this year. She was first or second in her first four starts this year before finishing fifth in the Ellis Park Turf Stakes. “Misread is turned out and again, she'd been in training for quite a while. She ran hard all summer for us, and I would expect Misread will probably show back up at Keeneland in the spring. Once we moved her to the grass (in June), it seemed like she kind of found another gear and certainly found another level of racing, and we're just kind of working backwards from the spring with her.”

Single Dot Yaht. This 3-year-old Good Magic colt has finished in the money in his last four starts, breaking his maiden two starts back at Keeneland and then second last out at Churchill. “Single Dot Yaht's been my yearlong project horse. I love this horse. He's a big, pretty kind of horse. And he's a lot of fun to have around the barn. He's very animated in everything he does, he loves his job. He was just second best the other day at Churchill, we didn't have an excuse in the world. Edgar (Morales) rode him as perfectly as a horse could be ridden. Just second best, and I would look for him to show up in a one-X this winter at Turfway. Ideally, again, he's another one if he could come back and win the one-X at Turfway you'd love to see him get a little vacation time over the course of the winter and then be ready for something the first part of Churchill in the spring.”

Legionnaire. This 4-year-old son of Into Mischief was owned by Lunsford and Claiborne. He returned after about six months to finish fifth in an optional-claiming allowance race at Horseshoe Indianapolis in October and was sold last month. “Of all places, Legionnaire is going to Russia to be a stallion.”