Q & A: Get to know trainer Kenny McPeek

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Guess which race trainer Kenny McPeek wants to win more than any other? (Hint: it’s the race every trainer wants to win). Wonder who the 59-year-old McPeek would pick to play him in a movie made about his life? How about his favorite holiday?

Read on if you want to find out all you ever wanted to know about the personable McPeek, an Arkansas-bred, but a Kentucky boy at heart. Here is our question-and-answer session with him:

What is it about racing at Saratoga that you like most?

The challenge of it. Coming up here and competing against the best of the best of the best.

You’re a Kentucky guy, Saratoga would not be your favorite track. Or would it?

Keeneland is home for me. I grew up in Lexington. Keeneland is my favorite track. I won’t deny it. I love Churchill, but winning at Keeneland is pretty special, especially graded races.

When you go into a meet, do you have a plan, thinking how you might do?

Yeah. You have to bring your better horses, for sure. When you do, you have to have a lot go right. I have had summers when I came up here extremely confident and left with my tail between my legs. And I have had summers where I came up here where I thought if we won a few we would be OK, and we won a lot. The ball has to bounce your way.

Give me a starting five of the best horses you have ever trained. Who you got?

Goodness. Actually it’s pretty easy.

Tejano Run was any kind of horse. He had a lot of physical issues, but he was the first good horse I ever trained and might still be the best colt I ever trained. I mean, he was a monster. But it seemed like he had physical issues every year. He never made more than five starts a year.

Take Charge Lady. Amazing filly, amazing mare.

Swiss Skydiver. Amazing filly. No question. Her and Take Charge Lady are probably pretty even.

Gosh, the other two would be tough. This horse Classic Causeway has a chance to be right up there in the thick of some of the best horses I’ve ever trained. Harlan’s Holiday. He has to make the list. Repent. He didn’t stay sound. He was a tough horse. He got hurt in the Jockey Club Gold Cup as a late 3-year-old and never raced again. I've got some horses that were freaky talented that just were unlucky. But who would be number five? I probably have 10 horses I could put as the fifth one.

They have to go through training camp to see who gets the fifth spot.

I’ve got a long list of them, Tiz the Bomb has made a million dollars. He's not chopped liver by any means. We’ve got Envoutante. Crazy Beautiful, millionaire. There are a lot of them. The top four are pretty clear. The fifth spot is tough to fill.

I am sure I know the answer to this, but is there one race you have not won that you want more than any other?

I would love to win the Derby. I've been second in it. And I’ve been second in the (Kentucky) Oaks three times. That’s a little frustrating.

Because all the owners are at Saratoga, is it more like a working vacation?

We work hard and we play hard. It's not unusual for us to have late dinners and be early the next day and then out on the (Saratoga) lake that afternoon. Especially with my wife (Sherri) and daughter (Annie) up here, we have a great time. We go out on Saratoga Lake every chance we get.

Is there one race you are looking forward to here this summer more than any other?

The Saratoga Derby. I am really excited about that for that horse (Classic Causeway). The fact that he pulled off the Belmont Derby. If he wins the Saratoga Derby, he fills that fifth spot.

Alright, switching gears. What is your favorite horse racing movie

Probably that Richard Drefuss movie. “Let It Ride.” Funny.

Favorite movie.

“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

You’re a Clint guy?

Oh yeah. I like Clint Eastwood. But, I will preface it. I like watching “The Wizard of Oz” with my daughter. I have watched The Wizard of Oz so many times with my daughter that I can’t count it.

Can you quote it?

Pretty much. Yes.

There is a movie being made about you and you can pick the actor playing you. Who is it?

I was going to say Vin Diesel, but he’s too short. So it's got to be The Rock! (laughs). I’ve got the same haircut! I just have to get bigger arms. That would be fun.

You can have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?

Ben Franklin. Federico Tesio, but I would have to learn Italian. And probably (Irish horse trainer) Vincent O’Brien. He was an amazing horseman. Look at the horses he developed: The Minstrel. Nijinsky. All the English derbies he won, all the Irish derbies.

How about a favorite TV show?

I like PTI (Pardon the Interruption on ESPN). Those guys banter back and forth, I watch it every day.

If you were not a horse trainer, what would you be doing?

I would probably be working in the financial industry. I have a degree in finance and I’m two classes from an accounting degree.

Favorite holiday.

Christmas. Family, family, family family. Everybody gets together.

Favorite horse of all time. And you can’t say Secretariat because everyone says that.

Come on. I loved Secretariat. I remember watching him as a kid on a three-channel TV in my living room. Other than him? It can’t be one of my own horses, can it?

Sure it can.

Swiss Skydiver. She’s a freak.

Is Swiss Skydiver’s win in the (2020) Preakness your favorite all-time win?

Yes. When Authentic came to look her in the eye and she said no, sorry.

Do you get attached to these animals?

Yes, for sure. When I was just getting going, I only had three horses. Some days I spent all day in the barn. When horses get injured…people don’t realize our commitment. It’s devastating.

Tell me something about Kenny McPeek that most people don’t know.

I speak fluent Portuguese (and he begins to do just that).

Favorite sport other than horse racing.

College basketball.

Are you a UK fan?

Yes. I don’t go to too many games because I don’t have time. I am becoming a big UK football fan because (quarterback) Will Levis. The guy is a beast. He came to Derby with us. He loves racing.

Go back to the 2012 Travers. Your Golden Ticket and Alpha, trained by your friend Kiaran McLaughlin, finished in a dead heat.

We had known each other since we were 10 or 11 years old because we both grew up in the south end of Lexington. We were standing at the first level of the steps (in the box seat area across from the finish line) and we were looking at each other saying, ‘whatya think? Whatya think?” He said, ‘Man, I’m gonna be mad if I’m second.’ And I said, ‘well I was second with Repent and I’m gonna be mad if I’m second.’ When the board flashed Dead Heat, we looked at each other and high-fived. It was fine. It was still a win!

I thought we had got it. Two Kentucky boys, south side of Lexington, dead heat in the Travers in Saratoga. What are the chances of that? Not too big!