Trainer John Hancock having banner meet at Keeneland with juveniles

Trainer John Hancock has won four races during the first 13 days of Keeneland’s 15-day Spring Meet, including three wins with 2-year-old first-time starters. That ties him with Wesley Ward, who also has won three juvenile races.

 

Trainer John Hancock“We’ve had a monster meet,” Hancock said, who now has nine career wins at Keeneland. “It’s been a good month of April.”

 

Hancock already has sold one of those 2-year-old winners, Flat Drunk, the first starter for her sire, Flat Out. Racing for Hancock’s wife, Donna, and co-breeders Gray Lyster and Bryan Lyster, Flat Drunk won on April 13.

 

“She left here yesterday morning,” Hancock said about Flat Drunk. “She was on a plane to California going to (trainer) David Hofmans. We’ve had interest in some others. Looks like we might get fortunate to sell one or two more.”

 

Hancock is based in Henderson, Kentucky, at Riverside Downs training center, co-owned by his brother-in-law Roger Meuth. Hancock – often called “Big John” – said he enjoys preparing young horses and credits a great deal of his success to his employees at Riverside who work with them.

 

“We target our babies for Keeneland,” he said. “We buy here (at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale). When we come here to race, we are ready to run.”

 

Hancock’s other notable 2-year-old debut winners at Keeneland that he subsequently sold include Cocked and Loaded, a colt by Colonel John who won here in April 2015 and became a Grade 3 winner, and Midnight Chica, a Midnight Lute filly who won here in April 2016 and has made her past four starts in Dubai at Meydan, where she was second in the UAE Oaks (G3) on Feb. 23.

 

However, none of these 2-year-old winners is as special to Hancock as the Awesome Patriot filly Amberspatriot, who won her Keeneland debut on April 19. His late mother, Bivian Hancock, had owned a fourth of her.

 

“When that filly crossed the wire, it was a feeling I could never describe,” Hancock said. “I walked halfway up the race track to pick her up and lead her back into the Winner’s Circle. I’ve had some offers for her, but I won’t ever sell her.”

 

About 9 a.m. ET Thursday, Toyota Blue Grass (G2) winner Irap jogged about three times around Keeneland’s 5-furlong all-weather training track with exercise rider Antonio Romero aboard. Owned by Reddam Racing, the Tiznow colt is scheduled to work tomorrow around 8:30 a.m. with Julien Leparoux. Trainer Doug O’Neill said he will be at Keeneland for the work.

 

Irap, who became the first maiden to win the Toyota Blue Grass, has 113 points on the Kentucky Derby Points leaderboard good for fourth place.

 

Romero said Irap would ship to Churchill Downs following training hours on Saturday. …

 

The Keeneland Select iOS app for use on iPhones and iPads is now available for download in the iTunes app store. Keeneland Select is Keeneland’s official online betting site that enables horseplayers to watch and wager on live racing from tracks around the world. Keeneland Select returns a portion of profits to the Thoroughbred industry through increased race purses, support for player initiatives, enhanced player rewards and more.

 

No job is too big or too small for Kevin Moran, Keeneland’s go-to person for just about everything. Stand in any one place at Keeneland for a short while and the odds are good that Moran will pass by. He might be pushing a cart, carrying a box or scurrying to a new mission but he is unfailingly pleasant and ready to assist.

Kevin Moran“When I first started working here, I swore he was triplets because of all the places I always saw him,” Keeneland Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Vince Gabbert said. “From picking up horse owners at the airport to delivering more packages than FedEx, Kevin is the guy.”

Moran’s title is office support/courier manager. More to the point, he seems to know everything about Keeneland. If he can’t find the answer to a question or solution to an issue, he will find someone who can help.

Moran’s territory spreads beyond the concentrated area of the administration wing, Grandstand and Sales Pavilion. He shuttles office supplies and other goods to the maintenance and security buildings in the far corner of the stable area and if items need to be picked up or delivered off-site, Moran hops in a vehicle for the assignment.

Moran seems to have all the answers but he says he continually has learned about Keeneland ever since his first day on the job that almost was his last day on the job. Despite having no previous interest in Thoroughbred racing, Moran found temporary work at Keeneland in 1989 after moving to the Lexington area from California after his father retired from the Navy.

“My first day at work was the Fall Meet at a concession stand in the unenclosed area of the Grandstand,” he said. “I only wore a light jacket on what turned out to be a really cold day. The wind was whipping through there and I thought, ‘What did I get myself into?’ California never got that cold.”

His lesson that day was to always bring an extra layer of clothing. His education has continued for nearly three decades as Moran has come to understands racing’s nuances and terminology.

“One of the most amazing things I have learned is how the jockeys can remember so much about horses they have ridden,’ he said. “Not just their best horses, but horses that they know and (they remember) how those horses have developed.”

He is equally impressed with the rituals at the Racing Office at entry time, especially the post-position draw.

“You can be here every day and then one day pick up something new,” Moran said. “Especially because people are so willing to answer questions.”

As Gabbert noted, Moran seems to be cloned. On extended racing days, he can be seen handling his chores from dawn to dark.