Kenneth McPeek

Kenneth G. McPeek (born August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

Life and career

Kenny McPeek headshot

Kenneth G. "Kenny" McPeek was born August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from Tates Creek High School and then the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. In 1985 McPeek received his Thoroughbred Trainer's License. The most important race of his career was the 2002 Belmont Stakes, when Sarava, trained by McPeek and considered a longshot, won. This race was considered McPeek's big break. That year, he was voted the Big Sport of Turfdom Award by the Turf Publicists of America.

McPeek serves on the Boards of the University of Kentucky College of Agricultural Equine Program Advisory Committee, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), and the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). He is a member of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and The Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Equine Veterinary Medical Director Search Committee.^[1]

Major horses

McPeek has trained a number of successful racehorses. In 2002, he won the Belmont Stakes with Sarava. He has won back-to-back Spinster Stakes' with Take Charge Lady in 2002 & 2003 and back-to-back Gulfstream Park Breeder's Cup Handicaps with Hard Buck (BRZ) & Prince Arch in 2004 & 2005. Other Grade 1 victories include the Florida Derby, Ashland Stakes, Blue Grass Stakes, Dixiana Breeders Futurity and the Darley Alcibiades Stakes three times in his career.^[2] He has also trained all-time leading North American money earner Curlin, Dream Empress, Tejano Run, Golden Ticket, Harlan's Holiday, Hard Buck (BRZ), Java's War, Pure Fun, Repent, Take Charge Lady, Salty Strike, Sweet Talker, Leah's Secret, She's A Devil Due, Wild Desert, Einstein, Prince Arch, Noble's Promise, Kathmanblu and Rogue Romance, among others.

McPeek has won more than 162 stakes in his career, with 69 of them graded. Through 2015, he has 1,472 career wins with earnings of more than $67 Million.

McPeek currently races primarily at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park and Saratoga, as well as keeping a division at his Magdalena Farm in Lexington.

Graded Stakes Wins

Kenny McPeek -- 2002 Belmont Stakes win with Sarava

Training facilities

In 2006, McPeek purchased the former Pillar Stud, a 115-acre farm, in Lexington, Kentucky which he renamed Magdalena Farm in honor of Magdalena Weber Shely (b. 6/2/1793), the original Matriarch of the land.^[3] The farm has an illustrious history, dating back to the revolutionary war. It has been home to many famous Thoroughbreds, including the 1959 Kentucky Derby winner Tomy Lee, who is buried on the grounds. Magdalena Farm has 23 turnout paddocks and multiple barns housing 63 stalls. McPeek had a golf course designer oversee the farm development, including the 2-mile European style turf training course complete with gradual slopes for optimum conditioning. With the help of expert advice from Dr. A J Powell of the University of Kentucky and Dr. Todd Bunnell of SePro Corporation, the training course has been seeded with a high quality grass mixture sewn at the optimum pounds per acre, giving the course a high grass density to help cushion the impact of the horse's training regime.^[4]

The office at Magdalena Farm is also the home base for McPeek Racing, Magdalena Racing Partnerships, and Horse Races Now, the comprehensive horse racing APP. Currently, the farm has over 150 horses that are either racing, training, or being broken to saddle. The farm also handles mares and foals, as well as layups, thereby covering all stages of a horse's career.^[5]

Mobile app

McPeek has developed a mobile app to provide comprehensive horse racing video and data for new fans and veteran horseplayers, called Horse Races Now.^[6] He reported that he came up with the idea for a horse racing app while watching CNBC's Planet of the Apps, a one-hour program that explored the explosion of mobile technology, specifically through phone applications.^[7] "During the show, I Googled 'horse racing apps' and there weren't any. I kind of politicked around and checked with some people to see if this was something that was happening. Long and short, I ended up doing it on my own because I just felt like it needed to be done."^[8]

McPeek launched Horse Races Now on March 27, 2012,^[8] and four years later, McPeek reported in a radio interview that the app had been downloaded over 500,000 times.^[9]

References