The Saratoga Conversation: Kenny McPeek

Trainer Kenny McPeek has the horse that all eyes will be on this summer because his 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) is taking on the boys in the GI Travers Stakes Aug 24. He talks about the experience of having a horse like this and what it's like dealing with all the people that want to see her. He also tells us about his four-legged friend Sonny and what his life is like away from the racetrack. Read all about it in this week's Saratoga Conversation.

TDN: You have become the trainer of the hour because of a 3-year-old filly. You're having fun with all of this associated with Thorpedo Anna taking on the boys in the Travers.

KM: I'm definitely enjoying it. You have to. It's what it's all about.

TDN: And this is a real serious racehorse.

KM: As many years as you train horses and you hope to be around these kind of horses, it takes a long time to find one. You have to enjoy them while they're here.

TDN: You found some pretty good ones. She still has more racing in her career, but where does she rank on your bar right now?

KM: With Take Charge Lady, I never thought I would have a filly that good again. And then I had Swiss Skydiver. And I thought, well, I'll never have a filly that good again. And now, this filly. I have been fortunate to bring those kind in. When I go to a sale now, that is the kind of horse I am looking for (laughs).

TDN: Since the Travers announcement, what has it been like around here? Is it like a revolving door with people wanting to come and see her?

KM: A lot of people came to see her (last) Sunday after I made the announcement (Saturday). Twenty? Thirty? I think it's good. The biggest thing is we have to keep people from feeding her all the time. But she likes the attention. I think she is enjoying it. I don't mind having a bit of an open-door policy but, within limits.

TDN: I'm sure at some point, you'll cut it off.

KM: As we get closer to the race. When she is sleeping and resting, that's when they have to leave her alone. People do. They use common sense. She's the queen. People want to see her.

TDN: Is he (referring to Kenny's dog Sonny, a 5-year-old yellow Labrador, who is barking, looking for treats, while this conversation goes on) the king?

KM: (laughs) I don't know about that. He's a knucklehead.

TDN: I have to ask about Sonny the dog. You two seem joined at the hip.

KM: The older I've gotten, the more relaxed I am. I had a black Lab when I was younger. I'm a dog person. Sherri (wife) and I are dog people. It's fun having him around. He lightens everything up, makes you laugh a lot and keeps everything interesting, especially when he's hungry.

TDN: Which is all the time.

KM: Yes. All the time.

TDN: I got a huge kick out of him at the Preakness when he was given his own credential.

KM: (laughs) I told them I wasn't coming unless they let me bring him.

TDN: You were half serious, right?

KM: No, I was completely serious!

TDN: He goes everywhere you go.

KM: Pretty much.

TDN: Tell me the story how Sonny became a member of the McPeek family.

KM: Sherri wanted a cat and I said, 'sure.' She scrolled and showed me a picture of a puppy and I said, 'that's not a cat. This is going to be a big dog.' She thought it was so cute and wanted to go look at him. I said there was no sense looking at him because if you go look at him, you're going to buy him. (The seller) brought him to the farm in Lexington and he said (Sonny) was useless to him. I said, 'why?' He said he would not hunt. He was gun shy. Even lightning. He is under the bed.

TDN: He's a scaredy cat.

KM: He's scared of lightning, guns, loud noises, cars backfiring. He gets right up next to me, like 'help me! Save me!' He's a good dog.

TDN: I was talking to someone and he said, 'if you talk to Kenny, ask him who is roommate was in the 1980s.'

KM: Dale (Romans). For sure.

TDN: What was that like?

KM: Interesting. Interesting summer, Days Inn Hotel. If you had a girlfriend in the room, you had to put a sock over the door. He had more girlfriends than me. He was an assistant to his dad and I was just getting started.

TDN: Do you like the attention brought on by one horse, aka, Thorpedo Anna?

KM: It depends. I don't think about it too much. There is a lot to worry about every day beyond one horse. You work hard to get good horses. Why wouldn't you enjoy it? I would be more worried if I had a barn full of average to bad horses. When you have a bunch of average horses, you worry, 'how can I get a better one?'

TDN: How many do you have up here?

KM: Thirty. That's a healthy number.

TDN: Do you miss (Kentucky Derby winner) Mystik Dan (he is on the farm in Kentucky getting some R&R)?

KM: Yeah. They are keeping me posted on him every day. That's just doing the right thing. Nothing major, but that horse really deserves time to fill out and recoup and reset. I'm lucky that I have good clients to let me do that. I'm trying to do it with a clear mind. I don't want any schedule and I don't want any expectation other than let's put a little weight on him and let any creaks and any issues disappear.

TDN: There is no timetable for him to do anything.

KM: No, and there shouldn't be. We didn't think he liked the Saratoga track (in the Belmont, where he finished eighth). If I was going to rush him back into the Travers, I was going to be bringing him back to a racetrack where I kind of questioned whether he cared for it or not. And what other 3-year-old races are out there? Pennsylvania Derby and that is still a bit of an away game for us. I didn't feel any pressure to try to make either one.

Mystik Dan | Sarah Andrew

TDN: In all likelihood, we'll see him at (age) four.

KM: You might see him before the end of the season. You might see him at the Malibu in California. We've got some things to prove with him as a stallion prospect. We'll let that all come together. We'll see.

TDN: When you won the Kentucky Oaks and then the Kentucky Derby the next day–becoming the first trainer to do it in the same year since Ben Jones did it in 1952–you must have been in a surreal place.

KM: It was very surreal. It was something I thought we could do, and knew we could do, but for it to come together in one weekend was amazing. I have been kind of around the bullseye in both races over the course of my career, but to hit them in the same weekend was very satisfying.

TDN: Were you more confident in her (Thorpedo Anna in the Oaks) or him (Mystik Dan in the Derby)?

KM: Oh, her. I thought she was literally a two-foot putt, almost a cinch to win. I was reeking confidence with her.

TDN: Have you ever been as confident?

KM: No. Not that in kind of race.

TDN: You put your neck out before that race.

KM: Not really. I said, 'they better bring a bear because I've got a grizzly.' She was just doing super, and she continues to maintain that. That's hard to do with most of these horses.

TDN: I ask everyone the same two questions. One, If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?

KM: (Trainers) Vincent O'Brien, Federico Tesio and Horatio Luro.

TDN: The other one is if there was a movie made about your life and you can pick the actor to play you, who you got?

KM: (laughs). The Rock!

TDN: Who plays Sonny?

KM: Sonny plays Sonny!

TDN: In your spare time, what are you doing?

KM: We try to go out on the (Saratoga) lake every chance we get. I try to spend time with my wife and my daughter (Annie). Last night (Tuesday) we went to the concert (Foreigner at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center). We've been to three concerts in the last couple weeks. Every summer, we go to five, six concerts.

TDN: Is it hard to have a normal life when you're a horse trainer?

KM: I try. I do better the older I get. When I was younger, I didn't do anything else. I love being a father and a husband. Those are the number one jobs.

TDN: On Sundays, you make them for the family, correct?

KM: I learned that going to Australia. Sundays, they don't train or race too much in Australia. I think you can do this in six days as well as seven.

TDN: Do you watch much TV?

KM: Not too much. We did “Yellowstone.” “Game of Thrones.” Little HBO on occasion.

TDN: Do you cook?

KM: Sherri is a fantastic cook, if you haven't noticed (smiles). Let's just say she feeds the bear well.

TDN: Favorite racetrack.

KM: Keeneland.

TDN: Where is Saratoga on your list?

KM: Probably third.

TDN: Churchill second?

KM: Yeah.

TDN: Biggest win at Saratoga. What would it be?

KM: Tough one. The Golden Ticket dead heat (in the 2012 Travers with Alpha) was a lot of fun. Swiss Skydiver winning the Alabama (in 2020). Eskimo Kisses winning the Alabama (2018). The Acorn and the Coaching Club (American Oaks with Thorpedo Anna this year) were great wins. I would say Swiss Skydiver's Alabama was ultra impressive.

Swiss Skydiver with Ken McPeek and Sonny | Katie Petrunyak

TDN: You have won just about every race there is to win. Almost. Is there one race on your bucket list?

KM: Way outside the box. I want to win the English (Epsom) Derby and English (Epsom) Oaks one day. Those are two races that are iconic that Americans have never even taken a shot at. In the next 10 years, I am going to do it.

TDN: If you could spend one hour in this office–shut the door–with any trainer from history, who would it be?

KM: Federico Tesio. His depth of knowledge of the thoroughbred and the development of the thoroughbred… he started as a horse trainer. He became a breeder. He was the breeder of I don't know how many Italian Derbies. He was just a student of the thoroughbred. And that's what I am. I could sit and talk to him forever. I think that would be really cool. Of course, he was Italian. We would have a little language barrier. He analyzed the confirmation of the thoroughbred, he analyzed how they ran, he analyzed how they should be bred, how they should be crossed.

TDN: When you were growing up, was it always about being around the horses?

KM: I didn't grow up in a horse racing family, but I grew up in what I would call a horse racing neighborhood. My grandfather, this is on my mom's side, was vice president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and he loved to go to Keeneland and play the ponies. When I first started going to Keeneland, it was with him.

TDN: What sport did you like growing up?

KM: I played all sports. I played basketball mostly.

TDN: Any good?

KM: I was really good. I probably could have played small college ball.

TDN: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

KM: Seeing the future!

TDN: If you could have a walk-up song–like baseball players do –when you bring a horse onto the track, what would it be?

KM: I listen to this band called J J Grey & Mofro. Really great. There is a song called “I Believe (In Everything).” Fantastic song. I listened to it every morning for two weeks going into work going into the Derby and the Oaks. I rode into Churchill every day and you got to believe you can do something. If you don't believe it, it won't happen. If you believe it, it can happen.