After Moving from Florida Base, Danner Riding Hot Streak at Turfway

[Wandering Eyes]

Trainer Kelsey Danner has traditionally based her stable at Palm Meadows in Florida every winter, but this year she decided to shift her focus to Turfway Park and already, the decision is paying dividends.

Following a career-best year in 2024 thanks in part to a lucrative Holiday meet at Turfway in December, Danner is now sitting at the top of the trainer ranks for Turfway's Winter/Spring meet. After going two-for-two on Thursday, Danner has 15 wins from 69 starts and just over $700,000 in earnings ahead of Friday's card, giving her a narrow edge over Michael Maker's stable with one week still left to go in the meet.

Danner, whose family has been a fixture on the racetrack for generations, started out working for her father Mark Danner before spending time with D. Wayne Lukas, Ian Wilkes, Carl Nafzger and Wayne Catalano. She went out on her own in 2017 and her stable has grown steadily in the years since. Depending on the results of these next few days at Turfway, Danner could be on her way to earning her first training title.

“It has been a really good meet,” acknowledged Danner, who is much more effusive when talking about her horses' success instead of her own. “We aimed some of our horses at this meet. I have a few middle-ground, grass horses, so they like the six furlongs. Everyone has been running really well.”

Danner's string of Turfway stable stars is led by Baby Max (Maximus Mischief), the winner of the Leonatus Stakes who will take on the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks this weekend. Other leading earners include Nice as Pie (Tapiture), who has collected a win and two runner-up performances from four starts this meet including a second-place effort in the Wishing Well Stakes, and Shards (Bucchero), who was third in the Forego Stakes and came back with a win in his most recent effort against allowance company on March 5.

Last winter, Danner divided her time between Palm Meadows and Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky. That trial run encouraged Danner to hone in on the Turfway meet going forward.

“The races went really easily at Turfway whereas at Gulfstream, they were kind of struggling to get races to fill,” she explained. “Last year I wasted a lot of time with horses, not being able to get them in, so I decided to try to stay more in Kentucky and have more of a presence here.”

While she still maintains a small string at Palm Meadows, Danner said she has sold her house in Florida and will now split her time between Louisville and Florence as she keys in on the Kentucky racing circuit. With the recent troubling news out of Florida and plenty of lucrative racing opportunities in Kentucky, Danner noted that she is not the only trainer making the move.

“I do feel like people are trying to stay around Kentucky now,” she said. “The purse money is good and there is obviously a solid, year-round program here. As times change, a lot of our employees want to have more normal lives–have a house, be in one place–so it works out so that they have a better lifestyle.”

The racing surface at Turfway is an added bonus as well.

“'I think that Tapeta track is very safe,” she said. “Horses tend to like it. During the summer I start most of my babies off of it and they seem like they do really well with it. It's pretty consistent.”

California Burrito and Baby Max battle for the win in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes | Coady Media

One trainee who has shown an affinity for the track is Baby Max. The colt was a $20,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase for JS Stables, which is made up of the wife-and-husband team of Janelle and Sam Aguiar. Although the colt is a son of Maximus Mischief, Danner noted that 'Max' is a common name for Janelle's rescue pets, including a dog and a donkey both called Max.

The equine 'Max' broke his maiden in his second start at Churchill Downs last fall. He ran second in his Turfway debut last December before scoring in the Leonatus Stakes, besting next-out GII Risen Star runner-up Chunk of Gold (Preservationist). In the John Battaglia Memorial, he stalked California Burrito (Army Mule) from the three path through the 1 1/16-mile contest. The pair opened up on the field in the stretch, with California Burrito digging in to get the win by half a length.

Danner described the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' race as an educational experience for Baby Max.

“Max is still young and immature,” she said. “I think he learned a lot from that because in his other race, he got to the lead really quickly and he didn't have to work for anything. This time he had to show a little grit. I think he was a tad intimidated. California Burrito was kind of getting out. By the time they reached the wire they were closer to the outside rail than the inside rail. This weekend we'll be adding blinkers, just small French cups, to see if it will help him go straight.”

Baby Max has drawn post position six for Saturday's Jeff Ruby Steaks, which will feature a full field of 12 colts vying for Kentucky Derby points. California Burrito, who shares the same breeder as rival Baby Max in Westbrook Stables, is the 7-2 morning-line second choice behind GII Remsen Stakes winner Poster (Munnings).

“I think it's a tough race,” said Danner. “There should be a solid pace this time and I think that will help Max because he would prefer not to be out on the lead. Most of the speed is to our inside and then we have one on our outside, so hopefully we get a nice pocket trip.”

Danner has a busy day on Saturday with seven entered for Turfway's card. Among her four trainees looking to break their maidens, NBS Stable's Listen and Learn (Caracaro) reared up at the gate in her last race on March 6 and Danner said to expect a better performance in this next start. She noted that Whippoorwill (Midnight Lute) should also improve off a runner-up performance on Feb. 13.

Earlier this week, Danner was among those moving into the barns at Churchill Downs. She said she is looking forward to training there this spring and added that come summer, she has plans to send a string to Saratoga. With about 70 current members of the stable along with an incoming class of 2-year-olds ready to join the squad in the coming weeks, Danner aims to continue her hot streak once the Turfway meet is under wraps.

“I feel like each year we get better and things are kind of going the right way,” she said. “I have some really solid clients who have been fantastic to work with. I had clients who started with one horse, they've had some success and now they have five. So it's been trending upwards. I don't have any complaints.”

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