Breeders’ Cup Connections: Greg Geier a Steady Hand in the Shedrow

[Wandering Eyes]

Greg Geier doesn't remember a time when horses weren't a part of his life.

He and his brother Dennis were practically raised on the track. They tagged along with their father, Louisiana-based George Geier, to the barn early each morning on the weekends and traveled north every summer for race meets in Detroit.

“We started walking horses when we were eight years old,” Geier recalled. “Then we went to grooming and then we went to helping our dad do everything. I never did ride, though. I always thought it was safer on the ground.”

More than 40 years later, not much has changed. Dennis—better known as “Peaches” on the Churchill Downs backside—is the longtime assistant for trainer Bret Calhoun. Greg, too, has never had a job that didn't involve laying hands on a horse each day.

Geier has saddled hundreds of winners in his lifetime, but last year, he was part of something special.

As the assistant trainer for Kenny McPeek's base at Churchill Downs, Geier played a pivotal role in helping oversee both Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in the lead-up to their Kentucky Derby and Oaks victories. The fairytale continued when Thorpedo Anna stormed through a Horse of the Year-worthy season, capped by her win in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Now four, the champ has secured her spot back at the Breeders' Cup by capturing the 'Win And You're In' GII Fleur de Lis Stakes.

“I never imagined I could be around a horse like this, let alone a Horse of the Year,” said Geier. “It's what you get up for. I mean, you get up for all of them, but when you're around these kinds, you really want to get up and be around them.

Spending time with horses was all Geier ever really wanted to do. After graduating high school he went to the University of New Orleans, but it did not take him long to find out that academia was not the path for him. He'd work on the backside every morning, but once in lectures, he was either dozing off or wishing he was at the races. After a year, he went back to work for his father, following the circuit between Fair Grounds, Jefferson Downs and Louisiana Downs.

After his father passed away, Geier bounced between roles as both assistant and head trainer. He spent a decade working for Gene Cilio in Chicago, and when Cilio died, Geier took over the stable and trained horses for prominent owner Jim Tafel. Two of his top earners were Coragil Cat (Forest Wildcat), winner of the 2008 GIII Hanshin Cup Handicap, and Country Flavor (Empire Maker), who won the same Arlington race two years later.

Geier heads back to the barn with Mystik Dan after his Kentucky Derby victory | Coady Media

But Geier always preferred the company of horses to the hustle of recruiting owners. Whenever stalls became hard to fill, he gravitated back to assistant roles. Not long after Tafel passed away, Geier again found himself looking for a fresh start. He began working for Kenny McPeek in 2016, starting at Delta Downs before shifting to Fair Grounds and eventually settling in at Churchill Downs.

Over the years, the horseman has worked with a long list of McPeek's top runners. Grade I winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) and multiple graded stakes winner Smile Happy (Runhappy) are two of his all-time favorites.

“I knew from early on that they would be nice,” he explained. “You can just tell. You're out there and you work them once or twice and you know where you're at.”

With Thorpedo Anna, it took a bit more time to realize her talent.

“At first she was a little flighty, but she settled down,” Geier described. “She was high-strung, strong, nervous. She just had to learn to channel that energy. The older she's got, the better she's become.”

Geier said that these days, 'Thorpedo' is “as cool as a cucumber” in the stall, but knows what to do when it's time to train.

The assistant did not make the trip to California for Thorpedo Anna's Distaff win. He stayed behind to run the operation in Kentucky. With two horses to saddle at Churchill that day, he was still able to tune in to watch the star filly's dominant victory.

“When she left for the Breeders' Cup, she was training just as good as she was before the Oaks,” Geier described. “She was at the top of her game.”

This year, Thorpedo Anna returned to the winner's circle for the GII Azeri Stakes and GI Apple Blossom Handicap. While she had a disappointing last-place finish in the GI La Troienne Stakes, she quickly rebounded with her resounding three-length Fleur de Lis score on June 28.

Geier and the rest of the Thorpedo Anna team in the winner's circle after her Kentucky Oaks victory | Horsephotos

“In the La Troienne, she didn't have the best trip—got banged around going into the first turn. I think that just bothered her,” Geier said. “But then she regrouped. When she ran in the Fleur de Lis, she just showed she was back on top of her game.”

Thorpedo Anna recently left Churchill Downs and is enjoying a short freshening at McPeek's Magdalena Farm. She is set to arrive in Saratoga next week and is pointing for the GI Personal Ensign on Aug. 23.

During Thorpedo Anna's time training at Churchill Downs this spring, visitors on the Kentucky Derby Museum's backside tour often stopped by McPeek's barn hoping to get a glimpse of the champion. Geier understood the sentiment and was happy to oblige.

“She's just a class of her own,” he explained. “These kinds of horses don't come around too often.”

Geier knows not to take any of his experiences for granted. His father passed before he could see Geier working with the likes of Grade I winners Rattle N Roll, Mystik Dan or Thorpedo Anna, but his legacy follows Geier on the backside every morning.

“Oh, he'd be real proud, I believe,” Geier said. “He was dedicated to his profession too. So I think he'd be proud of what I'm doing.”

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