Fresh from one of the biggest wins in her training career to date, Lindsay Schultz took a moment this week to appreciate a new milestone, following Baby Vino (Vino Rosso)'s dominant 10-length victory in Saturday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park.
The journey to this point began long before the 37-year-old Schultz saddled the son of Vino Rosso for the first time.
“My journey started when I was really young. I started riding horses at nine or 10, with a friend at summer camp and I loved it.”
What began in Connecticut eventually led to Louisville, Kentucky, where involvement with Future Farmers of America and later, the University of Louisville's Equine Business program set her on a path towards a career in Thoroughbred racing.
“I got stuck into the racing industry by attending U of L,” she said. “I got to meet all sorts of people in the industry.”
Among those who helped shape her early career were Tim Capps, Rich Wilkie and Terry Burch, while a conversation through her roommate and good friend, Liz Crow, opened the door to another opportunity.
“Liz introduced me to a woman at Lane's End called Martha Heckerman,” Schultz recalled. “She was the one that put Flying Start into my head.”
Before entering the Godolphin Flying Start program, Schultz spent some time working for Tom Proctor, which only strengthened her desire to pursue a career in racing. She credits Flying Start with broadening her perspective and allowing her the opportunity to get exposure to the global industry. Following graduation, she rejoined Tom Proctor's operation full-time and spent eight years with him.
“As I grew and took on more responsibility with Tom, I thought of training myself.”
Before making the leap, she spent a year working for Shug McGaughey, an experience she still views as invaluable.
“I was able to go and work for Shug for a year and saw the way he ran things and learned a lot. I was able to develop and build on top of the experience I already had.”
Eventually, conversations with owner Marshall Graham helped turn the idea of training on her own into reality.
“Marshall said, 'You're thinking you'll go out on your own, how many horses do you need for me to support you?'” Schultz recalled. “So, Marshall and I kind of put together a plan and it grew from there. We claimed six or seven horses to get started that winter and we gave it a go.”
Five years later, Schultz remains deeply involved in every aspect of the operation she has built. While racing's demanding lifestyle is sometimes viewed as a drawback, Schultz sees it differently.
“Work-life balance is such a hot topic these days, but my work is what I enjoy doing.”
She credits her outlook to advice she received from her father.
“My dad told me when I was younger, find a job that you enjoy, and you won't work a day in your life. For a lot of us, this is what we want to be doing when we get up in the mornings, and we look forward to it. I love everything about it; this industry is our life.”
For now, much of that enthusiasm stems from Baby Vino. The colt, owned by Marcus, Chrystal and James Osborne, had shown talent throughout his career but needed time to put everything together.
“It took him five starts to break his maiden, but the horse had so much talent. He learned so much in those races, and he was always running at the end.”
The Pegasus Stakes, viewed as the stepping stone to the Haskell in July, looked like a logical next step.
“We were quietly confident going into Saturday,” she admits. “But obviously didn't expect him to win by 10 lengths and explode the way that he did…A win like this is so important for a developing stable. It gets the whole barn excited, the owners are excited, but also it draws attention to us. As much as I value every single win and every horse of every level in the barn, the big ones are what people look for and that's what we all want is more stakes horses.”
Amid the excitement, Schultz found herself reflecting on the people who had helped her reach this point.
“When you win races like this, you think about all the different people that have helped you”, she said, pointing to one particular reminder of those early supporters.
“When I said I was going to go out and train on my own, Neil Howard gave me some of his webbings, buckets and feed tubs, and I still have some of them,” she said.
The reminders of those who helped her get started are never far away, but neither is the next challenge.
Over her almost five years of training, Schultz has won 138 races and over $8 million in purse money, and two graded stakes races, including the Philip H. Iselin Stakes with Whelen Springs. But the prestige of winning the Haskell so early in her career would bring a whole new level of attention to the operation.
“As long as he's training well, it makes sense to run him in the Haskell. He's already run well on this track.”
There are still several weeks to go before Monmouth's signature race. As she prepares for the biggest start of her career to date, she remains mindful of the people who helped her get to this point, and optimistic about what may lie ahead.
“Baby Vino is behind one of Neil Howard's webbings. Moments like this make you reflect on all the people that helped you get here, what's to come and what else we could accomplish.”
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