John Kimmel

TIMONIUM, MD - The first of two sessions of the under-tack preview of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale got underway under brilliantly sunny skies and a brand new format Tuesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Some 250 horses previewed over the track, and, while they were cascaded by the beeps of stopwatches from onlookers in the grandstand, Fasig-Tipton provided no times for the works. With forecasted wet weather later in the week, the under-tack show was condensed to two days, leading to close to nine...

Flanagan Racing's Sea Strike (c, 3, Midshipman--Meetmeonline, by Line of David) finally figured things out in the final furlong of a six-furlong Aqueduct maiden and despite a less-than-ideal passage, rolled home to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard. A $140,000 Keeneland September yearling, the Mar. 26 foal was fractionally green, but very fast in breezing a quarter-mile in a bullet :20 2/5 for last year's OBS March Sale and was hammered down for $650,000 to Nick Sallusto and John Kimmel, agents for Flanagan, who also advised on...

It is, of course, a good thing, that the subjects of aftercare and slaughter are being so widely debated, with influential owners like Mike Repole and Aron Wellman all but demanding that the industry come together and solve the problem. Just last week, Pat Cummings, who has been working side-by-side with Repole on the issue, penned a letter to the TDN in which he revealed what he called "20 concise findings, with a funding model projection" that he and Repole have put together. Good for Cummings. Good for Repole. Owner...

Among the top trainers on the New York circuit for decades, John Kimmel has announced his retirement. Citing the economic difficulties facing many trainers these days, Kimmel, 71, said he would devote his time to building his business as a bloodstock agent. Kimmel has been doing double duty over the last three or four years, continuing his training operation while acting as a bloodstock agent to outside clients. While training full-time, he was known for having a keen eye when it came to picking horses out at the sales, including...

Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie--Bernadreamy, by Bernardini), a dual Grade I winner at two, is expected to make the final start of his career in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile before entering stud in 2026 at Eric and Tamara Gustavson's Spendthrift Farm. "We are excited about Chancer McPatrick," said Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey. "We've had good luck with precocious Grade I winners from the first crop of emerging sires--of course, that was the formula with Into Mischief when he came to stud. "It takes a pretty special 2-year-old to win...

John Kimmel had $25,000, and wanted an Exclusive Native filly. But he had to pass up his first choice, at Fasig-Tipton in 1978, after she went to $32,000. She turned out to be Genuine Risk. A first experience to put most people off, right? Kimmel gives a wry chuckle and shakes his head. "I'd have been ruined," he says. "I was a sophomore in vet school. Can you imagine? I'd have been wrecked." As it was, he had proved his eye. He continued absorbing the bittersweet lessons routinely dispensed by...

1st-Belmont The Big A, $90,000, Msw, 9-14, 2yo, 6f, 1:12.81, ft, 5 lengths. VEKOMA RIDES (c, 2, Vekoma--Happy Now, by Mr. Greeley), off at odds of 4-1 for his debut here, tracked a pair of pacesetters from the outside gate up the backstretch. Ready to pounce going three wide around the far turn, the chestnut throttled up, was full of run at the top of the lane and sailed home a winner by five lengths over fellow first time starter Alias (Into Mischief). A half-sister to current sire Ironicus (Distorted...

2nd-Belmont The Big A, $75,000, (S), Msw, 9-13, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.72, fm, 1 1/2 lengths. GRACE AND GRIT (f, 2, Munnings--Sheriffa {MSW, $469,984}, by Posse) made $160,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred Sale and breezed a furlong in :10 flat before hammering for $350,000 at the OBS April Sale. An easy-in-the-market 49-10 from a 5-2 morning line, the chestnut was ridden forward by Kendrick Carmouche and settled just off the speed before striding into the lead with about five-eighths of a mile to travel. Going along...

SARATIOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Give an assist to trainer John Kimmel for fellow conditioner Chad Brown's latest 2-year-old win at Saratoga Race Course. Come again? Well, after the seventh race at the Spa was complete Saturday afternoon and Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) was getting his picture taken, it was rival trainers Kimmel and Brown who were huddled together. They shared some laughs and a handshake. While Brown got Chancer McPatrick ready for his debut, a 6 1/2-furlong $100,000 maiden special weight, it was Kimmel who got the horse to Brown's barn. Chancer McPatrick...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training rushed across the finish line with a lively session of bidding Friday and concluded its four-day run in Central Florida with a new sales record average and median and a gross just off last year's highwater mark. "It certainly felt like it picked up here at the end of the four-day stretch," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "It felt good. We were bumping up against a record [gross...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Daniel Kenney has been banned18 months and fined $12,500 for possession of the thyroid drug, Levothyroxine, which HISA has listed a banned substance. Kenney's ban began on Oct. 5, 2023. In a brief explainer on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, HIWU Investigators allegedly found the Levothyroxine—otherwise known as Thyro-L—in one of Kenney's tack rooms at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado on Aug. 25, 2023....

Gokhan Kocakaya understood that this would be a challenge. In his native Turkey, he has won 2,910 races, was the leading rider for four straight years starting in 2019. He was riding in all of the major races and making a good living. But here he was on a chilly Monday morning galloping horses at Belmont Park, some 5,000 miles from home and in a place where almost nobody knows who he is. "I am new here," the 37-year-old jockey said through an interpreter. "I am not expecting to ride...