After rough winter, Foley has turned it around

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Greg Foley had such a rough winter at Fair Grounds in New Orleans that at one point, he suspected a spell had been cast on his barn.

“I thought somebody had turned Miss Rudolph loose on us or something,” Foley joked, referring to the old Richard Pryor bit.

After going 1 for 23 at the Churchill Downs fall meet, Foley was blanked with all 46 of his starters at the four-month Fair Grounds meet. But since returning to his Kentucky home, Foley has had six wins and three seconds from a combined 16 starters at the Keeneland and Churchill spring meets, all of which has allowed Foley to breathe easy again.

“It’s been quite a 360, that’s for sure,” said Foley, who through last weekend had won 987 races from 5,858 starts (16 percent) since his career began in 1981. “Down in New Orleans, I was scratching my head, wondering what I could be doing wrong. I mean, I’ve been doing this a long time and can’t remember going through anything like it. There was really no rhyme or reason for it.”

Racing is in Foley’s blood. His father, the late Dravo Foley, was a well-established trainer on the Kentucky circuit; his sister, Vickie, also has trained here since 1981; and his 33-year-old son, Travis, has been his assistant for the last several years. Another son, Alex, has one year remaining in law school at the University of Louisville.

“Trav and Alex both love the game,” said Foley, 59. “We all go through the highs and lows together. Hopefully, now that we’re on a nice little run, we’ll keep it going through this meet and into the summer.”

With five wins, Foley is in a four-way tie for second in the Churchill trainer standings with Brad Cox, Ian Wilkes, and J.R. Caldwell. Steve Asmussen leads with seven wins.