Brett McLellan relishing Harryhee's latest win

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Brett "Flaco" McLellan knows about thrills in racing, having worked closely with Rachel Alexandra during his lengthy stint as an assistant to trainer Hal Wiggins.

But it’s going to be hard to surpass the feeling McLellan got Monday when Harryhee, the star of his three-horse stable, led all the way in the $50,000 Trust Buster, one of 11 starter allowances on the Presidents Day card at Gulfstream Park. As owner and trainer of the 7-year-old ridgling, McLellan collected all but jockey Luca Panici’s commission from the $30,690 winner’s share.

“I was ecstatic,” McLellan, a 44-year-old native of Ruston, La., said Wednesday. “Still am.”

McLellan dropped out of high school and now has worked on the backstretches of American racetracks for nearly three decades. In 1999, he began working for Wiggins, who brought the 2009 Horse of the Year to prominence as a 2- and 3-year-old.

“Rachel never went anywhere without me,” said McLellan, whose thin build as a younger man earned him his nickname, which means skinny in Spanish.

McLellan has worked for other trainers since Wiggins retired six months after Rachel Alexandra was sold privately in May 2009, but in recent times he has trained his own small stable, serving as groom, hot walker, and pretty much everything else. In February 2017, with money he had saved, he claimed Florida-bred Harryhee at Gulfstream for $6,250, and after racing him in the name of Ralph Nicks, he took over the training in May 2018. With McLellan as owner, Harryhee has earned $205,460 from 29 starts and is responsible for two of McLellan’s five career wins as a trainer.

“I’m out of bed at 3:20 every morning,” said McLellan. “The logistics can be pretty hard when you’re doing everything yourself with three horses, but I manage. Days like Monday make it all worthwhile. I heard from my old employers, employees, owners, everybody. It was great.”