David Carroll disbands stable and joins Team Casse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After nearly a quarter-century of highs and lows as a trainer of Thoroughbreds, David Carroll is switching jobs while staying in the racing business.

Carroll said last week that he is disbanding his public stable and going to work as an assistant to Mark Casse. He began oversight of a 40-horse division this week at Keeneland, where the Casse stable will be very active over the 16-day spring meet, which starts next Friday, April 8.

“I’m excited,” said Carroll. “This actually was a very easy decision.”

Carroll, 56, is a native of County Meath, Ireland. He first came to the United States in 1983 to prep yearlings at Taylor Made Farm, then worked as an exercise rider for the Phipps Stable for five years, galloping such greats as Easy Goer and Seeking the Gold.

He began training in 1992, working primarily out of Churchill Downs in Louisville, where he and his wife, Kim, have raised their daughter, Aisling, 20, and son, Declan, 16. From 2,870 starts, Carroll had 461 winners and stable earnings of $17.4 million. He won 63 stakes, 17 of them graded, with his most accomplished horses being Acoma, Denis of Cork, Marshua’s River, American Chance, Fire Slam, Cuando, Connected, Devil Time, and Selva.

His last stakes winner came at the 2014 Churchill fall meet, where Strike Charmer captured the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap, and his final start came Sunday, when River City Lady ran third on closing day of the Fair Grounds meet in New Orleans.

“I’m proud of the career I’ve had,” said Carroll. “I’ve trained for some great people, and I’m appreciative of all they did for me and my family and my staff.”

Carroll cited economics as the primary reason for giving up his stable, a familiar theme that has led other highly respected trainers on this circuit to quit training while remaining connected to an industry they love. That list includes Pete Vestal, Don Winfree, Tony Reinstedler, Steve Penrod, Phil Hauswald, Tom Bohannan, Richard Kohnhorst, Bob DeSensi, and Becky Maker.

“It’s pretty simple – I ran out of horses,” said Carroll. “I was down to a handful and didn’t have much coming in this spring. The phone stopped ringing, for whatever reason.

“It’s not easy for the smaller trainers. You’ve got workers’ comp and payroll taxes and the constant worry that if a horse runs bad, the owner will give it to one of the bigger outfits. You go through a lot. Fortunately, I’m in a position to walk away in good standing, and I’m not bitter. If I’d kept up the way it was going, I don’t know how it would’ve ended.”

The Carrolls also endured personal difficulties in recent years when Kim was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in November 2010. The disease has gone into remission following intensive treatment.

Carroll said he has been friendly for years with Casse, the seven-time Sovereign Award winner who enjoyed his career-best year in 2015 with stable earnings of $13.7 million. With more than 100 active racehorses on several fronts in his care, Casse, a father of seven, is an easygoing multitasker with the organizational skills and vision to efficiently run a huge operation.

“I’ve always been a big fan of David’s,” Casse said this week from Ocala, Fla. “I think David and I are a lot alike. We have the same kind of demeanor. When the opportunity arose that he could be part of our team, I didn’t hesitate. He’ll definitely make our team better.”

David and Kim Carroll both exercise horses while also attending to the multitude of chores a racing stable demands. Much of the administrative work will be handled by Casse, which suits David Carroll just fine.

“I love to train – I just love it,” said Carroll. “Now I get a chance to do that again, and we’ll be around good horses again. I want to be part of something big. I want to get up in the morning and be excited about going to work and not have four or five horses down in the corner of a barn. I’m really looking forward to this new stage of my life.”