Hard work paying off for Foster with Everland in Kentucky Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There have been a lot of long miles on the dark highway for Eric Foster. The trainer prefers to haul his horses to the races himself, when possible, in addition to accompanying them to the track for morning training, putting the tack on, or even waiting at the rail with a bucket and a shank. From his farm in rural Utica, Ky., it’s about 3 1/2 hours to Turfway Park, where he was the leading trainer this past meet; 2 1/2 hours to Keeneland, where the meet just concluded; or about two hours to Churchill Downs, in focus this week.

“Somebody said, ‘Well, how do you not get tired?’ ” Foster said. “And I said, ‘Well, I think about my horses, and I just go.’ ”

All the miles have led Foster to 1 1/8 miles in the spotlight on the first Friday in May. The trainer has had breakout success with some savvy claims in recent years, and one of those is Bourbonette Oaks winner Everland, who goes in the Kentucky Oaks.

Foster’s first two career stakes wins came with Kitodan, whom he claimed for $80,000 in May 2022. He subsequently saddled him to win the Audubon Stakes, then the Grade 3 Dueling Grounds Derby.

Everland was a $30,000 claim last December.

“We do it, too, and a lot of times, we’re happy that we didn’t lose them,” Foster said of training decisions to put potentially talented horses in claiming races. “A couple of my good horses are claims, and those guys [the other trainers] are good. I wouldn’t ever tell anybody that I’m a better trainer.”

Foster’s other three stakes wins have all come this year, with Alwaysintomischief in Ohio and Everland and Maxisuperfly at Turfway Park. Maxisuperfly struck first, with a front-running score in the Cincinnati Trophy on March 1. Finishing fourth behind her stablemate was Everland, making her third start for Foster and some common ownership.

Everland initially raced as a homebred for Augustin Stable, but after three fruitless starts in maiden special weight company trainer Jonathan Thomas dropped her down for a tag on Dec. 30. Foster claimed her out of that race, in which she was up to win despite being checked hard on the far turn. She now races for Foster Family Racing, Bill Wargel, R.K. Eckrich Racing, and Maxis Stable.

Foster “called me and said, ‘We’re going to claim a horse tonight,’ and he said, ‘I want you in, because it’s an Arrogate, and you like Arrogate,’ ” Wargel said. “My other partners said they were going in, and I said, ‘Yeah, I like Arrogate. Let’s go.’ And we all took a fourth, and it’s history. From $30,000 to the sky’s the limit.”

Everland won a Feb. 10 starter allowance in her first start for Foster, then was fourth in the Cincinnati Trophy, unable to rally into a slow pace as Maxisuperfly was loose on the lead. But in the Bourbonette Oaks on March 23, she waited on the far turn and then found clear sailing, charging home to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Everland has been preparing for her dirt debut, training first at Keeneland and this week at Churchill as Foster tries to keep his emotions in check before stepping onto racing’s biggest stage.

“I try not to get too excited because a lot of the times in my life, when I get really built up for something big and then it doesn’t work out, it’s a bit of a letdown,” he said. “I’m trying to stay kind of level.”

The trainer will have plenty to keep his mind occupied. While Everland and Maxisuperfly – who is entered in the Grade 3 Edgewood on the Oaks undercard – are stabled at Churchill Downs this week, Foster still has horses stabled at Keeneland as well as back home on the farm, which is about 16 acres with a training track.

“We also don’t have a farrier next door,” said Foster, who often rides in the mornings. “So when a shoe comes off, I’m the repairman. When we have a problem on the farm, I’m the maintenance guy.”

Foster is quick to credit his wife, Brooklyn, who manages the barn, and his children for their support .

“I’ve probably missed a lot of my kids,” he said of the worst part of being a trainer.

The trainer also heaps praise on his barn staff, while others are quick to credit Foster.

“We’ve got an excellent young trainer,” Wargel said. “He works hard. He’s the hardest worker in the industry, and I give him a lot of respect.”

The secret to the work ethic that has carried Foster through all these miles?

“This is a dream job for me,” Foster said. “If this wasn’t something you enjoyed, it’d be a terrible job.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.