LoPresti, trainer of two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, bows out gracefully

LEXINGTON, Ky. – You missed the press release on Charlie LoPresti retiring from training because, well, there wasn’t one.

“Didn’t want to make a big deal about it,” said LoPresti, who less than a decade ago was on top of the racing world as the trainer of Wise Dan, the two-time Horse of the Year (2012-13).

LoPresti, 63, was a visitor at Keeneland on Wednesday morning, hanging at the barn of his nephew, trainer Reeve McGaughey, in what he estimated was his first time at a racetrack in nearly six months. LoPresti disbanded his stable last fall, with his final start coming Oct. 22 at Indiana Grand and his last winner coming in May at Churchill Downs with Lessons From Avery, a 73-1 shot.

LoPresti, a New York native, began training in 1993. He retires with 310 wins and just more than $20 million in stable earnings.

“It’s tough for the little guy in racing anymore,” LoPresti said. “I just got tired of fighting it.”

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For a relatively brief and magical time, however, LoPresti was one of the big guys in racing, even without having anything close to the hundreds of horses that uber-trainers carry. On behalf of owner Morton Fink, who died in November 2019, LoPresti masterfully guided Wise Dan through 31 starts, 23 of them victories, including back-to-back runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Mile during the same years Wise Dan was named Horse of the Year. Wise Dan, a chestnut gelding, is now 14, happily living out his years on LoPresti’s 200-acre Forest Lane Farm in Athens, Ky., just east of Lexington.

“He’s doing good, we’re all doing good,” said LoPresti, who, with his wife, Amy, remains active by breaking young horses for longtime clients such as Richard Klein, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and Jeff Lewis, son of late owners Bob and Beverly Lewis. “I’m happy and healthy and doing things I want to do.

“The racetrack takes up a whole lot of your time, and if you’re not careful, you’ll never get to do some of the other things you want to do with your life. Now we’re spending more time with our bird dogs, our Quarter horses, our Angus cattle.

“I’m extremely fortunate because racing was so good to me. Not only did we have Wise Dan in our barn, but we also had stakes winners like his brother, Successful Dan, and good horses like Turallure and Here Comes Ben. Those were great years, and I take a lot of good memories away from it.”

Most of LoPresti’s employees and his dozen or so remaining horses went to McGaughey, his assistant during the glory years. McGaughey, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, also is the son of Mary Jane McGaughey, the sister of Amy LoPresti.

“Reeve traveled everywhere with me and definitely put his time in,” LoPresti said. “We’re really proud of him. I guess we’ll kind of be keeping our heads in the game through him and enjoying it.”

Reeve McGaughey, 31, began his solo career in February 2020 and has won with 12 of his first 69 starters.

Derby hopefuls work out

O Besos and Hidden Stash were among the Derby hopefuls sent through serious drills this week, with O Besos going five furlongs Tuesday in 1:00.60 at Churchill and Hidden Stash going a half-mile in 47.80 seconds in a team work the following morning at Keeneland.

As of Wednesday, Hidden Stash has safely made the 20-horse cutoff with 32 qualifying points, while O Besos (25 points) remains on the bubble, needing a defection or two to get in.

◗ Red Knight, winner of the Grade 3 Sycamore here last fall, is among 10 older turf marathoners entered in the Saturday feature, the Grade 2 Elkhorn. James Graham has the mount back for owner-breeder Trinity Farm and trainer Bill Mott.