Trainer Bradley to have final starter
The fifth race Friday at Churchill will mark the end of the remarkable training career of William “Buff” Bradley, who announced in early May that he is disbanding his stable while intending to keep his hand in the game as an owner-breeder and also hoping to transition to a yet-undetermined role in the racing industry.
Bradley, 57, will saddle Total Impact in the fifth race, a maiden-special turf route for 3-year-olds and upward. Total Impact was ninth at 64-1 in his only prior start, and he’ll be long odds to send Bradley out a winner.
Nonetheless, it’s been an incredible 27-plus years since Bradley ran his first of 575 winners on Nov. 18, 1993, at Churchill Downs. Bradley’s handiwork and dedication made fan favorites out of Brass Hat, Groupie Doll, Divisidero, and The Player, and with a number of circumstances having changed in his life and in the sport itself, he leaves with few regrets.
“It’s kind of sad, yes, but I have had a pretty good run,” he said.
◗ Don Kolioutos, who became well known to horsemen at tracks in Kentucky, Ohio, and Maryland when working for decades as an investigator for security agencies and in other capacities, died Sunday at age 61 at his home in Union, Ky.