David Scanlon at his barn at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales (Ben Baugh)
By Ben Baugh
David Scanlon grew up in northeast Ohio, and was introduced to horse racing by his father, trainer Robert F. Scanlon.
It would be an odyssey that continues to this day. His father, who came over from Ireland, managed a farm in Brunswick, Ohio, and was based at Thistledown, giving the younger Scanlon an opportunity to experience the sport and industry from the ground up.
Summers in Jersey
When Robert Scanlon shifted his training base to Oceanport, N.J. at Monmouth Park, when David was a teenager, he found himself in the Garden State.
“He trained at Monmouth Park, The Meadowlands and Atlantic City and did that whole Jersey circuit for a while,” said Scanlon. “He did a little bit of the winters in New York.”
Summer vacations were spent at the Jersey shore, in a rental in Sea Bright, going to the track to help his father at Monmouth Park, learning the business.
Sunshine State Bound
While finishing up college, where he played football at the University of Toledo, Scanlon found himself in warmer environs, joining his parents in Florida, who had made the decision to base in the Ocala area year-round. What he was about to encounter next found him associating with an elite athlete, the type of horse everyone wishes they had in the barn.
” When I got done with college, I met them down here,” said Scanlon. “We started the 2-year-old thing, and I think it was ’94, when we got our first group with Buzz Chace and Ernie Paragallo, and that was Unbridled Song’s (winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Gr. 1), Florida Derby (gr. 1), Wood Memorial (Gr. 2) and Olympic Handicap) class. Ernie was a real big help, and Buzz, it was a great team with my dad and Buzz. It was great times. For me it was really good exposure at a young age. I remember a vet telling me, you’re really lucky to be around horses like this, young, you get to see what these (good horses) look like.”
The Opportunity to be Around Elite Athletes
The quality and depth of the horses and the clients that he and his father trained for were some of the most prominent names in the business, providing Scanlon with insight, but having a mentor like his father, who provided him with knowledge and philosophies, that proved to be invaluable resources, giving him a toolbox to draw from, one that’s needed in a challenging sport and industry that is full of vagaries. Dual Classic winner Afleet Alex and the 2006 Eclipse Award winning 3-year-old male, Bernardini, who won the Preakness (Gr. 1), Travers (Gr. 1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (Gr. 1), were two of those horses.
“We had a lot of horses for them back in the Day (Coolmore and Darley), I think we had 80 in training for Darley or Godolphin back then, and probably 20 or 30 for Coolmore,” said Scanlon. “We had a lot of Japanese clients. We had a lot of great clients back in the day. We actually did some early on for Stonestreet before they bought their own farm. Paul Pompa was a good client of my dad’s back in the day. There were a lot of great people that he had who were really good to us.”
Firm Foundation
Those early lessons, and the opportunity of not just being around his father, but the fact that he was an outstanding horseman, have proven invaluable, playing a large role in his evolution. However, his father wasn’t his only influence as he had the unique experiences of being able to travel the world, to learn from conditioners who enjoyed success elsewhere, taking with him things he was exposed to by other trainers, and make it part of his training program.
“I was very lucky,” said Scanlon. “He (his father) was basically my number one teacher. He was very clean, nice white bridles, everything in white, he wanted everything clean. His shedrow was immaculate. Don’t ever walk a horse out of the stall with shavings or straw, everything always had to be top-notch, and he really instilled that in me. I was really lucky too. He was very good about sending me off to learn things. He sent me away to Todd Pletcher for a little while, in Todd’s early years. I did stints in South Africa. I was over in South Africa with horses for about three or four months. We did a lot of stints in Dubal to put on the first 2-year-old sales in Dubai when I was young.”
An opportunity to be part of a unique experience, that no one at the time had ever been involved with previously, also played a part in Scanlon’s evolution as a horseman.
“We put on the first 2-year-old sales that they had in Dubai, in 2001 and 2002, called the Pearls of Dubai Sale,” said Scanlon. “When Sheikh Mohammad hired my dad, he said, ‘go buy me 50 or 60 2-year-olds, get them ready and bring them over here, and we were the only consignors.’ and he said, ‘you put on a 2-year-old sale for me.’”
Those experiences provided Scanlon with a great deal of depth going forward, learning from not only his father, but many of the best trainers globally, with takeaways that he uses as part of his current program.
“I had the opportunity to see a lot of different parts of the world,” said Scanlon. “I have a lot of European influence, I learned in training through my dad, and through being in Dubai, training and meeting other people. I was a big fan, always watching Aidan O’Brien, with my father being from Ireland. He instilled a lot of Irish influence in the way you bring up a horse.”
And although his program has evolved over time, the foundation and horsemanship that he learned from his father continues to have a large influence in the way Scanlon conditions his horses, preparing them for the sales and the racetrack.
“It hasn’t changed a lot, the basics are still the basics,” said Scanlon. “Probably the only thing I may do a little bit differently, my dad, he pinhooked for a lot of clients, I’m more into forming partnerships and buying a lot of my own horses. That’s probably where we’re a little bit different. He had so many good high-profile clients. He would sell multi-million horses in a year and made a great living in consigning and training for them. It’s different now, we don’t do maybe as many. But I own them myself, and with my partnerships.”
Game Changer
A classic winner provided Scanlon with great confidence in his program, during a time when he found himself facing adversity, overcoming challenges to succeed, despite the obstacles he was facing.
“The first crop that I had for Coolmore, my dad was sick. The year that he passed away, I had Rags to Riches (who won the Las Virgenes (Gr.1), Santa Anita Oaks (Gr. 1), Kentucky Oaks, (Gr. 1) Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1), for them to entrust me with that level of horses,” said Scanlon. “She was a very expensive yearling purchase, obviously well-regarded, we had quite a few others in the barn. It really gave me a lot of confidence that those kinds of owners stood by me and entrusted me with those kinds of horses. It’s different too, when you’re around those kinds of horses. You just notice that different demeanor and that heir they have. You kind of notice, it’s hard to put a word into it, but it’s the haves and have nots. When you hear a person say, they have that certain something, you start to feel that certain something.”
The Road to Success
However, Scanlon’s journey has been anything but seamless. His determination and persistence have allowed him to thrive in an environment that’s known for its adversity and pitfalls. Scanlon’s agility, ability to pivot and adaptability have found him enjoying success in a competitive industry and at the elite level. Sierra Leone and Just a Touch, both Kentucky Derby starters in 2024, were two horses that have left an indelible imprint.
“It was a huge justification, in 2008, after my dad passed, we kind of thinned out, we had to figure out what we wanted to be in the game,” said Scanlon. “We went through some rough patches here and there. We just kind of reorganized. My mom was ready to retire. We sold the family farm, and that’s kind of when I went to Oak Ridge. I started literally out there with 30 horses, and just restarted again. So, to get back to where we have the Calumets, the Coolmores, the Don Albertos, Godolphin, for them to give me those kind of horses again is great. We were really blessed that year. My wife and I bought Just a Touch as a yearling and sold him as a 2-year-old.”
A strong team, who understands the operation and Scanlon’s program have played a pivotal role in his success.
” It’s not just for me they’re proud moments for the staff that I’ve assembled.” said Scanlon. ”There are people who’ve stuck with me, like my assistant Junior Garza, he’s been with me 20 years, he’s been with me since my dad. Some of my riders have been here for a decade. It’s a really great staff.”
Scanlon is now based at Oak Ridge Training Center in Morriston, Fla., and the facility owned by Reid and Sarah Nagle, has been the ideal place for his program to thrive.
” That farm has been really good,” said Scanlon. “When I moved out there, Reid was just kind of getting himself established at the farm. He was just starting to build. We kind of grew up there together. As I grew, he built me barns.”
Oak Ridge has been the perfect fit for Scanlon, and he and the Nagles have a strong relationship, sharing their thoughts and the facility continues to evolve for the horsemen who are based there.
“He (Reid Nagle) came to me, and he said, ‘hey what do we do here.’ and I said, ‘hey, I could use a swimming pool,’ and then there was a swimming pool. ‘I could use a big barn here. How about a little barn for quarantines for Dubai here.’ We kind of had ideas, and he was really open and made it happen. As the farm’s grown, we’ve grown with it. I was probably like their first big client out there. I probably started with him with like 40 horses, and it grew to 130.”
The Right Stuff
When looking for a racing prospect, Scanlon’s philosophy has proven to be effective and successful. He looks for an athlete who possesses the correct physical attributes.
“We basically look for an athlete,” said Scanlon. “We look for a horse who looks athletic. A horse who stands on the leg very square, stands over the ground really square, on its hind, all four legs, I like a nice strong hind leg, can’t be out too far out on the hocks, but the biggest thing is, I always look for a big athletic walk, not a whole lot of extra action. I always like a really nice fluid walk in a horse. There are those horses that have that good space between their eyes, nice square head and have that little bit of something too, that’s hard to put your finger on.”
Realizing his Potential
Last year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic victory with Sierra Leone, culminated with the son of the 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, being named the 3-year-old male champion. The win was extremely satisfying, for the horse who had second place finishes in the Remsen (Gr. 2) as a juvenile, the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Gr. 1) and Jim Dandy (Gr. 2) at age 3 and placed third in the Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) and the Draftkings Travers (Gr.1) during his sophomore campaign. Sierra Leone did score impressive victories in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Gr. 1) and the Risen Star Stakes (Gr. 2).
“We were so pleased to finally see his victory (in the Breeders’ Cup Classic),” said Scanlon. “He was right there knocking on the door. I think everybody associated with him could see all the talent he had. He was a bit unlucky at times, maybe some of it could be attributed to his own doing a little immaturity. But you know that this horse has the talent. It’s coming, when he grows up and puts everything together, it was so nice to see him on the biggest stage and get everything justified. For us, for Chad’s (Brown) group, for the owners. When you know you have the horse, it’s just great to see it all come together.”
Those early lessons, the firm foundation that was laid by his father, have served Scanlon well, in developing a program that continues to produce stakes winners.
“I think with sports, and especially with my father, my father was old school, there were no days off,” said Scanlon. “This is what we do, he kind of made it clear. This is what our family does, we get up and go to work. That’s been instilled in me forever. We’re horse people, we work seven days a week. That’s the life that we’re going to choose. I couldn’t wait to get back to it, after I finished college. It’s a demanding life, but it’s very rewarding. I tell everybody, I was never meant to sit in a cubicle in an office and pick up the phone all day. For me, it’s being outside with these animals. It’s a true blessing.”
The way of life has its ups and downs, but consistency plays a large role in achieving optimal results, even when things are at their most challenging.
“It’s just been good. You need to be very disciplined when you’re doing this,” said Scanlon. “Some days aren’t good, but you have to keep coming back. The horses love to have routine, so you have to set up a good routine for your staff and the horses. Aidan O’Brien said, the hard thing is, it’s hard to do the simple things every day. That’s what you have to do. You have to do those things every day.”
