Lindsay Schultz (Coady Photography)
By Robert Yates – Oaklawn Barn Notes
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.— In a social media post late last month, Shortleaf Stable announced, “a shakeup in our stable brings forth an old face and a new one.”
The old face is Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 87, who has reunited with Shortleaf owner John Ed Anthony after they teamed for 10 victories at Oaklawn in 2008-2009. The new face is trainer Lindsay Schultz, 34, who now has three horses for Anthony.
“It’s really exciting for me,” Schultz said Friday morning. “I mean, that’s the first owner I have that’s trying to breed a Derby horse.”
Shortleaf horses now with Schultz at Oaklawn are The Heights, a 3-year-old son of champion Nyquist and a half-brother to 2021 Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River; Westover, a 3-year-old Arkansas-bred son of Double Irish; and Coromandel, a 3-year-old Arkansas-bred daughter of Tekton. All three Shortleaf homebreds have started at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting. The Heights and Westover had previously been with two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Coromandel had previously been with trainer John Ortiz.
“That’s pretty cool,” Schultz said of training for Anthony.
Schultz was an assistant under Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey before striking out on her own in the fall of 2021. Although McGaughey and his son, Reeve, have trained for Anthony in the past, Schultz said she had no personal connection to the Arkansas lumberman and winningest owner in Oaklawn history. Anthony has campaigned three Eclipse Award winners, including homebred Vanlandingham (1985 champion older male) with Shug McGaughey. Schultz said John Gasper, Anthony’s racing manager, helped steer the prominent breeder/owner to her.
“I got to know John Gasper a little bit this fall when I was in Kentucky,” Schultz said. “I think John Ed’s son (Ed) had heard of me as well, but I went out to meet Mr. Anthony at the farm a couple of weeks ago.”
Schultz already has 16 career victories as a trainer. Seven have come at Oaklawn, including her first career winner, Capture the Glory, Jan. 8, 2022, for major client Ten Strike Racing.
Schultz has a 3-1-1 mark from 10 starts this season at Oaklawn. Two of the victories have been with the Ten Strike-owned Tiger Moon, whose major 2022-2023 Oaklawn objective is the 1 ¾-mile Trail’s End starter-allowance marathon, traditionally the final race of the meeting. Ten Strike won the last two runnings of the Trail’s End, worth $125,000 last year, with the now-retired Original Intent. The gelding was trained by Bentley Combs.
“Thankfully, we have Tiger Moon,” Schultz said. “He’s the superstar. Long way to go (before the Trail’s End).”
Schultz said she has 15 horses at Oaklawn. Roughly a half-dozen are for Ten Strike, which entered Saturday as Oaklawn’s leading owner this season with eight victories from just 13 starts.
Lukas now trains Caddo River, who was previously with Cox. Under Cox’s care, Caddo River won the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds in 2021 at Oaklawn before finishing second in its $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). Shortleaf transferred its homebred from Cox to Lukas following a runner-up finish in a Jan. 21 allowance race at Oaklawn, which marked Caddo River’s 5-year-old debut.
Lukas said he’s pointing Caddo River to the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 18. Anthony won the Razorback last year with the Cox-trained Plainsman.
Caddo River, who is by Hard Spun, has a 5-5-1 record from 16-lifetime starts and earnings of $677,800. Anthony entered Saturday with 281 career Oaklawn victories. Shortleaf still has horses with Cox and Ortiz.
