Dale L. Romans (born August 14, 1966 in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
) is an American
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
racehorse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
, best known for winning the
2011 Preakness Stakes
The 2011 Preakness Stakes was the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes and was won by Shackleford. The race took place on May 21, 2011, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was EDT ( UTC). The race ...
with
Shackleford
Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield southwest of London and southwest of Guildford. Shackleford includes the localities of ...
and the
Breeders' Cup Turf with
Little Mike
Little Mike (foaled May 24, 2007 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf.
Background
Little Mike is a Bay (horse), bay gelding bred by Carlo Vaccarezza, who immigrated to the United S ...
. He also upset
American Pharoah
American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ho ...
in the 2015
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...
with
Keen Ice. He won the 2012
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer The Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor for trainers. Created in 1971, it is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually.
Its Canadian counterpart is the Sovereign Award for Outstandin ...
.
Background and early career
Dale Romans is the son of trainer Jerry Romans and grew up around horses at
Churchill Downs in Louisville. He graduated from Butler High School in 1984 despite having
dyslexia.
Romans worked for his father from a young age. He once said, "I had a way with the horses. I could walk the worst horse in the country when I was 10 years old. My parents were divorced, and if my father had a bad horse he couldn't get on the van he'd come and get me at home to load the horse. I don't know what it was about horses, but they saved me as a child. The guys who worked for my dad took me in and I always felt at home here. I didn't have to worry about reading and writing. I could communicate with the horses. Whatever primal instinct we have with horses, we're connected to them."
At age eighteen, Romans embarked on a career as a trainer, getting his first winner on February 15, 1987 at
Turfway Park
Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), ...
with Miss Mindy, who he had purchased for $1,500.
His career was slow to take off. He won only four races in each of 1987 and 1989, and only 21 races in each of 1988 and 1990.
It was not until 1991 that he won his first stakes race at Turfway Park with Morning Punch, and not until 1996 that he won his first
graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is the ...
at Aqueduct with Victor Avenue.
Romans has been in a long-term relationship with Tammy Fox since the early 1990s.
[ Fox is an exercise rider for the Romans stable, and was formerly a jockey. She was the first woman jockey to ride in the ]Blue Grass Stakes
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...
, finishing fourth in 1991. She retired from racing in 2005 after a career that included 236 wins. The couple live in Louisville and have two children, Bailey and Jake.
Jerry Romans once trained from Barn 4 at Churchill Downs, which is now one of two barns used by his son. Romans said, "We have a great team from top to bottom. We have hotwalkers that have been with us for over 10 years. My assistants have been together since we were 19 and 20 working for my father. And Tammy is a huge part of the stable. She breezes all the horses, and there is nobody that gives a better line on a horse than she does."
Career
Romans' career slowly grew, with 2004 marking his breakout year when he jumped to the #8 ranked trainer by earnings in North America. He achieved his first grade I victory with Roses in May
Roses In May (foaled February 9, 2000) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won 8 of his 13 races, including the 2005 Dubai World Cup, and earned $5,490,187.
Background
Roses In May, a black horse with a white star and snip, was bred by Marg ...
in the 2004 Whitney Handicap
The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1, ...
, and followed up with victories by Kitten's Joy
Kitten's Joy (May 8, 2001 – July 15, 2022) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who was a multiple Graded stakes race, graded stakes winner and the American Champion Turf Horse of 2004. Since retiring to stud, he became one of the leading sire in North ...
in the 2004 Secretariat Stakes and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Handicap
The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for three years old and older over a distance of miles on the turf track scheduled annually in late September or early October at Belmont Park in Elm ...
. Kitten's Joy also ran second to Better Talk Now
Better Talk Now (February 25, 1999 – June 27, 2017) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004. His racing career stretched over nine seasons, during which he won 14 times, five of them Grade ...
in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf and was voted the Eclipse Award for American Champion Male Turf Horse
The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor.
The award originated in 1953 when the '' Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) named Iceberg II their champion. The Thoroughbred Racing Association (TRA) added the ca ...
.
In 2005, Roses in May
Roses In May (foaled February 9, 2000) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won 8 of his 13 races, including the 2005 Dubai World Cup, and earned $5,490,187.
Background
Roses In May, a black horse with a white star and snip, was bred by Marg ...
provided Romans with the biggest payday of his career to date when he won the $6 million Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wh ...
. Unfortunately, Roses In May was then diagnosed with a tendon injury and was retired.
In 2006, Romans earned his 1,000th career victory on June 11 with Haiaccept at Churchill Downs. Later that year though, he parted ways with owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Kenneth L. "Ken" Ramsey (born 1935) and Sarah Kathern "Kitten" Ramsey (February 5, 1939 – May 29, 2022) are horse breeders and owners of Thoroughbred race horses. They have multiple graded stakes winners, three Breeders' Cup winners, and the R ...
, for whom he had trained both Roses in May and Kitten's Joy. It would take several years for Romans' stable to recover.
Romans collected his first Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...
win in 2009 when Tapitsfly won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. In 2010, the Romans-trained Paddy O'Prado
Paddy O'Prado (February 15, 2007 – October 22, 2018) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, he finished third in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. His regular jockey was Kent Desormeaux.
Racing career
Paddy O'Prado ...
finished third in the Kentucky Derby, while First Dude First Dude may refer to:
* First Dude (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
* First Gentleman
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarch ...
finished second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont.
The next year, Shackleford
Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield southwest of London and southwest of Guildford. Shackleford includes the localities of ...
gained Romans his first Classic win in the 2011 Preakness Stakes
The 2011 Preakness Stakes was the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes and was won by Shackleford. The race took place on May 21, 2011, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was EDT ( UTC). The race ...
after finishing fourth in the Derby. Romans said, "It shows that anybody that gets started in the horse business can do this because, Lord knows, 25 years ago nobody thought I'd sit up here and talk about (winning) a classic race." Shackleford finished second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, while Court Vision won the Breeders' Cup Turf. Romans finished 2011 ranked #8 in North America by earnings.
In 2012, Romans had another outstanding year, winning three Grade 1 races with Little Mike
Little Mike (foaled May 24, 2007 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf.
Background
Little Mike is a Bay (horse), bay gelding bred by Carlo Vaccarezza, who immigrated to the United S ...
alone – the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, Arlington Million
The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of ...
, and Breeders' Cup Turf. That year, Romans also trained Dullahan
The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head ...
to victories in the Blue Grass Stakes
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...
and The Pacific Classic
The Pacific Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one quarter miles on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The ev ...
, plus a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, Shackleford won the Metropolitan Handicap
The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 fu ...
and Clark Handicap
The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. C ...
, while Tapitsfly earned Grade I victories in the Just A Game and First Lady Stakes. Romans finished the year ranked #4 in North American trainer's earnings and also earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer and the Big Sport of Turfdom Award.
Romans is also the trainer of Keen Ice, notable for his August 2015 win over Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Tri ...
-winner American Pharoah
American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ho ...
in the Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...
. Romans confidently predicted the upset, with Keen Ice winning at 16–1 odds. "That was a special day," Romans said. "What was so reassuring and made me feel so good was that they cheered us all the way back. It was very sporting of them to appreciate a big effort from a horse, whether it's American Pharoah or not. I never expected that."
References
Dale Romans at the NTRA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romans, Dale L.
1966 births
Living people
American horse trainers
Horse trainers from Louisville, Kentucky
Butler High School alumni