Neil D. Drysdale (born 11 December 1947, Haslemere, Surrey, England) is an American-based

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 ...

race horse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

trainer. Based in

Playa Del Rey Playa del Rey (Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside community in the Santa Monica Bay and the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It has a ZIP code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424. As of 2018, the community had a populat ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, he has won two

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 ...

races – the Belmont Stakes (G1) with A.P. Indy in 1992 and the Kentucky Derby (G1) with

Fusaichi Pegasus Fusaichi Pegasus (; foaled April 12, 1997) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2000 Kentucky Derby, and subsequently set a record at auction - selling for US$70M to Coolmore Stud. Background The colt was purchased as a y ...

in 2000. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2000.

Career

Born in Haslemere, Surrey, his father was a

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

who served with the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Drysdale studied at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

, and then taught English as a foreign language - but then switched his mind to horses. He moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to work with show horses, and then became involved with racing thoroughbreds, spending two years with John Hartigan at

Tartan Farms William L. McKnight (November 11, 1887 – March 4, 1978) was an American businessman and philanthropist who served his entire career in the 3M corporation, rising to chairman of the board from 1949 to 1966. He founded the McKnight Foundat ...

in Ocala, Florida. He then moved to a thoroughbred stable in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, then managed a stud farm in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Drysdale returned to the United States and worked as an assistant to Roger Laurin for two years, and then between 1970 and 1974 he was assistant to Charlie Whittingham in California. He says the most important things he learned from Whittingham were ''patience and planning''. He began working for Corbin Robertson's Saron Stable in 1974, notably winning eight races with

Bold 'n Determined {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Bold 'n Determined , image = , caption = , sire = Bold And Brave , grandsire = Bold Ruler , dam = Pidi , damsire = Determine , sex = Filly , foaled = 1977 , country = United States , colour = ...

in 1980 (a bicoastal Grade 1 winner between 1979 and 1981 and winner of 16 of 20 starts), including a triumph over eventual division champion Genuine Risk In 1983, Drysdale opened his racing office in

. His first major winner was Forceten, and he has since saddled a total of 31

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, ...

runners and has six winners to his credit, including 1992 winner A.P. Indy - a total exceeded only by D. Wayne Lukas and Claude 'Shug' McGaughey. A.P. Indy plus

Princess Rooney Princess Rooney (March 22, 1980 – October 7, 2008) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first winner of a Breeders' Cup race to be inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. Racing career Racing at age two, Princess R ...

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

and

Hollywood Wildcat {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Hollywood Wildcat , image = , caption = , sire = Kris S. , grandsire = Roberto , dam = Miss Wildcatter , damsire = Mr. Prospector , sex = Filly , foaled = 1990 , country = United States , colour = ...

all went from winning the Breeders' Cup to win the

Eclipse Awards The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

, with A.P. Indy voted the 1992 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Noted for his patience and instinctive ability to place horses where they belong, Drysdale also conditioned Hawksley Hill, Labeeb, French Deputy, and Roanoke. Beyond his Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Breeders'Cup, Drysdale has also won the Acorn Stakes, Apple Blossom, CCA Oaks, Hollywood Derby, Santa Anita Derby, and Molson Million Drysdale's owners now include

Sheikh Maktoum Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, مكتوم بن راشد آل مكتوم, Maktūm bin Rāshid Āl Maktūm; 15 August 1943 – 4 January 2006) was an Emirati politician who served as the vice president and prime minister of the Unite ...

and Peter VegsoHorse Racing and Breeding Information from The Blood-Horse
/ref> As horse racing has gone international, so has Drysdale, racing horses in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Inducted into Racing Hall of Fame in 2000, the year he won the Kentucky Derby with

, his first starter in the race.

2000 Kentucky Derby

Purchased for $4 million as a yearling by venture capitalist Fusao Sekiguchi,

is a colt who is known to be temperamental. Known to stop and just look around, the colt caused a delay at the starting gate at the

Wood Memorial The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memoria ...

by rearing to throw his exercise rider But on 6 May 2000, in 82-degree heat and before 153,204 cheering fans (the second largest Derby crowd in history),

became the first Kentucky Derby winner since

Spectacular Bid Spectacular Bid (February 17, 1976 – June 9, 2003) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and holds the world record for the fastest 1 1/4 miles on the dirt. He won 26 of his 30 r ...

in 1979 to win the Derby as the betting favourite, and the first winner to have raced only once as a two-year-old. The others were Leonatus (1883), Tim Tam (1958) and Lucky Debonair (1965). Jockey

Kent Desormeaux Kent Jason Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes ...

said he broke like a pony, after being trapped behind the group, but when an opening occurred, he came through strong on the rail in the stretch, taking the lead approaching the eighth pole and finishing 1½ lengths ahead of

Aptitude An aptitude is a component of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Outstanding aptitude can be considered "talent". Aptitude is inborn potential to perform certain kinds of activities, whether physical or mental, and ...

. Fusaichi Pegasus earned an extra $250,000 paid to any colt who wins the

Wood Memorial Stakes The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memorial ...

at Aqueduct and the Derby After the Kentucky Derby, many believed that Fusaichi Pegasus would win the

. However, he was defeated by

Red Bullet Red Bullet (foaled 13 April 1997 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse best known for winning the 2000 Preakness Stakes. Background Red Bullet is a chestnut horse bred and raced by automobile, auto parts magnate Frank ...

in the

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

CNNSI.com - 2000 Preakness Stakes - Derby winner tours Pimlico - Friday May 19, 2000 11:47 PM
/ref> and did not race in the third leg, the Belmont Stakes. He is currently standing stud at Ashford Stud in

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles () is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

References

External links

Neil Drysdale bio at the NTRA

Neil Drysdale profile at the National Horse Racing Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale, Neil 1947 births Living people People from Haslemere American racehorse trainers British racehorse trainers United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees