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Supporter Feature: Kelsey Danner
Supporter Feature: Kelsey Danner
By: Jay Privman
As someone who grew up in racing and got her first experience riding horses via retired Thoroughbreds, trainer Kelsey Danner knows first-hand what former racehorses can do, so she’s devoted to paying it forward now by making sure her ex-runners go on to worthwhile second careers.
Most notable among them is the filly Phlox, who raced just three times, never won, and earned a little more than $5,000. But while she never reached her potential as a racehorse, Phlox is off to a sensational start in her second act, having finished first last fall in the polo division of the Retired Racehorse Project.
“Thoroughbred retirement is one of the most-important issues in our industry,” Danner said recently from Saratoga, where she sent out her current stable star, the turf sprinter Danse Macabre, to a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Caress Stakes, which brought the filly’s career earnings to nearly $1 million.
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance helps with the transition of racehorses going on to second careers, and Danner is proud of being associated with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
“I’ve had several horses who were retired and are now doing things like being trail horses, or hunter-jumpers,” Danner said. “They can do so much. Finding a good home for them, not just a soft landing, is important. It makes you feel good as a human.”
Knowing horses go to places accredited by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is critical to Danner.
“Someone is checking, auditing. It’s important,” she said.
Both Phlox and Danse Macabre are fillies who were foals of 2020. Their careers could not have unfolded more differently, and Danner gains satisfaction knowing both are living their best lives.
For horses like Phlox, and other retirees, “it’s nice to see them go on and be successful,” Danner said.
“It’s important they have a loving home,” she said.
Danner – the daughter of Kelly Danner, the popular, respected, long-time manager of racing operations at Churchill Downs — is an accomplished horsewoman herself. She comes from a long line of trainers, including her father, Mark, and she rode hunter-jumpers and in dressage as a youth with horses who were off the track.
“Retired racehorses paid off for me,” she said.
Danner gravitated to the track, and apprenticed under several trainers, including Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas and Carl Nafzger, before going out on her own at the end of 2017.
Her rise has been steady. Every year Danner has outperformed her previous year. In 2023, Danner’s runners earned a career-best $2.1 million. She currently trains approximately 65 runners, based out of Turfway. In a typical week this summer, it’s not unusual for her to have runners at Belterra, Colonial, Ellis, Horseshoe Indianapolis, Presque Isle, and Saratoga.
Sounds like someone who’s always looking for exactly the right spot for her racehorses. Kind of how she treats her retirees, too.
As someone who grew up in racing and got her first experience riding horses via retired Thoroughbreds, trainer Kelsey Danner knows first-hand what former racehorses can do, so she’s devoted to paying it forward now by making sure her ex-runners go on to worthwhile second careers.
Most notable among them is the filly Phlox, who raced just three times, never won, and earned a little more than $5,000. But while she never reached her potential as a racehorse, Phlox is off to a sensational start in her second act, having finished first last fall in the polo division of the Retired Racehorse Project.
“Thoroughbred retirement is one of the most-important issues in our industry,” Danner said recently from Saratoga, where she sent out her current stable star, the turf sprinter Danse Macabre, to a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Caress Stakes, which brought the filly’s career earnings to nearly $1 million.
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance helps with the transition of racehorses going on to second careers, and Danner is proud of being associated with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
“I’ve had several horses who were retired and are now doing things like being trail horses, or hunter-jumpers,” Danner said. “They can do so much. Finding a good home for them, not just a soft landing, is important. It makes you feel good as a human.”
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