Helping & Learning the Family Stable

It’s common that families involved in Thoroughbred racing—whether it is ownership, training or breeding—pass that business on to their next generation. John Dutrow could be the next generation for his family.

The former Division 1 and high school standout wrestler who majored in communications and media studies has become more active around the Team D barn by helping with the daily tasks of caring for horses while learning about managing a stable that has led to the family’s success.

Dutrow believes his family’s achievements can be attributed to their horsemanship that started with his grandfather, Richard Dutrow Sr., and carried through his father, Anthony Dutrow.

Dutrow Sr. had a strong presence on the Maryland and New York circuit as he compiled 3,665 winners with horses such as Lite the Fuse, who started his first race at Saratoga with an impressive six-length victory under allowance conditions in 1994 before becoming a two-time Grade 1 Carter winner; and King’s Swan, a reformed claimer known as the “King of Aqueduct,” who won multiple graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Vosburgh.

Anthony Dutrow has won multiple Grade 1 races with horses such as Grace Hall (2011 Spinaway), Mo Town (2017 Hollywood Derby), Rightly So (2010 Ballerina), and Embellish the Lace (2015 Alabama). Besides winning 2010 Jim Dandy with A Little Warm, he also had three graded stakes winners in 2014 with Big Trouble (Sanford), I Spent It (Saratoga Special), and The Big Beast (H. Allen Jerkens, formally known as the King’s Bishop).

Over a 47-year career that started with back-to-back winners (His Bid and Friends Advice) on Dec. 15, 1978, Anthony Dutrow has over 2,000 winners from nearly 8,500 starters.

“They’re all horsemen; they have been doing it for so long,” John Dutrow said. “It’s not really about the money. It’s about doing the best for the horse. They take pride in the horse. We are all here for the horse.”

During his Drexel University years, Dutrow was uncertain about working for the family stable. If anything, he was interested in the business side of the Thoroughbred racing industry that included a three-year co-op program with the New York Racing Association, where he was an intern for the Communications Department and Special Events during the Saratoga Race Course meet starting in 2015.

After graduating from Drexel in 2018, Dutrow expanded his business, educational, and nutritional interests in the sport by starting as a veterinary technician and sales account manager for Dr. Steven Allday, co-developer of LubriSyn and one of the top equine veterinarians after diagnosing and treating several champions such as Cigar, Point Given, and Saint Liam.

Dutrow then became a senior account manager for Winners Equine and a sales representative for EnviroEquine and Pet that allowed him to educate and offer support to those who work with horses on nutrition and physical improvement.

“I got the experience on the front side and got to see how things worked,” Dutrow said. “I was teaching people how to stop horses from physical issues. It’s so simple. It’s just changing up their feed. It’s about a lot less sugar and a lot less fats. It’s like us as humans. When your diet gets better, you can get better.”

By working with other horsemen and others who handle horses, Dutrow eventually started helping with the grooming and care of the other horses, as well as other tasks, around the family barn.

However, the turning point for Dutrow didn’t occur until the winter when his father and his mother, Kim Dutrow, brought him to Palm Beach Downs, where the horses trained for the Gulfstream Park meet.

For the meet, John Dutrow helped bring six horses to track in which two of them won — Cdakhat (IRE) and Big Beautiful – while Vino Rouge and Parade Ring finished on the board. With those finishes, Dutrow was hooked.

“I was always kind of one-foot-in-one-foot out. It’s almost impossible to do that in this game,” he said. “They gave me more hands-on [experience] to run every horse down there at Gulfstream to build my confidence. It’s so hard to get into that Winner’s Circle. Once you win, that’s the best feeling. I got the bug. I caught it. This was fun.”

That fun and confidence brought Dutrow and his mother with 12 horses to their Saratoga base once the Oklahoma Training Track opened on Apr. 19 this year.

As soon as they were set up with their barn, which was once occupied by Marjorie Cordero (the late wife of Hall of Fame jockey and Saratoga great Angel Cordero Jr.), Dutrow and his mother started preparing for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and July 4th Racing Festival.

The first week of June went well for Team D. Along with More for Sure graduating from the maiden ranks, Big Beautiful just got caught in the final strides in an allowance race. On top of that, Dutrow was helping other trainers that include Dominic Schettino with Bernietakescharge in the Critical Eye Stakes, and Doug O’Neill with Raging Torrent in the Metropolitan Handicap.

“We helped everybody,” John Dutrow said. “I was running them back and forth. Of the last 12 horses that I helped run, I think nine of them went to the receiving barn (a supervised area). That was a fun time when everything goes well because you work so hard for these moments.”

Team D carried that momentum into the near-full first week of July with Vino Rouge getting beat by just a head in an allowance race and Mermaid making a late run to finish second in her debut.

Just like taking college classes, learning how to take down a wrestler, or gaining experience through an internship, John Dutrow knows these racing moments cannot happen without knowledge and support from the barn, especially from his parents. 

“It’s amazing what I have learned,” he said. “I’ve learned that support is the biggest thing. If you have the support, it’s so hard to fail. As long as somebody is always there if you are struggling, there is really no reason to fail.”

Regardless of the knowledge he has gained from his father, John Dutrow has learned a life-long lesson about this sport.

“This game always keeps you guessing,” he said. “Whenever you think you know something, you don’t.”