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| Staff Writer |
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Not many can say that following in their father’s footsteps could lead to training the winner of one of the world’s most prestigious races like Michael Stidham can.
Born in New Jersey into a family that is embedded in horse racing his father, George, was a jockey riding along the East Coast as well as a business manager and agent to Bill Hartack.
“So I got into horse racing because my father was a jockey. And so, when I was born he was riding on the East Coast of the United States.
“My mother was from New Jersey. So that's where I was born but then I grew up in Miami.
“It had beautiful weather in Miami and was a big change from New Jersey, warm weather by the water. I had a great childhood; my childhood home was only three miles from the Hialeah racetrack, back in the 70s.
“It was a highly regarded racetrack at the time, one of the premier tracks where the winter racing was the best in the country at that time. So it was a great childhood to be able to grow up around a racetrack where the top horses were running trained by the top trainers, and where the jockeys were good friends with my father.
“My father worked with United States’ premier jockey, Bill Hartack, who won five Kentucky Derbys and I grew up around him.”
Relationships and connections like this set Stidham on a path to pursue his dreams.
His father set up his own training operation in the seventies and his son could be found around the stables every spare minute outside of his schooling.
The Dream Realised
Stidham has gone on to surpass his father’s achievements in the sport over a nearly four-decade-long career as one of North America’s most successful and respected horse trainers.
“Those kinds of things were the things that really got me interested in the horse racing industry. And being a trainer was something that I always dreamed about doing.
“My father warned me that it was very difficult and that only maybe the top ten percent of the trainers were the ones that became the elite type trainers.
“He said if you fall into the lower category it's tough to make a living. He said that it was a very tough business and he really warned me to be careful getting into the industry. “
Stidham would spend a couple of years at college in preparation to become a veterinarian. But the lure of the track continued to call and eventually he left college to assist his father at his barn at Gulfstream park in South Florida.
Then, at the tender age of twenty-one and armed with a small string of cast-offs from his father, Stidham took out his own trainer’s license and headed to the Gulf Coast.
Success came quickly having his first winner in 1979, while only a year later, he sent out his first Stakes winner in Me Good Man in the Independence Stakes at Louisiana Downs in 1980.
That same year Stidham headed west to California to train for Elmendorf Farm which was owned by Max Gluck. He then two years in California before being head-hunted by the LaCroix family’s Meadowbrook Farm to work as their private trainer, back in Florida.
“Things went really well for a few years but then I saw the part that my dad was talking about where I lost some horses, I lost some clients and things weren't going well. It was at that point I said to myself ‘This is what my dad was talking about, I'm in trouble and I have to do something to reinvent myself.”
The Big Move
This decision led to a change of scenery as Stidham moved from California to the Midwest.
“That was New Orleans, Kentucky and Chicago, which was Arlington Park at the time. It got things going and I was able to slowly start getting things moving again. I started winning at a good percentage and people started sending me better horses and it evolved into eventually getting to train for Godolphin.”
Being able to train for the international racing powerhouse flying the royal blue flag was an opportunity that came over time but one that Stidham will always cherish.
“That was something that happened over a long period of time because one of the most important people in my career was a man named John Adger. He managed horses for Bob and Janice McNair who owned Stonerside Stable. because of John whom I knew from my early days’ training in Texas, started sending me horses for the McNairs.
“Then eventually Sheikh Mohammed bought Stonerside out and because I was a trainer there already, Godolphin got me involved.
“John Adger stayed involved with Godolphin advising them with the new Stonerside horses and he kept putting my name in there hopefully to allow me to continue training for Godolphin.
“So, I got lucky. I won a Grade Two Stakes race on Kentucky Derby Day with a filly named Tizaqueena. From there I eventually got that phone call from Dan Pride and Jimmy Bell asking if I could take more horses for Godolphin.
“It was a dream come true. It is something that any trainer would want to happen. Such an amazing opportunity to work for a great operation that always puts the horses first and allows the trainers to do their job.
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After Godolphin Happened
In 2020 he trained Mystic Guide to a Group Two The Jim Dandy Stakes before campaigning in the UAE taking out the Group One Dubai World Cup, taking victories across continents in the journey.
“The thoughts of winning that race brighten my day always.
“I mean it was definitely a different experience with very few people there due to the COVID lockdown. And you know, everything the way it played out. I was a little worried about if things were going to be able to continue, but it went off without a hitch. So, it went well.”
Throughout his career, he had many highlights.
“Well, certainly all my Grade One wins have had special meaning for me. I’ve had five of them now and they have been very special moments for me.
“But winning the training title at the Fair Grounds Racetrack (New Orleans, Louisiana) was huge. I have been training there for 30 years of training it just meant so much not only to myself but to my staff as well.
“A lot of those people have been with me for 25-30 years. So, it was a big thing for us to be able to win at home and win that title.”
Stidham stable now houses a string of 70 horses that he races around the nation from his two major bases at Fair Grounds during the winter and Fair Hill Training Centre in Maryland in the summer.
Closing The Book On Pegasus
One of his current stars is Proxy a 5YO son of Tapit who has been showing what he can do on the track.
Last year he ran second in the Group Two New Orleans Classic before taking the spoils in the Group One Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs. His last start was in the Group One Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, seeing him finish fifth. A race that Stidham is upfront about.
“He never really got a good chance coming into that race. The Pegasus is run on a speed-biased race track where he was shuffled back from all the kickback from the one post-position and then only got to really run the last three-sixteenths of a mile when he got clear. So, we just drew a line through that.
“He was the only horse that was really making up any good ground in the end.”
When the mention of a potential tilt at a Dubai campaign for Proxy is made Stidham becomes excited about what may be.
“I would love that! That would be wonderful!
“Actually, the mile and a quarter of the World Cup would be very beneficial to Proxy.”
The plans for Proxy going forward are fluid but the different options are open for Stidham as he said.
“There is probably no necessity for a prep race. More than likely if we don't come to Dubai we would be looking at places like possibly the Santa Anita Handicap or the New Orleans Classic that runs here where we're stabled at the Fair Grounds.
“So those are alternative races that we would potentially use instead of the World Cup. We are in constant discussion with Michael Banahan and Dan Pride. Right now those are the races that are under consideration.”
Travelling To Dubai
To travel Proxy dependant on the races targeted he reflected on that of his Dubai World Cup winner, Mystic Guide.
“With Mystic Guide we came to Dubai two weeks ahead of time. So we will probably look at similar arrangements where we could get an easy work into him (Proxy) as we did with Mystic Guide going into the race. A lot of it will have to do with how the Saudi Cup goes.”
Now having trained for the powerhouse Godolphin for eight years and having a Dubai World Cup to his name he admits the appeal of returning to conquering another Dubai World Cup is more than tempting.
The Allure Of Iconic Races
As a proud American, he is excited to take out the nation’s greatest and most prestigious races.
“I would love to hopefully have a chance to run a horse in the Kentucky Derby for Godolphin one day and a Breeders Cup race.”