Some 36 years ago, while serving as the Executive Vice President of both the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association, and somewhere around 1990 or so, I jotted down an idea that I dreamed one day may actually come true.

Don’t get me wrong, here.

I’m not suggesting it was a moment of pure Einstein, or even a brainstorm that would ever produce hail on a sunny day. But I thought it was a good idea and one worth saving for further discussions with some of my friends in the industry, albeit they have always been few and far between.

But then again, it is like my great friend, Mike Ziegler, who serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Churchill Downs Racetrack, often tells me:

“Keep trying Gene, one of these days you will actually come up with a good one.”

We both laugh. Even though I still consider them all to be “good ones.” Guess I am a little biased.

And, I really thought this one was worth taking a run at. At that time. Now, again, at this time.

Yet…

Truth be known, and as we all know, the truth is hard to come by, my light bulb moment — or one of them, at the time, was probably due to the fact that I was hiding out in some remote bath room, whom some like to call “libraries,” and trying to escape another dumpster fire that the industry had created and didn’t know how to put out with gasoline.

I was probably trying to avoid Tom Meeker, the President of Churchill Downs at the time, and the bane (thanks to my college newspaper editor, Theresa Klisz, for the correction on spelling of “bane”) of my existence, then.

Or, perhaps, it was Sam T. Ramer, a grossly overweight and obnoxious horse trainer.

The former was a brilliant ex-Marine with a penchant for pissing off everyone in sight, and, believe it or not, some who were not anywhere in the vicinity.

The latter was simply a jerk, who thought he had a license to piss on people whom he thought were beneath him. Truth was, he barely held onto a license to train horses and a local bar stool that he would call home for the day.

But those are stories for another day. And, another time. Less we regress even farther from the story of the day.

Way back in 1990, while alone with a pencil in hand and a thought in mind, I began to jot down what I thought could be a neat program. It went something like this:

I wanted to do one day of racing — towards the end of the calendar year, mind you — where we would celebrate the best Thoroughbreds in the world. Simply put, Kentucky-breds.

I wanted to do one day of racing — at the greatest racing venue in the free world, mind you, at Churchill Downs — where we could all celebrate the best Thoroughbred Stallions in the world, too. We all know, of course, those are standing right here in our midst and on our bluest of grass.

I wanted to do one day of racing — just one, mind you — where we could celebrate the breeders all the way to the current owners with new incentives and bonus purses that would encourage, if not tush push, them all to build and race new horses in the future.

And, I wanted to do one day of racing — only one, mind you — where we could all come together and have a big party to toast, cheer, smile and celebrate the best, most fair sport in the entire world’s existence, where a simple person with a big dream could compete straight up against a rich person with a big pocketbook.

So, with my mind racing as fast as Secretariat on Belmont Stakes day, I worked. And, I wrote. And, I jotted. And, I scribbled and erased. And, I did it all over again. And, again. And, again.

Until one day, I picked up the phone and called my good friend and my emotional support system — Mr. Seth Hancock, the President at Claiborne Farm. I asked if I could come visit and chat. And, thank God Almighty, Seth Hancock never, ever, ever turned me down. He knew already had to successfully deal with pressure and he knew already that I desperately needed a friend. We scheduled the meeting. My industry “doctor” and “Resident Therapist” was in.

When that visit day arrived, I hurried my way to Paris, KY and to that beautiful farm along the crisp creek. I parked my car; jogged to the office; bolted in the door; pulled up a chair and spent a few moments with Gus Koch, who was the Stallion Director for Claiborne Farm at the time, and the son of Charles Koch, a friend whom I had met in the Keeneland press box and got to know and love so dearly. Gus was much like his father, and, Seth, too. Quiet. Reserved. Dedicated to getting things right. The first time. A true professional who knew what he knew and never tried to pretend to know things he didn’t.

It wasn’t long before Seth summoned me. And, like a shot I took off. Seth’s time was precious. And, I was not about to waste it, or my chance.

I got into Seth’s office and he asked me to close the door behind me, and he got right to the point. “What’s up,” he asked, probably knowing already he really didn’t want to know the answer to that hypothetical question.

But I plunged right ahead.

“I have this idea,” I started, and I didn’t pause long enough for him to interrupt. I was out of the gate like a 2-year-old first time starter. Hell bent on running as fast as I could for as long as I could.

I told Seth I wanted to create this day at Churchill Downs.

I wanted to celebrate Kentucky-breds and Kentucky stallions.

I wanted to ask each of the Kentucky stallion farms to “register” their studs and that we would put up 100% of that registration money into an “account” for the farms to “compete for,” by awarding points to the farm that stood the stallion who had sired the winners of each race. All of it. That’s 100% of it. All of it. Awards to the farms who stood the stallions that had sired winners on that day.

I wanted to make sure that the breeders would get some extra money from the KTDF, the only breeders’ awards program at that time.

And, I wanted to ensure that the owners would get a free season worth a minimum of $15,000 to breed to an “approved mare” if their horse was by a stallion that was registered for the day.

At the end of the day, the breeders’ would get more money to breed the next mare. A good thing, right?

At the end of the day, the owners would get a free season to breed a mare. A good thing, right?

At the end of the day, the stallion farms would have a race-day “competition” where they could all come to the track at the same time; their employees could all wear their farm “colors;” we could create cheering sections in the grand stands, as if we were at a fall football game; and we could all have a good time celebrating the sport. They could win some money. More importantly, they could win some silly bragging rights.

At the end of the day, the race track would have more fans than usual. Who could eat, drink and be merry — more than usual. Who could jump, cheer, dance and play — like kids at a birthday party.

We all could win.

That’s a good thing, right?

I thought so. I thought it was a good thought. I thought it was a good idea.

And, to my shock and surprise, Seth finally looked at me. Straight in the eye, like he always did. And, he smiled. Some how, he liked the idea, too.

I almost fell out of my seat.

Seth pulled over the phone on his desk. (The old rotary type, mind you.) He called Warner Jones, the Chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs and a family friend. Right then and there. He recanted my story to Mr. Jones, whom I came to respect and love very much. And, Mr. Jones agreed to see me. We set a date and time.

That was some 36 years ago. Somewhere around 1990 or so, if memory serves and it faults from time to time now. Thirty-six years. Even in dog years, that’s a long time.

Oh, there have been some ups, alright.

We got so close one time that I was able to convince dear friend and the Honorable Governor Brereton C. Jones, and his friends on the Kentucky Racing Commission — Chairman Wayne Lyster, Vice Chairman John T.L. Jones, Jr, and Bruce Hundley — to grant Churchill Downs the 4th of July so that the track could host the celebration.

We even had conversations with the manager of Jimmy Buffet to play a concert in the infield on that day, too.

But, for some reasons, we never was able to pull the day off.

Never. Ever. Heartbreaking really. At least, to me, it was.

Over those past 36 years, I have revisited my old idea from time to time. I would recant the stories and the memories with my great friend and newest emotional support system — Rob Murphy, Jr. And, we would amend and correct. Add and delete. Polish and scuff. Polish and scuff. Polish the idea over and over. Scuff the debris to the side.

But we never got another chance to pitch again, even though Rob spent 10 years in the major leagues getting out hitters at a prolific rate and he knew pitching better than anybody I ever knew or know, even to this day.

Over the past 36 years, that idea and the paper it was written on just filled an old, dusty shoebox tucked deep in a recess in my closest and a dream memory in my shallow mind.

Until…

Until, I asked Rob if he and his beautiful wife, Michele, the former Communications Director at old Calder Racecourse in Miami, would help me dust all of it off again and give it one more old-timers game try. And, both Rob and Michele — much like Seth in the old days — have never, ever, ever turned me down. Never. Ever. Even though I am sure their respective conscience told them to run the other way like Seattle Slew on Derby Day. (You see, Seattle Slew is Rob’s favorite horse of all time.)

Until, Michele and Rob cleaned up my thoughts and made them sparkle like brand new all over again, and presented them so formally and clean-thinkingly in a new PowerPoint display that was supported by a deep-dive research platform that only Rob Murphy and his computer mind can do. They could make a 1800s penny shine like copper again.

Until, we met with Mike Ziegler and his team at Churchill Downs, one afternoon this past summer and they zoomed their presentation at light speed to the authorities to gaggle.

Until, Mike Ziegler finally found a “McLean Idea” that he could support and truly believe was a “good one.”

Until, Churchill Downs and its’ team of officials – led by my friend and counselor, Mike Ziegler – collectively said “let’s go.”

I can’t say the last few months have been easy ones. Oh, I could, but it would not be truthful. There have been many days and nights when I doubted. And, to be honest, I don’t think I will ever truly believe until I see it come to fruition.

But thanks to incredible work and perseverance by the Murphys, the Zieglers, and the emergence of superhero Chanucy Morris – the newest, and, in my humble opinion, the best Executive Director in the history of the KTA-KTOB, bar none – and my buddy-for-life, Kentucky House of Representatives Speaker David Osborne, the little idea that could not die has huffed and puffed all the way to this week.

Thanksgiving Week.

A week to give thanks.

A week for me to hit my knees and give incredible thanks to the likes of Mike Ziegler; Chauncey Morris; Speaker Osborne; and my great friends Rob & Michele Murphy.

On Saturday, we will be on hand at Churchill Downs – with Chauncey, Mike, maybe Speaker Osborne, and, hopefully, a host of other industry dignitaries, to give out an astonishing $350,000 to breeders’ of every horse that has been entered to run on the “Stars of Tomorrow II” racing program – a day that is dedicated to all 2YO racing that day.

No other state in the country can do that. None. But due to the overwhelming success of Historical Horse Racing and the legislation proposed and passed by the Speaker and Rep. Matt Koch (there’s that name again, right? Yep, the son of the late Gus and grandson of the late Charles) to dedicated some of those proceeds to fund a new breeders’ incentive program in Kentucky, we now have the opportunity to give out a substantial sum and help those that begin the process of racing horses – the breeders.

Kentucky has been at the forefront of developing and funding “After Care” programs to assist horses once that have finished their racing careers.

Now, Kentucky is on the cusp of developing the world’s best “Before Care” program to help all breeders – from the tiny to the tremendous – keep this game going and growing by helping fund possible stud fees and growing pains until their crops are ready to go to the market.

Amazing grace. To be a tiny part of that project is simply amazing. Amazing.

Thanks. Giving.

I still hold out hope that much is still to be done to make this program even bigger and better in 2026 and years to come.

While my hopes and dreams for the winning owners on this day to also win a free stallion season worth a minimum of $15,000 will not come to completion this Saturday…

And, while my idea of having a true “Sire Power” competition between the famous Kentucky stallion operations won’t be ready to unfold and unveil this week either…

I am eternally optimistic (can’t you tell; I think 36 years qualifies) that some version of both of those components will be added in the future years to come and that all three major parts of our industry — the breeders; the owners; and the stallion farm gurus — can all gather at the Thanksgiving table together. And, celebrate.

Chauncey has promised that a “Committee” will be formed as soon as this year’s event is completed and work, discussions, negotiations will begin immediately on how best to incorporate the “other components” in future events. Some how. Some way.

Mike Ziegs — as I fondly call him — has promised that Churchill Downs’ legal team and other divisions will look at how they can write the races to incorporate incentives for owners, too.

Representatives of several key, major Kentucky Stallion Farms have already pledged to work together with their competitors to build a possible way; a possible day of great racing and great competition for all.

I hope that it happens. I really do.

I believe it will happen. I truly believe. I really do.

But while 36 years have taught me to be patient, it has also taught me to be persistent.

Persistent in my hopes. Persistent in my dreams. Persistent in my belief.

Just this week, a young man who is now in charge of running his family farm and stallion operation wrote me a very nice note. It read:

“If you believe in something you HAVE to give it your shot. (I’ll be) interested to see how the stallion concept comes together, but I think you’ve inspired and authored a really important day for the KY breeders. THANK YOU!!”

As I finished reading that note, I felt the tears warming my face.

And, I said grace. Amazing grace. On my Thanksgiving Week.