Veteran trainer gets thoroughbred horses started on right path before they begin racing
Lynn Ashby is often the first trainer to work with a young thoroughbred horse, months before its racing career begins.
The 74-year-old operates Marlyn Meadow in Middletown, a 500-acre farm with two training tracks where many trainers send newly purchased yearlings as part of the Delaware Certified Thoroughbred Program.
Weanlings or yearlings that start a residency at a DCTP-certified farm before Dec. 31 of their yearling year and stay for at least 90 consecutive days are eligible for purse bonuses when they race at Delaware Park. Certifying farms also receive payouts for top-three finishes.
The program was designed to encourage thoroughbred farms to operate in Delaware, which now has more than 80 DCTP-certified farms spread over 4,200 acres. More than $20 million in DCTP bonuses have been paid to horse owners and certifiers since 2003.
Marlyn Meadow is among the largest DCTP farms, as Ashby has 12 employees and works with up to 80 young horses during the winter months, before they go to other trainers to prepare for racing in the spring.
In addition to her Middletown farm, Ashby has 12 horses stabled at Delaware Park, where we followed along on June 26 as she saddled In the Dance in the seventh race.
The 4-year-old gelding loped along near the back of the pack and finished a disappointing seventh among nine horses. It was all part of another long day for Ashby, who had three winners in 18 starts and $74,625 in purse earnings at Delaware Park through June 29.
Afterward, she was happy to provide some insight on her occupation. The order of questions has been changed, and some answers have been edited for clarity.
Question: Horse trainers are known to be early risers. What are your working hours?
Answer: I don’t get out of bed these days until like a quarter to 5. But I’m awake by 3:30, 4 o’clock. … I’m asleep by 6:30. Sometimes, I might stay up all the way to 9 o’clock if I’m doing something. … I fall asleep in my chair.
What is your role in training young horses on your farm in Middletown?
We’re kind of all-service. … I wean them, and as yearlings we start them under tack to learn to race as 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds.
My main thing is good feed. We want these babies to be really strong. We raise them outside, where they’re moving all the time. They do have to be taught to come inside and spend hours because when they do move to the racetrack, they’re in their stalls for 23 hours a day.
How has the Delaware certified program helped grow your business?
We’re the only training facility with a racetrack in Delaware. So while those horses are getting broke and starting under tack, they end up being certified at the same time.
… It’s great because we train them in big sets. We have five or six gallop riders, and it’s almost like a race thing when they’re jogging, they’re first learning to carry the weight. They’re not quite 2 years old yet. … It’s neat that we can offer that.
So you are the first trainer these horses learn from, before they go on to their trainers at a racetrack?
I’m proud of that. You go through each of the races here at Delaware Park, and there are always one or two that were on our farm.
You are 74 years old, and this is a seven-day-a-week job. What keeps you going?
I love watching those babies grow up and become these athletes. That kind of keeps me in the game. And I started breeding again four or five years ago, and we’ve had some good luck with breeding a couple. That’s been fun. When you see these babies that have been born, and you think, “Is this the one?”
You are a breast cancer survivor. How has that changed your life?
It’s been 10 years, so this is my pivotal year. I want to get through this. I want to keep my stress down. A lot of illnesses are due to stress. I don’t have a lot of stress. I’m normally pretty happy.
… I just have to take a step back and think, “Hey, I’m here. I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m so blessed.” I want to say you can beat it. You can beat it. Especially today, with these new drugs. It has changed so much. I talk to survivors all the time.
Each horse’s day starts at about 5 a.m. On a race day, like with In the Dance this afternoon, do they know they are going to race today?
“hey actually know. He knew he was going today. He kind of got a little nervous. He had a lot of visitors today, so he was like, “What’s up?” I came around the corner and he kept pushing me like, “What’s up?” I just hugged on him and lowered his heart rate. … He settled down. He came over today and was really good when he saddled him, which was great. … But he really didn’t try today.