2010 promises to be another banner year for Mike's old, new and future clients!

The hits just keep coming for the Mike Maker stable. Racing fans might have thought that, following his record-setting meet in the fall of 2008 at Churchill Downs, Mike was going to have a difficult time doing much better.

No worries.

With 154 wins and stable earnings of more than $4.4 million, Maker had yet another breakout year in 2009, including a first Breeders’ Cup win. The totals gave Mike the 11th-highest in wins and 12th-highest in earnings in North America for the year and clearly demonstrated that the 41-year-old Michigan native will be a force for years to come.

Furthest Land, claimed by Maker in Oct. 2008 for a mere $35,000, captured the Grade 1, $1 million BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita to highlight the sensational year. Furthest Land was the second horse claimed by Maker who won a 2009 graded stakes under a glaring spotlight: Accredit, a $75,000 claim in March, wheeled back two starts later to capture the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Other 2009 feats for the stable included a victory in the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic by Furthest Land and a fifth career triumph in the prestigious Claiming Crown series, this one coming in the Express by Chasing the Prize. And all of these Maker runners won stakes during the year: Jack Spratt, Unspoken Word, Just for Keeps, Future Prospect, William’s Kitten, Lisa’s Kitten, Kera’s Kitten, and Dean’s Kitten.

Maker’s acumen with turning claiming runners into stakes performers is one of his many obvious talents as a horse conditioner. According to Daily Racing Form statistics, Mike also continues to win at a high percentage (25 percent and upward) in a number of important categories, including (but not limited to) first and second starts with new claims; third start in form cycle after layoffs; and in allowance, claiming, and maiden-claiming races.

The 2009 bonanza followed what had been a terrific 2008 for Maker, a longtime former assistant to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. In 2008, Mike easily surpassed the 100-win $3-million earnings levels for the first time when his horses accounted for 140 victories and more than $3.2 million in earnings. The year included an astounding 31-win fall meet at Churchill, setting a record at the ancient track.

Besides Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the Nicholasville, Ky., couple who are the perennial leading owners on the Kentucky circuit, Maker has customized his stable to accommodate a number of top clients, including Twin Creeks Racing, Tom Conway, Rancho San Miguel, and Scarlet Stable, but he is always looking for new customers. Mike has been based primarily in south Florida this winter but soon will consolidating much of his stock back to Kentucky, where he plans to be extremely active at the upcoming spring meets at Keeneland (April 2-23) and Churchill (April 24-July 4).

“I’m extremely grateful to all my clients for the support that allowed us to have the tremendous years we enjoyed in 2008 and 2009,” said Maker. “But we’re certainly not stopping now. In fact, we’re looking forward to further success in 2010 and beyond, and we invite anyone who’d like to be part of that to come aboard.”

7/25/10 - Mike is ON A ROLL, back from two stakes wins at Canterbury Downs, he takes the Sanford at Saratoga the next day

Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times Today'

Maybesomaybenot benefited from a heady ride by Julien Leparoux and trouble at the starting gate from 1.95-to-1 favorite and probable pace factor Bail Out the Cat to score a wire-to-wire 11⁄2-length victory over Nacho Saint in the $150,000 Sanford Stakes (G2) on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course.

The two-year-old Sunday Break (Jpn) gelding trained by Mike Maker (a homebred for Arthellor Scisney & Carolyn Scisney) broke his maiden by six lengths at Churchill Downs on July 3 in frontrunning fashion, and Leparoux wasted little time in repeating that strategy on Sunday, sending 9.60- to-1 Maybesomaybenot to the lead from the first post position.

Bail Out the Cat, who entered the Sanford off of an impressive maiden victory on June 10 at Belmont Park, acted up in the gate just before the break and then hit the gate at the start, causing jockey Alan Garcia to lose his right iron. Without Bail Out the Cat’s expected pressure, Maybesomaybenot had a relatively easy trip along the backstretch under Leparoux, taking the eight-horse field through an opening half-mile in :45.65. Another Silver Oak briefly loomed a threat from his stalking position in second on the turn, but Maybesomaybenot shook free of that foe in early stretch and pulled away to a decisive victory despite drifting slightly to the right in the final furlong. He covered six furlongs in 1:10.97 on a track rated as good.

“We meant to go to the front,” Leparoux said following the race. “With the rail, you kind of have to send him from there. [Maybesomaybenot] was in front pretty easy and he’s still a little green. “My horse kind of looked around in the stretch, but he [finished] pretty well. Hopefully, he can go forward from today.” With his first stakes victory, Maybesomaybenot improved his career record to two wins in three starts and earnings of $125,700.

—Patrick Reed

7/24/10 - Mike wins Claiming Crown for the 4th time with HEADACHE!!

Courtesy of the Blood-Horse

Headache charged home late to capture the $138,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Canterbury Park July 24, giving owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, trainer Mike Maker, and jockey Julien Leparoux back-to-back wins of the two main events in the annual series for racing's blue-collar workers.

About a half-hour earlier, Leparoux guided the Ramseys' Inca King to a 1 1/4-length triumph in the $94,000 Claiming Crown Emerald as the 1-2 favorite on the Canterbury turf.

The other multiple winner on the six-race Claiming Crown program was jockey Israel Ocampo, who won twice with Moralist, the 9-10 choice in the $46,500 Claiming Crown Express and My Irish Girl, the 19-10 favorite in the $70,500 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper.

In the 1 1/8-mile Jewel, Headache rallied from fifth in the compact six-horse field in the lane to collar pacesetter Smarten Destiny in the final strides to win by a neck. Headache, who was blocked into the stretch and was forced to alter course to the outside under left-handed urging from Leparoux, won with something left in a final time of 1:50.11 over a fast track.

“He’s the kind of horse you have to wait with and then go, and that’s what he did today," said the 2009 Eclipse Award-winning Leparoux. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Smarten Destiny, ridden by Eddie Martin Jr., took second by one length over Strike Impact and Shane Sellers.

Favored Racing Bran (7-5) faded in the stretch to finish fifth after pressing Smarten Destiny through quarter-mile fractions of :23.87, :48.06, and 1:11.81. For All Who Conga finished fourth while My Friend Nev trailed.

Headache, the second choice in the field at odds of 9-5, ended a seven-race losing streak with his first stakes win. The 4-year-old son of Tapit  --Pamric, by Woodman, was bred by Dr. J.K. and Linda Griggs, and was purchased for $75,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's July 2007 Kentucky sale.

The gray/roan colt was claimed by Maker for the Ramseys at Belmont Park last Sept. 30  for $25,000. He improved his career record to 5-5-2 in 18 starts with earnings of $217,955 with the winning purse of $82,500.

“I love this horse,” said Ken Ramsey, “but he had given me plenty of headaches running second, second, second so many times.  Today Julien got him home, though.”

Headache, coming off a second-place finish in an allowance race at Churchill Downs July 2, carried 122 pounds and paid $5.60, $3.60 and $3.60 while topping a $50 exacta. Smarten Destiny returned $8.80 and $10.20. Strike Impact was $7.20 to show.

A race earlier, the Ramseys' Inca King dominated 10 rivals in the Emerald while completing the 1 1/16-mile turf test in 1:42.80 over good going. Defending Emerald winner Gran Estreno, the likely second choice, was scratched by stewards.

Inca King ($3) tracked pacesetters Carson's Honor and Prairie Fox (:23.27, :47.06, 1:11.28) from the rail in fourth before Leparoux angled the 6-year-old Sir Cat gelding three wide into the stretch. With clear sailing, Inca King swept past Tiger Lake and Shane Laviolette inside the final furlong to win under moderate encouragement. Tiger Lake nosed the fast-closing Elusive Shemes, ridden by Gallyn Mitchell for second.

They made us work for it,” said Kenneth Ramsey.  “That Julien is something else. It’s quite an honor to win up here at Canterbury.”

The winner, claimed by Maker for $40,000 at Churchill Downs last November, carried top weight of 124 pounds to his sixth win in seven starts in 2010. He was coming off a third-place finish in a game effort in the one-mile Firecracker Handicap (gr. IIT) at Churchill July 4. Overall, Inca King, who is out of the Prized mare Inca Prize, has won 16 of 34 starts with earnings of $804,113.

Maker has now won seven Claiming Crown races in the past four years.

   6/4/10 - Maker Quietly Confident in Stately Victor in the BELMONT STAKES (G1)

Courtesy of the TDN

Trainer Mike Maker accumulated a fair amount of exposure to the Triple Crown while an assistant to D. Wayne Lukas and helped prepare the likes of Charismatic during his run back in 1999. On his own since 2003, Maker, who won his first Breeders' Cup race last year with Furthest Land (Smart Strike)
in the Dirt Mile, will tighten the girth around Stately Victor (Ghostzapper) in Saturday' s main event. Despite the absence of a win on a conventional dirt surface, the son of GISW Collect the Cash (Dynaformer) has run well enough on the main track. A debut second to subsequent GSW Winslow Homer (Unbridled's Song) at Saratoga last August, the bay put in a respectable run in the GI Kentucky Derby May 1, drawing to within 3 1/2 lengths of the lead at the mile call before staying on for eighth. "He didn't disgrace himself in the Derby," Maker said. "We would have liked a better placing. He couldn't look any better right now and he's handled his weight after the Derby. He=s been impressive from Day 1 and still is impressive."

  5/31/10 -  FUNNY FEELING takes the JUST SMASHING S. at Monmouth

Funny Feeling, a half-sister to the top-shelf Pussycat Doll, won at first asking at Churchill last November and was a good third in the Ruthless S. at Aqueduct Jan. 10. She went of form and then
turned things around with an allowance win over Fuzzy Britches (Pollard's Vision) at Churchill Apr. 30 and was returning to stakes company as a 5-1 shot. The chestnut sat just off the leaders as heavily favored Midst (Closing Argument), at 2-5 off an impressive Keeneland allowance, was headstrong while setting :22/17 and :44.96 splits. The favorite called it quits in midstretch and Funny Feeling swooped in for a first black-type win. By Distorted Hunor out of Hookedonthefeelin, by Citidancer, she was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and is owned by Twin Creeks Racing.
Lifetime Record: 6-3-0-1, $120,036

4/12//10 - State of the Union...Mike to have 2 in the DERBY!

Stately Victor (Ghostzapper), upset winner of the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Saturday, exited the race in good order and was back at his home base at Churchill Downs Saturday night.

"He came out of the race fine--excellent," trainer Mike Maker said. Maker has
already mapped out a plan to get the colt to the May 1 "Run for the Roses." "He will work six or seven days out from the Derby, and that will be it," said the conditioner, who will saddling a Derby runner for the first time.

Maker will also send GII Lane's End S. winner Deans Kitten (Kitten's Joy) to the first leg of the Triple
Crown. The Ken and Sarah Ramsey homebred worked five-eighths in 1:01 4/5 on the Trackside training track Saturday. "He worked well, and he will work every Saturday or Sunday prior to the Derby," Maker said.

3/27/10 - STATELY VICTOR delivers Blue Grass (G1) stunner.

Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times Today
Tim Nichols

With a past performance sheet littered with phrases such as “no bid”, “tired”, and “no threat”, it was no surprise Stately Victor started in Saturday’s $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at 40.10-to-1 odds, the longest odds in the field.

After Kentucky’s signature Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) prep race, one important note will be added to Stately Victor’s résumé: Grade 1 winner.

Stately Victor, a maiden winner making his second career stakes start, made a bold five-wide move in the stretch and drew off to a shocking and impressive 4¼-length win in front of a 33,727 stunned patrons at Keeneland Race Course, a Blue Grass day attendance record. Stately Victor paid $82.20 for a $2 win wager, the biggest payout in Blue Grass history.

“I’ve always been high on this horse,” winning trainer Mike Maker said. “After a while when a horse underachieves, you kinda forget about him. But I never quit believing in this horse.”

Owned by Kentucky Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway and his father, Tom, Stately Victor entered the Blue Grass off a fifth-place finish in a first-level allowance race on March 7 at Gulfstream Park. The three-year-old Ghostzapper colt finished willingly in his previous start but entered off five straight unplaced finishes since winning a maiden special weight race last September on the Saratoga Race Course turf.

After bumping with First Dude at the start, Stately Victor settled in behind the pace under Alan Garcia about 6½ lengths back as Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Odysseus took the lead through a half-mile in :47.96. Stately Victor gradually advanced on the far turn as runner-up Paddy O’Prado took the lead from Odysseus following six furlongs in 1:12.33. Paddy O’Prado and Kent Desormeaux looked strong entering the stretch, but Stately Victor quickly closed the gap from the outside. Once he got the lead, the outcome was never in doubt as Stately Victor surged well clear and stamped his ticket to the Kentucky Derby with his $450,000 winner’s share.

Paddy O’Prado, winner of the Palm Beach Stakes (G3) at 11⁄8 miles on the Gulfstream Park turf course in his previous start, held on for second and most likely solidified a spot in the Kentucky Derby with $250,950 in graded stakes earnings. First Dude held on for third, one length better than Interactif.

While the connections of Stately Victor celebrated, Saturday’s result all but ended Odysseus’ Kentucky Derby hopes. Entering the race with $180,000 in graded stakes earnings, Odysseus faded to last in the nine-horse field and will need multiple defections to make the Kentucky Derby starting gate.

  3/27/10 - HUGE DAY AT TURFWAY: Dean’s Kitten draws off to Lane’s End ( G2) victory, Age of Humor, ran second in the Bourbonette Oaks G3, and Lonesome Street, ran second in the100k Rushaway S.

Courtesy of the Thoroughbred TImes Today
—Tim Nichols

With Pleasant Prince already on the Triple Crown trail, owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey doubled their Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brand (G1) chances on Saturday as Dean’s Kitten captured the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes (G2) at Turfway Park.

The three-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt surged to the lead under Cornelio Velasquez in early stretch and drew off to a 2½-length victor y for trainer Mike Maker. Dean’s Kitten covered 11⁄8 miles on the synthetic Polytrack surface in 1:50.59. The win boosted Dean’s Kitten’s earnings in graded stakes to $326,475, which should be more than enough to secure a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate on May 1. The field for the first jewel of the Triple Crown is limited to 20 starters with preference given to horses with the highest career earnings in graded stakes.

“I really like this horse,” Velasquez said. “He’s why I came here. He has a lot of try. He loves Polytrack. He can run on grass, but this is his track.”

Entering off a runner-up finish on March 6 in the 11⁄8-mile Palm Beach Stakes (G3) on the turf at Gulfstream Park, Dean’s Kitten broke well and settled in third as California raider Ranger Heartley led the field through half-mile in :48.57 and six furlongs in 1:12.68. Longshot Vow to Wager launched a bid for the lead from the outside, but Dean’s Kitten powered to the front entering the stretch with a determined bid. Velasquez kept the colt to task in the final furlong en route to a convincing victory. Northern Giant closed well for second, 31⁄4 lengths clear of third-place finisher and 1.70-to- 1 favorite Connemara.

Dean’s Kitten entered the Lane’s End as the most experienced horse in the race (along with Ranger Heartley), making his 11th career and eighth straight stakes start. The Lane’s End was Dean’s Kitten’s second career race on an all-weather surface. He previously finished third in a 4½-furlong maiden special weight race last April at Keeneland Race Course in his career debut. If the Ramseys, who were in Dubai to watch Furthest Land in the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), choose to start Dean’s Kitten in the Kentucky Derby, it would be the colt’s second career start on dirt. In his only previous start on dirt, Dean’s Kitten fifth to Eskendereya, beaten by 33 ¾ lengths, in the off-the-turf Pilgrim Stakes on October 4 at Belmont Park.

On the same day Age of Humor, f 3, Distorted Humor - Age of Silver by Silver Deputy, ran second in the Bourbonette Oaks G3 at Turfway Park for owner:R L Reineman Stable Inc.

AND Lonesome Street, c 3 Broken Vow Dam: Street Cat (Storm Cat) ran second in the100k Rushaway S . He is owned by the Ramseys who also had a big day at Turfway Park even if things did not work out as they hoped at Meydan

   2/20/10 - Age of Humor third in the SILVERBULLETDAY S. (G3)

Age of Humor ran third in the SILVERBULLETDAY G2 going a mile and a sixteenth at the Fair Grounds Race Course. She is a Distorted Humor filly out of Age of Silver, by Silver Deputy and is owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC.

   2/13/10 - FOREST ATTACK wins the DUST COMMANDER

FOREST ATTACK, h. 6, Forestry - Joy Valley *brz (Ghadeer *fr) won the Dust Commander S at Turfway Park. He was bred by Aaron U Jones & Marie D Jones abd is owned by Scarlet Stable.
Lifetime: 17-6-6-0 $140,789

   1/30/10 - KERA`S KITTEN scores in the WEBN stakes at Turfway Park.

   1/23/10 - WILLIAM`S KITTEN ran third in the HOLY BULL G3 as he climbed on the Derby Trail

Ramsey homebred, WILLIAM`S KITTEN, c 3 by Kitten`s Joy - Blush (Menifee) ran a good third in the HOLY BULL G3.
LifetimeL 8-2-1-2 $167,098

   1/10/10 - Funny Feeling third in the Ruthless S at Aqueduct.

Funny Feeling, f 3, Distorted Humor - Hookedonthefeelin (Citidancer) ran third in the Ruthless S at Aqueduct for breeder Stonestreet Holdings, LLC and owner Twin Creeks Racing Stable.

----------------------------------------------------------------2009 ----------------------------------------------------------------

 11/07/09 - Mike Maker trained Furthest Land Shocks in the BREEDERS'CUP Dirt Mile

10/18/09 - SW UNSPOKEN WORD DOMINATES at KEENELAND

Unspoken Word, owned by Twin Creeks Farm and Rancho San Miguel, crushes the field by 5 1/4 lengths at Keeneland in an allowance race going 7 furlongs increasing her total earnings to $369,248.

 9/30/09 - THREE STAKES WINS IN EIGHT DAYS

The big scores just keep coming for the Mike Maker stable. Three stakes wins in the span of eight days served to punctuate what has been another sensational year for Maker, the 40-year-old Michigan native who is headed for yet another career-best season.

The recent stakes flurry began with a runaway victory by William’s Kitten in the $148,000 Sunday Silence on the Sept. 19 Super Derby undercard at Louisiana Downs. Then came scores within just a few hours of each other on the following Saturday, Sept. 26: Future Prospect continued his dominance within the older New York-bred ranks by easily taking the Jazzing Around at Belmont Park, while Furthest Land came through with a gutsy performance in capturing the Grade 2, $195,000 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park.

Those Saturday stakes wins were part of an incredible overall tear for the red-hot trainer. Maker runners won 12 of 17 starts from Sept. 19-26, with seven of the wins coming at Turfway, three at Belmont, and one each at Louisiana Downs and Kentucky Downs.

“Mike is doing a fabulous job, as usual,” said Ken Ramsey, who with his wife, Sarah, has been the leading owner on the Kentucky circuit for years. “His phenomenal success does not surprise me in the least.”

As the prime trainer for the Ramseys, Maker has quite a few 2-year-olds by the hot young sire, Kitten’s Joy, in his stable, including William’s Kitten. Through the end of September, Kitten’s Joy was the leading freshman sire in North America in earnings for 2009. Kitten’s Joy was a 2004 Eclipse Award winner for the Ramseys, who have bred many of their mares to the 8-year-old stallion.

As of Oct. 1, Maker had won 119 races for earnings of just more than $3 million, and he figures to surpass his career highs in both categories (140 wins, $3.2 million), which he set last year. Maker has steadily raised his national profile since going out on his own in 2003 after 10 years under Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. His major feats include victories in the 2004 Hawthorne Gold Cup, the 2006 Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park, the 2007 and 2009 runnings of the Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs, three wins in the 2007 Claiming Crown series at Ellis Park, and a track-record 31 wins at the 2008 Churchill Downs fall meet.

Maker said he has set his sights on a productive fall, most notably at Keeneland and Churchill. “We’re just going to try to keep the momentum going,” he said. “We feel very fortunate to have experienced the success we have this year, and we’re going to do our best to keep it up.”

 7/31/09 - FIVE CLAIMING CROWN CHAMPIONS AND COUNTING

Shakopee, Minn- For the third consecutive year trainer Mike Maker has saddled a claiming crown champion! The streak first started at Ellis park three years ago when he won an amazing three races from just five starters. Last year with / the event moving back to Canterbury Park in Minnesota he captured the 100k Emerald Stakes withSelf Made Man. This year Mike only had two starters, but that was enough as Chasing the Prize captured the Express.

Top jockey Julien Leparoux followed Mike's instructions to a tee as he took the normally speedy gelding off the lighting fast pace. Then as the leaders started to fade Julien turned him lose, and he exploded down the lane to easily win the stake. Chasing the Prize paid $6.40 to win, and won almost 30k for his owners. He was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm LLC.

7/31/09 - MAKER ONE TO WATCH AT SARATOGA

If there is strength in numbers, trainer Mike Maker should have a good meet as he'll have 26 head in Saratoga and another 24 stabled at Belmont. Maker had a solid meet in 2008, winning 8 races from 25 starts.

"We should have plenty of opportunities to have a good meet," Maker said. "Nice balance of horses. We got some decent 2-year-olds up here, some New York-breds, bunch of claimers."

Maker starts two horses Wednesday and three Thursday. Queen Stephanie, who takes a steep drop in class in Thursday's fifth may be his first winner.

"The ones I wanted to get in to run the first couple of days didn't get in," Maker said Monday morning. "Queen Stephanie should be pretty tough, but the first day it looks like we're in pretty deep."

Maker has the solid New York-bred Future Prospect to run in Friday's $70,000 High Rock Spring Stakes.

Rumor Control, a recent allowance winner at Belmont, is targeting a stakes on Aug. 8, while Cruisin'nthebridle should graduate from the maiden ranks this meet.

Among his 2-year-olds is Stately Victor, a son of Ghostzapper who topped the Adena Springs Sales auction at $250,000. He is out of the Grade 1 winner Collect the Cash. Maker expects the colt Dean's Kitten, and the filly Lisa's Kitten - both third in maiden turf races sprinting at Belmont - to improve when able to stretch out around two

 6/24/09 - Pletcher transfer wins in her first start for Maker Stable

   6/18/09- Second Stride Thoroughbred Charity and Mike Maker are a winning team.

Anyone who owns a racehorse can't help but dream.  It doesn't matter if you claim a horse at Saratoga or buy a yearling at Keeneland, dreaming of winning a stakes race is why we all play the game.  However, dreams don't always come true.  Horses can get hurt or get sick or sometimes they simply are not fast enough to make it as race horses.  That is why Mike Maker Racing Stable is such a big fan of Second Stride and other thoroughbred retirement charities.

Second Stride's mission statement explains what they do as an organization for these amazing animals.  "Second Stride is a 501© 3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization providing professional rehabilitation, retraining, and placement for retired thoroughbred racehorses in qualified homes so that they may reach their full potential in a productive second career."   They are able to accomplish these goals by working with trainers like Mike.  Second Stride board of director member Jean Amick had this to say “I would like to thank Mike Maker, and the other trainers, who have helped Second Stride in our goal of retraining retired thoroughbreds.  With their support, many thoroughbreds have found success in new careers in the show ring, as trail/pleasure horses, cutting horses, even search and rescue horses.  Working with trainers like Mike, we are able to show just how well retired thoroughbreds can transition into new careers, which will make it easier to find new homes for the retired thoroughbreds in the future.”

Donations to this worthy charity can be sent to Second Stride Inc., P.O. Box 1483 Crestwood, Ky 40014

   3/23/2009 - Maker back to defend training titles.

Courtesy of the DRF
By Marty McGee

Within a relatively short span, Mike Maker has separated himself from the pack among Kentucky trainers. The momentum got started when he won the prestigious 2008 Keeneland fall meet, and it has not slowed down since. Maker has become the dominant trainer on the circuit, having set a Churchill Downs fall-meet record for wins in November and on his way to easily winning the training title at the current winter-spring meet at Turfway Park.

So with the three-week Keeneland spring meet set to open April 3, Maker is intent on keeping that momentum going. Although his Turfway numbers were exceptional (22 wins from 55 starters through March 20), they were made all the more impressive by the fact that his best horses were in action at Gulfstream Park and Aqueduct.

Maker said that by the time Keeneland starts, he will have most of his horses consolidated back in Kentucky at the Trackside training center in Louisville and at Turfway. About 15 to 20 of his horses will stay through the Gulfstream meeting, which ends April 23.

"We'll run everything we can at Keeneland," he said.

Maker, 40, grew up in Michigan, where his father, George Maker, was a dominant trainer at Detroit Race Course and Hazel Park. He began working for D. Wayne Lukas in 1993 and became an assistant in 1997 before going out on his own in 2003. During his time with Lukas, he worked with such top horses as Thunder Gulch, Grindstone, Charismatic, Cat Thief, Span, Orientate, and Surfside.

Many of the statistical training categories maintained by Daily Racing Form reflect these high percentages.
Maker, who is active at the claim box, tends to strike right away with new claims, as he has won with 32 percent of them from 98 starts. This trend does not diminish with time, as second-time starters off the Maker claim have won 35 of 101 starts (35 percent).

He also has been quite effective with horses making the third start in their form cycle, post-layoffs (45-180 days, 25 percent; 180 days-plus, 27 percent), as well as in the various class categories: claiming, 27 percent; allowances, 25 percent; and maiden claiming, 24 percent.

In all 2-year-old races, Maker is 67 for 353 (19 percent). He named a pair of Ramsey homebred juveniles as being ready to go at Keeneland: Cater to Kitten and Scottkeith'skitten, both from the first crop of Kitten's Joy, the 2004 turf champion campaigned by the Ramseys.

Maker invariably turns to Julien Leparoux with his best horses. They have teamed to win 98 of 297 starts (33 percent).

As almost always happens with successful trainers, fans tend to back Maker's horses faithfully - perhaps more than is deserved. Nonetheless, his return on investment for every $2 wagered is an outstanding $2.03 for his entire career (397 of 1,676). Although the ROI stood at $1.71 for this year, it was above $2 in each of the last three years.

Clearly, the Mike Maker stable has become a force and will deserve particularly close scrutiny at the upcoming Keeneland and Churchill meets.