Maggie Wolfendale is the paddock analyst for the New York Racing Association. She grew up in racing as the daughter of a trainer, and is married to G1-winning trainer Tom Morley. She often conducts live interviews and reports while on horseback.
Who do you think is the most important figure in world racing history?
The horse Eclipse, who was unbeaten in 18 starts, is the most important. He laid the foundation for the modern-day Thoroughbred.
Which is your favorite venue and race?
This is the very obvious and boring answer, but Saratoga. There’s no track that has preserved its history as well as Saratoga. It is still that county fair in the 1800s that people flock to by train and carriage. It still possesses that historical charm that I don’t think any other track in the country still has.
Typically, it’s a place where everybody comes together to compete: New York horses, mid-Atlantic horses, Kentucky and South Florida, and even some of the California horses come for the best races. The racing is top class.
The race I love most is the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It’s what we build up to all year. The Kentucky Derby is the Derby and people love the Derby, but [it’s] the matchup between the 3-year-olds and the older horses that you’ve watched prep all year. There are even the European horses that come over for it. They’ve been racing in separate divisions and now they are all coming together.
This year it might be the Breeders’ Cup Distaff though, because the mare division is top class.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
It would have to be the 2016 [G1] Ballerina (see video below), because of my husband Tom winning it with Haveyougoneaway. She had prepped with a win in the [G2] Honorable Miss and, at the end of Larry Collmus’s call, you hear a very loud scream – that was me. You might be able to hear it on the Ballerina replay, but I was more sobbing, not high-pitched frantic screaming.
I was pregnant with our first child, and it was just unbelievable. She was 10/1 that day, and took down the mare that won it the next year [By The Moon], took down a Breeders’ Cup winner (Wavell Avenue). It was incredible.
What do you see as the biggest challenge racing faces today?
The lack of universal rules, and a universal governing body to enforce those rules. Whether it be medication restrictions or steward’s rulings, this is the biggest challenge. We have all got to get on the same page. That’s the problem in a nutshell.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
I would want owners to not give all their best horses to just a handful of trainers. The wealth needs to be spread as it used to be in racing, when trainers only had 30-40 horses, not hundreds. It could ultimately kill the sport.