The questions are answered by Terry Finley, president and CEO of top ownership syndicate group West Point Thoroughbreds, currently basking in the success of Flightline
Terry Finley. 59, is the president and CEO of one of the most successful syndicate groups in North America, West Point Thoroughbreds.
Since its establishment in 1991, West Point has had interests in more than 1,000 winners,140 at graded-stakes level of which 17 were in G1 races. The group had a minority stake in Always Dreaming, who delivered Kentucky Derby success in 2017.
West Point is a co-owner of US Horse of the Year Flightline, world #1 on the TRC Global Rankings, whom they purchased for $1 million as a yearling at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.
Finley is not from a racing family but developed a love for horses as a 12-year-old stable boy in Philadelphia. He joined the US Army after graduating from the West Point military academy, serving for eight years and rising to the rank of captain.
Within a year of leaving the military he began a career in horse racing putting together partnerships that led to the birth of West Point Thoroughbreds, which is currently involved in 150 racehorses.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
I never got to know him very well but John Gaines, who created the Breeders’ Cup, was a renaissance man who brought everlasting change to the Thoroughbred business. All of us owe him a debt of gratitude for coming up with the idea of the Breeders’ Cup, because by and large he was ridiculed top to bottom, left and right, for the concept in its infancy and I think we now see the benefits of the Breeders’ Cup.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
I haven’t been to Ascot and that’s the place I would really like to go to but the track that would fit that bill for me would be Saratoga. It’s the one race meet which consumes the town for an extended period of time. You can go to lunch, dinner or an after-dinner drink and the main topic of conversation is going to be racing. That to me is very appealing. I live there in the summer.
As for the race, we’ve had the honor of winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Kentucky Derby, but it’s tough to go against the Kentucky Derby as a person in the industry in the US. The Derby is what everybody dreams of winning.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
You can never in your wildest dreams, even when you know you have an uber-talented horse on your hands, envision being on the journey Flightline took us on. We are all filled with an incredible amount of gratitude for what he’s given us.
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Outside of my own company and outside of Flightline, when I first started working on the racetrack, and the first time I went to the Kentucky Derby, I saw Affirmed. I developed a really soft spot for him and I got to know Steve Cauthen over the years. Affirmed made the biggest impact on me when I think about my childhood and being introduced to the racing business.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
I would say the last three-eighths of a mile of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. I had my entire family in the box and when they went into the far turn the biggest question of Flightline’s career was asked. For a minute it did look like Life Is Good was going to get away from him but then when he reeled in Life Is Good and put in that surge, that was as electric and special of a moment as I can remember in the business.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
The ownership group and John Sadler were proud that Flightline was really the first champion to have run medication-free, who didn’t run on Lasix. He proved we can overcome some of the things that have been entrenched in our industry but it will require continued focus and continued effort and we are going to get there if we don’t weaken.
The one thing I’d change? I’d accelerate the good work being done to enhance the health and welfare of the men and women who take care of our horses. It will take time – racing, you can do it.
Terry Finley was speaking to Jon Lees
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