Sunland Park winner represents pair of Derby debutants in trainer Joel Marr and jockey Ken Tohill – at 60, set to become the oldest-ever rider in America’s most famous race
UPDATE (April 27): Wild On Ice euthanised after training injury
USA: While for some taking part in the Kentucky Derby may be almost routine, for others it is an unexpected journey.
When it comes to the connections of Wild On Ice, making the trip to Louisville wasn’t even on their radar until their gelding upset the field in the Sunland Derby a month ago. Now, surrounded by loved ones, Wild On Ice’s trainer, owner-breeder, and jockey will all be making their first start in America’s most famous race.
“It will be tremendous to do this with my family and friends,” said New Mexico-based trainer Joel Marr. “It will be a really special thing that you don’t really ever expect to have happen.
“We weren’t pointing toward the Kentucky Derby when we ran in the Sunland Derby. We weren’t even thinking about that. It was just a case of ‘Let’s do the best we can do in the Sunland Derby.’ It didn’t really hit us until pretty close to that race that there was a possibility this might happen.”
Texas-bred Wild On Ice, who races as a homebred for Frank Sumpter, was sent off at odds of 35-1 in the G3 event at Sunland Park.
The longest shot on the board did not get the memo, however, and won the race by a length and a quarter to earn 50 Kentucky Derby points. The gelded son of Tapizar was not nominated to the Triple Crown by the early deadline, so his connections had a decision to make.
Once in a lifetime
“It might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but we weren’t wanting to come just to come and be tourists and say we came to the Derby,” said Marr. “He came out of the Sunland Derby extremely well.
“I know the numbers aren’t going to stack up with a lot of the field, but I also know that he’s not run his best race yet. He’s a happy, healthy, improving horse, and so we decided he deserved a shot.
“There’s always that longshot chance. It has happened several times in the Kentucky Derby, and you have to have some faith. I obviously don’t want to have a poor showing in the Derby, and I don’t think that’s that going happen. I am not saying we are going to win, but if we aren’t in there, we definitely are not going to win.”
Being gelded used to be viewed as an extreme negative in the Kentucky Derby, but that has become less of a talking point as the result of two geldings winning the Run for the Roses in the last 20 years: Funny Cide (2003) and Mine That Bird (2009).
The former almost won the entire Triple Crown, and the latter took the same New Mexico route as Wild On Ice, finishing fourth in the Sunland Derby before shocking the world at odds of 50-1 in the Kentucky Derby and running second in the Preakness and third in the Belmont.
As it happens, Wild On Ice’s gelded state is viewed as a positive by Marr. “He was a bit feisty, and in New Mexico and that region, we don’t keep a lot of horses as stallions like they do in Kentucky in the upper echelons,” he said.
“We don’t have the incentive to keep them stallions. He’s full of himself and a little ornery, but he’s well behaved. He knows what’s right. His whole family is like that. It definitely made him focus and be a better racehorse. We probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
All in – or all out
When the decision to send Wild On Ice to Kentucky was made, Marr did not assume that meant he or the horse’s only jockey, Ken Tohill, were Louisville-bound, too. Instead, he had a frank conversation with Sumpter about what to do.
As Marr recalled, “I told the owner, ‘If you would rather get someone that’s been there and is established and been through all this, and might be a better shot for you and the horse, just let me know.
“‘If you want to do it, let me know, I know people out there. Of course, I would love to go, but it’s your call.’ He pretty much said: ‘If you’re not going, we’re not going.’”
Remarkably, Sumpter currently has only two horses in training: Wild On Ice and his half-sister Unique Babe, who finished third in a stakes race at Lone Star in mid-April. Sumpter claimed their dam, the Grand Slam mare Slamitagain, for $5,000 in September 2014.
“He’s had horses throughout his life, but that’s all he owns right now,” said Marr. “He claimed the dam of Wild On Ice with the sole intent of breeding her. He didn’t run her. Just took her home, studied stallions for her, and then took her to Kentucky to be bred.”
Completing the trifecta of Derby first-timers is Tohill, the only jockey to have ridden Wild On Ice. At 60, he is set to become the oldest jockey ever to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
“I am sure in a different situation many people would have chosen a different jockey, a top-tier rider out here, but Ken has ridden him every time he has run and put in the work,” said Marr.
“It feels like the right thing to do. I am confident in Ken. Yes, there are more accomplished riders, younger riders, and all that, but we got here together, and we are staying together. That’s what we are going to do.”
The two have a longstanding relationship. Tohill began riding for Marr in the mid-2000s and has been his go-to rider ever since. “Loyalty is what comes to mind when I think of Joel,” Tohill said.
“He’s more like family to me than anything. He’s supported me and trusted me to ride some of his best horses. He’s allowed me to be on this journey with him. Even if I wasn’t riding this horse in the Derby, I’d still be supporting Joel.”
National spotlight
Although this is Marr’s first time in the glare of the Derby spotlight, he is a lifelong horsemen and a well-established trainer in New Mexico. He followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a trainer, and his wife, Teresa, was a jockey.
Born in 1968, Marr saddled his first winner in 1991, and in the early 2000 became featured on the national stage thanks to the exploits of New Mexico legend Peppers Pride, who won 19 consecutive races. Having been bred to American Pharoah and California Chrome among others, the ‘Queen of New Mexico Racing’ died from laminitis in September 2019.
“Joel did such a great job with Peppers Pride and managing her,” said Teresa. “It was a lot. But he has had numerous nice horses – he is a true horseman; he really is. He enjoys it, and I am very proud of him.
“Having a chance to run in the Kentucky Derby is an amazing thing to have happen for our family,” Teresa went on. “We just race in New Mexico, it’s what we do. This is our home; it’s where we raised our family. We enjoy running here. Racing has been our life, and now our girls, too.
“The girls and I are coming to Kentucky, and we are going to do the walkover together. I don’t know how to explain it besides saying it’s a true blessing. It’s a great experience for us.
“We have amazing owners, amazing people that work for us. It is everyone. Everyone involved is so excited. They have all contributed. It’s very overwhelming, but it’s very special. For us, it is a chance of a lifetime. It’s everyone’s first, and we are all experiencing this together.”
For now, Marr is enjoying the Derby journey while remaining focused on his horse. The team arrived early in Louisville due to logistics, but it will also help give Wild On Ice time to acclimate.
“After the Sunland Derby, we only had a few days left of training at Sunland Park,” said Marr. “They were closing the track and weren’t going to allow us to train anymore. We had nowhere else to go.
“We either had to find a flight very soon to Churchill Downs, or if we couldn’t get one, I was going to hook the trailer up and we were going to head that way. I have a team at home that is taking care of stuff while we are gone. Without everybody helping at home, you couldn’t take off and do something like this.
Super friendly
“Wild On Ice has handled everything quite well,” the trainer added. “He is eating well, training good. Everything has been happening just like we want it to, so far. Everybody has been super friendly.
“It’s pretty quiet right now at Churchill. There are still a lot of empty stalls. I have been told what is going to be like, but I guess you don’t really know until it happens. So far it has been peaceful.”
However, Marr is very aware that peaceful atmosphere is going to change dramatically in the coming days, and he is working to prepare Wild On Ice for it. “I don’t worry about me so much; I worry about my horse,” he said.
“A lot of these horses, they’ve all been to the big races already and they have seen crowds. My horse was at Sunland Park, and there were a lot of people there, but 8,000 people is not anywhere close to 150,000.
“It’s a whole new ballgame. He’s going to see things he’s never seen, and I am going to see them too, but I have to prepare him the best I can with the time that we have. We just want to get to the race happy and healthy and take our shot.”
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