‘He’s still the same goofy horse from when we had him!’ said Natalie Gils of Brilliant Racing as she welcomes back the syndicate’s gelding Eskenforit (or ‘Kenny’ in the barn) for a new career after his retirement from racing
USA: In 2018, Natalie Gils, a managing partner in Brilliant Racing, quipped that she was looking forward to turning their newest purchase into her personal riding horse one day. Five years later, she is fulfilling her promise to the chestnut gelding – thanks to members of the racing partnership and the kindness of a complete stranger.
Named Eskenforit, but known as ‘Kenny’ to his friends, the stakes-placed runner was officially retired after finishing third in a low-level claiming race on July 3 at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.
A quirky horse from the beginning, even his path back to Gils was not straightforward. “He was only the second horse we ever bought, and we were such newbies,” recalled Gils.
“We had a whole entourage. We bought him, and then we went to the bar. I remember running into Liz Crow [bloodstock agent]. I told her I couldn’t wait until he was done racing so I could turn him into a riding horse, and she said, ‘Well, no, you don’t want that to happen any time soon,’ and I said ‘No, no, you’re right.’
Kenny’s claim to fame
Brilliant Racing, a partnership group managed by Gils and Brandon Stauble, bought the son of Eskendereya for $60,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic two-year-olds in training sale. He was their top selection at the sale, and he proved why on the track.
“He’s had an interesting career to say the least,” said Joe Kristufek, the founding member of Brilliant Racing. “He’s a super quirky horse who only does what he wants to do, but he’s also been successful. He’s stakes-placed at a mile and a half, and he’s won going short.
“For about a year, he had the track record at Churchill Downs for a mile and three-sixteenths, sandwiched in between Real Quiet and Secretariat’s names, and he ‘won’ the Indiana Derby without the jockey.”
If Eskenforit’s name rings a bell, it is probably because of that performance in the 2019 Indiana Derby. He stumbled badly coming out of the gate, losing Julien Leparoux in the process.
However, that didn’t stop him from staying with the field. He followed the leaders from mid-pack before making his way to the front and staying there. Of course, officially, Mr. Money won the G3 contest, but Kenny crossed the wire first.
The following year, Kenny finished third in the Champions Day Marathon Stakes at Churchill Downs. It was his best performance at higher levels, but during his career, he mostly competed in the allowance and claiming ranks. He was a beloved member of the Brilliant Racing stable, but in November 2021, Kenny was claimed away for $20,000.
“Our trainers take their time, and we give them every chance, but eventually you have to run them close to where they belong,” said Kristufek. “We buy sound horses, and we take good care of them, but we’ve lost some horses via the claim because it’s inevitable. I love horses, especially mine, but Natalie loves horses. It was a rough day for all of us when he was claimed.”
Kenny seemed to do most of his best running at Churchill Downs, and adding to the bittersweet nature of the claim is the fact that he won that day by 2½ lengths.
“I know claiming is part of it, but I want to do it at a bigger level,” said Gils. “We are trying to get to that point, and it just takes time.
“I actually didn’t go to that race,” she went on. “If it is a claiming race, and I think our horse is going to get claimed, I won’t go. Even if they win, you feel bad. It’s the only win photo of his I never bought. I am going to go buy it now because we have him back.”
Kenny’s travels
The Brilliant Racing team works to make sure their horses are given good retirements. They routinely tracked Kenny’s progress, which included several more claims, and would reach out to his new connections to let them know about his quirks and to tell them he always had a place to come back to when his racing days were done.
“We learned everything about him when we had him – when he will run for you, and when he won’t run for you,” said Kristufek. “If you take hold of his mouth, he is going to quit on you. You just had to let him run free, and I would tell every trainer that.
“This year you could just tell he was done. Once he started getting his Kenny trips, where he was in the clear, and the jockey was letting him run, and he didn’t try, it was clear that this horse needed to come home. We were close to getting the horse back when he was at Oaklawn, but it didn’t work out.”
Then when the partnership group learned that Kenny was going to be entered for a $5,000 tag at Prairie Meadows, they took up a collection among their members. They ultimately raised $9,700 to get him back to Kentucky, but there was just one problem – two others also put a claim in on the horse. They were going to have to shake for Kenny.
“We were very confident that between all of us, we would raise the money,” said Kristufek. “Some members could put in $20, some could put up $500, and some put in quite a bit more. I especially want to thank Sam Aguiar, an attorney here in Louisville who was involved in our early partnerships, for his help.
“We wanted to raise a little bit extra to get Kenny back to Kentucky and get him settled in. Then, Natalie would be taking over all the bills and own the horse going forward. That was the plan.
“Then we go into the shake, and we lose the shake. We were like, ‘Oh my god, we lost the shake. What do we do?’ Kenny was claimed by NBS Stable, and we didn’t know who that was.”
Upon learning Jason Barkley is one of the trainers for NBS Stable, Kristufek reached out to see if he could contact them about the situation. Barkley, in turn, traded texts with John Ballantyne of NBS Stable, and in quick order, Kenny belonged to Brilliant Racing once more.
“Barkley and I are friendly, and so I messaged him and explained the deal,” said Kristufek. “He knows how much we love the horse, and he talked to the owner about the situation. The owner said he didn’t want to make a profit off of this because we were trying to do right by the horse, and literally within 12 hours it was a done deal.”
All the time in the world
Ballantyne sold Kenny back for the exact price of the claim, and arrangements were made to get the gelding to Kentucky. The seven-year-old retired after 49 career starts, six wins, and $239,130 in earnings. He arrived back in the bluegrass on July 9, and Gils, who is a lifelong horsewoman, was there to greet him.
“They have been amazing,” Gils said of NBS Stable. “I had my own riding horse, and I sold her in 2021 to prepare for this scenario. I always wanted to take one of our racehorses and retrain them. That was my goal. Now we are in 2023. We saw him going backward, we kept trying to get him back, and it finally worked out.
“It was excruciating waiting this past week to get him home, but it was totally worth it. He’s still the same goofy horse from when we had him!”
While Gils ultimately hopes to compete with Kenny in the 2024 Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover, the gelding will get to decide if he agrees with that plan. He is currently at a rehab facility for a thorough checkup, and whatever the findings are, Gils plans on turning him out for the rest of the year.
“We were told he came out of his last race great, and to my knowledge Kenny has never taken a lame step, but we are going to go over him and see if there is anything lurking and go from there,” said Gils. “Honestly, I just want to use the rest of the year to bond with him and establish that relationship before I get on his back.
“His life is going to be completely different. Someone has been telling him to go, go, go from day one, and now he’s owned by someone who is going to be like whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s a huge adjustment.”
What the future holds for Kenny will depend entirely on what he seems to enjoy. Gils hopes to make a jumper out of him, but she is not opposed to letting him be a track pony or, if his health requires, nothing more than a pasture ornament.
“Ideally, I want him to be a jumper because I have a hunter/jumper background,” Gils said. “It’s up to him, though. He loved Churchill Downs, and Michelle Lovell would use him to pony some of the babies in her barn when other riders would go out with him. He was the bigger kid who would take the little kid around.
“I would certainly entertain finding that life for him if he doesn’t suit what I want to do in a sport horse capacity. Or if he needs to be a pasture puff, I will find him a babysitting job. I will still keep him, and he can always come home.
“For now, I am just going to pull his shoes and let him go be a horse. Whatever Kenny wants to do, he has all the time in the world to figure it out.”
• Visit the Brilliant Racing website
Happy ending: veteran fan favorite Drafted retired at the age of nine
A shocking Saratoga summer: when the Graveyard of Champions lived up to its name
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires