NA TRAINER MAKER ISSUE 32_Jerkins feature.qxd 17/04/2014 22:37 Page 2
MIKE MAKER
MIKE MAKER Letting his horses do the talking
Mike Maker has ascended the national trainer standings the way he lives: with little fanfare. When he recorded his 1,000th career win in March of 2013, someone texted: “Congratulations Mr. Quiet!”If Maker had his way, he would have changed the exclamation mark to a period. “His actions speak more than his words,” his highest profile client, owner/breeder Ken Ramsey, said. “He’s very quiet.”
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WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: DAN DRY, HORSEPHOTOS.COM
ET Ramsey, last year’s Eclipse Award-winning owner and breeder, loves the way Maker communicates. “A lot of trainers don’t talk with you,” Ramsey said. “With Mike, we have a dialogue instead of a monologue. We discuss horses and races and how we’re going to do it. I am so impressed with Mike.” Who isn’t? Though he’s only 45 and has only been on his own since 2003, he’s finished in the top ten in victories and top 12 in earnings three consecutive years and counting. He was ninth in victories and tenth in earnings in 2011; tenth in wins and 12th in earnings in ’12, and third in victories and eighth in money last year. This year, through the end of March, Maker is fifth in both victories and earnings. He also has a leading Kentucky Derby contender, Ramsey’s Grade 2 $1 million Louisiana Derby winner Vicar’s in Trouble; another contender, General A Rod; and maybe a third, Harry’s Holiday, any one of whom could fulfill Maker’s childhood dream, the one inspired by rooting for Affirmed over Alydar in the great Triple Crown battles of 1978. “Just because Steve Cauthen was riding Affirmed,” Maker said. Maker was nine years old then and growing up in Madison Heights, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. His dad, George, was a successful trainer, saddling more than 1,000 winners and the earners of over $7.4 million. “My family raced at Hazel Park half the year and Detroit Race Course the other half, and like most kids, I dreamed of winning the Kentucky Derby,” he said.
Most kids didn’t have trainers in the family to fuel the fire. Maker began working with his dad at the track when he was ten. Half-hour commutes to the racetrack strengthened their bond. “On the weekends, I’d go to the track with my dad,” he said. “I fell in love with it immediately. I worked summer vacations and holidays. I’d clean the stalls and walk horses. Wayne Lukas, I looked up to as a kid. I was always watching the big races. I had dreams of having good horses.”
“On the weekends, I’d go to the track with my dad. I fell in love with it immediately. I worked summer vacations and holidays. I’d clean the stalls and walk horses. Wayne Lukas, I looked up to as a kid” Then Maker bought his first horse – at the age of 13. He can thank the Detroit Free Press and his father for that. “I had a paper route and my dad paid me for walking hots on weekends,” he said. “I stuck the money away. It was a lot of money at that age. We bought a horse for $2,500. My dad bought the horse. I
became a 25 percent owner. He raced at Hazel Park. The horse’s name was Fools Exodus. He was a $4,000 claimer. He won his first race. It was cool.” Maker was hooked for life. He would eventually become his father’s assistant before he briefly ventured on his own in 1993, winning his first race April 28, 1993, at Detroit Race Course. Maker was 24 years old. He saddled 12 additional winners, including Macheath in the Sir Sprite Handicap at Detroit on September 6th. The purse was $12,000. That year, Maker’s horses earned $55,761. Maker decided he wasn’t really ready to be on his own. He reached out to trainer Dallas Stewart, then working at Oaklawn Park for none other than Wayne Lukas. Stewart hired him. Thanks to Stewart, Maker got to work for his boyhood idol Lukas, beginning as an exercise rider, then becoming barn foreman and an assistant trainer. “Dallas is a great guy, very well liked,” Maker said. “Wayne was like a sports hero in my eyes. I thought I was very privileged to land in that spot. He was great. Great job; great memories.” And Maker blossomed. In 1997, Stewart left Lukas to open his own stable. Maker took over the Churchill Downs division for Lukas, racing summers at Monmouth Park. “I was fine with it,” Maker said. “The way I thought was, it was just different racetracks. I loved Louisville.” Maker is just another member of the Lukas Training Tree, joining other former Lukas assistants who have become top trainers, including Todd Pletcher, Kiaran McLaughlin,
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