“Equithrive is a unique product that is extremely effective in managing the chronic inflammation associated with competition and training.” - Greg Fox, DVM
TRAINER OF THE QUARTER
KEL LYN GORDER The EQUITHRIVE Trainer of the Quarter has been won by Kellyn Gorder. Kellyn and his team will receive a selection of EQUITHRIVE’s clinically proven supplements for the barn. Bill Heller
hen trainer Kellyn Gorder fell head-over-heels in love with horseracing as a kid growing up in Worthington, Minnesota, he had an idol. “I wanted to be a rider,” Gorder said. “Steve Cauthen was my hero. I wanted to be just like Steve. I read The Kid (Pete Axthelm’s brilliant biography of Cauthen) 10 times. I wore it out.” Not only would Gorder go on to work for Cauthen’s brother, Doug, at WinStar Farm, but he would meet Steve and train a couple of his horses. And that was before Gorder would train his first superstar, Sandra Sexton and Brandi Nicholson’s brilliant three-year-old filly Red Ruby. Of course, Gorder had no idea that he’d make it as a Thoroughbred trainer, but he knew one thing at a very early age: he loved horses. And he didn’t get it from his fath her, a sch hoollteach her, nor his moth her,
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an office worker. “I didn’t know where I got it, but I had the horse bug,” he said. “In grade school, I signed all my papers Cowboy Kell.” Gorder was 10 when his parents bought him a pony and converted their garage into a stall. Two years later, he went to work with horses. His neighbor, Dale Peters, was the sheriff of the county and a Thoroughbred owner. “I told him when I was old enough, I wanted to start working for him,” Gorder said. “I did, when I was 12.” Quickly, he got a break. When the young man galloping horses for Peters tore his ACL playing football, Peters asked Gorder, “Do you want to get up?” Gorder continued, “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “I said, ‘Heck, yeah, put me on.’” Gorder got his jockey’s license when he was 16. Wh hen he grew too big to
continue riding, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Gorder turned his attention to training. He spent one year with Harris Farms in California, then had the great fortune of being hired by Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, which allowed him to return to the Midwest. Gorder survived a humiliating first day for Van Berg when his saddle slipped on