Donna Barton Brothers was a jockey from 1987 through 1998, with top mounts such as Hennessy, Golden Attraction, and Boston Harbor. After over 1,100 wins, she retired to pursue several interests, such as being a television commentator for the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup. She is the Chief Operating Officer for Starlight and StarLadies Racing, and is the Strategic Advisor for the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition.
Who do you think is the most important figure in world racing history?
I’m going to say John Magnier, as the guy that formed Coolmore. It started from his own quaint breeding operation, then added Robert Sangster’s money into it. Later Michael Tabor joined them. I feel like he influenced the breed more than anyone in recent times.
Which is your favorite venue and race?
My favorite race is the Kentucky Derby. I’ll never forget the first Derby that I saw live in 1988. Every year we have a starting gate full of 3-year-olds that we have not seen run against each other yet. Every year it has all sorts of possible outcomes and elements of surprise and reasons to think big, even if you breed small, and reasons to think big, even if you breed big!
There is something for everyone, and it also has the added advantage of not just being a horserace but a major fashion event, a sporting event, an entertainment event, a party event … It has so many elements to love about it. If someone who doesn’t like racing can’t find an element to like about the Kentucky Derby, then they are not fun and I don’t want to hang out with them.
My favorite venue is Keeneland. I moved quite a lot, going to seven different schools in five different states. My mother [Patti Barton] was a jockey in Kentucky from when I was ten to 14. She always says she won 1,201 races, but the one race that meant the most was the one race she won at Keeneland. I get choked up talking about it.
For us it was so iconic. At that time, we were Latonia and River Downs people, so to get to go to Keeneland to watch my mom ride a race was meaningful. My brother was in the win picture; it was a school day, but mom thought he could learn more at the track.
I started riding as a jockey in 1987 and I had never ridden at Keeneland until 1993. I was riding at Arlington Park, and I went there on my way to Gulfstream Park for the winter. All my clients, such as David Carroll, Tom Proctor, and Carl Nafzger, were going to Keeneland for the fall meet on their way to Florida, so opening day I was on four horses and I won three races. To do that there with what it meant to me sealed the fate on it being my favorite place ever.
Then in 2015 – I know when people talk about American Pharoah all they talk about is the Triple Crown and being the first horse in a long time to do that - but I felt like the most impressive race and the one where I felt the most gratitude was being on the track when he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. He was facing older horses for the first time, and delivered for all of us in a way we didn’t expect.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
For sure Winning Colors when she won the Kentucky Derby in 1988 (see video below). It was my first Derby live, and she was the only filly in a field against boys. She wasn’t the favorite but was respected.
I was 23 years old and was riding with the bug at Rockingham Park but had been served a 3-day riding suspension. My sister said, “Why don’t you come to Kentucky for the Derby?”
I started watching the race from the rooftop of a barn on the backside. I watched the race into the second turn, and as they ran by us approaching the turn I got off the barn and ran inside and watched it on a small TV with 20 people standing around. It was emotional and such a thrilling finish. It seemed to be everyone in that group was rooting for her. I’ll never forget that.
What do you see as the biggest challenge racing faces today?
Fractionalization. We are all over the place. We really need to be unified in a way we haven’t been before if we are going to achieve what we haven’t before. One of those things is keeping our customer base and then growing our customer base. We cannot be as fractionalized as we are and still grow our customer base.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
I’m going to be biased, but I think the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition tracks [Del Mar, Keeneland, NYRA, Churchill Downs, and The Stronach Group] and the Breeders’ Cup are working together really well to implement meaningful change.
If all the racetracks would work along with them, that would be amazing. This year there has been a phase out of Lasix in 2-year-old races, and beginning in 2021 it will extend to all Graded stakes races at Coalition tracks. A lot of the tracks won’t join the Coalition because you need a place for those Lasix horses to go … right? No. No you don’t. The only reasons they don’t get on board is to draw horses the Coalition tracks aren’t able to get because of a rule like no Lasix, which is a good rule.
The Coalition tracks and the members that represent those tracks are working diligently and hard together to do what’s right for the horse. I think every track should just do what they do. They’ve worked hard to come up with really good guidelines for other racetracks to at least look at.