Coach Lindsay Schultz’s first day at any racetrack was the 2006 Breeders’ Cup World Championship. She was a freshman at the University of Louisville in the Horse Industry Program, and Churchill Downs year-end events. Her friend (and later roommate) Liz Crow, now a blood test worker, invited her to come with her family. Bernardini and Invaders (ARG) dueled around the time of that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and Schultz was hooked.
“The horses are beautiful,” said Schultz. “I was struck by the amount of money in the wallet and the handle. I grew up in horse shows, and it’s basically people paying for fun. I consider this a real industry and a real business. I’m impressed.”
Since then, Schultz, 34, has worked for two Hall of Fame coaches and spent two years traveling the world learning about the industry through the Godolphin Flying Start program. She’s been on her own as a coach for over a year, winning five races and bets.
The Connecticut-born girl didn’t grow up around horses or among thoroughbred racing fans, but she does have friends who enjoy riding, and Schultz started when she was 10 years old and became a hunter/athlete jumper. Her love for horses expanded when she joined the FFA (Future Farmers of America) organization while in high school. She participated in horse and livestock assessments, and an FFA national conference introduced her to the University of Louisville and prompted her to apply.
After the 2006 Breeders’ Cup, Schultz went to see Churchill every chance he got. The following summer, she took a lucrative job with Hall of Fame coach Nick Zito in Saratoga Springs, NY. After graduating from college, Schultz was selected to participate in Flying Start, a management training program. and leadership. Schultz has had hands-on experience in various Thoroughbred racing fields in Ireland, UK, Australia, Dubai, USA and Hong Kong.
“I tried to learn as much as I could about each aspect of the industry,” she said. “I’ve been on night watch on farms in Australia and the US and learned about mares and ranches. When it came time to do our jobs, I tried to do them mainly with people. horse training.”
Lindsay Schultz
Through Flying Start, she has spent time with coaches John Shirreffs in California and Sir Mark Prescott in Newmarket, England, and with Godolphin in Dubai.
After the program ended, Schultz worked for six years for coach Tom Proctor, whose 1st grade victories included the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) with One Dreamer. She then left to run Glen Hill Ranch in Ocala, Fla. Glen Hill was one of Proctor’s biggest clients, so they continued to work together every day for three years.
A new opportunity arose when Robby Medina, who was a longtime assistant to coach Shug McGaughey in the Hall of Fame, took a job in Kentucky, and McGaughey’s son Reeve moved out. Schultz joins Shug McGaughey, returning as an assistant coach.
Schultz said: “I am so lucky to be joining Shug. “I’ve learned a million different little things from him. Each coach does things a little differently. Shug and Tom are very similar in some ways but also have differences. interesting to see how Shug manages his horses and stables and how he talks to his owners. It’s special to be a part of that.”
She was with McGaughey for a year when Marshall Gramm, a founding partner of Ten Strike Racing, opened another door for Schultz. He told her that if she was considering going out on her own, he would send her some horses at Oaklawn Park and help her ask for a number to get started. Schultz felt like she couldn’t just ignore it.
She earned her first career win at the Hot Springs, Ark., track on January 8, 2022. Schultz picked up three more wins at the Oaklawn 2021-22 meeting before moving in Monmouth Park, where she won six races in just 27 starts. In addition to Oaklawn and Monmouth, she later won races at Colony Downs, Delaware Parkand Churchill Downs.
“Every time we win a race, it’s amazing,” she said. “When we have a horse that we’ve asked for and monetize it and run well, it’s really rewarding.”
An example is Alex Joon . Ten Strike and Schultz asked him for $30,000 in December 2021 in Oaklawn. He went on to win the $78,000 allowance option claim race at Colonial Downs and bet there and at Delaware Park.
Schultz currently trains 15 horses, and 7 of them are Ten Strike runners. She’s scored three wins at her current Oaklawn Park meeting from the nine starts through January 16, and she celebrated her most recent by going to bed early. She’s excited about a pair of 2-year-olds soon to race: Cecile, a dirty kid Mendelssohn owned by Choctaw Racing Stable (Perry Sutherland); and Ten Strike’s Exponential Star, a Accelerator filth.
In addition to racing, Schultz enjoys running and occasionally playing basketball, a sport she participated in when she was in high school. Her parents, sister, and niece still live in Connecticut. Her mother watches every race, and last year her parents were able to come see her compete at Oaklawn Park.
