Devon Bradley, who works at Bradley Thoroughbreds with her father, Peter, didn’t initially set out to pursue a career in horse racing. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University, where she played soccer, the Kentucky native moved to Boston to sell exchange-traded funds for State Street Global Advisors. But Bradley discovered the lure of horse racing, which drew her away from the world of finance and onto the racetrack. She began working for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, first as a hot walker and then as a traveling assistant. After three and a half years with McGaughey, she joined her father’s team in 2018. The 32-year-old tells BloodHorse she definitely found her calling.
Bradley was interviewed on June 25 and her responses have been edited for clarity and space.
Blood Horse: How would you summarize what Bradley Thoroughbreds offers their customers?
Devon Bradley: We are a full service equine company and I sometimes joke that we are a customer service company. We do a little bit of everything. We represent individuals at all the major public auctions—breeding stock, but mainly yearling and 2-year-old sales. We also buy horses for our BT Racing Ventures and manage all the horses in those races. We probably have about 30 horses in training at the moment. We used to do a lot of yearling to 2-year-old work and now we have a small team that does colts to yearlings. That’s something I’ve taken over.
The last meat and potatoes part is that we sell annual breeding seasons; I would guess probably the most seasons outside of a stud farm—about 350 breeding seasons for clients each breeding season. We also trade quite a few breeding stocks. I love that. The stocks and seasons are most similar to my old job when I sold exchange-traded funds. To me, that’s the really fun part (of the job).
BH: With your early exposure to horse racing, you are not new to the industry. However, you have worked outside the horse racing industry before working for Shug McGaughey. Why the career change?
Database: I grew up going to sales and racing horses with my dad, but I never really thought that would be my career path. I found that when I got into professional life, I was spending all my time on two screens in Boston; one of which was always for horse racing. I found that I was spending extra time and money going to horse racing. At that time, my dad had started going to these races and one of the horses he was training at the time was Spa Day—she was a champion (2014 turf mare) and she won the Breeders Cup (Filly & Mare Turf) (2014). I was interested in the horse racing side of things. I decided to pursue what I really loved and enjoyed, and had always been my hobby, to see if it was something interesting (for a career).
That’s when I started working for Shug. I wanted to see what the end goal was. I was lucky enough to get that opportunity with Shug. I started as a hotwalker and ended up traveling all over the country.
BH: What ultimately brought you to work at BT?
Database: My dad said he thought he wanted to retire (at some point) and said to me, ‘Why not try pureblood?’
The track is tough—365 days a year. Not that my current job isn’t, but I just decided it was time (for a change). My dad saved a spot for me and said, ‘What if we give it a try?’ That was (2018) and we’ve never looked back.
BH: What are your duties?
Database: I do a little bit of everything. We are a small business, a family business and we are a team. We definitely manage the BT Racing Ventures horses together. We do everything together. I also have private clients who I represent at public auctions. I buy for my own clients but at the same time, (my dad) checks my homework. I have a great homework checker.
BH: What is it like working with your father?
Database: I was lucky to spend every day with him. My dad had high expectations, but I think I lived up to them. He expected good work and hard work, and he worked harder than anyone I knew. We worked well together and we complemented each other. It was fun. One thing he told me, from the beginning, regardless of what his opinions were, was that it was very important for me to have my own opinions. So we didn’t always agree. But even when we didn’t agree, he was still my dad and I respected him a lot. It was different from working for a boss because I knew he always had my best interests at heart.
BH: What role did he play in getting you into genealogy and morphology?
Database: All of them. I was also very fortunate to have worked for Shug before working for my dad because I got a different perspective. If you look at the people my dad trained in the Thoroughbred industry, working at Bradley Thoroughbreds is like a trainer working for D. Wayne Lukas.
BH: What is the experience like with Urban owned by BT Racing Ventures and won this year’s French Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and recently finished third in the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot?
French Two Thousand Guineas winner Metropolitan works on June 12 at Chantilly racecourse
Database: He definitely took us on a wild ride. We have the most amazing group of co-owners. We love this stuff.
It’s a risk because it’s exciting to own these horses with other co-owners and experience things that many people don’t get to experience, like owning a share of a horse that wins the French Classic and then runs really well at Royal Ascot.
BH: Which is your favorite BT horse, past or present?
Database: Since I’ve been at Bradley Thoroughbreds, She is Julie (multiple grade 1 winner) is probably my favorite horse. She was the first horse my dad sent me to Saratoga to see for myself (to judge as a private purchase) after I started working for him. Everything about her is incredible. She is truly special.
Bradley Thoroughbreds Devon Bradley International Midwest Region Northeast Region Peter Bradley She is Julie Shug McGaughey State of Kentucky Thoroughbred horse breeding Urban (FR)
