Plane Crash Survivor Rigney Talks Owning Jonathan's Way

Tom Pedulla is interviewing prominent owners, trainers, and jockeys as they compete on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. This first installment this year features Richard Rigney, whose Rigney Racing owns promising Jonathan's Way, a son of Vekoma who is preparing to make his 3-year-old debut Saturday in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) going 1 1/8 miles at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans. The Risen Star launches the Championship Series on the Road to the Derby and will award qualifying points to the top five finishers according to a 50-25-15-10-5 scale. Jonathan's Way, who already has 15 qualifying points, won half of his four starts at 2. His only poor result came in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar, where he wound up seventh. He has shown an affinity for Churchill Downs, taking the Sept. 14 Iroquois Stakes (G3) and later rebounding from the Juvenile to finish second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) Nov. 30. Rigney discusses why he struck out on his own with Rigney Racing, his strong working relationship with private trainer Phil Bauer, and surviving a plane crash early last year as well as his Kentucky Derby (G1) prospects with Jonathan's Way during a question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of America's Best Racing. PEDULLA: What led you to come into racing? RIGNEY: I'm from California originally. When I was in my early 20s, I went to the racetrack for the first time. It was harness racing. I had so much fun I went to Santa Anita the next day to see the Thoroughbreds. I had a great time. I started to go to Santa Anita, and I was hooked. PEDULLA: How did you get started owning horses? RIGNEY: I ended up moving in 1987 to Kentucky to start my business, which is Clarendon Flavors (manufacturing flavors for the distilled spirits and beverage industry). It was probably 2008, somewhere around there, that my wife (Tammy) decided she was going to go into a partnership with (trainer) Kenny McPeek. She had five shares in Dream Empress, who won the Alcibiades (at Keeneland). It was just so much fun. Then she took a smaller share in a horse named Noble's Promise (fifth, 2010 Kentucky Derby). Kenny was our trainer, and Phil Bauer was his assistant. I would always go to the barn and Phil would be the guy I was in contact with most of the time. I said, 'Phil, I think I want to do this in a bigger way. What do you think of you and I doing this together?' PEDULLA: When was this? RIGNEY: It was 2013. PEDULLA: With the majority of owners seeking partners to help manage costs, why do you go it alone? RIGNEY: I get to be part of the management team here, where most owners don't have that opportunity. I'm involved in a lot of the decisions with Phil. We do it together. At first, Phil and I were terrible at this. The horses we picked were bad. Everything turned around when John Moynihan started buying horses for us. PEDULLA: How many horses do you have, whether in your racing or breeding operation? RIGNEY: We have more than 100 horses (20 are broodmares). PEDULLA: You really took the plunge. RIGNEY: Yes, I am in deep. PEDULLA: How has Jonathan's Way transitioned from 2 to 3? RIGNEY: From all signs, he's transitioned well. We've had 2-year-old runners that didn't transition to 3-year-olds. A lot of times they've had their day as 2-year-olds. We don't see any signs of that, but you have to understand we haven't even raced this year. The Risen Star is going to play a huge part in which direction we will be going. PEDULLA: He's only run one poor race, but it was in the Juvenile. What do you think went wrong that day? RIGNEY: I felt that race was a great learning experience for him. If you watch the race, he was put in a situation where, for the first time, he was getting kickback. He didn't like any part of it. The next time we raced him he was sitting midpack. He was getting kickback, and he handled it much better. PEDULLA: If all goes well in the Risen Star, do you know what might come next? RIGNEY: If he runs well, he'll keep on the Derby trail. Nothing is set in stone. We might stay at Fair Grounds or we might try to do the Blue Grass (Stakes April 5 at Keeneland). We're not in it to be 100-1 in the Derby. We want to be a contender. We want to look out for our horse's best interests. PEDULLA: What is your strategy when you buy horses? RIGNEY: With John Moynihan, we buy two different types of horses, yearlings that we know are going to be for Rigney Racing and we pinhook horses, too. It's kind of fun for us. We like being in every aspect of the game. The last couple of years John has started buying some weanlings for us. Jonathan's Way was purchased as a weanling (for $290,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale). PEDULLA: We do not see many Ohio-breds as Kentucky Derby prospects. Did that aspect bother you? RIGNEY: That's the thing that I've kind of learned with John Moynihan. He's looking at the physical and he's putting athletes in front of you. PEDULLA: If you have Derby fever, when did you get it? RIGNEY: When I was with Phil, from the very beginning I had Derby fever. PEDULLA: How much does Phil mean to success? RIGNEY: He means everything to success for us. When you meet him, it's easy to see that he's a super-nice man. It's not only him being a top trainer. This is a partnership between us. I know his kids. He knows my kids. He goes on vacation with us. I got him to start scuba diving with us. He's one of my best friends. PEDULLA: In meeting him at Saratoga last summer, I can see him being really easy to get along with. RIGNEY: You have to have the right partnership in the situation we're in with Rigney Racing. The one thing about Phil that really shocked me, and I never expected to have to do this, was when we started losing races, he was so upset. I'm the owner. I'm trying to calm him down. It's more personal to him about losing than it is to me. I'm the guy who is always saying, 'Let's look long term.' PEDULLA: What is it about Phil as a trainer that is appealing? RIGNEY: Phil is going to look at each individual horse every day. It's not going to be the same way in training every horse in the Rigney Stable. It's going to be based on the individual horse. I think that's huge for us. PEDULLA: It sounds as though he puts the horse first. RIGNEY: We're looking out for the best interests of our horse. We're looking long term. We have no problem giving a horse time off and restarting. PEDULLA: Did the plane crash change your perspective on life? RIGNEY: My wife sweats everything. I'm like, 'Honey, we're lucky to be alive. We're lucky to have these things.' PEDULLA: What do you see as the future for Rigney Racing? RIGNEY: I'm planning on plugging away and doing exactly what we're doing. I can see it now, making a big splash selling yearlings. I see that. It's taken us a long time. Phil's made the page for all these broodmares, graded stakes winners and multiple stakes winners. I see that we're going to do well in that part of the business. The racing part is the most important to me, and I'm going to just keep trying.