When it comes to Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism, it's all in the family

Yahoo

01-05-2025

Trainer Michael McCarthy stands outside Barn 35 at Churchill Downs after Journalism had a workout in preparation for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
Common sense tells you that the pressure of being the favorite in the Kentucky Derby can be crushing. If you win, you've met expectations. If you lose, you've failed. Never mind what it took to get to that point. You were supposed to win and you didn't.
So, it was a strange feeling to be around Barn 35 at Churchill Downs where Journalism, the 3-1 morning line favorite, was biding his time in preparation for Saturday's 151st Run for the Roses.
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The mood was light, bordering on festive. Trainer Michael McCarthy was telling jokes. He even walked up to a journalist standing to the side and asked if they needed anything from him. That doesn't happen.
Aron Wellman, managing partner of Journalism's ownership group, was leaning against the frame of the building taking it all in, looking like a young boy about ready to go into an all-you-can eat candy store.
It was a family atmosphere, which alone might explain the reason behind the welcoming mood. They are family, and the best kind, not the one you are born with but the one you choose.
McCarthy and Wellman have known each other since the early 1990s when they were racetrack rats at Santa Anita. Wellman was McCarthy's first client when the trainer struck out on his own after being the chief assistant to Todd Pletcher. Their wives are close friends. Their kids, all between the ages of 13 and 17, are buddies. They spend every Thanksgiving together.
Aron Wellman, a member of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, holds up the trophy after In Lingerie won the 88th Black Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.
(Rob Carr / Getty Images)
'What started as a personal relationship morphed into a professional one as well,' said Wellman, who heads Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, the managing group of eight entities that own Journalism, the $825,000 purchase and winner of the Santa Anita Derby.
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'The majority of our conversations are about life and things other than horses,' McCarthy said. 'It's been comfortable for both of us. It's been a great fit. I'm glad I've been able to keep up my end of the bargain and have the kind of results that Eclipse is used to having.'
This is McCarthy's second Kentucky Derby, bringing Endlessly to the race last year for a ninth-place finish. It's Wellman's fourth, having Destin (sixth) in 2016, Tapwrit (sixth) in 2017 and Gray Magician (19th) in 2019. Tapwrit went on to win the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown.
Wellman's friendly demeanor is what you might expect from the well-spoken former litigator. McCarthy is more known for his businesslike approach to racing.
'Yeah, it's so entirely uncharacteristic of him in the workplace,' Wellman said of McCarthy's sudden lighter tone. '[I think it's because] anybody who is fortunate enough to be around this horse, sees that he's providing us with such confidence and conviction. He's so laid back and so taking everything in stride, such a cool customer. He's thriving. …
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'It's allowing us to enjoy ourselves. We're laughing, we're light, we're trying to keep the energy positive surrounding him. As long as he keeps doing what he's doing, we're going to keep enjoying ourselves.'
Read more: 'Happy to be back': Bob Baffert's Kentucky Derby return includes two horses in the race
The friendship between the trainer and owner goes back more than three decades. Wellman's parents were small breeders and owners in California and had a box at Santa Anita and Del Mar. Close by was a box used by Gary Young, the legendary private clocker. McCarthy liked to hang around with Young.
'Michael sort of sponged off of Gary,' Wellman said. 'I think we all liked handicapping quite a bit, so I distinctly remember a lot of trips down to the paddock to scope out who looked good before races and trying to hustle bets and stuff like that.'
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The pair went their separate ways, with Wellman going to UC Santa Barbara followed by Southwestern University Law School and McCarthy to New York to work for Pletcher. Wellman decided to change careers to one more suited to his love of horse racing. That's when their paths crossed again.
Wellman became a vice president of the horse racing ownership group Team Valor, which had Pletcher as one of its primary trainers.
'Michael was Todd's primary assistant at the time in Kentucky and then in New York, and in my management role for Team Valor, I had to communicate quite often with Michael.'
Wellman left Team Valor to start his own ownership group, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, in 2011. He needed horses. He spotted one in New York, a two-time starter, named Sweet Cat who was owned by Pletcher.
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'When I saw her run in her 2-year-old season at Saratoga, I called up Michael and said 'How's this filly?'' Wellman said. 'And he gave me the thumbs-up and sort of facilitated the acquisition with Todd and then Eclipse had a horse in Todd's barn.'
Things went well as Sweet Cat finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in her first race for Eclipse.
It was clear that McCarthy was ready to go on his own and in 2014 left Pletcher to start his own stable in California.
Read more: Baeza might be good enough to win the Kentucky Derby. But will the horse get a chance?
'Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners was the first outfit to send me horses and we've had a growing relationship ever since, a successful relationship,' McCarthy said.
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Yet it wasn't easy.
'I distinctly remember it,' Wellman said. 'It was just a few horses. He was begging for stalls at Santa Anita and they kind of put us in the back by Baldwin Avenue with a few stalls and just scratching and clawing our way to try to make a business out of it. From there, our careers sort of took parallel paths where he was trying to build his training stable and we were trying to build our racing partnership business. And it's just grown from there.'
Between California and Kentucky, Eclipse has between 15 to 20 horses with McCarthy. Eclipse also uses other trainers such as Pletcher, Graham Motion and Wayne Catalano. Eclipse also has Fondly running in the Kentucky Oaks, the filly version of the Derby, for Motion.
'There's a mutual respect there,' McCarthy said. 'What he does is not easy and he's been able to come up with results time and time again. … Arguably, it's the strongest racing partnership going today.'
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Not lost on Wellman is the path it took to get to the first Saturday in May.
'We're focused on the job,' Wellman said. 'We're on a mission to make history with Journalism. But at the same time, I think our experience has allowed us to really achieve some perspective that it's so hard to do this. It's so hard to get here and we're going to really try to savor this moment because we all recognize how fleeting it can be and we may never get here again.
'I'd be lying if I said this wasn't different because of all the attention and all the hype that is on our horse Journalism. So that's uncharted territory bringing the favorite to the Kentucky Derby. But, you know, I think we're considering it good pressure. This is what we live for. Where else would we rather be and what other position would we rather be in?'
How about in the Winner's Circle come about 7:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.