Name: Terry Finley

Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My favorite childhood memory: Going to the Kentucky Derby in 1978 and watching Affirmed and Alydar battle it out to the wire.

Most influential person in my career: My father, Daniel Finley. He led by example.

My out-of-the-box idea for Thoroughbred Racing: As a prerequisite for getting licensed every year, you have to show proof that you introduced our sport to at least five brand-new people who didn’t know about it before.

How I was introduced to Thoroughbred racing: By my father, he was a big racing fan and he was a schoolteacher who always went to the racetrack after school and during the summers.

Other sports/teams I follow: The Philadelphia Phillies. I also love Major League Soccer.

Why I love competing in Thoroughbred racing: Very few, if any, of us owners can still compete on the fields of friendly strife ourselves, so the competition in the horse racing business seems to replace that desire for on-the-field competition that a lot of us had when we were younger.

My heroes: Pope John Paul was somebody I admired immensely. John McCain, if you really read his story, makes an indelible mark on you. And the Staff Sergeant who won the Medal of Honor, Salvatore Giunta—he risked his life to make sure his buddy didn’t fall into the hands of the Taliban.   

My favorite athletes of all-time: Jackie Robinson is one; I had the honor of serving on the Jackie Robinson Foundation board and I’ve gotten to know Rachel Robinson fairly well. Coach “K,” Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, he’s a fellow West Point grad and he’s always set the example of what a person involved in sports, and a human being in general, should aspire to be. Another person I really admire is Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero. You look at his life and body of work and now he’s out booking mounts for Johnny Velazquez as an agent, and he’s definitely been a role model for people in the industry. The last athlete would be one of our West Point runners, Macho Again. He showed up to work every day; he wasn’t the most talented or the prettiest horse, but showed up every time he ran, and he took a lot of people on a real magical ride.

Most treasured possession/memento: I have a picture of my dad that I really treasure, taken when he was a young man in the Navy.

A Pet Peeve: I don’t have many because as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized everybody’s fighting the good fight of life, but probably the thing that gets under my skin most is somebody not upholding his word.

Book(s) I am reading or have recently read: I’m right in the middle of The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, and I just finished the George W. Bush biography, Decision Points. One of the things I like to tell kids when I get a chance to talk to them is that in five years the only things that are going to make a difference in our lives are what we read and the people we interact with.

Favorite Magazines: I like Forbes, Men’s Health, Sports Illustrated and Soccer America.

Favorite websites I visit daily/weekly: Huffingtonpost.com, equidaily.com, drf.com and bloodhorse.com.

Gadget I cannot live without: My Droid.

Hobbies away from Thoroughbred Racing: I like to work out. I like to run. I’m starting to get a little bit into boating, and in the last five years I have gotten into soccer because my son plays.

Favorite movies: I like The Shawshank Redemption, Rudy, and Seabiscuit.  

TV shows I watch: 60 minutes. We don’t watch a lot of TV, but I like American Idol too.

Favorite foods: Veal Parmigiana, or anything from Siro’s (in Saratoga Springs, New York).

Favorite vacation spot: Any one of the islands in the Caribbean.

What I drive: A Lexus 300.

If I could be a guest on any TV talk show it would be: The Late Show with David Letterman.

If I could appear on any television show it would be: Curb Your Enthusiasm.

If I could be on stage with any musical group, the instrument I would play would be: The saxophone, and I’d love to play with James Taylor.

Favorite musician/band: James Taylor

Favorite actor: Morgan Freeman

Newspaper I read daily: The Wall Street Journal

I’d like to have dinner with the following three people: Jackie Robinson, Warren Buffett and Ronald Reagan

Best racetrack food can be found at: The backstretch kitchen on the main track at Saratoga.

Accomplishment I am most proud of: Raising two kids who are well-adjusted and well-prepared to enter the working world. That really is my main one.

My philosophy on life: At all times, do not take yourself too seriously.

Favorite quote or motto: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Things I collect: Equine artwork.

Favorite charities: Thoroughbred retirement initiatives, breast cancer awareness, and an organization I’m on the board of called the Catholic Leadership Institute, which provides management and leadership training for priests.

Celebrity/prominent personality friends include: Rachel Robinson, a bunch of people in Congress, and a bunch of CEOs.

Favorite authors: I like Thomas Friedman, and also the guy who wrote Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.

Favorite animal other than a horse: Dogs

What actor would play me in a movie: Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise

Favorite non-Thoroughbred racing sports event I have attended: The Super Bowl

Three words that define what Thoroughbred racing means to me: Lifestyle, Passion, and Love.

The historical figure I most identify with: Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln.

The living person I most admire: One of my modern heroes is General Petraeus. He’s looked upon as a superstar right now, and I think the history books will treat him very kindly. If you look at what he’s done for the country and military for the last 10 years, it is very humbling.

No. 1 Bucket List item: Go on a cruise to Alaska.

Congratulations to photographer Vicki Vinson, winner of this week’s Fan Photo Contest! From Vicki: "I caught a history making shot of Love and Pride as she passed by the newly unveiled Zenyatta statue to go on minutes later and win the very first running of the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on 9/29." Want in? E-mail your submissions with a brief caption to photos@NTRA.com!

Thistledown is hosting a live NHC qualifier on October 27. Get registered today!  Click here for the official rules.

Horestourneys.com will be hosting online contests October 27 and November 4. Click here to enter.

TwinSpires.com satellite qualifiers are running every Wednesday-Sunday.  Click here for the online schedule and contest details.

FAIR GROUNDS BACK IN DECEMBER
Start making your travel plans to attend the December 15 Fair Grounds NHC event.  Details coming soon!

BREEDERS' CUP BETTING CHALLENGE
There is still time to enter the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge held at Santa Anita Park during Breeders' Cup weekend, November 2 and 3.  Contact Tim Schram at tschram@breederscup.com for details.

DAILY RACING FORM NHC TOUR LEADER BOARDS
Curtis Meyer (Parker, CO) increased his advantage on the second-half Leader Board with a fourth-place finish at Surfside. Meanwhile, Mark Streiff (Mission Viejo, CA) added to his full-year lead with two third-place finishes at Surfside. Mark’s full-year points total now stands 15,648 points.

Click here to view the overall full Leader Board standings.

Click here to view the second-half full Leader Board standings.

Oct. 25, 1870: Pimlico, the nation’s second-oldest Thoroughbred racetrack, began its inaugural meet.

Oct. 25, 1947: After winning the Gallant Fox Handicap at Jamaica, a former $1,500 claimer, Stymie, became the world’s leading money-winning Thoroughbred, with earnings of $816,060. Stymie raced two additional years and retired in 1949, at age eight, with lifetime winnings of $918,485.

Oct. 25, 2003: Trainer Richard Mandella set a single-day record winning four Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races at Santa Anita. Mandella saddled Halfbridled to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; Action This Day in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; Johar to a dead-heat win in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf; and Pleasantly Perfect in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Powered by Dodge. The Johar dead heat with High Chaparral in the Turf marked the first dead heat in Breeders’ Cup history. And in guiding Halfbridled to victory, jockey Julie Krone became the first woman to ride the winner of a Breeders’ Cup flat race.

Oct. 26, 1949: Bill Shoemaker rode to his first stakes victory, the George Marshall Claiming Handicap at Bay Meadows, aboard a five-year-old horse named Al.

Oct. 26, 1990: Jockey Julie Krone rode her 2,000th career winner, aboard John Forbes-trained Rainbow Quartz, at The Meadowlands.

Oct. 26, 1996: The Breeders’ Cup was held outside the U.S. for the first time, at Woodbine Racecourse in Toronto, Canada. At Woodbine, Jenine Sahadi became the first female trainer to saddle a Breeders’ Cup winner when she sent Lit de Justice to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Oct. 27, 1870: Preakness won the Dinner Stakes at the newly opened Pimlico Racecourse. In 1873, the first Preakness Stakes, a race was named in his honor, was held at Pimlico.

Oct. 27, 1990: Bayakoa (ARG) became the second horse to win two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Championship races. Both of her victories came in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Oct. 27, 2001: Tiznow, 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and Horse of the Year, won the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic for a second straight year, outdueling European sensation Sakhee in the stretch at the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Belmont Park.

Oct. 27, 2001: Participants in the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships donated more than $2.7 million from their purse earnings to the NTRA Charities - New York Heroes Fund, established to benefit the children and spouses of the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and other victims who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai-based Godolphin stable, which pledged 100 percent of its Breeders’ Cup earnings to the Heroes Fund, donated approximately $2.5 million on the day, thanks in part to wins by two of his horses, Fantastic Light and Tempera. 

Oct. 27, 2001, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel saw his 0-for-38 streak in Breeders' Cup races come to an end when Squirtle Squirt won the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Oct. 27, 2011: Five-year-old gelding Rapid Redux registered his 19th consecutive victory in the sixth race at Laurel Park, equaling the consecutive-win mark held jointly by Zenyatta and Peppers Pride.

Oct. 28, 1972: Secretariat, sent off at odds of 1-10, won the Laurel Futurity by eight lengths at Laurel.

Oct. 28, 1973: With jockey Eddie Maple substituting for Ron Turcotte, who was sidelined by a suspension, Secretariat concluded his racing career with a 6 1-2-length victory in the Canadian International Championship Stakes at Woodbine Racecourse. It was his second victory in as many tries on the turf.

Oct. 28, 1983: Jacinto Vasquez had his 4,000th career winner, aboard Sunshine O’My Life, at Aqueduct.

Oct. 28, 2000: Laffit Pincay Jr. gained his 9,000th career victory aboard Chichim in the $150,000 California Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park.

Oct. 29, 1948: Calumet Farm’s three-year-old Citation entered the Pimlico Invitational Special Stakes unopposed and won in a walkover, earning $10,000 for galloping the 1 3-16 mile course in 1:59 4-5. Another great Calumet runner, Whirlaway, also won the Special in a walkover in 1942.

Oct. 29, 1955: Charlie Whittingham and Bill Shoemaker scored their first stakes victory as a trainer-rider team with Mister Gus in the William P. Kyne Handicap at Bay Meadows.

Oct. 29, 1998: Triple Crown winner and 1970s icon Secretariat was selected as one of 15 subjects to be honored with a commemorative postal stamp in 1999.

Oct. 30, 1937: Sir Barton, the first American Triple Crown winner, died at age 21. After an undistinguished career as a sire, Sir Barton was sent to the U.S. Army’s Remount Division in Nebraska, and then to a ranch in Wyoming, where he remained until his death.

Oct. 30, 1988: After the blinkers on his mount, Roaring River, worked loose, jockey Francisco Torres grabbed them and placed them between his teeth to keep his hands free for riding. Roaring River won the race, at Hawthorne, by three lengths.

Oct. 31, 1944: The saddle cloth numbers of the first five race winners at Jamaica corresponded to the number of the race in which each horse started.

Oct. 31, 1964: Seven-year-old Kelso won his fifth consecutive Jockey Club Gold Cup, a record. In each of those races, Kelso was the odds-on favorite.

Oct. 31, 1987: Jockey Chris Antley became the first rider to win nine races in a single day. He rode four winners from six mounts at Aqueduct and five winners from eight tries during The Meadowlands’ evening program.

Oct. 31, 2002: Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone returned to race riding after a two-year absence.  She finished fifth aboard both of her mounts on the day at Santa Anita Park.

Oct. 31, 2003: Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel broke D. Wayne Lukas’ North American single season earnings record of $17,842,358 set in 1988 after saddling Golden Rahy to victory in the seventh race at Santa Anita.  

Oct. 31, 2007: Trainer Scott Lake registered the 4,000th win of his career when he saddled Hickory Trick to victory in the 8th race at Penn National.

Nov. 1, 1944: Racing returned to Hollywood Park after a three-year hiatus, which followed the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Nov. 1, 1938: Before a crowd of 40,000 spectators, Seabiscuit, under jockey George Woolf, defeated odds-on favorite War Admiral in the Pimlico Special, run as a winner-take-all match race with a purse of $15,000.

Nov. 1, 1947: Man o’ War died at Faraway Farm, Lexington, Ky. He lay in state for three days before being ceremoniously buried on Nov. 4.

Nov. 2, 1968: John Nerud-trained Dr. Fager, carrying 139 pounds, won the last race of his career, the seven-furlong Vosburgh Handicap at Aqueduct, by six lengths. Dr. Fager was subsequently named champion handicap horse, champion sprinter, turf champion and Horse of the Year.

Nov. 2, 1985: Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won his first Breeders’ Cup race, the Juvenile Fillies, with Twilight Ridge.

Nov. 2, 1991: Arazi unleashed a powerful move on the far turn at Churchill Downs to capture the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by five lengths over Bertrando.

Nov. 2, 2008: Broodmare of the year Better Than Honour (dam of Jazil and Rags to Riches, the 2006-07 Belmont Stakes winners, respectively) was sold for a record $14 million at the Fasig-Tipton sale in Lexington, Ky.

Nov. 3, 1923: Tanforan, in suburban San Francisco, opened for a 25-day, non-betting meet.

Nov. 3, 2003: Cash Run, winner of the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, sold for a world record broodmare price of $7.1 million at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in Lexington, Ky.

Nov. 4, 1927: Bateau was disqualified from her third-place finish in the Pimlico Futurity after her jockey, Earl Sande, used the filly to ram the future Kentucky Derby winner, Reigh Count, into the rail. Sande subsequently was suspended for his action.

Nov. 5, 1988: Miesque became the first horse to win two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Championship races when she won the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs.

Nov. 5, 1988: Julie Krone became the first female jockey to compete in the Breeders’ Cup when she rode Darby Shuffle to a second-place finish in the Juvenile Fillies.

Nov. 5, 1988: Ogden Phipps’ four-year-old filly Personal Ensign concluded her racing career with a 13-for-13 lifetime record when she edged Winning Colors by a nose to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs. She was the first American racehorse to retire undefeated in major competition since Colin in 1908.

Nov. 5, 2004: Trainer Dale Baird became the first trainer to reach 9000 wins when Frazee’s Folly captured the eighth race at Mountaineer Park in Chester, W. Va.

Nov. 5, 2011: Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott won his second “Classic” in 24 hours when Drosselmeyer captured the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. A day earlier, Mott saddled Royal Delta to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic.

Nov. 5, 2011: Three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova was denied her fourth consecutive win in the race by 64-1 long shot Court Vision. Goldikova finished third.

Nov. 5, 2011: Joseph O’Brien, 18, became the youngest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race when he guided St Nicholas Abbey to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. St Nicholas Abbey was trained by Joseph’s father, the legendary Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Nov. 6, 1946: Three fillies from Argentina arrived at Newark Airport, having made a journey of 8,250 miles, the then-longest flight ever for horses.

Nov. 6, 1973: Secretariat was paraded before 33,000 fans at Aqueduct, as his final appearance at a racetrack before retirement to stud at Claiborne Farm.

Nov. 6, 1993: The Breeders’ Cup was simulcast to England for wagering purposes for the first time.

Nov. 6, 1993: Lure became the fourth horse to win consecutive Breeders’ Cup events when he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile. The three previous runners with consecutive victories were Miesque, Bayakoa (ARG) and Morley Street (IRE), the latter a two-time winner in the steeplechase division.

Nov. 6, 2010: Zenyatta’s 19-race undefeated streak ended when she was beaten by a head by Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Nov. 6, 2010: Goldikova became the first horse to win three Breeders’ Cup races when she scored her third consecutive triumph in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Nov. 7, 1998: Skip Away finished sixth to Awesome Again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was denied the title of racing's all-time leading money earner. Skip Away was retired after the race with earnings of $9,616,360, second to Cigar, whose earnings total $9,999,815. 

Nov. 7, 2005: Ashado, the second-leading female money winner of all time, was sold at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum for $9 million, a world record auction price for a broodmare.

Nov. 7, 2007: Mario Pino became the 15th jockey in North America to win 6,000 races when he piloted Pass Play to victory in the 7th race at Laurel Park.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25
Serena’s Cat Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $80,000, 7F (T), Belmont Park
      
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27
Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash, 3&up, $350,000, 6F, Laurel Park

Fayette Stakes, 3&up, $150,000, Grade II, 1 1-8M, Keeneland

Bold Ruler Handicap, 3&up, $150,000, Grade III, 7F, Belmont Park

Turnback the Alarm Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $150,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M, Belmont Park

Autumn Miss Stakes, 3yo fillies, $100,000, Grade III, 1M (T), Santa Anita Park

Lady Baltimore Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1 1-16M (T), Laurel Park

Laurel Dash Stakes, 3&up, $100,000, 6F (T), Laurel Park

Laurel Futurity, 2yo, $100,000, 5 1-2F (T), Laurel Park

Laurel Turf Cup Stakes, 3&up, $100,000, 1 1-2M (T), Laurel Park

Pike Place Dancer Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 1M (T), Golden Gate Fields

Selima Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 5 1-2F (T), Laurel Park

Banner Gala Stakes, 3yo fillies, $85,000, 1 1-8M (T), Belmont Park

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28
Pocahontas Stakes, 2yo fillies, $150,000, Grade II, 1M, Churchill Downs

Iroquois Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, Grade III, 1M, Churchill Downs

Chelsea Flower Stakes, 2yo fillies, $85,000, 1M (T), Belmont Park

Incurable Optimist Stakes, 2yo, $85,000, 1M (T), Belmont Park

Eastern Echo Stakes, 2yo, $80,000, 6F, Belmont Park

Tina Tina Too Stakes, 2yo fillies, $80,000, 6F, Belmont Park

November 2 Breeders’ Cup World Championships (Santa Anita Park), 4:00-8:00 p.m., NBC Sports Network

November 3 Breeders’ Cup World Championships (Santa Anita Park), 3:30-8:00 p.m., NBC Sports Network