Camden’s Wooten Stables helped Kentucky Derby horse get his start

Frankie Wooten earned his degree from the College of Charleston, majoring in international business and French with the idea to find fame and fortune with those specialties on his resume.

Daphne Wooten graduated from the University of Virginia, focusing on international studies and Russian, a combination that figured to serve her well in any number of career endeavors.

Somewhere along the way, their plans changed.

Frankie discovered horses, and Daphne continued her life-long love affair with thoroughbreds.

Instead of employing their linguistic skills in the likes of Paris or Moscow, they call Camden home, and their travels these days lead to the thoroughbred meccas called Keeneland, Saratoga and, yes, Churchill Downs.

The latter, storied Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., is their destination this week for the nation’s most famous race, and they have a definite rooting interest in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. One of the favorites, Upstart, learned the ways of the racing world on their farm tucked off Center Road in Camden.

The colt came to the Wootens’ Camden farm, Frank Wooten Stables, in August 2013, and “he knew nothing about racing,” Frankie Wooten said.

He left eight months later, about this time a year ago, and exercise rider Kate Dalton predicted a bright future. Frankie did, too. “I told Rick (trainer Rick Violette) that Upstart had a load of talent,” Wooten said, “and that turned out to be the understatement of the year.”

Upstart won his first start at Saratoga, has placed in all seven of his races -- three firsts, three seconds and a third -- and he compiled that record against quality opposition, mostly in stakes. He ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall, then sparkled this year in Florida with a win in the Holy Bull, a second (disqualified from first) in the Fountain of Youth and a second in the Florida Derby.

He goes to the post Saturday at about 15-1 odds in one of the more acclaimed Derby fields in recent years. The Wootens will be watching and hoping and cheering.

Hundreds of colts like Upstart come to South Carolina each year to discover the ways of racing. Operations like the Wootens’ dot the landscape in Camden, Aiken and in the sandhills around Elloree.

But only a few compile a record to match Upstart’s and only 20 from throughout the world will make the Kentucky Derby.

“The toughest thing we have to do is call an owner who paid a lot of money for a colt and tell him his horse can’t outrun a fat man,” Frankie Wooten said and laughed.

Selecting the thoroughbreds that make a splash on the track is akin to choosing an all-pro linebacker after watching 10-year-old kids in a Pop Warner game. The odds against success are daunting.

“We can look at the pedigree, the physical stature and all those things, but no one ever knows,” Wooten said. He recounted the story about how the high rollers at one auction ran the price over $10 million “and the horse never won anything.”

The yearlings, generally about 25 a year, arrive at the Wootens’ farm and know nothing about the ways of the racing world. The Wootens provide the initial training, “breaking them.” That translates into getting the colts accustomed to a bridle, a saddle and a rider. Then comes work on the track, teaching them how to gallop and work in the starting gate.

“Each horse is treated as an individual, because like children they develop at different speeds,” Wooten said. “Some are naturally easy to break and very willing to please; others are very wary and require many hours of one-on-one time. But no matter how many hours are needed, each yearling is given the time.”

Their “pupils” come from various owners. Ralph Evans, from Greenwich, Conn., sent Upstart to the Wootens after purchasing the colt for $130,000 in a sale at Saratoga. Some sparkle after leaving Camden; Upstart will be the third Kentucky Derby starter “broken” by the Wootens. Action This Day left their farm, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and ran sixth in the 2004 Derby. A year later, Greeley’s Galaxy placed 11^th at Churchill. Another Wooten alumnus, Happy Ticket, earned $1.6 million.

So how did the Wooten’s career plans change during college?

Fate intervened.

Taking a semester off before graduate school, Frankie, who grew up in Boykin, began to gallop horses for trainer Joe Cantey. In addition to riding steeplechasers, he learned lessons from Camden-based trainers Frank Whiteley and Burley Cocks, both hall of famers, before striking out on his own.

Meanwhile, Daphne, who says she rode before she could walk, had been surrounded by horses growing up in her native Virginia. She rode in competition, became a full-time event rider, won championships and had an eye on the 1984 Olympic Games. To help support her eventing career, she began to break yearlings for trainers in Virginia. After graduation, she moved to Lexington, Ky., dividing time among her “day job” at the Thoroughbred Times with working with yearlings in the area.

She moved to Camden in 1986, and she and Frankie married two years later. They purchased their 22-acre farm in 2000 and turned out Derby horses in Action This Day and Greeley’s Galaxy, and now Upstart will head to the post on Saturday.

“Like always, the Derby will be won by the horse that gets the best trip,” Wooten said of Upstart’s chances. “There’s the large field to consider, and the horses will face noise like they never have before.”

Upstart’s strong spring brought him into the top level of contenders, but the pundits dropped his stock after a sinus infection interrupted his training. The colt responded with a bullet workout that opened eyes.

“He had had a demanding spring schedule,” Wooten said, “and getting that rest might have been the best thing for him. He certainly responded. We hope he does again (Saturday).”

No matter what might happen in the Derby, the Wootens will be back at work early Monday, and who knows -- a Derby horse for next year might be already in their barn.

This story was originally published May 1, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Camden’s Wooten Stables helped Kentucky Derby horse get his start."