Improbable Luck was stabled at Shantera Farm, where Rebecca Maker and her team prepared him for the racetrack. Here is an exclusive one-on-one with Rebecca on the colt’s training.

Maker is a master of her craft. We asked her what her first impression of Improbable Luck was.
“Honestly, I think when I look at a horse, I just really see them,” Maker told us. “And I think that some people have it, and some don’t. I can take a glance at a horse, and I can gather in how they are feeling at that moment.” When asked what she does with Improbable Luck, Maker explains, “I’m not really trying to teach him anything. I am just trying to get a good top line on him, which is are the muscles over his back developed well so that when he goes into the track he can start right off on a gallop program.”

What does a day in the life of Improbable Luck look like on your farm?
“He has spent a lot of his younger life stalled up,” Maker explains. “So, I like to keep him out as much as I possibly can for bone development, especially with the young horses. He stays out all night, and then in the morning, we bring him in. At about 11 o’clock, the riders get here, and we have different ways to train. We’ll either train in the indoor arena, we’ll jog a path, or we’ll jog figure eights in a big field. Do a little bit of intermittent lopping. I do not have a racetrack so it’s all au naturel.” Rebecca says, “[Improbable Luck is] a very good mover, and he is just a solid individual. He doesn’t have a bad day. He never misses an oat, and he just goes out and he’s happy every day. He’s got all the makings that you would want to see in a racehorse.”

Maker would know. Her farm has had more top horses than you could count on two hands. Once Improbable Luck finished being prepared by Maker, he was vaned to the barn of his trainer at Churchill Downs home of the Kentucky Derby.