DUNAMISTHOROUGHBREDS All Horses
FLATTERING HEART · “DAISY”
A horse almost
no one wanted.
The $2,000 Keeneland sale filly who stole our hearts, carried our family to Churchill Downs and ultimately became a winner.
APRIL 14, 2021
WHERE IT BEGAN
“I can’t believe it.”
As the bidding stalled at Keeneland, you could hear the auctioneer say it: “I can’t believe it.” Daisy sold for just $2,000. We purchased her privately for $7,000 after the sale.
She was a Flatter filly out of a Medaglia d’Oro mare, with a pedigree that deserved a second look. But her knee gave people a reason to look away. We saw a good horse available for a good value—and we took a chance.
FALL 2022 · BANNON WOODS FARM
Bringing Daisy home
After we purchased her privately, we brought Daisy back to Bannon Woods Farm. Before the racetrack, before morning works and before we knew where this journey would lead, she was simply our horse.
This was where we really got to know her—and where she began stealing our hearts. Rachel kissed her, sat beside the fence while Daisy lowered her head toward her, and spent time with her in the barn. I walked the fields with her and watched her settle into her new home. Long before Daisy ever reached a starting gate, she had already become part of our family.
She wasn’t a racehorse to us yet.
She was Daisy.
IN THE FIELD
Her first home with us
Daisy had time to be a young horse at Bannon Woods. The field, the barn and these quiet family moments became the true beginning of her story with us.
APRIL 1, 2023
Learning at Buck Pond
Daisy went to Buck Pond Farm, where Doug Arnold and his team gave her the time and foundation she needed. These were the early breaking days—the quiet, unglamorous part of the process where a young horse begins learning what her future will ask of her.
She became more than a prospect during those months. Rachel loved her, our family fell in love with her, and “Flattering Heart” simply became Daisy.
AUGUST 1, 2023
She made it to Churchill
Doug Arnold personally vanned Daisy to Churchill Downs. Seeing her standing in Eddie Kenneally’s barn made everything feel real. The $2,000 Keeneland sale horse had officially made it to the big time.
Daisy blossomed with Eddie. She trained over one of the most famous racetracks in the world while Rachel made sure she never lacked attention back at the barn.
ONE MORE REP
Preparing for her first race
Daisy’s final work showed us that breaking sharply was not yet her strength. She received extra gate training and paddock schooling leading into her debut—more repetition, more patience and more chances to learn.
CHURCHILL DOWNS · SIX FURLONGS
Seeing her name in the program
There is a different feeling when you open the program and see your own horse’s name. Daisy was really there, in the Churchill Downs paddock, preparing for her first race.
It wasn’t the result we hoped for, but we cheered her all the way around the track and yelled her name when she crossed the finish line. Back at the barn, the result didn’t matter to Rachel. Daisy still received every bit of her love.
“So many lessons to be learned—but Daisy was still Daisy.”
TURFWAY PARK · ONE MILE · ALL WEATHER
Now we knew she could run
Jockey Declan Cannon came to the paddock with a plan. He told me Daisy had never gotten involved in her first race, and this time he was going to get her moving early.
She broke slowly again, but Declan did exactly what he said. At the half-mile pole, he asked her to go. As she began circling horses on the far outside, I felt like I was listening to a replay of the 2004 Derby.
She moved with the eventual winner and looked headed for the top two before getting walled off inside. Daisy nearly stopped—but somehow found her stride again and rallied to finish a strong second at 13–1. The 16–1 winner and Daisy blew up the tote board.
It didn’t feel like a win—we wanted the winner’s circle—but it was something to be proud of.
Priceless smiles
Back in the test barn after her second-place finish, the smiles on Shelby and Rachel’s faces said everything.
FOUR WEEKS LATER
My biggest lesson in the claiming game
Eddie called and said he was entering Daisy back for a $7,500 maiden claiming tag. I asked whether he thought she would be claimed. The purses were too good, he said, and we needed to take a shot.
Knowing what I know now, she was almost guaranteed to be claimed. A filly with her pedigree, coming off a second at that level, racing for $7,500 at Turfway in December was exactly what regional horsemen came to Kentucky looking for. There was a three-way shake for her.
Daisy went off at 7–2. She didn’t get the trip she needed, but still finished a respectable third. It was the last time she would run under our colors.
The jockey that night, Joe Rocco Jr., saw the distress on Shelby and Rachel’s faces and promised we would have a chance to get her back. He was right. Daisy eventually ran again for a $5,000 tag—but only after three or four more races and after breaking her maiden in Ohio.
By then, we had learned valuable lessons, moved on to other horses and chose not to claim her back. Daisy’s time under our colors was over, but what she taught us has shaped every horse that came after her.
She became a winner.
For every six- or seven-figure horse that never makes it to the races—let alone wins one—there are horses like Daisy. Horses overlooked by nearly everyone, given an opportunity by someone who believes in them, and capable of reaching a level no one thought possible.
Daisy completed her career with 11 starts, one victory, three seconds and one third, earning $36,285. We still have her in our Equineline database, but there have been no recent updates and she has not begun a broodmare career as of yet.
Flattering Heart may not have been the horse anyone expected to remember, but we will never forget her.View Daisy’s Equibase record
There will always be a special place in our hearts for