The 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding Mad House left Tampa Bay Downs last spring with a 0-for-4 record, filling his trainer David VanWinkle with uncertainty about what came next.
VanWinkle, who began training Thoroughbreds in 1989, knew Mad House had potential. The well-bred son of Vekoma out of the Munnings daughter Stifled Heiress finished second in his career debut on Jan. 8 sprinting 6 furlongs to John Hancock, the Brad Cox-trained colt who won the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes in his next start.
But after that promising debut, Mad House turned in a trio of perplexing performances, including an uninspired fourth on March 30 in the 7-furlong Florida Cup Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes. As he prepared to take Mad House to Canterbury Park in Minnesota for the late spring and early summer, VanWinkle probably felt like a game-show contestant holding 100 keys, only one of which unlocks the door to an elusive victory and continued success.
“We had tried to stretch him out in distance at Tampa, and I don’t think that was his cup of tea,” VanWinkle said. “He was always sound and didn’t have any setbacks, but he was a little bit high-strung and it took him time to figure things out. It took him a while to put everything together mentally.”
If you’re a serious horse racing fan, you already know Mad House has developed into one of the sport’s leading Cinderella stories of 2025. Owned by South Dakota resident James Thares, Mad House has won four races in a row since breaking his maiden on June 29 at Canterbury, including the Grade II, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania.
That front-running victory, in which the 23-1 shot sped 6 furlongs in 1:08.77, earned Mad House a spot in Saturday’s $2-million, 6-furlong Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in San Diego.
Luis Saez will ride Mad House, who drew the No. 13 post in the 14-horse field. The race is the sixth on the card, with a scheduled post time of 1:21 p.m. Pacific Time (4:21 for Tampa Bay Downs simulcast viewers).
Tampa Bay Downs will simulcast all of the Breeders’ Cup races Friday and Saturday, with Friday’s Del Mar action starting at 11:35 a.m. Pacific Time and Saturday’s races getting underway at 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time.
Mad House flew to southern California on Thursday from south Florida, where he worked a sharp 4 furlongs last week in 47.10 seconds. VanWinkle arrived on Saturday, jogging the horse about a mile on Sunday and galloping him a mile-and-a-half Monday and Tuesday.
“He is fit and feeling good. He has adapted well to being out here,” said VanWinkle, who will return to Oldsmar for the upcoming Tampa Bay Downs meet when he descends from the clouds.
The 63-year-old conditioner, who hails from the small Nebraska town of Burchard (population roughly 120), has found preparing his first Breeders’ Cup entry an exhilarating experience. Being surrounded by celebrities from the racing world and beyond has taken some getting used to.
The Gallant Bob was the first graded-stakes victory of VanWinkle’s career, and all of a sudden he and his horse have graduated to racing’s biggest international stage.
“I’ve seen a few (A-list racing personalities) since I got here,” VanWinkle said, referring to the top practitioners in his profession. “(Fellow trainers) Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher, I saw them at the (post-position) draw. It is quite a good feeling to be here. It is something you never plan on – I didn’t.”
VanWinkle, who is a three-time leading trainer at Canterbury, will be joined at the event by his wife Pam and daughter Taylor, his assistant.
After serving notice that sprinting was his thing in his first career victory, an 11 ½-length romp in a 5 ½-furlong race, Mad House won a pair of 6-furlong allowance races at Canterbury in July and August, but his three-race winning streak up north didn’t hold much weight with Gallant Bob bettors.
VanWinkle admits he wasn’t sure what to expect. “He was stepping up against much tougher competition, and I’d have been happy to have him hit the board,” the trainer said. Despite early pressure from another longshot, eventual third-place finisher Fire Pit, Mad House was able to stay comfortable on the lead under jockey Paco Lopez through taxing opening fractions of 21.58 seconds for the quarter-mile and 43.94 for the half.
Mad House drew off late to defeat runner-up Gateskeeper, an 83-1 shot, by 2 ¾ lengths.
The quality of the performance, and the winner’s share of $217,500, made the decision to try the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint relatively easy. “When he won a couple at Canterbury, his heart got built up and we could tell he was liking his job. You could say he is peaking at the right time,” Van Winkle said of Mad House, who was bred by Jean White, Wavertree Farm and SGV Thoroughbreds, LLC.
“He’ll be going up against a lot of older, more seasoned horses, but he has developed well so hopefully that won’t be an issue. Paco said he wasn’t pushing hard on him early (in the Gallant Bob) and that he knew he had horse left late if he needed it, so that was encouraging.”
In Saez, another of the sport’s most accomplished jockeys, VanWinkle believes the outside No. 13 post will not be an obstacle to performing his best. “With his running style, he is probably better off out there than down on the inside if something were to happen,” VanWinkle said.
Mad House’s morning-line odds are 30-1. The prerace favorite at 5-2 in last year’s Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up, 4-year-old Florida-bred Bentornato (last year’s Gallant Bob winner). Bentornato is trained by another Tampa Bay Downs conditioner, Jose Francisco D’Angelo, and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Two Sprint entrants besides Mad House have competed at Tampa Bay Downs. One, 4-year-old colt Patriot Spirit, won the 2023 Inaugural Stakes and was unplaced as a 3-year-old in the Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes. Patriot Spirit is trained by Michael Campbell and will be ridden by Javier Castellano.
The other is trainer Wesley Ward’s 6-year-old gelding Nakatomi, who finished third here in the 2024 Pelican Stakes. He will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.
Trainer Mark Casse’s 3-year-old filly Nitrogen, the winner of this year’s Grade III Florida Oaks on the turf at Tampa Bay Downs, and trainer George Weaver’s 5-year-old Florida-bred mare Dorth Vader, the 2022 Sandpiper Stakes winner, will compete in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Jose Ortiz will ride Nitrogen and John Velazquez will be aboard Dorth Vader.
Trainer Chad Brown’s second and third-place finishers in this year’s Grade III Tampa Bay Derby are also Breeders’ Cup competitors. Chancer McPatrick, the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, will be ridden by Jose Ortiz in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Brown’s gelding Hill Road, third in the Tampa Bay Derby, competes in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf under David Egan.
