Willis Horton Racing's Legacy Endures in Last Samurai

It was a bittersweet day Feb. 18 at Oaklawn Park when the connections of Willis Horton Racing found themselves back in the winner's circle after Last Samurai's Razorback Handicap (G3) triumph, without the namesake of the operation. Willis Horton, horseman extraordinaire and longtime owner and breeder of many top horses including multiple graded stakes winner Will Take Charge and champion Take Charge Brandi, died last October at 82 after battling pneumonia. When Horton passed, his son Kevin pledged to carry on his father's legacy, and in many ways, he has kept that promise. "My mother and I went to the race together," Kevin Horton said. "We had a great time. My dad will always be with me and everything is in honor of him. We got to have a good crowd together...we needed it." The Razorback was the first graded stakes win for the operation since Horton's passing and it was also jockey Cristian Torres's first win at the level. Kevin says that emotions were palpable as the 5-year-old son of Malibu Moon climbed from the back of the pack to steal the lead away from West Will Power. "It was a big day for us. Last Samurai, we've got a lot of faith in him, had a lot of faith, and still have," Horton said. "He got a real good ride from Cristian Torres and the game plan we had just worked out to a T. There was a lot of good horses in that race. … We're tickled to death." The D. Wayne Lukas trainee had not won a race since the 2022 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) last April. His start previous to the Razorback was a fourth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park. "We went to the Pegasus with the horse and he did a great job there," Horton said. "We were hoping we would have a chance to win it but fourth place was very good. We didn't come away from that disappointed at all." Horton attributes Last Samurai's success to both a love for the Hot Springs oval along with selecting a race that fits his running style best. He says they had an idea of where he would perform well when they purchased him from the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training back in 2020 for $175,000 from the Gene Recio consignment. "Knowing the horse and trying to find his strengths and weaknesses...we knew that he was a distance horse," Horton said. "He's always been a grinder. He's not the fastest horse but he can just keep driving. The deal with him is to not be checking him or pulling back on him because it takes so long for him to get that momentum going." Next up for the horse will likely be a start in the March 18 Essex Handicap (G3) back at Oaklawn. "Hopefully he's around for a while and we can have some fun with him...we're looking forward to that and the horse really likes Oaklawn," Horton said. Along with Last Samurai, Horton has numerous other horses in training including several 2-year-olds which his father and him purchased during their last trip to the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale together, as well as a couple 3-year-olds. "They're with Allen Milligan down in Hot Springs (2-year-olds) being broke down there and they're doing very well. We've got a lot of hopes for those. … Our just turned 3-year-olds, we haven't had the best of luck with those. I don't see any race for points to get on the Derby trail; I don't think you'll see us there." Though a trip to the Kentucky Derby (G1) seems to be out of the picture for now, Horton is optimistic they still have a shot at the Run for the Lilies. "We've got a filly (Take Charge Briana) that we're trying to get things worked out for her, she's really good," Horton said. "Hopefully she can get on the Oaks trail. It's just a re-group type of deal. I know she's a good horse...she's a homebred and we're excited for her." Take Charge Briana broke her maiden last summer at Saratoga Race Course and went on to finish tenth in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1), fourth in the Myrtlewood Stakes, and third in the Year's End Stakes for 2022. She was fourth last out in the Martha Washington Stakes. Though from the outside, business seems to have carried on as usual, there will forever be a piece of racing that will never quite be the same for Horton. "Everything is going pretty good, it's just a big void. When you're around somebody every day, (my dad) and I worked together for years and I could always count on him," Horton said. "When I'm out working around here where we live, I'm always looking over my shoulder because I think I see him coming. "I feel his presence. Everything we do in horse racing is something that he's told me and I'm always going back to that...Hopefully we can stay in it for a while."