A few years ago, it was not hard to spot Randy Hill at the racetrack. He was the fun-loving, gray-haired guy in the owners' boxes with the colorful, eye-catching shirt.
"That was just a phase with the wild shirts from hanging out with (television analyst) Jonathon Kinchen. I don't do that anymore. My wife (Marina) told me, 'Enough of that stuff.' ''
In contrast, on days when he has a horse running in a grade 1 or major stakes, you'll find the Wall Street maven in a GQ-worthy business suit—maybe even a morning coat.
"I respect the game too much, so I dress appropriately for a grade 1 stakes," Hill said.
These days that suit has been getting plenty of usage. During the last few years, Hill has been on an incredible roll with his stable. It's one that will culminate Aug. 24 with the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, where he is one of the owners of the morning-line favorite and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Dornoch.
"It's more than a good feeling. I've been in the game a long time and I am not a big player like Mike Repole or Seth Klarman. I have a decent-sized stable but you never think about things like this," said Hill, a New Jersey resident who bought his first horse in 2000. "It's hard to believe the run I've had over the last two or three years. It's like a dream."
About seven years ago, Hill endured almost a year and a half with only one winner. He told his trainer, George Weaver, he was poised to exit the sport. Then he won a $50,000 claimer.
"I was back in," he said.
In more recent years, with a stable of 30 horses with partners in each of them, Hill has ridden the crest of a wildly successful wave. He won the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot with Crimson Advocate last year as Weaver became just the third American trainer to capture a race at the world-famous meet. Hill was resplendent in top hat and tails receiving the winner's trophy.
"That was unbelievable for me," Hill said. "It was such a thrill to be a part of something so few Americans have done."
While that alone would be divine for most owners, it was just part of an electrifying stretch.
A part-owner of trainer Bill Mott's multiple grade 1 winner and $3.9 million earner Channel Maker for much of the 2020 turf champ's 2016-2023 career, Hill got Kentucky Derby (G1) fever in 2019 when Vekoma , whom he owned with Gatsas Stable, won the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
Vekoma finished 12th in the Derby—Hill also owned a share of Tax, who was 14th in that edition of the Run for the Roses—but the son of Candy Ride thrived for Weaver as a sprinter. He won the 2020 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and Carter Handicap (G1) before an injury ended his career prior to the Breeders' Cup.
"You start off hoping for a grade 1 win and you get a horse of a lifetime like Vekoma and you are so thankful. George did a great job with him," Hill said. "With a horse like that, you believe you he's the best horse you will ever own."
But now Hill is euphoric about his second "horse of a lifetime" in Dornoch, who is trained by Danny Gargan. A son of Good Magic and full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage , Dornoch joined his brother as a classic winner when he repelled a stretch bid by Mindframe to win the June 8 Belmont at Saratoga.
Bred by Grandview Equine out of the Big Brown mare Puca, Dornoch also won the Remsen Stakes (G2) at 2 and the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) earlier this year. He is coming off a sharp victory in the July 20 Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park. Bought for $325,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale before his bro won the Kentucky Derby, he has earned $2,352,275 for the ownership group of Hill, West Paces Racing, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Pine Racing, and the Two Eight Racing of former major leaguer Jayson Werth.
While Vekoma's biggest wins came during the pandemic, when racetracks were closed to the public and Hill was forced to watch on television, he has been able to enjoy the experience to the fullest this time.
"After getting Vekoma, to have Dornoch is unbelievable," Hill said. "Of all the horses I have owned, none have been like Dornoch. In the Remsen, when they were running all of those fast fractions and he was on the lead, Sierra Leone went by him. And Dornoch came back and won. In all my years of watching races, horses like that don't come back. But Dornoch just said, 'No, no,' and rebroke and won. It was the same thing in the Belmont. Mindframe had him, and then he didn't."
For Hill, who regularly spends his summers at Saratoga, winning the Travers would be another bucket-list item. And he has the 5-2 favorite in a highly competitive eight-horse field that includes the speedy, multiple grade 1-winning filly Thorpedo Anna (3-1), 2-year-old champ Fierceness (3-1), and Remsen runner-up Sierra Leone (7-2), who was second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont.
"I've always dreamed about winning the Travers. My wife says if Dornoch wins, she'll have to put me in a straitjacket," Hill said. "I'm confident but worried. He's never been better and he does things so easily. He's a great horse and a thrill to own."
Hill already owns an unforgettable win at the Spa when Dornoch won the Belmont by 1 1/4 lengths, rebounding at 17-1 odds after breaking from the rail and enduring a rough trip when 10th in the Kentucky Derby.
"It was so wild to win the Belmont at Saratoga, where I spend so much time. I had tears in my eyes," Hill said. "Danny has done an incredible job with him. He's dealt with a quarter crack throughout his career, and Danny deserves a lot of credit for getting him ready between the Kentucky Derby and Belmont."
In all likelihood, the Travers will be Dornoch's penultimate race, as the ownership group has a stallion deal with Spendthrift Farm and the Good Magic colt will head to stud after the Breeders' Cup.
There he will join Vekoma, who is off to a red-hot start as a sire this year with 16 maiden special winners already in his first crop, with 12 of those victories coming in their debut and four of them earning black type.
"I am so proud of Vekoma," said Hill, who has three lifetime shares to his former runner. "I don't know if he'll be a champion sire, but it seems like all of his horses look great and can run."
Of course, before that there's the immediate concern of the Travers, which could cement Dornoch's claim to the 3-year-old male championship and put the dapper Hill in a tuxedo for the Eclipse Awards.
"I love the game and respect the game and I can't wait for Saturday," Hill said. "It has been such an incredible experience with Dornoch and we'll see what happens in the Travers. I had tears in my eyes when Vekoma retired, and it will be the same with Dornoch."
