Amoss Handing Off Trainer Duties to LaRose at Keeneland

Nearly six years after walking into the Keeneland barn area as a complete novice to the hands-on world of Thoroughbred racing, Kinnon LaRose will start this year's Keeneland spring meet as the head trainer of one of the country's most successful stables. Veteran trainer Tom Amoss is stepping down as the head of his stable after nearly 40 years as a licensed trainer and handing the reins to LaRose. By no means is Amoss walking away; he will continue to work with LaRose in fine-tuning the young trainer's skills with horses and clients. "I'll be the training wheels for the bike Kinnon is riding, not that he necessarily needs that," Amoss said. "And, I'm a great go-between with our clients as he establishes his relationships with them. "I have to say, though, in contacting my clients and telling them what the plan was going to be and asking them to put their faith in us, every single one of them said, 'OK,'" he added. "That's a real credit to the kind of people that I work for, and I'm really proud of that." Amoss, who is 64, announced this transition March 16, after mulling for a while an exit strategy from a lucrative racing career that has celebrated 4,276 wins nationwide and career earnings of more than $132 million, as of March 17. The Louisiana native also has earned multiple leading trainer titles, with 11 awarded at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and other titles received at Churchill Downs, Hoosier Park, Horseshoe Indianapolis, Presque Isle Downs, Kentucky Downs, and Ellis Park. Tom Amoss Racing Stables has saddled 181 black-type stakes winners to date, including 41 graded stakes winners led by multiple grade 1 winner Serengeti Empress, who won the 2019 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and 2020 Ballerina Stakes (G1) on her way to earning more than $2.1 million. The stable also produced grade 1 winners Big World, Heritage of Gold, and No Parole. These successes and Amoss' background of becoming involved in the racing business out of college with no prior experience with horses, resonated with LaRose who faced the same circumstances in 2020. After graduating from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut with an undergraduate degree in sports management and a master's degree in strategic communications and public relations, LaRose decided he really wanted to be involved in Thoroughbred racing. None of his family members ever owned a racehorse, but they were avid racing fans who made regular summertime visits to Saratoga Race Course from their home in Ogdensburg, N.Y., along the Canadian border. "I was always following the races and decided I wanted to dive in," LaRose recalled. "I had seen Tom on Fox Sports and did my research. He went to college and then went straight to work at the racetrack, so I thought here's someone who can understand where I'm coming from." He sent Amoss an email on a Monday night saying he wanted to work for him and got a call from the trainer Tuesday morning. The 2020 Keeneland fall meet was getting ready to start, so Amoss invited LaRose to meet him in Kentucky. "Tom said he had a few horses running and wanted to show me how they do things at the stable," LaRose said. "We met at Keeneland and he ran three that day and won two races. I thought to myself, 'Man, I'm in.'" Amoss said throughout his career he has looked for opportunities to help younger people get started in the business. "I didn't have anybody when I was coming up. It's a business that doesn't have a good entry point," Amoss said. "I invited Kinnon to the barn to spend some time with me and for me to see what he was about. I knew immediately he was a big-time talent, and I hired him the next day." LaRose obviously had the interest, but Amoss had to see whether he had the will and the drive. The young man started at the bottom mucking stalls and walking hots for 45 days. "I get a lot of people that are interested in coming to work, but the grind is just too much," Amoss said. "But Kinnon embraced it. He loved it. Looking back, I consider myself very fortunate." LaRose, who is 28, said hard work never intimidated him. As an athlete playing Division I basketball, first for Siena College and then Sacred Heart, he understood the dedication and effort required to be at the top of any sport. He is the all-time leading scorer at Ogdensburg Free Academy in northern New York with 1,769 points, and scored 51 points in one game. He went on to become team captain his senior year at Sacred Heart and averaged 10.5 points per game that year. "If you weren't in the gym working and putting in the time, then someone was going to pass you," LaRose said. "It is the same deal with the horses. You show up every day, you put your time in, and really learn about these horses and do your homework. The more time you spend with them, the more you understand their habits—whether they're good or bad—and you learn what suits them. "I had to come in with an open mind," he continued. "I made my mistakes and learned from them and then tried not make the same mistake twice. You just keep showing up every day, and you don't quit." LaRose said Amoss' stable has provided the ideal environment to learn. He said the stable's workers have been supportive, and Amoss has given him every opportunity to succeed. "Tom is straightforward and honest. You know where you stand with him, right or wrong," he said. "He has had a lot of experience working with a lot of different trainers and then he has his own philosophy on things. I'm just extremely grateful for the opportunities and, hopefully, we can continue to make him proud. I'm certainly happy to keep doing this with him."