Oklahoma native and lifelong horsewoman Corie Anderson was captivated by her first visit to Kentucky.
Enchanted by the state's deep-rooted Thoroughbred racing culture, she knew immediately that she wanted to build her life in Louisville. Ten years later, she won her first race as a trainer at Churchill Downs, and followed that excitement up with a purchase of an Olympiad colt, now named Psalm One Eighteen, at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
While in school to become an English teacher, she traveled to Louisville for her brother's graduation, where he took her to the museum at Churchill Downs.
"I'm looking around, and there are horses everywhere; I had that feeling like, 'I need to be here,'" Anderson said.
Anderson visited a restaurant with her brother and was immediately hired, prompting her quick decision to move to Kentucky. She hired someone to haul her and her horse there, and the rest is history.
While serving at the restaurant, she noticed a man wearing cowboy boots and asked him if he worked with horses. That man was multiple graded stakes-winning trainer Ron Moquett.
"He told me to come out to Churchill tomorrow, and he'd give me a job," Anderson explained. "The next day I went and started hot walking at his barn. I was hot walking at 4 a.m., and then going to the restaurant and working all day. I wanted to learn so bad, how to do more, and how to be more involved."
Driven by a desire to make more money and prove her eye for a horse, Anderson eventually quit her job at the track and focused on learning the ins and outs of the horse sale world.
"I went to the Keeneland September Sale, and I just sat a chair down, and from the first horse to the last horse, I watched every single horse walk through," she said. "I was studying, taking notes like, 'What did that one sell for? How was it bred? OK, that must be popular.'
"Then I'd go back and look at it at the barn to see what it looked like, and why it brought that kind of money."
With just $1,000 to use for a potential pinhook, Anderson purchased a filly by Magician out of Charming Vixen for $1,100 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"That's all I had to my name, and so that's where I really learned to love the hunt for it. It had to work; I had no job, I had to make money to pay my bills."
Anderson said the filly's low price was because of X-rays that made many buyers wary.
Before the September sale, the filly's half sister, Charmaine's Mia, placed second in the Catch A Glimpse Stakes at Woodbine, and later won multiple graded stakes races for trainer Phil D'Amato, and place third in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) behind Golden Pal .
"I thought I was making big money. I got her for $1,100. I called the trainer and said, 'I have the half.' He said, 'How much do you want?' I said, '$10,000.' He gave me seven (thousand).
"I was so proud of myself. That was the first one I got, and I just kept doing that. Every horse I've bought has won a race."
With a limited budget, Anderson had to work hard to refine her eye for horse flesh.
"I'd say that's my niche, and my passion is that under-the-radar quality."
Anderson said she also has an appreciation for "old blood."
"We get caught up in what's new, hot, and commercial that we often overlook what's proven, simply because it's a bit aged," she said. "I'm always trying to hunt down the diamond in the rough."
While attending the sales, Dutch Harness Horse phenomenon Clarke Vesty took Anderson under his wing, providing her with a wealth of horse knowledge. Though he specializes in show horses, he is also a licensed Thoroughbred trainer.
"I spent two years learning from him, pinhooking on the side, buying for $1,000, selling for $5,000-$10,000, as a way to make a living, until I knew enough to get my trainer's license.
"Clarke Vesty, he poured the most into me as far as training and horsemanship. Fausto Gutierrez has helped me a lot, too; he's taught me a lot. He trained Letruska; he's a good mentor. Mohamed Moubarak helped me the most in the sales and looking at horses. He really refined my eye."
Last month at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale, Anderson spent a more substantial amount of money on a promising colt by Olympiad, going to $45,000. She co-owns the horse with some of her clients, with shares still available.
"I watched all the (under-tack) previews, and I was looking at horses the next couple of days. I kept seeing him, and he reminded me of a horse I'm around here (Churchill Downs), named Quatrocento. He's a graded stakes winner. He's in my barn; I am in the same barn as (trainer) Fausto Gutierrez.
"I thought he'd be a good value because he doesn't look like he's going to be an early 2-year-old, but he's got a good page. I kept coming back to him, because I really liked him physically."
The colt is out of the Street Cry mare Cry Hallelujah, who is the dam of six foals to race, all winners, including stakes winner Supercommittee.
The colt now named Psalm One Eighteen holds a special place in Anderson's heart.
"The day I bought him, I had the children's song stuck in my head—'This is the day the Lord has made.' Psalm 118 is a verse in the Bible that says, 'His steadfast love endures forever.' I just felt God's presence heavily with me that day as I worked, and I wanted to name the horse something that, when people look at their program and are betting off their favorite name, maybe somebody will look it up and be reminded they are loved."
Anderson's plan for the future is to keep buying athletes, as well as pinhooking. This summer she will offer yearlings at public auction by Colonel Liam , Omaha Beach , and Mitole , while also on the hunt for horses to add to her growing training stable.
"I absolutely love the sales. I just really have the passion for it, and for finding the horses and following them. I want to grow so much more as a bloodstock agent."
An emerging talent in the Thoroughbred industry, the 28-year-old Oklahoman is on track for a bright future.
