On the morning after her first-ever Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell – with her first runner in a top-level race, no less – trainer Lindsay Schultz had already covered the distance from the Jersey Shore to upstate New York to oversee her string at Saratoga Race Course.

While their daughter, who is the first woman to win the Haskell in 59 runnings, was hard at work elsewhere, Kathy and Bill Schultz stopped by her barn on the Monmouth Park backside to visit the victorious Baby Vino. With a full understanding of what Lindsay had accomplished in a short time and what this means for her career and her future, they were still basking in the glow.

“We’re extremely proud of her. Words can’t begin to describe how proud we are,” said her mother. “We’ve watched her journey all these years. She’s incredibly independent. She’s incredibly dedicated. She has her nose to the grindstone. She’s up before dawn every day and who knows when she goes to bed at night.”

Bill Schultz said that unlike many women professionals in the sport Lindsay was not a horse crazy little girl and she didn’t start riding until the age of 10 or 11.

“We held her off until fifth grade, when she finally got lessons, said Kathy Schultz. “You surround yourself with the people you want to be like and she surrounded herself with a great group of friends who rode horses. We never owned a horse. So she always worked in (other) barns to be around horses. She’s worked from the fifth grade on.”

In high school Schultz was exposed to the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program and that was her first choice for college. Her roommate at the U of L was Liz Crow, who became the co-founding partner of BSW/Crow Bloodstock and co-owner of Elite Sales.

Schultz took a different path. She started prepping yearlings for Lane’s End Farm, walked hots for Hall of Famer Nick Zito, worked for noted trainer Tom Proctor and Glen Hill Farm, and then was accepted into the two-year Darley Flying Start Program.

In November of 2021 she hung out the shingle for Schultz Racing Stable and in fewer than five full years she has won 144 races, two Grade 3 events (including the 2023 Phillip Iselin at Monmouth Park), and now the Grade 1 Haskell.

Now with 60 horses in her stable, she summers at Monmouth, winters at Oaklawn, and runs strings at Saratoga and Keeneland.

“She’s got one heck of a work ethic. She just keeps going. She’s very poised. She doesn’t get frazzled too much. She’s a person who stays focused. She loves what she does,” says her dad. “We’ve supported her through her entire dream and as she traveled the world with Flying Start. Her passport has been stamped many times. We couldn’t be more proud of her. It’s incredible for us to see her dream come true.”

That dream is about to get bigger. No doubt her current stable of horses will as well.

When a young trainer wins a race as prestigious as the Haskell with a 28-1 shot and Baby Vino has earned a guaranteed spot in the $7 million, Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic through the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, people take notice. The phone starts ringing. To call this a life-changing event is not an overstatement.

“I know that things will change. Lindsay works real hard and she deserves this. She showed me her phone and she had like 300 test messages after the race,” said Jose Flores, her Monmouth Park assistant.

Bill and Kathy Schultz weren’t the only ones still enjoying the afterglow Sunday morning. There was noticeable buzz in the barn.

Said Flores, “It is very exciting. We won a Grade 1 and everybody in the barn is happy today. It really picked everybody up. That was nice for the whole team, and everyone is excited. It makes everyone who works here want to get up early the next day and the day after and keep working hard and keep doing good. We can see the results of hard work. That’s why we won.

“This horse has real heart the way he won was very special. This is something I will never forget. It’s a memory that will last a lifetime. For all of us.”

Baby Vino, owned by Cosmos Stables and Delta Squad Racing, was understandably tired after his Haskell win in the slop, but otherwise in fine condition, reported Flores. Though the Breeders’ Cup Classic “Win and You’re In” saddle towel was draped on a railing opposite his stall, his trainer said she has yet to decide his next move.

He could run in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga at the end of August, train straight up to the Breeders’ Cup, or take advantage of other options.

“We are so happy with this horse and he keeps improving,” Flores said. “We hope he keeps running like the way he was running and there are many more to come big races to come. He’s a good horse. A quality horse. We keep our fingers crossed that everything goes good and he stays healthy.”

No matter where Lindsay Schultz takes Baby Vino her parents will be beside her.

“Since she’s been on her own we’ve followed here wherever she went. We’ve been to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas all those years in the winter and we come here to Monmouth to visit in the summers, and go everywhere in-between. We’ll go wherever she goes,” said her mom.

Lynne Snierson

Monmouth Park publicity staff