HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Kenny McPeek never anticipated he would be training racehorses upon securing a double degree in business finance and accounting from the University of Kentucky back in the mid-80s. But fast forward to Friday and the 61-year-old horseman enters the race week one win from 2,000 training victories. He also has a flourishing stable stacked with promising 3-year-olds like leading Kentucky Derby contender Mystik Dan, and training centers in Kentucky and Florida. “It’s been an interesting journey,” said McPeek. McPeek, who grew up in Lexington, Ky., has Northern Flame and Common Defense in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel and Band of Gold in the Grade 3, $400,000 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. “I was passionate about racing since I was a young kid,” McPeek said. “I can remember going to Keeneland with my grandfather when I was around 5 or 6. I remember learning how to read a pedigree by time I was 11, 12. I started looking at horses and reading pedigree as a hobby. I never really had any intention of becoming a horse trainer.” But that all changed through a series of fateful events. McPeek was shopping for jobs in finance and found little opportunity in the mid-80s. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “There weren’t any jobs – interest rates were at 18 percent,” he recalled. “I had a conversation with my roommate the night of my last class, and he asked me a prophetic question. I said, ‘I need a job,’ and he said, ‘What do you love?’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s easy. I love horse racing.’ “It was 4:05 a.m. and he slapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Good. Do it. I’m going to bed.’ I contemplated for a few minutes, put on my army jacket, ball cap and boots, stumbled down the stairs of my apartment, and drove to Keeneland and got a hotwalking job. “My mother was beyond displeased.” McPeek said after about a month and a half, he knew he was not making the kind of money needed to sustain himself and decided to take another run at jobs in finance. But opportunities were still lacking in a suffering financial market that had even left his father going through some difficult times. “My dad asked me to help take care of a couple of [racehorses] until he figured out how to sell them, and so I helped him out for what was supposed to be two or three weeks,” McPeek said. “We had to borrow saddles and bridles, and in the beginning didn’t even have any pitchforks. “My father was supposed to get his trainer’s license, and the day of his appointment to go take the test, he called me and said he was worried he wasn’t ready for it and he wouldn’t pass. So, I went down, told them the name was spelled wrong, and that it was supposed to be Ken and not Ron and I took the test.” It was the start of a new career for McPeek. His first win came with one of his father’s horses, Final Destroyer, on Oct. 27, 1985 at River Downs. “When I won my first race it was such a rush that I said, ‘Oh, I’d like to do that again, that was fun,’ ” McPeek recalled. Through Tuesday, McPeek had compiled a career record of 1,999 wins from 13,314 starters for stable earnings of $117 million. He was to have had starters in two races Wednesday night at Turfway Park, starters on Thursday at Fair Grounds and Turfway, and on Friday at Oaklawn. “I’m just worried about one horse at a time,” McPeek said. “I’m looking forward to 3,000.” McPeek’s 19 individual Grade 1 winners include champion Swiss Skydiver, who won the Preakness; Sarava, who won the Belmont; and Take Charge Lady. He is looking for his first Kentucky Derby win, and will be attacking the preps as he said he could have starters in the Louisiana Derby, Arkansas Derby, Jeff Ruby Steaks, and Blue Grass. Mystik Dan is on target for the Arkansas Derby, he said, and has been prepping at Fair Grounds. McPeek also has a division at Oaklawn, where Band of Gold won the Martha Washington, the first Kentucky Oaks points race of the season here. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  McPeek has selected many of the barn’s young prospects at auction, building a significant bloodstock business along with his training career. He generally is looking for young horses for the classics, and first works with new acquisitions at his training centers of Magdalena in Lexington and Silverleaf near Ocala. “I think anybody who develops young horses is interested in winning the Kentucky Derby and I have clients that have a parallel ambition,” McPeek said. “I’m in a stage in my career today that I have primarily young horses.” McPeek – who selected Curlin as a yearling at auction before the runner was sold by clients and went on to become a two-time Horse of the Year – is coming off his most successful season. He amassed $10.7 million in stable earnings in 2023, winning 83 races from 655 starts, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. Safe to say, McPeek’s training career has turned into a good investment. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.