Our Trainers

Wayne Catalano

Wayne Catalano started his career in horseracing as a jockey in 1974. In 1977 he was the second leading jockey in North America, by 1983 he had won 1,792 total races. His career as a jockey ended early due to a knee injury and he immediately turned to training.

Now, at age 57, he is considered by most to be the greatest trainer in the history of Arlington Park. He has been the leading trainer there for 10 out of the past 12 years, no other trainer in their history has ever been this dominant. In the summer of 2012 he continued his success and broke his own record for number of wins in a meet.

Catalano’s secret for success, “First and Foremost, I had a great teacher,” says Wayne. “I was brought up under Jack Van Berg, one of the best horsemen in the country. He taught me Horsemanship.” As a jockey Wayne rode mainly for US Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg.

Wayne’s first major stakes success wins came with Crypto Star, who captured the 1997 G3 Louisiana Derby and G2 Arkansas Derby en route to a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. In 2006, he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Dreaming of Anna and a second time in 2008 with She Be Wild. Both were voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly honors. In 2011, Catalano won his third Breeders Cup event, capturing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Stephanie's Kitten.

Wayne currently has racing stables at most of the major tracks in Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Florida. He has won various titles at several of these tracks as well. He has won over 90 stakes races at tracks across the nation and currently ranks 17th leading trainer in North America.

Wayne’s current stats for 2013 are as follows: 125 wins out of 621 starts and earnings of $5,551,523.

Eddie Kenneally

Eddie was born and raised in Ireland. He has always been around horses. His father, Tommy, rode hunters and broke horses, while his uncle John Kenneally was a jockey who later became a trainer. His brother Johnny operates Erinvale Thoroughbreds, one of the largest consignors in Australia. Eddie came to America in 1987 to start a career with thoroughbred yearling sales. He started training in the early 1990’s under trainers Tom Skffington and Niall O’Callaghan.

In 1997 Eddie started Kenneally Racing and won his first stakes victory in 1999. He has since won many other stakes races. One of his biggest career wins was with Kelly’s Landing in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2007. Other stakes winners include Brushfire, Belle of Perintown, Saratoga Sinner, Custom for Carlos, Ballymore Lady, Victorianna, Vicki Vallencourt, and Catcominatcha to name a few. He is currently training several likely contenders for the 2012 Kentucky Derby.

Eddie’s honesty is one of the first things we noticed about him that set him apart from many of the other trainers. His work ethics and management skills are also exceptional. He knows his horses and loves his job. Ron Rashinski, owner of Bushfire and Custom for Carlos, said this, "There are a lot of good horsemen out there, but I really think Eddie's honesty and integrity in our dealings with him have been foremost in cementing our relationship with him. We're not horsemen, so we rely on outside people. When you trust people the way we do Eddie, you feel right about being in this business."

Having started in America with yearlings, Eddie is known for having an impeccable reputation for picking them at sales. Since he opened his public training stable he has continued to pick yearlings for his racing clients. One of his top picks, Bushfire, was a finalist for an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly in 2006 after three grade 1 victories. Eddie picked this horse at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Yearling Sale for a client of his, acquiring her for a mere $37,000. He has also picked many other very successful yearlings and 2-year-olds for his clients since.

Eddie’s current stats for 2013 are as follows: 50 wins out of 292 starts and earnings of $2,612,295. That’s well above the average and places him in the top fifty trainers in North America.