Billy Koch

Billy Koch is the TOBA November Member of the Month.

Spearheaded by managing partners Billy Koch and Gary Fenton, Little Red Feather Racing bookended Del Mar’s summer meet with stakes victories. On July 21, Conclude captured the Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside Stakes, followed by the Sept. 3 Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby (G2T). On July 30, Gold Phoenix annexed the Eddie Read Stakes (G2T), adding the Sept. 2 Del Mar Handicap Presented by The Japan Racing Association (G2T).

LRF founder Koch majored in Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University. “I was supposed to be in Hollywood, to follow in my grandfather and my father’s footsteps, but I caught the racing bug at a very young age.” He syndicated his first racehorse after graduating in 1991, also befriending (and working with) savvy businessmen like Bruce and David Corwin. “And Bruce loaned me some money and I became good friends with a gentleman named Don Chatlos,” he recalled, “and we bought three horses down in Florida off a farm. And one of the horses was Singletary, who ended up winning the 2004 [NetJets] Breeders’ Cup Mile [G1T].”

“Del Mar’s always been a very, very special place for me personally and I know it is for most of our partners,” said Koch, who primarily resides in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. “And even in the mornings and even going back to the barn area, there’s something about it that is so different. I use the word ‘special’ over and over again, but really that’s the defining word. It’s magic down there.”

He mused, “I think you look at a meet like Del Mar that everybody points to: To win the Oceanside on opening day for a second straight year with a horse like Conclude was basically mind-blowing.”

“As soon as we got him out to Southern California, he trained great,” he said of Conclude, “and obviously [trainer] Phil D’Amato and his team have been more than instrumental in our success.” He added, “And obviously in the Oceanside, everybody was saying he couldn’t get a mile. There were doubters, there were naysayers, and we would take all the clippings and we’d put them on his barn so he could ‘read’ them. He just went out there and proved that a mile was no problem in the Oceanside. Then there were naysayers who said he couldn’t go a mile and an eighth and he proved them wrong in the Del Mar Derby.”

Owned by LRF, Brereton C. Jones, and Madaket Stables, there are no plans for the three-year-old son of Collected. “We haven’t made any decisions,” Koch said. “We actually might give him a nice little break, and just let him be a horse and grow and mature. You’re in the game to be associated with a horse like Conclude, and we are grateful for Bret Jones and Airdrie for breeding such a fantastic animal and for asking us to partner with him.”

Campaigned by LRF, Sterling Stables, and Marsha Naify, stablemate Gold Phoenix is a different beast. “Unlike Conclude, who gets excited and gets all hyped up, Gold Phoenix is the complete opposite,” Koch said. “They compare him to Clifford the Big Red Dog. He is this laid-back Mr. Cool, never turns a hair, just goes about his business.”

The gelding won the 2022 Del Mar Handicap before finishing unplaced in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T). “We took him to Keeneland, and we knew we were going to be a big longshot. We knew we were up against it, and he didn’t run great that day, but we gave him time after that race, and something clicked,” Koch said. After the Breeders’ Cup, the son of Belardo rebounded to win last year’s Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T). Gold Phoenix will likely start in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf.

From graded stakes winners to maidens, Little Red Feather prides itself on connecting partners with their horses. “I think it’s really important for us as a society, our horse racing community, to show off these horses’ personalities. I think that’s something that maybe we’re missing,” Koch said. “I really believe in aftercare. I think it’s one of the most important aspects of our sport.”

“Obviously, we’re in a precarious position in the life of Thoroughbred racing, where we are in our world right now and what we’ve seen recently, with some of the negatives that have come out. And I think it’s all of our jobs to work together to make it as safe as possible for our athletes, for our horses, and do the very best job we can to continue on and make sure safety is our number-one priority.”