Born: August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas
Resident: Louisville, Kentucky
Family: wife, Sue; daughter, Jennifer Lynne
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky in 1984
Racing Background: Kenny grew up in Lexington and played football at Tates Creek High School. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, his roommate asked him what he loved.

“It was easy,” he said. “The answer was horse racing.”

First big horse was Tejano Run, who ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 1994 and was second in the 1995 Kentucky Derby. Purchased for just $20,000 for Monroe, Tejano Run earned in excess of $1.1 million on the racetrack.

“The most rewarding aspect of being a trainer is the challenge of working with an owner to discover a diamond in the rough,” said McPeek.

He picked out Repent and Take Charge Lady for $230,000 and $175,000, respectively, at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling Sale. Repent was a solid second in the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and won 4 graded stakes including the Louisiana Derby. In referring to his ability to spot yearlings and make them into graded stakes winners, he said,

“I’ve trained enough bad horses to know what they look like and enough good ones to know it when I see one.”

Another astute purchase was She’s A Devil Due. Bought for $30,000, she finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2000…Conditioned the now-retired Harlan’s Holiday to win both the Florida Derby and the Blue Grass Stakes before starting as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby in 2002. McPeek won the Belmont Stakes that same year with Sarava, the longest shot on the board at 70-1.

“It was awesome,” he said. “But I still want to win the Kentucky Derby one day.”

McPeek has won over 80 stakes in his career, over 30 of them graded.  McPeek also specializes in the purchase of many South American older horses with which he has had success in North America. Hard Buck (BRZ)  won 3 stakes in the United States, as well as finishing second in the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) and Queen Elizabeth States (Eng-G1). Latest star, Einstein (BRZ) , was purchased as a yearling and holds great promise after winning the Gulfstream Park Breeder's Cup Handicap (G1) in his stakes debut against older horses.

His recent purchase of the old Pillar Stud in Lexington, renamed "Magdalena", will add a new dimension to the service he can provide his clients. This facility will have European style gallops of turf, polytrack, and sand which will enable horses to be trained in both right and left handed directions. Horses will be able to have turnout time as well, impossible to do at most American racetracks.