HURRICANE, Utah — A horse initially trained at the Washington County fairgrounds in Hurricane is heading to bluegrass country to compete in the legendary Kentucky Derby.
Pavlovian, a horse first trained by John Brocklebank of Red Cliffs Racing, will run for the roses Saturday, although currently considered a longshot, given 40-1 odds to win.
Brocklebank has a long history of having an eye for horses that others may overlook, and first saw Pavlovian in November 2024.
"He wasn’t the talk of the town. He just gradually had this better and better and better," said Brocklebank. "If they're going down the stretch and he's eyeballing you, I'm not saying that he is going to put you in a headlock and win for sure, but you're going to know. What did I get into?"
Tari Brocklebank, John's wife and co-owner of Red Cliffs Racing, remembers when she first heard about the horse.
"I heard John come home all the time and say, 'Oh, this horse is going to be, oh my gosh, Tari, I'm so excited. Oh my heck. This is the one this is the one!' and he doesn't do that with all of them," Tari said.
Tari added that her husband is "such a horse whisperer," finding young horses and turning them into superstars.
This is not Brocklebank's first time sending a horse to the Derby. In 2006, he did the initial training for Brother Derek, who was the favorite to win on Derby day but fell just out of the top three.
Brocklebank described his work as similar to a preseason NFL training camp. He initially breaks horses in before they move on to other trainers and major races in California and beyond.
"I think we have a recipe to develop a good horse through the camp," he explained. "They walk in as a ninth grader and then ready to go to college, you know, within seven months."
Utah does not have pari-mutuel horse racing, so locals are often surprised to see a horse racing track at the fairgrounds near Purgatory Jail. The track serves strictly as a training ground.
Brocklebank said it is an advantage to start horses in the quiet surroundings of the Hurricane track before they eventually end up on the California circuit at Santa Anita and Del Mar.
"As they walk into camp, they're not overwhelmed by 600 horses out on the racetrack," Brocklebank said.
A year ago, Washington County briefly considered getting rid of the track.
"I'm so happy they kept the track alive," Brocklebank said. "They finally had kind of thought, well, no, there's more value than what we think here."
That value is evident this weekend, as a Kentucky Derby contender got its start in Washington County.
Brocklebank fell in love with horse racing in the late 1970s while he was on scholarship to play football for Utah.
"I went down to Draper Arena, and I saw one horse. His name was Little Town. And it was like, I just could not get away from it. You know, and I started missing practice, and I had just decided I'm not doing football no more," he shared.
Now, his second horse is off to the Derby.
"If you like 200,000 people and the electricity, the greatest two minutes in sports, they are not wrong about that," explained Brocklebank. "I actually feel sorry for people that's never been exposed to it."
