Getting to know: Ray Handal

Ray Handal started his first horse at Aqueduct Racetrack in 2014, and 11 years later, operates a bustling stable of around 45 horses at his home base of Belmont Park. With his string of horses and the help of more than a dozen staff members, Handal has become a regular face and name on the NYRA circuit, landing in the top 20 in last year’s trainer standings with a record of 184-29-22-20 and more than $1.5 million in purse earnings. 

Handal’s wealth of experience stems from an eventful journey through several conditioners across racing circuits on the East Coast, each chapter providing the lessons needed to become one of New York’s top trainers year-round. 

The 36-year-old native of Sacramento, C.A. lived in Jamaica for a short time as a child before moving to Florida, where he spent his formative years with his father at the racetrack. It was there that he fell in love with the sport and was inspired to carve out a path towards a career training racehorses. 

“When we moved back to the U.S., we moved to Fort Lauderdale and I used to go to the racetrack, mostly Calder, with my dad,” Handal recalled. “That’s where I had my first American experience at a racetrack, and they’re my earliest memories. I fell in love with the culture, the people, the lifestyle, and the competitiveness. At a young age, I just immersed myself in the game. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Handal fondly recalled one quiet morning of hotwalking when he was 13 at Gulfstream Park, a day that cemented his idea of making the horses his life’s work. 

“I hung around the racetrack and met some friends, and there was this lady named Rose that was like a mother to me. She hotwalked in the mornings and she took a liking to me, saw how passionate I was, and took me in with her to do the rounds one morning with Steve Penrod at Gulfstream,” Handal said. “I hotwalked a couple horses, and that was when I immediately fell in love.

“I think every kid wants to be a jockey, but then I realized I was going to be too big,” Handal added, with a laugh. “I liked the idea of having a team and working and winning races, and it’s something I envisioned for myself. Even when I was hotwalking, I had it in my mind that I was working towards being a trainer. I was like a sponge soaking it all up.” 

Once he turned 15, Handal got a job hotwalking for trainer Larry Bates before several different tenures with various South Florida conditioners and a stint at Colonial Downs in Virginia helping to run a string for Bates with his assistant. Throughout his experience at Colonial, Handal gained a reputation as a hardworking, promising young horseman, and was introduced to the late Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. 

While Handal was steadily becoming a dependable horseman on the ground, he felt learning how to ride would benefit him as he continued his journey towards his own training operation. 

“I was heading up to Saratoga to groom horses for Jonathan and we had to stop at his farm in Pennsylvania,” Handal said. “I had always wanted to learn how to ride, so I asked Jonathan if he would teach me. On a whim, I canceled my Saratoga plans, stayed on the farm, and took to riding really quickly.”

Another winter back in Florida at Palm Meadows with veteran conditioner Michael Matz, and another spring at Fair Hill in Maryland made Handal eager to return to a racetrack setting. He later found himself at Keeneland working for Ken McPeek, a trainer Handal said pushed him in areas of racing he had not explored before in his previous roles. 

“Kenny needed riders, and he’s so well-renowned in the industry and has a tremendous eye for horses,” said Handal, who is closing in on 300 career wins. “He was great, and taught me how the business side of horse racing works – the structure, numbers, staffing – a different side of things than the horsemanship side. He really wanted me to go back to school, which I did, thanks to him pushing me.”  

With a business degree and plenty of experience now on his resume, Handal was ready to make the leap to assistant trainer, and the opportunity came with a trainer Handal had long hoped to work for: multiple Grade 1-winner Anthony Dutrow. 

“Tony was always one of my favorite trainers. I had told him one summer at Saratoga that if anything came up, I would love to work for him,” Handal recalled. “Well, I got a call out of the blue one day that they needed help running the barn at Aqueduct. Tony was amazing, he really mentored me, and he tied everything in from the business side of things to the horseman’s side.” 

During Handal’s tenure with Dutrow, the barn won several Grade 1s while also managing a competitive string of claiming horses, a scope that allowed Handal to work with horses in all levels of competition. 

When Dutrow took his string of horses to Fair Hill in 2014, one of his clients, Sunrise Stables, expressed their desire to keep their horses in New York. Handal had been a part of the team of Dutrow’s horsemen who went to the 2013 Kentucky Derby with Sunrise Stables’ co-owned Giant Finish, and his work with the colt led them to approach Handal about going out on his own.

“They said, ‘we’d love if you’d go off on your own, and we’ll support you.’ I was 25, and I figured I had nothing to lose,” Handal said. “The horses were pretty nice, so I took the shot and never looked back.”

It didn’t take Handal long to find the winner’s circle as his second career start yielded a maiden special weight victory at Aqueduct with Chase the Giant in November 2014. The wins kept coming, and in 2018, he celebrated the first stakes victories of his career as English Soul captured the East View at Aqueduct and the Fleet Indian at Saratoga Race Course as part of a campaign that saw her named as a finalist for that year’s New York-bred Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. 

2023 proved a special year for Handal when Promiseher America provided him with his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct. That win awarded her with enough points to land in the starting gate of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Handal had already been to the Oaks as an assistant with the Dutrow-trained Grace Hall in 2013, but relished the privilege to take his own trainee to the prestigious race even as she finished last-of-14. 

“She was a good filly and that was awesome,” Handal said. “Winning the Gazelle was really special, and she was very honest. We knew we were taking a shot in the Oaks so there wasn’t a ton of pressure. Even though she didn’t win, it was a great first experience there as a trainer, and hopefully we have many more down the line.” 

Handal’s beginnings in New York came out of circumstance with his first client supporting him with mainly New York-bred horses. Handal, who says he much prefers a warmer climate, could have decided to move south once his operation took flight, but said the advantages of New York’s purse structure and bonuses are good reason to stay put. 

“I love New York. I’ve always loved New York racing, and my favorite to watch and follow was always Belmont,” Handal said. “New York-breds are the backbone of racing here and the program keeps people in the middle tier going. It’s great all around. 

“New York is the pinnacle of racing, so to be here and compete here is a privilege,” Handal added. “Could I ever have imagined being here? Yes, but I didn’t think it would ever happen. I feel tremendously blessed and have had a lot of great people along the way that gave me the tools. As long as I have horses that are good enough to compete in New York, this is where I’ll be.”