Maria Borell, the trainer who guided Runhappy to victory in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Sprint, will learn on Friday whether she can resume her career in Kentucky. The 42-year-old has not had a runner since 2016 and is seeking a new training licence after a two-year hold-up.
Runhappy triumph and dismissal
Borell famously trained Runhappy to win the Sprint in 2015, collecting the £500,000 first prize, the culmination of a five-race win streak while in the care of her, then virtually unknown. Yet the day after the big race, she was dismissed by Runhappy's previous trainer Laura Wohlers, sister-in-law of owner James McIngvale, the furniture tycoon known as 'Mattress Mack', being told her services were no longer needed.
Although she tried to make a new start in Florida, Borell has not sent out a runner since 2016 when she was accused of animal-neglect offences involving horses found on her father's Kentucky farm. After a public outcry, she was eventually cleared of the charges, which were dismissed and the record expunged, and the case closed. However, she has been unable to persuade the Kentucky racing authority to grant her a new training licence.
Licence application and hearing
Her application will be heard again on Friday when the board of the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation will vote on whether to accept the recommendation of a specially assigned hearing officer that she should be entitled to a licence. Borell took part in an all-day evidentiary hearing after which the officer concluded there was no evidence to deny her a licence, describing the Board's reasons as “vague and inconsistent”.
Borell told Mirror Racing: “I originally handed in my application in November 2024. Eventually they set up a hearing and in June 2025 they recommended withdrawal because I would be denied. “We reapplied right away and I was denied outright. So we asked the Corporation for a full panel hearing where there is a hearing officer and then a vote but they outright refused. We filed a lawsuit and the judge said Kentucky had to give me this hearing. “That was October last year so on March 31 this year we had a hearing with the hearing officer who recommended I get a licence and that the Corporation did not have any evidence for the reasons they denied me a licence and now we have the vote on Friday.”
The grounds given for refusing a licence were “lack of candor; failure to satisfy the financial-responsibility statute and regulation; and the ‘where have you been?’ theory, which questioned whether Borell's absence from Kentucky racing affected her horsemanship skills and ability to train horses”.
Career revival hopes
Despite leaving the state, Borell says she never stopped being around horses. She competed at shows, worked with vets and passed a trainer's test before being granted a licence in California in 2025. Nevertheless she continues to endure social media harassment, though not enough to force her to abandon her hopes of reviving her career.
She said: “I love horse racing. I was wrongly pushed out of it. Why would an innocent person give up? I didn't do anything. “During Runhappy I signed over the LLC to my Dad. I had moved to Florida and wasn't responsible for the horses involved. I trusted and believed that everything would be under control. I didn't think there was going to be an issue. I regret not being there to help but I wasn't managing the farm and was not in charge of things.”
Borell, who is writing a book in which she will tell her story for the first time, says she has owners ready to support her in the state if she is granted a licence. She has a payment plan in place which is addressing outstanding vet bills. She continued: “I've done my best to fix things. I took my trainer's test again in California. I've had horses this whole time, just not racehorses. I've helped out with vets. “I just want the board to give me a shot. I have nothing to hide. They can come in my barn, look at my horses, check on them whenever they want. “I'm completely comfortable with that. I just want the chance to work and be judged on what I actually do. “I'm not denying I have faults but I would never hurt an animal. I've never had any violations at a track, neither drug nor disciplinary violations. It's been so upsetting the image that has been portrayed of me. It sucks.”
