By Lenny Shulmen, Bloodhorse Magazine
At age 10 Lanni stood at a stop sign in his Montreal neighborhood each summer morning at 4 a.m., looking to catch a ride with a trainer to the local standardbred track so he could work at the stable. A decade later, having loaded up his Volkswagen Golf and driven to Kentucky, he pitched a tent every night at the Kentucky Horse Park while desperately searching for a job so he could fulfill his ambition to work with horses, a calling he got going to the racetrack with his father on weekends as far back as he can remember.
“The horses pick you, you don’t pick them,” Lanni said of his vocation. “I got the bug at a young age. It hits you, and as you get older, you figure out how you can make a living at it. I grew up in a traditional, old-fashioned Italian family, and my father taught us if we wanted something in life, we had to work for it: go get it. Nobody is going to give you anything.”
These days Lanni, who oversees the bloodstock at John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms near Lexington, puts his work ethic on display to about a dozen outside clients for whom he picks yearlings and 2-year-olds out of equine auctions. Short-listing for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Lanni has helped the White-Haired Wonder pick out champion Lookin At Lucky; Breeders’ Cup winner Secret Circle; and grade I stakes winners Eden’s Moon, Contested, Drill, Rolling Fog, Liaison, and 2012 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) runner-up Executiveprivilege. For Glen Hill Farm, Lanni has helped select graded winners Banned and Marketing Mix, the latter of whom ran a tremendous second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT) Nov. 2. Movie theater mogul George Krikorian credits Lanni for bringing grade I winners Starrer and Hollywood Story his way.
Lanni’s father owned harness horses at Blue Bonnets Racetrack near Montreal, and in between school and sports seasons Donato worked there for trainer Andre Lachance, part of Canada’s famous Standardbred family that includes Andre’s brother, Michel, a Hall of Fame driver. “Andre was a real Clint Eastwood-type,” Lanni noted. “He didn’t say much to you unless you did something wrong and then he yelled at you. If he didn’t talk to you, you were doing something right. He taught me about legs, feet, and horses in general.”
The night he completed his final exam to graduate with a business degree from Concordia University, Lanni told his folks at the dinner table he was leaving the following morning for Kentucky. “They thought I was crazy, and looking back at it now, they were right,” said Lanni, “but I was so driven to make it. Pitching the tent every night, having to go to the main house to get water, you just figure out what you have to do to make it work. What I did was what so many immigrants to America have done for centuries. Anybody can come here with nothing, and if you work hard and you’re passionate enough, that allows you to succeed. I always try and remember what those days were like, and I don’t take anything for granted.”
Lanni’s first job came at the Van Lennep family’s Castleton Farms. John Cashman, the general manager of the farm, told Lanni he should go see John T.L. Jones Jr. at Walmac. When Jones told Lanni he didn’t have a job for him, Lanni would not take “no” for an answer, and Jones finally laughed and gave him a shot selling seasons to stallions such as Nureyev, Alleged, and Salt Lake. “I pinched myself that I was working there,” said Lanni. “I got there before the sun came up and stayed till night. I didn’t see daylight for a long time.”
His father’s words ringing in his head, Lanni kept a strong drive to succeed, learning from Jones until the Walmac owner decided to step down, at which point Lanni began looking elsewhere. He found a new home with Sikura at Hill ‘n’ Dale a decade ago and enjoys being part of a close-knit team there.
Said Sikura, “I liked that he was so determined to succeed in this business. We gave him an opportunity, and he’s been great for our organization. Donato is one of the few guys that have the natural skill to look at a horse and identify an athlete. That’s rare. It’s hard picking out horses because a lot can go wrong and you have to constantly prove yourself. He’s very talented, he’s loyal, and I’m proud of his success.”
Lanni, when not out at sales, is kept quite busy at the farm.
“It’s a lot of different hats: it’s challenging, but it’s fun,” said Lanni of Hill ‘n’ Dale, where he recruits horses for the farm’s consignments, sets reserves, sells horses, and helps manage the stallions, broodmares, matings, and seasons. “John gives everyone the tools to do their job,” he said, “and we work together as a team and have one another’s backs. Some people may be clients of mine, but they are Hill ‘n’ Dale clients.”
While managing the Hill ‘n’ Dale bloodstock, Lanni has also made a name for himself selecting racing prospects out of sales. It is another case of his hard work paying off.
“When I came to Kentucky, I’d go to sales and wait along the wall for horses to be pulled out and walked,” said Lanni. “I never filled out a card myself: I’d wait and look at them and do my own evaluation, looking at horses and making notes and watching and observing. I’d watch how the buyers looked at horses. I spent a lot of time with Johnny Jones looking at weanlings and yearlings and foals and learned a lot with him. At Hill ‘n’ Dale, John and (farm manager) Joe Ramsey and I look at the horses together.”
Through his own natural affinity for horses and by analyzing horsemen he respected, Lanni filled his toolbox. At Walmac he had met theater owner Krikorian, who urged Lanni to keep him in mind if he saw something that tickled him at a sale. Lanni took note of a Dynaformer filly that didn’t meet her reserve at the 1999 Keene-land September sale, and she popped back up in an October Fasig-Tipton auction. He called Krikorian and said he had a feeling about her.
“George said, ‘go buy her.'”, Lanni recalls. “I said, ‘what do you mean?’ He said, ‘You like her, buy her.’ I was stunned. This was the first guy who believed in me enough to let me buy a horse. So I bought her and called George. He said, ‘How much did she cost?’ I said, ‘$35,000.’ He said, ‘What’s wrong with her?’ I said, ‘Nothing,’ and he said ‘OK.’ ”
That filly turned out to be Starrer, who became a multiple grade I winner and millionaire. Later, Lanni also selected Hollywood Story for Krikorian, who replicated Starrer’s success by also becoming a multiple grade I winner and millionaire.
“When I met Donato 15 years ago, he was a young guy with a lot of passion for horses: he had a lot of energy and was totally honest,” said Krikorian. “I don’t know anyone that has a better eye for horses than he does, and he’s really on top of his game now.”
Lanni got his big opportunity to shine about five years ago when Baffert, who has a long association with Sikura (Hill ‘n’ Dale is home to former Baffert stars Roman Ruler, Silverbulletday, and Midnight Lute), gave Lanni some leeway in helping him find sale horses.
“Bobby is busy training horses, and I have more time to go to the sales,” noted Lanni. “I know what he’s looking for and what fits his program, so I get out there and scout it out, turn over every rock, and compile a short list. Then he’ll come in and look at those horses, and we’ll go around and look at some others. Sometimes we get lucky, and sometimes we have to pay a lot of money, like with Executiveprivilege, who cost $650,000, a lot for a First Samurai. We stuck our necks out, but she was special, with so much class, and carried herself so well, and obviously others thought the same way. Now she looks like a steal.
“Bobby has trained so many good horses and bought so many he knows what works for him, and he’s taught me more than anybody. He’s always telling me to use my instinct and follow my gut. He also taught me not to focus on the little things that are wrong but concentrate on whether they’re athletes and have the mind to be a runner.”
Baffert said that while he loves looking at horses, he’s relieved to have Lanni helping him because 3,000 would simply be too many to process.
“Donato takes it seriously, he works hard, he’s honest, and I have a lot of trust in him,” Baffert said. “Buying horses is like a game of chess and you are trying to make the right move and you’re constantly learning. I know what flaws I can get away with in training them, and Donato knows what I love, what I like, and what I don’t like.”
That knowledge combined with his work ethic makes Lanni a formidable talent. Lanni said he actually looked at all 3,000 horses at the Keeneland September yearling sale. Not for a long time, mind you.
“I know it’s crazy, but I’m able to get through them all because I know what I’m looking for. Really, all of us are looking for the same type of horse. It’s got to be somewhat correct, have good size, we’re all in on the same traits. But a lot of it is how they carry themselves: their attitude and demeanor. You’re looking for class in a horse, and they either have it or they don’t. You identify that and then hope they have the wheels and the chassis and everything else with it. There is enough time to get through them all, and you go back to the ones you have that feeling about.
“At a sale I keep my book (catalog) closed. I always look at the horse first for an unbiased opinion of it. You never know where the next runner is going to come from.”
Along those lines, Lanni believes a good exercise is to go to breeding stock sales to look at some of the top runners and producers being sold because they offer a different perspective on which horses will run.
“A lot of those horses are crooked: they have a hind leg you wouldn’t buy or a front end you wouldn’t buy,” he said. “Most of them are not what you think they’d be. That’s why so many yearlings that cost so much money don’t run, and the ones that don’t bring money do. You can’t measure heart and the will to win.”
Rolling Fog and Executiveprivilege both came out of 2-year-old sales to become grade I winners this season. The buying process is different with 2-year-old sale horses because they breeze leading up to the auction, giving buyers more information.
“First, you keep your ear to the ground about certain horses,” said Lanni. “Then, you watch them breeze and gallop out and watch their attitude coming onto the track and leaving the track. You study their stride, their mechanics, their action, the way they carry their head, the way they move, and how they hit the ground. Rolling Fog (by Posse) and Executiveprivilege were by two cold sires, and if they were yearlings I would have had a quick look at them. But when you see them perform, well, the 2-year-old sales have worked for Bobby for years, and he has taught me.”
Craig Bernick, who runs Glen Hill Farm for his grandfather, Leonard Lavin, speaks of the camaraderie of Lanni, himself, and Tom and Hap Proctor in picking out Glen Hill runners such as graded winners Marketing Mix and Banned. Lanni looks at his three years with Glen Hill and sees not only good horsemen but good people that relate well to one another.
“People like Bob Baffert and Tom Proctor are tremendous trainers,” said Lanni. “The odds of you buying good horses are always against you, but it’s crucial who owns them and who trains them. People who will give them time to mature and not run them until they’re ready, that’s how you improve your chances.”
When Lanni, 43, isn’t working with or riding horses, he’s most likely spending time with his 4-year-old daughter, Mariabella, whom he calls “the best thing that ever happened to me.” Many of Lanni’s clients might say the same about him. His customer list has grown right along with his success rate.
“As you buy more and they start running and you build a reputation of being involved with certain horses, people give you the opportunity to work for them,” he noted. “If you do a good job, you stay employed. If not, you don’t. But so many people have to do their jobs in order to get to that piece of real estate in the middle of the racetrack. The grooms and assistants, and the owners, who deserve so much credit. It’s hard to win at this. Sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes you’re not, but you keep turning over every rock.”