Dale Romans, who has won over 2,250 races including the Dubai World Cup and three Breeders’ Cup races, has entered the race to succeed Republican Mitch McConnell
A renowned US racehorse trainer has announced a bid to represent Kentucky in the US Senate. Dale Romans, 59, has won over 2,250 races and his haul of big race successes include three Breeders’ Cup victories, a Preakness Stakes and Dubai World Cup in 2005 with Roses In May. Among his best known horses have been Kitten’s Joy and Keen Ice.
The Kentucky native has been active in the racing industry as president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association and serves on the Kentucky Horse Racing & Gaming Corporation, the regulator of horse racing in the state, an appointed made by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.
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He has now entered the race to succeed Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, standing as an independent Democrat.
Romans has been critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and its impact on racing’s workforce.
“I’ve travelled around the world, but I also saw the plight of the immigrant workforce we needed back here,” Romans said in an introductory campaign video. “The ones that are here working, doing jobs that are necessary in this country. We need those people. We don’t need a fight, we need a fix.”
Romans said the nation’s borders must be secured and that people living in the United States illegally who commit crimes should be sent back to their home countries.
But raids by immigration agents under the Republican administration, he said, have created fear and resentment in targeted communities, sometimes ensnaring innocent residents while hurting businesses and the economy.
Romans joins a large field of Republicans and Democrats competing in 2026 for the Senate seat held since the mid-1980s by McConnell, who is retiring when his current term ends. Kentucky’s primary election is in May.
“We need a senator who reflects our people,” Romans said in a news release. “Not polished insiders or party-line politicians running the same old partisan nonsense, but someone who has built a career the hard way and lived the struggles that Kentucky’s working families face every day.”
Romans stressed his working-class background and said he would protect workers and businesses from overregulation and “destructive” tariffs. He pledged to take action to make Kentucky more affordable. Affordability was a key issue in Democratic victories in last week’s elections in places such as Virginia and New Jersey.
He said he would work to strengthen Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act so more people get health care coverage without it draining household budgets.
