From the Hardwood to the Backstretch

In college, Kinnon LaRose got a degree in sports management and a master's degree in strategic communication and public relations. He played four years of basketball, one at Siena College, which is 30 miles south of Saratoga Race Course, three more at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

As he navigated his way through his college years, the last place LaRose expected he would end up is the backstretch of a race track.

But that is where he is and that is what he loves. The 26-year-old LaRose is an assistant to trainer Tom Amoss and will celebrate his third year in the barn this November.

How did this happen?

When LaRose was getting ready to graduate from Sacred Heart in 2020, he had no path.

He had liked horse racing a little bit; he would watch the the big races with his family. He would visit Saratoga. LaRose learned how to handicap and picked a few winners. It was fun. Work with horses for a living? He never really thought about it until he did.

One day, on a lark, he sent an email to Amoss, the only horseman he reached out to. He never expected his missive would be answered.

"I sent it on a Monday night," LaRose said at the barn on the backstretch July 26. "He called me at 8 the next morning."

"I liked what he had to say," Amoss said. "He just had to prove to me he was someone who could withstand the hours. I have had many people come along and say, 'Hey I would like a shot in your barn.' I always try to help those kind of people but it's a real different story once they get into the routine of work."

Amoss and LaRose met a few weeks later, at Keeneland, and, a month later, he was hotwalking for Amoss.

LaRose did not flinch when he had to wake up at 3:45 a.m. every day to go to work.

"I haven't stopped since," he said. "Tom has been awfully good to me and the other assistants, very welcoming."

After the Saratoga season ends, he will head to Keeneland and then to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans in the winter. Home base is in Louisville.

The 6-foot-3 LaRose is the all-time leading scorer (1,769 points) at Ogdensburg Free Academy, which sits in northern New York, next to the Canadian border. He once scored 51 points in a game.

In college, he transferred to Sacred Heart after a year at Siena and by the time he was through, he was a captain. His career high in college (24 points) came at Sacred Heart. He averaged 10.5 points per game his senior year..

"In college, he was known as a gym rat," Amoss said. "Now he is a barn rat. He is always there. He has worked out very well, he is my right hand man...I would call him my top assistant."

LaRose misses the game, of course, but he loves his new one. One day he hopes to go out on his own and have his own stable.

Before this summer is over, he will get a chance to showcase his basketball skills. He said he has been recruited by former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, now the agent for rider Luis Saez, to play for the horsemen's team in the annual basketball game against the jockeys on Aug. 3 at the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center.

"I can still play a little bit," he said with a smile while posing for a photo with Hoosier Philly , one of the stars of the Amoss barn.