It wasn't a surprise that Kenny McPeek trained Mystik Dan to the winner's circle in the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.
Or Thorpedo Anna to the win in the Kentucky Oaks the day before.
Nor was it a shocker he didn't bet the Oaks-Derby double that paid $236. He doesn't gamble.
"Never have, never will," he said.
He's had plenty of opportunities to make a wager. McPeek had won more than $120 million as a trainer before last weekend's wins, which he had literally put on his to-do list two weeks before the races.
That's not a bombshell to his friends, family and owners. McPeek is a list-maker and taskmaster. He's highly intelligent and has great vision.
The surprise in all of his success was that he became a trainer.
Growing up in Lexington, Ky., he had a love for horses -- mostly for riding them. His grandparents vied for his attention by taking him to ride and even to Keeneland to watch the races.
"I'd have to hold on to my grandfather's tweed jacket so I didn't get lost in the crowd," he said.
Horses and bloodlines intrigued him and when other boys were buying and saving comic books, he was stocking up on books about lineage.
It was just a hobby. There were no dreams of standing front and center after the Kentucky Derby and being the center of attention.
McPeek's mom was a stickler for education and he went to the University of Kentucky and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance administration.
While deciding his next step, he was a hot walker for a few weeks. But he quickly decided that didn't pay enough, so he got a job at a bank and settled in to make his way.
A few months later his dad called.
"He had a couple of horses in training, but they hadn't been to the track and he said he couldn't afford to pay a trainer," McPeek said, "and he needed my help."
They built a small barn and started learning about training.
"We didn't own a saddle or a bridle not even a pitchfork," he recalled.
When it came time for the horses to run, they'd have to get a trainer for the day -- who charged money they needed -- because neither had a license.
Dad was going to take the test but the day before deferred to his son, who passed it with flying colors and the 23-year-old was about to embark on adventure he never would have envisioned.
Of his first 50 races, McPeek's horses won 10 times.
"Suddenly I had someone ask if I'd take their horses, then someone else would ask and the next thing I knew I was a full-time trainer," he said.
In his 38 years of horse racing, the 61-year-old has won more than 270 stakes races all over the country.
However, he never really had Derby fever. He had only entered the biggest race in the world nine times before last Saturday.
He has gotten where he is with his work ethic, his knowledge of bloodlines and his honesty in all situations.
In 2006 he bought 115 acres outside Lexington and renamed it Magdalena Farm. His wife, Sherri, runs it and they added a training farm at Ocala, Fla., in 2019 that is complete with its own six-furlong training track.
He also developed the mobile app Horse Races Now, that allows people to watch racing videos.
His life began in Arkansas, at Fort Chaffee when his dad was in the 101st Airborne and his mom, eight months pregnant, was visiting for a weekend. She said the rough roads of Arkansas made her water break.
Until he and his wife bought a home in Hot Springs, Kenny McPeek's residency in the Natural State was three days.
"We do love Hot Springs," he said.
One of many cities the new prince of racing has won major races, including the biggest of them all.
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