CT: Emotions high for McKee after My Girl Bridgit scores * The Racing Biz

CT: Emotions high for McKee after My Girl Bridgit scores

Ted Black
January 15, 2026

Nearly three years after she lost her husband and two of their broodmares within the same calendar year, longtime Charles Town owner, breeder, and trainer Cynthia McKee received a reminder of that difficult year, though this time with a smile, Jan. 7.

That’s when My Girl Bridgit captured a one-turn maiden special weight dash for state-bred three-year-old fillies in an impressive career debut.

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A sophomore daughter of Take Charge Indy out of the late Bridging the Gap, the 2020 West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic heroine, My Girl Bridgit was not only the only foal out of that talented mare but also the last horse that the late John McKee bred.

John McKee passed away at the age of 83 in February 2023. Later that year both Bridging the Gap and Holy Pow Wow, the dam of state-bred stars Muad’dib, Late Night Pow, Duncan Idaho and Overnight Pow, also succumbed to illness. Both were in foal at the time.

*My Girl Bridgit dominated her career debut. Photo by Coady Media.*

“That was a really tough year for me,” Cynthia McKee recalled. “First, I lost him [John McKee], then I lost Bridging the Gap, then I lost Holy Pow Wow. I didn’t think I was going to make it after that.”

Fortunately, Bridging the Gap had foaled prior to her passing and was again in foal, this time to Vekoma, when she died.

“John would always ask me, ‘How’s Bridgit? How’s my girl?’ which is how he referred to Bridging the Gap,” Cynthia McKee remembered. “So, when he died I decided to name the foal My Girl Bridgit.”

Bridging the Gap was John McKee’s second-most productive trainee, having concluded her career with a 9-5-3 slate and nearly $270,000 banked from 20 lifetime outings, highlighted by her victory in the $100,000 Cavada in 2020. That would also prove to be the last stakes victory of her career, as Bridging the Gap would later settle for second or third in the My Sister Pearl Stakes that fall and in the 2021 editions of the Sadie Hawkins Stakes and Cavada.

As a trainer, John McKee also enjoyed the three most successful years of his career right before he passed away. His starters eclipsed the $1 million mark in earnings in 2020, 2021 and 2022 with the latter seeing his total reach nearly $1.45 million.

But many in West Virginia remember him as among the most prolific breeders in the state. responsible for Rachel’s Turn, Muad’dib, Late Night Pow Wow, Duncan Idaho and Overnight Pow Wow, to name a few.

Cynthia McKee has picked up where her husband left off. She has enjoyed recent success with runners like Overnight Pow Wow and Direct the Cat, recording a total of seven WVBC wins in 2023-2025.

Now she is hoping that My Girl Bridgit, bred and named posthumously by her late husband, can carry on the tradition.

In her career debut, My Girl Bridgit broke alertly from along the rail, gained the advantage on the well-touted Jeff Runco-trained first-timer Sunset House, and kicked away to win while stopping the timer in 53.14 for the 4 1/2 furlongs on a fast track. My Girl Bridgit won by three lengths, and it was nearly six more from Sunset House to the rest of the field.

“Every time she went to the track to work, they kept telling me that she had a lot of speed,” McKee said. “I entered her last fall at age two, but she wasn’t quite mature enough yet so I gave her a little more time for her knees to fill in. I just didn’t want to take a chance with her. Then right before her first start she worked [four furlongs] from the gate in 46 and change. The clocker called me after and was just beaming about how easily she did it.”

Even in the days leading to My Girl Bridgit’s career debut, McKee had some anxious moments as the talented homebred drew the rail, generally not viewed as ideal by local trainers. But My Girl Bridgit never gave her owner-trainer a moment’s worry as she broke sharply and led throughout.

“I was trying to keep it together in the winners’ circle,” McKee said. “I know how much John loved Bridging the Gap, and I know he would have loved to see this filly run. I knew it was the last one that he bred, and he basically named it, too. After losing him and Bridging the Gap and then Holy Pow Wow in the same year, I didn’t think I would ever have another good year. But she’s got plenty of ability and I’m going to take my time with her and see if I can have her ready for that first stakes [he It’s Binn Too Long] in April.”

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