In the 16 years since trainer Leah Gyarmati and owner Jeff Treadway of Treadway Racing Stable first began their working partnership, the pair have experienced all the highs and lows that the business has to offer.
Among those highs were a handful that carried the Treadway banner to the Breeders' Cup World Championships. But if everything goes according to plan on Nov. 5, that number could rise by one thanks to a new budding talent — and Treadway homebred — named Sail By.
A daughter of Australian stallion Astern (AUS), Sail By punched her ticket to this year's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar when she ran to her name Oct. 2 in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park. The victory was the first stakes win for Sail By, who has never been off the board in her four career starts.
“It was a race that obviously had some good horses in there with very good numbers and speed numbers, but I felt confident with my filly because she tries every time and she's versatile,” said Gyarmati. “She can close and I told [jockey] Junior [Alvarado] to play the break and I think obviously he did a great job with that. She's a really honest horse and she will do what you ask her to do.
“She's not one of those horses that has to be one thing or the other. When they start going really fast, she'll settle and run at the end. She has a great burst of speed. I was surprised with the speed she's shown. When the pace is slow, she'll get up there and be right there.”
A native of Forest Hills, N.Y., Gyarmati got her start at the racetrack when she was a teenager, working a summer job as an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens. She would eventually go on to work for Jerkens and his son, Jimmy, before taking a break to pursue a brief career as a jockey in the mid-1990s.
Photo courtesy Leah Gyarmati
Breaking out on her own on the training circuit in 1998, Gyarmati sent out her first winner one year later in the form of Flippy Diane, who took the 1999 Maryland Million Distaff at Laurel Park. Her relationship with Treadway would follow years later through the help of a mutual friend, who introduced the two.
“I met Jeff through a friend who is an owner in New Jersey,” said Gyarmati. “Jeff had a piece of a horse there and he wanted to race in New York, so she introduced us. We started feeling it out and he's a super smart guy who follows the whole industry and really studies it.”
Gyarmati bought her first 2-year-old for Treadway at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $90,000. Named Thunder Chief, the New York-bred son of Thunder Gulch was a consistent runner throughout his career and remains a central part of Gyarmati's barn to this day as her working stable pony.
Through the years the pair have shared several successes, mainly with fillies. Their best performer to date was Sweet Reason (by Street Sense), who won the G1 Spinaway Stakes, G1 Acorn Stakes, and G1 Test Stakes, and placed fourth in the 2014 G1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Consigned to the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale in 2015, the mare commanded $2.7 million from Katsumi Yoshida, and has gone on to an equally strong career as a broodmare.
Gyarmati credits the mare's racing career as one of the catalysts to Darley bringing stallion Street Sense back to stand in the United States.
“She was the best horse I've had for Jeff,” said Gyarmati. “She won the Test, the Acorn, and the Spinaway. She was the best filly I ever claimed, and she was actually responsible for Street Sense coming back to the United States. They wanted him back, but they needed one really good horse to jump start it and when she won the Spinaway, Darley jumped on it, and it really worked out.”
Sweet Reason's successes aside, Treadway and Gyarmati are no strangers to the pressures of the Breeders' Cup. The pair hit the board in the World Championships in 2014 with Wonder Gal, who ran third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and again in 2016 when Coasted ran second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“We've had some really great horses like Noble Moon and Strike Midnight and Sweet Reason who were all stakes winners,” said Gyarmati. “We've done very, very well through the years. We've had good success together which I'm thankful for because Jeff is very sharp about buying and breeding horses. It's a learning process so when you move from one part of the business to another it can be tricky. He's been a great friend.”
Part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series, the Miss Grillo offers Sail By, Treadway, and Gyarmati a paid berth to this year's renewal of the Juvenile Fillies Turf. While her filly has yet to make a trip to the West Coast, Gyarmati has wasted no time booking her filly on an upcoming flight.
“That is the plan — God willing,” said Gyarmati. “Of course, man plans, and God laughs. That's how that works. We've got plane reservations so we will see how it goes. I'm hoping she will ship well but she's never been on a plane. She's done well so far, and I think she handles everything that we've thrown at her very well. She's super cool and I think that demeanor is an advantage. She's very intelligent so I think we're good.”
At the moment, Sail By is the only horse in Gyarmati's barn to carry the Treadway banner. The trainer said that likely won't change until next year, when another daughter of Astern will arrive after being turned out for the season. For now, their hopes hang on Sail By and the promise of another shot at a world title.
“It's an up and down business for pretty much everybody,” said Gyarmati. “You have great years and some not-so-great years, but you keep plugging away and something good happens and you're on the right track again. You just have to keep at it and never give up, and most importantly pay attention.”
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