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Month: September 2022
Lesson Horses Presented By Stonestreet Farm: The Character-Building Influence Of Let’s Go Blue On Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson
You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.
In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.
Question:Â Which horse has taught you the most about life?
Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment: “My family's always been in horse racing, and in 1984, we had a horse named Let's Go Blue. I'd graduated from university, and I was spending a lot of time at the racetrack. Of my siblings, I was the one that was closest to horse racing – I never thought I'd end up working here, by the way.
“Let's Go Blue won the Queen's Plate Trial Stakes by five lengths, and won it galloping. He came into the Queen's Plate as the favorite, went off at 3-5, and he was bumped…I remember it like it was yesterday…There was an entry that really squeezed him the whole way around, and then another pushed him back. Then, he came on again and a horse squeezed him into the rail, and basically bodychecked him into the rail.
“It was 1984, so we didn't have the head-on replays to show to the public. I went to the stewards and I did see the tape, and it was egregious what happened – really, a calculated risk by the jockey to move over and bump him.
“As I think of that, I think of two things: First, I think of something my dad said afterward. I was a young, budding lawyer at the time, and I said to my dad, 'You've got to appeal.' He looked at me and said, 'I've been in sports my entire life, as have you, and sometimes, you have to learn and respect the referee's call. That's what you do, and you get on with life.' He said, 'I don't want to hear it again. We're not appealing.'
“I always reflected on that, and to this day, it kind of haunts me, especially now, being in the role that I'm in. But, I think whether it was the horse or the whole situation, it was character-building. I think we can all learn a lot from racing, and the lows and highs of racing. We all know there are way more lows than highs, and those lows teach you to be appreciative of what you've got. We were fortunate enough to have a horse in the Queen's Plate, and you move on, and it's character-building. You're going to take your lumps, but don't let it get you down.”
About Let's Go Blue
Dk. h. or br. h., 1981, Bob's Dusty x Brunswick Dawn, by Amber Morn
Let's Go Blue raced as a homebred for Mel Lawson's Jim Dandy Stable, and he was trained by Janet Bedford.
He won his first two starts, both at Woodbine, including the Swynford Stakes, before finishing second in the G3 Grey Stakes in his graded stakes debut. Including the Grey Stakes, five of his eight starts following his Swynford victory would be runner-up efforts in stakes races.
Let's Go Blue then won his division of the Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine, and he left the gate in the 1984 Queen's Plate as the 0.85-to-1 favorite. He finished second by a half-length behind Key to the Moon in the Queen's Plate, following a troubled trip. Following the Queen's Plate, Let's Go Blue headed west to win the Canadian Derby at Northlands Park and the G3 B. C. Derby at Exhibition Park.
The horse got better as he got older, and he arguably did his best work during his 4-year-old season in 1986, when he earned the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion older male on the strength of a campaign that included victories in the Fair Play Stakes at Woodbine, and the Speed to Spare Championship Stakes at Northlands Park.
Let's Go Blue retired with 13 wins in 42 career starts for earnings of $757,597.
At stud, Let's Go Blue sired 43 winners over 14 crops, with combined progeny earnings of more than $2.3 million. His top runners included Cailoto, who was a stakes winner at Pimlico Race Course, Blue and Red, who was a multiple stakes winner at Woodbine, and Grade 3-placed Crafty Boy.
The post Lesson Horses Presented By Stonestreet Farm: The Character-Building Influence Of Let’s Go Blue On Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Retired Trainer Peter Howe Dies at 83
Retired trainer Peter Howe, one of just four people to train an American champion over jumps and on the flat, and the father of Colonial Downs Vice President of Racing Jill Byrne, died Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va. He was 83.
Howe was born in Hartford, Conn., and became an accomplished rider of show horses–competing at Madison Square Garden, the Washington International Horse Show and other top venues–before transitioning to racehorses.
Training mainly for Marion du Pont Scott's Montpelier Stable, Howe conditioned a small but quality stable of flat and steeplechase horses.
The Howe-trained Soothsayer won an Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser in 1972, and in 1976, Howe conditioned Montpelier's Proud Delta to the older filly/mare divisional championship.
Soothsayer and Proud Delta put Howe in rare company–with Jonathan Sheppard, Sidney Watters Jr. and Jim Ryan–as the only trainers to prepare American champions on the flat and over jumps.
Howe, whose father Walter was an American diplomat and the U.S. Ambassador to Chile under President Dwight Eisenhower, lived at Red Horse Farm near the Montpelier property in Barboursville, Va. Survivors include Byrne, son Jeffrey Howe and his wife Christy, daughter Debby Howe and grandchildren Devon Byrne, William Vanderlinde and Emma and Owen Howe.
The post Retired Trainer Peter Howe Dies at 83 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Stonehaven Steadings’ Faith Rewarded at Keeneland September
Five years ago, Aidan O'Meara left his position at Hill 'n' Dale Farm, where he served as Stallion Division Manager for 20 years, to join his wife Leah and her family in running Stonehaven Steadings.
The decision was not an easy one. As Leah O'Meara recounts, John Sikura had seen something in Aidan when the native of Ireland was fresh out of college. Over the years, O'Meara worked his way to managing the likes of Curlin, Medaglia d'Oro and Candy Ride. The O'Mearas lived on site at Hill 'n' Dale for years at its former location on North Yarnalton Pike in Lexington and the farm was the first home of the couple's three children.
Now just a few years after O'Meara joined Stonehaven Steadings as the Director of Bloodstock and Client Development, the fruits of his increased presence on the farm are becoming even more apparent as the family-run operation is riding high through an unforgettable Keeneland September Sale.
On the first day of the auction, Stonehaven Steadings sold what will likely be the sale topper in their Quality Road colt out True Feelings (Latent Heat). Their success didn't stop with that $2.5 million achievement. Also in Book 1, they sent an $825,000 filly by Into Mischief and $775,000 Gun Runner colt through the ring. During Book 2, they sold four yearlings including a $900,000 Into Mischief filly and an $800,000 Street Sense filly.
“It's almost like twilight zone kind of stuff right now, to be quite honest,” O'Meara said during Book 2 after returning to the barn from selling a sixth offering for over half a million. “The first year after I moved from Hill 'n' Dale we had a couple of nice ones in Book 1 and we have been able to build off those since then. We came here this year thinking we would have our strongest sale, but this has been incredible.”
“We're so proud of all the horses,” he continued. “You can like them at home when they act like they do there, but to get out here and walk up and down 200, 250 times for people, you quickly find out the mentality of a horse. We're very fortunate that everybody acted so well.”
No yearling in their consignment handled themself better, O'Meara said, than the Quality Road colt that went on to become the highest-selling yearling in North America so far this year.
“He improved with every show and never balked at anything he was asked,” O'Meara explained. “He had almost a two-foot overstep and was just a locomotive with the way he used his shoulder and how he got his hind leg up. I've never seen so many people be so enamored by a horse with the way he moved at the sale. We started getting a little bit excited when we had 25 or 30 vet hits on him from all the right players.”
@keenelandsales September: WOW! Hip 97, a Quality Road colt consigned by @StonehavenSS, goes to $2.5 million! Purchased by @westpointtbred, Mike Talla, @woodfordracing & Stonehaven. pic.twitter.com/G9GeI6DWPr
— TDN (@theTDN) September 12, 2022
Last year at the same sale, Stonehaven Steadings celebrated their first million-dollar yearling when this colt's half-brother by Justify sold for $1.55 million to West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing. Now named Nuclear, the juvenile is putting in steady works at Del Mar for John Sadler.
“We were blown out of the water at that stage,” O'Meara recounted. “We pretty much figured we had peaked in life as far as selling yearlings, but his brother at home was always one that we thought in the back of our mind maybe could have the potential to be that kind of quality horse again for the next year.”
Throughout the winter, the Stonehaven Steadings crew hesitated to get overly-excited, knowing the May-foaled colt might not reach the level of his older brother by the time of the auction, but the youngster blossomed as a yearling and was regarded enthusiastically by the Keeneland sales inspection team as the auction grew near.
When it came time for the colt to make his entrance into the sales ring, he was preceded by an air of anticipation. O'Meara turned to his wife to celebrate when the bidding stalled at $1.3 million, then stood dumbfounded as the number continued to grow.
Going to the same connections as his older brother with the addition of Woodford Racing, this colt will also train under John Sadler. As they did with Nuclear, Stonehaven Steadings stayed in for a small piece of the youngster.
“We're very fortunate that West Point has let us stay in on some of these good horses,” O'Meara said. “We had two with them last year and then three with them so far this year, so we're pretty excited to see what the future brings.”
Aidan O'Meara and the $2.5 million colt out of True Feelings | Keeneland
Stonehaven Steadings already has a reputation for breeding champions in its relatively short history. The list includes 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby (Harlan's Holiday) and most recently, 'TDN Rising Star' and juvenile champion Corniche (Quality Road).
The farm was founded by Leah's parents Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch. The couple from Louisiana took an interest in the industry when Leah moved to Lexington for college. Starting off with just a handful of $30,000 broodmares, they eventually purchased property off Old Frankfort Pike.
The name Stonehaven Steadings was easy to come by. During their time in the oil field industry, the Reddochs traveled throughout Europe for business. Their favorite village in Scotland was called Stonehaven. There, a farmstead can be referred to as a steading.
Chiquita Reddoch is quick to credit her daughter and son-in-law for their operation's many achievements.
“Leah and Aidan have a really good talent to work together and do this,” she said. “Aidan is such a good horseman. When they first met and he was working at Hill 'n' Dale, I was always amazed at how he could speak about the horses and their races, conformation and pedigrees. Leah has always been interested in it also. They're together every day and they live and breathe the farm. It's not anything I could ever do. We turned this over to Leah and Aidan and now we get to do the things mommas and daddies do behind the scenes.”
While Aidan is on the farm every day, Leah focuses on marketing their business, organizing the sales consignments, and shopping year-round for potential additions to their broodmare band.
Asked what makes the couple such a good team, Leah laughed.
“His patience,” she retorted, but then gave a bigger-picture reply as she explained, “I think it's the reality that everything happens for a reason and it's about having faith when something seems like it might be a terrible thing. That will calm you down right away. There's no point in fretting when you've got faith like that.”
The O'Mearas also credit their longtime farm manager Colby Marks for their recent accomplishments. Marks was the one that picked out their star broodmare True Feelings in 2012. The daughter of Latent Heat ran second in the 2011 GIII Schuylerville S. and is from the family of champion Wait a While (Maria's Mon). Marks picked up the maiden mare for $210,000 at Keeneland November.
Farm manager Colby Marks and True Feelings | photo courtesy Stonehaven Steadings
“I think a lot of broodmares are like these top-class stallions in some ways in that either they have it or they don't,” O'Meara said. “You just try and pick the right kind of sires and match them up pedigree-wise, but you never know what you're going to get. We like to give these younger mares as good an opportunity as we can when we breed them to these better, proven sires. That helps build a mare's resume and you hope that down the line you have one that comes out looking the right way with a couple of half-siblings that are already stakes horses.”
Their $2.5 million colt is a shining example of this game plan. His dam already has three winners on her produce record including Royal Act (American Pharoah), a $500,000 yearling that went on to run second in the 2020 GIII Robert B. Lewis S., as well as stakes winner Feeling Mischief (Into Mischief).
“True Feelings is a really classy mare to mess with, but she's got a little grit to her as well when she wants to,” O'Meara said. “Everything out of her has been a beautiful mover. She has thrown all different kinds of types, but they all have had that class and that big walk to them. We kind of call her our Leslie's Lady now. To get one million-dollar yearling out of any mare is incredible, never mind to get two. It's just crazy.”
It was only a few years ago that Stonehaven Steadings was aiming to sell a few yearlings for $300,000 or maybe $400,000. Now after breeding and raising a $2.5 million yearling, what do they hope to do next?
“I just want to be here,” Leah said with a small shrug and a smile. “I want to live on the farm and have a thriving farm. I want to have staff who are like family that you can lean on and trust. We just want to enjoy it because horses are what we love. If we can do that for the rest of our days, I think we'll be pretty happy people.”
The post Stonehaven Steadings’ Faith Rewarded at Keeneland September appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
