If the casual observer wasn't familiar with John Stewart in the Thoroughbred sphere, they've gotten a big introduction during the first week of the November mixed sales, with major purchases including two-time Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Goodnight Olive for $6 million.
Goodnight Olive was the highlight of a two-day run of spending at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale that also included Queen Caroline, the dam of champion Forte, for $3 million; Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca for another $3 million; and Puca, the dam of Kentucky Derby winner Mage, for $2.9 million, among others.
Between the single-session Fasig-Tipton sale and the first two days of the Keeneland sale, Stewart had purchased 11 mares and weanlings for a total of $17.35 million. This comes after Stewart spent $8,425,000 on 13 horses at this year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“We're just getting started,” Stewart said Tuesday after signing the ticket on Goodnight Olive. “We had plans to spend $15 million more by the end of this year. We didn't realize we were going to do it all today, but that's okay. It's all measured on everything that we're doing.”
So, who is this newcomer signing some of the biggest tickets of this year's mixed sale season?
Based in Lexington, Ky., Stewart is the founder and managing partner of MiddleGround Capital, a private equity firm that invests in business-to-business companies in the U.S. and Europe. While he has dealt with Fortune 500 companies, MiddleGround specializes in lower-middle market industrial and specialty distribution operations.
Though he is trading at the highest levels of the Thoroughbred marketplace today, Stewart's roots are distinctly blue-collar. He started as an hourly line worker at Toyota Motor Company, dropping out of college at 19 to take the job. By the time he left Toyota 18 years later, Stewart had climbed into the ranks of management, with over 7,000 employees answering to to him. He transitioned to the private equity sector in 2007 when he joined Monomoy Capital Partners, then founded MiddleGround in 2018.
MiddleGround currently has over $3.3 billion of assets under management, including Xtrac, a supplier of automotive transmission systems; Attala Steel Industries, which manufactures and distributes steel foundation components for ground-mounted utility-scale solar photovoltaics installations; and HLC, which manufactures and distributes bicycle parts.
Stewart's name began showing up on sale tickets at this year's Keeneland September sale, working with bloodstock agent Gavin O'Connor, but what's happening in the ring is only part of a greater rollout for Stewart's Thoroughbred game plan to create a breed-to-race operation.
He is under contract to buy Shadayid Stud, an 839-acre satellite property of Shadwell Farm located in Midway, Ky., which was listed for $16.75 million. He said he expected to close on the property in about a month.
Acquired by Shadwell in the early 1990s, the land is split into two sectors, divided by Leestown Road. The 587-acre northern portion has been developed into a yearling division, with large fields, six concrete barns, and three employee houses. The south side housed Shadwell's horse and cattle division, with several office buildings, rehabilitation and show barns, over 40 paddocks, and several storage barns.
“As we look at this next year, we just really want to get the farm active, and get horses on the property and get things started,” Stewart said. “It's going to take us a long time. We have 142 stalls on the farm, so we'll be taking some boarders as well. We're breeding for ourselves. We're breeding for racing. Everything we buy is going into our racing stock, and we're intending to keep those horses. Resale is not at the top of our agenda. It's going to take some time for us to build it up, but I think we've made some good progress.”
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.Stewart outlined his plan to include both short-term and long-term action and returns after purchasing Goodnight Olive, which he said would fill an immediate gap on the racetrack while his yearling and weanling purchases mature to racing age.
He said he targeted Goodnight Olive as soon as he saw her name in the catalog, which went live in October. The daughter of Ghostzapper will remain in training with Chad Brown.
“She's definitely the best horse that's being sold at any of the auctions right now, kind of the crown jewel of the auction,” Stewart said. “We are after quality at the end of the day. What we're really looking for is quality, and she has everything that we're looking for. She has good pedigree, good quality, but she's also proven on the track, which is the most important when you're building a racing program.”
While Goodnight Olive holds down the racing operation in the immediate future, Stewart's yearling purchases will back her up in the years to come.
Two of his Keeneland September purchases topped seven figures, led by a $2.5-million Uncle Mo filly out of the winning Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed, making her a half-sister to champion Shedaresthedevil. He also spent $1 million on a full-brother to Grade 1 winner and fast-rising sire Practical Joke, by Into Mischief, out of the stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare Halo Humor.
The post ‘We’re Breeding For Racing’: Stewart Making A Big First Impression With Mare Purchases appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
