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: Which horse has taught you the most about life?
Craig Bernick, Glen Hill Farm: “Before I took over Glen Hill Farm, I owned a few horses myself, and the best one was called You Go West Girl. We bought her as a 2-year-old in training. I had seen her mother run when I was in college, and I asked Tom (Proctor, his trainer) to look at 15 horses' pedigrees.
“She did well and won a lot of races, but she could never have a good-looking foal. She made $600,000 racing, but she never had a good-looking foal, so we sold her. Then, she ended up producing a Grade 2 winner, which was wonderful. I've since bought her back, but she still doesn't produce good-looking foals. If they're not good-looking, [buyers] don't like them, even if the mare ran, and she's had a runner.
“A lot of our broodmare band, we really value performance, and we really value pedigree, and we feel like those things reproduce themselves, but in the auction space, they value looks. That's a great lesson that I continue to learn over and over. For us, the performance is most important, but when you're selling, they have to be gorgeous or nobody wants them.”
About You Go West Girl
(2004, Mr. Greeley x Careless Heiress, by Runaway Groom)
Bred in New York by Gallaghers Stud, You Go West Girl was purchased by Bernick for $145,000 at the 2006 OBS Spring 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale. She won 10 of 31 starts during her on-track career, earning $637,043.
After breaking her maiden in her second start as a 2-year-old at Keeneland, You Go West Girl added a pair of allowance wins and runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes and non-graded Hatoof Stakes by the close of her juvenile campaign. Her 3-year-old campaign saw her win or place in a trio of New York-bred stakes, highlighted by a victory in the Hey Baba Lulu Stakes at Belmont Park.
The filly continued to race for three more seasons, racking up a pair of wins in the Ticonderoga Stakes at Belmont, and another score in the John Hettinger Stakes at the same track. She narrowly missed earning a graded stakes victory in the G3 Cardinal Handicap at Churchill Downs, where she lost by a head to Acoma.
As a broodmare, You Go West Girl has had one winner from three starters, with that winner being the Kitten's Joy gelding Chicago Style, who took the G2 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes in 2018; a year after finishing second in the same race.
You Go West Girl's recent foals include Picton, a unraced 3-year-old Liam's Map filly; and Ice Axe, a 2-year-old Bernardini colt. She was bred to Kitten's Joy for the 2021 foaling season.
The post Lesson Horses Presented By John Deere Equine Discount Program: Craig Bernick Of Glen Hill Farm On You Go West Girl appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
