The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association is hosting a Pedigree and Conformation Clinic at Fasig-Tipton on Monday, Oct. 24, in Lexington, Ky., during the Kentucky October Yearlings sale.
Sponsored by Lexington Equine Medical Group and the Retired Racehorse Project. Attendees will learn insights on different aspects of Thoroughbred auctions, bloodstock, pedigree and conformation analysis, and more from industry professionals and enjoy a day at the sales.
The topics and speakers at the clinic include:
Horse Selection and Working with your Bloodstock Agent, presented by Chad Schumer (Bloodstock Agent)
The Role of an Auction House and the Auction Process, presented by Anna Seitz Ciannello (Fasig-Tipton, Director of Client Relations) and Leif Aaron (Fasig-Tipton, Director of Digital Sales)
Yearling Prep for the Sales, presented by Katie Taylor (Taylor Made, Vice President of Operations)
Equineline and Pedigree Resources, presented by Susan Martin (The Jockey Club)
A Veterinarian's Role in Public Auction, presented by John G. Peloso, DVM, MS, Diplomate, ACVS (Equine Surgeon)
The TOBA Pedigree and Conformation Clinic provides participants with a deeper understanding of the Thoroughbred pedigree and conformation. The clinic is open to the public, with a special discount for TOBA members. Meals, materials, and a TOBA gift bag are included with registration.
Larry Walton has been named as the new stallion manager of Gainesway, the farm announced Oct. 17.
Walton, a native of Wall Township, N.J., received his bachelor's degree in graphic design from The Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn State) in 2001.
Walton has held important positions at some of the most prominent farms in the Thoroughbred industry. He began his career in Florida, first at Padua Stables and then spent nine years at Adena Springs. From there, he relocated to Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, where he served as assistant stallion manager for three years. For the past five years, he has been the stallion manager at Hill 'n' Dale Farms.
“I am excited to announce Larry Walton as Gainesway's stallion manager,” said Gainesway's general manager, Brian Graves. “Larry has worked with top stallions in our industry and brings to Gainesway a wealth of experience and horsemanship.”
Taylor Made Stallions has set its 2023 stallion roster and fees for the upcoming breeding season, headed by runaway #1-ranked third-crop sire Not This Time, who will stand for $135,000 S&N.
Taylor Made will further bolster its roster in 2023 with the arrival of Grade 1 winner Idol, winner of the 2021 Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and a full brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Nest who will stand his initial season at stud for $10,000 S&N as a Repole Stable/Taylor Made Stallions Venture.
Not This Time, a son of Giant's Causeway, continues to blaze a trail on the leading sire ranks. The leading freshman sire of 2020 by number of winners and black-type winners, and the leading second-crop Sire of 2021 in all key statistical categories, Not This Time once again finds himself at the top of the heap this season.
In 2022, he boasts a crop-best 12 stakes winners, 25 black-type horses, five graded stakes winners, a pair of Grade 1 winners and progeny earnings on the year of $10,633,215 thus far. He is the #2-ranked sire of 3-year-olds by earnings, second only to Gun Runner, and he is the #1 sire in North America by percentage of black-type winners for the second consecutive year—8.3 percent, higher than Into Mischief, Quality Road, Tapit, Uncle Mo, and Curlin.
His top performer on the track this season is leading 3-year-old Epicenter, who has enjoyed a stellar season and is among the leading contenders for this year's Breeders' Cup Classic. Epicenter has demonstrated his class and consistency all season long for Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen, winning the G1 Travers Stakes, G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, G2 Louisiana Derby, G2 Risen Star Stakes, and the Gun Runner Stakes, and finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, amassing earnings of $2,800,100 in his sophomore campaign.
Not This Time is also represented this year by Grade 1 winner Just One Time, victorious in the G1 Madison Stakes and the G2 Inside Information Stakes and third in the G1 Derby City Distaff Stakes for owners Warrior's Reward LLC and Commonwealth New Era Racing and trainer Brad Cox. Simplification won the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, was runner-up in the G3 Holy Bull Stakes, and third in the G1 Florida Derby for Tami Bobo and Tristan De Meric and trainer Antonio Sano. Additional graded stakes winners include Midnight Stroll, winner of the G3 Delaware Oaks, and Arzak, who annexed the G3 Jacques Cartier Stakes.
In addition to their performance on the racetrack, progeny of Not This Time continue to command top dollar in the auction ring as well. In Books 1 and 2 at Keeneland September, Not This Time saw 13 yearlings sell from 14 offered. They averaged $402,692 and included an $875,000 colt purchased by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, and an $850,000 colt bought by Barry Berkelhammer for Albaugh Family Stables. The pipeline is loaded for Not This Time as his 2022 book of mares included the dams of Epicenter, Simplification, Grade 1 winner Forte, and Grade 2 winner Just Cindy.
Idol, a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood, is a full brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Nest and he will stand his initial season at stud in the coming year. A track-record setter at three and a Grade 1 winner the following year, Idol demonstrated an impressive turn of foot in winning the G1 Santa Anita Handicap. He defeated a contentious field in the historic race, recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102 and leaving in his wake Grade 1 winners Express Train and the previously unbeaten Maxfield in the impressive performance.
Knicks Go, Horse of the Year and champion older male of 2021 and Longines World's Best Racehorse of 2021, will stand his second season at stud for $30,000 S&N. A gate-to-wire winner of the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar—just two clicks off the 18-year-old track record set by Candy Ride (ARG)—Knicks Go recorded a 112 Beyer in the scintillating score—the fastest Beyer of the 2021 Breeders Cup.
A two-time track record-setter and a Grade 1 winner at two, four, and five, Knicks Go banked over $9.2 million in his sensational racing career. He is the fastest miler in Keeneland history, winning the 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in the new track record time of 1:33.85, and is one of just six horses to win two different Breeders' Cup races. He was an effortless winner of the historic G1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, winning by 4 ½ lengths and earning a 111 Beyer. Knicks Go was also precocious, winning the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland at two and was runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs en route to career earnings of $9,258,135.
Tacitus, a multiple graded stakes winner and earner of more than $3.7 million and a son of perennial leading sire Tapit out of champion older female and five-time Grade 1 winner Close Hatches, will stand for $10,000 S&N, the same fee he stood for during his first season at stud a year ago.
The Juddmonte Farms homebred won or placed in 10 Graded stakes, including five Grade 1s and two classic races. He won the G2 Tampa Bay Derby in his 3-year-old debut, setting a new stakes record of 1:41.90 for a 1 1/16 miles, just 0.15 off the track record. He proved much the best in the G2 Wood Memorial and was a dominant winner of the G2 Suburban Stakes as a 4-year-old. He also finished third in the Kentucky Derby and was runner-up in the Belmont Stakes, as well as the G1 Travers Stakes at three and recorded six triple-digit Beyers during his spectacular career, including a lifetime best 104 in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Instagrand, a dominating son of champion sire Into Mischief and a $1.2 million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale acquisition, will stand for $7,500 S&N. Instagrand welcomed first foals in 2022 and his initial book of mares included Breeders' Cup Distaff champion Blue Prize (ARG), Grade 1 winner and five-time stakes winner Concrete Rose, as well as graded stakes horse and Grade 1-placed Brill, and Indian Miss, dam of champion sprinter Mitole and Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie.
A precocious juvenile, Instagrand led wire-to-wire to win the G2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar by 10 ¾ lengths in just his second lifetime start at two. He was named a TDN Rising Star after breaking his maiden by 10 lengths in his debut, clocking five furlongs in :56 flat, just .32 of a second off the Los Alamitos track record. He also placed in the G3 Gotham Stakes and the G1 Santa Anita Derby at three.
Like Instagrand, Instilled Regard also saw his first foals arrive this year, and he will stand the upcoming season for $7,500 S&N. Instilled Regard's first book of mares included multiple Grade 1 winner Cambier Parc, four-time Grade 2 winner Beau Recall (IRE), stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Meadow Dance, and Hung the Moon, dam of Grade 1-placed Brill.
During his racing career, Instilled Regard won the G1 Manhattan Stakes, defeating six graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Sadler's Joy and Channel Maker. A four-time graded winner on dirt and turf, Instilled Regard earned $983,240 during his racing career and he hails from a prolific family—his second dam is champion mare Heavenly Prize, the dam of Pure Prize.
Rowayton, a multiple Grade 1-placed juvenile by Into Mischief, returns for his second season at stud and will stand for $7,500 S&N. A debut maiden special weight winner at Del Mar, Rowayton was runner-up in the G1 Del Mar Futurity, earning a 90 Beyer, and also placed in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes to subsequent champion 2-year-old colt Game Winner.
At three, Rowayton won an allowance at Belmont Park in the near-track record time of 1:14.94 for 6 ½ furlongs, earning a career-best 97 Beyer. He placed in the G3 Dwyer Stakes behind multiple Grade 1 winner Code of Honor and was just a neck shy of winning the G1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, earning a 96 Beyer. Rowayton is out of a half-sister to two-time Canadian champion Miss Mischief and descends from the family of champions Letruska and Proud Spell.
The 2023 roster of stallions and fees for Taylor Made Stallions are as follows:
Benjamin Leon Jr.'s Besilu Stables made a splash in the North American racing and breeding realms, buying big at auction, winning major races, and producing horses as great as champion and leading sire Gun Runner from his breeding program.
Just as quickly, it seemed as though he disappeared from the sport. He sold most of his equine holdings to Goncalo Torrealba of Three Chimneys, and his on-track presence in the States is practically nil.
This is not a “where are they now?” story, though, because Besilu Stables is still very much in business with some of the most valuable bloodlines in the stud book. The operation just looks different from the one we had grown accustomed to seeing during the previous decade.
Leon, a Cuban-born healthcare executive based in South Florida, announced his presence on the national racing scene during the 2011 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where he bought heavily from the prolific dispersals of Prince Saud bin Khaled's Palides Investments N.V., Inc., and Edward P. Evans.
The centerpiece of his purchase list was Royal Delta from the Palides Investments N.V. draft, a daughter of Empire Maker who had recently won the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, and would soon earn the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly. When the hammer fell, Leon had secured the filly for $8.5 million.
Leon recounted the event, and a conversation with one of his advisors, to Great British Racing International during a “British Racing: Invest In The Best” interview:
“When I bought Royal Delta, I asked [him], 'How much do you think she will cost?' He said, 'Maybe $9 million, maybe more.' I asked 'Do you think she's worth it?' and he said, 'Well, can you make another $9 million in your business over the next year or two or three?' I said 'yes,' and he said “Well, there's only one of them.' That did it.”
In the short-term, the rest was history. Royal Delta went on to win the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic again in 2012 under the Leon colors, and she won Eclipses as champion older female in 2012 and 2013. She retired with 12 wins, earnings of more than $4.8 million, and in 2019, she was voted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.
Ben Leon and Royal Delta head to the winner's circle after the Delaware Handicap.
Despite all of her success, Leon, and many of Royal Delta's on-track connections still felt as though she exited the track with some untapped potential still left in her.
“I remember that I talked to (trainer) Bill Mott that when I retired her after the second try at the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (with Besilu; her third overall), he told me, 'The only thing I regret is I never gave her a chance on turf,'” Leon said. “Then, I talked to the jockey that used to work her (French-born Rodolphe Brisset, who is now a trainer), and he told me they breezed her once on turf, and she was quicker and faster than she was on dirt. That stuck in my mind.”
Royal Delta was beyond proven as a competitor on dirt, but her pedigree backed up Mott's and Brisset's assertions that she could have potential on turf.
In fact, Royal Delta was something of an outlier within her family as an elite horse on the main track. Her dam, Delta Princess, was a multiple graded stakes winner on turf. Royal Delta's two most successful siblings – Delta Prince and Crown Queen (also owned by Leon) – were also Grade 1 winners on the grass.
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Royal Delta's retirement to the breeding shed coincided with a shift in Leon's focus within the Thoroughbred landscape. He downsized his racing and breeding operations, and held on to a handful of high-quality broodmares. During this time, Leon had taken an interest in the European Thoroughbred industry, and with a pair of Grade 1 winners with turf-leaning pages in Royal Delta and Crown Queen, he decided to tackle a new frontier.
Both mares were sent overseas to be bred to all-world sire Galileo, and then reside at The National Stud in Newmarket, England. With Galileo getting along in years when Leon sent his mares overseas in the late 2010s, (Galileo died in 2021), the breeder wanted to give his mares as many natural advantages as he could while there was still time.
For all the good fortune that Leon enjoyed with Royal Delta on the racetrack, the mare's breeding career was marred with misfortune.
“The first year I bred her, she was so physically fit that she was not set to be a broodmare, so she didn't take,” Leon said. “The second year, she took, then 7 ½ months into it, she aborted. I sent her a third time, and then she took. Then, two or three days after she had her foal, (Royal Delta) unfortunately passed away due to complications of the foaling, an internal hemorrhage that you could not control, even if she was in an operating room. That happens every so often to mares, but very rarely. Unfortunately, it happened to the best mare that I ever had, or likely that I will ever have.”
The surviving foal, the filly Delta's Royalty, was going to become the focal point of Leon's Thoroughbred fortunes someday, whether Royal Delta had suffered her unfortunate fate or not, but the filly was suddenly thrust in that position at just a few days old.
Royal Delta's foal, later named Delta's Royalty, with foster mare Ginger in 2017
When it came time to think about the filly's racing career, Leon chose Roger Varian as his trainer, on the advice of his longtime adviser Fabricio Buffolo.
“I didn't know which trainer to use, and he strongly recommended Roger Varian,” Leon said. “I went over to England, and I met Mr. Varian and liked him very much. I saw his record, and it was very impressive, and he's a very nice person. We talk on the phone as needed, and I've always gone to Europe at least once a year, but the pandemic got in our way.”
Delta's Royalty showed promise as a juvenile, winning on debut at Kempton, but it would be her lone victory in five starts through the end of her 3-year-old season. Leon said he was offered “a lot of money” for Delta's Royalty following her maiden win, but his priority with the filly was always clear. After losing Royal Delta so abruptly, Leon wasn't going to take any chances when it came to extending the bloodline.
Already by one of Europe's tentpole sires in Galileo, Delta's Royalty was bred to another of those tentpoles in Dubawi for her first mating. That foal, a colt, arrived on Feb. 5. Much like his mother, the new colt has a generational task ahead of him, but Leon said they'll both have a home with him to achieve it.
“I'm not going to sell him,” Leon said about the young colt. “I'm not going to sell any of these horses. You should never say never, because something happens and you do the opposite, but my intent is to breed those horses to the best horses in Europe, raise those horses and run those horses over there, and enjoy the process, and down the road, we'll see what happens.
“I have all the faith in the world that Delta's Royalty will give us something very special,” he continued. “For me, that's one of my jewels, and I'm going to stick with her until the end of time. That's the relationship I have with Delta's Royalty – 'til death do us part' – like I had with her dam.”
After a season of turning inward with his operation, Leon said he might be ready to begin expanding again on both sides of the Atlantic and establish a global-quality turf program.
“I have bred a few horses in England and Ireland with the intent of hopefully coming up with something special on turf so I could compete there,” he said. “If we have something that wins, and it's special in Europe, it would be a very special turf horse in the U.S. after that. It'll be someday that we'll be flying [Delta's Royalty] back to the U.S. to breed to some U.S. studs, but not until we're finished breeding her to the best horses in Europe, that we believe could be a good match.
“I think we'll be buying some horses over there (in Europe), too, but I don't know if we'll start doing that this year or the following year,” Leon continued. “Most likely, it'll be next year. I should be able to be at the sales over there next year, and hopefully I can make an acquisition that will turn out to be like Royal Delta.”
Leon was scheduled to make a trip to England in late September to visit his European broodmare band, and plan their future matings. Plans were still in the air for Delta's Royalty when he spoke with GBRI, but he said Crown Queen would be returning to the U.S. to breed to a domestic stallion.
Crown Queen, by Smart Strike, was bred to Empire Maker for her first mating, and produced the colt Queen's Empire in 2017. He became a stakes-placed steeplechaser.
She was bred to Galileo for the 2018 foaling season, but the ensuing colt died as a yearling due to an injury. She produced a Dubawi colt in 2020, a Frankel colt in 2021, and a Kingman filly in 2022.
Where and how Besilu Stables plans to succeed might look different, but Leon said the mission has never changed since day one, even if his place in the spotlight has.
“I've had the gift of God of experiencing those top moments in the Thoroughbred industry, and I have the intention of never leaving the Thoroughbred industry,” Leon said. “Even at a lower volume of horses, I believe in quality. I think quality will always reign.”
