Isaacs Returning to FTBOA Board

Edited Press Release

Well-respected Florida horseman George Isaacs has returned to the board of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association after a brief absence due to term limits. Laurine Fuller-Vargas of Morriston, George Russell of Reddick, T. Paul Bulmahn of Ocala and Nick de Meric of Ocala were re-elected to the board. They will each serve a three-year term that will run until October 2024. Leaving the board because of term limits is Richard Kent of Kaizen Sales.

Isaacs is a past FTBOA board member and officer, who became stallion manager at Arthur Appleton's Bridlewood Farm in Ocala in 1989 before becoming the general manager for Allen Paulson's Brookside South Farm in 1992. In 1996, Isaacs returned to Bridlewood as general manager and currently manages operations there with John and Leslie Malone, who purchased the farm in 2013. During his tenure at Bridlewood, more than 100 Florida-bred stakes winners and 12 Grade 1 winners have been bred by the farm.

Valerie Dailey of Ocala, a breeder, realtor, executive and most recently the first vice president of FTBOA, was elected president of the Association at the board meeting that followed the Oct. 22 annual member meeting.

The board also selected the remaining executive committee officers for 2021-22 with Dailey as president while Isaacs was named first vice president. Russell was named second vice president and Brent Fernung will serve as treasurer. Joseph O'Farrell III has been elected as the secretary and Phil Matthews, D.V.M. remains an officer and director as immediate past president.

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Bay Storm Seeks Second Stakes Win In Friday’s Glen Cove At Belmont

Trainer Jonathan Thomas is hoping that lightning can strike twice at stakes caliber this Belmont Park fall meet when he sends out Bay Storm for Friday's inaugural running of the $100,000 Glen Cove for sophomore fillies going seven furlongs over the Widener turf at the Elmont, N.Y., track.

Owned by Bridlewood Farm, Bay Storm enters the Glen Cove off a wire-to-wire win in the Christiecat on opening weekend at Belmont, registering a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for the three-length triumph.

The dark bay or brown daughter of Kantharos broke sharply from the hedge in the Christiecat and never relinquished her advantage as she drew clear of the field under Hall of Famer John Velazquez

In her previous trio of starts, Bay Storm came from off the pace, including a two-length maiden score last October at Belmont over eventual winners O' Gotten Girl and Third Draft, the latter of whom was stakes-placed. Following this effort, she did not race until August of this year, where she was a close fifth beaten 1 ¾ lengths against winners over Saratoga's Mellon Turf, ahead of a Christiecat score.

Although Bay Storm has never raced past six furlongs in four lifetime starts, Thomas expressed confidence in his filly's ability to get the distance in the Christiecat.

“When you ride Johnny Velazquez, the instructions are pretty simple,” Thomas said. “He took control of the race, she broke well and settled really nicely on the front end and was able to kick away. She looks like she'll stretch out. We won't take the weather for granted as long as we have good ground and weather.”

Thomas said one mile could possibly be within reach farther down the road.

“It's hard to tell,” Thomas said. “She's out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare [stakes-winner Stormy Regatta] so there's plenty of stamina on the bottom. It'll be up to her. I don't see her being a mile and a quarter, but she could be effective at a mile.”

Luis Saez picks up the mount from post 7.

Shortleaf Stable's Caldee, second in the Christiecat, will attempt to turn the tables on Bay Storm for trainer Brad Cox.

The daughter of veteran stallion More Than Ready saw a considerable cutback in distance from her previous four efforts this year at one mile to a mile-and-a-sixteenth, which included runner-up efforts in the Dueling Grounds Oaks Preview on August 7 at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., and the Christiana on July 3 at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Second in last year's Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Belmont to Plum Ali in her only graded stakes effort, Caldee defeated winners going one mile on May 28 over the Widener turf in her most recent victory.

Manny Franco will return to the irons from post 3.

Michael Ryan, Jeff Drown, and Team Hanley's Invincible Gal has been second five times over as many ovals at stakes level and seeks a breakthrough victory for trainer Graham Motion.

Winless in eight starts since a debut win last August at Saratoga, Invincible Gal will cut back for the Christiecat, arriving off a second in the nine-furlong Virginia Oaks on August 31 at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va. After finishing second in the Tepin last November at Aqueduct, she picked up another runner-up effort off a six-month layoff when second beaten a neck in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly at Belmont on May 15.

Breaking from post 5, Invincible Gal will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr.

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Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's Honey Pants has earned both of her career victories at Belmont and will vie for her first stakes victory after five previous attempts at that level.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the gray or roan daughter of Cairo Prince was second in the Stewart Manor last fall at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., en route to another runner-up effort in her sophomore bow in the Ginger Brew on January 2 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Honey Pants defeated winners three starts back going six furlongs over the inner turf on June 20, defeating next-out winners Too Sexy, her stablemate, and Time Limit.

Dylan Davis will pick up the mount from post 12.

Completing the field are Alwayz Late [post 1, Jose Ortiz], Orbs Baby Girl [post 2, Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.], Adelaide Miss [post 4, Jorge Vargas, Jr.], Aug Lutes [post 6, Jose Lezcano], Spirit of Bermuda [post 8, Javier Castellano], Miss Dracarys [post 9, Junior Alvarado], Por Que No [post 10, Paco Lopez], and Keeper of Time [post 11, Kendrick Carmouche].

The Glen Cove is slated as Race 7 [3:49 p.m.] on Friday's nine-race program. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Stormy Atlantic, Sire Of 100 Stakes Winners, Pensioned At 27

Hill 'n' Dale Farms announced today that Stormy Atlantic, the sire of over 100 stakes winners, has been pensioned. Relocated from Florida to Hill 'n' Dale in 2002, the son of Storm Cat proved to be one of the most reliable turf sires of recent time.

A prolific sire of stakes winners, he averaged 12 stakes winners a year for ten straight years.

Raced in the colors of Arthur Appleton, Stormy Atlantic retired to Bridlewood Farm where he stood his first three years at stud. He is the sire of champions Up With the Birds ($1,870,376), Stormy Liberal ($2,212,580), El Tormenta ($816,106), Stormy Antarctic ($946,832), Conquest Typhoon ($759,449), Leonnatus Anteas ($600,074), Maritimer ($362,835), Storm Allied ($229,114), Dixie Wave, etc. and Grade 1 Winners Get Stormy ($1,606,812), Stormy Lucy ($851,700), Stormello ($700,100), Next Question ($424,391), Victor Security, etc.. In addition, he is emerging as an important broodmare sire.


“Stormy Atlantic has been generous to Hill 'n' Dale and his shareholders. I would like to thank George Issacs from Bridlewood for showing the confidence in us for moving Stormy Atlantic from Ocala. He was truly an important sire, whose influence will endure,” said John G. Sikura, President of Hill 'n' Dale Farms.

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Taking Stock: Maclean’s Music is the Model for Valiant Minister

Last week, I stopped by John and Leslie Malone's 2,200-acre Bridlewood Farm in Ocala before attending the OBS June sale and got a good look at an intriguing freshman sire who'd topped the June sale six years earlier at a then-record price of $680,000. By Candy Ride (Arg) from the unraced Deputy Minister mare Spooky Minister, Valiant Minister was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale and had breezed a bullet eighth in :9 4/5 for consignor Eddie Woods. He was purchased on the advice of Donato Lanni by Charles and Susan Chu, who race as Baoma Corp., with Bob Baffert, and he's an eyeful. Standing about 17 hands, Valiant Minister is an imposing horse with plenty of athleticism to go with his size and substance. That he's a rare gray for his sire like Grade l winner Leofric, who is in his second year at Rockridge Stud in New York, adds to his attraction.

“I wasn't really interested in standing him at first, until I saw him get off the van,” said George Isaacs, longtime manager of Bridlewood for Arthur Appleton and his family before the Malones bought the showcase property in 2013. “I'd told Mrs. Chu not to send him, but she did anyway, and when he stepped off that van, he was impressive. He stands out.”

Isaacs is a tall and lanky figure in his early 60s who sports a ubiquitous baseball cap and a short-cropped beard and tells it like it is, politely but with no holds barred. And he's no one's fool. An accomplished horseman with a record of success in Florida, Isaacs has a keen sense of Ocala breeding history, and he knows how to run a business. The moment he saw the horse in front of him, he knew he'd have to take a shot with him.

“I called Eddie Woods and asked him if he remembered the colt,” Isaacs said. “Eddie told me he was the fastest 2-year-old he'd ever had. And with the horses Eddie's had through the years, that said a lot.”

Isaacs's initial reticence stemmed from Valiant Minister's race record. He'd raced only once, at four. Susan Chu entered the business nine years ago with Lanni picking her stock, racing Grade l-placed Grade lll winners Super Ninety Nine (Pulpit) and Chitu (Henny Hughes) under her Tanma Corp. banner with Baffert in 2013 and 2014 before husband Charles came aboard and they became Baoma Corp. Valiant Minister and Drefong (Gio Ponti), both 2-year-olds of 2015, were part of the couple's new joint venture, and the success certainly continued with the latter, who won the Gl Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in 2016–the season he was named champion sprinter–and the Gl Forego S. at Saratoga the following year.

Valiant Minister got hurt shortly after he sold at OBS June and didn't make it to the races until January of 2017, missing his entire 2-year-old and 3-year-old seasons. However, he made the most of his lone start, winning a Santa Anita maiden special wire-to-wire in 1:08.84 by 2 1/4 lengths from a stablemate, Baoma's Lord Simba, who won a Grade lll race a few months later to validate the class of Valiant Minister–who'd earned an excellent Ragozin speed figure as it was for his winning effort. Valiant Minister was subsequently injured in a stall accident and never raced again.

“When I saw that monster performance on tape, I knew he had all sorts of ability, but hearing about him from Eddie and seeing the horse in front of me convinced me pretty quickly,” said Isaacs.

Isaacs had developed a relationship with the Chus over the last few years, initially standing Chitu at Bridlewood after Barry Eisaman had recommended Isaacs to the couple for their initial foray into the breeding side of the game.

“Charles and Susan Chu are a dynamic couple who want to do things the right way. They love their horses, they have the capital behind them, and they are committed to quality, which is our philosophy at Bridlewood,” Isaacs said.

The couple had sold Drefong to Japan, where the stallion was recently represented by his first winner, and after supporting Chitu for several years are now focused on making Valiant Minister. Their burgeoning broodmare band boards at Bridlewood, which otherwise exclusively houses the Malones's high-grade commercial breeding stock. The farm, with an excellent dirt and turf course plus an uphill Tapeta gallop modeled after those in Europe, does have a separate training division under farm trainer Meda Murphy that prepares client 2-year-olds, and graduates of the program include such Grade l winners as Gun Runner, Tapwrit, Catholic Boy and Maxfield, among others.

Standing stallions at Bridlewood, where Skip Trial (Bailjumper) and Put It Back (Honour and Glory) once served mares and where Hill 'n' Dale stalwart Stormy Atlantic (Storm Cat) was foaled, raised, and initially entered stud, wasn't a part of Isaacs's business plan for the Malones, but with the Chus committing about 30 mares to support their own studs, he'd decided to venture back into the stallion business primarily for them.

Non-Stakes Winners

As a student of the game, Isaacs is aware that it's a longshot to make any stallion, much less a lightly raced one that never won a black-type race, but Isaacs has also seen these types of horses succeed in Florida dating back to the middle of the last century when the commercial breeding industry in Ocala began. The most recent notable example is Journeyman Stud's Khozan (Distorted Humor), a winner of both of his starts. Any Florida list would also include the prolific 2-year-old sire An Eldorado (Vaguely Noble {Ire}), unplaced in one start, from the 1980s; Big Burn (Never Bend), unplaced in three starts, from the 1970s; and unraced West Acre (Forty Niner) from the beginning of this century, among quite a few others. And I'm not including here horses like Sovereign Dancer (Northern Dancer) and Crafty Prospector (Mr. Prospector), who weren't stakes winners but were graded-placed when they began their careers in Florida before moving on to Kentucky, or early Florida stallions like Beau Gar, a non-stakes winner of 15 starts who sired Beau Purple, who thrice defeated the great Kelso, and Handsome Boy, who beat Buckpasser, in the 1960s. Beau Gar also sired the dam of Onion, who conquered Secretariat in the 1970s.

Claiborne's Danzig (Northern Dancer), an undefeated winner of three starts, is the outstanding example of a non-stakes winner in Kentucky, but Claiborne had previously stood Drone (Sir Gaylord), an undefeated winner of four starts but no stakes, and stakes-placed Nantallah (Nasrullah), and the iconic farm currently stands Flatter (A.P. Indy), who didn't win a black-type race while taking four of six starts, but did place in a graded race, like Sovereign Dancer and Crafty Prospector.

The recently deceased Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy), a cornerstone for Spendthrift under B. Wayne Hughes, only made two starts, winning once, and Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor), who stands at Hill 'n' Dale and is currently represented by Grade l winners Drain the Clock and Jackie's Warrior–one-two in the recent Gl Woody Stephens–won his only start, and it, too, was a “wow” outing like Valiant Minister's.

Aside from their lone races, Maclean's Music and Valiant Minister are linked by Sikura, who stands the former, bred the latter, and began the career of Valiant Minister's sire Candy Ride, whose sons at stud in Kentucky were profiled in this space two weeks ago. Sikura's belief in Maclean's Music was vindicated off the bat when the horse got Gl Preakness S. winner Cloud Computing from his first crop and then followed up with Grade l winner Complexity from his third crop before his most recent duo, members of his fifth crop, and his success is the model that Isaacs hopes to follow with Valiant Minister.

To date, Valiant Minister is represented by only one starter, Signora Minister, who was second in a Santa Anita maiden special in her debut two weeks ago. The filly was an OBS March $25,000 sale, which is reasonable for a $3,000 stallion like her sire, but Valiant Minister has some bigger guns in the pipeline, including a filly and a colt that breezed well and made $360,000 and $350,000, respectively, at OBS April–eye-opening prices. Both were bred by Baoma Corp., which also bred a Valiant Minister yearling filly that made $120,000 at OBS October.

To make a horse like Valiant Minister, it takes heavy owner participation plus savvy management, which the Chus and Isaacs are providing. In fact, Isaacs said that this spring Baoma bred all of its mares at Bridlewood to Valiant Minister to shore up his difficult fourth year at stud, which is one heck of a gamble, but one that's admirable, too. Not many would do it.

We're about to see if it pays off over the second half of the year.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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