Not many people have heard of Thirty Year Farm–yet. Kristen Esler hopes that someday soon, it will be a different story.
Six years ago, Esler decided that after years of corporate life, she was ready to try something different. She and her husband Matt began looking for a piece of property in Saratoga. They found a farm located just off Fish Creek, less than five miles from the racetrack, and it was love at first sight. On the couple's thirtieth wedding anniversary, they signed the paperwork on their new property and Thirty Year Farm was born.
Neither of them had much horse experience, but they had both been racing fans for decades–back to the early days of their marriage when Matthew had a t-shirt business at the track. They were meticulous in educating themselves as they put together their plan to build a thriving breeding farm and now, just a few years later, they're preparing to sell their first yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.
On Tuesday, Thirty Year Farm's Authentic filly, who is a half-sister to MGISW Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), will sell with Paramount Sales as Hip 227.
It was a long road for the operation to get to such a prestigious night. Esler admits that she was “extremely intimidated” when she was first getting involved in the industry, but she made a point to surrounded herself with the right advisors–people like Joe and Anne McMahon, who live just down the road, trainer John Kimmel, Hedgewood Farm's Carson Asbury and former Chestertown Farm manager Jeff Raine.
They started with just three broodmares. While Matt, who is the CEO of the Andersen Windows affiliate Esler Companies, traveled during the week, Kristen ran the day-to-day aspects of the farm and soaked in as much knowledge as she could.
“I started to read everything I possibly could,” Esler recalled. “I went to any farm that would have me so that I could shadow them and work for the day. I would ask them every question that I could come up with and anything that I needed to know. We only had two employees and during the week I did as much of the work as I could myself so that I understood what I was doing.”
Kristen and Matt Esler | Ashley Nizolek
Esler quickly noticed that in order for her farm to be successful in the long run, they would need to breed at the top of the game.
“We started slow so that we could learn to eventually get there, but it felt to me like the middle part of this business seemed to be disappearing a little and it started to make me nervous,” she said. “With all of the sales I was following and with the numbers I felt like we needed to make to have this farm be here for our grandchildren, I felt like we needed to step it up. I wanted to breed to the best.”
In 2021, Esler and a few trusted advisors went to Kentucky for the Keeneland November Sale. They all landed on Achalaya, an unraced Belamy Road mare that was in foal to Authentic. She was out of the MGSW Wild Heart Dancing (Farma Way) and her produce record featured the talented turfer Casa Creed, who at the time had won the 2019 GII Hall of Fame S. and the 2021 GI Jaipur S., as well as Grade III winner Chess's Dream (Jess's Dream).
“I still have my notes,” Esler recalled. “She was Barn 2, hip number 175, and she checked every box that we were looking for. She was on a very short list and we stretched to $725,000 to purchase her. We felt like we had something really special.
Esler's gut feeling about the mare grew when that Authentic foal hit the ground. The April-foaled filly bore a strong resemblance to her young sire and she was a pleasure to work with from the start.
Since then, Achalaya has produced a Curlin filly this year and is back in foal to Life Is Good. Meanwhile her son Casa Creed won another edition of the Jaipur and the GI Fourstardave H. in 2022 and this year, recently got yet another graded stakes win in the GIII Kelso S. Achalaya also has a 3-year-old Distorted Humor colt named Direct Drive that just broke his maiden at Woodbine for Mark Casse and a 2-year-old Omaha Beach colt that sold for $775,000 as a yearling to White Birch Farm and is now named Bold Landing.
Thirty Year Farm is now home to 10 broodmares. Last year at Keeneland November, they added the maiden Tapit mare Follow the Flag, a $700,000 purchase who has since produced a Quality Road filly and is back in foal to Not This Time. East India (Mizzen Mast), the dam of Grade II winner Ete Indien (Summer Front), was a $325,000 purchase at the same sale and she produced a Gun Runner filly this year.
She'samericanmade (American Pharoah), a half-sister to the dam of Life Is Good, raced for the Eslers and is now in foal to Tapit. Gotta Go Mo (Uncle Mo) also raced in the Esler's silks and was stakes placed. She had her first foal by Medaglia d'Oro this year and is in foal to Constitution.
Esler puts as much care into the horses she breeds before they hit the ground as she does once they are foaled. A director for the medical supply company Henry Schein in her former career, Esler has embraced her biology background in her new role as a breeder.
“I work really hard on the genetic side to see that the crosses work and feel like we're going to get a sound animal,” she said. “I really want to do it right. Basically these horses are treated better than I treat myself. I want to raise animals that we can really be proud of. In the years to come, people will know Thirty Year Farm and what we're trying to do here and it will be something lasting.”
Esler admits that there have been challenges throughout the early stages of developing her operation.
“When we first started, I expected it to be hard,” she admitted. “But I don't think I ever thought it would be this hard. There have been some tough times. There have been some wonderful times. There have been times that you're crying and times that you're celebrating. I didn't know how hard it would be, but at the same time, things that aren't hard really aren't worth it.”
It's a big month ahead for Thirty Year Farm, and they kicked it off with a bang on Aug. 2 when Brocknardini (Palace Malice), a 2-year-old filly that their farm bred, won impressively on debut for trainer George Weaver at Saratoga.
Thirty Year Farm-bred Brocknardini wins for fun on debut at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew
Next week, they will send half a dozen yearlings to the New York-bred Sale.
“I run around like crazy and try to see everything that is at the sale and what our competition is,” explained Esler. “Of course I think our animals are the absolute best of all of them, but I have a soft spot. We have a gorgeous group this year and we are so proud of them all.”
Thirty Year Farm has offered yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Sale in past years, but Esler said there is no denying how special it will be to send the Authentic filly through the ring on Tuesday as their first yearling selling at the Saratoga Sale.
“I'm as excited and nervous as I could possibly feel,” Esler said. “We are so proud of this filly and what she has become. She's always been an uncomplicated, forward type who has prepped up into an impressive animal. I try to be at absolutely every foaling, so they mean a lot to me. I will absolutely miss having her on this farm, but this is the right thing for her and we are excited for her future.”
Esler learned quickly that as a breeder, she has to make decisions that might be difficult in the moment, but will prove to have the best outcome in the long run.
“There are times where some of the decisions are not what we want to make, but it's the right decision,” she explained. “I feel like in the end, that is what is going to make this farm. Even if it takes longer, that's what will get us where we need to go. This team that we've put together right now, they all are absolutely superb and they feel like family. We all work together to make sure that the animals come first.”
She credits farm consultant Jeff Raine, manager Lolly LaRue and the rest of their team for the work they have put in during these early stages of building the operation.
The Eslers' son and daughter-in-law now live on the farm as well, along with their young son Oliver. Esler explained that by setting Thirty Year Farm up for success from the start, she hopes that it will flourish into something she and her husband can leave for their family and for generations to come.
“Maybe someday Oliver will run this farm,” she hoped. “We're trying to build something lasting and special. We feel blessed to be stewards of this incredible farm. I'm so happy that my grandchildren get to grow up here and I feel really excited to be doing something so different with my life. If you had told me ten years ago that this is what I would be doing, I don't know that I ever would have believed it.”
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