Tag: Claiborne Farm

Thoroughbred Community Raises Tornado Relief Funds

LEXINGTON, KY–Kentuckians across the Commonwealth woke up with a text on Saturday morning: 'Are you okay?' For most, it was an uneventful night aside from perhaps being awakened once or twice to the sound of high winds. But for some, unimaginable destruction and immeasurable damage occurred overnight as a catastrophic tornado hit western Kentucky.

As of Friday, 77 Kentuckians have lost their lives due to a storm that is expected to have affected an estimated 227 miles, according to WLKY News.

Bradley Boyd, a professional Quarter Horse trainer based in Princeton, Kentucky, sent his children to the basement Friday evening when he heard news of the approaching tornado.

“The tornado passed about a mile behind our place,” the horseman recounted. “I watched it pass at 10:21 that evening; I'll always remember the time. By 10:40, I'd had a phone call from one of my best friends. It had killed three of his horses and his place was just gone.”

As Americans awoke the next morning to news of the devastation, Boyd drove to what was left of his friend's farm.

“By the time I got there, they had caught their horses so we just went digging stuff out of their house,” he said. “It's heartbreaking to see people who build and build and have it all taken at one time. It's heartbreaking. But to watch the horse community come together since this has happened, it has been incredible. It's one of my favorite things about the horse community is that when it comes to these horses, everyone steps up.”

It didn't take long for the Thoroughbred community to jump into action. On Sunday, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association launched a GoFundMe page to aid in the relief efforts, kicking the fund off with a $7,500 contribution.

“It's something that the Thoroughbred industry has done in the past, most recently this February when there was some major flooding in Southeast Kentucky, ” said KTA Executive Director Chauncey Morris.  “We have a bit of experience not only in raising funds, but in figuring out what exactly to do with them when emergency strikes.”

As funds started to pour in, Morris got in touch with Don Campbell, a Thoroughbred trainer from Princeton and the next-door neighbor to Bradley Boyd, to find out what the immediate needs were for horse owners and farms in the area.

“Our farm didn't really have any damage,” said Campbell. “You can't even count it compared to what other people have. Most of the people who got hit lost everything–houses, barns, fencing, all their supplies, trailers, cars. It wasn't a typical Kentucky tornado where something gets torn up and something else gets left behind. It was more like if you were in the path of it, you just got wiped out. You can see the pictures, but it's nothing like it is in person. It's like a war zone. ”

Chauncey, Campbell and Boyd arranged to open up Boyd Performance Horses as a supply distribution center.

“Chauncey had told us to be ready because  they were going to send a bunch our way,” Boyd said. “I told them to bring it on and that we would make it happen one way or another.”

Since Tuesday, the KTA has organized shipments of hay, grain, water hoses, dog food, fencing and various supplies, working with agricultural centers in the area to help distribute incoming supplies to surrounding communities.

A church in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky

“The ag centers are sending people here to come pick things up and everyone is just overwhelmed with how much support we're getting,” Campbell said. “But still, we're getting more calls than we have stuff. I had 40 buckets sitting in a barn that I had kept over the years. I took them over to the distribution center and they were gone after an hour.”

“Just today alone, we've probably sent out almost 20,000 pounds of feed between hay and grain,” Boyd said on Thursday. “We're glad to be able to help in any way we can, but without Donn and the KTA, we wouldn't be able to do any of this right now.”

“We just heard that a semi-load of treated fence posts will be here on Monday,” Campbell said. “Chauncey has been ringing my phone off the wall to see what our needs are. I'm not talking about them sending a few pickup loads. Everything they're wanting to do is with semis. The way the Thoroughbred industry has stepped up has been unbelievable. That's the best way for me to put it and I'm proud to be a part of it.”

While the KTA will continue to provide necessary supplies for farms in western Kentucky, they are also beginning to look towards the future to determine how to best allocate their growing funds as the rebuilding process begins.

“We're taking care of immediate needs now, but for the medium and long term, we know that historically, federal disaster relief doesn't always pay for everything and some people fall through the cracks,” Morris said. “FEMA and SBA programs do not generally pay for people who are renting their apartments, homes or trailers. So that's where hopefully we can come in and help.”

Morris explained that the custodian for the funds raised through their GoFundMe will be the Foundation for Appalachia Kentucky. The Hazard-based organization is the same group the KTA worked with when they raised money for flood relief earlier this year and the program has already partnered with another organization in Paducah called the Community Foundation of West Kentucky.

“The scale of this disaster is so big and our industry generally has a very big heart,” Morris said. “Here in Kentucky, it's not lost on anyone just how good things are in the Thoroughbred business since the HHR bill was passed. We have a lot to be grateful for and this is our way of being good citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

The KTA's GoFundMe has received major donations from outlets including The Jockey Club,  Juddmonte Farms, Stonestreet Farm, Godolphin and Lane's End. Spendthrift Farm gave what is currently the largest contribution with a $100,000 donation.

“This is a terrible tragedy and our donation represents our entire farm and our dedication to our brothers and sisters in need,” said the farm's owner Eric Gustavson. “We so appreciate the KTA, UK and every other organization that has stepped up to serve.”

Claiborne Farm also contributed to the relief fund.

“It's awesome to see the Thoroughbred business come together and raise so much money for those whose lives have been turned upside down,” Claiborne President Walker Hancock said. “In times of need, we are quick to lend a hand, which makes me so proud to be a part of this wonderful business.”

Hancock was featured on a local news outlet this week after discovering a family photo in one of the farm's paddocks on Saturday morning and suspecting that it might have come from an area affected by the tornado.

“I saw some mares sniffing it, I thought it might be a piece of trash I didn't want them to ingest so I jumped the fence and grabbed it and sure enough it happened to be this picture,” Hancock told WKYT on Wednesday.

Relatives of the two children in the photograph saw the story run on WKYT and notified the family, who lives over 100 miles away from Claiborne in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

 

Another high-profile stud farm in Lexington has helped raise awareness for the KTA relief fund as Coolmore's Ashford Stud auctioned off a 2022 season to Triple Crown winner Justify with the proceeds benefitting the fund. The bidding was announced on Monday and closed on Friday, with a winning bid of $95,000 from Craig Bernick. Additional bidders included Ken Donworth, Dennis Drazin and Bobby Rankin.

Coolmore will be making an additional donation along with the proceeds raised from the Justify season.

“One of the greatest things about this business is that even though we are competitors in certain aspects, when times are tough and the need is there, the horse business shows great solidarity,” said Coolmore's Adrian Wallace. “It's great to see farms, veterinary practices, breeders and trainers come together to help out. Western Kentucky has been very good to the horse business and it's time that we show our appreciation and help out where we can. Even though it won't bring these lives back, hopefully it will help ease the suffering that a lot of these people are going through.”

Other racing organization have also stepped up in the past week. Breeders' Cup donated $50,000 to disaster relief efforts, splitting the donation evenly between the KTA fund and the University of Kentucky's “Kentucky United for Tornado Relief” telethon, and the Kentucky HBPA donated $25,000 to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund organized by Governor Andy Beshear's office.

Several fundraising events have been organized by Lexington's equine community and will be happening in the coming weeks.

Multiple equine-related groups including the Kentucky Horse Council have joined forces to organize a supply drive for equine-specific needs. Donations including buckets, winter blankets, halters, lead ropes, wheelbarrows and water hoses can be dropped off at the Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 18 – 20. Donated goods will be delivered on Tuesday by Brook Ledge Horse Transportation. Learn more here.

On Sunday, Jan. 2, Frank & Dino's restaurant in downtown Lexington will serve complimentary food and drinks from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the families in Mayfield, Kentucky affected by the tornado. Owner/breeder/trainer and Frank & Dino's managing partner Carlo Vaccarezza spoke with the TDN on Thursday regarding the event.

As of Saturday afternoon, the KTA's GoFundMe had surpassed $308,000 in funds raised with over 290 donations made. Click here to view.

The post Thoroughbred Community Raises Tornado Relief Funds appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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This Side Up: Let’s Be the Best of Neighbors in ’22

They say it's an ill wind that blows no good and, sure enough, consoling fragments of human kindness were strewn even among the deadly havoc in Western Kentucky last week.

But besides the substantial gestures of solidarity from the Bluegrass, including the auctioning of a live foal season to a Triple Crown winner, disasters like this also tend to leave glinting in their wake tiny shards of the life force by which our species has achieved viability amidst its volatile habitat.

The tattered photograph of two smiling children, for instance, discovered by Walker Hancock in a paddock at Claiborne and shared on social media and local television. Relatives recognized the kids and contacted the farm, advising them that the family was safe albeit their home in Campbellsville, 100 miles to the south-west, had been destroyed.

None of us can presume anything of this particular family, as a snapshot of so many lives turned literally upside down, out of nowhere. But whatever their story, and whatever awaits them now, those two carefree smiles serve as a legitimate symbol of what drives so much human endeavor; of the way people strive to protect their families, to nurture their children and–in the best cases–to contribute to the communities around them.

Altruism, remember, contains its own rewards. Certainly for those who prioritize self-respect over self-regard, but also in the pragmatic sense that those who give time, energy or expertise to “the common weal” (and Kentucky, after all, is a Commonwealth) will ultimately secure an environment in which they and their families can thrive.

Looking out for each other might seem a trite enough aspiration as we take our seats around the holiday fireside. But it certainly has an extra urgency this Christmas, between the abrupt local crisis of Western Kentucky and the one now painfully prolonged, the world over, to nearly two full years. For it is precisely when our reserves are most fatigued that we most depend on each other for new resilience.

And that is equally pertinent of the walk of life we travel together. For it has felt, for a long time now, as though horse racing is facing an ongoing, parallel emergency; one that shares many of the properties of the pandemic, in that it just keeps dragging out and appears to depend critically on communal effort, and a degree of individual sacrifice, for its resolution.

So as we raise a glass of holiday bourbon, let's ask ourselves how many of our problems reflect a failure to grasp that (to use what has become a bleakly familiar phrase) “we are all in this together”. And whether we can share a resolution, in 2022, to be better neighbors.

That means, for example, recognizing exactly what you're doing if you send a horse to a trainer whose record, realistically, can only support a pretty sinister interpretation. Because even if cynical enough to serve your own interests that way, you better not have a plan that extends anywhere beyond the medium term. Whatever your guy might be putting into your horse, you are yourself sticking a syringe of poison into the sustainability of our entire industry.

It also means that those horsemen trying to derail HISA had better be relatively advanced in years. Because their pursuit of what they narrowly perceive to be their own interests will, similarly, ensure that in the end they won't have a barn, farm, even an industry to hand over to their kids.

Too much of what has been going wrong is transparently the result of barefaced avarice. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when Churchill Downs this week requested to continue off-track betting in Illinois, despite cashing in one of the jewels of the global Turf. Apparently they are now “looking for an alternate racing solution in Illinois”. Unfortunately “competitive information” meant that they could not divulge how or where, but I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, even after the nauseating saga of disingenuousness that has brought bulldozers to the gates of Arlington Park, the Racing Board was split five-five and only rejected the application because a majority was required. (Actually some people will only believe the Bears are going to Arlington when they see that, too, but by now most of us have adopted the sportsfan's axiom that “it's the hope that kills you.”)

It tells you what kind of year we have endured that, for many, even the closure of Arlington was not quite the nadir. As we've often noted before, the tragic story of Medina Spirit has become too convenient a shorthand for ills far more grievous than can be laid at the door of his trainer. But it has certainly reminded us how unpredictable are the tides on which our whole sport must drift.

None can say what kind of doom or redemption may now be latent in another of these beautiful animals, for the time being as anonymous as the unraced $1,000 Protonico colt caught 21st of 47 by the Santa Anita clockers on December 6, 2020, precisely a year before a similarly innocuous breeze over the same track would unaccountably renew our infamy in the wider world.

There's obviously an extremely wide spectrum of self-interest, with that pair of “Juice Man” slippers nestling at one end. All we can do is remember that individual success, nowadays, will only be lasting if we have first observed our responsibilities to each other. That may not always have appeared the case. In the Damon Runyon era, indeed, the opposite view may even have had a little glamor. But I guess that's pretty much how we've ended up where we are today.

So as each of these sudden moral tornados make matchsticks of our collective reputation, one after the other, the only way we can rebuild is side by side, the best of neighbors.

Good neighbors are big-hearted and vigilant. They won't allow the alleys to be piled with syringes; they won't allow developers to put a wrecking ball through the community hall. Every smiling kid is theirs to protect: whether their own, or those being raised by neighbors or colleagues, or even by strangers 100 miles away.

And, you know what, it's exactly the same with the Thoroughbred itself. We bring horses into the world in all their innocence, with a temporary but momentous duty of stewardship. So if our kids are to grow up proud of where they come from, and secure in their community's future, then they'll want us to show the same, selfless devotion to our horses as they are entitled to expect themselves.

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National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame’s Foal Patrol Season 5 To Debut January 5

Season 5 of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's popular live webcam series Foal Patrol will debut online at www.foalpatrol.com on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022.

Season 5 will feature in-foal mares at Claiborne Farm, Gainesway Farm, Safari North at Pauls Mill Farm, and Three Chimneys Farm — all based in Kentucky — and Old Tavern Farm in New York.

Foal Patrol is a one-of-a-kind collection of live cameras following the daily activities of in-foal mares produced by the National Museum of Racing. Millions of people throughout the world have viewed the popular webcam program since its initial launch in late 2017.

Here is a closer look at the Foal Patrol Season 5 participants:

Elate (Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky.)

In foal to WinStar Farm stallion Speightstown, Elate is an 8-year-old dark bay daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of the Distorted Humor mare Cheery.

She was bred and campaigned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider and trained throughout her four-year career by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. After breaking her maiden in her career debut and only start as a 2-year-old at Aqueduct in November 2016, Elate won back-to-back Grade 1s in the Alabama Stakes and Beldame Stakes as a sophomore. As a 4-year-old in 2018, she won the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap and placed in the Personal Ensign. In her final season, Elate won the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap and repeated in the Delaware Handicap (a Grade 2 in 2018). She also finished second in the Azeri, Personal Ensign, and Spinster. Overall, Elate posted a record of 7-7-2 from 19 starts and earned more than $2.6 million.

Elate has delivered one foal to date, a dark bay filly by War Front, in 2021. Her foal by Speightstown has an expected due date of March 13, 2022.

Spanish Bunny (Gainesway Farm, Lexington, Ky.)

In foal to Coolmore stallion Uncle Mo, Spanish Bunny is a 15-year-old bay daughter of Unusual Heat out of the El Gran Senor mare Spanish Beam. Purchased by Gainesway for $130,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Spanish Bunny made 20 starts in her career from 2008 through 2011. Her lone victory was at Del Mar in 2010. She competed exclusively in California.

Of her six foals to date, Spanish Bunny has produced four starters, including Grade 1 winner Spanish Queen (2015 American Oaks) and multiple stakes winner Spanish Loveaffair. Her foal by Uncle Mo has an expected due date of Feb. 2, 2022.

Traveling Tiger (Safari North at Pauls Mill Farm, Versailles, Ky.)

In foal to WinStar Farm stallion Audible, Traveling Tiger is a 6-year-old bay daughter of Candy Ride out of the Stormy mare Atlantic Voyage. Purchased by Susan Moulton's Safari North at Pauls Mill Farm for $40,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Traveling Tiger was unplaced in her only two career starts at Penn National in 2019.

Traveling Tiger has delivered one foal to date, a chestnut colt by Good Magic, in 2021. Her foal by Audible has an estimated due date of late January 2022.

Repeta (Three Chimneys Farm, Midway, Ky.)

In foal to Three Chimneys Farm freshman sire Volatile, Repeta is an 11-year-old daughter of Broken Vow out of the Atticus mare Attico. Bred by Wertheimer et Frere, Repeta was unraced. She was purchased by Mulholland Springs for $70,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Of her six foals to date, Repeta has produced four starters, including three winners. Her foal by Volatile has an estimated due date of late March or early April 2022.

Floripa (Old Tavern Farm, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)

In foal to Spendthrift Farm stallion Vekoma, Floripa is an 8-year-old gray or roan daughter of Tapit out of the Dixieland Band mare Southern Sonata. Unplaced in seven career starts, Floripa was purchased for $57,000 by Old Tavern Farm at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Floripa has delivered two foals to date, including one winner. Her foal by Vekoma has an expected due date of May 5, 2022.

The post National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame’s Foal Patrol Season 5 To Debut January 5 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Perfect Fit for ‘Old-School’ Silver State at Claiborne

According to Walker Hancock, Silver State (Hard Spun – Supreme, by Empire Maker) has been an easy sell as breeders have stopped by Claiborne Farm in the past few weeks to see the new, Grade I-winning arrival.

“Everyone who has come to see him has absolutely loved him,” Hancock reported. “They can't get enough of him. We've even sold shares to him just with people who have come out to see him. The comments we get are that people didn't realize how big he is. He's 16'3 and is dappled out right now, so he looks fantastic.”

“He's a really smooth-walking horse and he has this presence about him,” Hancock continued of the Stonestreet-bred who brought $450,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Sale. “He just kind of knows that he's a cool dude and he had the miler speed, which is what breeders are looking for, so there's a lot to like about Silver State.”

Campaigned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing, Silver State won on debut at two for trainer Steve Asmussen and was competitive on the Triple Crown trail at three with a runner-up performance in the 2020 GIII Lecomte S. and third-place finish in one division of the GII Risen Star S., but he incurred a setback in the GII Louisiana Derby and was forced to watch from the sidelines until the fall.

The strapping bay reemerged at Keeneland's fall meet with a seven-length romp against allowance company that proved to be the start of a six-race win streak. After another dominating performance at Churchill Downs, the colt kicked off his 4-year-old season with a pair of wins at Oaklawn Park in the Fifth Season S. and Essex H.

Returning to graded company, Silver State took the GII Oaklawn H. by half a length before earning his signature win in the GI Metropolitan H., defeating the likes of MGSWs By My Standards (Goldencents) and Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief), plus future GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter).

“He had been on our radar for quite a while, but his win in the Met Mile solidified him as a serious stallion prospect for his,” Hancock explained. “He had the miler speed, but he was a big horse that was able to carry that speed, which I think says a lot about him.”

After running in the money in the GI Whitney S. behind Knicks Go and GISW Maxfield (Street Sense) and again in the Parx Dirt Mile S., Silver State retired with earnings of nearly $2 million.

“He had five six-figure Beyer Speed Figures and was only off the board twice, so he was a model of consistency,” Hancock noted. “His six-race win streak was something you hardly ever see anymore.”

As a grandson of Claiborne legend Danzig, Silver State was a natural fit for the farm's stallion program.

Silver State wins the 2021 GI Metropolitan H. | Coglianese

“He's by Hard Spun, who I think is a tremendously-underrated sire, and we look forward to him carrying on his grandfather's legacy,” Hancock said. “His dam [Supreme] is by Empire Maker, who is obviously a great broodmare sire.”

Supreme (Empire Maker), a full-sister to 2001 GI Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos (Maria's Mon), was a stakes winner on turf and was runner-up in the GIII Royal North S. She sold for $800,000 to Stonestreet at the 2013 Keeneland January Sale and has since produced two additional winners who have both achieved six figures in earnings.

“One of the reasons that we really thought he could be a successful stallion here is that we think he will nick really well with a lot of our mares,” Hancock explained. “The Danzig over Blame and Arch nick is one that we're really high on, so we think Silver State will complement them really well.”

Hancock added that Winchell Thoroughbreds and breeder Stonestreet Farms are committed to supporting the young stallion as he begins his stud career.

“We're thankful to partner up with Ron Winchell. They know how to make a great stallion obviously, as Gun Runner is one of the hottest freshman sires that we've seen in quite some time. They have a great program and are going to support Silver State just like they did for Gun Runner. Stonestreet is going to be a big supporter of him as well and they definitely know what they're doing, so we're glad to have them on board. He will be well-supported by a lot of great breeders.”

Silver State joins Claiborne's cornerstone stallion War Front, proven sire Blame and War Front's young son War of Will as ancestors of Danzig in the stud barn of the historic Paris, Ky. farm. The new addition will stand for a fee of $20,000 in 2022.

“Someone mentioned to me that he's a bit of a throwback-type horse,” Hancock said. “He is kind of an old-school horse and he's at an old-school farm, so he seems like a perfect fit.”

To catch up on all TDN features for new stallions in 2022, click here. 

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