Tag: clifford barry

Mating Plans, Presented By Spendthrift: Pin Oak Stud

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Pin Oak Stud's Clifford Barry

“Planning matings is always fun, putting all the tools you have available to make the best decision for your mare in hope of breeding the next champion,” said Barry, a long-time advisor to the late Josephine Abercrombie and now serving the farm's current owners, Jim and Dana Bernhard. “As a team, we sit around the table and make the best decisions we can to help our mares achieve the best outcome. Here is a sample of our choices.”

 

SWEET SAMI D (8, First Samurai–Treaty of Kadesh, by Victory Gallop)

She is a young graded-stakes mare and earner of over $250,000. Her first foal is now a yearling by Gun Runner, and she is currently in foal to Flightline. She will return to Gun Runner in 2024, as the yearling is very nice and the cross has already produced two Grade I winners in Echo Zulu and Gunite.

 

 

 

QUERELLE (8, Violence–Orbital Affair, by El Corredor)

A very attractive young mare by Violence who earned $187,000, she has a very racy yearling filly by Constitution and is in foal to Tapit. We plan to send her to Street Sense this year. The team thinks the size and substance of Street Sense will help this mare–what a solid sire he has become, and he gets a top horse yearly. The cross has produced four stakes winners in 16% with a Grade III winner in First Mission.

OMA THE GREAT (5, Tapit–Rise Above, by Violence)

We bought this mare in foal to Candy Ride (Arg) at Keeneland November ($60,000). She is a winning daughter of Tapit from the family of Grade I winner Twilight Eclipse and Grade III scorer Grand Contender. She will visit the very underrated sire, American Pharoah. A very similar mating has produced the Grade I-winning filly Harvey's Lil Goil, and the American Pharoah over Tapit cross is yielding 30% stakes winners.

MIND OUT (7, Tapit–Kid Majic, by Lemon Drop Kid)

She is another Tapit mare that we bought in 2021 ($1.2m KEENOV). A 'TDN Rising Star', she is half-sister to graded stakes-placed Miss Mischief and is multiple stakes-placed herself. The mare seems to have a lot of her family coming through and needs some refinement and athleticism. That is the reason we have chosen Gun Runner for her in 2024 and look to illuminate the success of Gun Runner with Tapit mares (Grade I winner Society, Grade II winner Wicked Halo).

GLITTER AND GOLD (9, Bodemeister–Expo Gold, by Johannesburg)

A winning half-sister to champion and GI Preakness S. winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), her first foal is now a 2-year-old by Curlin named Cajun Curls who is pre-training at the farm. She has an excellent Tapit yearling colt, so that is the main reason for Glitter and Gold to visit Tapit again this year.

DIAMOND SPARKLES (7, War Front–Diamondsandrubies {Ire}, by Fastnet Rock {Aus})

She is a winning graded stakes-placed mare from an amazing prolific family–that of Group 1 winners Diamondsandrubies, Quarter Moon (Ire) and Yesterday (Ire). We have had a nice update in the 3-year-old half-sister with Aidan O'Brien named Pearls and Rubies (No Nay Never), showing a lot of promise (second in the 2023 G1 Cheveley Park S.) and will be one to watch this year. The mare will visit the sire of the moment, Not This Time. She looks a lot like her sire, War Front, and we believe this mating will offer her some size and scope. There are four very amazing broodmares up close in this mating: Mariah's Storm, Miss Macy Sue, Starry Dancer and Quarter Moon.

CORE VALUES (6, Honor Code–Sweet Awakening, by Street Cry {Ire})

A very attractive daughter of Honor Code (a broodmare sire of the future), she is a multiple stakes and graded stakes-placed winner of over $220,000 and half-sister to Are You Kidding Me, a champion in Canada with earnings over $1 million. The mare is currently in foal to Curlin and will visit Candy Ride (Arg) this year. This cross has produced 20 stakes winners to date, including Grade I winners Game Winner, Ollie's Candy and Mastery.

COMPETITIVE SPEED (6, Competitive Edge–Shopped Out, by Mineshaft)

A nice, young stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed mare of $191,000, this mare was purchased in November 2022 and produced a Maxfield colt last year. She is in foal to Justify and will visit Constitution this year as the cross has produced two Grade I winners. The team at Pin Oak really likes the sire; we have a 3-year-old, 'TDN Rising Star' Parchment Party, that is 2-for-2, and we bought two yearlings in September that we like a lot and are pre-training at the farm.

BROADWAY LADY (7, Constitution–Livi Makenzie, by Macho Uno)

She is a young Grade III-placed mare we purchased in 2022 ($500,000 KEENOV) from the family of GIII Ohio Derby winner Tawny Port and Grade II winner Surf Cat. She will visit Candy Ride (Arg) this year. Constitution is a young broodmare sire, so we are hoping his sire's Tapit's affinity for Candy Ride comes into play.

Broadway Lady | Keeneland

 

SUMMERTIME MAGIC (5, Carpe Diem–Tap Softly, by Tapit)

We purchased this mare in November ($225,000 KEENOV). She is a stakes winner in Canada and from the family of Silver Prospector, winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club. She is currently in foal to the exciting young sire Jackie's Warrior and visits Twirling Candy in 2024. A similar cross has produced Grade I winners Pinehurst and Rombauer.

CHECKERED EMPIRE (6, Empire Maker–Checkered Past, by Smart Strike)

This young mare is a recent purchase and is a very elegant filly by Empire Maker with size and substance. She is the full sister to multiple Grade II winner and Grade I-placed Messier. She will visit Twirling Candy and this mating has inbreeding to the great mare Toussaud. We are hoping we can have some of that Juddmonte magic rub off on her.

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Bernhards’ Long-Term Plans for Pin Oak Could be Closer Than They Realize

When Jim and Dana Bernhard purchased Pin Oak Stud last fall, the plan was always to return stallions to stand at the historic property and, while that idea may have been on the back burner before, the heat may be turned up a bit now after the couple's Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) won the GI Haskell S. Saturday at Monmouth Park.

“Jim and Dana Bernhard are on cloud nine,” Pin Oak's Clifford Barry said Monday. “I think they can't believe it. I have spoken to them multiple times and they are some kind of excited.”

While Barry would not commit to the newly minted Grade I winner standing at Pin Oak, he did admit the sophomore was an extremely attractive option to stand in Kentucky.

“He's a very, very important young horse at this point, there's no doubt about it,” Barry said. “He's a son of Candy Ride out of an Uncle Mo mare, he's such an outcross to a lot of mares here in Central Kentucky right now. Obviously, he's a horse with lots of speed, breaks his maiden going six furlongs, second in the GII San Felipe and then comes back and wins the Haskell in his fourth start in what was probably one of the strongest Haskells in several years.”

While the Bernhards, advisor Matt Weinmann and trainer Richard Mandella are still to discuss options for the colt's next race and how best to get to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita in November, Barry said the current plan is to race Geaux Rocket Ride at four.

“I think the plan is to race him in his 4-year-old year, just talking to Jim and Dana this morning,” Barry said. “He's a lightly raced horse at this point and you hope he's got a really, really bright future ahead of him on the racetrack.”

As for his future beyond that, Barry said, “I think it would be premature to say he will stand at Pin Oak. I think it would be unfair on the horse to say that. But definitely Jim and Dana have had dreams of standing stallions here for sure. I think when they bought the farm, that was very much a focus on what they were thinking. Obviously, Pin Oak stood stallions–Maria's Mon, Peaks and Valleys, Sky Classic. We are very well known for standing stallions, so it won't be anything unusual to stand stallions here and it won't be unusual to take in partners at that time. We had some very loyal partners in all our stallions here.”

Barry added, “We're just excited that we even have a horse to be thinking in that way for sure. I don't think anybody was thinking to come up with a horse this quickly. Two years ago, Geaux Rocket Ride was bought as a birthday present and lo and behold, here we are after winning the Haskell. Everybody dreams those things, but you know how dreams in this game don't always turn out.”

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Old Friends Breaks Ground on Abercrombie Center

The Josephine Abercrombie Pin Oak Foundation will match up to $750,000 in donations for a new, state-of-the-art Old Friends visitor center at its Georgetown, Kentucky location to be called The Ms. Josephine Abercrombie Center at Old Friends.

The structure, a renovation of an old tobacco barn, will be named in honor of the horsewoman, philanthropist, and late owner of the renowned Pin Oak Stud in Versailles, Ky.

To date, $150,000 for the project has been raised, which includes a $50,000 donation by the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism board.

According to Old Friends President and Founder Michael Blowen, the President and CEO of Fasig-Tipton, Boyd Browning, was instrumental in introducing the Foundation to the idea of a structure to memorialize Ms. Abercrombie's legacy.

“After watching the television coverage regarding Old Friends on Kentucky Derby day last year, where Michael discussed wanting to build a new visitors' center, I called him and offered to help with the fundraising because I believed that it would fulfill a great need for the entire thoroughbred industry,” said Browning. “I can't think of a better combination than Old Friends and Ms. Josephine Abercrombie, because they symbolize such a wonderful commitment to horse welfare.”

Pin Oak Stud's Clifford Barry agreed that the concept of building such a facility at Old Friends is something Ms. Abercrombie would have truly liked.

“Ms. Abercrombie had entrusted us with some charitable endeavors, and after her passing, we felt like this was something that was very close to her heart and something she'd be very passionate about,” said Barry. “Through her whole life it had been about the care of the horse,” said Barry. “And this is a wonderful way to honor her name and her legacy here in the Bluegrass.

“Ms. Abercrombie was a part of the Bluegrass for a long, long time,” he continued. “She had a vision for philanthropy and did a lot of great things here locally, and I think this will just be one of those impactful contributions that would mean a lot to her. And, I think it would mean a lot to all of her friends, too.”

To help kick-start the project, Old Friends Board of Director's member Corey Johnsen, former co-owner of Kentucky Downs, enlisted the services of Todd Gralla, Director of Equestrian Services at Populous, the architectural firm's staff member responsible for the planning and design of the equestrian facilities at the 2012 London Olympics, among many other projects. According to Johnsen, Gralla, a longtime horse person, “stepped up to the plate, and we started working on the conceptual drawings and schematics.”

According to Blowen, when the renovation is complete, the climate-controlled center will be broken up into three big spaces. On one side there will be big-screen monitors for race viewing, while on the other side there's going to be a little stage for things like handicapping seminars, symposiums, guest speakers, and more.

There will also be display space showcasing a collection of horseracing memorabilia, artwork, and racing trophies donated to Old Friends by the Bobby Frankel Estate.

“In this way, not only will it be a great space for events, but it will also give people a place to go in the event of a rain storm during their tour of the farm,” said Blowen. “They'll be able to come inside and look at all the displays.

“We're also going to have these giant big-screen monitors to show the races of Old Friends horses,” he continued. “And, they'll not only get to watch the races, but G.D. Hieronymus, who does the video for Keeneland and for the Hall of Fame Inductions, is developing a kiosk, where a person can press a button on the name of any horse on the farm and watch their race.

“I want to thank everybody involved in Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Foundation, Inc. for this, including Clifford Barry and John Backer, because I think it's certainly going to be, not only great for us, but it's going to be a very nice testament to have Ms. Abercrombie's name talked about on every tour we ever do,” Blowen said. “To have her name on the barn; it's an honor and a privilege to name it after her.”

To donate to help in the construction of The Ms. Josephine Abercrombie Center at Old Friends, click here.

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Pensioned Sire Broken Vow Dies

Broken Vow (Unbridled–Wedding Vow, by Nijinsky II) passed away from natural causes Sept. 3 at his birthplace and longtime home, Pin Oak Stud. He was 25 years old.

The Pin Oak homebred won nine of 14 career starts, and won or placed in six graded stakes, earning $725,296. Trained by Graham Motion, Broken Vow won the GII Philip H. Iselin H. and GIII Ben Ali S. and placed in the GI Gulfstream Park H., GIII Fayette S., and the GII Meadowlands Cup H. before retiring to start his career at stud.

“He was an incredibly influential horse on my career and was probably my first 'big' horse,” commented Motion. “I'm so glad that I got to visit him in his field this past Spring. He was a happy horse enjoying his retirement. This truly is the end of an era.”

The stallion, who stood two decades at Pin Oak, was among the top 15 active sires, with 15% black-type horses from starters. He is the sire of 159 black-type horses in total, 80 of those black-type winners and 27 graded scorers. He also is responsible for six champions. Included among his six Grade I winners: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and Eclipse Champion Champagne Room, the co-topweight female sprinter of her year Sassy Image, as well as Cotton Blossom, Unbridled Belle, and Rosalind. As a broodmare sire, his daughters have already produced three champions and approximately 100 black-type horses, including Eclipse Champion Runhappy.

“Words cannot express the loss of Broken Vow to everyone here at Pin Oak,” said long time manager Clifford Barry. “We had been with him from birth to breaking, his races and his stud career.”

Barry continued, “As we reflect on the many great memories he provided, how we cheered for him in the royal blue and gray silks of Pin Oak, and we cheered even louder for his offspring as if they were ours and for the loyal breeders that supported him. He was a very special horse to be around–smart, classy and a huge will to succeed. And if he could speak, he would have said thank you to the vets and grooms that cared for him throughout his life. It's testament to Ms. [Josephine] Abercrombie's program that he spent his whole life here at the farm. I know she's getting to feed him sugar again.”

Broken Vow will be buried alongside other former Pin Oak stallions Sky Classic, Peaks and Valleys, and Maria's Mon.

 

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