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Over $1 Million In Virginia Breeders Fund Awards To Be Distributed From 2021 Victories

The Virginia Thoroughbred Association announced that $975,000 in Virginia Breeders award monies will be distributed to breeding farms in the state whose horses reached the winners circle in 2021 at any track in North America. That $975,000 figure is up $25,000 from 2020.

Adding in $75,000 in Virginia Stallion awards — up $25,000 from 2020 as well — a total of $1,050,000 in bonus monies will be distributed via the Breeders Fund. A total of 46 different breeders will share in the prize pool, which comes from 161 winning Virginia-bred horses that accumulated purse earnings of $2,916,905. The bonus averaged 32 percent of each winning purse. As recently as 2019, that figure was 19 percent.

The Virginia Breeders Fund is generated by one percent of every dollar wagered in Virginia on live racing and via OTB and ADW betting. Each year, the Virginia Racing Commission approves how the money in the Fund is allocated. A large portion is set aside for payments to breeders of registered Virginia-breds that win a race at any track in North America. There is a $25,000 cap on any single award.

Morgan's Ford Farm, based in Front Royal, led the charge with $126,694 from 15 wins. Chess Chief, who scored a pair of stakes wins, and Bella Aurora, who connected in a single stake, were both key. The former, a 6-year-old Into Mischief horse, scored a maximum $25,000 award in winning the New Orleans Classic and a $19,027 bonus in the Tenacious Stakes. Both were held at Fair Grounds. Bella Aurora won the Interborough Stakes, good for $17,441 while Supply and Demand, with three wins in New York, produced over $32,000 in awards.

Mr. & Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III finished second in awards with $113,855 led by several key contributors — Passion Play, Virginia Beach and Attachment Rate. Passion Play's victories in the Bert Allen and Edward P. Evans Stakes each returned a $19,027 award as did Virginia Beach's win in the Camptown Stakes. Attachment Rate, a former Kentucky Derby participant, captured an $11,035 payday for winning a February allowance at Gulfstream.

Knockgriffin Farm did not have any five-digit award winners but did have 14 overall. Multiple victors Vincent Van Gogo and Gimme Some Mo collected three each and Mucho Mas and Mo Clare's each had a pair. The combined total of $72,346 was good for third in the standings. Gimme Some Mo's $9,944 award from a Churchill Downs claimer was tops and Shastee's maiden special weight $8,562 bonus score at Gulfstream was next best.

Audley Farm Equine's bonus tally of $69,353 came from just five wins, but three were $100,000 stakes. Determined Kingdom prevailed in the Jamestown, Tasting the Stars was best in the Nellie Mae Cox, and Urban Fairytale finished first in the Brookmeade. Each provided an extra $19,027 on top of purse money earned.

With Repo Rocks' three wins and American Dubai's two, Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin took fifth place with $69,166. She had seven triumphs in all but benefitted most from American Dubai's dominating 7-length allowance win at Oaklawn with a $106,000 purse. Repo Rock's hat trick of wins all took place in New York — a maiden special weight at Belmont followed by two winning allowance efforts at Aqueduct.

Carlos Moore and Gillian Gordon-Moore's bonus of $55,443 was good for sixth among breeders. All came from Steve Asmussen trained Boldor, who prevailed in three stakes last year — the Sam's Town at Delta Downs, the King Cotton at Oaklawn and the Punch Line at Colonial.

Quest Realty's $49,799 figure came from six different horses, two of which reached the winners circle three times each — Drosselmoon and Stay Out. Another trio had their picture taken twice — Jestful, Point of Grace and Stay In.

The William Backer Revocable Trust reached the $40,000 level thanks to Shaaz's late season win in a $67,000 maiden special weight at Santa Anita. The Uncle Mo colt, a Bob Baffert trainee, was making his first lifetime start.

Tango Charlie's three wins in 2021 helped Morgan's Ford Farm and Godolphin reach $38,361 in bonus earnings. The 4-year-old Hard Spun gelding took a maiden claimer at Oaklawn followed by claiming wins at Ellis Park and Churchill. Oviatt Class chipped in with a maiden special weight victory at Del Mar, good for a $13,318 check.

Rounding out the top ten was Lazy Lane Farms with $37,659 from nine wins. Forloveofcountry was best on three different occasions while Dublin Yinz Money and Sing Along Suzy won twice each.

A total of $75,000 in stallion awards were distributed among six owners with 11 winners and combined purse earnings of $250,920.

Horses sired by Smallwood Farms' Friend or Foe won three and took $39,248 of the stallion reward pool. Mr. Buff led the way again with two stakes scores in New York — the Stymie and Jazil. The 8-year-old gelding has amassed $1.4 million from 17 lifetime wins.

Goodluckchuck, sired by Anne Louise Bonda's Big Picture, won three races to produce a $14,481 bonus. The 6-year-old gelding won an allowance at Charles Town, a claimer at Timonium and a starter optional claimer at Laurel.

Third largest award went to Lady Olivia at North Cliff, whose $8,967 bonus came courtesy of Heart Light's maiden special weight win at Colonial on Aug. 2. The 3-year-old Cosa Vera filly was best by a nose.

Other awards were received by Leanne Hester (Gone Clubbing), Ruxton Farm (Fierce Wind) and the late Sara Collette (Xenodon).

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Millionaire Mr. Buff Settling Into Retirement As Connections Consider Second Career

Saturday marks the eighth running of the $100,000 Jazil at Aqueduct Racetrack and one familiar face will be noticeably absent from the nine-furlong test this year. Mr. Buff, winner of the last three consecutive runnings of the Jazil, retired from racing in November of 2021 and has settled in well at owners Chester and Mary Broman's Chestertown Farm in upstate New York.

A New York homebred, the millionaire chestnut son of Friend Or Foe was foaled in 2014 and was eventually gelded and named Mr. Buff, a fitting name for a horse standing 17.2 hands tall.

Trainer John Kimmel recalled the gelding towering over his stablemates even as a 2-year-old.

“He looked like two men in a horse suit. He was this huge 2-year-old and was just big and awkward,” said Kimmel. “You never know where a good horse will come from. Sometimes, you get one you think will be ordinary and they wind up being really good. And sometimes you have one you think will be really good and they turn out ordinary. He was one that really matured into a special horse. We miss him; he was such a big presence.”

Out of the Speightstown mare Speightful Affair, Mr. Buff's size did not inhibit his racing talents, breaking his maiden in his juvenile season at second asking when stretching out to seven furlongs from six furlongs on debut.

With two allowance wins as a sophomore, Mr. Buff made 14 starts as a 4-year-old, capped off by a year-end win in the Alex M. Robb at Aqueduct to score the first stakes win of his career. Mr. Buff's Alex M. Robb would prove to be the start of a long list of stakes accomplishments, the first of 11 career stakes wins with five other placings, including a third in the Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont Park last year.

Of his three Jazil victories, Mr. Buff's most impressive effort came in last year's edition when he took down the Jazil for the third consecutive time. Ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, who also earned his third Jazil win that year, Mr. Buff contested the pace set by Musical Heart and was held 1 1/2 lengths back in second down the backstretch.

Given the cue from Carmouche rounding the turn, Mr. Buff took command and bounded away to a dominating seven-length victory, wrapped up at the wire in the penultimate victory of his career.

Mr. Buff won two other stakes on multiple occasions, taking back-to-back editions of the Alex M. Robb [2018, 2019] and the Empire Classic [2019, 2020], both at Aqueduct.

The second of Mr. Buff's Empire Classic wins came on the heels of a short layoff in 2020, regrouping for two months after off-the-board finishes in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont and the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.

Kimmel shared that his fondest memory of Mr. Buff's 48-start career was his repeat win in the Empire Classic.

“He came in off two bad races and people were writing him off like he was done,” said Kimmel. “He hadn't run since August and I had him ready to run at the end of October from nothing but training and to have him run that kind of race was good. That was a happy day.”

Mr. Buff's final win came in last year's Stymie, grinding out a half-length victory over Limonite in the one-mile event at Aqueduct. After a third in the Grade 3 Westchester next time out, he ran off the board in his last three starts, prompting his connections to retire the then-7-year-old gelding after six seasons of racing in November of 2021.

Mr. Buff retired to Chestertown Farm with a record of 48-17-8-5, earnings of $1,403,536, and two New York championship titles [Older Dirt Male in 2019 and 2020], cementing him as an all-time fan favorite in the New York racing scene.

Loretta Lusteg, assistant to Kimmel, emphasized that it takes a dedicated team to campaign a horse like Mr. Buff to so many successful seasons on the racetrack.

“I give so much credit to Arturo [Sanchez, Mr. Buff's groom], and his exercise rider and our barn foreman Jorge Munoz,” Lusteg said. “They were very hands on and there with him through the winters. It was a team effort.”

Sanchez, Mr. Buff's groom for his entire career, recalled his affection for Mr. Buff and said things around the barn are a bit different now that the large chestnut has left for retirement.

“I worked for six years with him,” Sanchez said. “That's a long time to work with a nice horse. For me, he's the best horse I've worked with. I miss having him around. I've seen lots of pictures of him and he's doing well.”

Gregg Falk, manager of Chestertown Farm, has been keeping Mr. Buff's connections up to date on his retirement ventures and shared that he has been in fine order since arriving in the beginning of November.

“He's relaxing and hanging out here on the farm. He let down very well and he's a smart horse,” Falk said. “He figured out things pretty quickly. He's turned out by himself right now because we didn't want him to get attached to other horses and make friends if he's going to be leaving to do something else. I'm not sure what that would be yet but I'll leave that up to Mr. Kimmel and Mr. Broman.”

Kimmel indicated that the gelding's professionalism and experience on the racetrack may make him a good candidate to return to his barn as a pony.

“I don't think he likes the cold up in Chestertown,” Kimmel said. “I think he wants a second career; he needs to do something. I'm thinking maybe he could be a pony for me. He could teach the 2-year-olds a lot and do well with them. I do worry he may try to take off with the racers, but he could be a good pony. He's a natural leader. There's also someone interested in making him a jumper.”

Lusteg shared Kimmel's sentiments, noting Mr. Buff's leadership around other trainees.

“He was very strong but kind. You could put him in company with another horse and he would babysit the younger ones. He was good in that way,” Lusteg said.

No matter what Mr. Buff ultimately finds himself doing in a second career, it is almost certain that the large fanbase he garnered in his racing career will continue to follow him wherever he goes. Lusteg recalled what it was like to have a local celebrity in the barn for so many years.

“It was so special to see the fans,” said Lusteg. “He was a horse that you could walk up to in the stall and pet him. You didn't have to worry about him biting anyone and he loved the attention. People loved to come and get a picture with him.

“He had no idea how strong he was and was kind in the stall,” Lusteg added. “He loved his peppermints and was a good dude. He's a part of our family and is missed around the barn.”

Now enjoying retirement at the place of his birth, Mr. Buff is sure to be enjoyed for years to come as his fans and connections continue the journey with him into his next career.

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Reigning New York-Bred Champion Mr. Buff Retired With 17 Wins

Even a career this good must end at some point. After 48 starts, 17 wins and $1,403,536 in earnings, New York-bred star Mr. Buff will race no more.

The 7-year-old retires with two New York-bred championships – Older Dirt Male of 2019 and 2020 – in six seasons on the track. He won 11 stakes and made every start but two in New York. For now, the chestnut gelding heads to his birthplace, owners/breeders Chester and Mary Bromans' Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, N.Y.

“It's sad, but happy too,” said trainer John Kimmel. “It's hard to find a horse that could win 17 races and retire sound. He's the winningest horse I've ever had. We'll miss him, but he goes to the farm as a sound horse.”

Mr. Buff foaled at Chestertown (about 50 miles north of Saratoga Springs) in February 2014. The son of Friend Or Foe (who won five races and earned $349,134 for the Bromans and Kimmel) and the Speightstown mare Speightful Affair finished fifth in his debut at Saratoga in 2016 and won his next start at Belmont Park in September.

Mr. Buff won twice more in 2017, but endured eight losses to start 2018 before closing with wins in four of his final six starts – topped by the Alex M. Robb Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct. The success carried over, as he opened 2019 with a victory in the open-company Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct. Later that season, he added the Saginaw, Evan Shipman, Empire Classic and another edition of the Robb while piling up a career-high $455,750.

Awarded his first New York-bred divisional crown after that season, Mr. Buff duplicated the feat in 2020 thanks to wins in the Jazil, Haynesfield and Empire Classic and $307,500 in earnings.

Kimmel loved the success, and the ride the burly chestnut took everyone on.

“He gets better and better all the time. He's just been an iron horse,” the said in early 2021. “Once we figured out a few things about him, he kept losing his shoes, we've been gluing his shoes on for two-and-a-half years now. He's got white feet, they're kind of brittle, once he had shoes that didn't fall off, he's run a little better and a little better. He can use that big stride to his advantage.”

Mr. Buff opened 2021 with a third consecutive win in the Jazil and another stakes score in the Stymie. That Aqueduct victory would be his last as he followed with a third in the Westchester, fifths in the Commentator and Evan Shipman and a well-beaten eighth in the Empire Classic Oct. 30. Kimmel but pinned some of the dull performances on the inability to use Lasix in New York stakes races starting in 2021.

“He was always a bleeder, and benefitted from the use of Lasix,” Kimmel said. “He's not gushing, but he's bleeding like a two out of five and he's so smart, and he's such a veteran that I think he can tell he's going to bleed if he tries any harder. In the morning, he works well. He's right there with other horses breezing, but he's treated with Lasix. Without it, running in the afternoon in tougher races, he's taking care of himself. He's been too good to us to push the envelope anymore.”

Though he hesitated to single out one race as the most memorable, Kimmel called the 2020 Empire Classic a favorite. Facing six foes, coming off three losses and making his first start in almost three months, Mr. Buff controlled the race from the inside post position and made the lead last 1 1/8 miles while winning by 3 1/4 lengths for Junior Alvarado.

“He had run a couple clunkers against the better horses and hadn't run in a while,” Kimmel said. “I was real tickled because they were kind of writing him off and for him to come back and show at the age of 6 that he could come back and do that against a pretty good group of New York-breds was something.”

Kimmel tried graded company seven times with his stable star, but Mr. Buff never broke through – finishing ninth in the 2019 New Orleans Handicap-G2, seventh in the 2019 Woodward-G1, 10th in the 2019 Clark-G1, fifth in the 2020 Suburban-G2, Whitney-G1 and Cigar Mile-G1 and third in the 2021 Westchester-G3.

The Bromans bought Mr. Buff's dam for $80,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky mixed sale in February 2013. Her 12-start racing career yielded two wins and a second in a Grade 3 stakes. As a broodmare, she has produced two winners for the Bromans in addition to Mr. Buff – a full-brother Cain Is Abel and the Scat Daddy gelding Daddy Knows. Miss Buff, a 3-year-old full-sister, has yet to race. The top side of Mr. Buff's pedigree starts with Friend Or Foe, whose career included wins in the Mike Lee, Empire Classic and Easy Goer stakes plus a fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney in 2011 for Kimmel and the Bromans. His sire Friends Lake also raced for the Bromans and Kimmel, winning the Grade 1 Florida Derby and starting in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in 2004.

Retirement plans, other than no racing, weren't quite finalized. Mr. Buff headed to Chestertown with no plans, though his trainer wouldn't rule out a second career as a stable pony.

“I used to use him with the babies,” Kimmel said. “He's so big that he's good at it. He's over 17 hands and he'd go, 'Come on, Sonny, this is the way we do it.' And the 2-year-olds would follow him like, 'I better pay attention to this guy. He knows what he's doing.'

“I don't know if we make him into a pony on the track, but I'm sure he's sound enough that he could do something. Right now, he's going to get a break. He's going to be a happy horse.”

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Veteran New York-Bred Mr. Buff Seeking Graded Status In Excelsior

Coming off a pair of stakes wins on the local strip, the venerable New York-bred Mr. Buff will look to finally break through in a graded stakes race on Saturday on Aqueduct Racetrack's main track when he lines up against six rivals in the nine-furlong Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior for 4-year-olds and up.

Off as Race 8 on the 11-race card, the Excelsior is part of an action-packed day at the Big A that features the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, the final local prep for the Kentucky Derby offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top-four finishers, as well as the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap, the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore and the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the Kentucky Oaks.

Mr. Buff, who has already secured millionaire status, still stands out as a leading attraction. The Chester and Mary Broman homebred has 17 wins to his credit, 11 of them in stakes races, but has been unable to seal the deal in a graded race in five attempts.

Despite his graded woes, the 7-year-old son of Friend Or Foe has compiled an imposing resume. His ledger at Aqueduct features 10 wins and earnings in excess of $600,000.

After a distant fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap to begin the Big A winter meet on December 5, Mr. Buff rebounded with an encouraging runner-up performance in the Alex M. Robb for New York-breds just seven days later and has since rattled off wins in the Stymie and Jazil, the latter of which he accomplished by seven lengths at the Excelsior distance.

With his affinity for Aqueduct well established, his trainer John Kimmel hopes at long last the Excelsior will mark his first graded triumph.

“He's doing terrific,” Kimmel said of the chestnut gelding. “He's been acting great, breezing great, and he certainly has a good record at Aqueduct. He's been so consistent on this track that I have to think he's going to give another good performance. He's beaten a lot of graded winners, so we'll see what happens.”

Kendrick Carmouche, who was aboard for his runaway score in the Jazil when he came from just off the pace, will have the call from the outermost post.

“If he's ridden the right way I think he's going to win,” said Kimmel. “Kendrick understands the kind of horse he is; he knows he doesn't need to be committed to the lead. He can find his rhythm with that big stride of his and high cruising speed and hopefully he can make a comfortable lead, but if not Kendrick knows to be patient.”

An eclectic group of challengers will enter the starting gate to face Mr. Buff, with small barns being well represented in the Excelsior.

Limonite has been a revelation since being claimed by trainer Amira Chichakly three starts ago for $40,000. While Limonite began his career as a highly promising 2-year-old and a potential Kentucky Derby prospect in 2019, his development had plateaued by 2020 as he bounced around the claiming ranks in the latter half of the year.

His fortunes changed suddenly when haltered by Chichakly and owners Brian and Kerry Novak on January 30 at the Big A, and in his first start for his new connections, which came little more than a week later, Limonite exploded to a five-length win over optional claiming company.

Last out he proved that performance was no fluke with a game runner-up finish in the Stymie behind Mr. Buff, missing by just a half-length to that one in the end.

Fresh off his first NYRA jockey title at the Aqueduct winter meet, Eric Cancel will be aboard Limonite from post 4.

Backsideofthemoon, another popular older claimer, will rejoin the stakes ranks in the Excelsior after being taken back by trainer Robert Klesaris in his last start for $62,500. Like Mr. Buff, Backsideofthemoon has a history of running his best races at Aqueduct, and the 9-year-old even ran a career best race here on December 19 in the Queens County, which he won by six lengths with a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

He will break from post 3 with jockey Trevor McCarthy in the irons.

Representing the bigger stables will be trainer Todd Pletcher, who looks to saddle a horse-for-course with Haikal. Formerly under the care of now-retired trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, the Shadwell homebred made a name for himself over this track in early 2019, when he won the Grade 3 Gotham and looked like a legitimate Derby prospect before being forced to hit the sidelines following a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial that same year.

Haikal nearly returned a winner at the Big A to begin his 2020 campaign, but three subsequent tries, all at Gulfstream Park, have produced underwhelming results.

“He didn't seem to like Gulfstream at all,” said Pletcher, who took over Haikal's training duties when McLaughlin retired early last year. “His form is good at Aqueduct. Hopefully by getting him back to Aqueduct, we'll get him back on course.”

Haikal will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. from the inside post.

Rounding out the field are Modernist [post 5, Junior Alvarado], a former graded winner for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who finished second in his 2021 bow in the Grade 3 Challenger; the Tom Albertrani-trained Tintoretto [post 6, Jose Ortiz] looking to improve off a fourth in the Stymie; and Grumps Little Tots [post 2, Manny Franco], who steps up in class for conditioner Rob Atras following a nose win in a $50,000 claimer traveling nine furlongs on February 26 at Aqueduct.

First post on Saturday's 11-race program is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter 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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