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Greathouse Schemes for Action All the Way

His friend Spider Duignan knew that the stakes were high. When the horse coasted past the wire in the GII Saratoga Special, Duignan turned and said, “You needed that bad, didn't you?”

Deuce Greathouse was candid in his reply. “It was not an option,” he said, “for that not to happen.”

Raised the way he was, Greathouse knows that there are never any guarantees with horses. Since taking his cue that day, indeed, Rhyme Schemes (Ghostzapper) has himself demonstrated as much by coming up with an ankle issue shortly before the GI Hopeful S. There will be no Derby trail for him, then, though he appears highly eligible to pick up the Triple Crown pieces as a fresh horse in the summer.

And at least he did what was required, that crucial day at Saratoga.

“It did not cross my mind,” he says of the idea that Rhyme Schemes might not follow up his stunning maiden success at Ellis Park. “I would not allow myself to imagine how bad a spot I was going to be in, if that horse didn't win the Saratoga Special. Because that's just the way we play, that's the way we're in the game.”

Rhyme Schemes is a flagship for Pura Vida, a partnership Greathouse has put together over the past three years or so. As we'll hear, it's definitely a program tailored to the modern marketplace. At the same time, however, it adapts a precious legacy–and not just the horsemanship inherited by the whole clan, long associated with Glencrest Farm.

Greathouse remembers Rusty Arnold saying that his father David, lost at just 63 in 2013, was the only person who still “did everything.” He raced horses, gambled, bred and consigned, sold shares and seasons. In other words, it was action all the way; and it was all about the action.

“A lot of the older guys have told me that I'm kind of the last of a dying breed, as far as the real gambling side of the racing,” Greathouse remarks. “Now a lot of my good friends are pinhookers, and they've got their farms and everything. But you don't really see the guys that just live gambling, just buying and trading horses like we used to.”

And that's why he suspected that there might be a niche for something like Pura Vida. Too many partnerships, he felt, were too woolly and discouraging in their aspirations. He wanted players who would tease out the odds: hedge here, roll the dice there, try to offset the investment as they went along.

“It's like all these people that are getting in are basically being told, 'Hey, you got to love the game so much that you're willing to burn $50,000, or whatever,'” Greathouse says. “And I just thought that was B.S. I mean, most of us that make a living in the horse business never start racing partnerships. You'll see a good guy try it once in a while, buy a few with a couple of buddies. They either have luck or they don't. But I grew up with gamblers. I mean, real gamblers. And a lot of the horses that we did well with, and sold, it was like I said: not doing well was not an option. Because if they didn't pan out, I was gone.”

That approach is bound to bring the odd bump in the road, but it also meant that Greathouse could fire up his resume with early involvement in names as illustrious as Tepin (Bernstein) and Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil).

In a way it was picking out the latter, when she failed to sell at Keeneland September, that satisfied Greathouse that he could and should make something like Pura Vida happen.

“I knew that the reserve was $20,000,” he explains. “So I stood next to WinStar and made sure nobody was going to bid that, let them haw and hem, and tried to get her for $15,000. But they wouldn't, so I took the $20,000. I was just trying to be cheap! But I was not going to leave without the filly. And when she broke her maiden, we sold [a majority share] based on $600,000.”

As a GI Kentucky Oaks winner, of course, she would bring $5 million at Fasig-Tipton on her retirement and Greathouse had, by then, long sold his remaining stake.

“But I'd do it again,” he insists. “I'd do it five times in a row. I had to, to make a living. And listen, I was proud to have done so. Of course, it would have been cool, to have still owned a piece of an Oaks winner. But when someone asked whether that was a little bittersweet, I could truthfully say no. What it did do, was make me decide that I needed to raise more money, and do this properly, if I wanted my partners to be able to keep pieces of their great horses.

“And that's what it's all about. You sell. I'm always going to sell, to prove to those guys we can keep it going. But now I can sell a minority piece instead. When I was doing it myself, I always had to lose any control. You make your money, but then you might have to watch horses railroaded by the wrong people, in how they handle them.”

Shedaresthedevil was trained to break her maiden by Norm Casse, who also handles Rhyme Schemes as Pura Vida's principal trainer. (Also on the roster are Mike Maker and Bruce Levine.) Greathouse and Casse got to know each other in the slipstream of Tepin, trained by Casse's father Mark. When Casse went solo, Greathouse promised him support–albeit he now questions quite how helpful he was being.

“I think Norm had 20 horses in training, and 10 were mine,” he says. “But I was trying to survive, and he had to deal with horses that I tended to have only because they didn't sell. They usually had some vet things, and you knew they'd be limited before they ever got going. So it was a tough job for him, starting out.

“I had tried to buy way too cheap: most were 10 to 20 grand. And that really helped change my opinion on exactly how to do it. You still have to be very sharp about what you pay, but you don't want to force yourself to buy at too low a level. It can work, but it's not going to work every year. And, to keep going, this needed to come up with a good horse every year.”

They now seem to be managing just that. Bankrolled initially by Brett Setzer, Cindy Hutson and Greathouse, with some back-up from Tom Romano and Alan Usher, the budget was upgraded to around $370,000 on seven horses. In the buyer's market of the pandemic year, Greathouse “was really just looking for nice fillies in the back ring and letting it all kind of fall together.”

Ontheonesandtwos (Jimmy Creed) was one of those, sent to Casse as a $37,000 Keeneland September yearling.

“She was out of a Malibu Moon mare that could run some but didn't have a lot of page,” Greathouse recalls. “After she broke her maiden, we sold a third for $200,000. We had another filly that ran second at Saratoga on debut. We'd paid $42,000 for her, and sold a quarter for $75,000. So they kind of got it going, showed people what could be done if somebody's picking them out that knows what they're doing.”

To secure which advantage, partners in Pura Vida commit to leaving decision-making to its founder.

“It's for their own protection,” Greathouse explains. “I still talk to everybody, see what they're thinking, and try to make decisions–when I can–based on what the group wants. But it protects them from me making a mistake, and letting somebody into the partnership that proves a real pain in the ass! I grew it very slow on purpose, because I knew the group really enjoyed each other. Obviously that helps you strengthen and build. If I tried to build too quick, let a bunch of people in, it could ruin the whole culture.”

Greathouse and his father had always been amazed by the presumption of successful people who enter this arcane and challenging environment expecting to nail it overnight.

“My dad always used to laugh about these guys,” Greathouse says. “They come in and they have a plan. And they know nothing. Men and women who made a fortune doing other things on sound business principles, they get into this, they get in front of the lights and throw everything out the window. And then a few years down the road they're bitching about bills, and wanting to blame you!”

Both funding and discipline were in place, then, by the time Greathouse came across a Ghostzapper colt in the Paramount Sales consignment at last year's Keeneland September Sale.

“I believe he was the very end of Book 2,” he recalls. “That's kind of where my price range started in that sale: everything I bought came between there and Book 3. This time round, it took until the very end of Book 3 to buy one or two, and then we bought everything in Book 4! So you just have to deal with what the market gives you.

“Anyway he's a gorgeous horse. In all my years, pinhooking and everything else, somehow I don't think I've ever owned a Ghostzapper. And, as I said, our focus is always on fillies. But I had a little more money to spend, so wanted to add a couple colts. You never know, you might come up with a Derby horse in the package without trying to buy 10 colts a year on a feast-or-famine deal.

“He was my kind of horse: medium-sized, pretty head, extremely well balanced. That hind leg, which I learned from Ciaran and Amy Dunne, that we all look for when buying for the 2-year-old sales. And not too heavy. I've stopped trying to buy heavier colts. They just don't hold up. You trick yourself into these big, gorgeous colts–but they're just not sound. Certainly they can't have a heavy neck because, to me, that's just all weight on the knees. I mean, $210,000 was a lot of money for me, so he had everything I liked in a horse.”

As usual, Geoff Mulcahy was entrusted with the colt's education.

“As far as I'm concerned, the earliest any of them will ever run is April or May,” Greathouse declares. “So I don't want to pay to ship them all to Florida and ship them all back here. Geoff does a great job. I'm out there three or four mornings a week in the winter watching them train. That allows me to see how they're doing–which need to be turned out, which we go on with, which trainer might suit them best.”

The Ghostzapper colt was always obliging, equal to anything he was asked.

“Didn't matter if you breezed him with a really good horse, or a mediocre one,” Greathouse says. “He never let them get ahead of him. At the same time, he never blew you away. He did everything evenly. With Geoff, we do a lot of two-minute licks, a lot of slow three-eighths. We just build them up and then let them gallop out. So you build a lot of stamina in the babies.”

Sitting down with Casse in the spring, they agreed that a horse of this kind of cost and profile shouldn't be cranked up to explode into the shop window on debut. So Rhyme Schemes was left space to learn from his first experience at Churchill in May.

“He was fit enough to run, but by no means sharp,” Greathouse recalls. “And when he didn't break, and that stuff hit him in the face for the first time, he just kind of ran around there. You didn't necessarily know what to make of it. But he came back a little stronger, we put blinkers on him. And I will say that Ricardo [Santana Jr., jockey], when he breezed him after that first race, said that nobody was going to beat him next time.”

They went to the windows, sure enough, but nobody was expecting to see something quite so electric.

“He just flapped the reins on his neck, and all of a sudden he's gone,” Greathouse marvels.

And it was exactly the same at Saratoga, when even the winning margin was identical: 9 1/2 lengths.

To recuperate from his setback, Rhyme Schemes has gone “home” to Duignan's Springhouse Farm. (Duignan not only helped to consign the horse as a yearling but is nowadays a syndicate partner). The team was never going to take risks simply for the sake of a little Derby fever.

“We're going to go take our time with him and hopefully have a good 3-year-old,” Greathouse promises. “Knock wood, he's been a great patient. He has an incredible mind, and that has been so helpful. When they're high-strung and stupid, they just hurt themselves again.”

In the meantime, there's much else to keep the Pura Vida team excited.

“We've four or five fillies we really like that haven't run yet,” Greathouse says. “There'll always be a couple that won't work out. But that's kind of the point. My job is not to have any pride, to identify those that need to come off the payroll so that the good ones aren't covering them.”

Whatever happens, a runaway Saratoga Special winner is quite a find among no more than 10 recruits.

“I don't analyze the crosses so much,” Greathouse says of his catalogue work. “We should all know, just from doing it our whole lives, which ones work. Really I just try to look at a pedigree and say, 'Would it shock me if this page produced a racehorse?' Whether there's two dams there that are basically blank, but it's an incredible family below; or whether a family is pretty weak on the bottom, but the mare could really run herself.

“My dad also always told me that a mare can make her own pedigree. A stallion can't. You don't see stallions with no page making it. But he said, 'You see fillies all the time that were just freaky racehorses, out of nowhere, and that's basically the bottom of the family tree.'”

The one thing any Greathouse will always have, of course, is a great pedigree of his own.

“Dad's friends would tell you that it was almost weird how close he and I were,” this one recalls. “I mean, we were together 24/7. So in the amount of time I had with him, I guess I absorbed everything I could. I'll never have his personality. I'm more of an introvert. But yeah, everything about the horsemanship side, and dealing with people, I learned from Dad. He was a legend, and his word was good. It's now 10 years since he passed away and even today, anywhere I am, I have people coming up to me saying, 'I still miss your father.'”

His Uncle John was a significant mentor, too, especially in the selection of young stock.

Overall Greathouse's orientation was always towards the racetrack, meaning that it worked out ideally when his cousin, the younger John, found himself drawn to farm life.

“So I kind of branched away [from Glencrest],” Greathouse explains. “John had gone to the Irish National Stud, he'd really learned a lot in a short period, and he loved foaling, which I never did. What I loved was getting them from weaning, prepping them for the sales, and then breaking them: just anything going towards the racetrack.”

The Pura Vida brand, which borrows Costa Rica's catch-all salutation, was chosen for its upbeat vibe. Because this is a program that likes to get on the front foot, trying to force gaps in the market.

“You're constantly having to buy new horses with money you make,” Greathouse says. “And the expenses that come with them are getting more and more insurmountable. But from the time I was little, you don't buy racehorses to win a maiden race. You're trying to hit a home run. And there's got to be something about that horse, whether you buy it for $20,000 or $500,000, that makes you really believe; that makes you feel there's a something in there that could turn out to be a little bit special.”

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Value Sires for 2024, Part 5: The 20-Somethings

Today we reach quite a crossroads in the market, between $20,000 and $29,999. It takes a degree of affluence to roll the dice at this level, but you'd do so hoping to reach blood of genuine elite potential.

As usual, we've sieved out the new sires, having given them a separate treatment at the outset. Instructively, however, it's a tier dominated by stallions still in the early stages of their careers. And there is an auspicious flux here. One or two, if building on a promising start on the track, could conceivably prove to be on their way to stardom.

Inevitably, there are also plenty of sires only trading at this kind of fee because they have not yet been exposed on the track. The reality is that few of these will ultimately hold out. And while we've cheerfully highlighted value about a couple of sires at a similarly untested stage, earlier in this series, that's harder to do at this money.

But what these horses do generally have behind them, having started with the sort of profile that merits a strong opening fee, is numbers.

Handsome as he is, for instance, and fast as he ran, it seemed staggering that YAUPON should have covered as many as 242 mares for his debut in 2022, behind only Gun Runner. But next time round, we saw another farm go to a dizzier level yet, allowing rookie turf sprinter GOLDEN PAL to entertain no fewer than 293.

Yauppon | Sarah Andrew

Now we all understand how this model works and breeders embrace it with open eyes. Some will hit a home run, but they're going to have to stand out from a crowd. You all know what the stakes are, and whether it can work in your program, and you don't need me preaching one way or the other. For the record, Yaupon duly processed 36 of 40 weanlings at an average $130,888/median $100,000.

He had to settle for 202 mares last time, some of his 2022 supporters having doubtless flitted straight to Golden Pal; but others yet will have switched to his new studmate CYBERKNIFE, who mustered 223. Gun Runner has risen so fast that more affordable sons are finding themselves quickly in the game, and this was one of his breakout stars who beat a 37-year track record in the GI Haskell S.

The sophomore frustrations of CORNICHE cannot have helped his cause, so a book of 180 pays tribute to the brilliance of his championship campaign. As much as the way he dominated the crop as a juvenile, the pinhookers will be dwelling on his $1.5-million breeze as a 2-year-old (and 98 Beyer on debut). Some arcane names seed his family, but the genes were all functioning in his dam, six-time graded stakes scorer Wasted Tears (Najran).

Standing on a couple of farms that know how to keep a young stallion in the game, Golden Pal, Yaupon, Cyberknife and Corniche all take a trim in 2024 from $30,000 to $25,000.

The industrial approach is long familiar at Spendthrift and Ashford, but Juddmonte also played a candidly commercial game with MANDALOUN, who opened with as many as 211 partners. So he has certainly been given every chance of riding the luck he enjoyed when promoted from second for both his Grade Is. He actually paid somewhat for that rather freakish fortune, in that it distracted people from his inherent merit. Meanwhile he's another taking a clip, in his case from $25,000 to $20,000.

These horses are slipstreaming a handful on the brink of launching their first runners. One who excelled at the sales was WAR OF WILL, whose $117,202 average (for 61 of 77 sold) placed him third in the debutants' table (sales up to $650,000, $85,000 median). He duly retains his opening fee at $25,000. War of Will appeals as a stallion for our times, as a Grade I scorer on both dirt and turf, but the clincher is a Niarchos family saturated with quality. A full subscription of 143 mares in his debut book has predictably tapered a little since (112 and 84), but the enthusiasm of the market is a huge plus for a horse who must contend with its crass reservations about anything–even a Preakness winner!–bearing a taint of turf.

Two others from his intake not only started out with very similar books (157 and 159), but achieved an identical median of $53,500 with their first yearlings. That was better news for GAME WINNER than TIZ THE LAW, in that they opened at $30,000 and $40,000, respectively. Their averages were very similar too: the former sold 66 of 84 at $95,772, just behind the latter with 64 sold of 70 at $99,835. They remain in step now, both down to $20,000 for 2024.

It was Tiz the Law who rallied in his second book, to 218 mares against 131 for Game Winner, and maintained an advantage of 131 against 96 last spring. He collected a series of stallion-making Grade Is–Champagne/Florida Derby/Belmont/ Travers–and might well have added the Derby if only it had been run at the normal date in 2020. That makes him look a lot of horse at this money.

As for Game Winner, he obviously offers commercial precocity as an unbeaten champion juvenile, and very few of the crop managed to close the gap on him at three.

Maximus Mischief | Louise Reinagel

How those behind this trio would love to see them emulate MAXIMUS MISCHIEF, VINO ROSSO and FLAMEAWAY, who have all just completed their freshman season in a way that has earned an elevation in fee for 2024.

Spendthrift buddies Maximus Mischief and Vino Rosso contested second in the first-season sires' table all the way to the wire. The former–repeatedly advised as a commercial no-brainer at $7,500–is hiked to $25,000 and Vino Rosso, having been kept in the game in familiar fashion by halving to $15,000 from an opening $30,000, now inches back up to $20,000.

Inevitably their farm has succeeded in maintaining volume behind both horses. In their fourth books, Vino Rosso covered 171 mares and Maximus Mischief 159. Pretty impressive, given how many of their original supporters must have been the type that annually jumps from one new sire to the next.

Vino Rosso, having himself thrived with maturity, has surprised people with the precocity of some stock, but then you're going to get many different flavors with no fewer than 155 named foals in your debut crop! His 23 winners actually represent an unremarkable percentage, then, but where Vino Rosso does deserve credit is in mustering four to make the frame at Grade I level. Overall this has been an unproductive class, in graded stakes terms, but at least Vino Rosso has been coming up with the right caliber.

Maximus Mischief has mustered a solitary graded stakes placing, though of course he was dealing with relatively modest materials when starting at a quarter of Vino Rosso's opening fee. This is a big moment for him, in that he needs to capitalize on his platform of 31 winners with an upgrade in mares at his new fee. (Predictably enough, he has already launched the highest percentage of named foals among all the freshman sires, at just about two-in-three). His yearling average held up well, with 57 of 67 sold at a $38,000 median (average $47,312) compared with $40,000 (average $57,019, as much as anyone could have asked off a $7,500 conception) for 77 sold last year.

Vino Rosso's 75 sales from 98 yearlings offered from his second crop achieved a $45,000 median ($55,558 average), down from $61,000 ($94,287 average) for 112 sold on debut. But his own template (and that of his own sire Curlin) is encouraging for his stock to keep progressing now, and interestingly both Vino Rosso and Maximus Mischief moved their weanling prices back up compared with 2022.

Hats off to Flameaway, meanwhile, for getting closest to breaking up the Spendthrift freshman monopoly. None of the quartet above him can match his four stakes winners, while he joins only champion Mitole and Solomini in relieving the overall embarrassment of the class in at least managing one graded stakes scorer.

It must be said that he had decent numbers behind him, with 109 named foals, but by the same token the pipeline will be maintained by three-figure books annually since. Like Maximus Mischief, he needs to seize the moment after making precisely the same leap in fee, to $25,000 from $7,500. His second crop of yearlings didn't really reflect the fine start made by their predecessors, 41 of 54 changing hands at an unchanged median of $30,000 (average $44,950, down from $49,340). But there should be plenty of action to come from such a versatile horse, who won at various trips on three different surfaces. Auspiciously, his flagship Dreamfyre divided her two graded stakes wins between six furlongs of dirt and a mile of turf. Flameaway's third dam is a true matriarch in Europe and he offers all the flexibility we should be seeking in a changing landscape.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: BLAME
(Arch–Liable, by Seeking the Gold)
Claiborne, $25,000

How many of the aspiring youngsters who dominate this tier will end up achieving anything like as much as Blame? Entering his 13th season at stud, he has settled into the middle of this bracket as by far its most established operator. In fact, he's become a rather unique horse at this level. Everyone else is passing through, in one direction or the other. Blame is the only one trading at this kind of money where you know definitively where you stand. Others could yet turn out to have flattered to deceive, whereas he has found a fairly uncontested place among proven sires, between the blue-collar strivers and the unaffordable elite.

He's actually had a modest year by his standards, with only three stakes winners, albeit these did include a sixth Grade I scorer in Wet Paint. But his lifetime rations are extremely solid: 6.5% stakes winners from named foals, 3% at graded stakes level. His ratios are a match for the likes of Munnings, Street Sense and Twirling Candy, to name just three sires too good to be embarrassed by the comparison. And the big news with him over the past couple of years is his precocious emergence as a broodmare sire.

His breakout moment in this role was the GI Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland in 2022, aptly sponsored by Claiborne, when the pair that dueled clear of a strong field–champion Forte (Violence) and the luckless Loggins (Ghostzapper)–were both out of Blame mares. This is hardly a surprising development in a stallion whose third dam is none other than Special (Forli {Arg}). So for many programs–one that would like to keep a filly, for instance, or just to prove a young mare–Blame will offer better value than most horses in higher tiers. For the record, the niche he has carved out for himself could be measured in 2023 by a book of 129 mares, plus a yearling average of $94,442 (up from $82,075)–both really solid for a horse at this level of the market, at this stage of his career.

Oscar Performance | Sarah Andrew

Silver: OSCAR PERFORMANCE
(Kitten's Joy–Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire})
Mill Ridge, $25,000

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Here's a horse that faced only one problem when retiring to stud, but one as significant as it was tiresome: the notorious myopia of the domestic market regarding even high-class grass stallions. We all know how brutally difficult it is to stand a turf horse in the Bluegrass. Even English Channel and Kitten's Joy never quite cracked ringside prejudice sufficiently to obtain adequate reward for their outstanding records. But the consecutive loss of both those horses, even as he started out, nonetheless represented a big opportunity for Oscar Performance. And while it's still early days, he's making a strong case to step up as heir to his sire.

Oscar Performance covered 160 mares last spring, much his biggest book in his fifth season at stud. He had covered just 63 the previous year, but started out with a couple of three-figure books, so there will be plenty of talent coming through–especially when you recall how he kept thriving as a runner–to keep his name in lights, pending the arrival of the better stock he should be producing now.

And here's something else he did this year, that would be no less exceptional in a commercial dirt stallion. Offering his third crop of yearlings, he achieved an average of $79,959 (23 sold from 30; admittedly a $35,000 median was more in line with the $15,000 conception fee) up from $57,474 ($32,500) for his second; and $43,149 ($26,000) for his first. In other words, he's reversing the usual trend: his stock is gaining in value by the year.

Why is this happening? Well, as we said, it's still early in the piece. None of his stock is yet at the same age as Oscar Performance when he won his fourth Grade I in the Woodbine Mile. But he's now had two crops to borrow the precocity he also required to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and they have together produced eight graded stakes horses at a ratio (5% of named foals) exceeded, in what looks a very strong intake, only by Justify; and matched only by Bolt d'Oro.

Interestingly his principal earner to date is Red Carpet Ready, whose two graded stakes wins actually came on the main track–on which surface he's also had Tumbarumba win the Ellis Park Derby and Deer District win a Churchill allowance by 10 lengths before placing in the GII Amsterdam S. So second and third dams by Mr. Prospector and Slew o' Gold are obviously having a say while, purely in terms of quality, his own mother has also produced two additional graded stakes-winning siblings.

His second crop has produced dual graded stakes scorer Endlessly, who looks aptly named for how far his sire may advance from here. After returning to his opening fee of $20,000 last year, back up from $12,500, Oscar Performance has now edged up to $25,000. If he can keep building from here, he may reach a much higher level as breeders belatedly service an expanding turf program.

Gold: ARMY MULE
(Friesan Fire–Crafty Toast, by Crafty Prospector)
Hill 'n' Dale, $25,000

This was a racetrack meteor–brief but bright–and now we're immediately seeing persuasive evidence that he may be replicating the freakish talent that we only glimpsed. It's not the most conventional profile, nor pedigree, but the functionality cannot be in question. If Army Mule carries on the way he has started, enough people are going to accept that reality for him to break into the elite. If so, doubling his fee from $12,500 last year is only going to be a start.

Remember he had to muscle his way into an exceptionally strong class of freshmen. Justify is soaring to stardom, either side of the water, and Good Magic came up with a Derby winner at the first attempt. In his first two crops, sired at $10,000 and $7,500, Army Mule produced only 138 named foals. Of the five above him in the cumulative earnings table, Mendelssohn has 323; Justify 309; Bolt d'Oro 238; Good Magic 226; City of Light 191. So guess what, some (but only some) of those have more stakes winners. But in what ratios?

Start with his individual winners: 68 from 108 starters, 49% of named foals. Justify is getting his at 28%; Good Magic 38%; Bolt d'Oro 39%; Mendelssohn 36%; City of Light 30%.

Of these, 10 have won at black-type level: 7.3% of named foals. Justify is operating at 6.5%; Good Magic matches Army Mule at 7.5%; Bolt d'Oro is on 4.2%; and Mendelssohn 1.9%; City of Light 3.7%. In terms of stakes performers overall, Army Mule's 11.6% is only matched in the class by Bolt d'Oro.

Understandably, given the relative caliber of mares they will have received, Army Mule can't quite see that performance through at graded stakes level. He only has two such winners, among five placed. Moreover his farm was not even able to promote his Grade I breakout with One In Vermillion, the Allen Jerkens S. having fallen into his lap in ghastly circumstances. But someone needs to say that One In Vermillion has proved a legitimate graded stakes performer as a $26,000 yearling from the Arizona TBA Fall Mixed Sale. Army Mule also has Danse Macabre, an $11,000 short yearling, close to millionaire status after winning five of her first 10. (Incidentally, another nod to our bronze medalist here: she's out of a Blame mare.)

His debut crop had already done enough by last spring for Army Mule to entertain 199 mares in his fifth season at stud, up from 115 in 2022 and 83 the previous year. His 2024 sophomores emerge from a crop of just 37 live foals, so he may have to tread water briefly. But surely Army Mule is one of those rare stallions who do enough, early enough, to lock in the medium-term momentum required. Sure enough, he sold 28 (from 38) of his latest crop of yearlings for a median $67,500 and average $96,650, up from $51,000 and $69,272: stellar returns for those who kept the faith for a $7,500 conception.

As a rule, I prefer a horse that has left no doubt as to his resilience and Army Mule's entire career comprised barely four minutes. But the talent that made him a six-length Grade I winner (114 Beyer) in that time was already luminous when he turned himself from $35,000 yearling to $825,000 2-year-old. This farm has a great record with these flashbulb talents, and there's a rapidly rising tide to catch with Army Mule.

The breeders have their say…

We asked breeders to weigh in on who their top picks were.

Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall

GOLD: Army Mule
Gold would have to be Army Mule. He has had so much success from such modest mares that you have to pay attention. If he can simply maintain what he has done so far until the big gun crops come down the pipeline, he has the potential to be a breakout stallion. For example, we sold the dam of Grade I winner One In a Vermillion carrying him in utero for a paltry $4,500, bred on our share that I am probably going to completely regret selling earlier this year. He seems to offer speed, soundness, heart and his good looks.

Vino Rosso | Sarah Andrew

SILVER: Vino Rosso
(Curlin–Mythical Bride, by Street Cry {Ire})
Spendthrift Farm, $20,000
Silver for me would have to be Vino Rosso. We have booked three mares to him based on what he did with his first crop of 2-year-olds. Considering his own race record and breeding, I would expect that they will excel with added distance. He seems to throw a particular type and I know that he is booked full for 2024, so clearly I am not the only one who sees his future potential. When I was at the Keeneland September sale this year, we had a nice colt out of Queenie's Pride (Special Rate) and the positive feedback I got from trainers and 2-year-old consignors was surprising to me since it was so early in the year for a son of Curlin that won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic as a 4-year-old. Speaking of Curlin, what an emerging superstar sire of sires he is! That coupled with Spendthrift's eye-popping accomplishment of a stallion farm leading home all top four freshman sires for 2023 in North America, the future looks very bright!

BRONZE:
TIZ THE LAW
(Constitution–Tizfiz, by Tiznow)
Coolmore, $20,000

GAME WINNER
(Candy Ride {Arg}–Indyan Giving, by A.P. Indy)
Lane's End Farm, $20,000

Bronze would be a tie between Tiz the Law and Game Winner. Talk about racehorses! Tiz the Law won FOUR Grade Is as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old! He is by a rising top-tier stallion in Constitution and the reception and physical attributes of his babies reminded me of the early crops of Constitution.

Game Winner, a 2-year-old champion, won THREE Grade Is as a 2-year-old and is by the incredible sire of sires Candy Ride. With the ones we had at Machmer Hall and that I saw at the sales, I personally felt that there was a lot of Candy Ride in them. I was the underbidder on two really nice weanlings by him and am still having non-buyer's remorse there. No crystal balls of course, as I am constantly reminded of playing Geoffery Russell's freshman sire contest every year, but both of these young stallions have the race record and stock to step into the very big shoes of both of their fathers.

John Greathouse of Glencrest Farm

GOLD: Blame
Blame was a gutsy racehorse and I think that's what he gets you. He's sired six Grade I winners and has been consistent year after year at the sales and at the races. He produces solid individuals that are sound and can go two turns. Blame is also starting to prove to be an excellent broodmare sire. Forte and Wet Paint are prime examples of that. If you are looking to start a young mare, there aren't many horses you can pick from that stand for less than 30k and are as proven as Blame.

Blame | Claiborne Farm

SILVER: Vino Rosso
Vino Rosso is great value at 20k. He's third on the first-crop sire list, but I think he's far ahead of where most people expected him to be at this point. He was a horse that was better going two turns and I expected his progeny would be the same. His offspring are smooth and athletic. He comes from a serious family of runners. If his progeny improve going longer, we could be talking about him like we were talking about Good Magic in 2023. There is real upside at 20k.

BRONZE: Maximus Mischief
(Into Mischief–Reina Maria, by Songandaprayer)
Spendthrift Farm, $25,000
Maximus Mischief was one of the fastest 2-year-old sons of Into Mischief, which is no easy feat. That precocity is showing up with his 2-year-olds. He's off to a terrific start with 30 winners and sits second on the first-crop sire rankings. He has bred a big book of mares every year, so I don't expect him to slow down anytime soon. I like that he gets a big, strong horse with plenty of bone which suits smaller mares. We have bred to him in the past and will continue to support him this year.

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Half a Century of One Wholehearted Guy

A Monday morning at Glencrest Farm, early in the spring of 1973, and here comes this teenage kid to see what it might be like to work with horses. The dairy where Gene Guy had been employed was closing down, but its owner W.W. Greathouse also had some Thoroughbreds on a place out near Midway and his son had said why not come out and give that a try. Guy lasted until lunchtime.

It sounds as though John W. Greathouse, Sr. had maybe tested him out a little.

“He told me to grab this mare and bring it to the teasing board,” Guy remembers. “And, man, she was kicking and bucking and screaming and, to tell you the truth, I was scared to death. And I guess my eyes got big, and John, Sr. and his son Johnny [ Jr.] were over there laughing. And then it was, 'All right. You can put her up.' And, boy, was I glad to do that. She wasn't in heat, didn't want to be bothered with no teaser. But I didn't realize all that. Now that I know, I see that was all pretty wild. But at the time I said to myself, 'Oh, Lord, I don't know if I want this job or not.' Those Holsteins never did carry on like that!”

And actually Guy felt sick by lunchtime and never came back in the afternoon. John, Sr. telephoned early evening.

“You all right?”

“Yeah.”

“You going to come back tomorrow?”

“Well…” And Guy pictured that livid old mare. He hesitated, thought for a minute. “Yeah, I'll come back. I'll give it another day.”

That was exactly half a century ago, on Friday, and for the bulk of that time Guy has been working for the Greathouse family as farm manager, becoming not merely cherished, but more or less indispensable. His caliber was so obvious, from the outset, that every week that March he received a bigger envelope.

“The first month, I got four raises,” he recalls. “So that felt pretty cool. And the rest is history. I must have been 18 or 19, a year out of school. And I'm still here, 50 years on. Guess I liked it!”

In the meantime, the young man who watched Guy struggle with that mare first succeeded his own father, alongside his brothers; and now their respective sons, John III, Deuce and Bucky have stepped up to various roles on the farm and beyond. But Guy's unstinting work ethic, plus an instinct for managing both horses and people, have made him a fixed point of reference throughout.

“Gene has been running at least our broodmare division and the main farm since I've been born,” says John Greathouse, III. “And I'm almost 40 years old. So, yes, he's been doing this a whole long time. And he taught me just about everything I know about horses. The thing about Gene is that he cares so much. The guy really, really cares: about the animals, about doing a good job. For six months a year, during the breeding season, he would never take a day off.”

That was evidently the way Guy was brought up–and that was also, no doubt, how he won over John Greathouse, Sr.

“When someone says 'hardboot,' he was what they mean,” Guy recalls of his first boss. “When I got here, his sons were about to take over and he was pretty strict. He just wanted everything done right. If you did it right, he was happy with you.”

And if you didn't?

“Well,” Guy replies with a chuckle. “You would hear about it! But I guess I caught on pretty fast. We milked 50 Holsteins every day, my daddy and I, so I was no 'slackard.' I had a great work habit, never needed an alarm clock. And I just started taking it over: doing the teasing, meeting the vets, holding the mares. A little bit of everything.”

Which, on this farm, meant a little bit of plenty. For a medium-sized operation, Glencrest has always had a very diverse portfolio. As a result, Guy has not only maintained continuity between generations, but also between disciplines.

“For a time we had a breeding shed here,” he recalls. “I learned a lot about that from Johnny [Jr.], after his dad stepped down. He was in the stallion barn with me the first year and then it was my turn to handle it. We had Clever Trick. He was a good-natured horse. He'd just come in, do his business and was done. And Wavering Monarch the same. Stallions were hard work, but seeing their babies going on to the track and doing so well was fun, and good for business.”

But Guy's principal satisfaction has always been foaling.

“I like to see new life come in the world,” he says. “And then, when you turn them out the first time, their little legs going every which way, wobbling and running and playing. And you see them thinking, 'Wow, so this is life outside that stall.' That's the best part: just a couple days old and they realize they've got legs and can run and jump and kick. And mama running after them, so proud.”

In his prime, Guy was a powerful specimen. Once he brought down a deer with his bare hands before hoisting it onto his truck. But that prowess was evidently less pivotal to team discipline than a more fundamental authority.

“Gene has always had the 'doer' mentality,” explains John III's cousin Bucky, who supervises the farm's agricultural division. “Obviously as you move up the ranks, you can get out of some jobs. But it helps when you've led by example, like he has. Everybody knows that you're not above any job. You've done the same as they're doing and, if need be, they know you'll help do it at any time.”

Guy, equally, only has praise for those who have worked under him.

“There's been big changes, from where it used to be,” he remarks. “We have a lot of foreigners here now. But thank God for them, because it's hard to find Americans that want to work anymore. And we've got a really good team right now. John III and Bucky can relate to them all, and that helps too. They have a good rapport with our workers, so everybody's on the same page. But I never had a problem, with race or anything else, everything has gone along fine all the way.”

That fleeting reference acknowledges that it remains rare for African Americans to have senior roles in the breeding industry. But while Guy insists that he has never experienced any issues, he surely deserves celebration as a role model for any who aspire to improve the wider situation.

“I really haven't thought about that,” he says. “Not many African Americans go into the horse business, so that's why you don't have a big pool to choose from. It's not bias or anything like that. That's the way I look at it.”

John, III agrees that Guy can be a model for anyone, regardless of ethnicity or background.

“Probably when he first started, the African American presence in the industry was a lot stronger as far as racetrack and guys taking care of horses,” he reflects. “Over the years, that has slowly transitioned. But Gene, when I was born, was an African American working with a bunch of Caucasian guys. He was in charge of all of them–and he made it work.”

Nobody, of course, can testify to Guy's contribution better than “Johnny, Jr.,” as he still calls him.

“Gene's not going to toot his own horn,” John Greathouse, Jr. says. “Nobody is looking to be an all-star here. They're just looking to get the job done right. Make sure all the animals are okay. If the animals are okay, we're all okay. And he's just one of those guys that understands horses.

“He's been around them a long time now. He was always willing to work, just had to acquire the knowledge. And after all these years, foaling mares with me and then with John, he knows what he's doing. And that's just something you can't replace, 50 years of experience. It's not something you can hand over to somebody else and say, 'Okay, you go do it.'”

Though Glencrest will inevitably have episodes of colic, vets have suggested that they tend to be caught earlier than elsewhere. And John, Jr. credits that to Guy's eternal vigilance.

“He's never far from the farm,” he says. “He's always driving around and, even when he's not working, he'll be taking these wonderful pictures to share on Facebook. Gene's just the kind of person that anyone would love to have work for them, as reliable and steady as any human being I've ever been around. And a nice person to go with it–and the same goes for his wife and daughter.”

Those long-suffering ladies have long reconciled themselves to sharing Guy's dedicated nature with his employers.

“Yeah, I was gone a lot of the time,” admits Guy wryly. “Especially during the foaling season. But my wife [Cathy] did a good job and my daughter [Carly] has turned out great.”

There have, of course, been labor-saving advances since 1973, but somehow life doesn't seem much more relaxed to Guy.

“You used to have to bale your own hay and straw, but now we have tractors picking up those big hay rolls,” he says. “Same with the manure truck coming through the barn. As far as that goes, our work is more efficient than it was. But I think it's more hectic than back then. Horses are worth so much these days, people have a lot of money invested. So you better be on your toes and make sure you do a good job. If people send a horse in here to be taken care of, to me that's a big responsibility.”

And that, of course, is precisely why the Greathouse family has been able to trust him through every stage of every cycle. As John, Jr. notes, for instance, Guy foaled and raised Wavering Monarch, but also supervised his return to the farm as a stallion.

“In any business, it counts for a lot to have somebody you can trust,” Bucky says. “Gene has essentially been part of our family for almost his entire life. And he's still an asset, still brings something to the table. He's not just working with some honorary title, not just here because of longevity. Gene still brings value to the job every day. And I think that speaks volumes about his character. It's not just the loyalty factor, but the dependability. If ever there's been a problem with a horse, you've known that you can always call Gene and Gene will know what to do.”

That integration with the Greathouse dynasty obtains a nearly literal quality when Guy, talking with the latest generation at the helm, refers to their grandfather as “Old Dad.” He's a living link to their family history, to the foundations of the farm. John, III and Bucky both mention how they turn to Guy to chart the waterlines, and that subterranean knowledge almost seems a metaphor for the very lifeblood of Glencrest.

“I think that for Gene, with my cousins John and Deuce on the horse side, it's like you're working with somebody, not for somebody,” Bucky adds. “Everybody's worked and grown up together, everybody has a good relationship, and that's what makes it work.”

John, III has never even mentioned the “r” word (retirement) to Gene.

“I'm afraid to bring it up, in case he might actually do it!” he says. “He's never once talked even about slowing down. If ever he did, he can be here as long as he wants, in whatever capacity he wants. He could ride out into the sunset or he stay here until he's in the ground! It's up to him.

“When I took over the farm, the place wasn't in great financial shape. We weren't real sure how long we were going to stay open. We could certainly have gotten smaller, run 30 horses without needing all the help we had. But most of the guys here have been with us a long time. I've another gentleman, Ricky Evans, here 35 years. And we felt like we owed it to them to make it work, to try and keep them around. And now the farm's in as good shape as it's been in a long time, because of Gene.”

In any walk of life, 50 years with a single employer is a remarkable achievement. In one as demanding as that embraced by Guy, it's quite astounding.

“John, Sr. ran the place when I came,” he reflects. “Then it was Johnny, David, Allen and Teddy for 20-some years. And now their sons are running it. It's still kind of odd, without Johnny on the farm every day, like he used to be. And of course David passed away. So it's different. I built John, III a treehouse when he was three or four years old–and now he's running the whole thing! Can you imagine? But yeah, 50 years since my first day on Glencrest. And it just feels like yesterday.”

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Trio Share Top Billing During Vibrant Saratoga Sale

A trio of weanlings shared top price of $150,000 during a day of vibrant trade at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale Monday in upstate New York. By the close of business, 136 horses had sold for $4,533,200. The average of $33,332 jumped 48.5% from the 2021 auction and the median doubled to $20,000. With 46 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 25.3%. It was 29.7% a year ago when 163 horses grossed $3,657,800 for an average of $22,440 and a median of $10,000.

“The market up here was very strong and very honest all the way through, from the top to the bottom,” said Stuart Morris, who consigned two of the three co-toppers. “We were fortunate to bring some quality horses in here with good pedigrees and be rewarded by a strong marketplace. We are in a very fortunate cycle in our industry right now where we have a very high purse structure and, obviously the production level isn't what it was in the past, so I think that's feeding it as well.”

Glencrest Farm, with Dailey Bloodstock, as agent, purchased hip 196, a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) from the Morris consignment for $150,000. The weanling is out of Nice Smile (Smiling Tiger), a half-sister to multiple Grade I-placed Red Vine (Candy Ride {Arg}). The chestnut was bred by Constance Wickes, Amy Rabanal and Highclere, Inc., who purchased Nice Smile with the colt in utero for $70,000 out of this sale last October.

“My father and two of his partners bred him and he's always been a lovely colt,” Morris said. “Our expectations coming up here were strong, but not aggressive and we were very happy with the result on the horse. We thought he would be in that range and we were very happy to be rewarded by the marketplace and that they agreed with our opinion of his quality.”

Morris also consigned hip 167, a filly by Not This Time who sold to trainer Christophe Clement for $150,000. The weanling is out of Lookin Sharp (Lookin at Lucky), a half-sister to stakes winners Malibu Beauty (Buffum), Steady Warrior (Cherokee's Boy) and Steady N Love (Not for Love). She was bred by Drumkenny Farm, Springhouse Farm and Magnolia Mares. Magnolia Mares purchased Lookin Sharp for $53,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton February sale.

“She was a super, quality filly,” said Morris. “We had similar expectations for her and we were also rewarded by the market.”

Glencrest and Dailey Bloodstock also purchased a colt by Complexity (hip 179) for $100,000 Monday.

The trio of co-toppers at the Saratoga auction was rounded out by a filly by Malibu Moon (hip 14), who was purchased by Carolyn and David Cannizzo's Willow Brook Stables. Consigned by Vinery Sales, the weanling is out of graded-placed Stopspendingmaria (Montbrook) and is a half-sister to stakes winner No Mo' Spending (Uncle Mo) and to stakes-placed Blewitt (Uncle Mo). She was bred by Rockridge Stud, Ascendant Farms and Spendthrift Farm. Rockridge Stud purchased Stopspendingmaria for $32,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale.

“I thought she was a standout of all the fillies in the sale,” trainer David Cannizzo said of the purchase. “She was the top horse on my short list; she had a good pedigree, great physical and a great walk. She really stood out. I thought she was the sale topper by the end of Saturday morning and it proved to be correct. I was prepared to go a little higher if I had to. I thought she was a special individual.”

Asked for plans for the filly, Cannizzo said, “We will see how she grows and go from there. You might see her in a yearling sale or she might be a racehorse.”

Willow Brook enjoyed pinhooking success buying out of this sale a year ago. The operation acquired a colt by Bolt d'Oro for $120,000 at the Fall sale and resold him for $355,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling sale in August.

“It could be a very similar move,” Cannizzo said of this year's weanling purchase.

Willow Brook came back later in the session to acquire a colt by Practical Joke (hip 222) for $95,000.

Cannizzo said the strength of the state's racing and breeding program allowed him to buy New York-breds with extra confidence.

“The New York market is always very good because New York racing is at the top of the list with the great purses and great program we have for New York-breds,” he said. “You can always bail a client out, or bail yourself out, with a horse that you might have pushed a little harder to get to with the money you paid for them, but there is always a way out with the way the purses are in the New York breeding program.”

Dean and Patti Reeves, who purchased the 2021 Fall Sale topper, a $195,000 daughter of Catalina Cruiser, were active again Monday in Saratoga, purchasing seven weanlings for $555,000. The group was led by a filly by Maclean's Music (hip 96) who sold for $140,000 and a filly by King for a Day (hip 97).

The Reeveses led a strong contingent of end-users who competed with pinhookers to create a vibrant market in Saratoga.

“There is a very consistent and strong end-user market up here for the weanlings in November,” Morris said. “I sold the Not This Time filly to Christophe [Clement] and some end-users were underbidders on the Vekoma as well. Dean Reeves and Jimmy Gladwell have led that charge and Christophe has some other folks that are doing the same thing. And not just at the higher end, but at all levels. There were some horses I sold for lesser money to racehorse outfits up here as well. So it's becoming a place where there are some end-users sprinkled in every year to buy the weanlings and I think that helps drive the market.”

Morris also consigned the auction's top-priced broodmare, Ventriloquist (Nyquist) (hip 38), who sold in foal to Frosted for $90,000 to MWG, LLC.

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