Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Legacy Farm

As we approach the opening of the 2024 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why.

Here we catch up with Larry Johnson, the owner of Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Virginia.

“I'm trying to go from primarily breed-to-race to more commercial opportunities,” said Johnson.

A GREAT TIME (10, Street Magician – Short Time, by Clever Trick) to be bred to Constitution
A homebred stakes winner of nearly $250,000 by my homebred stallion Street Magician (Street Cry {Ire}), she is a three-quarter sister to homebred Grade I winner Victor's Cry (Street Cry {Ire}). Her first foal by Gun Runner is a just-turned 2-year-old that I will race.
She is in foal to Justify, who I was fortunate to get for $100,000, and will be bred to Constitution, who I am a shareholder in. I believe he has his best days still ahead of him.

ALLWEWANTFORXMAS (15, Songandaprayer- Grecian Wings, by Mr. Greeley) to be bred to Cody's Wish
This MSP homebred is the dam of my Grade III winner of $400,000 Spun Glass (Hard Spun) and the stakes-placed winner of nearly $200,000 Xmas Surprise (More Than Ready). I will race her current 3-year-old by Hard Spun. Her 2-year-old by Gun Runner was a $325,000 Keeneland September Yearling.
She is booked to Cody's Wish, whose record and story needs no further explanation.

IN THE NAVY NOW (11, Midshipman – Looking Afar, by Broad Brush) to be bred to Maxfield
A relatively rare 2-year-old purchase for Mike Trombetta and me. She is a stakes winner of $250,000 and her first foal is the now stakes-placed filly Naval Empire (Empire Maker). Her current 3-year-old sold for $200,000 at Keeneland. She has a Street Sense 2-year-old that we retained and an Omaha Beach yearling. She is in foal to McKinzie and booked to Maxfield to leverage the quality of her current Street Sense 2-year-old.

NEVER ENOUGH TIME (6, Munnings – What Time it Is, by Partner's Hero) to be bred to Life Is Good
A homebred daughter of Munnings, she is a multiple stakes winner of $400,000. Her first foal is a Constitution yearling. She is back in foal to him and will be bred to Life Is Good, who averaged over $400,000 as a covering sire. The potential should be limitless.

PAST AS PRELUDE (13, Bernardini – Magical Meadow, by Meadowlake) to be bred to Charlatan
A homebred daughter of Bernardini and a half to my homebred graded stakes winner Street Magician. She is already the dam of the MSP earner of $245,000 Continentalcongres and the stakes-quality filly Future is Now (Great Notion). She is booked to Charlatan for this year. His racing ability and pedigree speaks for itself and his first crop has averaged nearly $200,000.

SKY COPPER (19, Sky Mesa – Legendary Priness, by Gone West) to be bred to Maxfield
This stakes-placed mare is already the dam of Sky's Not Falling, a current stakes winner of $400,000, and two stakes horses by Street Magician. Her current 2-year-old by McKinzie was a $230,000 RNA at Saratoga this past year. She has a McKinzie yearling and is in foal to him. She is booked to Maxfield for 2024, all to leverage the Street Cry influence (that has already worked). The 2024 breeding will also be a 3×3 breeding to Caress, the dam of Sky Mesa.

SPUN GLASS (7, Hard Spun – Allwewantforxmas, by Songandaprayer) to be bred to Medaglia d'Oro
Spun Glass is a newly retired homebred Grade III winner of $400,000. Her first breeding will be to Medaglio d'Oro, a proven Grade I sire who gets runners on all surfaces and distances. At his current fee, he is a remarkable value.

WALK OF STARS (13, Street Sense – Star Kell, by Star de Naskra) to be bred to Essential Quality
Walk of Stars is a homebred stakes winner and is a half to Strike the Moon (Malibu Moon), a multiple stakes winner of nearly $700,000, and What Time It Is (Partner's Hero), the dam of MSW Never Enough Time (Munnings). Her 3-year-old by Constitution was a $600,000 Keeneland September graduate. She has already produced the stakes placed Hollywood Walk (Animal Kingdom). She has a Maclean's Music yearling and is in foal to Jack Christopher, which will produce a breeding similar to Never Enough Time. She is booked to Essential Quality for 2024 to build on the Tapit bloodline that produced her $600,000 yearling.

WHAT TIME IT IS (Partner's Hero – Star Kell, by Star de Naskra) to be bred to Olympiad
What Time It Is is a MSP homebred with earnings of $220,000. Her current 3-year-old by Munnings was a $280,000 Saratoga grad and is currently in training with Wesley Ward. She has already produced MSW Never Enough Time (Munnings) and is currently in foal to Charlatan. She will be bred to Olympiad for 2024. Both of these stallions have been extremely well received by the market to this point.

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Letter to the Editor: Racing Owner Conversations

by Edd Roggenkamp, Versailles, Kentucky

Racehorse owners are the lifeblood of this industry. Without owners, there is no need for breeding farms, sales companies, consigners, vets, feed companies, et al. But the number of licensed racehorse owners is declining in most states, which is a seriously negative trend for the horseracing industry.

Over the nearly 30 years that I have owned and raced Thoroughbreds, I have always found it most interesting to sit down and have a candid conversation with another racehorse owner. It lets me find out how they manage their stable, design their tactics and adjust their racing strategy. Universally, their love for the sport and enthusiasm is contagious. These conversations, often over coffee in the track kitchen, have been a big help as I climbed up the steep learning curve of owning race horses. I was lucky early-on to meet some knowledgeable owners, that were enthusiastic, but realistic, and willing to share their “how to” tactics. Some of my best conversations were with small guys, often operating on a budget, but smart, careful, and having great fun owning racehorses and winning races. But such conversations are not always easily available to folks that want to own a race horse, or a new owner that wants to learn fast, or even a veteran who wants to hear different ownership strategies.

There are lots of articles and videos covering high-flying trainers and jockeys talking about their Grade 1 racing success, but how about the day-to-day ideas and strategies of the dedicated people that own the horses and write the checks?

So, the idea was hatched. Let's record a series of candid and freewheeling Racehorse Owner Conversations with all kinds of experienced and successful owners. We'll ask them to share their strategy, their level of involvement, how they acquire good racing stock, and how they find and develop relationships with quality support people. Then we will share these conversations freely with anybody interested in owning racehorses.

Luckily, modern podcast technology makes this possible. The first of these conversations (podcasts) are now available free on major podcast sites: Spotify, Google podcasts, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and many others.  Anyone can download and listen to these conversations at their leisure.

The conversations will not be just about winning graded stakes races because 80% of our sport is claiming races, and thousands of ardent owners, enjoy winning races at their local track. Ownership situations are generally the same…only the budget is different. Our first three podcast conversations are with successful owners that have won major graded stakes races (Texas-based Jerry Namy, a Grade I-winning owner at Keeneland; 2022's leading owner in Maryland Larry Johnson; and West Coast-based Grade I-winning owner Jack Hodge), but all three have started a claimer within the last year.

So go to a podcast site, search for Racehorse Owner Conversations and listen in for free to the first 3 Episodes available now. More conversations will be added shortly, and all podcasts will be archived and available indefinitely. We think you'll find these sessions with the candid, thoughtful and colorful people who share their ideas on Racehorse Owner Conversations interesting, helpful and enlightening.

The post Letter to the Editor: Racing Owner Conversations appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Colonial Season Ends on a High

Colonial Downs concluded its 21-day season this week, highlighted by a new all-time daily average handle and over $10-million in purse distribution. In all, total handle was $46,867,078, a record average daily handle of $2,231,765. The 2019 meet–which was 15 days over five weeks–produced an average handle of $1,166,666, for a more that 91% increase.

“It is so gratifying to see the continued revival of Virginia racing as we mark new all-time handle heights,” said John Marshall, Colonial Downs Group Executive Vice President, Operations. “We have held true to our promise of building Colonial Downs into one of the country's elite boutique meets. We thank our horsemen, fans and team for doing their part in making it so.”

The Colonial racing program generated a total of 1,713 starters for the 205 races conducted this year, for an average of 8.36 runners per race. A total of 148 races were contested over Colonial's Secretariat Turf Course. A total of 1,325 horses competed over turf, an average of 8.85 starters per race; and 388 horses participated in 57 dirt races for an average of 6.81 per race.

The Aug. 31 GIII Virginia Derby established a new all-sources handle single-day record of $4,890,704, 10% higher than the previous best of $4.4 million which was set on Virginia Derby Day in 2008.

In the battle for meeting titles, leading jockey Horacio Karamanos and Joe Rocco Jr. finished on par with 20 wins apiece, while Hamilton Smith led all trainers with 10 wins. Mike Trombetta, with eight wins, was the leading money earning trainer with $491,650.

Larry Johnson, owner of Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Virginia, was the leading owner with six wins, besting PTK, LLC who had five.

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Tasting The Stars Headlines Van Clief Stakes At Colonial Downs

Virginia-bred Tasting The Stars, an impressive 5-for-7 in her career, headlines Monday's $100,000 Van Clief Stakes for Virginia-restricted horses at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va. The field of nine includes Todd Pletcher's Apurate, the second early choice.

The restricted stakes, open to those that are Virginia-bred, sired, or certified, is 1 1/16th miles on grass and is the eighth of nine races scheduled.

Newtown Anner Stud Farm's Tasting the Stars is fresh off turf stakes wins in the Nellie Mae Cox at Colonial July 19 and in the Brookmeade at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., last October. The 5-year-old Bodemeister mare prevailed three times in 2019 — in the Just Jenda Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and in allowance and maiden special weight races at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. The Van Clief headliner finished sixth in the 2019 Virginia Oaks as the betting favorite. She has bankrolled $204,600 and is 3-for-4 on turf. The 9-5 early choice is trained by John Kimmel and will be ridden by Feargal Lynch.

A1A Racing's Apurate is the second choice and was runner-up most recently in a Monmouth turf allowance. The 4-year-old Summer Front filly broke her maiden October 20 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., and has earned $129,360 from 13 starts including a win and five runner-up finishes. David Cohen will ride the Kentucky-bred.

Larry Johnson and RDM Racing Stable's No Mo Lady is third early choice at 6-1. The 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare finished third in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes last October at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and previously, had back-to-back seconds in the All Along Stakes and Indiana General Assembly Distaff Stakes. The Michael Trombetta trainee will be ridden by Julian Pimentel.

Also in the field is Inside The Box, Unruly Julie, Fionnbharr, Sweet Sandy, Princess Theorem, and Dare to Promise.

First post at Colonial Monday is 1:45 PM. The Van Clief is scheduled at 5:01 PM. The summer racing season in New Kent will continue on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday basis through September 1. The $250,000 New Kent County Virginia Derby (Gr. 3) is Tuesday, August 31.

The post Tasting The Stars Headlines Van Clief Stakes At Colonial Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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