Tag: Leah Alessandroni

Ivar All Set for Next Chapter in Argentina

Argentinian champion and U.S. Grade I winner Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) is preparing for his Southern Hemisphere homecoming next month, when he will take up stud duty at Haras Carampangue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 7-year-old, who was campaigned by Kentucky-based Bonne Chance Farm and its South American partner Stud RDI, began quarantine shortly after his second-place finish in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. and will depart for his new home at the end of April, leaving him plenty of time to adapt to his second career before the breeding season begins in August.

While the Southern Hemisphere breeding season is still months away, breeders in Argentina are already eager to send their mares to millionaire Ivar. Bonne Chance Farm CEO Alberto Figueiredo estimated that the new stallion will breed around 140 mares in his first season.

“All the good breeders and important names in the industry in Argentina are interested,” Figueiredo said. “There is general excitement about the horse. When you are in the stallion business, you have to pray that everything keeps going as you hope, but at least we are providing him with the best support he can have.”

Ivar's breeder and co-owner Stud Rio Dois Irmaos (Stud RDI) has retained a 55% ownership share in the stallion, but the syndicate also includes Haras Carampangue–the farm where he will stand–as well as Haras Abolengo, Gran Muneca, San Benito, La Nora and Santa Maria de Araras.

Haras Carampangue is home to four other stallions including 2013 GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. winner Suggestive Boy (Easing Along) and 2013 GI Hollywood Derby victor Seek Again (Speightstown).

Argentinian breeders are already more than familiar with Ivar from his undefeated 2-year-old season there in 2019, where he claimed two Group 1 victories and was named champion 2-year-old colt before shipping to the U.S. Under the tutelage of Paulo Lobo, Ivar was a winner in his second start in North America and then claimed the GI Turf Mile S. at Keeneland four months later. He ran third the following season in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile and last year, won the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial S. and placed in two additional Grade I competitions.

Following his second-place finish in the GI Pegasus Turf in January, the decision was made for Ivar to retire. Figueiredo said that, had the horse won the Pegasus, they might have considered a trip to the Saudi Cup or keeping him in training for one last Keeneland spring meet, but ultimately they chose to give Ivar plenty of time to get through quarantine and let down before the fall breeding season.

Ivar wins the 2020 GI Turf Mile S. at Keeneland | Coady

“He ran in 11 Grade I races in his career and was so competitive, so we needed to look toward his second career,” he explained. “Since his first race in Argentina, he showed that he had a ton of potential and that he was a freak. He was a different horse. He won on the dirt and the turf and he ran until he was a 6-year-old, so he showed versatility, durability and soundness. He ran in three Breeders' Cups in a row. He was a tough boy.”

Figueiredo said that a stud fee is not yet set for Ivar's first year, but noted that he believes there is a good space in the Argentinian market for a stallion with his credentials. Ivar's sire Agnes Gold, a son of Sunday Silence who stood in Japan and Florida before making his mark in Brazil as a three-time leading sire, passed away in 2019.

Ivar was one of the first top-level performers to bring attention to Bonne Chance Farm, which is located off Pisgah Pike in Versailles and was founded by Brazilian businessman Gilberto Sayao Da Silva. Silva is a partner in Stud RDI, a breeding and racing operation established in 2008 with locations in Brazil and Argentina. In 2015, he launched Bonne Chance as his own boutique commercial farm in Kentucky.

Bonne Chance Bloodstock Manager Leah Alessandroni spoke on the significance of Ivar carrying the farm's silks to Grade I success so soon after the operation was off its feet.

“To have a horse like Ivar come up here and do what he did, holding his own against some of the best in the world on the turf and really showing up at the biggest stage every time, it's kind of hard to quantify what that means for a young organization like us. It's definitely something that we're thankful for every day and the significance is not lost on us.”

Of course Ivar is not the only success story of South American-breds performing at the top of the game in the U.S. for the Bonne Chance and Stud RDI partnership. Top performers include In Love (Brz), a gelding son of Agnes Gold who followed Ivar to victory in the GI Keeneland Turf Mile S. in 2021, and Imperador (Arg) (Treasure Beach {GB}), winner of the 2021 GII Calumet Turf Cup S. Now back at Stud RDI, Imperador bred over 80 mares in his first book and is expecting his first foals to hit the ground this year.

“There is a pipeline of these outstanding racehorses coming from the programs in Brazil and Argentina,” Alessandroni said of the Stud RDI operation. “The program that they've built there is so underappreciated on a global scale. When you look at the numbers and what they've done in South America with groups of horses that arguably aren't as respected as much as they should be, they have kind of forced people to look at the South American product and respect it.”

“To have even a little bit of that influence through Bonne Chance is awesome,” she continued. “I feel like we're sleeping on a giant because I'm so excited to see the future for Ivar as a stallion, but also for the future of the partnership of Stud RDI and Bonne Chance.”


At Bonne Chance, Ivar's dam May Be Now (Smart Strike) is creating her own pipeline of future broodmares for the Kentucky operation. Her 2-year-old Open Heart, a May-foaled daughter of Yoshida, was retained by the farm and is in the early stages of training under Paulo Lobo.

This year she produced a filly by Uncle Mo. Alessandroni said that they will take a few months to let the Mar. 11-foaled filly develop before deciding if she would be pointed toward the racetrack or the sales ring.

“She definitely favors Uncle Mo, which is one of the reasons why we bred the mare to him because we were looking for that type. She's a good mover out in the field and is a very quality filly. We're really excited about her.”

May Be Now was acquired as a yearling by Stud RDI and was a Group 2 winner in Brazil. She spent her first few years as a broodmare there before returning to the U.S. shortly after producing Ivar. She was sold in foal to Hard Spun in 2017, but was bought back by Bonne Chance as Ivar was making a name for himself.

In a few years, the team at Bonne Chance hopes to be represented by sons and daughters of Ivar. Because Southern Hemisphere horses are at a disadvantage early in their racing career as they are born in the later months of the year, Figueiredo said that Stud RDI's Ivar babies will likely race as 2-year-olds in Argentina and those that show promise will ship to the U.S. after their juvenile season.

“We would be really excited by that,” Figueiredo said enthusiastically.

The post Ivar All Set for Next Chapter in Argentina appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Bonne Chance Farm

With the 2022 breeding season underway, we continue to feature a series of breeders' mating plans. Today we have Leah Alessandroni, Bloodstock and Office Manager of Bonne Chance Farm.

GLORY AND POWER (m, 8, Medaglia d'Oro – Dance Quietly, by A. P. Indy) to be bred to Essential Quality

   We bought this mare as a weanling and she went on to become a winner for us. Her first foal was Momentous (Speightstown), who was an debut impressive winner at Fair Grounds on Feb. 19. This mare is out of a half-sister to MGISW Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and Quiet Giant (Giant's Causeway), who of course is the dam of Gun Runner, so it's a really big and active family. We bred her to Tapit in 2019 and that colt was really well-received as a yearling. She has a Street Sense yearling that is also really nice.

Knowing that Glory and Power might not yet have a runner when we were looking at matings for 2022, we really thought hard about this mare. We were getting good reports from WinStar on Momentous, we liked all the other foals she'd had, and she was actually one of the last mares we settled on. We decided to send her to Essential Quality. She can be a bit of a tricky mare to mate physically and he is such a good physical. He's a strong horse and his race record speaks for itself. He was one of the more exciting first-year stallions this year. With this mating we also liked that she had already been to Tapit and it's a similar cross, but with Elusive Quality on the bottom it really offers us access to a different line. I think it's a really interesting mating in terms of the pieces coming together and it's one we're very excited about.

Bonne Chance Farm welcomed their first second-generation foal this year, an Uncle Mo filly out of SW Iva | Bonne Chance Twitter

IVA (m, 6, Scat Daddy – Sushi Empire, by Empire Maker) to be bred to Quality Road

   This is a really special mare for us. She was one of the first foals that was born here at our farm in Kentucky in 2016. We actually bought her dam, Sushi Empire, when she was in foal with Iva. Iva herself became a stakes winner for us, winning the 2019 Cincinnati Trophy S. That was our first blacktype win as breeders. This year Iva had her first foal, an Uncle Mo filly, and it was kind of a full-circle moment for us with her giving us our first second-generation foal as breeders.

This mare is from a really nice family that includes MGSW Marchfield (A. P. Indy) and her dam, Sushi Empire, was also a stakes winner.

Iva is exactly what you would expect a Scat Daddy mare out of an Empire Maker dam to look like. When we were thinking of matings, we wanted a bigger, rangier stallion that offered some stretch. Quality Road had such an incredible 2021 with the champion 2-year-old and he had huge sales. This year he has already had Emblem Road win the G1 Saudi Cup. He's definitely a stallion that when you're looking to breed a quality, proven sire to a young mare, it's a no-brainer. In contrast to Glory and Power, this was probably the first mating that we decided on this year.

GOIABA (m, 8, Speightstown – Christies Treasure, by Belong To Me) to be bred to Curlin

   Goiaba is a full-sister to the Japanese Group 1 winner Mozu Superflare (Speightstown). She is another mare that we bought early on as a yearling and she was a winner for us. She is from one of the most active families that we have on the farm right now. Mozu Superflare is doing great things in Japan and she has two half-sisters who have produce Grade I winners or Grade I-placed horses. It's the family of GIIISW Sacristy (Pulpit) and GISP Flor de La Mar (Tiznow).

Goiaba herself is a really nice, honest mare. She's a strong physical and is what we would consider a pretty typical Speightstown mare. She had her first foal last year. It's an Into Mischief filly that is without a doubt the nicest yearling we have this year. This year she is in foal to Medaglia d'Oro.

When we were looking to find a stallion for her this year, we thought long and hard about it. Any time you have a horse with a pedigree like this, you have to look at the big guns and so we settled on Curlin. We actually haven't bred to him yet, and so when we came to the table this year to talk about matings we all agreed that if we didn't use Curlin, we were missing a big opportunity this year. This mating will be offering a different branch of Mr. Prospector and it's maybe not super conventional, but it's another one we're excited about in sending Curlin a mare of this caliber with such an up-and-coming family that is actively producing all over the world. It's one of our biggest star power matings of the year.

LUCAS STREET (m, 18, Silver Deputy – Ruby Park, by Bold Ruckus) to be bred to Maxfield

Lucas Street is one of our more veteran mares here and she is the dam of 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue (Harlington). We bought this mare privately a few years ago. She had a colt by Improbable this year.

Because she's a proven producer, when we purchased her it was an opportunity to get into some of the more commercial, popular stallion lines. Considering that she's a highly-desirable mare, we really wanted to breed her to a first-year stallion this year. The stud fee price point is usually appealing for those guys and you can see a return at the sales.

The stallion that we settled on for her this year was Maxfield. We are very conscious about who we breed this mare to physically and as soon as he walked out, it was a no-brainer for us. I think he's one of the strongest physicals of the group of stallions this year and he was such an honest, hard-knocking racehorse. With him being a Street Sense out of a Bernardini mare, those are two individual sires that we had considered for her in the past and for whatever reasons we never landed on them, so now we have the opportunity to get to both of those sires here.

From a breeding standpoint, this is going to be a very commercial pedigree and it still gives us a lot of options. If it's a colt, maybe we're a little more commercial. If it's a filly, she will have a strong pedigree under her and we've set ourselves up nicely to have a future broodmare. There was really no downside to this one.

ELEMENTAR (m, 10, More Than Ready – Val Marie, by Coronado's Quest) to be bred to American Pharoah

   This is a bit of a younger mare whose pedigree is developing. She is a half-sister to MGSW Grand Adventure (Grand Slam), a champion Grass Horse in Canada. Elementar has had several foals for us including Ready To Purrform (Kitten's Joy), who won the Laurel Futurity last year. Her 2020 foal is a filly by Bernardini and not long after she foaled, we had pretty much decided to keep her to race ourselves. She also has a yearling colt by Runhappy.

The stallion we settled on for her this year is American Pharoah. Every year he has been in the conversation for her, but in the past we weren't sure if she warranted the stud fee. When Ready to Purrform won the Laurel Futurity, the mare earned her way to that level. I think at $80,000 this year for American Pharoah, that has to be a gift with what he's already done this year. This is probably my favorite mating physically. She's a beautiful, balanced mare and all of her foals have been really good movers and I think the same can be said of American Pharoah. This direct cross has already been extremely successful with G1SW Café Pharaoh and MGSW Four Wheel Drive, so all that gave us confidence to send her to him.

MAY BE NOW (m, 14, Smart Strike — Dans La Ville (Chi), by Winning) to be bred to Uncle Mo

   May Be Now is a three-quarters sister to GISW Al's Gal (English Channel) and she is the dam of champion and MG1SW Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}). This mare was in our operation in South America and she was brought here to our American operation with the intention to sell. We sold her in 2017 in foal to Hard Spun and shortly after, Ivar hit the track and set the world on fire in Argentina. We quickly set to buy this mare back and when we did, she was again in foal to Hard Spun. That filly, foaled in 2020, is now in our racing stable. May Be Now also has a lovely yearling by Yoshida.

She is not in foal this year but we are sending her to Uncle Mo. He's a stallion that we all love. I think we've used him almost every year. This mare has not always been sent to super commercial stallions in the past, so this can generate a commercial mating but at the same time if it's a filly, we have the option of having a really strong broodmare. The mare is a very typical Smart Strike and I think Uncle Mo offers some size that she will benefit from.

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Bonne Chance Sends Horse To Young Event Horse Championships, Finishes As Top Thoroughbred

Although the Breeders' Cup is still to come, Bonne Chance Farm has already had a successful debut at a different kind of championships. While the operation hopes to send three horses to Del Mar in a few weeks' time, it also sent a former runner to the U.S. Eventing Association's Young Event Horse East Coast Championship in the 4-year-old division.

Bonne Chance had high hopes for Judge Johnny, the son of Empire Maker and Silver Deputy mare Lucas Street. JJ, as he is known more fondly, is a half-brother to Wavell Avenue, winner of the 2015 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and earner of $1.1 million in multiple graded stakes. JJ's race record was much less glitzy, with five races and no better than a sixth-place finish.

Aftercare has always been a priority for the small operation, so when JJ expressed disinterest in his job, the farm sent him to local OTTB specialist Carleigh Fedorka of Sewickley Stables. Originally, the then-3-year-old was supposed to be a quick retraining and resale project. When Fedorka first swung a leg over the big bay, she knew she had something special.

“He's almost a little unassuming when he's just standing there. But when you put him together, he just blossoms into almost a completely separate animal,” said Leah Alessandroni, bloodstock and office manager for Bonne Chance.

It took JJ some time to grasp what Fedorka was asking of him over fences, but once he figured it out, he approached even three-foot obstacles with calm, relaxed energy more characteristic of much older eventers.

In addition to being an accomplished researcher in equine reproduction at the Gluck Equine Research Center, Fedorka's equestrian resume is also impressive, ranging from ranch work to preliminary-level eventing. She maintains Sewickley as a boarding/lay-up/sales center which specializes in developing young ex-racehorses. When she told the Bonne Chance team their ex-racehorse had incredible potential in a different sport, they listened.

“The original plan was to try to just get a good education for him,” said Alessandroni. “I think she got him in August of last year, and our goal had been to get him sold at the end of the year. But when it was obvious he was so nice, Alberto [Figueiredo, Bonne Chance CEO] didn't hesitate to say, 'Let's see what we have as a 4-year-old, because maybe he'll be even better. To his credit, any time we wanted to do anything or take him anywhere, he said yes at every turn. He had faith in the horse.

“It's one of those fairy tale stories where you have all these goals, and very, very rarely do they all pan out.”

Figueiredo asked Fedorka for a plan of what she thought she could do with the horse in a short timeframe, and what she thought a realistic goal might be. Fedorka sketched out an ambitious schedule on a piece of paper, with the USEA Young Event Horse Championship as the ultimate goal.

The YEHs, as they're known colloquially, exist to help the national governing body for eventing begin identifying young prospects who could someday become Olympic team horses for the United States. There are separate classes for 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds. Horses must earn a qualifying score in order to enter the YEH Championship, with the top-place 5-year-old finisher receiving a grant to travel to Europe, with a promised spot to represent the U.S. at an age-restricted international competition for 7-year-old event prospects in France. Fedorka said most of the top-place finishers are imported European Warmbloods campaigned by riders who routinely compete at the Olympics and other top international events.

Scoring at YEHs and at its qualifying events is different from a traditional three-day event. At a typical three-day event or horse trial, a horse and rider begin with a dressage test and their score represents the number of faults or deficiencies in that test. From there, they may accumulate additional faults for knocked rails, refused jumps, or time penalties in a course of stadium jumps and a course of cross country obstacles. The lowest overall score is the winner.

In the YEH system, horses are instead scored based on the potential they show in each of the traditional three phases as well as conformation.

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Fedorka was thrilled to get JJ's required qualifying score on their very first attempt this spring and spent the summer and fall bringing him through the novice and training levels. The pair finished 19th in the Novice Horse division at the American Eventing Championship. Coming into YEH last week, Fedorka said her goals were modest.

“I had very low expectations, because pretty consistently the top ten are big imports ridden by big name people,” said Fedorka. “I said all along I wanted him to be the highest-scoring 4-year-old, because I thought he was the most quality 4-year-old in the country and I wanted him to prove that.

“I wanted to beat my qualifying score, which was a 79. I really wanted to score an 80, and I scored an 85, which was insane. I just wanted the score; I didn't know how it would stack up against other people.”

JJ accomplished the goal, placing sixth overall out of 32 and claiming the prize of top-placed Thoroughbred and rating the second-highest score for conformation. Looking back at her performance, Fedorka said she can see areas where she left a few key points on the table thanks to a silly stumble in the dressage ring and a knocked rail in the stadium jumping. She believes that next year, JJ could enter the YEH for 5-year-olds with a serious shot at the championship's top prize.

Judge Johnny shows off in his dressage test at the YEH Championships

“He was over-prepared for the level [of the 4-year-old jumps] and it's not because we rushed him up the levels, it's because he has the brain of a unicorn, just wanting more and more,” she said. “I'd never say it about any other horse I've sat on, but 100%, Judge Johnny is the horse who could be the 7-year-old running at the three-star level, without a question in my mind. I think he's the best example of the breed to the masses who aren't quite sure about the Thoroughbred.”

Fedorka and Alessandroni took note of the fact that there are different types of incentive programs and special awards beyond the championship for horses who participate from different breeding programs. Although the Thoroughbred Incentive Program does give an award for best-placing OTTB at YEH, there isn't a grant or other incentive to tempt upper-level riders to hunt for ex-racehorses for the purpose of that program.

“We have the financial backing for the Thoroughbred Makeover and that is amazing,” said Fedorka. “But we have to realize that eventing is our bread and butter for these Thoroughbreds, and we need to find a way to get support for these little phenoms like JJ. I'm lucky that I have breeders who have the ability and desire to support him. Without them, I'm doing this as a side hustle on the side of being a scientist. This is not a full-time professional endeavor that funds itself.”

Fedorka also said that since other breeders have seen her work with JJ, she has had two send her horses to sell for them, while promising to fund their retraining to ensure they have the best possible start in their new careers. Without JJ's success, she's not sure those connections would have realized that placing a horse with a 're-trainer' was an option.

“I think the thing I'm most proud of is that we could showcase a path in aftercare that is very, very rarely taken,” said Alessandroni. “I think that's probably because owners and people involved in the management of these horses don't even know it was a path to take.

“So many of our aftercare organizations are doing great, great work, but they have their hands full with horses who need rehab or who don't have connections with the financial ability to support the horse. If we can alleviate some of the burden from those programs by doing some of the work ourselves and putting our money where our mouth is, I think everybody should be doing that.”

Alessandroni encourages other racing owners or breeding farms to connect with reputable sport horse trainers who can help them evaluate retiring horses and help them network a horse to an appropriate barn where they can get some basic retraining in the sport they're best suited to.

“So much of it is getting them into good hands and making sure that instead of that horse dropping down into a $2,000 claimer, you're giving them the best chance to get a good education and a second career, or really just a life,” she said. “If they don't have an affinity at the racetrack but you keep them sound and happy, they can truly do anything. You saw it at [the Thoroughbred Makeover], horses doing any discipline in the book.”

The post Bonne Chance Sends Horse To Young Event Horse Championships, Finishes As Top Thoroughbred appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Amplify Horse Racing’s Mentorship Pilot Program a Success

Several new faces were on the Keeneland sales grounds this week as part of the initial pilot for the Amplify Horse Racing Mentorship Program.

This August, the three-month program launched with a group of 12 mentees hailing from eight different states. While most mentor-mentee pairs were separated by distance and initially planned on holding their meetings virtually, several mentees expressed an interest in meeting their mentors in person and decided to make the trip to Lexington for their first visit to the Keeneland September Sale.

Matt Scull, age 23, lives in South Carolina and arrived in Lexington just in time for the start of Book 4 to shadow his mentor Shannon Castagnola, the Director of Marketing and Client Relations at Woodford Thoroughbreds. He was able to observe the Woodford consignment during both a day of showing and a day of selling. On his last day at Keeneland, he shadowed a bloodstock agent to inspect Book 5 yearlings.

“Shannon has introduced me to so many faces,” Scull said. “She taught me a bunch about the vetting process, the different bits the horses wear as well as the general basics of being a consignor at a sale. Before this internship, I didn't understand the number of different career paths there are in this industry. I was just thinking about a jockey, owner and trainer. I actually believe this is the greatest sport on earth and I think having people committed to it for their careers is huge.”

Scull developed an interest in racing through his family's annual trips to Monmouth Park.

“My great grandfather, who I met once when I was three before he passed away, loved racing from the gambling side,” Scull said. “So once a year at Monmouth Park my family would have 'Poppy Day' at the races. My freshman year of college I dug super deep in terms of the handicapping side of things. As my life has progressed, I've figured out that this is one of my passions and that I need to pursue it.”

Scull recently graduated from the University of Clemson with a degree in mechanical engineering. He said he was scrolling through Twitter one day during his lunch break at the gas and engine consulting firm he works for when he happened upon Amplify's mentorship application.

“I figured I probably wasn't going to get it, but I thought I would kill 30 minutes of my lunch break by typing it out,” he explained. “I was lucky enough to be selected and it has snowballed from there. It's been amazing. I've gone from not knowing what a pinhook is to potentially working on a farm later this year.”

Scull said he and Castagnola first met when he visited Saratoga this summer. They later conversed several times virtually and his mentor answered his many questions about the sales environment. After taking three vacation days from his full-time job to visit the Keeneland Sale, he said he's still unsure of which sector of the industry he would like to pursue a career in.

“I'm still figuring it out,” he admitted. “I'm a big fan of science and it's kind of crazy how many things are going on [at the sale] in terms of biomechanics and genetic testing. I got to see a video scope and that was really cool. I wish I had a better idea of which direction I want to go, but I think that's part of the beauty of it. There are so many different paths that you could go down and once you decide, it seems like everybody wears multiple hats which is awesome.”

Carol Hayes of Gainesville, Florida was paired with Bonne Chane Farm's Bloodstock and Office Manager Leah Alessandroni. When Hayes expressed an interest in the sales aspect of the sport, her mentor connected her with Carrie Brogden. One week before the Keeneland sale began, Hayes was hired on to work for the Machmer Hall consignment and she made the 12-hour drive up to Lexington to experience her first-ever horse sale.

“I really enjoy it,” the 22-year-old said between calling cards for Book 5. “It's high-paced and I like that. I think it's really interesting to see how the sale goes. I made sure to get here a day early so I could watch the sale before I started working. So I got to experience that side and now that I'm on the behind-the-scenes side, it's interesting to see how all this works.”

Growing up near Ocala, Hayes has been riding hunters and jumpers for most of her life. She said she has always had an interest in racing, but wasn't sure how to get involved.

“It's one sector of the horse industry that I never really got to dive into, so I've always wanted to check it off,” she said. “I found the Amplify mentorship program through the University of Florida. One of our advisors posted it on our undergraduate internship posting page.”

Carol Hayes takes a quick break for a photo op at the Machmer Hall consignment. | Katie Ritz

Hayes and her mentor first met over Zoom, but when Hayes was traveling to Lexington for a horse show a few weeks later, she met up with Alessandroni to shadow her for a day.

“We went to the track in the morning because one of their horses was training and then we went to her farm and I got to see what she does there,” Hayes recalled.

After her experience working the sales, Hayes said she is most interested in the management side of the industry.

“But I'm still figuring it out,” she added.

“It has been immensely gratifying to watch this group of mentees grow and progress,” said Amplify Horse Racing's President and Co-Founder Annise Montplaisir. “For most of them, the Thoroughbred industry was very new and felt daunting to be involved with on a more in-depth level than simply going to the races as a fan. Over these past couple of months, I have met and corresponded regularly with all 12, and have received nothing but positive feedback about all they have learned from their mentors and the respect they have for the time their mentors are sharing with them. Many mentees are already starting to make next-step plans about pursuing jobs in the industry and looking at other ways to gain more experience.”

Montplaisir, who in conjunction with her work through Amplify is also the equine education coordinator for the Kentucky Equine Education Project, explained that before the pilot program launched, potential mentees went through an application and interview process. The goal was to prioritize young adults who were interested in pursuing a career in the Thoroughbred industry, but had minimal exposure to the sport and didn't know how to get started.

Mentors and mentees were paired based on interests, commonalities and proximity. After an initial introduction to their mentors via Zoom by Amplify, mentees were tasked with organizing meetings with their mentors on their own. While they were required to have one meeting per month over the three-month program, Montplaisir said that many pairs met as often as once per week.

Mentors assisted their mentees by sharing their personal career experiences, answering questions and giving advice on the skill set their mentee might need in order to get involved in certain sectors of the industry.

“I love talking about the Thoroughbred industry and I'm really passionate about it, so it's easy for me to talk about,” Castagnola said when asked why she decided to join the mentorship program. “I think the stigma is that we've all spent 20 years learning this business, and so for somebody who is coming in knowing nothing, they're having to start from scratch. I was telling Matt yesterday, I spend every day learning something new even now and that's the best thing about this business: every day you learn something new.”

“For me, it's really simple,” Alessandroni said of why she become a mentor. “I didn't come from a family that was involved in racing and when I was coming through the ranks, there were so many people that mentored me and gave me opportunities, so I felt like it was an obligation for me to essentially pay it forward.”

“The experience has been really great so far,” she continued. “I've enjoyed chatting with Carol and it has kind of renewed my excitement in the industry. We do this as a daily grind and sometimes we get caught up in it, but to see it through the enthusiasm of someone like Carol, I honestly think it has been equally rewarding from both sides. Through this Amplify program, it's critical to stress the importance of what they're doing to educate young people about the opportunities that are here for them in the industry and to let them know that you don't have to have the secret handshake to get in the door, you just have to work hard.”

The first round of mentorships will concluded at the end of October. A virtual mentorship assembly will be held over Zoom to bring all the mentors and mentees together to widen each of the mentees' networks to industry professionals.

In the future, Amplify's goal is to have a rolling application where prospective mentees can apply any time from January through August to be paired with a mentor for that year. Mentees who apply beyond the middle of August will be considered for the program the following year.

Industry members interested in mentoring can apply now at amplifyhorseracing.org/mentorship. The mentee application will reopen on January 7, 2022.

The post Amplify Horse Racing’s Mentorship Pilot Program a Success appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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