“It was a really hard decision to leave Michael. He is a true horseman and I am grateful for all the knowledge he passed along to me,” Saville said. “I consider myself very lucky to have spent so long working alongside him, his fantasic team and some really nice horses. Now, I am really looking forward to starting this next chapter of my career with Jim and Dana Bernhard. I'm excited to join a great team of people who all share a passion for producing quality horses. I'm very thankful to the Bernhards for putting their faith in me to train and educate their young horses at such a historical facility.”

“Joss comes highly recommended and we are very fortunate and happy to have him arrive at Pin Oak,” the Bernhards said in a statement. “He brings with him a wonderful world of experience and we hope to provide him with a top-class training and rehab center where he can turn our yearlings into nice 2-year-olds ready to ship out in the spring. We welcome Joss and his lovely wife, Jo, in making Pin Oak their new home.”

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Groves's passion for breeding and racing on her own account spanned over seven decades. In the early 1960s, she bred and raced multiple stakes winner Saidam, who won or placed in seven stakes, including the Suburban, Metropolitan, and Carter Handicaps, as well as the Whitney S.

In partnership with daughter Helen Alexander and David Aykroyd, Groves bred and raced the brilliant champion Althea, who in turn produced several stakes winners and stakes producers. Groves and Alexander bred Grade I winner Arch from one of her daughters, Aurora. Also from this daughter of Althea, Groves and Alexander bred and raced GI Spinster S. winner Acoma.

Antics, an unraced mare by Unbridled and yet another granddaughter of Althea and daughter of Aurora, produced one of the fastest one-turn females in years, the dual Eclipse champion Covfefe.

While the family partnership has proven prolific, Groves was not afraid to step out on her own. She bought out her partners in a yearling filly by Street Cry out of Alchemist at the Saratoga sale, instead of taking a considerable gain. Fittingly named And Why Not, she garnered Grade I credentials after breaking her maiden at first asking, also at Saratoga. And Why Not is the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Fearless, winner of 2022 GIII Ghostzapper S. and recently runner-up in the GII Oaklawn H.

In 1987, Groves made an astute purchase from the Tartan/Nerud dispersal, embellishing her formidable broodmare band with the 8-year-old Mochila in foal to Fappiano, and established a pedigree influence that continues to resonate in 2022. From Mochila, Groves bred and raced GI Ballerina S. winner Serape, who later produced record-setting multiple graded stakes winner and stakes producer Batique, who also ran in Groves's colors. Through another of Serape's daughters, Trensa, Groves bred and sold Grade I winners Free Drop Billy and multiple Group 1 winner Hawkbill, who was purchased as a yearling by Godolphin and earned nearly $5 million.

In 2019, Hard Cloth, a granddaughter of Serape produced a colt by More Than Ready which Groves sold as a yearling. Now named Emmanuel, the very promising current 3-year-old recently was third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S.

Services will be held May 17 at First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation  (www.grayson-jockeyclub.org) or the National Sporting Library (http://nationalsporting.org).

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“We appear to have lost everything, but fortunately no horses or people were involved,” Anderson told Paulick Report. “There was a lot of diagnostic equipment: X-rays, ultrasound, the pharmacy, plus medical records.”

Also suffering a barn fire over the holiday weekend was Glencrest Farm. The farm's stallion barn was completely destroyed Christmas morning, according to Paulick Report. While the farm no longer stands stallions, the barn was home to three show horses who perished in the fire.

“Nothing survived,” John Greathouse, Jr. told Paulick Report. “The barn is gone and sadly the horses.”

The barn was leased by Lorna Matthews and Melanie Fransen. Andrea Greathouse established a GoFundMe page to collect donations for the mother and daughter.

“We are asking for help in raising funds towards everything that was lost,” Andrea Greathouse tweeted. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the three incredible horses that lost their lives and to Lorna and Melanie who have lost so much.”

The cause of both fires is still under investigation.

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The barn known as Parlo II West, which housed an outpatient veterinary clinic operated by Dr. Kathleen Anderson and is used for much of the year by trainer Michael Matz, was fully engulfed in flames at about 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, according to a witness. The fire was under control within 90 minutes, but the damage had been done with little besides the concrete block walls remaining.

Matz, a former Olympic equestrian best known in racing as the trainer of  2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro and 2012 Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags, had moved his stable to Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida for the winter. Anderson was out of town for the Christmas holiday when the fire broke out and she said the clinic closed at around 4 p.m. because of the holiday. The fire did not spread to any other barns.

Anderson said the barn was built in 2005 and had a fire alarm system, fire wall and sprinkler system. The cause of the fire, she said, was not known.

“We appear to have lost everything, but fortunately no horses or people were involved,” said Anderson. “There was a lot of diagnostic equipment: X-rays, ultrasound, the pharmacy, plus medical records.”

A former president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Anderson lost her home to a fire in 1997.

“This is the second time around for me,” she said. “The 1997 fire was not pleasant, and this is more tolerable because it's strictly material possessions and we can deal with that. Dealing with the loss of horses or people is far worse.”

Nevertheless, Anderson said, both she and Matz – whom she spoke to by telephone – are “distraught” over the loss.

This is also the second fire at Fair Hill, which had a 40-stall barn destroyed in a 2005 blaze that left 24 horses dead.

Denise Bennett, who is stabled at an adjacent barn, submitted the following video of the fire.

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Michael Matz offers a perspective on racing and training that perhaps no one else in history shares as not only a successful trainer, but before that, an accomplished international equestrian who competed in three Olympics and took home the silver medal in the team show jumping competition in 1996. Two years later, Matz transitioned to the racing world and it wasn't long before he made it to the big stage with the unforgettable 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (Dynaformer). Other top performers include 2012 GI Belmont S. winner Union Rags (Dixie Union) and 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff victress Round Pond (Awesome Again). As Matz approaches 800 career wins, he compares the state of racing today to that of the show jumping industry several decades ago.

KP: How did you first get involved in horse racing?

MM: When I first got involved in racing, I had a prior commitment with a young horse named Judgement to try and go to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. We made it into the top 15, but we had some better horses on the team. I ended up giving him to Beezie Madden and he was a really nice horse for her.

After that, I felt like the show jumping industry was going the wrong way and I didn't like some of the things going on with management. I always enjoyed the racehorses so I thought I would give it a try and I had my first winner in 1998.

I started out with about five horses in my stable. I have always trained for my family, but over time we started to get some better horses and more clients. At one point we had 60 to 70 horses, but that got hard with the help situation and I didn't want to have so many people watching over my horses. I didn't like being separated with a barn in one place and another barn somewhere else. I like to be a little more hands-on without having these big strings.

KP: When you moved from the show jumping world to the racing world, what was the biggest challenge in making that transition?

MM: Good horses make good riders and good horses make good trainers. When I first started, I didn't have that many good horses and I was looking into how I could get better-quality horses. As anyone can tell you, the good ones are easy to train. I watched and spoke with a lot of the bigger trainers when I first started and I think mostly everyone does things the same way. It's the same as with the show jumpers–the people who have the better horses are winning. You just have to find a way to get those horses.

KP: How many horses are normally in your stable today?

MM: Now, we only have between 20 and 30 horses. It's a little hard right now because it is a numbers game. Things have really changed from how it was when I first started. I mostly train for breeders. I don't have anyone going to the sale and spending millions of dollars. We'll buy some at the sale but that's always a hard situation when you buy one or two and there are four thousand at a sale.

It's getting a bit difficult right now and I think the big thing is that the ownerships have changed. More people are going into partnerships and you have half a dozen trainers getting all the horses. When I first got involved, I think a lot of the owners were a bit more loyal than they are today. The bottom line  for them is asking their trainer, 'What have you done for me lately?' So it is a hard situation when you don't have the numbers.

Matz ponying undefeated Barbaro ahead of the colt's Kentucky Derby victory | Horsephotos

KP: What do you believe makes your stable unique?

MM: Any small stable can be a bit more personalized. You know your horses better than someone who has 200 or 300 horses. At this point in my career, I don't think I could handle that physically or mentally. Also, now that my children are competing in show jumping, I want to be able to watch them ride.

KP: What do you believe are the benefits for an owner in using a “smaller” trainer?

MM: The obvious benefit is that if you ask someone to train your horse, that person is going to be training the horse. It won't be his main assistant or second assistant or third assistant. The biggest opportunity that you have is that you know who will be training your horse and know that they can probably keep a better eye on the situation. That's my opinion and it's why it was hard for me when I had more than 50 horses. I just felt like everyone has a different view of something and if you don't keep your own eye on the horse, there are things that can happen that will go unnoticed.

KP: Do you think super trainers are bad for the sport?

MM: I don't know that they are bad. Obviously if they're getting all those horses, they deserve those horses because they've done well. For an owner, it's all about personal preference. If you want to be one of 200, that's fine. But it is all about numbers. It seems like it has gotten to the point where if one horse doesn't work out, they can just bring in the next one.

KP: What do you enjoy most about your job?

MM: It's a pleasure to be around the animals all the time. The enjoyment and thrill when a horse wins is such an accomplishment. I'm very lucky right now that the people I have as owners could not be a nicer group. I don't have a lot of clients now at this point in my career, but the people I do have are wonderful and they all really love their horses.

KP: What is the most frustrating aspect of your job?

MM: I do think there are things going wrong in our sport. It's funny, some of the things that I think were going wrong when I was involved in show jumping are the things we have problems with now in racing with each state wanting to do their own thing and have their own rules.

Matz-trained Union Rags races to victory in the 2012 GI Belmont S. | Horsephotos

I do think that when people are penalized, it should be a lot harsher penalty. Right now, I think organizations are afraid to do anything because someone can just get a lawyer and sue them. Whatever the rule is, we need to make sure it's the same for everyone and that we all start at the same starting gate and finish at the same finish line without one person starting 10 lengths in front of everyone else.

That's the discouraging part for small trainers in the business right now who want to do it the right way. I'm not saying any of these big trainers don't do it the right way, but there are things going on right now that need to be figured out.

KP: Do you think the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) would help achieve the uniformity you mentioned in regards to rules and penalties?

MM: Nothing is really happening otherwise, so I think we have to go that way so that something does happen. I wish that something could have already happened, but right now every state has their own rules and regulations and nobody has a set standard that they're going by. The disappointing part about it is that nothing changes. If people get caught with something, they have to have serious penalties.

I think the biggest thing I don't care for is that if a trainer does get suspended, all they do is put their assistant in and the stable keeps running like normal. Maybe if penalties were actually enforced, things could happen so that smaller trainers could get some more horses.

KP: What horse was the most influential to your career?

MM: With show horses, it would be [1981 Show Jumping World Cup winner] Jet Run, who I had for a long time and was a great horse.

With racehorses, the best horse I ever had was obviously Barbaro. We will never know just how good he was, but he was pretty good.

To catch up on our 'Smaller But Still Super' series, click here.

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Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., played host to Claiming Crown Preview Day Oct. 10, where preview race winners each earned an automatic berth to the Claiming Crown as well as a $2,500 stipend toward travel costs to South Florida.

Stablemates Belgrano and Aequor, trained by 79-year-old Frank Russo, were respectively nominated to the $90,000 Canterbury for 3-year-olds and up which have not started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21 sprinting five furlongs on turf and $75,000 Express for 3-year-olds and up that have run for a tag of $8,000 or less lifetime going six furlongs.

Peace Sign Stables' Belgrano has strung together three consecutive wins including the Rainbow Heir Aug. 28 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., in his preview day prep. The 7-year-old gelding ran seventh in last year's Canterbury. Also among the 33 nominations is Winning Stables, Inc.'s Xy Speed, neck winner of the Oct. 2 Laurel Dash for trainer Gerald Bennett.

Morning Moon Farm's Aequor edged Sevier by a neck in the Express preview, his second straight win. Formerly based at Gulfstream, the 6-year-old gelding ran ninth in the 2019 Claiming Crown Jewel. Sevier, from the barn of trainer Jamie Ness, is also one of 24 Express nominees.

Travin Stables' Lookin At Roses rebounded from a fourth behind Magic Michael in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup to win Laurel's preview for the $85,000 Rapid Transit, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming price of $16,000 or less in 2020-21. Ness-trained Magic Michael is nominated to the $125,000 Claiming Crown Jewel as well as Laurel's $100,000 Richard W. Small Nov. 27, both going 1 1/8 miles.

Other Rapid Transit nominees include Silent Malice and Grade 3 winner Tusk. Silent Malice is one of three horses nominated to Claiming Crown races by Laurel-based trainer Rodolpho Sanchez-Salomon, along with Foggy Dreams ($95,000 Tiara) and Calypso Ghost ($80,000 Glass Slipper). Trainer Mary Eppler, based at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., also nominated Tusk to the Jewel and $95,000 Emerald, Seranade a Kitten to the Tiara and Heza Kitten to the Emerald.

Bruno Schickendanz's Mandate, trained by Robert J.W. Johnston, is among 50 nominees to the 1 1/16-mile Emerald on turf for 3-year-olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21. The 4-year-old Blame gelding won Laurel's Emerald preview by 3 ½ lengths and followed up with a victory in the one-mile Artie Schiller on the grass at Aqueduct Nov. 13.

You Must Chill and Just Whistle, respectively third and fifth in Laurel's Emerald preview for trainers Ness and Michael Matz, are also nominated, as is Ten Strike Racing's Caribbean, a 7-year-old Australia-bred gelding claimed for $40,000 out of his most recent start Marc 19 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., by Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet. Caribbean is also nominated to the Jewel.

Team Valor International's Beantown Baby, from the Fair Hill, Md. barn of trainer Arnaud Delacour, was a popular neck winner of Laurel's Distaff Dash preview, her third win from five 2021 starts. The $90,000 Distaff Dash at five-furlongs on turf is for fillies and mares 3 and up that have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21.

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The second foal for her multiple stakes-winning dam Mystic Love, the bay filly was consigned by Bill Reightler for GreenMount Farm and purchased for $100,000 by Frank Brothers, agent for StarLadies and Mathis. She was offered as Hip 267 at the Yearlings Showcase.

Bred by GreenMount in partnership with Godolphin, the filly won Class IV (for Maryland-bred fillies by out-of-state sires) at the yearling show, before going on to be crowned champion by judge Michael Matz. She was shown by Sabrina Moore, co-owner and manager of GreenMount, who also accompanied the filly to the sale.

“She was a nice mover,” Matz said following the yearling show. “She just had an overall look. I thought she was well-made and pretty well balanced.”

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Bred by GreenMount Farm in partnership with Godolphin, the champion filly was the winner of Class IV (for fillies foaled in Maryland, by out-of-state sires). She was shown by Sabrina Moore, manager and co-owner of GreenMount.

“I had a good feeling about her, I mean I think she's really nice, but until you get there and see how nice all the other horses are [you don't know],” said Moore. “It's surreal, but I count my blessings, I know it doesn't happen all the time. Knowing the people that are genuinely happy for you, that's probably the best part of it.

“I love the show because they get out and you kind of get a feel for them, what they're going to be like as soon as you get them off the farm and they [get to] school a little bit. I just think the yearling show is really key for them and I was glad to get her there.”

A total of 67 yearlings in four classes were judged by two-time classic-winning trainer and hall of fame show jumping rider Matz, who lives in Pennsylvania and trains out of Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.

“I thought the last [class], that the [champion] filly won, was the strongest group,” Matz said. “She was a nice mover. She just had an overall look. I thought she was well-made and pretty well balanced.”

The reserve championship went to R. Larry Johnson's homebred Whenigettoheaven, a colt by Street Magician out of Heaven Knows What, by Holy Bull, who won Class I (for colts and geldings foaled in Maryland, by Maryland sires). He was one of two ribbon winners for Johnson, as his Street Magician filly won Class III (for fillies foaled in Maryland, by Maryland sires).

Street Magician was awarded the Northview Stallion Station Challenge Trophy as the leading sire of the show. Bred and campaigned by Johnson, the graded stakes winner stands as part of Legacy Farm Stallions at Roland Farm in Warwick, Md.

All yearlings who entered the show ring are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds during 2021, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners the next year.

To view the show's complete results, click here.

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A total of 67 yearlings in four classes were judged by two-time Classic-winning trainer and Hall of Fame Show Jumping rider Michael Matz.

“I thought the last [class], that the [champion] filly won, was the strongest group,” Matz said. “She was a nice mover. She just had an overall look. I thought she was well-made and pretty well balanced.”

All yearlings who entered the show ring are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds during 2021, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners in 2022.

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