De Meric’s Odyssey Brings Him ‘Home’ To Horses

The island is still there, nearly 50 years later, which would have surprised Nick de Meric at the time. He'd have assumed that there could be nothing left by now.

“Because they were basically mining it off the map,” he recalls. “It was made of iron ore. So they had these massive Euclid trucks, wheels high as a building. And all these men on shift work, living in long huts. Not quite a prison environment, but it was all-male, tropical heat, nothing to do but drink beer and play cards. A lot of these guys would have a cooler beside them while driving these huge trucks on night shift. So there were accidents. Some that drove over cliffs. Most of them, if they weren't already, were on the way to becoming alcoholics. Either running away from bad marriages, or from the law. They all had a story.”

This young Englishman was still in the early chapters of his own tale, one that would eventually bring him into our community as one of the most respected horsemen in Ocala. Back then, however, the Australian toughs working Koolan Island (next stop Indonesia) must have found him an object of some curiosity.

How did he get here? Well, horses had already long captured his imagination. Back in England, he'd shown ponies as a boy, moved onto eventing and steeplechasing, worked in racing yards. He'd passed up a university place to read English and Philosophy to make a first trip to Australia, working on a cattle ranch; went home to dabble in journalism; then a stint in agricultural college. At one point he exercised horses over the ancient gallops of Salisbury Plain for one of the great throwbacks of the English Turf. As somewhat of “a rebel and a wanderer,” however, de Meric was soon resuming his travels, returning Down Under to work a couple of years under Tommy Smith.

“A great trainer,” de Meric recalls. “Very much in the Woody Stephens, Jack Van Berg school. He would chew a few of them up, but when he found a good one, nothing was too good for them. And there were some great horses in the stable at the time. So that was a really good education.”

But the routine was numbing: up at 3 a.m., all the usual chores but also hours at the walk, riding and leading, round city blocks, in the mornings and then bareback in the afternoons. Or vanning over to Mascot Bay to swim them–behind a rowing boat.

“So picture this,” de Meric says. “Your legs are over the back of the boat and you've a shank in your hand, and there's a guy behind you rowing. A lot of horses, the first time they swim, they say, 'I'm not going in there. I'm not going there. Okay, I'm going.' And they practically get in the boat with you.

“One time a filly got loose and disappeared into the mangrove swamps. They found her two weeks later, standing there with her head down, covered in crab bites and sores. Dehydrated, but alive. And actually I think she was able to race again.”

Next de Meric bought an old car and drove up the coast with a pal. “We followed this little road through the rainforest, and it opened up onto a massive beach, just miles and miles of sand,” he recalls. “And we were like, 'Yee-hah!' And we're doing 'donuts' over the sand. Well, guess what? The car gets slower and slower, until eventually it sinks up to the hubcaps. And then suddenly that huge beach starts to get smaller and smaller, as the tide came in. I remember standing on the roof of the car, saying, 'We need to get our s*** out of here.' So we threw what we could into a backpack, waded ashore, and hitchhiked the rest of the way to Cairns.”

After staying there for a few months, de Meric traveled down to Perth where he was hired to work on Koolan Island, climbing giddy poles with a line-belt and handing kit to the electricians working on the power cables. But none of these hard-drinking men around him seemed to notice that they were surrounded by a dazzling marine environment. The one exception was a chef from New Zealand.

Courtesy Nick de Meric

“So we found this old catamaran, and spent three months fixing it up,” de Meric explains. “What was cool is that everybody on the island got a bit interested in what we were doing. So on night shift, the welders would make us a little bracket for the motor, the mechanics overhauled the motor, the carpenters helped fabricate new rudders. And then we took off, up the coast. Our grand plan was to cross the Timor Sea and island hop up the Indonesian chain to Thailand.”

At the time, it wasn't even charted: just countless little islands and reefs, with 35-foot tides rushing in between and 20-knot currents. They put in at a tiny settlement on stilts, where Japanese merchants hired Thursday Islanders to dive for pearls. Three days out from this last outpost of civilization, they anchored off one of these tiny islands.

“And in the middle of the night we got hit by what they call a cockeyed bob, like a mini-hurricane,” de Meric says. “We fought this thing for three hours and finally drove the boat onto the reef. And when the tide went out, here we are high and dry. It's the right way up, but it's got holes all through the bottom.”

At least they had plenty to salvage: rice, flour, firearms, fishing tackle, not to mention plenty of wine and whiskey. They dragged it all up the beach, made a tent fly of the sail, and made camp. His buddy, remember, was a chef. So that was something, and they fished every night. When sharks started hauling off fish and fishing tackle combined, they switched to a meat hook and caught shark instead.

De Meric's island 'home' | Courtesy Nick de Meric

“Just barely edible, but Graham was good,” de Meric recalls. “The problem we did have was water. There was no fresh water, and our supply was diminishing. We made a bunch of solar distilleries: you make a little depression in the ground, fill it with leaves and brush, put a garbage bag over the top with a pebble in it and a cup underneath. And you get condensation and it drips. But that was nothing like enough.”

They had a radio, but the distances were hopeless. In certain conditions they could get onto the “Skip” frequency but only managed to raise a taxi driver somewhere in Japan. There was nothing else for it: de Meric would try to row the catamaran's dinghy back through the three days' sail to the pearl-diving hamlet. He'd go from island to island, riding each tide, resting in between. But if he could get there, then he could organize Graham's rescue as well.

The initial leg went to plan: de Meric made it to the first island, rested, then took off with the tide for the next one. But half a mile or so out, the tide turned and started rushing him back the way he came. “A depressing moment,” he says wryly.

So he must have thought he was more or less done for?

“We were kind of thinking that before I left, actually,” de Meric admits. “Leaving Graham behind was a very hard thing to do. But he was a chef and I was the seaman, son of a naval officer. Anyway there I am, scanning the horizon, and suddenly I glimpse this little bow wave just caught by the sunset. We hadn't seen a vessel of any description in 13 days out there. So I'm standing up in the dinghy, waving my arms, yelling, but it just keep going. And then, miraculously, it turns round and this boat is coming towards me.”

It turned out to be Australian coastguards, exceptionally patrolling that remote stretch because “Boat People,” as Vietnamese refugees of the time were known, had been washing up along there. They hadn't seen him, of course, but picked up a ping on the radar–and only because the dinghy was aluminum. Otherwise, well, maybe two piles of bones on two different islets might yet remain undiscovered. And nor would dozens of stakes and graded stakes winners (including a Horse of the Year) have benefited from de Meric's eventual discovery, after all these peregrinations, of a vocation that could keep him settled in one place.

And how did that happen? Usual story: Cherchez la femme! Next time he went traveling, de Meric tried the States, got a job with Lee Eaton. Met a girl on Eaton's fall yearling crew of 1981; independently they both got hired by the same Louisiana farm to prep yearlings for the 2-year-old sales; and wound up in the same staff house. “Rancho Malaria, we called it affectionately,” de Meric says. “It was right by the bayou.”

Here, they yielded to two lasting enchantments: one professional, one personal. The first yearling they pinhooked together, a filly by Nearly on Time, cost $15,000: de Meric himself had scraped together five grand, and his parents and then his uncle put in the same. Nick and Jaqui would come home from their work as freelance gallopers, and tend their filly with manic attention. They cooked bran mash on the kitchen stove and rushed it over to her hot. She made $30,000 at OBS March in 1983, and that summer they married.

“Although that may seem a paltry profit, today, at the time it felt like we'd won the lottery,” de Meric recalls. “If that filly had sold for $3,500, or gone lame, my life could have been very different. But the fact that we were able to show even a modest profit inspired us to keep going, to see whether we could make a career of this.”

So they leased a plot outside Ocala, found a couple of believers to send them a horse or two: Moreton Binn, Gerry Nielsen. Then they bought a first, 40-acre parcel, and expanded in gradual accretions until acquiring the 230 acres in 1997 that became the Eclipse Training Center.

“It had been let go, was a bit run down, but basically a really nice piece of land, with a really good track,” de Meric recalls. “So we spent time fixing it up, built two more barns, leased out some stalls. That allowed us enough cashflow to pay the mortgage, until I got rid of that about eight or nine years later, by selling some adjacent tracts with track rights.”

With Tristan at OBS | Photos By Z

They had started their own program even as the 2-year-old game was itself still in its infancy. In fact, de Meric reckons that Ocala Stud must be the only outfit then selling juveniles that's still doing so today. The changes in this sector, after all, have been wild.

“And I think that's why there's been quite a high attrition rate, among those of us playing that game,” de Meric says. “Because if you don't adapt to the changing mores of buyers, and the changing dynamics of the market, you're left behind. Yes, some aspects of the business have maybe evolved in a slightly unhealthy direction. But you either quit playing, or you play by the new rules in order to survive.

“We used to 'two-minute lick' them in pairs, on the bridle. Bow neck, nice strong gallop down the lane, eyeball-to-eyeball, make them look good. And we'd average somewhere between 30 and 70 percent on our money. Never hit one out of the park, but made a decent living. And then Luke McKathan started breezing his horses singly. He was a pioneer in his own way, and very good at what he did. He had this little quarter horse rider that could make them go fast, would whip them all the way down the lane. And then one could hear Luke in the barn saying, 'Yeah, did it real easy.' That was before videos, electronic timers, any of that!”

Nowadays, of course, time is money with these bullet breezers. But surely the old ways sufficed for the better horsemen, who didn't need the crutch of the stopwatch?

“Well, people were quite good at covering up a mediocre horse!” de Meric cautions with a smile. “But yes, the better horsemen could certainly identify the better horses, and plenty of good ones came out of those sales. But it gradually became apparent that you were putting a cap on your upside, doing it the way we were. So, little by little, I started out breezing in pairs and then singly.”

In the process Darrin Miller, who now operates a public stable, proved a real asset. “Riding a horse, he was a master at making it look like he had three more gears, when in fact he was all out,” de Meric says. “One isn't completely comfortable with every facet of the way it has evolved, with speed becoming more and more the thing. But my feeling is that there's a lot you can do to make it easier on your horses.”

And apart from anything else, that starts with selecting the right stock. “We're quite conservative, by comparison to some of our peers,” de Meric says. “But our horses usually show up when it's time to push the button. We aren't famous for bullet works. We don't complain if we get one, but we never demand them. We focus on good movers, and if they're a tick slower than some, that hasn't really hurt us that badly. We just shop carefully and, when we get them home, treat them the best we possibly can.”

A cornerstone of which philosophy is a “resistance-free” education. In fact, de Meric dislikes the very word “breaking,” with its connotations of confrontation. The celebrated Idaho horseman Martin Black worked with their program for three seasons, teaching his methods, and Jaqui has become especially adept at tutoring the young horses.

But while they duly prioritize mentality, physique remains central to their shortlisting.

“I think that's what we start with because, to be honest, everything else follows,” de Meric reasons. “We're looking for horses with a little more to come, but also for that element of precocity. And we like to see that in the pedigree also. But, yes: athletic, balanced, good-moving individuals. If they're athletes, first and foremost, then we'll handicap pedigree and value.”

And how hard is it to gauge competence for such a specific role, if you only get a fleeting glimpse of these yearlings glossed for the sale ring?

“Well, there's an element of guesswork, and also an element of judgment based on experience,” de Meric says. “You're watching for little clues. I got past the point where I look for what you might call 'projects,' or 'fixer-uppers.' Some people make a good living doing that. But I'm looking for horses that will appeal to higher-end buyers, if possible.”

Which is another reason why a horse needs to do more than merely flash precocity. It was this program, remember, that honed Knicks Go. In fact, de Meric says that it was at his urging that the KRA, who had five in the sale, changed their minds and retained the future Horse of the Year to race. He wasn't fashionably bred, of course, nor very big–but he had shown de Meric unusual grit.

Knicks Go at Taylor Made | Sarah Andrew

“We're asking them to do a lot,” de Meric remarks. “These days, as we've said, people want to see these horses work fast. But they also want horses that will possibly have Classic potential, train on as 3- and 4-year-olds. So they need to have it all, and to vet well at the end of it. When you actually stop and add it all up, you think, 'What the heck are we doing? This is madness.' Because the odds are stacked against you from the minute you set foot on the sales ground. But it's what we do. It's the bed we've made. And it's been good to us over the years.”

As you can read in tomorrow's TDN, in de Meric's contribution to our “Succession” series, he's as proud of the parallel program developed by his son Tristan (and daughter-in-law Valerie) as he is concerned by the kind of future that may await the next generation. The way things are going for our sport's reputation in Main Street, it must almost feel like watching that bow wave diminishing into the sunset, all those years ago. But maybe this boat can also turn round.

“There's a lot of momentum in the wrong direction right now,” de Meric acknowledges. “We keep running into these unexpected headwinds, into challenge after challenge. As a generation, I don't think we've done a spectacular job as stewards of our sport. At the same time, I feel we have to stay positive.

“There's enough of us, collectively, that are passionate about this game, that would almost die rather than see it go under. People talk about greyhounds, about harness racing. Ours is a different world. When it gets under your skin, there's no fighting it. That's why billionaires become millionaires playing this game. Because there's no feeling like it.

“It's all those lows that make the highs even more exciting. It doesn't matter if you're racing, pinhooking, breeding, selling: those highs, it's a euphoric feeling. I think all of us, by definition, tend not to be the kind who like the middle ground. Because this is not that kind of business. It's a rollercoaster. And it's not for the faint of heart. When it's good, it's great; and when it sucks, it really sucks. But at the end of the day, we're working with the animals we love. And in that we are truly blessed.”

The post De Meric’s Odyssey Brings Him ‘Home’ To Horses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Finding The Right Syndicate For You-Part 2, Presented By Taylor Made Partnerships

The Midwestern sage, Mark Twain espoused, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Nothing could be more apropos when considering joining a Thoroughbred racehorse partnership.

Getting started is the hardest part for most prospective owners. The world of Thoroughbred racing can seem as inaccessible as the Churchill Down's Turf Club on Derby Day. The good news is joining a partnership makes getting started easier.

In the first part of this series, we provided basic information such as investment levels, tax considerations and the entertainment value partnerships offer.

In Part 2, we will provide insights into the experiential considerations that can make your personal journey into ownership more valuable.

Owning More That 5%

You should always begin by considering what is going to be financially comfortable for you. If your investment level is below $1,000, your focus should be directed toward micro-share opportunities like MyRacehorse, Wasabi Venture Stables, or a racing club at your local racetrack. These vehicles offer participation for as little as a couple hundred dollars and generally offer less than 1% interest in a horse. Micro-share partnerships rarely present any financial windfalls, but do give you the excitement of participation and a friendly conversation starter at your next social event. They also make great gifts for a horse lover in your life.

If you are comfortable in investing $1,000 or more, look for an opportunity where you can buy in for at least 5%. Truth be told, percentages have their privilege in Thoroughbred ownership. We all know that 5% of a $10,000 claimer is quite a bit less than 5% of a $1 million yearling.

What you may not know, there are significant benefits of being at least a 5% partner. Owning 5% means that most racing jurisdictions will require you to become a licensed owner. Once you are licensed, you now have access, and access is where the real fun begins.

Trainer observing morning workouts | Coady Photography

With a state-issued owner's license, you typically will have access to the stable area and your horse. Watching morning workouts, spending time in and around a functioning training operation, and gaining insight into how the stable area operates are a handful of the most fascinating activities an owner can experience. Feeding carrots and treats to your horse can be worth the price of your investment alone.

On race day, you will have access to the paddock area to see your horse prepare to head out to the racetrack. The paddock is where you can interact with your jockey, trainer and other partners. Most racetracks also offer owner privileges like free admission, free programs, reserved seating areas and invitations to special events. These perks are part of your return on investment and an enticing incentive to own at least 5% of a racehorse and becoming a licensed owner.

The Partnership Personality

You are now at the point where you are hungry to get started. Do not make the mistake of buying the proverbial sizzle of a partnership… you want the steak. What a partnership portrays in advertising or by the general partner may not be what is served. You need to learn about the partnership's personality, in other words, where the meat is. How does the partnership communicate with its owners? How often does the partnership send out updates on horses? Do they use social media, e-mail, or other platforms? What level of input will you have?

Some general partners are great at taking input, others prefer to remain focused and rely on their own experience and skills. If you are a person that likes to socialize, do not hesitate to ask what events, or get togethers, are typically planned. Talk to current partners and get their feedback while simultaneously gaining a sense of whom you will be sharing the experience. Part of your return on investment are the relationships you develop. Simply make sure you get the steak and not just a bunch of sizzling mushrooms.*

Geography

Most partnerships run their horses at specific racetracks or on a circuit. You need to determine if you are ok with watching your horse race on the computer or if you want to go to the racetrack and enjoy watching your horse race live. There are racetracks that are great for bringing friends and family with you and others that do not make the greatest first impressions.

California racing | Benoit

Where you live or where you are willing to travel is important in how immersed you can get into ownership. Living in Missouri does not mean you should not own a racehorse, it just means you may have to travel more vs. someone that lives in Southern California. Conversely, if you are solely interested in a financial return on your investment or are allergic to hay and hate the smell of manure, seeing your horse in person may not matter. The bottom line is: know where your horses are most apt to race and determine it if falls in line with what you are seeking.

The Mission

There are partnerships for breeding, buying yearlings, pinhooking, buying two-year-olds, claiming, and everything in-between. What is best for you is a choice. Start by asking yourself if you like action or if you are willing to be patient and potentially end up with a Kentucky Derby horse. Most new owners benefit from getting involved in a claiming partnership first.

With these partnerships, you can make your investment one day and be at the races to watch your horse run within weeks. Typically, new owners start in a claiming partnership, move to buying into unraced younger horses, then yearlings and down the road becoming part of a breeding opportunity. All are available to you with partnerships and you will be learning and becoming more adept along the way.

The Cherry On Top

An area that has become especially important to new owners coming into the sport, and rightfully so, is aftercare. Prospective new partners should ask, “What will happen once our horse is done racing? Can we still follow our horse after it retires?” Do not hesitate to ask these questions about any partnership you are looking to get involved in.

Some partnerships have aftercare programs in place, some have aftercare organizations they work with, and others unfortunately have no answer to this question. When you buy a Thoroughbred racehorse, you will discover an intrinsic connection to the horse, it is inevitable. Making sure you participate in a partnership that cares for their horses after their racing career is over is to be applauded and supported.

Wonder Wheel | Sara Gordon

The path to becoming a Thoroughbred racehorse owner has never been easier. Partnerships have led the way in making ownership more accessible to everyone that loves horse racing or horses.

Finding the right partnership for you is a process, a process that hopefully has been made simpler by knowing what to ask, what to look for, and what really matters to you personally.

Note: a mushroom is a term in racing is often referred to an owner who is kept in the dark and fed manure.

The post Finding The Right Syndicate For You-Part 2, Presented By Taylor Made Partnerships appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Different Hats Keep McDonald Ever Hopeful

Perhaps it is called the Hopeful Stakes because that's the most anyone can ever be with a Thoroughbred. But if nearly any purchaser at Keeneland over the next couple of weeks would like to be contesting that race, a year from now, then one consignor might give them not just hope but something closer to confidence.

Okay, so a trifecta for Eaton Sales graduates in the Saratoga Grade I last year featured only the winner, Forte (Violence), from the 2021 Keeneland September Sale. Runner-up Gulfport (Uncle Mo) and third Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) were respectively sold through the Eaton drafts at Fasig-Tipton's July and Saratoga Sales. Nonetheless it was an achievement all the more remarkable for the fact that champion juvenile Forte and Blazing Sevens, subsequently runner-up in the GI Preakness, were both pinhooked through Reiley McDonald's own farm, Athens Wood LLC.

Another complement to his supervision of a flagship sales agency, moreover, is the band of around 20 broodmares resident there. These diverse silos help McDonald to stay tuned into the marketplace from every side, but bring much satisfaction besides. One of those mares has produced Defunded (Dialed In) to win another Grade I this year, in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Only last weekend McDonald had winners in his own silks at Saratoga and in a stakes at Colonial Downs, while last month he co-bred a €1 million Wootton Bassett yearling sold at Arqana.

Such is the constant action resulting from the long experience that has brought us to McDonald's office in downtown Lexington. And while there's an intensity here, for sure, it is accompanied by a breadth of perspective that also permits a fulfilling life away from the business. (McDonald, indeed, typically spends half his year with his partner, Cricket, in Connecticut.)

“That was unbelievable,” he acknowledges, when reminded of his Hopeful achievement. “But really, I've done this so long, I don't get too excited, don't jump up and down, because there are so many that don't work out-you have to take the good and bad just the same.” He pauses and chuckles. “And, of course, we only just about broke even on Forte!”

Every year, with a couple of partners, McDonald pinhooks a dozen or so weanlings. Having found Forte for $80,000 at the preceding November Sale, they had to settle for $110,000 from Repole Stable & St. Elias when bringing him back to the same ring.

“Forte is one of the prettier horses you'll ever see, but at that time nobody wanted a Violence,” McDonald recalls. “And then Jacob West walked up, right as he was going into the ring, and said, 'What's your reserve?' I told him he had to bring more than a hundred. All those brilliant horsemen, and it came down to just one guy, one bid.”

Reiley McDonald (left) with Scott Dilworth | Keeneland

But such are the vagaries of this business-and such, duly, is McDonald's achievement, over the past 28 years, in maintaining both quality and quantity since taking on the game-changing agency founded by Lee Eaton.

He has actually started to scale back somewhat, having concluded that sheer volume is nowadays less sustainable. As he says, it costs as much time, labor and administration to sell a horse for $2,000 as for $2 million. Eaton Sales still has over 100 yearlings catalogued at Keeneland, but there have been times when they might have processed as many as 350 at that sale, following maybe 50 at Saratoga.

“That was a dangerous managerial feat and I don't think anybody can pull it off,” McDonald says. “It's so hard to find the help now. I really do worry about the animals, with the kind of help that's out there. And these days, if you're selling a horse for, call it $50,000 or less, you're losing money. Because some of the consignors have cannibalized themselves, reducing fees to a point where there's very little profit margin at the end of the day.”

By the time Eaton (and partner John Williams) stepped down, quite apart from a formidable address book, McDonald could feel no less grateful for his mentorship.

“Lee was like so many people who are successful in business,” McDonald reflects. “He worked hard, and demanded that the people around him worked hard. And he really was smart, always thinking of how you might do things differently, and better. He made it a much more professional business. The 'good old boy' stuff went out the window. The big parties before the July Sale, I mean, we never really did that. We just stuck to trying to make that horse look as good as it could. That was the whole thing: how do you present the horse?

“It used to be the old 'baggy pants' off the farm. But Lee hired all these guys from Virginia who would come in with their creased pants, and they really knew how to show a horse. And suddenly smart guys like Ed Cox, even Warner Jones as good as he was, started to sell with Lee. When you walked into his courtyard at Saratoga or Keeneland, it was definitely different: very clean, very professional–like they all are now. He really did set the standard.”

No less crucially, there were also corresponding advances in preparation, heeded to this day by McDonald.

“He decided to build huge run-in sheds and turn his horses out,” he says. “He was the first to do that. He didn't bring them up in the winter. And I follow the same program. Now, if it's a horrible, icy wet night, we bring everything in, and he would too. But they were out 99 percent of the time. And he developed his own feed. We've modified it over the years, but I still feed the same cubed feed.

“He was very good about horses' weight, getting the proper conditioning to each yearling-which is something that surprisingly few people do well. Back in the day, people wanted yearlings to be almost obese. Lee started to make them look more like racehorses.”

Before joining Eaton, McDonald had spent 10 years under John Finney at Fasig-Tipton, gaining a comprehensive insight into the market. Under head inspector Bobby Powell he learned the optimal physique of a commercial yearling, and as sales announcer he came to understand the functioning of the marketplace itself. “At the time John Finney was probably the smartest guy in the business,” McDonald says. “That's where I really learned about the business of horses, valuations, matings.”

There were other paths McDonald might have taken, having studied Animal Science at Cornell (where he captained the lacrosse team), but he has basically been working with horses since he was 13. The family had moved to the country, the kids got a pony, there was a horse farm down the road. He went to school five minutes from Pimlico, and would run in “smelling of manure and throwing on a tie to get to assembly.” The teenage McDonald then cut his racetrack teeth under Maryland hardboot B. Frank Christmas.

Tom Van Meter | Keeneland

“He was one of the real old-timers,” he recalls. “Quite a crusty character, always chewing tobacco and spitting, always with the hat and the coat on. He was a trainer, but also had a farm and a stallion. We were breeding mares, we were breaking all our horses, we legged up everything on the farm.”

One way or another, then, the young man who took over the sales agency had plenty of miles on the clock. “Then Tom Van Meter bought a 20 percent interest, and he was my partner for about 20 years,” McDonald says. “Tom was a vet, he was sort of the country boy while I was more the city boy. So we had different sets of clients, and that worked for a long time. But that's when the business was huge. We were doing too many horses.”

In admitting as much, and with Eaton having been such a trailblazer, does McDonald sometimes feel that he has helped to create a monster? This, after all, has become an industry where horses are routinely exploited through several investment cycles before they get anywhere near the gate.

“I feel like I've probably overseen the sale, personally, of more horses than anybody,” he replies. “Which, the last couple of years, doesn't make me the proudest guy in the world. Because I really feel like our business has deteriorated a good bit. And I don't mean just the selling business, but the racing, to a large extent.

“I think often we interfere way too much with these horses. By 'we' I don't mean us, I mean the industry. The more I learn and observe about what's happening on the tracks, the more disappointing I find it. And we're losing fans, and alienating the non-horse public.”

This conversation, it should be noted, took place before the recent traumas at Saratoga. In other words, McDonald was already thinking in terms that have meanwhile come to feel imperative. He feels that the spirit of reform behind HISA is vital, albeit that early mistakes were made: overreaching, not consulting adequately. “I think the trainers got a double whammy,” he says. “They didn't have a lot of say in it, and then a lot of the responsibility was put onto them. But we need HISA and it will get better–as it has to. Like anything worth doing, it needs time and we all need to work on it.”

Nor does he feel that the current use of the crop can last. (“Three strikes and you're out,” he recommends. “One to start, one to steer, one to finish.”) But for all the challenges we face, the magic of the horse itself abides. That's where every fulfilment begins–and many opportunities, too. Standing in the back ring at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale, for instance, McDonald saw a Touch Gold mare led past.

“Oh, she's really pretty,” he murmured to himself. In fact, she reminded him of Scarlet Tango, a mare he had once found in the same ring for $35,000. Five years later, having meanwhile produced GI King's Bishop winner Visionaire (Grand Slam), he sold her on for $850,000 to Stonestreet.

“I can't afford to buy a whole package: race record, pedigree, everything,” McDonald says. “But I can buy looks.” While this mare actually had multiple stakes placings, she cost barely more than Scarlet Tango at $37,000. And Wind Caper is now dam of Defunded, sold for $210,000 at Keeneland September in 2019 and hitherto winner of $1.6 million.

Defunded | Benoit

“I don't breed the fanciest pedigrees,” McDonald says. “But they come up to that little farm and do really well. It was a cattle farm for 300 years, all with the same family. It was about to be developed into 10-acre 'piano-key' lots when four other guys and I bought it. I kept 120 acres, and it's just great land. It's heavy in limestone, it's been fertilized for hundreds of years. And I kind of stick to the old 'leave' formula: leave them out, leave them alone, just keep an eye on any problems creeping up.”

“They're well raised, and the guys have been on the farm for years. Chuchie has been with me 35 years, was on the old Eaton Farm when he was 18. These are the best guys I've ever seen with foals, it's magic to watch their hands.”

But many of the elite performers whose photos are crammed onto the walls have obviously come through the core business of the agency. And here, McDonald says, how you handle people counts for at least as much as how you do horses. Before anything else, he needs to understand his clients' risk tolerance: where they might have slack, when they might race a horse, and so on. Because the market itself is never predictable. Neither Hard Spun nor Omaha Beach made their September reserves, for instance, McDonald eventually persuading the late Rick Porter to take both. (“You're now about $60 million to the good from those two horses,” he told Porter later. “Don't you think I should get a share?” Porter replied: “On the next one!”)

Unique Bella, the daughter of Tapit and Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song), had over 160 shows at the 2015 September Sale and was not vetted once.

“So, you got the best horseman from around the world looking at this filly,” marvels McDonald. “She toed in a little bit, and had a $399,000 reserve. And one person runs up to me, right as she's walking into the ring, and says, 'Can I see the vet report?' And runs back inside. There was one bid at $400,000, and it happened to be Carlos [Heller] at Don Alberto. And look what he got: one of the great mares of that decade. She was gorgeous. So sometimes it just blows your mind.”

Unique Bella and Hard Spun were both bred by Betty Moran, owner of Brushwood Stables, who became another cherished influence.

“An angel was on my shoulder the day I bumped into her, in 1991, and she told me she'd just lost her general manager,” McDonald recalls. He volunteered for the role and they worked together for nearly 30 years, perhaps their most memorable moment actually being with a steeplechaser, Papillon (Ire), in the 2000 Grand National. “Mrs. Moran only wanted to compete at the highest level,” McDonald notes. “And we built and maintained one of the best 20-head broodmare bands in the country. She was a best friend, confidante-and tough boss!”

That highest level, however, is never always confined only to the top of the market–and that, of course, is what drives the whole business.”

“How about Victory Gallop, who I sold many moons ago for $25,000?” says McDonald. “He had a chip in a stifle, and three ankles. Pug Hart bought him and said, 'I can't keep this horse.' This was before the repository. And I said, 'Well, essentially, he's sold, but let me talk to the owner.' And he agreed to take $10,000 off. So, they got Victory Gallop for $15,000! But I could count so many good horses that [apparently] had big, big problems. I purchased Mitole for very little [$20,000 September yearling] because he had a lot of writing on the vet report, but he was a horse of exquisite conformation.”

Kenny McPeek | Sarah Andrew

Like many experienced consignors, McDonald reckons to know buyers' tastes well enough to pull out a horse they haven't even asked for. “The only guy I still can't figure out is Kenny McPeek!” he admits. “He has bought so many good horses through auction, and I still don't know what he looks for. But that's really what puts it all together for us: knowing both sides, the seller and the buyer. And that takes a long time to do. That's why anybody who wants to get into the consignment business, you have to be willing to get on an airplane, to be everywhere and see everyone.”

While he isn't comfortable with everything about the industry, or the way it has changed over the past 40 years, McDonald emphasizes an undiminished passion for the sport.

“We've got a lot of hard work to do, but there are still great parts to it,” he says. “I do feel blessed to have been able to do what I have. It all comes from being hands on. My favorite thing I ever did in my life, and the thing I was best at, was on top of a horse. You learn so much if your hands have learned to absorb what the animal is telling you. Even today I love showing a horse at the sales.

“I don't know, I just love this animal. It's incredible. I mean, last night I was walking around the foals, just thinking how lucky I am, to be in that moment, with these beautiful little animals coming up to you. I still love it.”

The post Different Hats Keep McDonald Ever Hopeful appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The X-Ray Files: Ciaran Dunne

Ciaran and Amy Dunne's Wavertree Stables is perennially one of the leading consignors of 2-year-olds in the country, but their process for buying pinhooking prospects at the yearling sales changed dramatically with the advent of the sales repository over two decades ago.

“We started buying yearlings before the repository,” Ciaran Dunne said. “Back in those days, you had to shorten down your vet list because of the costs involved. There was very little that we couldn't live with because we might vet, at the very most, four horses a day. So if you were very picky, you didn't get anything. Back in those days, sesamoiditis wasn't as big a deal, there was no such thing as ultrasounds and soft tissue scans. So very early on we learned to live with a lot of things. And because of that, we trained horses who had various issues. We saw a lot of what horses can live with and what horses can't live with.”

Dunne said his decisions at the yearling sales are generally based more on the individual in front of him than on the expansive vet reports available today.

“Some years, I will say I'm not going to buy any horse that has any degree of sesamoiditis above mild,” he explained. “But if I find a horse I really, really like and he's got moderate or severe sesamoiditis and I still like him, I'll probably still buy him. I think if we allow the veterinary findings to dictate what we buy, then a lot of times you end up buying horses you are just OK on physically and you walk away from the ones you love because they have some little issue that might never have been a problem. I take the tact that I would much rather buy one that I love that has a little this or a little that than buy one that I'm just so-so on because he has a clean set of X-rays.”

The Wavertree team doesn't adjust its process just because they are predominately shopping for pinhooking prospects, rather than racehorse prospects.

“I have people tell me, 'He'll be OK to race, but not to pinhook,'” Dunne said. “Ultimately, they are all going to have to be racehorses. And I can't be a future purchaser's veterinarian. I can't say what they will like and what they won't like. There are plenty of horses that come with veterinary findings that are of no consequence to me, but the buyers run away from and hide. And then there are horses that, when we get the X-ray report back after the breeze show, I think we are in trouble here and nobody else seems to have a problem with it.”

Buyers relying solely on a vet report while neglecting to consider the individual may be missing the bigger picture, according to Dunne.

“I'm not going to say that everything with bad X-rays or a bad ultrasound will go on and run,” he said. “I think everything is relative. Some horses who have issues, if they have a lighter frame they can maybe live with them, whereas with a heavier-bodied type, you'd be less inclined to give them a chance. I think people use the vet reports to weed horses out, but I don't think you can look at a vet report and say this horse is no good.”

He continued, “In the same way, when people read X-rays or  read soft-tissue findings and aren't physically there to look at the horse, I don't think they can give a fair judgement on whether this is representative of what the horse actually is. Trying to evaluate a horse off a piece of paper in terms of radiographic findings or trying to evaluate a horse digitally from 500 miles away, I don't think that works. I think there has to be a little common sense. Context matters.”

When Dunne switches from buying yearlings to selling juveniles, he sees a difference in how potential buyers utilize vet reports.

“I think they are harder on the 2-year-olds than they are on the yearlings with the vetting,” Dunne said. “We've seen a lot of yearlings sell for a lot of money with radiographic findings that really raised our eyebrows. Whereas the slightest thing in the 2-year-olds chases them away. Which seems to me to be backwards. Maybe it's that people [buying yearlings] think they have enough time to fix anything. I think they are looking for ghosts.”

Watching horses perform on the racetrack at a 2-year-old sale should provide buyers with more confidence than it generally seems to, according to Dunne.

“It amuses me when a horse goes up and works well enough and gallops out well enough to make them come down to see him and he comes out and he shows himself well and then they are going to come up with this huge problem that he might have,” Dunne said. “I don't know what they think we are that we would be able to mask something like that. At the end of the day, if you look at the scratch rate at 2-year-old sales, the ones that have problems are eliminated before they get to see them. And usually the ones that work good are the ones that end up being good horses. Again, you have to put the whole thing into context. How considerable can it be if they just performed at that level?”

Dunne stressed what he sees as the importance of potential buyers making decisions based on the findings of–and consultations with–their own veterinarians.

“I hate the vet reports,” Dunne said. “I hate showing the vet report because I feel like people, when they ask to see the vet report, are just looking for a reason not to go vet them. Whereas if they just go vet them, their veterinarian may not have an issue with the ink that's on the page. When we buy yearlings, I don't look at vet reports. If I like the horse well enough, I look at my vet's interpretation and I live or die by his opinion. I think everybody should do their own homework.”

Click to read previous The X-Ray Files: with Tom McCrocklin and David Ingordo.

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