Randy Patterson | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Todd Pletcher, a 2021 nominee to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, has a horse entered Saturday at Oaklawn in Fearless, among the favorites for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older runners.

Roughly 24 hours before Pletcher, the trainer, was scheduled to send out Fearless in the Oaklawn Handicap, unbeaten Pletcher, the horse, was to make his 3-year-old debut in an allowance sprint Friday at Oaklawn.

“I have no connection to the horse,” Pletcher said Wednesday afternoon.

But Sara Patterson does. Pletcher is owned by Patterson's father, Randy, who purchased the son of Jack Milton for $7,500 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Sara Patterson named Pletcher after her best friend, Shad Pletcher, who died in December 2019. He was 48.

“I had just spent the weekend with him,” Patterson said. “Hadn't seen him in a year. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, just passed away. It was a pulmonary aneurism.”

Trained by Randy Morse, Pletcher was a 2 ¾-length winner of his Nov. 27, 2020, career debut at Remington Park. Randy Patterson, Morse's main client, owns Cedar Run Farm, a 200-acre foaling and layup facility just west of Hot Springs in Pearcy. Sara Patterson manages Cedar Run and said Pletcher was the first horse she's selected at a sale.

“It was coming down to the end of the sale and a lot of the sales companies were posting pictures on their Facebook pages – 'Hey, check out this colt, check out this, check out that,' ” Patterson said. “There was a colt and he just kept popping up on my Facebook page. I got to researching it and looking at it.”

After diving into Pletcher's pedigree, Patterson said she really liked the colt and sent her father some pictures. A contact for Randy Patterson then inspected the colt, Sara Patterson said, and gave the thumbs up to bid.

“Dad, of course, made it sound like he wasn't going to buy him,” Patterson said. “It's just another horse, blah, blah. I said, 'OK, that's fine, but if I were going to pick one, that would be my pick. I like that horse.' Sale goes on, I look at the results and, sure enough, I scroll down there and there it says, 'Randy Patterson.' ”

Sara Patterson said she had to come up with a name and eventually thought of her late best friend.

“He was always so supportive of me and my career and finally making the decision to come down to Arkansas,” Patterson said. “I felt like it was cool. He would always tell me how proud he was of me being able to come down and live this dream that I'm living. I was like, 'Pletcher, that's got to be his name. That's it. It's Pletcher.' ”

Patterson, 35, grew up in Anthony, Kan., and she and her father began developing Cedar Run approximately seven years ago to target the Arkansas breeding program.

After the name Pletcher was approved by The Jockey Club, Patterson said she realized “everybody” would believe the colt was named after Todd Pletcher.

“I never even thought about it at the time,” Patterson said with a laugh. “I'm excited about the horse.”

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March 21 was Super Sunday at Oaklawn for Sara Patterson, who manages Cedar Run Farm, a 200-acre foaling and layup facility just west of Hot Springs, Ark., in Pearcy.

Cedar Run owns Moonshine Mullin, a millionaire Grade 1 winner who stands at nearby Lake Hamilton Equine Associates. In last Sunday's second race, Moonshine Mullin was represented by the top four finishers in the $20,000 maiden-claiming event for Arkansas-breds at 1 1/16 miles. About an hour later, Patterson recorded her first career victory as an owner when favored Longntall, a 4-year-old homebred daughter of Moonshine Mullin, broke her maiden by 12 lengths in the fourth race for $10,000 Arkansas-bred filly and mare claimers at 1 1/16 miles. Longntall paid $4.20.

On the excitement scale, Patterson called the results, essentially, a dead-heat.

“That's kind of got to be a tossup, but I'd have to say, getting to actually take the first winner's picture probably made me more proud,” Patterson said. “I won't forget that. It's something you always look forward to, getting into the business and you finally get to be an owner and looking forward to taking that first picture. That was pretty cool.”

Patterson, 35, is the daughter of Randy Patterson, who owns Cedar Run and campaigned Moonshine Mullin for his final seven career starts with trainer Randy Morse after claiming the horse for $40,000 in November 2013 at Remington Park.

Moonshine Mullin, by Albert the Great, won his final five career starts, including three races at the 2014 Oaklawn meeting and the $300,000 Alysheba Stakes (G2) and $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) that summer at Churchill Downs.

Patterson and Morse also hit another home run with Kate's Main Man, who won the $100,000 Essex Handicap for older horses in 2011 at Oaklawn, roughly a year after being claimed for $35,000. They won the $100,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses in 2016 at Oaklawn with Street Strategy, who Patterson also now stands at Lake Hamilton Equine.

Following Moonshine Mullin's retirement from racing, he became one of the building blocks for Cedar Run, which the Pattersons began developing approximately seven years ago to target the Arkansas breeding program.

Longntall is from the first crop of Moonshine Mullin and marked the fifth career starter for Sara Patterson (all at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting).

Patterson said Longntall was the first “Moonshine baby” foaled at Cedar Run, adding she delivered the bay daughter of Smokin Reward.

“That's what made it extra special,” Patterson said. “Not only was it a win, but it was a win with a horse that we bred and we raised and she was the first one that we had here on the farm. She was my second year to ever do foaling.”

Longntall is one two horses Patterson owns. The other is Tallandlong, a 3-year-old full sister to Longntall who has two runner-up finishes at the meet. Tallandlong is entered in Thursday's fifth race at Oaklawn. Both horses are with trainer Johnny Ortiz.

Longntall, who broke her maiden in her third lifetime start, is named after Patterson's close friend, Oaklawn horsemen's bookkeeper Terri Hoffrogge. She is 5-11.

“We always call her 'long and tall,' Patterson said. “My horse, Longntall, is, I mean, tall. She is so tall. She is so long. It just worked perfect. The little sister came along and Terri always came out to the farm and looked at the horses and hung out here with us and loved them just as much as we did. The full sister came along and looked so much like Longntall, we were like, 'Well, we need to name this one 'Tallandlong.' Now, everybody's joking about what we're going to name the next one.”

Patterson said Smokin Reward is one of “8-10” mares Cedar Runs owns. Smokin Reward also has a 2-year-old Moonshine Mullin colt, Smokin Boots, and an unnamed yearling colt by Hightail. Patterson said Smokin Reward may go to a Kentucky stallion this year. Longntall is her first foal.

Patterson was raised in Anthony, Kan., a small town about 50 miles southwest of Wichita, and said she was introduced to racing, and, ultimately, ownership, through her father.

“I always grew up watching our little two-week summer meet that we had in Kansas,” Patterson said, referring to the now-defunct Anthony Downs. “Watching my dad always being an owner and being involved in racing, it was just something that I always had a passion for. I knew it would be a goal of mine. It was something that I wanted to do. I just had to be patient and wait for the right time. He's always been extremely supportive and helped me get to where I am. If it wasn't for him, obviously, I wouldn't be here. He's given me a lot of rein with our Arkie-breds and let me pick and choose what I want, what I like to do, who I like and what not. Longntall and Tallandlong had always been the two that I picked from the beginning that I knew I wanted to own and race.”

Patterson said she plans to slowly grow her two-horse stable, primarily with Arkansas-breds. Patterson said her father probably has 15 horses at Oaklawn, the bulk with Morse.

“I think I will probably stay small for as long as I can,” Sara Patterson said. “I probably won't have more than five for a while, just trying to stay afloat. It's a hard business, so you've got to find a way to stay afloat. I just hope to add a couple here or there through the years and eventually when the time is right, I'll expand it. But until then, I'm just going to keep it small and manageable.”

Patterson said because Cedar Run isn't set up for breeding and focuses on foaling and broodmare care, Moonshine Mullin and Street Strategy stand at Lake Hamilton Equine. They return to Cedar Run after breeding season, roughly mid-February-late June.

Moonshine Mullin and Street Strategy both stand for $1,000.

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