Sean Feld | Horse Racing Free Tips

Industry Voices: Bob Feld On What it Means to Try

The man lying in the hospital bed silent and completely still was a good man and led a good life. A loving husband, amazing father and a relentless provider for his family was slipping closer to death. My dad was a man of conviction, integrity and faith and I try every day to be the man he was. I won't get there, but I try. It's all about trying. He lived a full life and gave up a lot of the freedoms of his youth when he got married, which included owning racehorses.

My mom and dad raised five children on very low incomes. We all grew up thinking we were a middle-class family but in hindsight we were far from it. My parents created a way of life for us so that we never questioned our status growing up. We were happy and lacked nothing, especially love. In his younger days, John Feld dressed well, drove fancy cars, loved to bet on the horses and his getaway was Las Vegas. He was quite the bachelor and lived a fun and adventurous single life and a bit beyond his means because he could.

On one fortuitous trip to Las Vegas, he made a nice chunk of change over the weekend by hitting number 17 on the roulette wheel multiple times. The number 17 became the “Feld family lucky number” and includes events like his first born son born on February 17. The number 17's karmatic showing continues to this day.

My dad had slowly but surely gone into a coma as he was slowly but surely dying in front of his family. My mom, brother, sister, brother-in-law and I were all in the room to be in his presence as he passed. The doctor had told us that his coma was so deep that we would not be able to communicate with him nor would we see any response from him. As the hours went by, it became very apparent that the end of his life was near.

My son Sean and his “Pop” were close because they shared the passion of horse racing. Pop was the quintessential two-dollar bettor who loved the puzzle of picking the winner more than the gamble. In the 1980's, the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita started a tradition of giving away a commemorative stein each year on Opening Day of the meet. Pop started his own personal tradition of taking his oldest grandson, Sean, to Opening Day each year to get his stein. Annually on a Wednesday, his Mom and I allowed him to ditch school each year to go with Pop to add to his collection of steins.

I decided since Pop's life was about to end, to call Sean on my cell phone to see if he would like to say goodbye to his grandpa. He agreed. The room was deafeningly silent as if a vigil for my dad had already started. I held my phone up to Pop's ear and I could hear Sean through the phone tell his grandpa, “We are going to win the Kentucky Derby for you Pop.”

At that moment, my dad made a grunting sound. Time stood still. All of us in attendance could not believe there was this fleeting moment of “life” coming from my father to his grandson as he was about to take his last breath. Teary-eyed, I hung the phone up and the silence continued. It wasn't much later when my dad did take his very last breath. It was 9:17 a.m. and of course, on April 17th.

During the past 21 years since Pop passed, like everyone else in the Thoroughbred business, we have “tried” to win the Kentucky Derby, not for ourselves really but for Pop. Our budgets have ebbed and flowed over the years but with any and all budgets we try. That's what we do, it's all about trying. We got close a few years ago when a $61,000 yearling purchase, Sueno, would have been the last horse “scratched” into the race but he chipped his ankle Kentucky Derby week and did not enter. This year, our (not kidding) $17,000 yearling purchase is second in the point standings and has the look of a real contender coming off an impressive win in the Louisiana Derby.

My brother Jude trained on the Southern California circuit for 20 years so Pop knew the game well and he knew how tough it was to win a race, any race. Hot Rod Charlie doesn't have to win on the first Saturday in May and he still has to get there. The fact we have come this far with a $17,000 horse while knowing that Pop was “with us” when we bought him at that price is a victory in itself. I know Pop is proud of us already for trying, but if a 14-year-old boy could keep his promise to his dying grandfather, that would be the most satisfying and greatest victory of all and I have a feeling time will stand still once again for Pop!

Bob Feld, posted on Facebook and published with his permission

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Mr. Monomoy Brings NY Pedigree to Waldorf Farm

Last year, veterinarian Jerry Bilinski and his wife Darlene celebrated the 25^th anniversary of their purchase of Waldorf Farm, a stately property in North Chatham, New York, with hundreds of acres of rolling horse-friendly pastures and solid well-insulated barns.

Upon their purchase of the property, they also brought back its original name, Waldorf Farm, and began standing stallions and boarding broodmares.

Today, Bilinski foals between 105 to 110 mares each year.

This year, when Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice) begins his new career at stud, he will join Bustin Stones (City Zip) at Waldorf Farm. Mr. Monomoy will stand as the property of Climax Stallions, LLC, Michael Dubb and Madaket Stables. His initial stud fee has been announced as $5,000.

When Climax Stallions set out to find a prospect to stand in New York, Mr. Monomoy checked all of the boxes as the half-brother to a two-time Distaff winner in seven-time Grade I-winning champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar).

Mr. Monomoy’s sire Palace Malice (Curlin) won more than $2.6 million, raced until age five, and his titles include winner of both the GI Metropolitan H. and GI Belmont S. The Grade I-producing third-crop sire stands at Three Chimneys Farm.

A member of his sire’s first crop to hit the track, Mr. Monomoy broke his maiden under trainer Brad Cox in his second start as a two-year-old at Churchill Downs going 6 1/2 furlongs and winning by 5 1/2 lengths. After finishing in the money in his next two starts, including a third-place effort in the GIII Lecomte S. behind Enforceable (Tapit) and Silver State (Hard Spun), he culminated his career with a 2 1/2-length wire-to-wire victory in the GII Risen Star S., defeating those same rivals he had finished behind in his previous start.

“We are very excited to have such a high-caliber stallion here in New York,” said Jerry Bilinski. “This is a top-notch stallion for this region. We had talked to Sean Feld of Climax Stallions about eventually having a horse that we could stand here at Waldorf. We were just holding our breath that someday, that would happen. A month or two ago, he called, and the rest is history.”

Bilinski said that Mr. Monomoy has a physical that should easily attract breeders.

“He’s got great size to him and he’s got a great stride,” he said. “If you look at his conformation photos, you’ll see exactly what we mean–that he does have what it’s going to take to be a sire.”

Sean Feld, managing partner of Climax Stallions, said that the intention was always to stand the Grade II winner in New York.

“We bought Mr. Monomoy specifically for the New York breeding program,” said Feld. “Mr. Monomoy had speed and he had speed on dirt. In New York, horses race on only dirt for almost half the year. He won going short and long. He broke his maiden going 6 1/2 furlongs and then won a Grade II going nine furlongs.”

He added that both Mr. Monomoy’s sire and his half-sister Monomoy Girl have great name recognition in New York.

“His sire Palace Malice was a monster in New York,” said Feld. “He won the Met Mile and the Belmont S., and his start at stud has been good. He throws stone-cold runners and his crop of mares last year is going to be great after he had Structor win the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Mr. Monomoy will be the first of many sons out there.”

“Our business model has turned into buying siblings of really good horses,” he continued. “We started with Bullet Train (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), a half to Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), then had Curlin to Mischief (Curlin), a half to Into Mischief and Beholder, as well as Editorial (War Front), a half to Uncle Mo, and St Patrick’s Day (Pioneerof the Nile), a full-brother to American Pharoah.”

But Feld said that Mr. Monomoy offers unique appeal compared to most stallions that begin their stud career in the program.

“One difference is that Mr. Monomoy has a really good race record,” he said. “He was able to win going short and then win a major Kentucky Derby prep by carrying his speed around two turns at a mile-and-an-eighth.”

“Those are two major check marks that make a top sire in my opinion,” added Brad Cox, who spoke with the TDN last December.

Feld pointed to the correlation of success at stud for half-brothers of two-time Distaff winners.

“There have only been four two-time Distaff winners,” he said. “The first was Bayakoa (Arg) (Consultant’s Bid), then Royal Delta (Empire Maker), whose half-brother Khozan (Distorted Humor) stands in Florida, next came Beholder (Henny Hughes), who is a half to Into Mischief and Mendelssohn and then the fourth one is Monomoy Girl. It has definitely correlated into stallion success.”

As owners, Feld said, Climax Stallions takes its marketing responsibility seriously for breeding and then later when the stallion’s foals hit the sales.

“Our main source of supporting the stallions we own is our marketing,” he said. “We throw a lot of money into really branding the horse. Success comes not just in breeding. We need people to like him at all points. We will also support him at the yearling sales. Mr. Dubb kept a piece of him as did Mr. Kumin. His team can’t wait for the foals.”

Bilinski reported that Mr. Monomoy has settled in easily at the sprawling upstate Waldorf Farm.

“He arrived approximately at seven in the morning and came off the van happy,” he said. “We put him in the stall. He looked around and started eating hay and it didn’t faze him a bit. He has an excellent mental attitude. My farm manager Kenny Toye says he’s been nothing but a gentle giant. And so, we’re very happy with that.”

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Grade 2 Winner Mr. Monomoy Retired To Waldorf Farm In New York

Climax Stallions LLC has obtained a majority interest in graded stakes winner Mr. Monomoy, and he will stand at Dr. Jerry Bilinski's Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, N.Y. His initial stud fee has been announced at $5,000 stands and nurses.

Mr. Monomoy is a half-brother to seven-time Grade 1-winning champion Monomoy Girl and he hails from the family of champion Heavenly Cause. Mr. Monomoy is by Met Mile and Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice.

“We bought Mr. Monomoy specifically for the New York breeding program” says Sean Feld, managing partner of Climax Stallions “It is hard to find one champion in the immediate family of a stallion, let alone two, and look at where the family did their winning. Heavenly Cause won the Acorn and Frizette plus his half-sister Monomoy Girl also won the Acorn before taking the Coaching Club American Oaks. Then, you factor in his sire, Palace Malice's accomplishments, who won the Belmont, Jim Dandy and the Met Mile. It's a very deep and classy pedigree and we are very excited.”

Mr. Monomoy broke his maiden in his second start as a 2-year-old at Churchill Downs going 6 1/2 furlongs, winning by 5 1/2 lengths. He culminated his career in the Grade 2 Risen Star, winning wire-to-wire by 2 1/2 lengths.

“He was able to win going short and then win a major Kentucky Derby prep by carrying his speed around two turns at 1 1/8 miles,” said Mr. Monomoy's trainer Brad Cox. “Those are two major check marks that make a top sire in my opinion.”

Dr. Bilinski of Waldorf Farm said, “Mr. Monomoy, with his athleticism, brings speed, precocity and a New York pedigree to New York. I have no doubt once breeders feast their eyes on this stallion, they will want to breed their mares to Mr. Monomoy.”

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