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GMP Stable Takes Next Step Towards Big Dreams at the Spa

When Gary Gullo retired from training in September of 2020 after 40 years on the Belmont backside, it was with big goals in mind. Gullo teamed up with longtime owner Anthony Melfi to start GMP Stable, an operation focused on breeding, selling, racing and now an equine rehabilitation farm. Gullo and Melfi's main goal has always been to acquire and breed top- quality horses and the first member of their new-and-improved breeding program will be offered at the prestigious Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale next week.

“It's our first time upgrading our mares,” Gullo said. “This is the first time we are actually putting them through the sale and running it as a breeding business. We have one in the Select Sale and two in the [Fasig-Tipton] New York-Bred Sale.”

The horseman continued, “Anthony is a great guy, great to work for. He has the same vision as I have, just trying to be first class with everything. It takes time to do. It is a process. It's not going to happen overnight. We are trying to buy top quality mares in foals to nice stallions. We have them at WinStar Farm. Now we are looking to sell some of the babies to offset some cost and keep it running like a business. We might start to keep a few down the road, but our goal is to breed top-quality horses.”

The GMP team will offer Hip 151, a Curlin filly out of MGISP Cassies Dreamer (Flatter), during the second session of Fasig's Select Sale Tuesday. Consigned by Taylor Made, the bay is the first foal out of Cassies Dreamer, who completed the trifecta in both the GI Frizette S. and GI Spinaway S. GMP Stable purchased the now 6-year-old mare for $435,000 with this filly in utero at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“It is exciting,” Melfi said of selling a horse in the Saratoga Select Sale. “We can't wait to see how it goes and what she brings. She is a beautiful filly by Curlin. We just love her.”

Just six days later, GMP Stable has a pair of More Than Ready yearlings bred in partnership with Dutchess Views Farm and Robert Valeri set to sell during the second session of Fasig's New York-Bred Sale Aug. 15.

The first to go through the ring will be Hip 523, a filly out of Cinderella Time (Stephen Got Even). A $245,000 acquisition at the 2019 KEENOV sale in foal to Twirling Candy, the 11-year-old mare is already the dam of MGSW & MGISP Horologist (Gemologist).

Their other NY-bred offering is Hip 574, a More Than Ready colt out of Giant Blossom (Giant's Causeway). Picked up for $100,000 in foal to Frosted at the same KEENOV renewal, Giant Blossom is a half-sister to GISW Cotton Blossom (Broken Vow).

“We feel good about our New York-breds as well,” Gullo said. “We are getting our feet wet. We are relying on Fasig-Tipton, WinStar and Taylor Made. We are with the right people.”

Breeding and selling is just one area that GMP Stable dabbles in. They also have 25 horses in training across the country with conditioners such as Todd Pletcher, Linda Rice, Gary Sciacca, Robertino Diodoro and Doug O'Neill. The racing stable is a mix of homebreds, 2-year-old purchases and horses claimed at Churchill with an eye on the Del Mar meet.

“We would like to expand eventually,” Gullo said. “We bought some 2-year-olds and will buy more next year. We will also buy another three of four mares in November. Right now we are claiming horses for some action for us, but we are focusing on the higher quality over quantity.”

Gullo and Melfi's main focus at the moment is their farm, which is geared towards racehorse rehabilitation. Previously the Stone Bridge Farm training center, the Schuylerville, New York facility is an equine oasis with a training track, saltwater spas, Theraplates, magnawave and much more.

“We have a beautiful farm that is set up like a rehab, like Fair Hill,” Gullo said. “We are bringing in a hyperbaric chamber. We have saltwater spas, the vibrating plates, lasers, magnawave, thermal imaging. We have a seven-eighths Tapeta track. We redid the base and put a new cushion on it. We had the guy from Keeneland come and redo it all. We are going to have 50 stalls. We have horses here for Linda [Rice], [Todd] Pletcher and Bill Mott. Wesley Ward came out and loved it.”

The GMP farm also houses a spa for humans, offering a wide variety of services. Additionally, Melfi owns two bed and breakfasts on Union Ave. in Saratoga and plans to tie all of the facilities together.

“The spa is called Sacred Spa and Wellness,” said Melfi, who operated an environmental contracting company, which he sold in 2019. “We offer massage, facials, infrared saunas, chiropractic, acupuncture, body sculpting and basically anything you'd find at a high-end spa or wellness center.”

He added, “I also own Union Gables and the Brunswick. We are in the process of incorporating all the properties together to make it more of a destination.”

Between what they already have in the works and their future plans, Gullo and Melfi have a lot to look forward to with their new operation.

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First-Crop Yearling Previews: Omaha Beach

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out past editions of our series here.

Omaha Beach (War Front–Charming, by Seeking the Gold) set the bar high for this year's class of first-crop yearlings stallions at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where five of his progeny sold and averaged $236,000. His top lot, a Spendthrift-bred daughter of Grade III winner Gas Station Sushi (Into Mischief), brought $410,000 and was the highest-priced filly by any sire at the one-day auction.

“When we went out to Fasig July, we were extremely happy with what we were seeing,” Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker reported. “It was fun for us to watch them. They were nice-sized horses–not overly big, but very correct with good bodies.”

Toothaker explained how he thinks of Omaha Beach as the first horse Spendthrift took a big swing for when they began seeking out some of the most in-demand stallion prospects in recent years. He remembers visiting the Fox Hill Farms-campaigned colt in the days between his nine-length maiden-breaking score and his victory over juvenile champion Game Winner in the GII Rebel S.

“When Richard Mandella told me that Omaha Beach was the best horse he'd ever had in his barn, it didn't take long to get back here and say that we needed to figure out a way to get this thing done,” Toothaker recalled. “With the amount of ability that this horse had to go along with his great looks and pedigree, Omaha Beach was just the entire package.”

The winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and morning-line favorite for the 2019 Kentucky Derby was sidelined before his Derby bid due to an entrapped epiglottis, but returned later in his sophomore season to defeat Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., run second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and cap off his career with an easy victory in the GI Malibu S.

Launched at a stud fee of $45,000, Omaha Beach bred 215 mares in each of his first two seasons at stud. Toothaker said that the initial demand for the regally-bred son of War Front was unprecedented in Spendthrift's history.

Mill Ridge Farm's Saratoga-bound Omaha Beach colt out of Savannah Sky | Sara Gordon

“We've never had a horse have 600 requests for seasons in his first year,” Toothaker explained. “I don't know that we've ever had a horse get that kind of book to get them started. With the type of mares that he got in his first year, there's no telling what this first crop can do because the potential is crazy.”

Omaha Beach's first crop was in demand as weanlings, with 19 of 24 selling to average $112,736 and stamp their sire as the number one freshman stallion by weanling average. His top-selling weanling, a colt out of stakes producer North Freeway (Jump Start), sold for $200,000.

At next week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Omaha Beach will be represented by six yearlings. The first to go through the ring will be Hip 36, a filly out of Peter Blum's stakes-placed homebred Night Time Lady (Midnight Lute).

“She was a late foal, but she still has lots of size,” agent Bridie Harrison said of the late April-foaled yearling. “She has great bone, great substance and a really good walk. We like her a lot.”

Harrison reported that Blum has been a strong supporter of Omaha Beach throughout the stallion's first years at stud.

“Peter fell in love with Omaha Beach when he saw him in Richard Mandella's barn in California,” she said. “He thought he was a big, strong, beautiful horse with a great temperament. We bred a few mares to Omaha Beach and I like all the foals. Omaha Beach added a lot of size to our mares. Every one of our Omaha Beach foals are taller than most of the mares' other foals. They have lots of substance and bone and they're strong, rangy-type horses.”

Also during the first session of the Saratoga Sale, Mill Ridge Farm will send Hip 67 through the ring. The Omaha Beach colt out of the winning Sky Mesa mare Savannah Sky was a $140,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Sale.

“We liked this colt from the get-go,” Mill Ridge's Headley Bell explained. “His presence and athleticism was really everything that you look for in a horse. We couldn't be more pleased with him. We've always been big fans of Omaha Beach. Two years ago, we bred 12 mares to the horse with our clients.”

Other yearlings by Omaha Beach at the same sale include Hip 41, a half-brother to GSW & MGISP Pappacap (Gun Runner); Hip 93, a New York-bred half-sister to MGSW Highway Star (Girolamo) and MSW Captain Bombastic (Forty Tales); Hip 196, also a New York-bred and a half-sister to MSW Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible) and current stakes performer Venti Valentine (Firing Line); and Hip 205, a filly out of Hot Water (Medaglia d'Oro), the dam of this year's GIII Ben Ali S. and GIII Michelob Ultra Challenger S. winner Scalding (Nyquist).

Omaha Beach will have four additional yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale.

As the young stallion's first crop begin to make their way to the track next year, Toothaker said he looks for Omaha Beach's progeny to show speed right out of the gate as juveniles.

“With his speed, he was able to win a Grade I going six furlongs and also lay very close in all of his two-turn races. With his pedigree, your hope is that he turns out to be a Classic sire, but that he's also going to be able to throw horses with enough speed that I think you'll see plenty of them be well received at the 2-year-old sales.”

Hailing from one of the most influential dirt families in recent years, Omaha Beach is a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). His second dam, 2013 Broodmare of the Year and MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), has now produced three Grade I winners while her daughter I'll Take Charge (Indian Charlie) is the dam of recent GIII Dwyer S. winner Charge It (Tapit).

“It's one of those female families that is just going to keep getting bigger and better,” Toothaker said. “It's as good as there is in the stallion book. Omaha Beach was a really good dirt horse out of a really good dirt female family, but he's by one of the best sprinters and now turf sires out there. It's an interesting combination and we look forward to seeing what they do on the track.”

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Letter to the Editor: F-T Saratoga Sale to Feature 17 Yearlings from Phipps Families

By B. Jason Brooks

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale is less than two weeks away and potential buyers are marking up their sales catalogs while researching the accomplished families of those being offered.

At the 2019 Saratoga Sale, four yearlings tracing back to Phipps foundation mare Blitey sold for a collective $4.05 million, one of them being an undefeated Tapit colt named Flightline who has become a multiple Grade I superstar.

Thoroughbred Daily News columnist and pedigree expert Sid Fernando recently noted in story that the Phipps female “families have given past and present breeders a deep foundation on which to build upon and create their own top-class horse.” A look at recent Grade I winners confirms that this is true at the highest levels.

Last year, an impressive 12 Grade I races were won by 10 different horses from families with Phipps female lines, including Aloha West (Hard Spun), Corniche (Quality Road), Essential Quality (Tapit), Flagstaff (Speightstown), Flightline, Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), Maxfield (Street Sense), Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot), Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) and Got Stormy (Get Stormy), multiple of which are Saratoga Sale graduates.

Through the first seven months of this year, four Grade Is (23 graded stakes wins) have been won by horses from families with Phipps female lines. The Grade I winners this year include Flightline, adding his second Grade I in his first start as a 4-year-old, as well as Shirl's Speight (Speightstown), There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) and Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile).

That's an impressive dozen different winners from families with Phipps female lines winning 16 different Grade I races. An exclamation mark added when considering all graded stakes, with 23 of them being won this year by horses from families with Phipps female lines. This level of current success demonstrates the “deep foundation” that Fernando referred to and makes these influential families attractive to breeders and buyers.

A deep dive into the families of the 214 yearlings to be offered at the boutique Saratoga Sale finds that 17, or 8%, are out of top-class mares from families with Phipps female lines, including descendents of Personal Ensign, Blitey, Lady Be Good, Get Lucky, Ten Cents A Dance, and La Troienne mares Belle Histoire and Big Hurry, among others.

On top of their first-rate female families, these blue-blooded yearlings are sired by elite stallions, including Tapit (hips 4 and 179), Curlin (hip 15), Into Mischief (hips 74, 75, 102, 131, 164), Uncle Mo (hips 98, 160, 210), War Front (hip 69), Arrogate (hip 79), Catalina Cruiser (hip 39), Kantharos (hip 211), Oscar Performance (hip 182), and Union Rags (hip 73). Also of note is that Hip 179 is a filly that shares the same sire (Tapit) and Phipps female family (Blitey) as Flightline.

The 2022 Saratoga Sale will provide buyers another chance to purchase yearlings with top-class pedigrees from influential Phipps families which are currently excelling in graded and Grade I races. Like Flightline, some of the yearlings making their way through the sales ring of the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in August will become the Thoroughbred stars of tomorrow on the track and subsequently carry on the Phipps legacy in the breeding shed.

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Texas Summer Yearling Sale Catalogue Released

Over 200 yearlings made the catalog for the 2022 Texas Summer Yearling Sale, presented by the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park. The sale will be held on Aug. 29 at the sales pavilion at Lone Star.

The catalog lists yearlings by Kentucky stallions such as Justify, Good Magic, Sharp Azteca, Mendelssohn, Bernardini, Practical Joke, Goldencents, Kantharos, Mitole, Vino Rosso and more. Texas stallions such as Too Much Bling, Bradester, My Golden Song and Competitive Edge are also represented.

The interactive catalog is available now at www.ttasales.com or on the Equineline IPad App.

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