Our fingerprints were evident last weekend when some major Breeders Cup preps were contested. We supplied strategy for breeding two of them, Frizette (G 1) third place finisher Gemswick Park and the Gr 3 third Carnacks Choice.
Gemswick Park is out of Queen’s Park (Relaunch), a filly of modest talent but good enough to win black-type in Winnipeg at my recommendation. She is from one of the foremost families in the stud book and is worth a small fortune.
Carnacks Choice is a son of Ellesmere (Tabasco Cat), another average racer who was shipped off to Fort Erie to become stakes-placed. I had bought Ellesmere when she was the first yearling into the ring at Saratoga.
Gemswick Park and Carnacks Choice demonstrate the importance in assessing residual value. Not everyone is good at it. We thrive on it and have the record to prove it.
Four Star Sales marketed two-year-old star Munnings who finished second in the Champagne (G 1). His dam is included in Four Star’s stellar Fasig-Tipton consignment November 2.
Grade 1 winners Honey Ryder and Panty Raid head the parade of high class mares which also includes graded performers Final Fling and Graeme Six.
Oct 9, 2008
WORDS OF WISDOM
At the racetrack, believe nothing that you hear and half of what you see if you want to succeed. That goes double for business big shots and blowhards who think the game looks easy.
Oct 2, 2008
MORE MAMA MIAS
You might want to know about some other great broodmare purchases. Dams of recent stakes winners like City Style (headed to the Breeders Cup), Shilla, Ronaldino, Schooner Bay, Cherry Mix (Gr. 1) 2nd in the Arc,) Black Jack Road, Chathain (Gr. 2), Archer’s Gal,
All were bought for prices between $l2,000 and $85,000.
Less recent scores include dams of Sharp Cat, Royal Anthem, (Champion) Chillukki, Comeonmom, Sunny Blossom, Highfalutin, Ryson, Riviera Colleen, Muhib, Catahoula Parish, Native Regent, Western Trader, Slyly Gifted, Zippersup, Remember The Roar, Gold For My Gal, Sophisticated Sam, Austin’s Mom, Mountain Fling, Bright Sunny Day, Sunny Forecast, Sandia Slew, Angelica Slew, Chantilly Princess,
All were bought for prices from $7,000 to $200,000. There’s lots more. You get the picture.
All were bought for prices between $l2,000 and $85,000.
Less recent scores include dams of Sharp Cat, Royal Anthem, (Champion) Chillukki, Comeonmom, Sunny Blossom, Highfalutin, Ryson, Riviera Colleen, Muhib, Catahoula Parish, Native Regent, Western Trader, Slyly Gifted, Zippersup, Remember The Roar, Gold For My Gal, Sophisticated Sam, Austin’s Mom, Mountain Fling, Bright Sunny Day, Sunny Forecast, Sandia Slew, Angelica Slew, Chantilly Princess,
All were bought for prices from $7,000 to $200,000. There’s lots more. You get the picture.
THINK ABOUT IT
John Franks was the only man to win four Eclipse Awards as leading owner. Dan Kenny
was his primary adviser during that entire period. Their collaboration was the stuff of legend. What we did for him we can do for you. It is not our usual temper to boast so much but it’s a crowded, noisy universe out there. While shameless commerce prevails where sportsmanship once reigned we march on in search of plausible investment in bloodstock. At the minimum, we can save you from the clutches of various nincompoops, petty gangsters, and people with tape measures in their pocket.
was his primary adviser during that entire period. Their collaboration was the stuff of legend. What we did for him we can do for you. It is not our usual temper to boast so much but it’s a crowded, noisy universe out there. While shameless commerce prevails where sportsmanship once reigned we march on in search of plausible investment in bloodstock. At the minimum, we can save you from the clutches of various nincompoops, petty gangsters, and people with tape measures in their pocket.
Sep 29, 2008
MAMA MIA!
No sooner did I shut my mouth from bragging about Hyperbaric than he up and wins the Grade II Oak Tree Mile in 1:33.3. His earnings now surpass $400,000. You’ll recall that we bought the mare for a mere $19,000.
Another horse living it up is Arden Belle who won a Woodbine stakes recently, moving her earnings over $500,000. We bought her dam, Bow Bell’s Reef, as a March OBS juvenile. She demonstrated ability but lacked soundness. It’s athletic ability that we are looking for and she had already shown it. Bow Bell’s Reef was by Virginia Rapids and her SW daughter was by Dance Brightly. An unexpected place to find a half-million dollar earner.
Shopton Lane just won the Formal Gold S. at Monmouth to move her earnings to nearly $300,000. We bought her dam for Eugene Melnyk ( same for Bow Bell’s Reef) with similar results. She showed some ability on the track and came up with a good one in Shopton Lane. Incidentally, Shopton Lane was recently bought privately and flew the colors of Malih Al Basti for his Jersey score. Mr. Al Basti is our genial host and benefactor during recent visits to Dubai for the World Cup.
McKilts is a mare whose son PV Lightening was in the news for victory in a $100,000 stakes at Delaware. We actually bought and sold the mare twice. The first came at Keeneland November some years back when I landed her for $40,000 on behalf of Canadian client Norman McAllister. He sat inside to watch the bidding and gave me carte blanche to assemble a broodmare band. McKilts was our first purchase and I had no sooner signed the ticket than a fellow offered a $10,000 profit. I searched out Norman and told him of the offer.
While he declined, the incident helped cement the necessary trust in the agent/owner relationship.
“I didn’t know about the offer and I realize that you could have put a fast $10,000 into your pocket, and no one is the wiser,” he said. “I really appreciate what you did.”
Norman had the perfect temperament for the game and we did very well in our time together. He cut his involvement way back for business and personal reasons. I fervently hope he will be back one day.
McKilts, meanwhile, was sold to a Maryland breeder of my acquaintance after a couple of foals in the McAllister camp. I suggested Sultry Song for the mating which produced PV Lightening ($154,364).
We do this sort of thing all the time. November Sales are around the corner. It might be a good idea for you to take advantage of our four decades experience finding the right mare for the right price.
Another horse living it up is Arden Belle who won a Woodbine stakes recently, moving her earnings over $500,000. We bought her dam, Bow Bell’s Reef, as a March OBS juvenile. She demonstrated ability but lacked soundness. It’s athletic ability that we are looking for and she had already shown it. Bow Bell’s Reef was by Virginia Rapids and her SW daughter was by Dance Brightly. An unexpected place to find a half-million dollar earner.
Shopton Lane just won the Formal Gold S. at Monmouth to move her earnings to nearly $300,000. We bought her dam for Eugene Melnyk ( same for Bow Bell’s Reef) with similar results. She showed some ability on the track and came up with a good one in Shopton Lane. Incidentally, Shopton Lane was recently bought privately and flew the colors of Malih Al Basti for his Jersey score. Mr. Al Basti is our genial host and benefactor during recent visits to Dubai for the World Cup.
McKilts is a mare whose son PV Lightening was in the news for victory in a $100,000 stakes at Delaware. We actually bought and sold the mare twice. The first came at Keeneland November some years back when I landed her for $40,000 on behalf of Canadian client Norman McAllister. He sat inside to watch the bidding and gave me carte blanche to assemble a broodmare band. McKilts was our first purchase and I had no sooner signed the ticket than a fellow offered a $10,000 profit. I searched out Norman and told him of the offer.
While he declined, the incident helped cement the necessary trust in the agent/owner relationship.
“I didn’t know about the offer and I realize that you could have put a fast $10,000 into your pocket, and no one is the wiser,” he said. “I really appreciate what you did.”
Norman had the perfect temperament for the game and we did very well in our time together. He cut his involvement way back for business and personal reasons. I fervently hope he will be back one day.
McKilts, meanwhile, was sold to a Maryland breeder of my acquaintance after a couple of foals in the McAllister camp. I suggested Sultry Song for the mating which produced PV Lightening ($154,364).
We do this sort of thing all the time. November Sales are around the corner. It might be a good idea for you to take advantage of our four decades experience finding the right mare for the right price.
Sep 27, 2008
MORE STUDLY DO-RIGHTS
While we were slugging it out at the Keeneland Sale a number of our previous success stories were on display.
Hyperbaric became a stakes winner –having already placed in a Grade I-during the Del Mar meeting. We bought her dam for a measly $l9,000 while in foal to the solid sire Diesis. Owner Jack Chamblin took my suggestion and bred the mare back to Sky Classic, one of the best values in town, especially for a racing stable. “Hyperbaric is the best horse I have ever bred”, said the former University of Illinois footballer.
Again, common sense, a good memory and connections made up the winning formula.
Teasing Charm was a solid stakes-winner from the John Franks Farm family of Grade I winner Heatherten. The latter was in fact Franks’ first Grade I winner and she liked it enough to win four of them.
Heatherten’s half-brother Bull In The Heather (Ferdinand) also won the Grade I Florida Derby. With folks like that it took little courage to pony up a few grand to acquire a Halo stakes-winner who was herself out of a half-sister to Heatherten and Bull In The Heather.
Another astute acquisition on Franks’ behalf was Barkerville Belle, third dam of Garden City Stakes (Grade I) heroine Backseat Rhythm. Barkerville Belle was bought off the backstretch of Hastings Park (nee Exhibition Park) in Vancouver. She was by Ruthie’s Native, hardly a household word, but Franks gave us the green light to buy her and it was a fortuitous move. Barkerville Belle-named for a gold rush town in the Canadian hinterland-won numerous stakes for Franks and she also produced four stakes-winners.
We were engaged by Stonerside Stable a few years ago to purchase some hard-hitting stakes mares for eventual matings with Congaree. Brattothecore fit the description to a T, earning $322,000 on the Ontario circuit. Her first foal, City Style, recently won the Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs over 1 1/16 miles of turf and is reportedly pointed to the Breeders’ Cup.
Brattothecore is by Katahaula County and therein lies a story. The phone rang one day some years ago from the late trainer Dave McLean in Toronto. Dave had trained Katahaula County for Bruce Duchossois and the horse was going to be tried as a jumper after a Grade III career on the track. But the horse could be bought right then for $20,000. He was due to leave Keeneland on a van within the hour. Ten minutes later I was handing Dave a check. I rang up my good friend Dr. Bryan Anderson and sold him the horse. I wasn’t smart enough to keep any equity in the horse, save some breeding rights, but was truly happy to see them reap the rewards of owning a top regional sire..
Katahaula County was an instant success. He benefited greatly from the deep pool of Vice Regent blood throughout Canada and the Bold Ruckus/Nearctic nick has prospered for nearly two decades. Daughters of Katahaula County are carrying the banner, too.
Golden Ratio, out of a Katahaula County mare, won a Canadian stakes over the weekend.
A stallion named Katowice is another piece of our handiwork. You see his name from time to time as the sire of some pretty decent horses. We got involved when Canadian breeders Rick and Lois Clough asked me to check out a son of Danzig as a stallion prospect for British Columbia. Owner Arthur Appleton was seeking a lease for the colt who was bred in the purple. His agent was also bred in purple…Californian Albert Yank who was notorious for his colorful garb which nearly always included a hue that reminded me of Welch’s grape jelly.
The horse was an unraced 4-year-old but Yank laid a good enough story on me that I agreed to go to Kentucky to evaluate the situation. It was a cold, snowy November afternoon when I first saw Katowice leave the barn at Summerhill Farm on Old Frankfort Pike near Lexington. It was love at first sight.
So I called trainer Bill Badgett who had the horse for Appleton. “He was cut out to be a real runner, the best 2-year-old I had that year. He worked in :59 at Saratoga but he had knee spurs that kept him sore all the time. We gave him time and he came back to work in 1:12. We got excited again but finally had to give up. But there’s no doubt he had ability, “ he said.
Physically he was gorgeous except for a toed in left foot, a common Danzig trait. Pedigree could not be better…out of a half-sister to Mr. Prospector. We took out a four year lease with some options and sent him off to Vancouver. Katowice sired a top horse in his first crop, Kid Katabatic. A product of a mating with a $2500 mare, Kid Katabatic won the Longacres Mile in track record time.We knew we were on to something then.
Things went smoothly until the lease was up for renewal. There had been three management changes in three years at that time and Katowice got caught in some legal skirmishing. A judge ruled that he be allowed to go to Florida.
Katowice cooled off after all that turmoil and he was returned to the Pacific Northwest, this time in Seattle.
It was no picnic selling four-year breedings rights when Katowice came to BC. Friends were skeptical. “Didn’t you preach never to breed to an unraced stud,” he said.
“Guilty as charged,” I answered. “But it’s like the final scene in the great poker movie, The Cincinnati Kid. Edward G. Robinson takes the pot and busts out Steve McQueen.
The Kid cannot believe how Robinson drew against the odds and beat him.”
“Sometimes,” said Robinson,” You have to be right for the wrong reason.”
Hyperbaric became a stakes winner –having already placed in a Grade I-during the Del Mar meeting. We bought her dam for a measly $l9,000 while in foal to the solid sire Diesis. Owner Jack Chamblin took my suggestion and bred the mare back to Sky Classic, one of the best values in town, especially for a racing stable. “Hyperbaric is the best horse I have ever bred”, said the former University of Illinois footballer.
Again, common sense, a good memory and connections made up the winning formula.
Teasing Charm was a solid stakes-winner from the John Franks Farm family of Grade I winner Heatherten. The latter was in fact Franks’ first Grade I winner and she liked it enough to win four of them.
Heatherten’s half-brother Bull In The Heather (Ferdinand) also won the Grade I Florida Derby. With folks like that it took little courage to pony up a few grand to acquire a Halo stakes-winner who was herself out of a half-sister to Heatherten and Bull In The Heather.
Another astute acquisition on Franks’ behalf was Barkerville Belle, third dam of Garden City Stakes (Grade I) heroine Backseat Rhythm. Barkerville Belle was bought off the backstretch of Hastings Park (nee Exhibition Park) in Vancouver. She was by Ruthie’s Native, hardly a household word, but Franks gave us the green light to buy her and it was a fortuitous move. Barkerville Belle-named for a gold rush town in the Canadian hinterland-won numerous stakes for Franks and she also produced four stakes-winners.
We were engaged by Stonerside Stable a few years ago to purchase some hard-hitting stakes mares for eventual matings with Congaree. Brattothecore fit the description to a T, earning $322,000 on the Ontario circuit. Her first foal, City Style, recently won the Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs over 1 1/16 miles of turf and is reportedly pointed to the Breeders’ Cup.
Brattothecore is by Katahaula County and therein lies a story. The phone rang one day some years ago from the late trainer Dave McLean in Toronto. Dave had trained Katahaula County for Bruce Duchossois and the horse was going to be tried as a jumper after a Grade III career on the track. But the horse could be bought right then for $20,000. He was due to leave Keeneland on a van within the hour. Ten minutes later I was handing Dave a check. I rang up my good friend Dr. Bryan Anderson and sold him the horse. I wasn’t smart enough to keep any equity in the horse, save some breeding rights, but was truly happy to see them reap the rewards of owning a top regional sire..
Katahaula County was an instant success. He benefited greatly from the deep pool of Vice Regent blood throughout Canada and the Bold Ruckus/Nearctic nick has prospered for nearly two decades. Daughters of Katahaula County are carrying the banner, too.
Golden Ratio, out of a Katahaula County mare, won a Canadian stakes over the weekend.
A stallion named Katowice is another piece of our handiwork. You see his name from time to time as the sire of some pretty decent horses. We got involved when Canadian breeders Rick and Lois Clough asked me to check out a son of Danzig as a stallion prospect for British Columbia. Owner Arthur Appleton was seeking a lease for the colt who was bred in the purple. His agent was also bred in purple…Californian Albert Yank who was notorious for his colorful garb which nearly always included a hue that reminded me of Welch’s grape jelly.
The horse was an unraced 4-year-old but Yank laid a good enough story on me that I agreed to go to Kentucky to evaluate the situation. It was a cold, snowy November afternoon when I first saw Katowice leave the barn at Summerhill Farm on Old Frankfort Pike near Lexington. It was love at first sight.
So I called trainer Bill Badgett who had the horse for Appleton. “He was cut out to be a real runner, the best 2-year-old I had that year. He worked in :59 at Saratoga but he had knee spurs that kept him sore all the time. We gave him time and he came back to work in 1:12. We got excited again but finally had to give up. But there’s no doubt he had ability, “ he said.
Physically he was gorgeous except for a toed in left foot, a common Danzig trait. Pedigree could not be better…out of a half-sister to Mr. Prospector. We took out a four year lease with some options and sent him off to Vancouver. Katowice sired a top horse in his first crop, Kid Katabatic. A product of a mating with a $2500 mare, Kid Katabatic won the Longacres Mile in track record time.We knew we were on to something then.
Things went smoothly until the lease was up for renewal. There had been three management changes in three years at that time and Katowice got caught in some legal skirmishing. A judge ruled that he be allowed to go to Florida.
Katowice cooled off after all that turmoil and he was returned to the Pacific Northwest, this time in Seattle.
It was no picnic selling four-year breedings rights when Katowice came to BC. Friends were skeptical. “Didn’t you preach never to breed to an unraced stud,” he said.
“Guilty as charged,” I answered. “But it’s like the final scene in the great poker movie, The Cincinnati Kid. Edward G. Robinson takes the pot and busts out Steve McQueen.
The Kid cannot believe how Robinson drew against the odds and beat him.”
“Sometimes,” said Robinson,” You have to be right for the wrong reason.”
Sep 13, 2008
IMITATION IS THE BEST FORM OF FLATTERY
There are few reliable shortcuts when it comes to buying yearlings. It is usually slogging through the trenches that gets the job done. But I did get lucky one day at a Florida sale by paying attention to my competition.
I had a bead on a big, strapping colt at OBS by Diablo and was confident I could get him for a client at a right price as the sire was not of fashion. It was my intention to pay about $30,000, perhaps a little more.
Well past $30,000 I noticed that bids were coming from Clyde Rice who was sitting a few rows ahead of me. To my mind Clyde was the foremost judge of a yearling anywhere. But I also knew that he did not have a habit of paying much for his stock.
That fact kept running through my mind as the bidding duel came down to just us two. When the bidding passed $40,000 I figured I had him but he proceeded to bid on. “Clyde must really like this horse,” I said to myself. “Better keep going”.
At $50,000 I was well past the price I was authorized to pay. But I bid again, as did Clyde at $55,000. With a feeble nod I was in at $57,000 and, lo and behold, Clyde threw in the towel.
Copying Clyde’s homework paid off as the colt went off to California and won some $400,000 for Canadian Peter Redekop. Along the way he ran six furlongs in 1.07.4 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
Incidentally, we have purchased at least three others who could shade 1.08 in good company. Sunny Blossom still holds the standard of 1.07.1 at Santa Anita while Tricky Trevor and Van Patten were other stout sprinters.
Speed is not always obvious in a young prospect. We once bought a Cozzene filly at a 2-year-old sale that won first out at 3 ½ furlongs and later won stakes at Del Mar beyond a mile. We found a Sultry Song who won first out at five furlongs in :57.2 and later won stakes going long.
It takes more than a big butt and looking for straight knees to uncover these pearls at modest prices. What’s my secret? That’s for me to know and for you to find out. Sign me up and I’ll go find you one.
I had a bead on a big, strapping colt at OBS by Diablo and was confident I could get him for a client at a right price as the sire was not of fashion. It was my intention to pay about $30,000, perhaps a little more.
Well past $30,000 I noticed that bids were coming from Clyde Rice who was sitting a few rows ahead of me. To my mind Clyde was the foremost judge of a yearling anywhere. But I also knew that he did not have a habit of paying much for his stock.
That fact kept running through my mind as the bidding duel came down to just us two. When the bidding passed $40,000 I figured I had him but he proceeded to bid on. “Clyde must really like this horse,” I said to myself. “Better keep going”.
At $50,000 I was well past the price I was authorized to pay. But I bid again, as did Clyde at $55,000. With a feeble nod I was in at $57,000 and, lo and behold, Clyde threw in the towel.
Copying Clyde’s homework paid off as the colt went off to California and won some $400,000 for Canadian Peter Redekop. Along the way he ran six furlongs in 1.07.4 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
Incidentally, we have purchased at least three others who could shade 1.08 in good company. Sunny Blossom still holds the standard of 1.07.1 at Santa Anita while Tricky Trevor and Van Patten were other stout sprinters.
Speed is not always obvious in a young prospect. We once bought a Cozzene filly at a 2-year-old sale that won first out at 3 ½ furlongs and later won stakes at Del Mar beyond a mile. We found a Sultry Song who won first out at five furlongs in :57.2 and later won stakes going long.
It takes more than a big butt and looking for straight knees to uncover these pearls at modest prices. What’s my secret? That’s for me to know and for you to find out. Sign me up and I’ll go find you one.
Sep 9, 2008
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR...
Four Star Sales sold a $l.2 million colt by Giant’s Causeway-Debit Account, by Mr. Prospector at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale on Tuesday. The smoothly built youngster was sold to Padua Stable on behalf of WinStar Farm. The seven-figure sale was a highlight of a successful opening to the sale.
Four Star Sales will have on offer another l50 yearling over the next fortnight. We invite your inspection of our horses at each of the remaining sessions through September 22.
There’s a horse for every budget at Four Star Sales. We are advancing up the leader board every year since our maiden voyage in 2002.
Our thanks to WinStar Farm for the opportunity to market a colt of such quality. It is no exaggeration to imagine him running for the Derby in the days ahead.
Padua Stable boss Satish Sanan discerned the inherent quality of the Giant’s Causeway colt and backed him to the hilt, fending off Coolmore honcho John Magnier in a spirited duel. We wish Padua the greatest success with their new acquisition.
Four Star Sales will have on offer another l50 yearling over the next fortnight. We invite your inspection of our horses at each of the remaining sessions through September 22.
There’s a horse for every budget at Four Star Sales. We are advancing up the leader board every year since our maiden voyage in 2002.
Our thanks to WinStar Farm for the opportunity to market a colt of such quality. It is no exaggeration to imagine him running for the Derby in the days ahead.
Padua Stable boss Satish Sanan discerned the inherent quality of the Giant’s Causeway colt and backed him to the hilt, fending off Coolmore honcho John Magnier in a spirited duel. We wish Padua the greatest success with their new acquisition.
Sep 4, 2008
MY MOTHER AND GENUINE RISK
My mother and father were invited to attend the l980 Kentucky Derby as guests of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Oak who owned the favorite, Rockhill Native. My father and Harry Oak were golf and martini buddies living in retirement in Pompano Beach, Florida.
The smallish gelding that was Rockhill Native went favorite off a win in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the fact that his trainer was the ultimate hardboot Herb Stevens.
Local rider Johnny Oldham got what he could out of his mount but he was history by the time Rockhill Native reached the quarter pole. A pall of disappointment fell over the box.
But not for long as my mother began to root demonstrably for the filly Genuine Risk.She chortled all the way to the cash window with a fistful of tickets to win on Genuine Risk at a stout l3-to-1. She was unabashed by the fact that no one else seemed to share her enthusiasm at the result.
My mother raised seven children and demonstrated her talent in countless ways to bring her brood to adulthood. She was smart, beautiful, hard-working, charitable, loving and full of life. But she just could not quite get the hang of pari-mutuel etiquette.
Five years after Genuine Risk I had a pretty decent 3-year-old named Fortinbras who had a longshot’s chance in the Hollywood Derby. My folks happened to be visiting me in California at the time and we all went down to Hollywood.
Frank Brothers trained the horse for my Santa Barbara Stable and partner John Franks.
Frank said the horse was doing well after a groom had mistakenly rubbed the horse with a caustic substance rather than his regular linament. He thought we had a chance off our best stuff.
No one else thought so. The board read 99-to-1.
Mom slipped away to get her bets down. When she returned I asked her how she had bet my horse. “I didn’t bet your horse because I don’t think he’s going to win,” she said.
My nerves were already a bit frayed from the pressure of the situation and I blurted out that she could not sit in my box and root for another horse. She was banished.
Dad arched an empathetic eyebrow but said nothing. Fortinbras ran a heck of a race and came home fifth, beaten only a couple of lengths.
Her horse didn’t win either.
The smallish gelding that was Rockhill Native went favorite off a win in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the fact that his trainer was the ultimate hardboot Herb Stevens.
Local rider Johnny Oldham got what he could out of his mount but he was history by the time Rockhill Native reached the quarter pole. A pall of disappointment fell over the box.
But not for long as my mother began to root demonstrably for the filly Genuine Risk.She chortled all the way to the cash window with a fistful of tickets to win on Genuine Risk at a stout l3-to-1. She was unabashed by the fact that no one else seemed to share her enthusiasm at the result.
My mother raised seven children and demonstrated her talent in countless ways to bring her brood to adulthood. She was smart, beautiful, hard-working, charitable, loving and full of life. But she just could not quite get the hang of pari-mutuel etiquette.
Five years after Genuine Risk I had a pretty decent 3-year-old named Fortinbras who had a longshot’s chance in the Hollywood Derby. My folks happened to be visiting me in California at the time and we all went down to Hollywood.
Frank Brothers trained the horse for my Santa Barbara Stable and partner John Franks.
Frank said the horse was doing well after a groom had mistakenly rubbed the horse with a caustic substance rather than his regular linament. He thought we had a chance off our best stuff.
No one else thought so. The board read 99-to-1.
Mom slipped away to get her bets down. When she returned I asked her how she had bet my horse. “I didn’t bet your horse because I don’t think he’s going to win,” she said.
My nerves were already a bit frayed from the pressure of the situation and I blurted out that she could not sit in my box and root for another horse. She was banished.
Dad arched an empathetic eyebrow but said nothing. Fortinbras ran a heck of a race and came home fifth, beaten only a couple of lengths.
Her horse didn’t win either.
Aug 27, 2008
IN MEMORIAM
David Mullins
(by Sean Clancy, Saratoga Special, August 20, 2008)
I ran into David Mullins at the Cheltenham Festival, 2002. He gave me a burly handshake and we hustled to the parade to see a Mullins horse run in the hurdle finale. I kept thinking, “Does he have me mixed up with somebody else?” He talked to me like he knew me his whole life. I couldn’t place him or our friendship or when we met or why he was introducing me to his family like I was a brother. We ordered pints of Guinness in the Turf Club, then downed them in one quick elbow bender as he grabbed me by the arm again and said, “Let’s go soak it all up. We won’t be back for a while.” We bolted to the Great Lawn to see the winner come home in the fading light, and feel the buzz of Cheltenham one last time before we went home. I think the Mullins’ horse finished second. I’m still not sure which Mullins it was; cousin, uncle, grandfather or brother. There are a lot of Mullinses out there. All from County Kilkenny, Ireland. Sadly, there’s one less today. David Mullins died Monday.
Mullins, 5l, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April. In four short months, our friend, the horseman, the man who rallied for every cause, the dedicated father, the gregarious Irishman who never missed a laugh was gone. It turns out I didn’t know him that well before Cheltenham; he knew me from riding a few races at High Hope and writing a paper about a sport he loved. That was good enough for him-we were friends. That was David Mullins’ world-everyone included.
I called him around Derby week, when it was setting in (for both of us) that he had cancer. I had put off calling him, then stumbled in conversation. “Look, Sean, I’d have hated to have gotten hit by a truck and never felt all this love and support. All my friends, my family, the community have shown me what life’s about. They’re having a 24-hour church service, all my friends are going to church…can you imagine, my friends in church? It’s OK. If a positive attitude means anything, I’m going to beat it.” That was Mullins, still positive while the odds stacked against him.
He almost cancelled his annual Belmont Party, but his friends helped and made sure it happened. Over a hundred friends and family joined him at his house in Lexington, KY. He had a big time. He described it in an e-mail sent to all his friends in late June: A number of friends, knowing how important the tradition of the Mullins Belmont Party was to our family, took it upon themselves to organize the greatest party ever. Most important, they even tidied up.
In and out of hospitals, Mullins studied the Racing Form, looking for mares to claim and sell at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton’s fall and winter sales. He knew horses. And the value of horses. His Doninga Farm topped the 2001 Keeneland November breeding stock sale in average, when selling Saoirse for $2.2 million. Doninga consigned Platinum Heights, the highest-priced yearling filly in North America in 2002.
He was sharp; I had sent him e-mails since that Cheltenham trip, “David, what do you think this mare is worth?” I sent him one about a Thunder Gulch filly, out of the Fourstardave family. I was wound up and said we need to get some money in an account and claim her. He wrote back, “You’re right, the breeding is excellent, but unless you know something I don’t known, she’s a he and I don’t think even us can fix that.” I got an e-mail this morning about a mare for sale. Based in Europe, she’s related to Cool Coal Man, they asked me what I thought she was worth. I hit forward on my e-mail screen and typed futures@insightbb.com, then stopped, remembering the phone message from my friend Davant Latham. He said he was glad he reached my voice mail because he probably couldn’t talk, told me. David had died and he told how much David talked about the trip he made to Saratoga a couple of summers ago.
Mullins and his runningmate Gerry O’Meara needed a place to crash at Saratoga so they flopped down on two couches at my carriage house across the street from the Reading Room. They brought their own pillows and blankets. I didn’t see them much, I was writing papers and they were living large in Saratoga. Every time I came home, they offered me a drink and begged me to stay awhile.
“We’re in good shape,” Mullins said the day after a Siro’s night, “for the shape we’re in.” Again that was mullins. Hung over, but never hung up. He even tidied up.
(by Sean Clancy, Saratoga Special, August 20, 2008)
I ran into David Mullins at the Cheltenham Festival, 2002. He gave me a burly handshake and we hustled to the parade to see a Mullins horse run in the hurdle finale. I kept thinking, “Does he have me mixed up with somebody else?” He talked to me like he knew me his whole life. I couldn’t place him or our friendship or when we met or why he was introducing me to his family like I was a brother. We ordered pints of Guinness in the Turf Club, then downed them in one quick elbow bender as he grabbed me by the arm again and said, “Let’s go soak it all up. We won’t be back for a while.” We bolted to the Great Lawn to see the winner come home in the fading light, and feel the buzz of Cheltenham one last time before we went home. I think the Mullins’ horse finished second. I’m still not sure which Mullins it was; cousin, uncle, grandfather or brother. There are a lot of Mullinses out there. All from County Kilkenny, Ireland. Sadly, there’s one less today. David Mullins died Monday.
Mullins, 5l, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April. In four short months, our friend, the horseman, the man who rallied for every cause, the dedicated father, the gregarious Irishman who never missed a laugh was gone. It turns out I didn’t know him that well before Cheltenham; he knew me from riding a few races at High Hope and writing a paper about a sport he loved. That was good enough for him-we were friends. That was David Mullins’ world-everyone included.
I called him around Derby week, when it was setting in (for both of us) that he had cancer. I had put off calling him, then stumbled in conversation. “Look, Sean, I’d have hated to have gotten hit by a truck and never felt all this love and support. All my friends, my family, the community have shown me what life’s about. They’re having a 24-hour church service, all my friends are going to church…can you imagine, my friends in church? It’s OK. If a positive attitude means anything, I’m going to beat it.” That was Mullins, still positive while the odds stacked against him.
He almost cancelled his annual Belmont Party, but his friends helped and made sure it happened. Over a hundred friends and family joined him at his house in Lexington, KY. He had a big time. He described it in an e-mail sent to all his friends in late June: A number of friends, knowing how important the tradition of the Mullins Belmont Party was to our family, took it upon themselves to organize the greatest party ever. Most important, they even tidied up.
In and out of hospitals, Mullins studied the Racing Form, looking for mares to claim and sell at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton’s fall and winter sales. He knew horses. And the value of horses. His Doninga Farm topped the 2001 Keeneland November breeding stock sale in average, when selling Saoirse for $2.2 million. Doninga consigned Platinum Heights, the highest-priced yearling filly in North America in 2002.
He was sharp; I had sent him e-mails since that Cheltenham trip, “David, what do you think this mare is worth?” I sent him one about a Thunder Gulch filly, out of the Fourstardave family. I was wound up and said we need to get some money in an account and claim her. He wrote back, “You’re right, the breeding is excellent, but unless you know something I don’t known, she’s a he and I don’t think even us can fix that.” I got an e-mail this morning about a mare for sale. Based in Europe, she’s related to Cool Coal Man, they asked me what I thought she was worth. I hit forward on my e-mail screen and typed futures@insightbb.com, then stopped, remembering the phone message from my friend Davant Latham. He said he was glad he reached my voice mail because he probably couldn’t talk, told me. David had died and he told how much David talked about the trip he made to Saratoga a couple of summers ago.
Mullins and his runningmate Gerry O’Meara needed a place to crash at Saratoga so they flopped down on two couches at my carriage house across the street from the Reading Room. They brought their own pillows and blankets. I didn’t see them much, I was writing papers and they were living large in Saratoga. Every time I came home, they offered me a drink and begged me to stay awhile.
“We’re in good shape,” Mullins said the day after a Siro’s night, “for the shape we’re in.” Again that was mullins. Hung over, but never hung up. He even tidied up.
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