After posting on X that he had purchased 2-year-old Bellacose, John Stewart of Resolute Racing confirmed Aug. 17 that he had purchased a 75% share of the Audible filly for an undisclosed price. “I had posted on (X) that I’d pay a commission if people find a horse they thought I should buy and hooked me up with the owners,”…
Ask Karen Mort about her life with horses, and she might demur, saying that she’s not really involved in the equine industry. Don’t let her get away with that, though: for decades, her life has been enriched by horses, and it takes only a few sentences for her to reveal her deep love for the…
From the windows of his childhood home in Ocala, FL, Carlos Manresa could see J.J. Pletcher’s training facility, and in the mornings, he would look out the back windows to see young Thoroughbreds training. “It’s a very vivid memory that I shared with my dad, which is really special,” said Manresa, sitting outside the Sequel…
Kristen and Matthew Esler may be relative newcomers to New York’s breeding industry, but the experience that they bring to their farm is rooted in decades of some of the state’s most successful breeders. Their Saratoga Springs property is the site of the old Stepwise Farm, owned for decades by Bill Wilmot and Joan Taylor,…
Trainer Jeremiah Englehart started this summer’s Saratoga meet about as well as one could expect: he won with a two-year-old, with his first starter of the meet, in a graded stakes, and in one of Saratoga’s most historic races, the Sanford Stakes, which has been won by horses like More Than Ready, City Zip, Afleet…
Every August, the best yearlings bred in New York State are offered at the Fasig-Tipton sale on East Avenue in Saratoga. In 2019, the average price for a yearling at the sale was $87,000, with the sale topper going for $775,000. In 2021, the top seller brought $495,000, the average rising to $91,000. At Saratoga…
Always a celebratory event, this year’s New York Thoroughbred Breeders awards ceremony was bittersweet, as the evening’s big winner was Maple Leaf Mel. Steps from winning the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course last August, the daughter of Cross Traffic suffered a catastrophic broken leg and was euthanized on the track. Despite her…
When Robert Evans purchased Raucous for $300,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale, he had his eye on the future. Though he intended to race her, he also knew that upon retirement, she’d join his broodmare band, and she had what he was looking for. “She’s by Speightstown,” he said. “I wanted to get…
Maggie Wolfendale Morley and Toby Sheets’ friendship did not get off to an auspicious beginning. Morley (then Wolfendale) had recently begun working as the New York Racing Association’s paddock analyst, and Sheets was Steve Asmussen’s assistant. One night, she joined trainers Abigail Adsit and David Cannizzo for dinner. Sheets was seated across from her. “He…
“Bustin Stones in my opinion is the most underrated stallion in the country hands-down.” That was Jon Taisey’s response when asked to comment on the horses that Hibiscus Stables had bred by the stallion standing at Waldorf Farm. The executive vice president of sales and client relations for Hibiscus, Taisey and his partners Mike Oliveto…
Brooklyn Backstretch 