We’ve all heard the old joke: How do you make a million dollars in the horse business? Start with two million. This story is similar, but at a far more economical level. I write it not as a complaint, lament or warning. I write it to tell a story. The story of Maggie’s Way. I remembered Maggie’s Way (Dream Away-Stonebridge Memory-Camluck) from her days at Northfield Park where she had a reputation of being a hard-hitting, gutsy $8-$10,000 claimer. So, I was surprised when she showed up on the auction site Ongait.com, possibly the most dangerous website in the world for a horse owner since it opens up the door for instant buying at a whim. Maggie’s Way had one win in six starts in March 2024, but had been scratched lame at Freehold and was now being sold. On a lark, I bid $1,000, figuring someone would outbid me. And if by some wild stretch of the imagination I did get her, even if she couldn’t race, with a mark of 1:53 on a half and nearly $200,000 in earnings the 11-year-old would be a good broodmare candidate. I waited to be outbid. But I wasn’t. I called Jess and Cam McCown, who train at the Delaware County Fairgrounds and with whom I was partnered on a couple horses. They agreed to check her out and see what we had. The first order of business (after paying the USTA a $40 transfer fee) was getting her to Delaware, Ohio. Thanks to Facebook, a shipper was located and she was on her way; $600 to ship from New Jersey. My $1,000 mare was now a $1640 mare. And that was just the beginning. She arrived in Delaware and Cam said she jogged sound, but he wanted the vet to go over her and she needed to be reshod ($175 and $150). After a month of training ($1,500), Maggie was ready to qualify. She paced in 2:02 and just didn’t seem to want to try. The next week she paced her opening half in 56 3/5 and then appeared to tire badly. Cam said he didn’t think she would do at Miami Valley, but her mile was good enough to get her qualified at Northfield. So off she went to Sahbra Farms ($100 ship) to the care of Luke Ebersole. Luke wanted to work with her for a week before entering her to race, and the fourth day he had her, I got the call you never want to hear. She was lame on her left front and would need time off. My $1,000 mare was now a $3,500 mare and she was lame. That Saturday, we drove out to Sahbra Farms to meet Maggie for the first time. I walked her for about 15 minutes, letting her graze and watch the other horses while my girlfriend Jenny took pictures. While outside on that misty morning, I realized that Maggie owed nobody anything. Common sense says I should have sold her at that point. I would only be out $2,500 or so, depending on what she sold for. But she is not enrolled in the Full Circle program that connects people with a shared concern in a horse (which concerned me for her future) and that big old ankle could scare buyers off. So, illogically, I got into the breeding business, something I know nothing about. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter A $150 ship down to Spurwood Farm in Marysville (who came highly recommended by a couple of my partners) was next. The boarding bill would be $18.50 a day, between $550 and $575 monthly. But who to breed to? It was mid-April, so not too late in the season. As regular readers know, I am a big fan of the Minnesota program, so I contacted Dan Roland, another partner, to inquire about his stallion Karpathian Kid, who had decent success in the state from limited opportunity and whose stud fee at $1,500 was something I could afford. My $1,000 mare was now a $5,600 mare. Before breeding Maggie, we needed some vet work ($200) and then made arrangement for semen transport from Minnesota. I was a bit surprised to get a $575 FedEx bill for that service, but I will refrain from any potential jokes. Maggie did not get in-foal, so at this point I made the one decision about Maggie that I regret. I told the Spurwood folks to try again. That meant another $200 in vet work to prep her and another $565 in FedEx charges, and Maggie still did not catch. It’s not unusual for a maiden mare, especially one right off the race track, not to get in-foal. The Spurwood folks called and asked if I wanted to try again. My $1,000 mare was now an $8,000 mare and I said what Cleveland Indians fans have been saying since 1948: Wait ‘til next year. So 2024 becomes 2025 and my $1,000 mare is now a $12,500 mare after a season of boarding. I began studying stallions. This time I was going to breed to an Ohio sire, if for no reason than to save those nasty FedEx charges. And potential punchlines. I had three or four Ohio stallions who I liked and who fit my price range, and I was fortunate enough to cast the winning bid at the OHHA Stallion auction on Sunfire Blue Chip for about 80% of his stud fee. I was pretty happy, though my $1,000 mare is now a $14,500 mare. Oh wait -- a few more months of boarding and she is now a $17,000 mare. Sunfire Blue Chip had gotten generally poor mares in New Jersey and Ontario, but had still produced some nice racehorses with a good percentage of 2-year-old performers. He is a full brother to Heston Blue Chip and a half-brother to Carbine, who is also standing his in Ohio. Charles Taylor’s Standing Stallions brought him to Ohio, and, as he told me in an interview, the stallion did not get good mares and that Maggie was a good fit for him As I write this, we are coordinating details to breed Maggie. If she gets in-foal, I will have another year of boarding her ($7,200 due to a price increase), plus vet work, and then come March of 2026, 18 months of boarding the baby before it gets to a yearling sale ($10,000 in round numbers). Factor in yearling prep and my all-in price is $30,000. And I will still be boarding Maggie. My $1,000 mare will become a $37,000 mare, plus the costs of breeding her back in 2026. Let’s call it $40,000. It is unlikely a colt from this breeding would bring that much. But, if he brought $20,000, I would get a lot of money back and I would get it in a lump sum. And, if we can get a few more foals out of Maggie, we can amortize the expenses further. Or I could race the baby myself, win the Ohio Sires Stakes Championship and bank $300,000-$400,000 with him. Hey, a guy can dream! That’s it for this time. Now go cash. Hopefully on an offspring of Sunfire Blue Chip. And don’t spend it all at Ongait.