Maryland owner, breeder and track owner Robert Manfuso dies

Robert Manfuso, a mainstay of the Maryland racing and breeding industry who at one time held an ownership stake in the state’s tracks, died Thursday of natural causes. He was 82.

Manfuso grew up in the racing industry, as his father, John, helped found the Maryland Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. In 1986, Robert Manfuso and his brother Tom, in partnership with Frank J. De Francis and Martin Jacobs, purchased Laurel Park and Pimlico. The ownership group was credited with growing the Maryland industry during a key period, helping to boost attendance at the tracks by 50 percent and handle by 65 percent in a five-year period. The De Francis family eventually bought out the minority partners in the 1990s.

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At the time of his death, Manfuso, a longtime breeder who sold many of his horses in the Midlantic sales market, owned and operated Chanceland Farm in West Friendship, Md., with his partner, trainer Katy Voss. Both also served as members of the board of directors of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. The duo bred multiple Maryland Million winners in partnership, including 2019 Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old filly Las Setas, and her full brother Cordmaker, Maryland’s champion older male.

Alone or in partnership, Manfuso bred Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia; millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner Gotta Have Her; multiple graded stakes winner Wiseman’s Ferry, who went on to sire two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan; and graded stakes winners Admirallus, Court Folly, Royal Haven, and Wood So.

One of the most successful runners that Manfuso bred and then raced in his own colors was the Unbridled filly Belterra, who never missed the board in seven career starts. The filly won the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes in 2001 as a juvenile, and the following year, her multiple graded placings included a third in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes. Belterra's unraced daughter Sheave, by Mineshaft, produced Cathryn Sophia, who Charles Zacney's Cash Is King Stables purchased for $30,000 from the Chanceland consignment at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale. A Maryland-bred Street Boss filly, Cathryn Sophia went on to win 6 of 9 career starts, with five stakes wins highlighted by the Kentucky Oaks.

Manfuso also served as a vice president of Breeders' Cup; was a longtime member of the Thoroughbred Charities of America board of directors; and served as a director of Pinnacle Entertainment when it owned Hollywood Park in California.