Preakness Stakes: Oxbow wins for breeder Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables

Oxbow’s upset victory in the Preakness Stakes was a triumph for a trio of established names in the racing industry—trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Gary Stevens, and owner Calumet Farm—but it was also the first classic win for a fairly new entity, Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables.

Santulli, 68, entered the racing business in the early 1980s as a partner in the New York-based Jayeff B Stable with George Prussin, David Orlinsky and the late Jules Fink. The group, of which he is still the managing partner, was successful on the national stage, campaigning champion sprinter Safely Kept and multiple Grade 1 winners Banshee Breeze, Johar, and Wonder Again.

Jayeff B Stable’s breeding operation was highlighted by champion Johannesburg (co-bred with Wayne Lyster) Grade 1 winner Ciro, Dubai standout Mendip, and Meydan City, a $11.7-million horse purchased by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum at the 2006 Keeneland September yearling sale, who was a winner in England.

While Santulli has been in the business for several decades, in recent years he began transitioning Jayeff B Stables into Colts Neck Stable, located in Colts Neck, N.J., which Santulli owns by himself.

Santulli boards his Kentucky broodmare band at several farms across the state, including Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington. Among the most successful runners under the Colts Neck banner include Grade 2 winners Fed Biz and Casino Host.

Oxbow’s win was the second showcase victory during the Preakness weekend in as many years for the Colts Neck breeding operation, following In Lingerie’s win in last year’s Grade 2 Black Eyed Susan. Later that year, she became a Grade 1 winner.

Oxbow, by Adena stallion Awesome Again, was sold in Book 2 of the 2011 Keeneland September sale, consigned as agent by Burleson Farms. The Awesome Again colt, out of the unraced Cee’s Tizzy mare Tizamazing, was secured by Eddie Kane as agent for owner Brad Kelley’s Bluegrass Hall, now racing as Calumet Farm, for $250,000.

Santulli, a resident of Jupiter, Fla., and Middletown, N.J., is a former chairman of fractional jet ownership company NetJets, and is the current CEO of the aircraft financing company Milestone Aviation Group. He is a steward of The Jockey Club and a member the Breeders’ Cup board of directors.