LEXINGTON, Ky. - When The Tin Man, 9, won his eighth stakes in the May 28 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile, Ralph Todd had occasion to ponder his long association with the gelding and his family.
"Some guy Saturday was sitting next to me and goes, 'How long have you owned The Tin Man?' " Todd said. "I said, 'Since mama plopped him out on the hay.' "
This spring has brought an emotional roller-coaster ride for Maryland breeder Deborah Butts.
Butts, who has been in the breeding business since 1996, got her first stakes winner on May 26 when the 3-year-old gelding Heezafrequentflyer scored in the Jiva Coolit Stakes at Charles Town. Owned by Butts in partnership with her parents, Edward and Marilyn Bargetz, in the name of Bits N Blarney LLC, Heezafrequentflyer is out of the first horse Butts ever bred, Sheezawildkat.
Bustin Stones, the exciting unbeaten 3-year-old bred and owned by Roddy J. Valente, is scheduled to make his debut in open company in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes on Belmont Day.
The $250,000 event at seven furlongs honors the Hall of Fame trainer who saddled five consecutive winners of the Belmont Stakes from 1982 through 1986.
Bustin Stones has won his three races by 14 1/2 lengths, earning successive Beyer Speed Figures of 80, 90, and 99.
"He can do anything you want him to do. So, the mile and a half distance of the Belmont Stakes should not bother him."
The person speaking these words was Dominic Brennan, the head trainer and co-manager of Ocala's Another Episode Farm, the training center where Preakness Stakes winner Curlin learned what's expected of a racehorse.
Curlin arrived at Another Episode Farm as one of a herd of some 100 yearlings in autumn of 2005.
Maryland's sire power was on display at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's preferred 2-year-olds in training sale held this past Monday and Tuesday at Timonium, Md.
First-year sire Rock Slide generated a significant buzz, averaging $90,000 for four horses sold.
The timing could not have been better for Rock Slide (a son of A.P. Indy and full brother to Horse of the Year Mineshaft), as a few weeks earlier his daughter Happy Hailey had won her maiden impressively at Pimlico.
Dennis and Debby Brown quietly have created a small but successful breeding and racing operation at Rainbow Ridge Training Centre in Schomberg, Ontario, without the benefit of flashy pedigrees or a large horse population.
"We have no aspirations of being a Windfields Farm," said Dennis Brown. "We have a small 66-acre farm that caters to three or four clients and our own small group of mares."
The Browns took advantage of some luck that went their way when they first came into the business seven years ago.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - After his victory in the Preakness Stakes, Curlin filled the eye of race watchers and television viewers around the country as a grand specimen of the Thoroughbred racehorse. Not only is the son of Smart Strike a game and talented colt, but the blaze-faced chestnut is a big, very robust, and handsome animal who seems to improve with each race.
Preakness Day was a good one for leading New York sire Catienus.
His daughter Precious Kitten won the Grade 3 Gallorette Handicap on turf, while his son Talent Search finished second in the Grade 3 Maryland Breeders' Cup Sprint Handicap on the main track.
Catienus, a 13-year-old son of Storm Cat who stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, has progeny earnings of $1.5 million for 2007.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - When Richwood Manor owner Robert C. Durr died of cancer on May 21 in Cincinnati, he left behind a long history in Kentucky racing and breeding. Durr, who was 88, was a self-made millionaire through his road construction, land development, and banking businesses. However, he is best remembered by many in northern and central Kentucky as a longtime breeder, owner, and partner in such horses as Your Tent or Mine, the Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed runner he bred with George Budig.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The stallion Unusual Heat was the key to finding winners at Hollywood Park on Thursday.
Unusual Heat was the sire of three winners on the eight-race program - Spenditallbaby in an optional claimer over six furlongs on turf, Unusual Beauty in an allowance race over six furlongs, and Sararah Jr. in a maiden claimer over 5 1/2 furlongs.
Such milestones are rare in Thoroughbred racing and will be even more unusual for Unusual Heat in the future. The stallion is being limited to a book of 60 mares this year, a small number in the current marketplace.