Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Bill Parcells - August Dawn Farm (Maple Leaf Mel)

The juiciest thrill for a Thoroughbred owner is having an undefeated young horse. You don’t know, the trainer doesn’t know, and nobody on the planet knows when that undefeated horse will stop winning as he or she climbs up in competition.

NFL Hall of Fame former New York Giants Coach Bill Parcells, who races as August Dawn Farm, knows about thrills, having won the Giants’ first two of four Super Bowl victories.

Since becoming a Thoroughbred owner in 2011, he’s had 59 victories from 353 starts and more than $4.5 million in earnings.

But he’s never had a Grade 2 victory, let alone a Grade 1, and now his undefeated New York-bred filly Maple Leaf Mel is poised to add that Grade 1 score to her resume in the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga August 5th. 

Handy victories in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park made the New York-bred five-for-five. She’s won all five wire-to-wire.

Growing up in New Jersey, Parcells used to go to Monmouth Park with his father. Showing a tender side he might not have displayed on the Giants’ sidelines, Parcells named the filly for her young trainer, 39-year-old Melanie Giddings, who survived ovarian and endocervical cancer in 2020 and went on her own this spring after serving as an assistant for Jeremiah Englehart. Maple Leaf Mel’s 2 ½ length victory in the Victory Ride was the first with Giddings listed as her trainer.

Parcells bought her for $150,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. She is a daughter of Cross Traffic out of City Gift by City Place.

“When Bill said he was going to name her for me, I kind of thought he wasn’t serious,” Giddings said. “When it happened, it was an honor, when a guy like that names a horse for you. He loves Saratoga. He really does love the New York-bred program.”

He’ll love it even more if Maple Leaf Mel keeps winning open-company stakes. “She’s great,” Giddings said. “She’s a pleasure to be around. She does everything perfect. You can’t ask for any more. Work her fast; work her slow; work her behind horses. You wish you can find more like her.”

Giddings currently has eight horses in her barn. “When you don’t have connections, it’s a tough go,” she said. “You have to find ways to get horses.”

Parcells could use Maple Leaf Mel’s earnings to remedy that. With just under $400,000 in earnings, she is already Parcells’ fifth highest-earning horse behind Saratoga Snacks ($523,600), Play Action Pass ($480,935), Hit It Once More ($390,102) and Three Technique ($366,615). Saratoga Snacks won the 2013 Empire Classic for trainer Gary Sciacca. 

Another Parcells runner, Forty Under, won the 2018 Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes. “He’s a pleasure to train for,” Giddings said. “He likes to joke around. At the end of the day, he says, `Do whatever you like.’ He’s up at 5 a.m. every day. He goes to the gym. He goes to the barn every morning. He tells me right now I’m more popular than Taylor Swift. I said, if that’s the case, Belmont would have been packed.”

Belmont hasn’t been packed too many times. And Parcells was one of the no-shows for Maple Leaf Mel’s last glittering performance. “He’s a little superstitious,” Giddings said. “He hasn’t been there recently for her races. He was feeling a little nervous like the rest of us. He stayed here in Saratoga and watched her.”

She was sensational. “Her last race was her toughest field,” Giddings said. “It seems like she’s getting better. When Joel (Rosario) asked her, she responded. Then he wrapped up on her.”

After the race, Rosario said, “She’s very nice. She goes out there and just does her job. She was very relaxed and was never worried about someone challenging her because she was moving so well. She goes out there and shows her speed and says, `come and beat me.’”

Nobody has. And most young horses improve in their first few starts. “You hope so,” Giddings said. “You keep them happy. A happy horse runs well. I’ve done this so long for a lot of people, I feel like it’s second nature.”

Beating cancer saved and changed her life. “When you go through that kind of sickness, you may not wake up in the morning,” she said. “I’m more easy going. I want to live a life worth living.”

She’s already jump-started her training career with Maple Leaf Mel. “I didn’t really set any goals,” she said. “I’d be super happy if I can say I won a race at Saratoga. If the Test was that race, that would be something, wouldn’t it?”

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Kris Chandler (Spirit of Makena)

Article by Bill Heller

Spirit of Makena wins the 2023 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita.

When Kris Chandler’s five-year-old horse Spirit of Makena, owned and bred by her recently-deceased husband Bruce, captured the Grade 3 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita, March 1st, in his stakes debut, Kris Chandler watched on TV. When trainer George Papaprodromou pointed Spirit of Makena to the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes at the same track May 27th, Chandler decided to watch the race in person. “It was the first time I went to the track in four years,” Chandler said.

It was worth the wait. Spirit of Makena won the Triple Bend by a length and a quarter under Joe Bravo, making him four-for-five lifetime. “It was emotional on a lot of levels,” Chandler said. “Horse racing was his passion, and he waited a lifetime for this. He had horses for over 40 years and never had a horse like this. So it’s beyond special.”

Patience allowed Spirit of Makena to develop. A variety of issues delayed his career debut until August 5th, 2022, when he won by 2 ¼ lengths as a four-year-old. A head loss finishing second in an allowance race has been his only blemish. Working around quarter cracks, Spirit of Makena won an allowance race before tacking on a pair of graded stakes victories. 

The one with Chandler there was unforgettable. “She was very happy, very emotional,” Papaprodromou said. “She wished Bruce was there with her. I got to meet Bruce. They’re great people and he’s a nice horse. I’m grateful to train a horse like that and I would like to thank the owners for giving me a horse like that. It’s great to train for them. We are looking forward to a nice future with him.”

That future will help Chandler move on with her life after losing Bruce last October 16th, the day before their anniversary, following a four-year battle with cancer. “I met Bruce in Maui in Hawaii 26 years ago,” Chandler said. “Bruce and I did horses together. I’ve always loved horses, since I was a little kid, with my dad.”

Bruce Chandler’s family owned The Los Angeles Times and its parent, the Times Mirror Company, for decades. 

Kris Chandler got more involved with her husband’s horses over the years. “Because I paid attention to the breeding,” she said. “He named me Director of Breeding. That was his title for me. He was breeding to horses in California. I convinced Bruce to breed to Ghostzapper (in Kentucky). I said, 'This is a great sire.’ I convinced him that if you want to get a good horse, you must breed to a good horse.

Spirit of Makena’s dam, Win for M’lou by Gilded Time, was bred by the Chandlers and named for Kris’s mom. “My mom got so excited,” Chandler said. “She was going to be famous.”

Somewhat. Win for M’lou became the Chandler’s first $100,000 winner ($115,230), surpassed only by Mai Tai ($140,405). Spirit of Makena has taken the Chandlers to a new level, having already earned $347,600 in just five starts.

Unfortunately, Spirit of Makena took forever to make it to the races. And Bruce became ill. “He got sick in 2019,” Chandler said. “He wanted to keep going. Our favorite place in the world is Maui, and part of it was because he had to live there the past few years. I’ve been taking care of my husband for the last four years. His mobility got worse and he couldn’t travel. Horse racing was the only thing he could watch. It’s still emotional being without him right now.”

She’s had and still has a ton of support from her Hawaiian community. She lives on Makena Road in Makena. “Everyone in Hawaii is behind the horse,” Chandler said. “The McKenna Golf and Beach Club are like family. The general manager, Zak Fahmie, sent a letter to all the members about this horse, a once-in-a-lifetime horse. He’s kind of like a miracle horse. We didn’t think he was going to get to the racetrack. He was at the farm in California for two years. For him to be a horse like this, it’s a miracle. From being so injured to being such a great horse. It’s a great story. We took our time with him. He’s getting better. He’s just a wonderful horse, very intelligent. You can pet him.”

Spirit of Makena keeps her and her husband connected. Initially, after her husband passed, Chandler thought she was going to get out of racing. Now she has a horse who may take her to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at his home track, Santa Anita. “I’m trying to get out, but this is getting me very excited,” she said. “Having a horse like this, I kind of feel Bruce’s spirit. I think he just knows.”