Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Atlantic Six Racing, owners of Book'em Danno

Whether you’ve been passionately involved in racing for decades, or was recently lured into the game by your brother, winning a Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga is as good as it gets. Book'em Danno gave six guys from Jersey, who race as Atlantic Six Racing, LLC, that thrill, taking the Woody Stephens Stakes on June 8th. “It was incredible; you had to pinch yourself,” Jay Briscione, the group’s managing partner, said.

Briscione, a 70-year-old real estate appraiser, began hotwalking at Monmouth Park in high school, then left college (Fairfield University) for one semester to be a groom at Hialeah. “I was in the same barn as Seattle Slew in his three-year-old season,” Briscione said proudly. “I watched him get ready for the Triple Crown. I had never been around horses at all. Being young, it was a pretty cool thing. Once it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood.”

His partner Mark Rubenstein, whose family business was doing municipal revaluations in Jersey, knows that feeling: “I dropped out of law school (Antioch Law School in Washington, D.C.) to work at the racetrack. It was the best time of my life: seven days a week at Hialeah. I was rubbing and grooming three horses. I just loved being around the Thoroughbreds.”

Both Briscione and Rubenstein worked their way up at the racetrack before resuming a more stable livelihood. “As I got older, there were no vacations,” Briscione said. “If I had gotten tied up with somebody at the high-end of racing, I might have stayed. I went back to school and got into real estate soon after college.”

But his feelings for racing never left him completely. “Always, I stayed interested,” Briscione said. “We tried to buy a horse with two friends. It didn’t work out. I owned a couple bad horses. But I always went to the races in the summer and to the big races, the Preakness, the Belmont and the Breeders’ Cup.”

Rubenstein put together small partnerships with relatives, racing as Red Flag Stable in the ‘80s: “We claimed a mare, Cuca’s Lady, for $25,000, at Monmouth in the late ‘80s. She went on to win seven stakes for us.”

Cuca’s Lady became a turf sprinter. She broke the track record at Monmouth Park for five furlongs, and in her next start she set the track record at The Meadowlands for the same distance. Later, she won eight straight races. She finished her career with 24 victories from 70 starts with 10 seconds, 11 thirds and earnings topping $350,000. “She was our big horse back then,” Rubenstein said.

By then, Briscione had put together Atlantic Eight Stable “Jim Ryerson was our trainer and a friend,” Briscione said. “The third horse we owned, Relaunch Lass, won her debut by 6 ½ lengths on a sloppy track at Monmouth.”

She won an allowance race in her next start at Philadelphia Park and retired with 11 victories, eight seconds and 16 thirds in 80 starts, making $179,673.

“Then we bred her,” Rubenstein said. “She died in foal to Mining. The foal died, too. That was our only attempt at breeding.”

Atlantic Eight lasted until the mid-‘2000s, In 2019, Briscione started Atlantic Six LLC, which included two partners from Atlantic Eight, Jim Scappi, who does equipment leasing, and real estate broker Frank Camassa. Camassa brought along his close friend Jeff Reshnikoff, an attorney. “Jim and I have been friends for 30 years,” Briscione said. “Frank was a hotwalker in Jersey before becoming a real estate agent. Jeff had owned horses before.”

Briscione called up Rubenstein. “I asked him, how about doing it again?” Briscione said. 

Rubenstein said, “Jay and I, we’ve known each other for years. He contacted me five years ago when he was reestablishing a racing partnership. He asked me if I was interested. I was out of the business. I said, `Sure.’”

Then Rubenstein called his younger brother, Jim, a semi-retired radiation oncologist in Fort Myers, Florida, who had never been in the business. “He didn’t know a hock from a toothpick,” Rubenstein said.

He didn’t mention that when he dialed his brother. “He was up front,” Jim said. “He’s done it before. He said, `You’re not going to make a fortune.’ Then he pulled out the grandchildren card. They can visit the horses in Monmouth, and in Tampa, where we’re near. I have 12 grandchildren. So I’m in.”

Good decision.

Atlantic Six’s first good horse was Counterfeitcurency (sic), a hard-hitting Jersey-bred who earned $199,152. “He was just retired,” Briscione said, “He’s going to be a show horse in Florida. He gave us the money to parlay into Book'em Danno. When we buy these, we’re basically looking for a Counterfeitcurency and maybe run in Jersey stakes. That’s a home run for us. When we got Book'em Danno, we knew we might have something.”

They bought the son of Bucherro out of the Ghostzapper mare Adorabelle privately from his breeders, Greg Kilka and Christine Connelly of Bright View Farm and gelded him before he started training.

Mark Rubenstein named the yearling: “I’m a child of the ‘60s, and Hawaii Five-O was one of my favorite TV shows. In quite a few episodes, they got the bad guy and they said, `Book'em Danno.’ I have no idea how that popped into my mind.”

Book'em Danno’s trainer, Derek Ryan isn’t known for cranking up his first-time starters. That made Book'em Danno’s debut even more impressive: a 9 ½ length victory in a Jersey-bred maiden race at Monmouth. He followed that with a two-length victory in the Smoke Glacken Stakes and a 6 ½ length romp in the Futurity at Aqueduct. He finished his juvenile season by finishing second by three-quarters of a length in the one-mile Nashua Stakes there.

Displaying no intention of sending his three-year-old on the road to the Triple Crown, Ryan picked the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes for his first start this year at Tampa Bay, and he won by 12 ½ lengths as the 1-5 favorite.

His next start would be in the one-mile $1.5 million Grade 3 Saudi Derby. “It’s shocking to believe that this horse took us to Saudi Arabia,” Briscione said. “Derek had brought this up in September. He had been approached by them.”

All Book'em Danno did was finish second by a head to unbeaten Forever Young. When Forever Young then finished third by a head in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, Book'em Danno was flattered. Then Book'em Danno won the seven-furlong $500,000 Woody Stephens Stakes by a half-length at Saratoga June 8th. “Amazing,” Jim Rubenstein said. “I was there.”

That made Book'em Danno five-for-seven with a pair of close seconds. He’s earned $835,625.

“To be in the business for such a short time, I know people put a lot of money into this, put a lot of time into this,” Jim Rubenstein said. “You almost feel unworthy.” 

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Judy Hicks with Thorpedo Anna

Judy Hicks, who is forever linked to her incredible home-bred three-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna, overpaid for another filly 35 years ago: $10. That filly, Phoenix Sunshine, posted nine wins, nine seconds and three thirds in 47 starts, earning more than a quarter of a million. She was even better off the track, foaling six winners including half-a-million dollar-earner Boss Ego. Hicks calls Phoenix Sunshine “the anchor of my broodmare band.”

Learning from her Phoenix Sunshine purchase, Hicks only paid $6 for the foal of a mare whom the original owner kept eight years later. The foal was Miss Pink Diva, who was one-for-14 and made $111,780. She was second by a head in the 2016 Grade 3 Locust Grove Stakes, but in her next start, the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes, she broke down and had to be euthanized.

Both purchases came from an unpaying owner for boarding his horses at Hicks’ farm. “I’m stubborn,” Hicks said. “I’m a California girl. I didn’t know male chauvinism existed until I moved to Kentucky and that women weren’t allowed to speak. When I had somebody not pay their bill, I said, `This isn’t going to happen, so what do I have to do?’”

Hicks began researching state law and found out that if you give a client a month to pay and if you don’t hear from them, you have a legal right to have a sheriff’s sale, which is then advertised. “Nobody goes to them,” Hicks said. “There were two horses. The colt, I just let him go. But the filly I really liked.”

She liked her even more as the years went by.

Now Hicks owns Thorpedo Anna, five-for-six with one second and earnings of more than $1.7 million in her career. If there was an eclipse vote in mid-2024, she’d be a walk-over three-year-old filly champion and a contender for the Horse of the Year.

But Thorpedo Anna would never have been born if Hicks didn’t save her dam, Sataves, when common sense and logic suggested to give up on her.

Hicks has never believed in giving up.

Born in Chicago, Hicks’ family moved to California when she was six. “We had a little farm,” Hicks said. “We started having horses and go-karts.”

She chose horse racing over a career in NASCAR.

She spent five years finishing a double major of biological and animal sciences at California Poly. She wanted to go to vet school at UC-Davis, but didn’t get in. 

Through her grandfather’s connections – he knew the president of Texas A & M - she got into vet school there. She didn’t stick. “I was in vet school for six months, cleaning lab cages,” she said. “They had this Great Dane puppy in one of the experimental cages.” When she didn’t see him in his cage one morning, she asked, “Where’s Duke?’” She was told Duke’s remains were in several jars. “They had killed him,” she said.

That killed her desire to be a veterinarian.

Through another of her grandfather’s connections Hicks journeyed to Kentucky and was an intern at Forest Retreat Farm. While she was there, she met Dr. Donald Applegate and Cecil Horne. They were looking for a farm manager at their Mint Springs Farm. That’s where she met her husband, R.W.

In 1983, they purchased 600-acre Brookstown Farm in Versailles. It needed a lot of work, which has never stopped Hicks from doing anything she wanted. They began boarding Thoroughbreds, then began breeding and racing them. 

Sataves, a daughter of Uncle Mo out of the unraced Stormy Atlantic mare Pacific Sky, was born extremely premature.

“She was born six weeks premature,” Hicks said. “She was 40 inches tall. I didn’t weigh her, but she was maybe 60 pounds. A few weeks later, her owner came and saw her. Her hocks were crushed. The owner gave her to me. I said, `Let me see if I can keep her alive.’ I named her for Sataves, a Buddhist god.”

Hicks waited three years until conceding to the reality that Sataves was never going to race. “Because of her hocks,” Hicks said. “I bred her to Tourist.”

That foal, Charlee O, won two of 18 starts and earned more than $100,000 for Hicks and R.W.

They bred her back to Fast Anna, a Grade 1-placed sprinting son of Medaglia d’ Oro. Fast Anna’s crop that year was his last. He died of laminitis at the age of 10.

Thorpedo Anna was born on January 27th, 2021. “She was tough,” Hicks said. “She had a mind of her own. She was not an easy foal to raise.”

Trainer Kenny McPeek bought her for $40,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.       

“I didn’t know Kenny,” Hicks said. “I went over and introduced myself. I asked him for 45 percent. All he did was laugh.”

Regardless, she maintained an undisclosed percentage of Thorpedo Anna, joining partners Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards and Magdalena Racing’s Sheri McPeek, Kenny’s wife.

“I wasn’t familiar with Judy,” McPeek said. “She approached me after I signed the ticket. It worked out.”

Thorpedo Anna’s first race was at Keeneland. “Kenny couldn’t be there,” Hicks said. “He said, `you better go because she’s going to win by a lot.’”

She did, by 8 ½ lengths. She then won an allowance race by nine lengths and finished second by 5 ¼ lengths in the Grade 2 Golden Rod in her final start at two at Churchill Downs.

This year, no filly has been close to her. She won the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park by four lengths. She captured the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks by 4 ¾ lengths, the first half of McPeek’s incredible weekend. The next day, McPeek’s Mystik Dan won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby by a nose.

Asked about the Oaks, Hicks said, “I don’t think I expected her to win, but when she started drawing away, I went crazy. I was hugging Kenny. It was amazing. People said, `You don’t realize what you’ve done. The ultimate dream if you own a mare is winning the Oaks.’”

How about winning the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Saratoga, too? Despite losing a shoe during the race, she triumphed by 5 ½ lengths. Her next planned start is the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga July 20th. 

“We have yet to ask her to run,” Hicks said. “I think she’s going to go down as one of the greatest fillies in history.”

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Steve and Debbie Weston (Parkland Thoroughbreds) with Porta Fortuna

Steve and Debbie Weston will never forget the phone call from their daughter, February 14th, 2018, telling them the horrible news of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people, including 14 students, had been killed. Fourteen more had been injured.

The Westons, who were at their second home in Saratoga Springs, live in Parkland. They met on blind date at a pizzeria in Parkland. They had named their stable Parkland Thoroughbreds three years earlier.

”You always think it happens somewhere else,” Debbie said.

Steve said, “We were on Route 9 going down to a car dealer. We couldn’t believe it. By the time we got to the car dealer. It was all over the TV.”

Six years later, they still struggle to understand. “Parkland is a great place,” Steve said. “We have very little commercial development, only a handful of stores. It was rated as one of the safest cities of America.”

Are there any safe cities in America now? “It’s happening all over America,” Steve said.

Debbie said, “I don’t think anyone in America hasn’t been touched by gun violence. I think the most important thing is to have people remember Parkland for something other than the shooting.”

The success of their modest-sized stable has people talking about Parkland Thoroughbreds.

Last year, their two-year-old filly Jody’s Pride, who is co-owned by Sportsmen Stable, won the Matron Stakes and finished second by a neck to unbeaten Just FYI in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly at Santa Anita. At three, she won the $200,000 Busher Stakes before finishing off the board in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland. She was freshened and is back at Saratoga training for her return.

Less than an hour after Jody’s Pride finished second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly, Parkland Thoroughbreds and Medallion Racing’s turf star Porta Fortuna finished second by a half-length to Hard to Justify in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf. Earlier last year, she captured the Group 3 Albany Stakes by one length in a field of 17 at Royal Ascot, then won the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. Donnacha O’Brien, the son of Aidan O’Brien, trains Porta Fortuna.

In her 2024 debut, Porta Fortuna finished second in the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket. 

Her second race this year was at Royal Ascot, where she benefitted from a fine ride by Tom Marquand and won the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup by one length, becoming a rare repeat winner at the world-famous meet. “It was incredible,” Weston said.

His day got even better moments after the race: “We were on stage and told the King was coming. He came up and shook our hands. And then I was talking with the King for three to five minutes. He was very cordial, really nice. It was amazing, just amazing. There must have been a hundred cameras. It was a dream. So much more than winning a horse race.” 

Steve Weston, now 78, could never have dreamed of such success when he got hooked by harness racing decades earlier. “I’ve been going to the track in Detroit since 15,” he said. “Also Hazel Park and Northville Downs. All three are gone. I loved the racetrack. I wasn’t old enough to get in. I had to wait for the last four races when they opened the door.”

After graduating from high school, he and three friends teamed up to buy a $10,000 claimer, Our Stewart. “We won our first race with Our Stewart at Wolverine. It’s always exciting. It doesn’t matter if you have a put of $1,700. It never matters. Even today, if you have a claimer or you’re in a stakes race, when they’re coming down the stretch, it’s the thrill of victory. It doesn’t matter what the purse is.”

Yet he did say this: “One day I want to buy a Thoroughbred.”

Born in Brooklyn, Weston moved to Detroit, then to Parkland in 1989. He partnered with Bob Edwards and Joe Anzalone. After Weston bought Thoroughbreds, Edwards and Anzalone did, too. Edwards races as e5 Racing Thoroughbreds and Anzalone as Magic Cap Stables. e5 Racing campaigned two-year-old champion Good Magic, the sire of this year’s Derby top contender Dornoch.

Debbie Weston also has roots in New York. She was born in Syracuse, then lived in Albany. “My grandfather, every summer, went to Saratoga,” she said. “I never knew what it was.”

Now she can’t get enough of horses. Their home in Saratoga Springs abuts the Oklahoma Training Track. “The horses are practically in our backyard,” she said. “It’s a blessing to be there. I fell in love with the horses once I petted one of their faces. Racing is such a small part. The joy is to watch them train, feed them and hang out with them.”

She didn’t begin hanging out with Steve until they met on that blind date. “I was working as a hospital nurse, Steve was a sweetheart. He kept pursuing me. I gave him another chance and I’m glad I did. Steve was widowed several years earlier.”

The Westons began Thoroughbred racing in 2015 and have entered a myriad of partnerships. At last count, there were 50 of them in just 10 years.

They chose Parkland Thoroughbreds as their stable name because of the many horse farms in the area.

Then tragedy forever changed Parkland.

“Fortunately, we didn’t have any children attending, but we knew other people who did,” Steve said. My niece was an instructor and one of her kids was involved. I can’t begin to describe it. It’s a very small community.” 

  The Westons wanted to do anything they could to ease people’s pain, so they named their gelding - Parkland Strong, a son of Goldencents out of Inceptive by Empire Maker.

In a better world, Parkland Strong would have won the Triple Crown, or the Kentucky Derby or at least one of his nine starts. Trained by Abreu’s brother Fernando, Parkland Strong did post one second and four thirds, earning $28,850. “He lives with a person who breaks a lot of our yearlings in Ocala,” Steve said. “He has a good life.”

Better horses have followed, but none as good as Porta Fortuna and Jody’s Pride. Steve still doesn’t believe he actually won a stakes race at Ascot two years in a row. “Oh, it was incredible,” he said. “The way British people treated us; we were treated like royalty. Just being there was fantastic.”

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Closing Remarks - John Harris (Harris Farms)

Article by Bill Heller

The breadth of California Racing Hall of Famer John C. Harris’ accomplishments is so vast, it’s difficult to know where to begin. “He’s probably one of the most influential horsemen in California racing as an owner and breeder, and respected by both sectors,” Bill Nader, the CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said. “He’s just an amazing man. What an impact he has had.”

His impact was celebrated last August when he was honored at the Edwin J. Gregson Charity/fundraising dinner at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, just a few miles east of Del Mar. He has served five terms as the President of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and is a member of the Jockey Club, the California Horse Racing Board and the Breeders’ Cup Board of Directors.

His list of racing stars includes his home-bred Soviet Problem, the 1994 California-bred Horse of the Year who won 15 of her 20 career starts with three seconds, one of them by a head to Cherokee Run in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs. Harris was co-breeder and co-owner of the incredible filly with Don Valpredo, the co-founder of Country Sweet Produce in Bakersfield. Harris called Soviet Problem “the best one I’ve ever had.”

Harris’ stallions at Harris Farms have included Cee’s Tizzy, sire of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow. Harris Farms was also part of the success story of 2014 and 2016 Horse of the Year California Chrome. Both those superstars grew up on Harris Farm and began training there.

The Harris Farm story traces back to Harris’ father, Jack, and his decision to move his farm from Texas to California in 1916. Twenty-seven years later, they established Harris Farm in California’s Central Valley, near Coalinga, a diversified company.

Thoroughbreds are just part of Harris’ story. His Harris Ranch Beef Company produces nearly 200 million pounds of beef and is California’s largest fed cattle processor. Harris Ranch Beef has been in California’s supermarkets for decades.

The Harris Ranch Restaurant alongside Interstate 5 has been a popular rest-stop for families traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco or the other direction It is one of three dine-in restaurants on the vast property of more than several thousand acres. Harris Ranch Restaurant serves as many as half a million customers each year and has won several culinary awards. 

Harris Farm produces onions, garlic, almonds, pistachios, olives, citrus fruit and asparagus and includes vineyards for producing wine.

But horses hold a sacred place in Harris’ soul, and he has bred and raced champions for several decades.

The Harris Farm Horse Division is split into two distinct ranches, 450 acres in Coalinga, from the main ranch and the remaining 140 acres located in Sanger specializing in the development of young horses and long-term lay-ups.

How has he been able to succeed in so many endeavors simultaneously?

“I try to keep all the balls in the air and not screw up things in the process,” Harris said.

Those close to him know how remarkably well he’s accomplished that.

 “We’re all amazed, too,” said Tom Wyrick, the Assistant Manager of the Harris Farm Horse Division. “He’s a very caring guy. He’s good to people.”

Harris went the extra mile naming his horses for his employees. The first was Big Jess, Harris’ first home-bred stakes winner. He won 14 of 69 career starts with 12 seconds, seven thirds and earnings of $152,312. One of Big Jess’ sons, Juan Barrera, was also named for an employee. In 45 lifetime starts, he posted 10 victories, six seconds and seven thirds, making $245,705.

Harris cares deeply about racing in California, all racing in the state. 

On the California Horse Racing Board, Harris tried to ensure the future of California’s fair racing, trying to preserve historic venues such as Ferndale. 

Harris received a Bachelor of Science Degree in animal science and agricultural business management from the University of California at Davis.

In 2008, he was inducted into the California Racing Hall of Fame.

Harris said he was in favor of a recent proposed rule to limit the number of mares a stallion serves to 140: “I think it’s a good idea, but it’s kind of academic in California. We rarely have stallions in California who breed over 140 mares. Some are over 100, but none over 140. One-hundred-forty is quite a few. We breed horses here to race. The declining mares, that’s the tip of the iceberg. The problem in California is a lot of people aren’t making a lot of money racing here, and their interest starts to wane.”

  His interest never has. 

And he’s not slowing down. In 2023, Harris Farm horses won 27 of 194 starts and earned $1,628,186, its highest total of the 2000’s.

At the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation Dinner last August, Foundation President Jenine Sahadi said, “We’re delighted to honor John, not only for the accomplishments of his Harris Farm Horse Division, one of the country’s leading racing stables and utmost influential owner/breeder operations, for which he has been inducted to the California Racing Hall of Fame. We also acknowledge his many years of distinguished service to the industry as a California Horse Racing Board Commissioner, board member of the Breeders’ Cup, Jockey Club and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.”

Bill Nader, who was at that dinner, said, “It was a great night.”

And it couldn’t have meant more to Harris: “Eddie was a really good friend.”  

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Richard Nicolai (Fortune Farm) – Secret Money

Article by Bill Heller

Before he began in Thoroughbred racing, Richard Nicolai was a devout harness racing fan. Born in Pleasantville, New York, north of Yonkers, he spent many nights at Yonkers Raceway and Roosevelt Raceway. “I was always a horse lover—all kinds of horses,” he said. “I owned a few saddle horses. I rode.”

After getting married, he moved to Long Island, where he began and ran a business of manufacturing light fixtures for 35 years. He spent many nights at Roosevelt Raceway, which once hosted the top level of harness racing in the country. “I was there every night,” Nicolai said. “I had dinner every night at the Cloud Casino. It was so exciting to be under the lights. I loved everything about it.”

Then he got more involved, first by jogging horses, than training them on and off for three years. He had a chance meeting with legendary driver/trainer Billy Haughton one night at Wolverine Racetrack in Michigan. “I walked up to him, and we talked about racing for hours,” Nicolai said. “I learned so much from Billy Haughton. I was just a little guy with a couple of horses, and he treated me with respect. I’ll never forget it.” 

Ten years later, he got involved with Thoroughbreds, first with partners. His second Thoroughbred, Not So Fast, won the 2000 Stymie Handicap for trainer Bruce Levine. Not So Fast would post 10 victories, eight seconds and five thirds from 38 starts, making $318,777.

When he retired in 2019, he was happily able to devote himself exclusively to his horses. “The horses take all my time,” Nicolai said. He is happy to share that time with his wife, Lynn, their 44-year-old son Adam, an oral surgeon, and his 44-year-old daughter Hope, a dentist. “My wife loves it,” he said. “She comes to the sales and to the races. The kids are always watching our horses.”

He named his stable Fortune Farm, and he was the sole owner of Sue’s Fortune, a daughter of Jump Start out of Democrat Taxes by Catienus, who’s three victories in six starts included the 2018 Gr. 2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga for trainer Jeremiah Englehart. She was also second by three-quarters of a length in the $139,000 Jersey Girl Stakes. She earned $221,700. “She’s a home-bred,” Nicolai said. “I still have her mother.”

His partnership with long-time friends Bob Hahn and Matt Hand reached a high point with Secret Money, a Good Samaritan filly out of Awesome Humor by Distorted Humor, which they purchased as a two-year-old in May 2022, for just $40,000. Secret Money won a lot of money when he captured the $1 million Gr. 3 Big Ass Fans Music City Stakes by one length at Kentucky Downs, September 2. Brendan Walsh is her trainer.

Hahn was euphoric, watching the race from his home in Hilton Head, South Carolina: “My wife and I were screaming. We scared the neighbors. We’d never even been in a million-dollar race.”

He thanks his grandfather for his love of racing. “I was the designated go-along to make sure that he had company,” Hahn said.  “We went to Monmouth, Aqueduct and Keystone.”

He’s delighted with his partners: “Richard and Matt are the greatest guys to work with. They’re honest as the day is long. We all had our separate ways and decided to put our heads together.”

Nicolai said, “Bob is a breeder, as I am. He had a few good horses over the years. Matt is younger than us. He’s a very smart guy, very analytical and a great partner. We just bought two nice Street Sense fillies for $375,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sales.”

Nicolai said a lot of his success has been thanks to Travis Durr at the Travis Durr Training Center in St. Matthews, South Carolina: “He looks for yearlings for me. He starts with hundreds of horses and sends me a short list. That’s how we got Secret Money.”

Secret Money has three wins and a third from her first six starts with earnings of $740,311.

“We bought her very cheap,” Durr said. “We did the right thing by her. And it paid off. She’s a real nice filly.”

Durr said he and his wife, Ashley, who helps run the training center, have known the Nicolais, Richard and Lynn, for about 12 years: “In the past few years, he’s been doing more and more. He’s kind of stepped up and bought up, not relying just on home-breds. He’s trying to get a better horse. He’s got a lot of patience. He’s a great guy, a family guy. He’s got a lot of trust in us. We’ve gotten close to him and his wife. They’re like family.”

Nicolai now has 25 broodmares, half a dozen weanlings, four yearlings and six racehorses. “I’m a partner on another eight horses,” he said.

Walsh has done a great job with this filly. “We were looking for a good trainer with a good reputation with turf horses,” Nicolai said. “I’ve sent him several turf horses. We’ve been together for three years. I have good partners and a great trainer.”

And he loves horses as much as he ever did. “First of all, I love the competition. I got very interested in breeding and pedigrees. I study pedigrees. I have so much fun seeing how horses turn out. I enjoy that. My wife enjoys that, too.”

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Bill and Tammy Simon (WSS Racing) – Brightwork

Article by Bill Heller

Bill Simon, the former president and CEO of Walmart, quickly learned the difference between Walmart and racing. “There’s no everyday low pricing in horse racing,” he laughed.

Simon was at Walmart from 2006–2015. “Do I miss it?” he said. “I miss the people. But I don’t miss a million and a half people reporting to me. When I left Walmart, I was looking for something to share with my wife Tammy.  She grew up on a farm in North Carolina.”

Thoroughbreds seemed like a good fit. Success came surprisingly quickly.
“We’re very methodical,” Simon said. “I try to work with good people.” 

He certainly has two good people—his trainer John Ortiz and his bloodstock agent Jared Hughes. Oritz said his connection with the Simons “has been life-changing. They’re so supportive. They make me better, not only as a trainer, but also as a person.”

Ortiz knows he’s working with a remarkable person.

Born in Manchester, Connecticut, Simon graduated from the University of Connecticut, earning a Bachelor of Arts in economics and an MBA in management. While in college, he made his first trip to a racetrack, going to Saratoga Race Course.

He served in the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserves for 25 years, receiving commendations for combat service in Grenada and in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. At Walmart, he was instrumental in the company’s pledge to hire any returning veteran.

Before Walmart, Simon worked at several global companies including Brinker International, Diageo, Cadbury-Schweppes, PepsiCo and RJR Nabisco. He developed and launched Smirnoff Ice in the United States.

In the public sector, he was secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services, dealing with health care benefits, human resources, the Florida retirement system, facilities management and real estate from 2002 through 2004. 

From 2018–2020, he served as chair of the Defense Business Board for Defense Secretary James Mathis. He is currently a senior advisor to the investment firm KKR and is the founder and president of WSS Venture Holdings.

Because of his vast experiences, Simon felt it unnecessary to hire a top-tier trainer and is very happy he chose Ortiz and Hughes. “I’ve already done a lot of things in life,” Simon said. “I traded spreadsheets and profits and losses statements for pedigrees and Racing Forms. It starts with two years trying to figure out where we could operate in this business. We started with claimers as everybody does. Then we focused on buying young horses.”

He’s delighted he has Ortiz and Hughes on his team: “I’m learning from Johnny and Jared. I have some things to teach them, too. I know how to run a business. This is a hard business. We grow together. Jared is a good horseman. John is an incredibly intuitive horseman. We have a better chance because we’re doing the work together. A lot of it is good, hard work.”

The work has paid off. Bill and Tammy found two relatively cheap stars. Barber Road, named for a road in North Carolina, cost $15,000. He broke his maiden in a $30,000 claimer. Simon told Molly Rollins in a March 8, 2022 story in the Blood-Horse, his rationale for the drop-down after Barber Road finished a distant fourth in a maiden special weight debut: “We knew he was special, but we thought, well, you know a $15,000 weanling running in a $30,000 maiden claimer—no one is going to take him; so why not give him a really good blow against an easier crowd and get things started? And that’s what we did. You have to be brave to take a $15,000 horse running for $30,000.”

After a 6 ¼-length romp in a starter allowance, Barber Road took the Simons on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail, finishing second in the $200,000 Lively Shively Stakes, second in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and second again in the Gr. 3 Southwest Stakes. He was beaten just a half-length when third in the Gr. 2 Rebel, and finished second again in the Gr. 1 Arkansas Derby.

That led him to the 2022 Gr. 1 Kentucky Derby. He rallied from far back to finish sixth. “We had a huge Kentucky Derby party,” Tammy said. “It was really a neat thing for everybody. It was great. That meant so much to me and my family.,”

Barber Road finished seventh in the Belmont Stakes and most recently was fourth in the Gr. 3 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, June 3. He’s made just under $800,000.

The Simons’ undefeated two-year-old filly Brightwork, who upped her record to four-for-four by winning the Gr. 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga September 3, cost $95,000 and has already earned $444,051. She’s never been the favorite in any of her starts, including a five-length romp in the Gr. 3 Adirondack Stakes before the Spinaway.

“I kind of like not being the favorite,” Tammy said. “That little filly has been amazing. To watch her come down that stretch at Saratoga—it was such an incredible feeling. Her breeders were also there with us. I turned around and every one of us was crying. It was John’s first Gr. 1 and our first Gr. 1. It was really special. She’s a diva. She knows she’s special.”

Her husband said he wasn’t too nervous before the race: “Whenever I get nervous, Johnny tells me in poker, you don’t know what other people’s hands are, but you know your hand. I loved my hand.”

After the Spinaway, he said of her half-length victory at Saratoga, “I never imagined we’d win at a place like that. Holy cow! I’m excited to see what she does next.” 

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Michael Dubb – Therapist

Article by Bill Heller

Michael Dubb’s near 50-year voyage at Saratoga Race Course has been unique and complete. In 1973, at the age of 17, he slept in a van because he couldn’t afford a room to attend the races the following day. In 2021, the 65-year-old multiple leading owner in New York, who watches the races from his box seat, saw the opening of his Faith’s House, a daycare center at Saratoga Race Course for the children of backstretch workers that he built and donated so those children had an option other that sleeping in their parents’ car or spending their summers apart from their parents. Faith’s House is named for his mother.

Twenty years earlier, Dubb donated the materials and built Anna House, a daycare center at Belmont Park named for the daughter of late owner, Eugene Melnyk, who contributed $1 million to start the program. Anna House was the first program of any kind offering daycare for children of backstretch workers. Dubb has contributed renovations for both facilities.

Michael Dubb’s legacy won’t be the races he won, but the lives he changed. “It means a lot to me, more than winning races,” he said. “In racing, you need a foundation to win races. These kids needed a foundation for their lives.”

His would be a good one to emulate. 

The van he took to Saratoga was the same one he used for his fledgling landscaping business. “I bought my first landscaper when I was 16,” he said. “I slept in the van for a couple summers at Saratoga. I was in my van at Congress Park, and I got to listen to Richard Nixon resigning that August (1974).”

In 1985, Dubb began The Beechwood Organization, which has become the largest New York developer of family and multi-family attached housing. Beechwood has built more than 10,000 homes in 80 communities in New York City, Long Island, Saratoga Springs and North Carolina. Professional Builder magazine said Beechwood ranked 54th out of 240 housing giants and number 3 in New York in 2023. Dubb’s son Steven, is now a key player in Beechwood.

Dubb, a lifelong Long Islander, has spent much of his life giving back. He built homes for Long Islanders after Superstorm Sandy. The American Cancer Society, the American Jewish Committee, Family Service League, Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation, Mid Island YMCA/Jewish Community Center, Suffolk YMCA/Jewish Community Center, Tilles Center and Networking Magazine have honored Dubb for his philanthropy and community service.

While he has been a partner of top Thoroughbreds Monomoy Girl, British Idiom and Uni, he’s an astute horseman who has made a ton of claims—none more impressive than Therapist.

“He’s a pleasure,” Dubb said. “I competed against this horse for many years. I tried claiming him for $25,000, but I lost the shake. They put him in for $50,000. I got him. He’s just a hard-hitting older New York-bred horse. I’m fortunate to own one.”

Exactly three weeks after Dubb lost his $25,000 claim on a shake, Dubb claimed the eight-year-old gelding for $50,000 on June 20 at Gulfstream Park when he finished third as the 2-1 favorite. Switched from Geoge Weaver to Mike Maker, Therapist won a starter allowance on synthetic by 4 ½ lengths and the Gr. 2 Pan American on turf at Gulfstream. 

Sent to Churchill Downs, Therapist was a wide eighth in the Gr. 2 Louisville Stakes. At Ellis Park, he was second by a head in a $160,000 stakes. 

In the $600,000 United Nations at Monmouth Park, July 22, Therapist won his first Gr. 1, scoring by a length and a half in the mile-and-three-eighths stakes under Javier Castellano. In his last start, Therapist finished eighth in the mile-and-a-half Kentucky Downs Turf Cup. Dubb can live with that. Therapist’s U.N. score earned $360,000—more than seven times what Dubb paid to claim him.

 Of course, all his claims weren’t as successful. 

At Anna House and Faith’s House, all the children are given the tools to be successful. “We give them confidence to compete,” Dubb said.

Dubb conceived the idea of Anna House after Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey told him that backstretch workers’ kids were sleeping in cars. “It just wasn’t right,” Dubb said. “We recognized the need for daycare. I worked with NYRA to find a location. It took about 18 months. We got Anna House built in seven weeks.”

More than 1,000 kids have passed through Anna House, which offers 365-daycare from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. There are programs for infants from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a school-age program from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Parents of the families are asked to make a “very small donation,” Joanne Adams, the Belmont Child Care Association executive director, said. “We write grants to assist us, and corporations help us.” 

 Asked of Dubb’s ongoing contributions to both Anna House and Faith’s House, Adams said, “It’s hard to imagine any of this without Michael.”

She continued, “He has a big heart. He cares about the people around him. He has shared his early life and what he did and how he worked hard to get where he is. He’s just a very caring person, exceedingly bright. He understands business, and he understands people. He’s happy when the people around him are happy.”

Dubb says of both daycare centers: “They’ve exceeded my wildest dreams, to see how incredibly happy the children are.”

Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Chase Chamberlin, Commonwealth Racing (Mage)

Article by Bill Heller

When Chase Chamberlin, a successful entrepreneur who partnered with Brian Doxtator to create the very successful, Kentucky Derby-winning Commonwealth Racing, was in the second grade in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he said he wanted to be an entrepreneur. “My uncle, John Handelsman, was an entrepreneur,” Chamberlin said. “He had a very successful leasing company.” 

Don’t read too much into it. The year before, Chamberlin wrote down orthopedic surgeon. “Another uncle was one,” he said.

In the third grade, he wanted to be a defense attorney. “I watched way too much TV,” he said.

He didn’t know then, but an even earlier passion, riding and loving horses, would ultimately land him, Doxtator and maybe 100 or more of the 382 micro-share Commonwealth partners into the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle when Mage won the 2023 Kentucky Derby. “It was very hard to process,” Chamberlin said. “It was so overwhelming. It was an out-of-body experience, completely surreal.”

But not his first. In 2022, Commonwealth’s first horse it offered on its app, Country Grammer, finished second by a half-length to Emblem Road in the $20 million Grade 1 Saudi Cup. He then won the $12 million Dubai World Cup by 1 ¾ lengths over Hot Rod Charlie. He finished second in the Saudi Cup again this year  by three-quarters of a length. Though he was seventh in the Dubai World Cup and fourth in the Grade 1 Gold Cup in his two most recent starts, he’s banked nearly $15 million. “When Country Grammer won the Dubai World Cup, I had $120 in my personal checking account,” Chamberlin said. “He’s a very special horse, an incredibly special horse.”

So was his first Thoroughbred, Katie. Chamberlin was 4 when he climbed aboard her. “She stopped to graze and I slipped down her neck and landed on my feet,” he said. “I was always fearless. I jumped right back up there. The trainer, Ken, said, `I think this is going to stick.’”

Did it ever. He became a two-time national champion in saddle seat riding, a style of English riding designed to show off the high action of various horse breeds which is prevalent in the United States, Canada and South Africa. “I’ve trained national champions, too,” Chamberlin said. “I’ve been very fortunate. It is my greatest love. I tried to quit a couple of times and I’ve been unsuccessful.”

Chamberlin, whose lone sibling Ashley is eight years older, learned to work hard from his parents. “My dad was in a paper mill; my mom owned a hair salon,” he said. “I grew up with extraordinary, hard-working Midwesterners. My mom, a type `A’, was always pushing us to try new things. I was always around adults.”

Ashley and Doxtator were very good friends. Doxtator kind of knew Chamberlin.

Both graduated from Western Michigan, Doxtator in 2004 and Chamberlin in 2012. “I had several show horses when I was choosing a college,” Chamberlin said. “My parents said `You can go to a school in-state and keep the horses or out-of-state and we’ll sell the horses.’” 

No brainer. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo. “Western had a top sales program, out-competing the Ivy League,” he said. “It was an easy decision.”

In college, Chamberlin was the captain of Western Michigan Broncos’ equestrian team. Out of college, Chamberlin helped turn around a home health care company, then did consulting, showing and selling horses for a year before returning to business. He spent four years working in sales and video strategy for one of the world’s largest digital video studios, Epipheo.

A chance meeting with Doxtator in a Barnes and Noble store changed his career and his life. “He hadn’t seen me since I was a little boy,” Chamberlin said. “He sent me a message: `I’ve got an idea I think you will love.’”

Doxtator started his business career working as an analyst in mergers and acquisitions for Legg Mason, an investment banking firm in Baltimore. He then moved to New York to work in corporate group strategy for AIC, a tech and media holding company. Next up was a move cross country to San Francisco, where he joined a new company, Playhaven, a marketing platform for mobile app developers. “We grew Playhaven from five people and zero revenue to 200 employees and $50 million annual revenue,” Doxtator said in the Western Michigan alumni magazine. When Playhaven got sold, Doxtator helped his wife, Christy, launch a bridal business, LOHO Bride.

Then Doxtator came up with an idea. While exploring financial technology startups, he became intrigued with new regulations allowing apps to sell shares in assets. He thought that could be applied to sports, particularly horse racing. And he knew just who to call to find a partner.

In January, 2019, they launched Commonwealth, which allows investors to buy horses for as little as $50. Commonwealth is about to launch a similar platform for golf fans.

Chamberlin and Doxtator didn’t wait long to make a huge connection with WinStar Farm. Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar, said on Commonwealth’s website “We are excited to enter this partnership. We have seen the micro-share space grow, and believe that offering the horses that WinStar Farm races to the public will bring excitement and energy to the sport.”

You think? Country Grammer and Mage!

At the 2019 Saratoga meet, Chamberlin had the good fortune of being introduced to Ramiro Restrepo. “We became friends,” Chamberlin said. “We talked about connections.”

In 2022, Chamberlin got a call from Restrepo, who had teamed with trainer Gustavo Delgado Sr. to purchase Mage for $290,000 – more than they had budgeted – at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale. “He said, `I’ve got this nice Good Magic colt. We’re looking for somebody to take 25 percent,’” Chamberlin said.

Chamberlin watched the video of Mage’s breeze and gallop-out. “I loved them, but I wanted to see the horse in person,” he said. “I see our horses in the flesh before we buy them. I want to have convictions on every horse we offer.”

Chamberlin went to see Mage at the Lexington Thoroughbred Training Center and decided instantly: “The moment I saw him, I said, `Done, we’ll take him!’ He’s built like a bull.”

Commonwealth offered shares of its 25 percent interest in Mage to the public on its app, and 382 people bought in for as little as $50. “It was an incredible array of people,” Chamberlin said. “Professionals, doctors, factory workers, young tech guys.”

Now all of them have a memory of a lifetime: the Kentucky Derby. “I was more emotional when I saw the reactions of my partners,” Chamberlin said. “This is what we give to people. What good is a great horse like Mage if you don’t share him with others? Sharing it with other people made it special for me.”

Actually, horses have been special to him since he was four, 29 years ago. “Horses have been great to me,” Chamberlin said. “They are my greatest passion. It’s absolutely what I love. I hope I get to do horses until the day I die.” 

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.”

John Ropes

Article by Bill Heller

John Ropes, jockey Miguel Angel Vasquez, trainer Michael Yates and connections celebrate Dorth Vader’s Davona Dale Stakes win at Gulfstream Park.

A realistic outlook and a sense of humor are mighty handy tools for breeding and racing Thoroughbreds. John Ropes is blessed with both.

“If you’re in this business to make money, you’re in the wrong business,” Ropes said. “Once you’re infected, you’re hooked. The only way out is bankruptcy.”

Ropes is the head of Ropes Associates, an international executive search firm specializing in real estate development and related financial services in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, established in 1975. He began his Thoroughbred involvement five years later and opened Rosegrove Farm in Ocala in 1985. 

He has yet had the misfortune of bankruptcy to get out of the Thoroughbred business, but last year certainly tested his resolve. “We lost seven foals for a variety of reasons,” he said. ”It was extreme bad luck. You just have to put it behind you and keep moving on.”

And then a horse like Dorth Vader changes everything, giving Ropes his first graded stakes victory by taking the Gr.2 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, March 4, earning enough points to get into the Kentucky Oaks. Making the victory even sweeter were her odds: 46-1 in the field of 11. “Frankly, I thought she’d win,” Ropes said. “46-1? That was crazy.”

And fun. “We’ve had some fun in it,” Ropes said. “Horse racing should be fun. It’s an exciting business. I’ve been in it way too long. I love the business. You have to.”

His love of horses traces back to riding horses during a summer spent in England. “I always liked it,” Ropes said. “My parents always went to the track on New Year’s Day every year. But you had to be 21 to get in.”

He would get into racing at a level he could never have envisioned. He bought a riding horse when he was a senior in college, and he thanked a girl who worked for him, Dana Smithers, for getting him into Thoroughbreds. “Her father, Andy Smithers, is a trainer in Canada and in Florida,” Ropes said. “She told her dad I was interested, and Andy, who was then training at Gulfstream Park, found a horse for me. His name was Half French, and he was a $15,000 claimer who hadn’t won a race in a long time. I said, `Andy, why are we buying this horse?’ He said, `Look at those feet. These are grass feet.’”

Smithers was right. 

Dorth Vader

Shipped to Canada and switched to grass, he won two allowance races and finished fifth in $50,000 stakes. Ropes got an offer for $50,000 for his horse and turned it down. “Then he broke his leg,” Ropes said. Half French returned to the races after a year, but he was never the same horse. And Ropes hadn’t waited for his return before escalating his interest in Thoroughbreds.

Ropes’ burgeoning business, Ropes Associates, allowed him to pursue his passion. Ropes earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Florida and his Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Miami. He began Ropes Associates in 1975, and he became an important business leader in Fort Lauderdale. He became a governor in the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit research and education organization for real estate developers with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong and London. Ropes served as chairman of the ULI’s Southeast Florida/Caribbean Real Estate Opportunities Conference held in Miami in 1993 and in Puerto Rico the following two years. He is also a licensed single-engine pilot.

Half French had given him an intriguing taste of Thoroughbred success, and he didn’t wait for his recovery to buy another.

“Half French broke his leg, and I had to buy other horses,” Ropes said. “Some had success, and some had not. I started breeding some fillies, and I knew nothing about breeding. Andy helped me. And then I said, `Why don’t I buy a farm?’”

He bought Rosegrove Farm in Ocala in 1985. His timing stunk. “That was just before President Reagan changed the tax laws,” Ropes said. “The market crashed for a horse farm. It was a brutal time. But somehow we lasted through it. Life is about experience.”

Seeking another experience, Ropes began training a few horses and selling horses before deciding to concentrate on breeding. “I bought all my own mares,” Ropes said. “I had mixed success. I had to step up my game. I got an agent, Marette Farrell. We were buying very good broodmares.”

He bought a really good one, Hardcore Candy, a daughter of Yonaguska out of the Thunder Gulch mare It’s a Girl. Hardcore Candy had won eight of 40 starts on the track and earned just over $100,000,

Bred to Girvin, Hardcore Candy foaled Dorth Vader. Ropes explained the name: “My significant other for the last six years is named Dorothy Harden. She’s an attorney. She said, 'You name a horse after all your family, but you’ve never named a horse for me.’ She liked Star Wars. We came up with Dorth Vader almost instantly. When I suggested it to her, she was a little shocked, but after a while, she liked it.”

Ropes usually breeds horses for the sales, but he had the good fortune to hold on to Dorth Vader. “Everyone at the farm loved Dorth Vader,” Ropes said. “Gayle Woods said she had a beautiful body, but that she was a little offset in her right front. I knew I wouldn’t get what she was worth at the sales. Gayle was so high on her, and so was everybody else on the farm. Gayle said, `She’s more of a runner.’”

She was. Trained by Michael Yates, Dorth Vader won three of her first five starts, including a four-length victory in the Just Secret Stakes for Florida-breds and a 2 ¼-length score in the $100,000 Sandpiper Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. She then tired badly to finish a distant sixth in a $50,000 stakes at Tampa as the 7-5 favorite.

She was taking a mighty step up in the Gr.2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park and went off a huge price under jockey Miguel Vasquez. But she didn’t race like a hopeless longshot, disposing even-money favorite Red Carpet Ready in early stretch and powering away to a 4 ¾ length victory.

She’d given Ropes his first graded stakes. “It was a thrilling experience,” Ropes said. “Of 18,700 foals born, only 14 get into the Kentucky Oaks. She has enough points to make it, so we don’t have to do anything else. Nothing is as thrilling as winning a Gr.1 or a Gr.2 stakes. It’s excitement! It’s why we're in the business. I had never won a graded stakes before. Now I have.

Dorth Vader wins the 2023 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park.