It's not easy, but somehow Amy Moore has made it look that way. After spending three decades as a high-profile Washington, D.C. lawyer, she said goodbye to the long work weeks and the pressures and changed careers midstream in 2015 and became a race horse owner and breeder.
It could be a case of beginner's luck or that Moore really knows what she is doing or some combination of the two, but Moore's success has been nothing short of sensational.
The first horse she bought and raced was Queen Caroline (Blame), a $170,000 Keeneland September purchase who won four stakes and earned $384,776. Queen Caroline would be the first horse to join Moore's broodmare band at her South Gate Farm in Virginia. She was bred to Violence (Medaglia d'Oro) and the offspring would be Moore's first ever production as a breeder. That Violence-Queen Caroline colt is none other than Forte, the likely favorite for the GI Kentucky Derby. One horse bred, one Kentucky Derby favorite.
It's a remarkable story and one Moore shared with us this week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Moore was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.
As a lawyer, Moore, who grew up riding horses, advised large companies on their retirement and health plans. But in the back of her mind she looked forward to the day when she could have an easier and, some would say, more rewarding lifestyle breeding and racing horses.
Click here to play this week's podcast | Ryan Thompson Photo
“A 70-hour week would have been a light week, frankly,” she said. “It was very intense. A lot of hard work. It was fun because you're working with extremely bright people and that's always challenging and fun. But no, I have never looked back. I like being a farmer a lot better than I like being a lawyer.”
Actually, she didn't get off to a perfect start. Queen Caroline finished last in her first two races, losing by a combined margin of 42 3/4 lengths.
“I thought I was going to have to go to the races with that paper bag over my head for shame,” she said.
But then trainer Michael Matz put Queen Caroline on the turf and she was a completely different horse.
Moore said that Forte has become a celebrity in her local county in Virginia, where he was raised after being born in Kentucky.
“One of the nicest things about it is that now everyone in Clark County, Virginia, which is the smallest county in Virginia, knows Forte,” she said. “He's a local hero. So if I go to the post office or the grocery store or wherever, people are rooting for Forte and want to know how he's doing and they're very interested in him, and that's a nice thing to have for the community. A lot of people that know nothing about horse racing are getting behind the horse.”
Queen Caroline has delivered one live foal since Forte, a now 2-year-old colt by Uncle Mo who sold for $850,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, and she has been reported to be in foal to Flightline. It doesn't look like Moore will be a one-horse wonder.
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Woodford Thoroughbreds, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, Lane's End, XBTV, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley went over last week's action, which was topped by the GI Blue Grass S., the GI Santa Anita Derby and the GII Wood Memorial. Moss and Finley both thought that Tapit Trice (Tapit) ran much better when winning the Blue Grass than he did in his GIII Tampa Bay Derby win. They looked ahead to this week's GI Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland and to the GI Apple Blossom H. to be run at Oaklawn. In other news, the team took a look at the Ron Faucheux story. After winning his third straight training title at Fair Grounds, Faucheux announced that he was becoming a jockey's agent because he wasn't making a decent living as a trainer.
Click here to watch the video version of this podcast or click here to hear the audio-only version.
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