By Joe Bianca
Attempting to quantify the odds of owning a Thoroughbred with star potential is an impossible task, but suffice it to say they're long. They get even longer when you only race homebreds. Definitely much longer than one in three.
Yet here is Keith Abrahams, a California businessman by way of South Africa, who owns a grand total of three broodmares housed at Columbiana Farm in Kentucky, possibly holding lightning in a bottle with newest 'TDN Rising Star' Selcourt (Tiz Wonderful). The chestnut filly, trained by John Sadler and out of Abrahams's modestly-bred Azure Spring (Open Forum), was bet like a sure thing in her debut Sunday at Santa Anita, and ran to the money with a dazzling 9 1/4-length romp, good for an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She sure looks like she's quite talented,” Abrahams said. “It's tough when you're playing (with) those types of numbers, so of course, when something like this comes around, it's fantastic.”
Abrahams, the co-founder of Brentwood Real Estate Group, has been in the racing business for nearly 30 years, and prides himself on loyalty to the people who have helped him navigate through the competitive industry for those decades.
“I've been able just to stay in the game by surrounding myself with really good people,” Abrahams explains. “I've been with John for probably close to 20 years, I've had the same bloodstock agent, Kathy Berkey, from the beginning, and I've been at the same farm in Kentucky for 15 years now.”
Though his investment may be lean, Abrahams knows what he's looking for in breeding a racehorse, and he sought out Tiz Wonderful for Azure Spring with an eye toward creating a specific type of prospect.
“Of course we look at the nicks, we look at what we think makes sense for our mare, but we also concentrate on physicality, what they look like,” Abrahams explains. “For that mare, even though she's a nice-sized mare, she doesn't necessarily throw that unless you add scope to her. That's why (the pairing with Tiz Wonderful) occurred. We liked him in the scope.”
Sadler thinks that equation produced its desired result in Selcourt. “She's a good-sized filly, scopey, so I think she'll stretch out no problem,” the trainer commented.
Abrahams acknowledges that he's had numerous inquiries this week about Selcourt, whose namesake is the South African town, about a half-hour east of Johannesburg, where he grew up. He also admits that whether or not to part with the filly is a complex decision for a modest owner like him.
“I love the sport,” Abrahams said. “Ideally, I want to stay in with her, but I also want to make sure I can stay in the game, so it's really a question of that. I'd like to hold on to her, whether it's all of her or part of her.”
Sadler, who has plenty of big-spending clients, feels gratification for his longtime partner coming up with such a promising horse from such a minute sample of potential runners.
“The theme is, it's a small-time breeder coming up with a really nice prospect, so we're all really happy and excited,” he said. “Some years, you get something good, some years, not so good. We got a good one this time around.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
