On a monumental day in her personal life, star bloodstock agent Liz Crow joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday for an in-depth discussion. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Crow talked about her pride in the enormous success of her now dual-champion $100,000 purchase Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), the status of the sale market after a tumultuous 2020, what traits she looks for when buying horses and much more.
“She's taken us on an incredible ride to so many different racetracks and experiences and has done so much for my career,” Crow said of Monomoy Girl, who was named Champion Older Female at last week's Eclipse Awards after taking the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly title two years ago. “It's felt like a family because we've spent so much time together rooting her on. All of us get so nervous. Brad Cox, that's the only horse he legs the jockey up on. His heart is pounding out of his chest for the entire post parade. We all feel that way. It's been one of those stories that's never going to be topped for all of us that have gotten to experience her. And Spendthrift running her next year, it's so good for racing. She's a comeback story.”
Asked about her approach to buying horses, Crow said, “The most important thing for me is to be thorough. I have a team of short-listers, and a team of people that help organize me at a sale. If there are 4,320 horses, we look at all 4,320 of them. We consider all of them, no matter the pedigree, the consignor, the breeder. We go through the process on each horse. As far as when the individual comes out, the first thing I like to look at is their attitude. So often we can forget that these horses are not machines. The way they act in the paddock, the post parade, loading in the gate, the way they're handled in the barn, all that really matters. Then from there, I start looking at their conformation, assessing them from their hip to shoulder, to the way their neck sits in their shoulder. The walk is a little bit overrated to me, especially at 2-year-old sales when you get to see them gallop and breeze. The way they move on the track is so much more important.”
Elsewhere on the show, the crew remembered legendary New Jersey horseman John Forbes, reacted to the major 3-year-old preps of the weekend and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, provided updates on the historical horse racing story and Knicks Go (Paynter) heading to the Saudi Cup. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
