For everything the Madden family has accomplished in Thoroughbred racing over 120 years, this was a first. Preston Madden, the 82-year-old Kentucky legend, and Patrick Madden, his successful 52-year-old son, both owned and bred winners on the same card Sunday at Saratoga.
Truth (Arch), a filly who Patrick and co-owner/breeder Ben Walden Jr. bought back from Baccari Bloodstock for $100,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2014, went wire-to-wire in the day's sixth race, a maiden special weight turf route. Later, in the 11th and final event, a 29-1 longshot gelding named Derby Champagne (Pulpit) held on to score by a nose in a $50,000 starter allowance, also on grass, for owner/breeder Preston, on his birthday no less. The kicker? Both horses were foaled on the same day, April 6, 2013.
Success on the biggest stages is far from new to the Maddens, one of the foundational families in American Thoroughbred racing. Sunday's developments were noteworthy, however, because of how dramatically they have scaled back their breeding and racing operations in the last decade.
In 1896, John E. Madden, grandfather of Preston, bought a yearling colt named Hamburg for $1,200. He had recently turned his attention to Thoroughbreds after over a decade of building a business through buying, developing and selling standardbred runners. Hamburg went on to win 12 of 16 starts as a juvenile, often carrying unprecedented weights, and became the nation's champion 2-year-old.
Hamburg earned almost $40,000 for Madden on the racetrack and returned another $40,000 when Madden sold him to wealthy copper trader Marcus Daly. Using those profits, Madden bought and opened Hamburg Place, a farm in Lexington that he turned into the country's most fruitful Thoroughbred breeding operation in the early 20th century. Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner, was bred there. So were the winners of the 1914, 1920, 1923, and 1925 Kentucky Derbies and 1909, 1915, 1921, and 1923 Belmont Stakes. Madden was the country's leading breeder eight times, including seven years in a row between 1917 and 1923.
Today, there are zero Thoroughbreds at Hamburg Place. Completing the vision of Madden family matriarch and wife of Preston, Anita, the 2,000-acre landmass is now mostly concrete and is leased out to a litany of retail, financial and accommodation businesses. The area is split up into sections honoring the animals that helped build the institution–War Admiral Place, Sir Barton Place, Plaudit Place, Hamburg Pavillion, but the actual space bears little resemblance to its original purpose. Sunday's events would suggest that there is still family involvement in racing, but how much?
“It won't take long to tell you what I'm doing,” Preston Madden says. “Because I'm not doing that much. I've got six horses in training. Three here (in Kentucky) and three in California. I've got one mare at Nuckols Farm, Esprit de Corps, and one at Claiborne, Champagne Taste, the dam of Derby Champagne.”
Preston's string of horses is a mega-investment compared to his son's. “I have half of two horses in training,” Patrick Madden says. “I probably have three or four mares and own a couple of stallion shares. I have half of one 2-year-old, not an expensive horse. Ben (Walden) and I basically stood Bellamy Road, Artie Schiller and U S Ranger, and we sold the three stallions to WinStar.”
Patrick, who has been integral in transforming Hamburg Place into a booming commercial success, takes a pragmatic approach to the racing business.
“I mean, look, it's not fun if you're not making money,” he says with a laugh. “If you're losing money, it's not that much fun. I'm in it for fun and to make money. That's probably why I don't have a lot (of horses). If I see something, I'll do it, and at times, I've pinhooked horses. I am involved, but it's not my primary business.”
In fact, Patrick estimates, his greatest contributions to the racing industry now come not through the entry box, but through the betting windows. “If you will produce a racecard where they're going to handle a lot of money and have full fields,” he says, “I will bet a lot of money. So I mean, I'm still involved. I wish more people were still involved on the betting side of it.”
Neither Madden was in attendance Sunday at Saratoga. Patrick was on a family vacation, playing golf with his son at Greenbrier, and Preston watched on television from Lexington. “Pat mentioned that we had two running and we could go up there,” he says, “and I said, 'no, we wait for stakes races before we travel to see them.'”
Later in the conversation, Preston Madden can't immediately recall where he bought one of his two mares. Then, almost as if setting me up, he says “It's terrible when you're not able to remember those things.”
He immediately follows that lament, unprovoked, with a detailed synopsis of his rich history in racing.
“I was born in 1934,” he begins. “War Admiral was born in 1934, and I was extremely fortunate to get him at stud his last year. The absolute last foal of War Admiral was bred by Preston Madden. I kept her and named her Belthazar. She never left Hamburg Place. I bred her to Lt. Stevens and she produced Bel Sheba. Bel Sheba placed in stakes for me. I bred her to Alydar and she produced Alysheba in 1984. I sold Alysheba for 500 (thousand) at Keeneland to Pam Scharbauer. He won the Derby, which made my life a lot easier. In '88, he became the world's leading money-earning Thoroughbred of all-time, which made history repeat, because my grandfather bred a horse named Zev. He won the Kentucky Derby for Harry Sinclair and then the following year became the world's leading money-earner of all-time, bred by John Madden. I was fortunate enough to make history repeat. Amazingly, Sinclair and Scharbauer are both from Texas.”
It's obvious that Preston Madden still remembers plenty. It's also obvious that even with their numbers and prominence drastically reduced, racing is still in his family's blood. And it was made clear once again Sunday that, as long as there are still horses in their employ, when the Madden name shows up in your program, you should expect success.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
