Elizabeth Merryman

GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine Caravel (Mizzen Mast) was retired to Kentucky's Hunter Valley Farm by the ownership group of Qatar Racing, Madaket Stables and Marc Detampel, and will be bred for the 2024 season to Justify, as first reported on the Lancaster Farming website by Mid-Atlantic Horse correspondent Sam Cavalieri. Bred by Elizabeth Merryman and raised on her farm in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Caravel is heading to the breeding shed after she RNA'd for $2.4 million at the Keeneland November Sale. "The ownership group has very much kept me...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - On the Whitney Day card with three Grade I races, the GIII Troy S. is pretty easy to overlook. Last year, though, two-time Breeders' Cup race winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) drew attention to the 5 1/2-furlong turf test, which he won by a head. On Aug. 5, Caravel (Mizzen Mast) will be the headliner in the 20th running of the Troy and, if the 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint upsetter prevails, will be its first female winner. Caravel prepped for the race Saturday on the...

Edited Press Release Elizabeth M. Merryman, who bred Caravel (Mizzen Mast), winner of the $1-million GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Keeneland Race Course, has been named the 2022 recipient of the John Deere Award, in recognition of the breeders who participated this year in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In and in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The John Deere Award, presented by Breeders' Cup Limited and NTRA Advantage, emphasizes the contributions of breeders to the Breeders' Cup program. The industry's breeders and nominators...

Caravel, purchased for $500,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale, captured her second graded win for the new connections this year when she sauntered clear to the wire to win the GIII Franklin S. at Keeneland Sunday. Sent off the 2-1 favorite, the gray mare sat settled in a tracking third along the rail behind and opening quarter in :21.40. She charged up four wide into the lane and collared pacesetting second-choiceTwilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) with a furlong to run before skipping clear late. "The mare ran a...

The fleet-footed filly Caravel (Mizzen Mast) rides a hot streak into her first try for Graham Motion and first at the highest level in the GI Highlander S. at Woodbine. Bred and raced by her previous trainer Elizabeth Merryman, the gray captured The Very One S. at Pimlico May 14 and followed suit with a win in Monmouth's Goldwood S. June 25. Bobby Flay bought into the filly after that score and she carried his silks to victory in Saratoga's GIII Caress S. July 24. While Merryman remains part-owner, Caravel...

The Pennsylvania-bred stakes schedule received a major boost for the remainder of the year, with four stakes doubling in value to $200,000, plus the addition of two $100,000 stakes. A total of $2.6 million in purses will now be paid out in restricted, state-bred stakes in 2021. "Our revenue has stabilized and the Race Horse Development Trust Fund has stood strong," Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association's executive secretary Brian Sanfratello said. "We wanted to send a message that Pennsylvania is on the move and the premier place to breed and race."...

The game is getting smaller and the bigger players are getting larger. That's how it seems, anyway, whether you're talking about owners, breeders, trainers or stallions. For example, Saturday's sire of the moment was Juddmonte's European-based Frankel (GB). His G1 Epsom Derby-winning son Adayar (Ire) impressively won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot for owner/breeder Godolphin, becoming the first 3-year-old since Frankel's sire Galileo (Ire) 20 years ago to land the prestigious double. One of the best stallions in the world, Frankel stands for £175,000...

Caravel (Mizzen Mast) carried the colors of her breeder, trainer and now co-owner Elizabeth Merryman to six victories in her eight previous starts. Irad Ortiz climbed aboard Caravel sporting the silks of her new part-owner Bobby Flay for this Saratoga debut and she took her career to the next level with a decisive score in the GIII Caress S. Saturday. Backed to even-money favoritism off a pair of stakes wins, Caravel was away well from her rail draw and settled to track from third off pacesetting New York native Robin...

The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association honored its 2020 champions during a virtual celebration of the 42nd annual Iroquois Awards last Friday. Multiple stakes-winning Caravel (Mizzen Mast), bred, owned and trained by Elizabeth Merryman, was named Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly. Other champions announced Friday were: 2yo Filly: Plane Drunk (Stay Thirsty); 2yo Male: Fire's Finale (Jump Start); 3yo Male: Dreams Untold (Smarty Jones); Older, Turf and Sprinter Female: Jakarata (Bustin Stones); Older Male: Wait for It (Uptowncharlybrown); Turf and Sprinter Male: The Critical Way (Tizway). PA-Preferred Female...

It's a rare feat to get to the winner's circle on one of the biggest weekends in racing with a horse bred, owned and trained by the same connection, but Elizabeth Merryman did just that when her speedy filly Caravel (Mizzen Mast) gave a gutsy performance at Pimlico to take The Very One S. by a nose on Preakness weekend. Many would consider the juggling act between the foaling barn and the training center to be an impossibility, but Liz Merryman says for her, it's the best way to produce...