Matt Dorman

New investors at the elite level of our sport are clearly being well briefed in the odds they need to overcome. But if nobody can have failed to notice one operation pronouncing itself "Resolute," only gradually are people becoming as aware of another that had already been branded as "Determined." As we'll see, a certain staunchness is not only innate to Matt Dorman of Determined Stud but has also been fortified by experience, some of it as challenging as life can throw at us. The upshot is a conspicuous sense...

6th-Del Mar, $76,500, Msw, 8-30, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:09.06, ft, 5 lengths. SEISMIC BEAUTY (f, 3, Uncle Mo--Knarsdale {SP, $103,692}, by Medaglia d'Oro), a $400,000 FTKNOV weanling turned $550,000 KEESEP yearling, led into the final furlong of her Aug. 3 unveiling, but was beaten on the wire by One Magic Philly (Good Magic) while earning a 79 Beyer Speed Figure. Accordingly sent away as the 1-5 jolly and carrying the Peter Leidel colors, Seismic Beauty jumped beautifully and alternated outside a rival through an opening quarter in :21.99. Firmly in...

Nineteen individuals have been elected Breeders' Cup Members by 2023 Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators in voting that concluded Monday evening. Each Member will serve a four-year term. The following individuals, listed alphabetically, received the most votes from the Breeders' Cup nominators to fill 19 Member seats: Conrad Bandoroff, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Barbara Banke, David O'Farrell, Boyd Browning, Bernie Sams, Doug Cauthen, Alex Solis II, Matt Dorman, Edward (Ned) Toffey, Craig Fravel, Elliott Walden, Eric Gustavson, Barry Weisbord, Bret Jones, Aron Wellman, Gray Lyster, Jacob West, and Clem Murphy. The...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued into its second half Wednesday in Lexington with a session which, while significantly smaller, produced results largely in line with its 2023 counterpart. For the session, 196 horses sold for a gross of $4,352,900. The average of $22,209 was down 2.54% from last year's corresponding session, while the median of $10,000 was up 25%. From 316 catalogued horses, 242 horses were offered and 46 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back...

The Keeneland January sale got its third seven-figure horse when Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's John Sikura and Determined Stud's Matt Dorman partnered up to purchase Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}) (hip 144) for $1.2 million. The 13-year-old mare, dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify), was originally led out unsold at $950,000 during the auction's first session Monday. "She is a class mare," Dorman said Wednesday. "She's a Grade I producer. She has a phenomenal horse who is three-for-three and primed for next...

Matt Dorman, who began building a boutique broodmare band last year, officially has a new home for his Determined Stud after purchasing Susan Hudon's 216-acre Sierra Farm in Lexington. Tom Biederman's Biederman Real Estate marketed and sold the property. "It's a turnkey operation," Dorman said of the property on Mt. Horeb Pike. "I have a lot of respect for what Ed Hudon and his wife did there. Ed unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago, but they built a phenomenal horse farm. It's horse ready and it's human ready--which...

by Jessica Martini, Brian DiDonato, and Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale saved its best to almost last Wednesday with Paris Lights (Curlin) capping a day of solid trade when bringing a final bid of $3.1 million from Spendthrift Farm. The racing or broodmare prospect was one of seven to top the million-dollar mark during the one-session Book 1 section of the 10-day Keeneland November sale. "It was a good, steady, strong session," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said Wednesday night. "We felt great...

Matt Dorman made an immediate impact when he entered the bloodstock sales last fall looking to build a new broodmare band at his Determined Stud. The Maryland native opened his buying spree at the Fasig-Tipton November sale where he purchased four mares--including the $1.1-million Desert Isle (Bernardini) in partnership with John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa--for a total of $2.125 million. Dorman returns to Fasig-Tipton Tuesday, but this time as a seller as he offers three weanlings through Scott Mallory's consignment. "It's mixed emotions," Dorman said of Determined Stud's...

by Jessica Martini, Brian DiDonato & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale's two-session Book 2 opened Tuesday in Lexington with solid trade and a varied bench of domestic and international buyers. Bloodstock agent Arthur Hoyeau made the day's highest bid, going to $975,000 to acquire the group-winning mare Pollara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) from the Claiborne Farm consignment. The 5-year-old mare was one of five to sell for $500,000 or more during Tuesday's session. Six reached that level at last year's first Book 2 session. In...