Ned Toffey

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...

It was inevitable Into Mischief would be featured early on in our 'Saturday Sires' series, as his picture would probably be next to the phrase in the dictionary if the term appeared there. The five-time leading sire has now surpassed the remarkable threshold of 150 stakes winners with yet another graded winner this past weekend. Maybe it's a coincidence the phrase 'Saturday afternoon horses' came in vogue around the rise of Into Mischief, but maybe it isn't. After all, he practically invented the term. More than any other horse in...

So what happens when you keep pursuing the dream, keep persevering, only to find that it's taken you right to the cliff's edge? At some point you quit, right? Not if you're Ramon "R.J." Rangel, you don't. He was still working with yearlings at Dixiana when he leased his first 10 acres. His wife at the time had quit her own job at Dixiana to care for their little farm and he would come back in the afternoons to put in a second shift on the heavier work. Gradually they...

If you're in this business, chances are you're seeking 'Saturday afternoon horses.' In this new series, we will select a stallion from the previous weekend whose runners particularly impressed. We start with the sire of the most coveted prize of all: this year's GI Kentucky Derby winner. Spendthrift Farm has long called Goldencents "Into Mischief's value sire." As a member of the five-time leading sire's first crop, he was conceived on a $12,500 cover and, while quietly plying his trade with solid runners and numbers that put him at or...

by J. N. Campbell Looking strong as an oak in the GIII Ben Ali S. at Keeneland, Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) cleared professionally down the lane to take home his second graded stakes trophy for Spendthrift's case on Saturday afternoon. The 2023 GII Louisiana Derby winner finished 14th behind Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Kentucky Derby before completing his 3-year-old year when he was beaten only a neck as the heavy favorite in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth June 17. After a nine-month hiatus, Kingsbarns returned to Gulfstream Park Mar....

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - While it took some time to find its stride, the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training gained momentum throughout the day and concluded with figures in line with the first session of its record-setting 2023 renewal. "I thought it was a good day," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "A good horse sells well and I thought we had a lot of nice horses today. Holding true to last year, that's a...

Spendthrift Farm homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), sidelined with a fractured splint bone in her left hind leg after fading to seventh as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, has begun to gear up for her sophomore campaign. The talented daughter of Hall of Famer Beholder (Henny Hughes) has posted a pair of two-furlong breezes for trainer Richard Mandella over Santa Anita's all-weather surface this month, most recently stopping the timer in :23.80 (1/1) Apr. 10. How are the initial reports so far?...

It is often espoused at business management seminars that having access to people smarter than you is a blessing and not a threat. We also know that having access to communities that share a common interest fosters social collaboration and belonging. But did you know having access to a guy affectionately nicknamed the "Italian Yoda" can lead to a graded stakes victory as a racehorse owner? This type of access has been thoughtfully curated by the powerhouse team at Belladonna Racing Partnership, which includes Paul Manganaro (the Italian Yoda), David...

Everybody understands the deal with new stallions. Most will never again command so high a fee, nor so potent a book, and many will complete their principal service to commercial breeders long before any of their stock has actually entered a starting gate. Once they reach that point, you need only browse the freshman tables of years past to get a chastening sense of how many "exciting" newcomers will establish a lasting eligibility to keep seeding the breed. On the other hand, their window of opportunity is ruthlessly brief. If...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale gained momentum throughout its opening session and concluded a day of competitive bidding Wednesday evening with 11 seven-figure mares and a median up 30% from its 2022 counterpart. "It was a good day. It was a really good day," said Keeneland President Shannon Arvin. "We were really pleased with the session overall. The theme of the century seems to be that the quality sells and there was really high demand for the quality. There was...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - After a vibrant afternoon-into-night of bidding, the Fasig-Tipton November Sale grossed over $100 million for the third straight year with champions Nest (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) leading the way when bringing matching $6-million final bids Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. "It was another remarkable horse sale, literally from start to finish," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "It's really humbling to think that we've been able, for three years in a row, do over $100 million in sales in a single night....

Between winning the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby in September and giving thousands of microshare owners cause to celebrate, Authentic was a major talking point the fall of 2020. His first foals, yearlings of 2023, include 10 who fetched $700,000 or more at recent Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton sales. "Authentic is a very special horse to us here at Spendthrift," said the farm's general manager, Ned Toffey. "He is a horse that we initially pursued the breeding interest in, but very quickly we found ourselves taking it a step farther and buying him...