Woodford Has All Bases Covered

In the past three years, Woodford Thoroughbreds has proven that you certainly can teach an old dog new tricks. Founded by John and Susan Sykes in Ocala in 1997, the operation started as a commercial breeding farm and a few years later began consigning at the yearling sales.

Woodford, which has since expanded to Kentucky, later transformed its Ocala property into a full-service training facility and decided to try their hand at the 2-year-old sales. In 2015, which was just their third year of training and selling juveniles, Woodford broke the record for the highest-priced horse ever sold at an OBS sale when selling a $1.9-million Tapit filly, now named Inheritance, to top the OBS April sale. The operation is back for more this year with a 29-horse consignment.

“It was just a great experience all around,” Matt Lyons, Woodford's Vice President and General Manager, said on selling the OBS record setter, who was picked up for $335,000 by Dennis Farkas at Keeneland the previous September. “She was all class from the beginning. The team really liked that filly all year long. At first, we didn't think she was going to go to the sale. It was decision that was made in January that we might sell her. It was just a wonderful opportunity for us.”

Trained by Steve Asmussen on behalf of LNJ Foxwoods, Inheritance has carried that early promise onto the racetrack, earning “TDN Rising Star” status after an ultra-impressive six-length romp at second asking at Belmont Oct. 4. The gray is scheduled to make her first start since in the first race at Keeneland Saturday.

“The filly really stepped up and obviously has proven herself to be a super racehorse that way she broke her maiden,” Lyons commented. “She was bought by some wonderful judges [in Alex Solis II and Jason Litt] and is owned by a good group of new people in the business. We couldn't have asked for any better for the whole outcome.”

While Inheritance is the most expensive horse they have ever sold, she was not Woodford's first success in the 2-year-old game. In just their first year of offering juveniles in 2013, Woodford sold last term's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat), who they had picked up for $47,000 as a yearling at KEESEP. Prominent owner Mike Repole paid $220,000 for her at that term's OBS March sale. Now owned by Town and Country, the dark bay is a three-time Grade I winner with earnings of just under $3 million.

“Stopchargingmaria was another filly that just really showed a lot of class as soon as we started breaking her,” Lyons recalled. “She showed herself to be very special. It gives us a lot of satisfaction to see a horse we selected as a yearling and took to the 2-year-old sale do well. Originally she went to Mike Repole and he had a lot of fun with her. She went back to the sale and was bought by Town and Country. Clearly, she has been a filly that has given a lot to everybody that has owned her.”

About 70% of the horses Woodford consigns are their own, with 70% of those being pinhooks and 30% being homebreds. The quality of their consignments have attracted the attention of big name buyers such as bloodstock agents Solis II and Litt and Steve Young, and owners Rick Porter and Michael Dubb. Lyons attributes this to the thorough preparation the farm's trainer John Gleason gives the horses prior to the sale.

“I think we've got just a really exceptional team training these horses,” the Irishman commented. “I think it's the preparation that John gives them from the first day they are broke all the way through the whole process. They go through the gate as part of their daily routine. We do a lot of swimming on the farm. He puts a lot of miles into these horses during the months leading up to it and I think the preparation is what sets us up for success. The horses are fit, strong, healthy. They go on and they race. Trainers are very appreciative of all the work we do with them early on. Everything is geared towards these horses becoming racehorses, not just sales horses.”

Woodford typically tries to sell most of their horses as yearlings, but their 2-year-old operation has been growing each year and has now become a major part of their success.

“It's a big part of what we do,” Lyons remarked. “It's just a nice option for us to have, to have the Florida operation and be able to do that. It really sets us up for success. From a business perspective, it's really nice to have cash flow coming in throughout the year. We are selling horses pretty much every month. We also invested quite a bit last year in pinhooking and buying yearlings, so we are really playing all aspects of the business from training to being commercial breeders to pinhooking to owning stallions and we race some.”

The offspring of one of Woodford's young sires, Biondetti, have been attracting a lot of attention during the breeze shows this past week, with three of the five Biondetti juveniles in the nursery's April consignment breezing in under :21 for two furlongs. In fact, Hip 26, a filly by that freshman sire, was one of Monday's bullet workers, covering a quarter-mile in :20.3 during the first session of the breeze show.

“We've had some great success at the sale with the offspring of our Bernardini stallion Biondetti,” Lyons said. “He's had three horses that we breezed go under :21. To have three homebreds by the same stallion go sub :21, I don't know if there are going to be many others that have ever done it, so that is special for us. He was a horse we purchased in Europe from Sheikh Mohammed and took him to Florida. It's just wonderful seeing this first crop perform the way we thought they would and show themselves to be very talented. For them to come to the sale and show it as well is very gratifying.”

Carrying the Godolphin colors at racetracks all over the world, Biondetti opened his account with a trio of wins that included a score in Italy's G1 Premio Gran Crtierium. He finished fourth to champion and top sire Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) in his only start on dirt in the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The 8-year-old stallion is a half-brother to MGSW blue hen mare Delta Princess (A.P. Indy), who produced the likes of three-time Eclipse winner Royal Delta (Empire Maker) and GISW Crown Queen (Smart Strike).

Woodford sent just one Biondetti colt to the OBS March sale (hip 339) and he was the second highest-priced horse in that consignment, selling to Porter's Fox Hill Farms for $240,000 following a breeze in :09 4/5. Lyons hopes the quick breezes by this set of Biondettis will translate to similar success in the sales ring next week.

“A lot of good judges were on that horse [Porter bought] too, so I'm hopeful,” he remarked. “It's not always easy bringing a horse over from Europe that doesn't have a name recognition here even though he has a wonderful pedigree. He's really excited us. Some of these babies we tried to sell as yearlings and we didn't get them sold so we brought them back for the 2-year-old sales and it looks like it's going to pay off. They have really shown their athleticism and their class.”

Though the Biondettis have been the standouts of Woodford's OBS April consignment, they have several other quality horses in the group, such as Hip 462, an Unbridled's Song filly out of a full-sister to MGISW Tranquility Lake (Rahy); Hip 75, a Bernardini filly out of a half-sister to champion Stevie Wonderboy (Stephen Got Even); and Hip 1033, a Bodemeister filly out of a half-sister to MGISW sire Colonel John (Tiznow).

“I'm really impressed with the Biondettis as a group,” Lyons commented. “They have really trained well. We have got a couple Hansens that really trained good and act like they are fast. We've got a nice Unbridled's Song filly owned by the name client that owned the Tapit filly last year, Dennis Farkas. We haven't really been disappointed by any horse we took up there. They have all showed up well and been professional and seem to have come out of their breezes good. They are just a really good group of horses overall. I would say the Biondettis are the ones that have really stepped up to the plate and have really shown up and shown everybody what they can do. It's really exciting for us.”