Great to see that Drayden van Dyke is back riding in SoCal. I wanted to post this short video to let Drayden know the positive impact that he has had on others. On May 30th, 2016, Drayden rode our horse Living the Life (IRE) to a win in the Grade 3 All American Stakes @GoldenGateFields. This was one of the best racing days and day of fun and fellowship for my family and friends. Thank you Drayden and welcome back.
Category: HnR News
HnR’s Living Magic Wins the 2023 Chelsey Flower Stakes
HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (Hank Nothhaft) homebred Living Magic won the Chelsey Flower Stakes handily first time going two turns-1 1/16 mile on the turf at Belmont at the Big A. Reuben Silvera had the ride for Trainer Phil Schoenthal. Living Magic is a two year old filly by undefeated Triple Crown Champion Justify o/o Living the Life (IRE) a millionaire who won 10 times in 35 starts including two Grade 2’s and a Grade 3 on the All Weather surface as well as being Grade 1 placed on the dirt. Living the Life (IRE) also won on the turf as a 2 year old.
Living Magic re-rallied to win while pulling away by 1 1/4 lengths
Living Magic sat second tracking the lead for the first half of the race. Mid way, Ozawa the favorite, made her move driving to the lead. After briefly dropping to 3rd, Living Magic (KY) accelerated to challenge the leader and run her down in late stretch pulling away and winning by 1 1/4 lenghts.
Living Magic and Reuben Silvera greeted by trainer Phil Schoenthal
This is Living Magic (KY) 2nd Stakes win in 6 starts. After breaking her maiden on debut at Parx, Living Magic (KY) has been running exclusively in stakes company. Living Magic (KY) won the My Dear Stakes at Woodbine, finished 2nd in the Presque Isle Debutante and 3rd in the Astoria at Belmont. Her career statistics are 6 starts, 3 wins, 1 place, 1 show with earnings of $193K. Living Magic (KY) came out of the race in good order. Future plans have not been determined at this time.
Selected Press Coverage
Past the Wire: https://pastthewire.com/living-magic-posts-16-1-upset-in-135k-chelsey-flower/
Coolmore News: https://coolmore.com/farms/america/news/justify-juvenile-wins-second-stakes
NYRA News: https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/news/living-magic-up-in-time-in-$135k-chelsey-flower
Daily Racing Form: https://www.drf.com/news/living-magic-upsets-chelsey-flower
Bloodhore: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/stakes-result/272954/chelsey-flower-stakes-living-magic
HnR’s Prodigy Doll Wins Impressively in 3rd level Allowance Sprint at Laurel Park
After a 6 month layoff, Prodigy Doll, owned and campaigned by Hank Nothhaft’s HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC, returned to racing on Dec 18th at Laurel Park for the beginning of her 5 year old campaign. Going off as the 9/5 favorite Prodigy Doll put in a strong 2nd place finish in a third level allowance coming up short by 1/2 a length.
Trained by Phil Schoenthal, PD, coming back off a brief 19 days off, comprised a field of 6 filly/mares including Response Time. Response time was coming off a front running 7 3/4 length win. Though Prodigy Doll was the morning line favorite, the bettors sent her off as second favorite at 2 to 1, with Response Time going off as the clear favorite at 1 to 1 odds.
With jockey Horacio Karamanos returning to ride Prodigy Doll, PD broke clean, was pinned on the rail and did not contest the early pace. Under asking, Prodigy Doll came out four wide into the stretch, leveled off, forged to command with her strong turn of foot making up 3 1/2 lengths, then pulling away for a widening two length win.
Prodigy Doll came out of the race in good form. Her record stands at 18 starts, 4 wins, 4 shows, and one place with career earnings of $241,320. PD is a stakes winner and multiple stakes placed. As we plan the balance of her 5 year old campaign we will be looking to burnish her resume with more black type with Graded Stakes black type a primary goal.
Plans for Prodigy Doll (KY) post racing career is to retain ownership and add her to Hank Nothhaft’s successful broodmare band. Prodigy Doll was acquired by HnR via Fasig Tipton sale with Ballysax Bloodstock acting as agent.
Lingfield Park wins first asking on Turf
Video Lingfield Park Maiden Win
Lingfield Park (LP) , PaBRED, colt by Verrazano o/o Move by Silver Train broke his maiden in his 4th career start. Lingfield Park is named after Lingfield Park Racecourse , a horse racing course at Lingfield in Surrey, United Kingdom, to honor HnR’s MGSW mare Living the Life (IRE). Living the Life won the first All Weather filly/mare Sprint Championship held at Lingfield Park April 18, 2014.
Lingfield Park is the first foal out of HnR homebred mare Move by Silver Train o/o Be Envied, making Move a 1/2 sister to two accomplished HnR homebreds: Finest City Breeders’ Cup Sprint Champion and Eclipse Award winner and Grand Prix a multiple stakes winner with a career record of 18 starts 4 wins 5 seconds and 4 thirds. Though over shadowed by her two 1/2 sisters, Move compiled a credible body of work, starting 20 times, compiling 2 wins 5 places and 4 thirds. Lingfield Park was foaled at Northview PA by Tim Fazio.
In conjunction with Carl McEntee, Verrazano was chosen for Move with the plan to produce a commercial PaBRED foal to be sold at auction. Verrazano looked like an exciting new stallion prospect off his race record, standing at Coolmore and phenomenal pedigree being 1/2 brother to Graded Stakes Winning, successful stallion El Padrino and the phenomenal Princess of Sylmar, a PaBred who won 4 Grade 1’s including the Kentucky Oaks with career earnings of $2M+. Princess of Sylmar was sold at auction for $3.1M to Shadai Farm in Japan. Verrazano started out 5th on the freshmen sire list producing graded stakes winners like Seek and Destroy, a MGSW on turf. Surprisingly, at least to us, Verrazano’s U.S. stallion career was cut short by his sale to a syndicate in Brazil in 2019. The sale undermined the commerciality of Verrazano offspring causing HnR decision to keep Move 19/aka Lingfield Park to race.
Once it was decided to keep Lingfield Park to race, he was sent to Delaware, and then Virginia, to become certified for their thoroughbred incentive programs. A large horse, it took a while for Lingfield Park to round into racing shape and overcome the usual bout of 2 year old ailments. LP did not make it to the races until March of his 3 year old year. After legging up at Eagle Point Farm with Karen Godsey in Virginia, LP was sent to Fair Hill Training Center in Eklton, MD to be trained by Phil Schoenthal.
Fair Hill is one of the best, if not the best locations, to stable and train thoroughbreds. Trainers have access to dirt, Tapeta, and turf trails for training. Think Newmarket UK with dirt facilities. LP has/had plenty of workmates during this process including our homebred 3 yo colt Nimitz. Nimitz has won 3 of 7 and produced performance numbers right on the edge of black type performance levels. LP worked well with Nimitz so we believed he would do well once he got some experience. We also believed that LP is a two turn horse, but ran him short first time out to get some experience and conditioning.
LP then went to two turns on dirt race 2 and 3, finishing 2nd in race 3. Besides distance and surface considerations, races that take advantage of LP’s PaBred status and VA and DE certifications take priority. In May, what looked to be LP’s perfect next race came up at Penn National, a PaBRED restricted race Maiden Special Weight race at a mile on the dirt. Unfortunately, LP came down with a viral infection and had to be scratched from this race.
Once past the virus, and back in training, and another month lost, LP was in need of his next/4th start. This is where breeding, state certification and luck came together for him. Given LP’s pedigree and training on the All-Weather Tapeta track at Fair Hill, Phil S believed LP would do well on dirt, AW and turf, a rare quality. Second, because LP is a PaBRED, LP can be entered in certain maiden claiming races without putting him in for a “tag”. So our entering LP in a $25K maiden claiming race did not represent any decline in our expectations for LP, rather represented the need for a race. Plus HnR as the breeder and owner of LP, is eligible for significant incentives when he wins or hits the board. As it worked out, this plan came to fruition. The winner’s purse was increased for PaBRED winning an open race, the breeder received a bonus, and LP earned the VA winner’s bonus. As a result, the incentives exceeded the winner’s purse for this particular race. LP should race again after a few weeks break. Given his ability to run on three surfaces, LP is a strong candidate to run at least once this summer at Colonial Downs in VA.
Pennsylvania's Thoroughbred Elite-Finest City-Everything Happens for a Reason
by Averie Levanti for Pennsylvania Horseracing Association
In a typical year, 1,600 Pennsylvania-breds compete on the racetrack for average earnings of $27,600. Of the 50,000+ who have raced across the globe since 1985, only an elite group of 31 horses have broken the seven-figure mark in earnings. Over the course of summer 2020, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association will be chronicling a ten-part series featuring the select group of Pennsylvania-breds who reached the unique and rare accomplishment of $1,000,000 in racetrack earnings. Join us to celebrate and remember some of the greatest racehorses the Keystone State has produced.
When Hank Nothhaft attended the 2011 Keeneland November Sale, he had a specific goal in mind: purchase a handful of broodmares to support his newest stallion acquisition, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winning Silver Train, who Nothhaft had purchased a couple of months prior and moved to the Pennsylvania branch of Northview Stallion Station.
Alongside his bloodstock agent Carl McEntee, Nothhaft ended up taking home three new broodmares. One was Be Envied, a stakes placed daughter of Lemon Drop Kid who was in foal to the up and coming stallion City Zip. Sent to Northview PA, Be Envied foaled out her chestnut filly on March 28th, 2012.
Nothhaft named his newest filly City Envy, and she quickly began to bring raving reviews. McEntee advised Nothhaft that the filly would be a great weanling sale prospect, and the decision was made to prepare for the 2012 Keeneland November Sale after she x-rayed clean. Her high expectations led Nothhaft to set her reserve at $50,000, but they expected her to bring as high as $150,000 with all of the buzz surrounding her.
To the surprise of Hank Nothhaft and everyone else involved with City Envy, she hammered right on reserve at $50,000 for Cobra Farm. What had happened? How could they have been so wrong? Soon after, it was discovered that City Envy was not vetting cleanly and happened to have a cyst on a stifle, a problem that was not detected on her initial x-rays. Nothhaft dealt with mixed emotions following the sale knowing he would not have sold his filly if he had known she had had an issue.
City Envy was sent to new owners Cobra Farm and prepared as a pinhook for the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She brought $85,000 as a yearling and was purchased on behalf of the San Diego-based stable Seltzer Thoroughbreds. Seltzer ended up renaming City Envy to Finest City as an ode to their hometown. Once settled into California, the newly- named Finest City was turned over to a third generation horseman, albeit a brand new trainer, in 28-year-old Ian Kruljac.
Finest City developed a reputation as a quirky horse, and she dealt with a handful of minor physical maladies. Kruljac was patient with his filly, and his small stable allowed him to give her the attention she needed. His careful and patient handling ensured that Finest City did eventually make it to the races, and she debuted at Del Mar in July of her three-year-old season, finishing a close second at odds of 33-1.
Finest City made her next start on August 23, 2015, romping to an 8 ½ length maiden victory at Del Mar. Her impressive score earned her a try in stakes company next out, and she finished a respectable fourth in the Unzip Me Stakes in her turf debut. Returning to the main track, Finest City rolled to another easy victory at Del Mar, this time taking an allowance event by 3 ¼ lengths. Her short first year ended with another second place effort in allowance company before a dull effort in the G1 La Brea on a quick turnaround. It was the last time she finished outside of the superfecta for a long time.
Starting her four-year-old campaign in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita, Finest City suffered a heartbreaking loss after dueling with 64-1 longshot Lost Bus for the duration of the race before falling a head short at the wire. She proceeded to finish third in allowance company and fourth in the G3 Las Flores Stakes before stepping back up into Grade 2 company in the Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos
Sent off at 8-1 in the field of seven, Finest City settled towards the back of the pack before making a four-wide bid around the turn to put her within contention. In a perfectly timed ride, the filly ran down the leading pair of Las Flores winner Fantastic Style and Santa Monica winner Lost Bus to enact her revenge by 1 ¼ lengths.
Fresh off her first graded stakes triumph, Finest City tried Grade 1 company in the Vanity Mile, where she faced a dynamic duo of champions in Beholder and Stellar Wind. In an incredibly respectable effort, she finished third
while beaten only 2 ¼ lengths by Beholder, who would go on to win her second consecutive Champion Older Mare title by year’s end.
Having shown her versatility with an ability to handle turf in the past, Finest City returned to the turf for her next two races. After finishing a close fourth in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap, the filly stretched out to the furthest distance of her career in the 11/8 mile Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes. Finest City put up a gutsy effort at a distance that was probably past her prime, closing a 2 length advantage on Avenge in the final furlong to lose by a diminishing head.
With the Breeders’ Cup looming two months out, Finest City trained up to the world championship event with her sights set on a return to the dirt in the Fill-y & Mare Sprint division. Everything was coming together perfectly for Hank Nothhaft, who also planned to run his filly Living The Life in the same race. Living The Life was entering the Breeders’ Cup off a close second in the G2 Presque Isle Masters in her bid to win the race for a third consecutive year.
Nothhaft had his tickets and travel plans in order to cheer home both a filly he owned and a filly he had bred when disaster struck. Living The Life turned up lame after her final workout for the Breeders’ Cup. In the immediate air of disappointment, Nothhaft cancelled his travel plans and gave away his Breeders’ Cup tickets. It was a decision he would end up regretting. tickets. It was a decision he would end up regretting.
Finest City drew post twelve in the field of thirteen. Despite having not won since April, she was sent off as the fifth betting choice at 8-1 for her consistent, well-placed efforts. When the gates sprung, Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith hustled Finest Cit-y towards the front, locking into a three-wa-y speed duel with Gloryzapper and Paulassilverlining. The trio set down blistering fractions of 21.98 for the opening quarter and 44.82 for the opening half.
With Gloryzapper falling away as the field rounded the turn, Finest City and Paulassilverlining turned into the stretch as one. Defending champion Wavell Avenue was catapulting from the back of the pack to range up alongside the dueling pair. Finest City finally gained an advantage over Paulassilverlining before being confronted with a new challenge from Wavell Avenue. Regardless, Finest City found it within herself to hold off her rival for the final half furlong, and she soared under the wire ¾ length in front.
Finest City’s score in the Filly & Mare Sprint was the fourth victory at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a Pennsylvania-bred and the first in twenty-four years. It was a first for many involved: the first Grade 1 victory for the fill-y herself, the first for Seltzer Thoroughbreds and young trainer Ian Kruljac, and the first for Hank Nothhaft as a breeder. At year’s end Finest City was named Pennsylvania-bred Horse of the Year and won the Eclipse Award for Champion Female Sprinter.
A few hours before she was officially christened a champion, Finest City made her five-year-old debut in the G2 Santa Monica. She went one better than the year before, cruising to an easy 3 ¾ length victory in wire to wire fashion. The Santa Monica would ultimately end up being the final win for Finest City’s career, but she remained consistent through year’s end with second place efforts in the G1 Santa Margarita and the G1 Humana Distaff and thirds in the G1 Beholder Mile and G2 Great Lady M.
Finest City still intended to defend her title in the Breeders’ Cup, and Hank Nothhaft made sure not to miss out the second time. On November 4, 2017, the consistent, hard-trying mare made the final start of her career at the world championships, but a repeat was not meant to be. Finest City turned in the poorest effort of her career when eighth in the field of fourteen.
Despite the disappointing end to her racing career, there was no time to ruminate. Finest City was due to sell at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale two days after the Breeders’ Cup, and she shipped to Kentucky the following morning. Hank Nothhaft followed his filly and watched her step into the sales ring on Monday evening. The bidding jumped up past seven figures before finally hammering at $1,500,000 for legendary Japanese horseman Katsumi Yoshida, owner of Japan’s breeding powerhouse Northern Farm.
From Finest City’s three seasons on the racetrack, she faced the starting gate twenty times with five wins, six seconds, and four thirds for earnings of $1,266,394. She only finished worse than fourth twice throughout her entire career. She took home three graded stakes triumphs and placed in seven others, with her finest hour coming with a Breeders’ Cup victor-y and subsequent Eclipse Award.
Despite offering Finest City as a weanling at Keeneland, Hank Nothhaft maintains that he has no regrets when it comes to selling her that day. He reflects on how the circumstances, timing, and luck culminated with her ending up with the right trainer at the right time to maximize her talent. Nothhaft believes that ending up in a small barn like Ian Kruljac’s was crucial to Finest City’s success because she received the individual attention that was required to work out her kinks and minor problems.
Before being sent to her new home in Japan, Finest City made a stop in England for a date with world-renowned sire Frankel. The resulting colt sold at auction for 108,000,000 -yen (around $1,000,000 USD) as a foal. She continues to reside at Northern Farm, where she delivered a colt by Lord Kanaloa in 2020.
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Nothhaft finds thrills in the Thoroughbred Industry
INTERVIEW Bloodhorse Daily “MarketWatch”
Sept 28, 2018
By Meredith Daugherty
twitter @BH_MDaugherty
Ten years ago, Hank Nothhaft founded HnR Nothhaft
Horse Racing and dove into the world of
Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales. Blood-
Horse MarketWatch spoke with Nothhaft about what
sales mean for his operation, how the state of the market
affects breeders, and what the industry can do to
help ensure continued success at all levels.
MarketWatch: How did you get your start in the
industry?
Hank Nothhaft: After graduating from the (U.S.)
Naval Academy and serving in the Marine Corps, I
became a startup technology executive. I ended up
as the CEO of five venture-backed, high-tech-based
startups in the telecommunications business. It’s a
high growth environment; I call it adrenaline-driven.
Looking over the horizon and going from being
the young bull to the old bull, I realized that even if
I wanted to go on forever, I had to be realistic. So I
systematically decided to start a business that would be
a viable alternative to being a CEO that I could run in
retirement and have a lot of fun with. To have the same
sort of thrills I experienced in the business world. So
in 2007-08, I stuck my toe in the water of the industry
and have proceeded from there via the school of hard
knocks, trying not to make the same mistake twice.
We’ve had a lot of tumult in a short period of time
because of the significant financial recession that
occurred in 2008. I got started just before that, and
I had made some calculations that turned out to be
not very accurate, but because I was a financial expert
when the collapse occurred, I took advantage of that
situation to do what I call a “restart round” and push
aside the things I had done incorrectly to try and have
a more successful path. I certainly had the satisfaction
of enough good things happening that my adrenaline
addiction has been satisfied.
MW: Were you familiar with the industry at all
when you made your transition?
HN: I had no direct connection with the horse
racing industry whatsoever when I started, but I get up
most mornings very thankful that I made that fateful
decision to get involved. My wife and I were very casual
fans, so that was certainly part of it. The other part was, I
went to Europe frequently and I was addicted to reading
Dick Francis novels, and I would carve a day out here or
there to go to tracks within easy rail distance from London.
I had a romanticized view of the British horse racing
industry, but as silly as that sounds, it
did play a part in my decision.
The American Pharoah colt consigned as Hip 91 at the
Keeneland September Yearling Sale
MW: Ten years after forming HnR NothhaftRacing, how did you feel
about watching the American Pharoah—Kindle colt that you sold
as a weanling for $400,000 sell for $2.2 million as Hip 91 at this year’s
Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
HN: It was a great time. I derive a lot of satisfaction from those
moments, and it doesn’t have to be a big monetary achievement. I think
the sale was fantastic. I think it was like a Hollywood script that we had
the first yearlings from a Triple Crown winner, and we
had Sheikh Mohammed there for the first time in 10
years. We also had the Coolmore/Godolphin détente in
place and a phenomenal stock market going, a new tax
bill, new players in the industry, a global marketplace …
what could be better than that? The results of the sale
are unequivocally outstanding.
MW: What was special about that colt that you
remember from your time with him?
HN: I paid $50,000 for his dam, Kindle. I had a
tremendous relationship with the horse, spent a lot of
time with her when she was racing, and she was our
first stakes winner. She has the greatest disposition.
The reason I was able to buy her was that she was a
bit short. I moved her to Kentucky because regional
sires are not really commercial, but I breed all my
Pennsylvania mares in Kentucky, and they’re all foaled
out in Pennsylvania.
With Kindle, and a handful of really commercial
mares, I’ve been producing Kentucky-breds, but
mostly I have Pennsylvania-breds. No one knew with
her what kind of foal she’d produce, but she’s a robust
mare. With American Pharoah, I was lucky to have a
couple mares that were good enough to be accepted, so
I bred Kindle to him. From the get-go, she produced
an exceptional foal. Almost perfect. He’s the proudest looking,
most balanced horse, and I love the streak of
lightning blaze on his face. He was the prime candidate
to sell as a weanling. My reserve was $400,000, and it was exactly on
the nose.
I’m so excited for the horse, because I’ve heard rumors that they’ll
ship him to the United Kingdom. Assuming that’s the case, the top
folks in the Sheikh’s operation will get a good look at him and then
put him in a position somewhere in the world to be as successful as
possible. My great hope would be that he works out as a dirt horse and
that maybe he could be the Sheikh’s Kentucky Derby (G1) horse.
The one thing I realized by selling horses is that they
end up in better hands than mine. People with better
contacts, more money, and better resources than my
own. There couldn’t be anyone that meets that criteria
better than Sheikh Mohammed. When you sell them,
you set in motion a chain of events that could never
have occurred had you retained ownership yourself.
I bred Kindle to Pioneer of the Nile, and I have this
phenomenal Pioneer of the Nile colt. He’ll be in Book
1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
I also had Hip 1 in the (September) sale. She was an
RNA, so I have entered her in the Fasig-Tipton October
Yearling Sale (as Hip 624). I want to try to capitalize
on the current market demand for quality American
Pharoah bloodstock. I am confident that given a better
position, she will be a standout in this sale. If not, we
are certainly prepared to keep and race her, as she is a lovely filly.
“When you sell them you set in motion a chain of
events that could never have occurred had you
retained ownership yourself.”
—HANK NOTHHAFT
MW: From a breeder’s perspective, what did you
think about the Keeneland September sale and the
quality of the yearlings being offered?
HN: In terms of the sale’s success being a mark
of our industry turning the corner from the market
downturn, the thing that I really look at as a breeder
is, how many horses are being bred? The last numbers
that were available are not super encouraging. We kind
of flattened out more or less three or four years ago,
and we haven’t really turned the corner. Kentucky has
gotten back to where they were 20 years ago, but if
you look at what percentage of horses that represents,
they’ve gone from being 35% of the horses bred in the
industry to somewhere around 55%. That means, likely,
if you look at each state, all the other states have had
significant declines.
I look at those bigger states that have had a tradition
in the horse racing business, and some of them are
at a third of where they were, some have all but
disappeared. So coming out of the sale, I think the thing
is that the industry will have really turned when the
horse population responds or we reduce the amount of
racing that is taking place, because there aren’t enough
horses to feed the engine we currently have.
I think you have to look at the sales and look at the
later books and see how many horses are being sold at
a loss. You have to ask yourself, “Why and how could
this sustain itself if there are people who are breeding
and losing money?” And they can’t continue to do that
indefinitely. I think one of the bright spots can be state
incentive programs like in Pennsylvania, where I’m
involved. You can breed a reasonably competitive horse
there, keep it, race it, and make money and have fun,
or take it to a sale and maybe it sells at a loss, but if
the owners race it, then you can actually break even or
make a profit.
What’s kept me happy and in the game is that I’m
treating this like a startup. I’ve been bootstrapping and
reinvesting what I have back into the business to grow
it, and one of the big things that has helped me do that
is the state incentive program. Relative to my needs,
it’s generated a lot of cash that’s helped keep me in
the game. I can tell you without breeders, there is no
industry. Period.
If the industry wants to maintain the broad racing
schedule they have, they’re going to have to inevitably
produce more horses. Eventually, it has to be profitable,
or at least help people break even, for breeders and
enthusiasts to get into the game. I do know a lot of
people took mares out of service in smaller states, so we
need those to come back in.
MW: Do you think the market can continue the
trajectory it has taken this year?
HN: There are hard-core, central players in the
Thoroughbred industry, and those non-newcomers
are not that affected by the stock market and non discretionary
income. They are to a certain extent, but I
think the U.S. economy is in a sweet spot, and the only
thing that could upset the apple cart in my mind would
be the federal reserve increasing interest rates too
fast and somehow cutting off this really perfect scenario
we’re seeing in the economy.
My view right now is that we’re solid in the U.S.
I think other countries will adopt more pro-growth
strategies (for) their economies, and that will provide
even more underpinning to the industry. The other
side of the coin, however, is that with breeders, some
other countries have the same problem I proposed that
we have. I think they’re thinking, for example in the
U.K., of putting together a type of incentive program.
Hopefully, breeding numbers start reflecting that
programs are working here in the states.
The top end and the middle market are much higher
than they were. People have got to bid higher for horses
than they would have had to previously. I think what is
true is that people had to bid more money because you
have more money chasing the same number of horses.
The thrill of owning a horse and being involved in the
industry is fantastic. If people were more exposed to it,
many people would want to do it. BH
HnR’s Kindle American Pharoah colt Lights Up Bid Board at $2.2 Million
|
Photo Courtesy Keeneland |
Hip 91, an American Pharoah colt, sold for $2.2 million at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 10
Colt bought as weanling for $400,000 new saletopper.
By Ron Mitchell
September 10, 2018
| Originally Published “Bloodhorse Magazine” |
Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin continued its buying spree at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale when it went to $2.2 million to purchase a colt from the first
crop of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah .
The colt, consigned as Hip 91 by Peter O’Callaghan’s Woods Edge Farm, is the second foal out of the multiple stakes-winning Indian Charlie mare Kindle.
Bred in Kentucky by HnR Nothhaft Horseracing, the colt had been purchased by O’Callaghan’s Cavalier Bloodstock for $400,000 as a weanling at last year’s Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Jimmy Bell, president of Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, said Sheikh Mohammed was taken with the colt when he saw him for the first time earlier Monday.
“Sheikh Mohammed saw him at the barn and loved him very, very much,” Bell said. “In the walking ring, he was all class and had a lot of presence about him. He really liked him from the first time he set his eyes on him.”
O’Callaghan said having prominent buyers like Godolphin battling with representatives of Coolmore Stud is what consignors strive for.
“The sheikh, I knew when he saw him today, his eyes just lit up, and I just had a feeling he was going to try hard to buy him,” O’Callaghan said. “Who knew it was going to be that level, but it took a monumental effort to outbid Coolmore. It’s the perfect scenario for any of us. That’s what we all dream of, two of the great racing powers get stuck on your horse and go at it. We’re just lucky it happened to us today.”
Meredith Daugherty contributed to this story.
Winning at Anything
Excerpt from FEATURE ARTICLE
United States Naval Academy Shipmate Magazine July-August 2018
HOW TO WIN AT ANYTHING
By Erin Peterson
It’s no secret that Naval Academy alumni tend to be high achievers. Few institutions can count senators, astronauts, Olympians and Paralympians among their ranks.
No matter what Academy alumni pursue, they routinely earn the highest honors in their chosen fields.
But even the best can always get better. That’s why we’ve talked to some of the most accomplished alumni—in business, sports, health and other fields—and asked them what gave them an edge. They share some of the highs and lows of their life’s work and some of the mindsets and strategies you can use in your own life to get to the next level in the projects that are important to you.
ON TRANSLATING SUCCESS
Hank Nothhaft ’66 breeds and races thoroughbred horses.
Hank Nothhaft ’66
After decades as a successful technology executive and entrepreneur, including CEO and chairman of Danger, Inc., Hank Nothhaft could have coasted into retirement. But he wanted more than a future that included endless rounds of golf. He wanted to find a post-career passion that would
business,” he said. (Among the metrics one might analyze? Jockey performance, horse diet, weather, track length and racing patterns.)
Before he took the plunge, he did deep and careful research: he subscribed to magazines, bought and read a library’s worth of books, attended seminars and wrote a business plan. He was ready. And in 2008, he officially launched HnR Racing.
Nothhaft knew he could sift through the numbers to find
allow him to do what he did best: crunch numbers.
The data-loving CEO cast about for a sports-themed idea—he briefly considered starting an auto racing team— and eventually settled on thoroughbred breeding and racing.
The decision wasn’t as surprising as it seemed. “Any data and analytical person can die and go to heaven in the horse-racing
advantages. He also saw an opportunity to leverage some of the approaches he’d used in the tech world to give himself
18 SHIPMATE • JULY-AUGUST 2018an edge in the equine one. For example, he’d often used stock options and equity to motivate employees in his companies. He found similar ways to link compensation and performance to motivate the men and women who helped raise, train and
race his horses. “The biggest thing was that I wanted to treat people the way I would want them to treat me—or the way I would want them to treat my children,” he said.
While he admits he got off to a rocky start by making poor personnel decisions, he’s gone on to see significant success.
He is the owner of Living the Life, a horse that has more than
$1 million in lifetime earnings, including a 2014 victory in the United Kingdom’s All-Weather Filly and Mare Championship, and bred Finest City, Breeders’ Cup Champion. Other horses under the HnR banner have won multiple highly competitive stakes races.
HnR now has more than 30 horses across the country in its portfolio. These days, Nothhaft said the greatest joys of his
work run deeper than data. “When I started off, I bought horses. But over the years, I’ve gotten much more immersed,” he said. “I bred the mares to get the foals that are racing for me. And the more involved with the horses that I’ve gotten, the more internal
satisfaction and pride I feel. It’s emotional to see the success of something you’ve helped create.”[Winning Mentalities]
LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES:
“When you’ve had success in other areas, it can give you a false sense of confidence. I know I made a series of bad decisions starting out, and that was humbling.
But rather than give up and try something else,
it’s important to learn the lessons and correct bad choices.”
—Hank Nothhaft ’66
JULY-AUGUST 2018 • SHIPMATE 19
A tale of two legends
Photo Randie’s Legend Northview PA
by Emily Shields
Published in
PA Thoroughbred Newsletter / Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Magazine February 2018 Issue
The victory by Daddy Is a Legend in the Jimmy Durante Stakes-G3 was the culmination of 10 years of perseverance by her breeder, Hank Nothhaft. He believed in her dam, Randie’s Legend, despite her frustrating history both at the track and in the breeding shed. Now Daddy Is a Legend has earned$107,910 in just four starts for owners Jim and Susan Hill.
Photo Carl McEntee
Randie’s Legend, a California Bred by Benchmark out of the Gold Legend mare Eternal Legend, cost Nothhaft $43,000 at the 2008 Barrett’s October Yearling Sale. Although Eternal Legend never raced, her dam Eternal Search was a three-time Sovereign Award winner in Canada.
Eternal Legend had already produced the horse that would become Grade 2 winner Frumious, and one year after Eternal Legend would throw graded stakes placed stakes winner Eternal Rule, who won six of seven starts lifetime, three of them stakes.
“When I bought her she had a good page befitting a $43,000 Cal-bred yearling purchase” said Nothhaft. “Over the last 10 years it has become an exceptional page befitting that of a graded stakes broodmare producer”.
Nothhaft put Randie’s Legend in training, but she ultimately never made it to the races. “The purchase was mainly made to get a horse that could be competitive racing at Golden Gate Fields, which was my horizon at that time,” Nothhaft said. “She was extremely fast and often worked the bullet, but her running style was hard on her knees. She had a series of minor physical issues that prevented her from making it to the races as a two through four-year-old. On the advice of a vet… I retired her unraced, uninjured and completely sound”.
Nothhaft owned a share in dual classic winner Smarty Jones, who stood in Pennsylvania and nicked well with Randie’s Legend. The resulting foal Smarty’s Legend, is a two time winner of $57,086. After the mare was barren in 2013, Nothhaft spent time delving deeper into her pedigree.
“From 2010-2012, Randie’s Legend’s pedigree improved by leaps and bounds under the first dam, Eternal Legend”. Frumious and Eternal Rule were showing their mettle on the track, but the second and third dams were producing as well. “The rest of the pedigree was extremely active as well with graded stakes performers like Volcat, This Ones for Phil, and Smokey Fire,” Nothhaft said. “Even more surprising, if not downright amazing, Exaggerator- winner of the Preakness Stakes in 2016- materialized under the third dam. ” Nothhaft’s bloodstock agent Carl McEntee offered the advice of “upgrading the stature of her breeding mates.” In 2014, Randie’s Legend produced a Stormy Atlantic colt Nothhaft sold as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale for $115,000. Daddy Is a Legend, a daughter of Scat Daddy, came next.
Cavalier Bloodstock purchased the Pennsylvania bred filly as a weanling at Keeneland for $140,000. She was resold 10 months later at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $160,000 to Jim and Susan Hill of Margaux Farm.
Photo Amanda Motz
Daddy Is a Legend went into training with George Weaver and debuted Aug. 6 at Saratoga. Her eventful debut included striking the gate as she broke and a wide trip around the second turn. Daddy Is a Legend finished fifth, but showed encouraging promise.
In her second start, a 1-mile grass race at Belmont, Daddy Is a Legend faced the highly regarded Rushing Fall. The two kicked away from the field in the stretch, with Rushing Fall eventually prevailing on her way to an unbeaten season, capped by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf-G1. “Most people don’t realize that she gave Breeders’ Cup winner Rushing Fall the biggest challenge in her unbeaten career,” said owner Jim Hill.
At Keeneland in October, Daddy Is a Legend went off favored in a 9-furlong contest for juvenile fillies. She won by 2¾ lengths under Joe Bravo, showing her talent on one of racing’s biggest stages. Nothhaft pointed out that the filly earned, “the coveted designation as a TDN Rising Star” with the victory.
As if backing up that honor, Daddy Is a Legend returned in the one-mile graded Jimmy Durante Stakes. With a $102,415 purse, over Del Mar’s turf Nov. 25. She was favored once again, broke 10th in a field of 12 , steadied twice around the turn, and still rallied to win by a length over Data Dependent.
Daddy Is a Legend is currently wintering at Margaux Farm in Kentucky, enjoying a break before tackling a spring campaign. “For our next start for Daddy Is a Legend, we are aiming to the [Grade 2] Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland in April,” Hill said. “We obviously have thoughts beyond that, but horseracing really is a one race at a time game. Arguably you could make a case for Daddy as the second best 3-year-old turf filly in North America.” In the Appalachian, Daddy Is a Legend may meet rival Rushing Fall once again. “It could be a very exciting race,” Hill said. “Not surprisingly, we are very excited with this horse.”
Randie’s Legend was bred to Violence but did not catch, then produced a Pennsylvania bred City Zip colt last February that has been named Belleau Wood. ” We made a decision to keep the City Zip colt to race before Daddy Is a Legend emerged,” Nothhaft said.
Randie’s Legend is due to produce a Tiznow foal this spring, and will be bred back to Candy Ride (Arg). With two winners, one a stakes winner, from two foals to race, Nothhaft is thrilled that his dedication to Randie’s Legend paid off.
Daddy Is a Legend’s last race says it all
Photo Six Week Old Daddy is a Legend Darby Dan Farm
Was Daddy as a Legend’s last race an optical illusion?
According to Byron King of the Daily Racing Form the visuals of HnR bred, PA_BRED, Daddy’s is a Legend’s (Scat Daddy o/o Randie’s Legend) last race trumps any speed figure handicapping for the Jimmie Durante. Per Byron, “There is a time for speed-figure handicapping and for class handicapping. But that time is not in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday.
Keeneland/Coady Photography
Daddy Is a Legend wins an Oct. 27 maiden race.
Those methods of analysis take a backseat to trip handicapping in the Jimmy Durante, based on the eye-catching last-race performance by Daddy Is a Legend in winning a maiden race at Keeneland.
If you missed her victory there Oct. 27, watch the replay. I suspect you will come away impressed.
A bit restless in the gate, she was unsettled at the break and started a couple lengths behind the pack. Rather than panic, jockey Joe Bravo allowed her to settle, and she raced comfortably without incident passing the grandstand and through the first turn.
Then the dynamics of the race changed. The leaders, who had set a lively opening quarter-mile in 23.16 seconds, slowed dramatically leaving the first turn and into the backstretch, and the next two quarters were run in over 26 seconds apiece.
Daddy Is a Legend was 11 1/2 lengths off the pace after a quarter-mile, but advanced wide under a hold to pull within 4 1/2 lengths of the leaders after a half-mile, and then to within 1 1/2 lengths after three quarters. Then Bravo cut her loose, and in a matter of strides she was accelerating away from the pack, opening a 5 1/2-length lead by the eighth pole before he allowed her to cruise home down the final furlong to win by 2 3/4 lengths.
Now trainer George Weaver takes her to California for a Grade 3 race, an indication of his high regard for her. And that is understandable. Besides her flashy maiden victory at Keeneland, she ran second in a maiden race at Belmont a start earlier, beaten just 1 1/4 lengths by Rushing Fall – yes, that Rushing Fall, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
She is favorably drawn Saturday in post 2 in the one-mile Jimmy Durante, likely providing her with the opportunity to save ground, which is usually vital in turf races, though she was obviously so much the best at Keeneland that she didn’t need to. And if she breaks with the field she can likely establish position and become a stakes winner.”