Category: Racing
Kindle 17 Tuesday Five Top Weanlings Keeneland Nov Sale
KEENELAND NOVEMBER SALE TUESDAY FIVE TOP WEANLINGS
Thoroughbred Daily News Thursday November 8, 2017
Number Four Kindle 17
4. HIP 076 c American Pharoah o/o Kindle $400,000
Breeder-HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (KY)
Consigned by Darby Dan Farm, Agent for HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing LLC
Purchased by Cavalier Bloodstock
Callaghans Strike for More Pharoah
Peter O’Callaghan signed the ticket to acquire the first foal of American Pharoah sold at auction Monday evening at Fasig- Tipton and the O’Callaghan brothers were back in action Tuesday at Keeneland, going to $400,000 to obtain a colt from the first crop of the Triple Crown winner (hip 76).
Video Kindle 17 Sale Hip 76 Keeneland November Sale 2017
He had a great presence and a great walk Robert O’Callaghan said of the weanling. For me, he was the best American Pharoah here. The sire speaks for himself. He was such a wonderful racehorse, so we had to get a piece of the action.
It’s a lot of money, but he was such a good horse.The weanling is expected to return to the sales ring as a yearling next fall.We all know what the price is worth next September when he comes back, O’Callaghan said. Of the weanlings he has seen by American Pharoah, O’Callaghan said, They all have tremendous action and great presence. We’ve liked what we’ve seen of them so far. They all look like they’ll run. The weanling is out of stakes winner and multiple graded stakes placed Kindle (Indian Charlie). He was consigned by Darby Dan Farm on behalf of breeder Henry Nothhaft’s HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing which purchased Kindle for $50,000 at the 2009 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. @JessMartinTDN
HnR’s Grand Prix Road to Success
Published in PHBA November, 2017 Thoroughbred Report by Emily Shields
Hank Nothhaft tried to sell Grand Prix not once, but twice.
It seems serendipitous that after failing to meet her reserves in the auction ring, Grand Prix stayed home and has since become a dual stakes winner for Nothhaft, who is more than happy to have her. “She’s a super dependable filly that is right up there in my heart,” he said. “I’m so lucky to have a horse like that.”
The tale of how Grand Prix went from an auction buy back to one of the most valuable mares in Pennsylvania runs through Nothhaft, his bloodstock advisor Carl McEntee, and a champion named Finest City. Nothhaft and McEntee were on a mission to build a solid broodmare band when they came across the Lemon Drop Kid mare Be Envied.
“When we purchased the mare we were buying several mares to support the newly acquired stallion Silver Train,” McEntee said. Nothhaft stood Silver Train until his untimely death in 2013. “We had established a budget of $30,000-$50,000 per mare, as to pay more would be unwise given the potential return.”
One mare that stood out was Be Envied. The multiple stakes placed mare, a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Burning Roma, was in foal to consistent sire City Zip. Nothhaft only had to go to $37,000 to acquire her, with the resulting foal selling for $50,000 as a weanling. That weanling would one day be known as Finest City, the Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter and Pennsylvania Horse of the Year of 2016.
With Finest City not reaching her best stride until she turned four, Be Envied was resold. Nothhaft kept two more of her daughters: Move, by Silver Train, and the other being Grand Prix.
Tale of the Cat was chosen as Grand Prix’s sire, a mating based on physical appearance. “The cross was very good and the body types worked together,” McEntee said. “It’s not all paper as you must choose physicals also.”
“We wanted to pump some speed into the foal,” Nothhaft add- ed. “We got a tremendous-looking, athletic foal, and decided she was commercial. I sent her through the ring at Keeneland November as a weanling, but I wasn’t going to sell her for less than I thought she was worth. Her bidding stopped at $62,000 and my reserve was slightly higher than that. I have enough flexibility in my business that I can stick to my principles and be stubborn when I want.”
Stubborn enough that when Grand Prix went back through the ring as a yearling with a reserve of $150,000 and only brought a bid of $145,000, Nothhaft decided to keep her. “In some ways I was disappointed, but in other ways I had mixed emotions about selling her in the first place,” Nothhaft said. “I immediately took her off the grounds and back to Darby Dan. Some people came by trying to make a deal, but I named her a day or two later with a fantastic name and was emotionally committed.”
Nothhaft immediately set about following through with big plans for Grand Prix. The bay filly went to Webb Carroll’s training center in South Carolina, then went off to the barn of Gary Mandella, who trained Nothhaft’s standout mare Living The Life (Ire). “Gary is not known for bringing massive numbers of two year olds to the track,” Nothhaft said. “He takes his time getting them prepared.”
Under the banner of HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing, Grand Prix debuted at Santa Anita with a third place finish June 9, 2016. That Mandella thought highly enough of her to debut her so quickly sig- naled to Nothhaft that Grand Prix was precocious and talented, but it took the filly four tries to break her maiden. That win came at Golden Gate Fields in November, demolishing her rivals by five lengths. She was second in the Golden Gate Debutante Stakes to round out her juvenile season.
At 3, Grand Prix ran consistently in allowance company, but it wasn’t until she shipped from California to Pennsylvania that she broke through in a big way. “We had great confidence in the horse and trainer, and Finest City had emerged as a phenomenal horse at this point. In the back of our minds, we always remembered that she’s a Pennsylvania-bred.”
Grand Prix had been training in Pennsylvania for less than two weeks when she won the fittingly named New Start Stakes at Penn National over the well regarded juvenile state champion Rose Tree. “I was confident enough that I flew out for the race,” said Nothhaft, who regularly resides in Saratoga, Calif. “She didn’t disappoint anybody that day.”
From there, Nothhaft tried to “pick races that made sense for her and maximize the potential of the Pennsylvania-bred program.” Grand Prix was second in an allowance, then won at the same level a month later, scoring by a neck. She added the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial Stakes at Parx in September, and has since wrapped up her season and will get a break before returning in 2018. She has earned $211,762 with four wins, four seconds, and three thirds in 14 starts.
Nothhaft didn’t throw out the option of sprinting down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita next year, but his ultimate goal would be the Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes-G2 in September, a race he won in 2014 and 2015 with Living the Life.
“I would love to win that race with a Pennsylvania-bred,” he said. “It would be sweet for everyone involved in Pennsylvania.”
Nothhaft’s classy broodmare band, which includes stakes winners such as Kindle and Living the Life, both in foal to Pioneer of the Nile, is where Grand Prix is headed when her racing days are done.
“My goal is to have five to 10 broodmares, all ultimately coming out of my racing program. I’m running all homebreds now. For a guy that got in late and had to buy everything, in a few short years I’ve moved to vertically integrating and running my own horses.”
McEntee had nothing but praise for the owner. “Hank is honestly one of the kindest and respectable men I know. He is my friend, mentor at times and truly someone very dear to my heart. Together we have propelled each other and I shall be eternally grateful.”
PHBA Iroquois Awards Dinner Video
Video produced by Pennsylvania Horse Breeders’ Association.
The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association held Its’ 70th Annual Awards Banquet in Hershey Pennsylvania @ the Hershey Hotel. Many deserving horses received awards for 2016 with Finest City awarded Horse of the Year.
Video PHBA 2016 Iroquois Thoroughbred Awards
Charles Town Oaks Grand Prix (PA) Breeders Cup
Racing Biz article by Frank Vespe regarding HnR’s Grand Prix plans for Charles Town Oaks. Frank does an excellent and accurate job of describing Grand Prix’s current status and plans.
Racing Biz Charles Town Oaks Grand Prix’s Breeders Cup
by Frank Vespe
“Sometimes it’s the breaks you don’t get that turn out to matter most.
Take the case of Grand Prix. Her breeder, Hank Nothhaft, took her to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2015, expecting to leave with more money but one less horse than he brought.
He set her reserve at $150,000. Bidding topped out at $145,000. No sale.
The sophomore is slated to make her next start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Charles Town Oaks September 23. The seven-furlong fixture tops the track’s “Race for the Ribbon” card.
“If you get into racing and you have a little moxie and a little luck, these horses can take you anywhere,” Nothhaft said. “It’s amazing.”
Grand Prix began her career in the California-based barn of Gary Mandella. It took her four tries to break her maiden, finally scoring on the synthetic at Golden Gate. She followed that up with a game second – beaten just a nose – in the $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante Stakes.
But for the most part, her West Coast exertions didn’t yield much benefit – just the single win in her first nine starts.
Though Nothhaft, a retired tech entrepreneur, lives in Northern California, he’s a Pennsylvania-bred, as is Grand Prix. So he decided to send the filly back East; though Mandella remains the trainer of record, Grand Prix now operates out of Keith Nations’ Parx Racing barn.
“To be a breeder and an owner to run in Pennsylvania, it’s so much better than the negligible program we have in California,” Nothhaft said.
And Grand Prix has taken advantage of that rich program. She won the state-restricted New Start Stakes at Penn National on the Penn Mile undercard, followed up with a win and a second in allowance company, and last out scored by a length-and-a-half in the $100,000 Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial Stakes at Parx Racing, also a state-restricted event.
She has three wins and a second from four starts since coming east.
“All in all, she’s very consistent, fires each time, and seems to be improving,” her owner and breeder said.
In the Garofalo, Grand Prix took on older rivals, besting a field that included salty runners like the multiple stakes winners Power of Snunner and Discreet Senorita.
Still, Nothhaft acknowledges that the water figures to be deeper in the Oaks. The race has drawn 52 nominations. Among the expected runners is Shimmering Aspen, the Rodney Jenkins-trained filly who has dominated at sprint distances at Laurel Park this season.
“I think there’ll be some really nice fillies there,” Nothhaft admitted. “I think it’ll end up being a very interesting race. We would be very happy if she finished in the top three.”
To that end, Nothhaft and his trainers have developed what he called “a detailed plan” to help her acclimate to the surroundings at Charles Town, a place neither she nor Nothhaft has ever raced. She’ll ship in a few days ahead of the race and get a chance to gallop over the track a time or two prior to race day.
“If you’re going to go through all of the trouble of going, you want to make sure you do everything you can to give her a chance,” Nothhaft explained.
Nothhaft also intends to stick with jockey Jose Ferrer, who rode Grand Prix to victory in the Garofalo Memorial.
“First, he gave her a great ride that day,” Nothhaft said by way of explanation. “Second, he’s won (almost 4,200) races.”
For the longer term, Nothhaft hopes to race her through her five-year-old season. After that he intends to breed her. He has, he said, “no intention” of selling her despite her rising value.
Nothhaft has been involved in racing since 2008. He’s bred some good horses. He’s owned some good horses. He’s also slogged through all the ways that the sport can fool or foil you. He knows what sort of opportunity is there for Grand Prix.
“You really need these successes to get you over those valleys of despair,” he said. “For Grand Prix, this is our Breeders’ Cup.” ”
HnR’s Mister Nofty (PA) Runs to Front for 5th Career Win
In his fourth start of 2017, Mister Nofty, a PA_BRED, returned to his 2016 form, winning an open 1 mile 70 yard Allowance Race at Penn National going wire to wire unchallenged. Given a field of seven that included no other early speed, Mister Nofty ran free to the lead under the guidance of his regular rider Brian Pedroza and maintained it during the duration of the race.
Trainer Keith Nation, looking for a turf race for Mister Nofty, entered this race with not turf options in sight. Mister Nofty continued his front running style and was able to overcome a reasonably talented field in this open allowance non winners other than 2. This is Mister Nofty’s first strong outing since sustaining minor leg and hoof injuries during the Presque Isle Mile last September.
Mister Nofty came out of this race 100% and will be looking to build on this race. HnR is looking at all options, dirt or turf.
Mister Nofty is an HnR homebred colt, foaled at Northview Stallions, by Scat Daddy out of Walking Path by Bernardini. Hank Nothhaft worked with bloodstock agent Carl McEntee of Darby Dan Farm, to develop the breeding plan that produced Mister Nofty. He trained at Webb Carroll before starting his racing career.
Race Statistics
Penn National, Race 7, AOC 9/9, $30,400, 3yo/up, 8.32f (dirt), 1:41.73, track fast. 1–Mister Nofty, 119, dk b/br c, 4, Scat Daddy–Walking Path, by Bernardini, $21,888, O–HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing, LLC, B–HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (PA), T–Keith Nations, J–Brian Pedroza Margin: ¾, 7 starters
HnR’s Grand Prix (PA) wins Garofalo Memorial Stakes Wire to Wire
Grand Prix becomes Multiple Stakes Winner against older rivals at PA Day at the Races Stakes Card at PARX in Bensalem PA
Grand Prix found the fast track at Parx to her liking and won the Garofalo Memorial Stakes wire to wire unchallenged by her older rivals. This was her 3rd win in 4 starts since moving from CA to PA to take advantage of the PA_BRED incentive program. Grand Prix is now in the top 50 of approximately 6500 three year old fillies to race based on 2017 earnings. HnR Grand Prix connections are planning a start in a graded stakes next time out.
Race Video Video Link via Bloodhorse Magazine
Below is an excellent summary of the race that appeared in the Thoroughbred Daily News on Sept 2nd.
Thoroughbred Daily News Sept 2, 2017
- TERESA GAROFALO MEMORIAL S., $107,750, PRX, 9-2, (S),
3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:10.06, ft.
1–GRAND PRIX, 122, f, 3, Tale of the Cat–Be Envied (MSP,
$200,697), by Lemon Drop Kid. ($62,000 RNA Wlg ’14 KEENOV; $145,000 RNA Ylg ’15 KEESEP). O/B-HnR Nothhaft
Horse Racing, LLC (PA); T-Gary Mandella; J-Jose C. Ferrer.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 13-4-4-2, $207,750. *1/2 to Finest City (City Zip), Ch. Female Sprinter, GISW, $1,256,394.
2–Mama Jones, 119, f, 4, Smarty Jones–Mohonour, by Honour and Glory. O-Someday Farm; B-Patricia L. Chapman (PA);
T-John C. Servis. $25,000.
3–Power of Snunner, 126, m, 7, Power by Far–Snunner, by Yarrow Brae. O/B-James M. Courtney (PA); T-Timothy C. Kreiser. $13,750.
Margins: 1HF, HD, HD. Odds: 2.90, 16.30, 2.40.
Also Ran: Discreet Senorita, Hey Braciole, Campeona, Anais.
Grand Prix | Equi-Photo
Grand Prix recorded her first career black-type win on the dirt in the New Start S. against state-bred foes at Penn National June 3 before finishing runner-up amongst allowance company going five panels on the grass here June 26. Victorious in the Penn slop July 22, she was given ample support to make it two straight while returning to stakes company.
On the engine from the start, the bay steadily increased her advantage through crisp fractions of :21.90 and :44.51, was clear while drifting out in the stretch and kept it going all the way home to best Mama Jones. Favored Discreet Senorita was fourth.
Be Envied, a half sister to GI Futurity S. winner Burning Roma (Rubiano), is also responsible for champion female sprinter and millionairess Finest City (City Zip), who earned her biggest career victory in the GI Breeders= Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. The
15-year-old mare produced a full-brother to Grand Prix in 2015, prior to aborting the following season.
The Daily Racing Form also published a race summary authored by Jim Dunleavy presented below:
Daily Racing Form Garofalo Stakes by Jim Dunleavy
“Garofalo Memorial: Grand Prix wire to wire
Grand Prix, a 3-year-old daughter of Tale of the Cat, went wire to wire to defeat older Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares in the $107,750 Teresa Garofalo Memorial Stakes.
Grand Prix, the 5-2 third choice in the betting, sprinted clear early in the six-furlong race, then was never seriously challenged while winning by 1 1/2 lengths. She paid $7.80 and was timed in 1:10.06. The race was run in the rain over a fast track.
Grand Prix is trained by Gary Mandella, was ridden by Jose Ferrer, and is owned by Hank Nothhaft. She has been based at Delaware Park and Parx since May.
She won the $101,000 New Start Stakes over statebred 3-year-old fillies at Penn National on the Penn Mile card June 3.
Mama Jones, a 16-1 shot, raced forwardly throughout and held second by a head over the late-running Power of Snunner. Discreet Senorita, the slight 2-1 favorite over Power of Snunner, was bumped and squeezed back at the start. She rallied along the inside into the stretch but was caught late for third by Power of Snunner, who finished a head in front of her.
Grand Prix, who was bred by her owner, is now 4 for 13 with earnings of $207,750.”
Coolmore Coverage
MORE STAKES SUCCESS FOR GRAND PRIX
Evergreen Coolmore stalwart Tale of the Cat is the sire of progressive filly Grand Prix (3f Tale of the Cat x Be Envied, by Lemon Drop Kid), who landed another Black type victory when taking out the $107,750 Dr Teresa Garafalo Memorial Stakes at Parx Racing on Saturday .
A homebred for HnR Nothhaft Horseracing trained by Gary Mandella, Grand Prix raced clear to win the six furlong sprint by a length and a half.
Ultra-consistent, Grand Prix has the overall record of four wins and six placings from 13 starts with prizemoney topping $200,000.
Grand Prix is bred to be good as a half-sister to 2016 Champion US Female Sprinter and winner of the 2016 Grade I Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Finest City.
Grand Prix is the third winner from stakes-placed Be Envied, a half-sister to Grade I winner Burning Roma.
The Paulick Report Coverage
Paulick Report Garofalo Stakes
“HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing’s Grand Prix was a sharp, front running winner of the $100,000 Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares three and up. The 3 year-old daughter of Tale of the Cat broke sharply and was in front after the first sixteenth of a mile. She’d opened a clear lead after hitting the quarter in a quick 21.90 and from there, was never really threatened. She led by two entering the far turn, three approaching the top of the stretch and then was geared down late by winning jockey Jose Ferrer to win by an official margin of a length and a half. Trained by Gary Mandella, Grand Prix went off as third choice in the wagering at 5-2 and paid $7.80 to win. She covered the six furlongs in 1:10.06”
Grand Prix (PA) captures 1st Stakes Title New Start Stakes
After an impressive outing at Santa Anita on May 11, 2017 in an open Allowance Race on the downhill turf course, HnR decided to ship her to Pennsylvania to take advantage of the lucrative PABRED Stakes program. Grand Prix, trained by Gary Mandella, arrived in good order in PA via Tex Sutton Horse Transport.
Based on her race fitness and positive conditioning at Delaware Park in Keith Nation’s Barn, we decided to run her the New Start Stakes, a 6 furlong sprint on the dirt for 3 year old PABRED fillies on June 3rd at Penn National in Grantville, Pa. The New Start Stakes was part of a 7 stakes program including the prestigious Pennsylvania Mile and the Governor’s Cup. Javier Castellano, 4 time Eclipse Award Winning jockey was booked to ride Grand Prix.
HAPPY HOMECOMING FOR NOTHHAFT AS GRAND PRIX TAKES NEW START
Click the above link for Racing Biz Article by Frank Vespe
Grand Prix broke sharply, maintained a position of stalking the leaders about a length off the lead before asserting herself at the 1/4 pole, maintaining her lead to the end of the race, besting undefeated, stakes winner and PA 2 yo filly of the year Rose Tree. We were not only gratified that she won impressively, but her splits and final times of 1:09.61 were certainly on the high end of our range of expectations. Grand Prix came out of the race 100% and will stay on the east coast. We are currently planning at least 3 more races before assessing our next move with her. Photos by B n D Photography.
High-Tech Entrepreneur Making His Mark in Racing Game
By Terry Conway
Pennsylvania Equestrian March 2017
Link to Article by Terry Conway Pennsylvania Equestrian
A few years back Henry “Hank” Nothhaft wrote the popular business book “Great Again” about how America can revitalize its innovation leadership and kick-start the economy again.
It captured the wisdom of his 35 years in California’s Silicon Valley where the serial entrepreneur fashioned a career of taking high-tech start-up companies and transforming them into highly touted, businesses. Nothhaft showed how small technological companies with manufacturing and engineering skills can survive, and even hit the winner’s circle if they take the right risks.
Born and raised in Sharon, Pa. in the western part of the state, several years ago, Nothhaft (pronounced note-off) saw retirement staring him in the eye. Not a sit around kind of guy, Nothhaft began researching opportunities that would continue his lifelong entrepreneurial quest.
“I landed on the thoroughbred industry– big rewards if you take the right risks, ” he explained in a telephone interview from his home in Saratoga, Calif.
“I took my usual analytical approach. I love the competitive, data driven field of racing and breeding. You acquire instant feedback and have a limited number of employees. I jumped in. I treated it as a start-up, a boot-strap operation that could be self-sustaining, generate cash flow and reinvesting the capital.”
Nothhaft attended a number of California Thoroughbred Owners seminars, mapped out a business plan, dove into tax implications and spent countless hours studying pedigrees and analyzing the best sires to mate with his mares.
“I bought books, videos, started reading Blood-Horse on how to evaluate prospective sires and mares. It was a lot of self-educating,” said Nothhaft, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, and a former Marine officer who served in Vietnam.
“It hasn’t been a curve left to right to profitability, more a jagged edge. But all things considered it’s worked out very well.”
Nothhaft’s first taste of racing came at a Standardbred track near Columbus, Ohio as a teenager. He purchased his first thoroughbreds in California in 2006, operating under HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing. His business model was mostly breeding to race but when the economic meltdown hit in 2008, two years later he sold his horses and eventually relocated the business in Pennsylvania teaming up with Northview Stallion at Peach Bottom, Pa. Gradually he started adding some mares he could sell after their racing careers or keep to be bred.
Purchasing Euro Fillies
Nothhaft knew he couldn’t afford the top-tier yearlings at sales in the U. S., but understood he could obtain better value with racing fillies in Europe. Working with Darby Dan Farm sales and bloodstock director Carl McEntee, Nothhaft travelled to England where in 2013 he purchased Macaabra, who came to Santa Anita and scored in an allowance race in early 2014.
Pleased by the result, McEntee was sent back the following year and zeroed in on a pair of sharp fillies, but the more highly touted filly failed to pass the vet’s exam. The plan was when that filly passed the exam, Nothhaft would ship both over to Santa Anita.
In the meantime, McEntee’s brother Phil was training a small string on an English farm. The second filly was the quirky Irish-bred Living the Life, daughter of Footstepsinthesand. She became his pet project.
“Phil had time to work with Living the Life and eventually he figured her out mentally,” Nothhaft noted. “So we entered her in a handicap at Lingfield Park’s synthetic racecourse that she won and then turned in a nice performance there in a much tougher race finishing third.”
The owner and trainer entered the filly in the $247,000 All-Weather Fillies and Mares Championship Final staged on Good Friday in April 2014. With Adam Kirby in the irons, the 8-1 favorite Living the Life dominated from the get-go, cruising to a 3 1/2 length score. Nothhaft calls it his biggest thrill in racing.
“I love the racing atmosphere in England,” he explained. “To me that victory is what racing is all about. I’ve also been a big fan of Dick Francis’ horseracing mysteries and I felt like I was living one of his books that day. I met everyone and anyone in British racing. The day before we travelled to Newmarket to take in all its splendor. What an amazing adventure.”
Afterwards Living the Life was shipped to Santa Anita trainer Gary Mandella (son of Hall of Fame trainer Richard) who began mapping out a racing schedule. Under Mandella’s tutelage, she won the Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes (Grade-2) twice but just missed a third score, when Living the Life ran second despite a compromising trip last September. A synthetic-track star, Living the Life whipped the boys last May in the All American Stakes (Grade-3) at Golden Gate Fields and finished runner-up in the Santa Margarita Stakes (Grade-1) on the dirt.
Pointed at the $1 Million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, the 6-year-old Irish-bred mare developed an ankle injury the week leading into the race. She was scratched and retired. Living the Life concluded her racing career with a 10-6-4 record from 35 starts and $1,028,394 in earnings. She joined Nothhaft’s broodmare band of seven at Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky.
Homebred BC Champion
Still, Nothhaft had another strong rooting interest in the BC Filly & Mare Sprint, his homebred Finest City. He purchased her dam Be Envied (by Lemon Drop Kid) for $37,000 at the Keeneland Sales while in foal to City Zip. Finest City was foaled at Northview-Pa.
Named for the city of San Diego, Finest City fought off a late challenge by Wavell Avenue (the 2015 winner), to win the 2016 Breeders’ Cup race by three-quarters of a length. She joined an elite group of three other Pennsylvania-breds (Alphabet Soup, Go for Wand, and Tikkanen) who have won a Breeders’ Cup race.
A pair of father-and-son tandems contributed to Finest City’s success. Wayne and Tyler Seltzer race her in the name of their Seltzer Thoroughbreds, while Eric and Ian Kruljac have collaborated on the 4-year old mare’s training. Finest City was the first horse that 28-year-old Ian trained under his own name.
When Living the Life came up lame Nothhaft gave his Breeders’ Cup tickets to Gary Mandella, a decision he still regrets.
“We have a racing room in our house and my family and I were glued to the big screen TV watching Finest City’s race” he recalled. “When she won we were excited beyond belief, literally jumping for joy. Within moments my cell exploded with texts and calls. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
Finest City kicked off her 2017 campaign with an impressive victory in the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes pulling away in the stretch to win by 3 3/4 lengths on January 21 at Santa Anita. That evening she took home the 2016 Eclipse Award as top female sprinter.
“She was a knockout from day one, athletic, well-balanced and somewhat precocious,” Nothhaft remembered. “One of the reasons Carl and I decided to sell her was we thought we were going to be able to get $150,000 for her to build up my breeding business. She was the first horse I bred who sold commercially at auction.
“We had some top-flight horsemen looking at her at Keeneland. But, the bidding just never took off. You could feel the air go out of the room. Later I found out that on x-rays at the auction it looked like there’s a cyst or OCD of some kind, shadows that showed up. It held the price down. She went for the reserve, $50,000. I never would have entered her in the sale, but kept her to race, as I did with (his homebred stakes winner) Mister Nofty for the same reason.”
Building Breeding Program
Nothhaft credits the PHBA awards program for the purchase of Silver Train that enabled the owner to move him to Northview-Pa. where he built a broodmare band to support the stallion. Finest City was one of the first colts produced.
Silver Train Northview Stallions PA
Then tragedy struck. In late December 2013, Nothhaft received a phone call that Silver Train had died from a swift attack of colic while traveling to quarantine in Brazil awaiting his return to the U.S. Even though he was accompanied by a veterinarian when he became ill, the 11-year old horse by Old Trieste died before reaching an equine hospital. Silver Train had just completed his second season of Southern Hemisphere stud duty.
The winner of four graded races including the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Grade-1) and Metropolitan Mile (Grade-1), Silver Train moved to Northview-Pa. in September 2011, after being purchased by Nothhaft. Ranked among the nation’s leading young sires since his runners first appeared in 2010, He sired 14 stakes winners, six of them graded/group winners and two champions. From 2011-2013, his progeny earnings exceeded $3 million. His runners averaged an impressive 17 starts for their careers.
“Silver Train was all class, the consummate professional, ” said Nothhaft, the majority shareholder. “Given his proclivity for producing winners, we expected big things from Silver Train for years to come. With our expansive plans for him in 2014, his sudden passing was a real shock.”
Nothhaft’s strategy has been to move up the value chain with both mares and sires in order to address the high end of the market which has been good to strong for some time.
“The middle of the market commercially is hit or miss, and the low end commercial market is not viable from an economic point of view,” he noted. “As a result, I have retained my middle market bloodstock and am racing them, primarily in PA. Of my top of the market horses, I am selectively selling and retaining the rest for racing.”
Nothhaft’s primary stable is with Gary Mandella at Santa Anita and he keeps a string of runners at Parx with trainer Keith Nations, who had trained for the owner in northern California. Through 2016 HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing has career earnings of $2,058,285 with 34 wins, 33 seconds and 36 thirds.
One of his top runners is 3-year old Grand Prix who scored her first stakes victory in 2016. She is a Pa.-bred, a filly by Tale of the Cat, trained by Mandella.
“We’re hoping she continues to develop so we can ship her to the Masters at Presque Isle where I had some much success with Living the Life,” Nothhaft observed. “Her value has been significantly enhanced by Finest City’s Breeders’ Cup win.”
Breeding to Top Stallions
This year Nothhaft bred two of his mares to American Pharoah. Kindle is carrying a colt and graded stakes placed Halljoy, who he purchased in UK and raced in California, is expecting a filly.
“The plan is to sell the Kindle and retain the Halljoy to race,” he said. “We believe the Kindle could be a very commercial foal. This year Kindle and Living the Life will be bred to Pioneer of the Nile. We are moving to stress quality over quantity. I can’t think of anything better than to own a high-quality PA-bred running there. As the breeder and owner, the right PA-bred horse can be very exciting and profitable.”
Nothhaft believes Pennsylvania’s breeding program has weathered the storms of budget fights in Harrisburg that stopped its momentum after the economic meltdown of 2008/2009. He sees reasonable stability and improved breeding incentives.
“I am starting to increase my activity again in PA after moving resources to other states over the last few years,” he noted. ” The current program is one of the best if not the best in the U.S. The PHBA has become aggressive in promoting PA’s advantages. It takes a while to turn a large ship, but I see activity and enthusiasm starting to pick-up. Our industry is fueled on discretionary income, and the stock market is always a good barometer on how things are going to develop.”
Nothhaft is bullish on mid-Atlantic racing, pointing to Pennsylvania being in the early stages of a turnaround with new legislation and increased breeder awards, along with Frank Stronach’s strong commitment to Laurel Racetrack as well as Delaware Park’s being stabilized at a reasonable level.
“If nothing changes we could be at the beginning of a golden era for the Mid-Atlantic,” Nothhaft observed. “My view is one of guarded optimism and excitement going into the next few years.”
Finest City is Newest PA-Bred Breeders’ Cup Winner
City Envy (AKA Finest City) and Hank Nothhaft Keeneland November 2012
By Nikki Sherman
Originally published in PHBA February, 2017 Newsletter published in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Magazine
Photos HnR Nothhaft Media Library
Other than the Kentucky Derby, winning a Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championship race is the dream of every breeder in the United States. It often takes decades-if it happens at all-to reach that pinnacle, but for Henry “Hank” Nothhaft, it took just a few years.
“I have not been involved in horse racing very long, “ Nothhaft admits. “I became directly involved in a very limited way around 2008, with the idea to create a business I could run and enjoy while I was moving into retirement from my business career in the technology world.”
Nothhaft, who breeds and races under the name HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC, wanted to go through a hands-on learning experience in the Thoroughbred industry and was able to purchase the promising young stallion, Silver Train, in 2011. That November, he and agent Carl McEntee attended the Keeneland November mixed sale to look for mares that would cross well with the son of Old Trieste. There, they found a Lemon Drop Kid mare named Be Envied, who was in foal to the popular sprint stallion City Zip. Nothhaft purchased Be Envied for $37,000 and shipped her to Northview PA in Peach Bottom to foal. That foal was a lovely chestnut filly he decided to name City Envy.
The filly was entered in the 2012 Keeneland November sale as a weanling after colleagues convinced him that she should easily bring $150,000. However, early interest in City Envy, who Nothhaft had named before his decision to sell came about, fizzled out when on-site veterinary inspections discovered an existing OCD on X-rays. She just barely met her reserve of $50,000, selling for that price to Cobra Farm, who in turn pinhooked her at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2013. Seltzer Thoroughbreds purchased the filly for $85,000 and the father-son team of Wayne and Tyler Seltzer decided to rename her Finest City after their hometown of San Diego.
“She was a knockout from day one” remembers Nothhaft. “Unfortunately, that’s one of the reasons I decided to sell her, as I thought we were going to be able get six figures for her and I was focused on building a broodmare band for Silver Train to race in Pennsylvania. She was one of the first two or three PA-BRED horses I bred and was the first horse I bred who sold commercially at auction.”
The Seltzers’ trainer Ian Kruljac clearly had great hopes for their new filly from the beginning, as Finest City made her career debut at the prestigious Del Mar summer meet in July of 2015. The filly finished a solid second behind eventual graded stakes winner Gloryzapper. Her next start would be a different story-Finest City ran off to an impressive 8 ½ length score in a $70,000 maiden special weight at Del Mar. After an unsuccessful stakes debut over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course in her next start, Finest City returned to the winner’s circle with an easy 3 ¼ length score in a $53,000 allowance at Del Mar.
Finest City competed against some of the top female sprinters on the West Coast throughout the winter of 2015-16, and by April she finally broke through becoming a stakes winner when she captured the $200,000 Great Lady M Stakes-G2 at Los Alamitos. That race earned Finest City a chance to compete in the Breeders’ Cup, where she nearly faced off against Nothhaft’s own multiple graded stakes winner, millionaire Living the Life (IRE).
Living the Life (IRE) Flavian Prat up
“We originally had fairly elaborate plans to attend the Breeders’ Cup, but when Living the Life came up lame before the race, I canceled our reservations. I came to regret this decision,” Nothhaft admits. “So, my wife and I were glued to our TV watching the race. I must be honest, I thought Finest City could win, but was really more confident in a top-three finish. When she did win, we were cheering and literally jumping for joy. Within seconds, my cell phone exploded with texts and calls beyond anything we had ever experienced.”
On the first Saturday of November 2016, Finest City joined an elite group of just three other PA-Breds who have captured a Breeders’ Cup Race when she crossed the wire first in the $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint G1, holding off defending champion Wavell Avenue by three-quarters of a length under heavy urging from Hall of Fame Jockey Mike Smith.
Those other Breeders’ Cup-winning PA-Breds are some of the most talented athletes to grace the Breeders’ Cup. Alphabet Soup won the 1996 Classic in a thrilling stretch battle with Louis Quatorze and Cigar. Go For Wand captured the 1989 Juvenile Fillies as part of a campaign that culminated in her being crowned that year’s Eclipse Award champion 2 year-old filly, and Tikkanen, wh set a couse record at Churchill Downs in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup turf.
Finest City enjoyed a short break following the biggest race of her life, but has since returned to Kruljac’s Santa Anita Barn. She is steadily working towards a 2017 campaign that would ideally give her the opportunity to defend her Breeders’ Cup title, this time in her owners’ hometown of San Diego at her favorite track, Del Mar.
Finest City making her winning Breeders’ Cup move with Mike Smith up
She was also named a finalist for the 2016 Champion Female Sprinter, along with Haveyougoneaway and Paulasilverlining-both whom finished behind Finest City in the Breeders’ Cup.
Win or lose, nothing will compare to the thrill of winning a Breeders’ Cup race. Tyler Seltzer said it best when the NBC Sports camera crew caught up with him immediately following the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. The excitement was overwhelming, and all he could think to say was an emphatic, “She’s pretty great.”