Midwest Thoroughbreds Moving Forward

One moment around Richard Papiese and it is easy to sense his intensity. It is a good feeling, even if possibly menacing. There is a focus to the principal of Midwest Thoroughbreds and Midwest Store Fixtures–a University Park, Illinois-based manufacturer of customized commercial store fixtures–that runs visceral in his interactions, even when in casual confab, that one can appreciate. His fervor for success and eye for detail are as obvious as his business decisions are pragmatic–and that suits the native of South Side, Chicago, quite well considering Midwest Thoroughbreds has towered over its competition in the last decade in much the same way that the well-over six-foot-tall Papiese does his entourage in the paddock. Still, despite the magnitude of his success in both of his business endeavors, which he runs as a family affair with wife Karen, Papiese keeps his prosperity in unpresuming perspective.

“My mother was a '$3-dollar trifecta' player and she never took away from what we had,” Papiese said. “She worked at a fashion store when I was young and there were times that we wouldn't have had Christmas if not for the extra money. I went to a community college and had a baseball scholarship, but I still had to work.

“I loved horses and racing and we decided to get into it in 2001,” he continued. “It wasn't until 2008 that Midwest Thoroughbreds officially started and we won just two of our first 43 races. We wanted it to be a success, so we really focused and won 236 races in 2009. Since then we've won over 200 races per year, but that may not happen this year, as we are heading a slightly different direction and upgrading our stock.”

Though in stark comparison to the 542 wins of 2012, Midwest Thoroughbreds has had a superb 2016 thus far. The leading owner in America by wins for six consecutive years (2010 through 2015) currently leads all once again in 2016 in both victories (40) and earnings ($1,039,704) through the third week of March, while striking at 26% with its six trainers: Tom Amoss, Roger Brueggemann, Armando De La Cerda, Chris Richard, Carol Fisher and Danny Gargan. Focusing the majority of its winter racing on Fair Grounds and Aqueduct, the operation holds a clear lead in New Orleans, where it is on the brink of breaking Maggi Moss's multi-year stranglehold over the owner's standings. In New York, it has a narrow lead over Repole Stable, winning at 37% since the turn of the year.

“The titles are great, but they're not the end-all for us,” the consummately hands-on Papiese explains. “We are really starting to put our energy into being successful and building up in New York–in addition to what we've built in the Midwest–while also racing our purchased horses and developing our broodmare band. At the same time, we do our best to give back to the industry. It's important to us.”

Midwest's quality-over-quantity approach has been spearheaded by the Grade I successes of 2014 Breeders' Cup Sprint and Eclipse Award-winning champion Work All Week (City Zip) and 2015 Arlington Million hero and Eclipse finalist The Pizza Man (English Channel)–both homebred geldings–and was on even more discernible display at Keeneland's September yearling sale, where Midwest spent $1,877,000 on nine yearlings, including a popular $525,000 Tiznow colt out of the stakes-winning A. P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood.

Philanthropically, Midwest has given to numerous causes, including the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) and various racetrack chaplaincies throughout the country. In that same breath, Papiese has been especially ardent in his backing of Thoroughbred aftercare.

“Just like when we race, no matter how many we are running, we put the horse first,” Papiese explained. “Retiring Work All Week when he got injured–though it was minor–was really hard to do, but we did it because he had done enough for us and we love him and want to give him a good life and a new career. He's doing great right now.

“We're dedicated to not making ourselves part of the problem and we pride ourselves on trying to do the right thing, no matter how painful that can be,” he added. “We're fortunate enough to be in this position and the recipient of the fruit of a lot of peoples' hard work on our team, so we want to make the right decisions and keep the success going. We'll also be focusing on percentages and earnings per start and cutting back on numbers, while working on the farm, buying better horses at sales, supporting our stallion and getting good stock for a nice broodmare band.”

Midwest's aforementioned Florida-based stallion is Maltese Dog (War Chant), a tough and consistent turf allowance horse the Papieses and Brueggemann campaigned to 10 wins from 24 starts. Chief among his first-crop offspring is 3-year-old filly Doggerwinii, a homebred who has won two straight at Fair Grounds and is likely stakes-bound. The 'big horse' under the Midwest banner is still The Pizza Man, also conditioned by Brueggemann. Having started once this year, the sizable bay charge with the pizza-shaped star is being given time off after things went awry in the GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. in February.

“He didn't like the sand in the turf course that day and he came back bad after the race,” Papiese explained. “He wasn't himself and his blood was off, so we sent him to (Thunder Ranch, Midwest's Anthony, Florida, farm) and he's getting rest to point to defending his title in the Arlington Million and hopefully getting another shot at the Breeders' Cup (Turf) again.

“We're also excited about Quijote (Pomeroy), who ran his eyeballs out finishing second the other day in [the $125,000 Jimmy Winkfield S.] at Aqueduct in just his third start,” he continued. “He's inexperienced and talented and I think he'll be a top sprinter and might even take to the grass. We have about 170 horses 'all day' right now, which is down from about 500 at our peak–including babies, broodmares and 20-plus 2-year-olds in training. Things are looking great.”

In an industry where high-volume, ambitious racing empires are built with aspirations of being Athens, but ultimately end up more like Atlantis, Midwest Thoroughbreds appears poised to buck that trend. Armed with a willingness to learn from those who have come to pass, while passing those who have refused to learn, the operation surrounds itself with a vision that preserves its equine equipoise between passionate and practical–and that is where Papiese's true intensity resides.

“We have a great team,” Papiese concluded. “From my wife to our great trainers who care about the horses like we do, to Jim Schenk–the best bloodstock agent in the business–and Frank Smith who does a great job training our babies in South Carolina. We're fortunate so far and are looking forward to an exciting year.”