By Katie Petrunyak
When Alvin Haynes passed away in 2014, his son Mitch wasn't exactly sure what to do with the handful of mares and foals his family had inherited. While Haynes had accompanied his father to the races over the years, he had never taken a real interest in the sport. But as he began to oversee the family's equine holdings, a genuine curiosity took hold. By the following year, he was at Keeneland purchasing a mare of his own.
That single acquisition has elevated Haynes to the rank of Grade I-winning breeder. Following Claret Beret (Not This Time)'s win in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Haynes is hopeful he can represent the mare he bred at his home track come November.
Haynes's father, who was known by close friends as “Stick,” founded the family's trucking business in 1963. Over the decades, the family's footprint in Central Kentucky expanded to include tobacco, cattle farming and commercial real estate.
Following Alvin's passing, one of the yearlings the family tried to sell the next summer failed to meet reserve. They opted to keep the colt, naming him Sticksstatelydude (First Dude). After breaking his maiden at Saratoga, the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee finished a credible fourth in the GI Breeders' Futurity. An injury forced him to miss the 2015 Breeders' Cup, but the colt's talent had shifted Haynes's perspective.
Instead of going to Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup that year, Haynes returned to the grounds a few days later for the November Sale. Along with his daughter and friend Greg Burchell, Haynes landed on stakes winner Bessie M (Medallist). The 7-year-old mare was carrying her first foal by Munnings.
“She had a bit of black type in her pedigree,” recalled Haynes. “She was a little on the small side, but she was very aware of herself and she carried herself well.”
Haynes purchased Bessie M for $42,000 and brought her home to Conor Doyle and Neal Clarke's Atlas Farm. When his brother came to visit the new acquisition, they realized a remarkable twist of fate. Haynes had unknowingly brought his father's legacy to their family.
In 1997, agent Marty Takacs purchased Carmelita (Mogambo) for Alvin Haynes for $35,000. The following year, Alvin bred the mare to Mountain Cat. The resulting foal, Catalita, won three races and earned over $111,000 in Alvin's colors before being sold in 2004. Four years later, she produced Bessie M.
“It ended up that our family has owned three generations of the family, which was unbeknownst to us when we bought Bessie M,” Haynes said.
Bessie M's progeny struggled to find commercial traction. Her third foal, Benedict Canyon (Midnight Lute), sold for $18,000 as a weanling, but went on to outrun her price tag. Campaigned by Little Red Feather Racing, she won at the allowance level and was stakes placed in California.
Conor Doyle of Atlas Farm and Mitch Haynes | Katie Petrunyak
“In 2020, Neil, Conor and I put our heads together,” shared Haynes. “They wanted to go to a stallion by the name of Not This Time at Taylor Made for $7,500. I had heard the name but I really didn't know much about him. I let them choose who to breed to because they wanted to put some size into the mare.”
It proved to be an inspired decision. By the next year, Not This Time's fee had jumped to $40,000 and his meteoric rise has since seen his stud fee climb to over six times that number.
The brilliance of the mating was clouded by a devastating loss. While the filly arrived as the physical standout everyone had hoped for, Bessie M died soon after foaling.
“Unfortunately she hemorrhaged and we lost the mare,” said Haynes. “So a nurse mare raised Claret Beret.”
Despite her difficult start, Claret Beret proved to be the best physical specimen Bessie M ever produced. She sold for $85,000 at the 2022 Keeneland January Sale and was successfully pinhooked that September for $375,000.
Haynes followed along as Claret Beret started out in the Brendan Walsh barn, breaking her maiden as a 3-year-old at Ellis Park for Qatar Racing. She won again that fall at Keeneland, with Haynes on hand to watch, and was subsequently claimed by Greg Compton. After a series of allowance efforts at Oaklawn Park, the filly was sold privately to Miller Racing. She dazzled in a 19 3/4-length romp at Gulfstream Park for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and finished second to MGSW Vahva (Gun Runner) in the GII Chicago Stakes.
This year, Claret Beret has continued her ascent. She was third in the GII Inside Information and claimed the GIII Royal Delta Stakes before stamping herself as one of the leaders of her division with a dominant victory in the April 11 GI Apple Blossom Handicap, besting champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) by 4 1/2 lengths.
Claret Beret wins the GI Apple Blossom Handicap| Coady Media
“I was actually at dinner with some friends,” recalled Haynes. “My wife and I were watching on our phone. She screamed and everybody in the restaurant wanted to know what was going on. It was pretty neat.”
Saffie Joseph reported that Claret Beret will target either the GI Ogden Phipps Stakes at Saratoga on June 5 or the GII Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 27. From there, all roads lead to the Breeders' Cup.
Haynes admits his local bias, but for him, watching a horse he bred compete on the world stage at Keeneland would be the ultimate achievement.
“I live probably ten minutes from Keeneland and go every fall and every spring,” he said. “I've been to two different Breeders' Cups there already and it's the nicest track in the world in my opinion.”
This breeding season, Haynes has only one mare that he owns in partnership with the team at Atlas Farm, but he has no plans of slowing down.
“It's a tough business,” he admitted. “The bills keep coming every month so for me, I keep it as a hobby. There are so many highs and lows, but the highs make you want to go deeper into it.”
To produce a Grade I winner out of the very first mare he purchased—one with such a profound connection to his father's legacy—has solidified Haynes's place in the sport, turning a family tradition into a newfound passion.
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