Claiborne Farm
That must have been a good sandwich. It was certainly a memorable one. Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm distinctly remembers eating subs from Jersey Mike's one fall afternoon in 2021 with Daisy Phipps Pulito and Claiborne's farm manager Bradley Purcell in Claiborne's conference room. The three of them sat down over those sandwiches to hash out mating plans for the Phipps mares for 2022. "It all goes back to some Jersey Mike's subs," said Hancock with a laugh. "We did the matings for her mares for that following year that...
Every dogmatist will have his day. Overall, however, our sport is too variable and unpredictable to sustain inflexible rules. As an old school type, admittedly, it's hard to resist treating Golden Tempo (Curlin)-culmination of a multi-generational breed-to-race project-as a reproof to those who breed horses to stand on a dais, rather than in the winner's circle. After all, the Phipps program is no longer as extensive as when it acquired his sixth dam, champion Lady Pitt (Sword Dancer), in 1969. So a GI Kentucky Derby winner in its centenary year...
Even at 94, there are always new horizons. As his old boss liked to say: "Everything is ahead of us: the best play has not been written, the best song has not been sung, the best building has not been built." And, of course, the best horse not been bred. So far as his own program is concerned, however, perhaps Leverett Miller has now cracked that one. His boss was the architect Wallace Harrison, who made a lasting impact on the urban topography of the 20th Century, designing the United...
Eleven new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, headed by late trainers Christophe Clement and John A. Shirreffs, plus racehorse Kona Gold. Additionally, Kentucky-bred Gulch, Virginia-bred Mongo and the late trainer David A. Whiteley were chosen in the Historic Review Category; and the late Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, Dr. Robert Copelan, Seth W. Hancock, G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. and the late Joseph E. Widener were elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee. Clement, Shirreffs and Kona Gold were chosen on the...
One of Kevin Lay's fondest memories with Blame involved an unexpected olive branch from a 9-year-old girl. Years ago, Lay was giving a tour through Claiborne Farm's stallion complex. When the group reached Blame's stall and the amicable stallion stuck his head out to greet the visitors, a young girl pointedly turned her back, refusing to look at the horse that had caused her such devastation in the infamous 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. A few weeks later, the farm received a hand-drawn portrait of Blame with a note stating...
The first installment in the 2026 OwnerView webinar series was held Mar. 17 and featured a discussion of the benefits and challenges of breeding Thoroughbreds to race, the conference series said via a Thursday press release. Guests included Carrie Brogden, Machmer Hall Farm; Kate Galvin, Godolphin; Len Green, D.J. Stable; and Walker Hancock, Claiborne Farm. The event, hosted by The Jockey Club of America and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, was presented by Bessemer Trust, Keeneland and Dean Dorton Equine. Panel sponsors included the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Airdrie...
The first mares have been reported in foal to Claiborne's first-season stallions Mindframe (Constitution--Walk of Stars, by Street Sense) and Johannes (Nyquist--Cuyathy, by Congrats). Multiple Grade I Mindframe's first mare in foal is Put Together (Smart Strike), a half-sister to Grade III winner Feathered (Indian Charlie), the dam of Horse of the Year Flightline. Boarded at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa in Paris, Put Together is owned by Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stables, which also co-campaigned Mindframe during his on-track career. Mindframe stands his debut season at stud for an...
From a small commercial broodmare band, which currently numbers just six mares, Vincent Colbert has had a remarkable amount of success in a short amount of time, breeding Grade I winners Callback and Chocolate Gelato, as well as Grade III winner Shotgun Hottie. The Massachusetts native had success almost right from the start of his breeding operation with the purchase of Quickest (Forest Wildcat) for $40,000 as a 2-year-old at the 2007 Keeneland January sale--three years before her half-brother Super Saver (Maria's Mon) won the GI Kentucky Derby. The bay...
The first reported foal by Claiborne Farm's GISW Prince of Monaco (by Speightstown)--a healthy filly out of the Justify mare Itgetsgreaterlater--was born at Serendipity Springs in Lexington, Kentucky Jan. 12, according to a press release from the sire's home base on Friday morning. This is the third foal out of Itgetsgreaterlater, whose second foal by Gunite brought $160,000 at last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, topping the session among that day's weanlings. The Kuegler family's Wasabi Ventures Stables bought Itgetsgreaterlater for $80,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale. The...
A private tour to visit Hall of Fame member Zenyatta at Lane's End Farm, along with halters worn by Breeders' Cup champions American Pharoah, Cody's Wish, Flightline, and Stormy Liberal, are among several items listed in the Breeders' Cup Charities (BCC) online auction now open for bidding, the group announced via press release. Set to run Monday, Jan. 12 through Sunday, Jan. 18, bidding will close at 11:59p.m. ET on that final day with proceeds going to support BCC. Revitalized in 2025, the program is dedicated to generating meaningful, lasting...
It's been a long time coming for Jacob West. Watching 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' Mindframe make it to the famed stallion barn at Claiborne Farm and settle into the stall once home to the likes of Bold Ruler, Secretariat, Easy Goer and Unbridled marks a full-circle moment years in the making. One year after West joined Claiborne as their Stallion Seasons and Bloodstock Manager, the farm announced this summer that Mindframe would soon be headed to Claiborne. Weeks later, West was at Churchill Downs celebrating as the son...
Sponsored by Pedigrees 360 Into Mischief and a Bernardini mare: on the face of it, "the Sovereign remedy" for a sophomore round Churchill Downs in 2025. It produced the GI Kentucky Derby winner, and has now given us a filly moving rapidly through the ranks in Shred the Gnar, winner of the GIII Chilukki Stakes after a six-month layoff. If anything, however, it feels overdue for the dominant stallion of our times to come up with one or two stars from daughters of such an outstanding broodmare sire. Interestingly, the...