Venneri is Hitting Best Stride

by Jessica Martini 
Alex Venneri, who owns a real-estate mortgage business in La Canada, California, decided a few years ago it was time to stop dabbling in horse racing and establish himself as a breeder. His results so far have been impressive, with a pair of graded stakes winners to his credit this year. Venneri was represented by two-time Grade II winner and track-record setter Bright Thought (Hat Trick {Jpn}), as well as GII Del Mar Derby winner Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile). Through the Warrendale Sales consignment, Venneri will offer a Stay Thirsty half-brother to Midnight Storm at next week's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. 

Venneri traces his love of racing back to his teenage years when he was friends with the son of actor Vic Tayback of Alice fame. 

“Vic Tayback brought us down to Del Mar in the summer where they had a beach house and showed us around,” Venneri recalled. “I always remember him driving us down that big long driveway at Del Mar. And I said, 'One day I'm going to do this.'” 

“I had no idea that was valet parking–I thought you had to be special,” he laughed. 

Venneri's first foray into racehorse ownership came almost by mistake. 

“Another very good friend of mine, his father was a pretty big horseplayer and he owned horses,” Venneri explained. “One day we were at his house, they were having a big party, and I was talking to him and I said, 'I'm going to buy a horse with you.' At that point in my life, I was earning $300 a week–I had no money, but I get a phone call three days later and he said, 'We're going to claim our first horse. I was like, 'Huh?' I was so embarassed, I didn't know what to do. I said, 'Well how much is it?' He said $25,000. This to a kid who is making $300 a week. Fortunately, I had a lot of credit cards because I had learned about how to improve your credit and get a lot of credit. So I had high lines of credit. I actually went out and took cash advances to borrow the money to pay for half of a horse called Blade Rullah [in March 1993].” 

Things didn't get off to a good start, however. 

“We go out to his first race, I bring 30 people there,” Venneri chuckled. “On the first turn the horse pulled up. All I kept thinking about was how am I going to pay this back? I was devastated. I was devastated that I had 30 of my friends there and I looked like an idiot. I was devastated for the horse. And I was devastated wondering how I would ever pay for this.” 

Luckily, Venneri's business allowed him to continue to pursue his love of racing. 

“My company became pretty successful–I had a pretty big mortgage company–and as my company became more successful, I decided to venture into the horse business a little bit more and a little bit more,” he explained. “I bought my second horse and then I bought my third horse. Probably about six years ago, I said to my wife, 'I've just been dabbling in horses.' I had six or eight horses at a time. I said, 'You know, let me just do it the right way and see what happens.'” 
Venneri teamed up with Kentucky-based John Downs of Blackhorse Thoroughbreds and started to build up a broodmare band. Downs leases 300 acres of the historic Overbrook Farm and Venneri currently has 11 broodmares. 

“Our philosophy is really simple,” Venneri said. “We take the best mares who we thought had heart and had, obviously, good conformation, and we breed to the best sires that we can afford. I breed everything to sell and what doesn't come out perfect, we race. I sell my best and keep my worst. That's the way we have chosen to do our business. Because if I didn't sell every pretty horse, it would be very difficult to stay in business.” 

Both of Venneri's recent graded stakes winners were horses that failed to sell. 

“Bright Thought was crooked up front, he toed in quite a bit,” Venneri said. “We knew we wouldn't be able to sell him. But John said that he was so athletic on the farm and he became a pretty nice racehorse.” 
Bright Thought set a world record while winning last year's GII San Luis Rey S. at Santa Anita. He added this term's GII John Henry Turf Classic Sept. 28. 

Midnight Storm, who Venneri co-owns with Marjorie Post Dye, actually almost did sell, despite a pre-sale mishap. 

“Midnight Storm was in the sale and he put his foot through the fence at the farm and he actually did it right over the tendon and it swelled up right before the sale,” Venneri said. “Everybody was afraid of it. I put what I thought was a $37,000 reserve on the horse and the horse sold for $38,000. I thought I lost him. But we were wrong. The reserve was $39,000 and we bought him back for $38,000.” 

Midnight Storm is now unbeaten in two starts on the turf and is coming off a 3 1/4-length win in the Aug. 31 GII Del Mar Derby. 

The colt is out of My Tina (Bertrando), a filly Venneri bought for $82,000 as a yearling in 2002 and named after his daughter. 

“My Tina was in California and had four foals,” Venneri explained. “Her foals were really, really pretty. Every one of them was beautiful. So I decided to step it up and ship her back to Kentucky and breed to the best that we can afford.” 
The mare produced a colt by Stay Thirsty this spring and both her and her weanling were entered in the sale. Venneri isn't sure whether My Tina, who is carrying a full-sibling to Midnight Storm, will keep her engagement at Keeneland, but he is looking forward to seeing her weanling go through the ring. 

“Her weanling by Stay Thirsty is absolutely beautiful,” Venneri said of hip 360, who sells during Wednesday's second session of the sale. “He is probably one of the most beautiful horses that I've bred.” 
As for My Tina, Venneri is hoping Midnight Storm's expected next start in the Nov. 29 GI Hollywood Derby might make her even more attractive. 

“She has a foal in her stomach right now that is a full to Midnight Storm,” he said. “We really feel like he'll be the horse to beat in the Hollywood Derby, which is why we are thinking of pulling My Tina out of the sale. The Stay Thirsty colt, he is going to bring the value regardless because he's just so beautiful. I don't think he'll be cheap, I think he's going to be an expensive weanling, but anyone who buys him is going to get the real deal.” 
Venneri continued, “If I was a huge breeder with billions of dollars, I'd never sell this horse. But we're a small breeding operation and we live and die by selling horses.” 

Also during Wednesday's session of the November sale, Venneri will offer a weanling filly by Giant's Causeway (hip 271). The dark bay, a foal share with Ashford, is out of Cherryblossommiss (Langfuhr). The stakes-placed mare is a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Imperialism and Venneri purchased her for $150,000 at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Now nine and in foal to GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb, the mare is also catalogued for the Keeneland sale, but is not expected to sell. 

“We really like the Giant's Causeway baby,” Venneri said. “We have a More Than Ready 2-year-old filly out of Cherryblossommiss at the track now and we really like her. And we sold a Curlin filly out of her in September [for $70,000], that we really liked. We've really liked everything we've seen out of her and we decided she was too young for us to give up on, so we won't be selling her.” 

The Keeneland November sale begins Tuesday. Sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday begin at 11 a.m. The sale continues through Nov. 14 will sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.