First Edition: Ground Zero

My name is Kelsea Graham. I’ve loved horse racing for the vast majority of my life and have appreciated the intricacies of thoroughbred racing since the day I could say “horsey” as a child. My heart pounds like a war drum when these fantastic animals break from the gate, sweat drips down my neck as I watch my rooting interest take up a perfect position down the backstretch and I often leave the race course with my throat raw from shouting my favorite animal home.

There are things in life that stick with you for the rest of time, moments that just stick in your mind and transcend your opinion of that event, that person, that place and in this case a sport.

I wasn’t originally a horse racing fan. My father loved horse racing, loved it for the gambling and the profits. I remember watching the races on the televisions, admiring the muscles and the speed and the strength. I began to watch it on my own, seeking out the televised events even when my parents weren’t home.

My love of horse racing began the moment when Eternal Phantom and Paradise Island dead heated for first in the final leg of the Triple Tiara. It isn’t every day that you see a Kentucky Derby winning filly go toe-to-toe with a filly on the verge of winning the Triple Tiara. I didn’t know who to root for; I could only watch in fascination as the fillies who marked themselves as each others arch enemy dove for the wire.

Years later, I found myself at the place of birth for one of those esteemed champions. Eternal Phantom and her twin sibling, Midnight Thriller, have made a name for themselves in their racing and breeding careers and in turn have made Battle Brook a breeding farm of legends. They were the first offspring of the magnificent El Sol del Mar and now one of them has produced a Triple Crown winner.

With so many new farms on the scene, we take for granted the history of our sport. We forget that in Y6, El Sol del Mar won the Preakness, Belmont and Breeders’ Cup Classic--the last time a Battle Brook Stable horse has won the prestigious race. We forget that in Y5, Touch Up retired with a single win from 10 starts with only two in the money finishes. He now is responsible for a breeding empire at Battle Brook Stable.

Battle Brook Stable is noticeably quiet in this year’s mid-season sales and I wanted to know why. Ripley Marsh has never been a quiet force in the industry. Her prickly nature has both frustrated and challenged news reporters. My dad tells me that she was different, that her silence is a recent change… if you consider Y13 recent. Y13 was a remarkable year. It was the year that Bella Luna swept to a Turf Triple Crown victory with unbelievable grace and then proceeded to victory in the Breeder’s Cup Mile. Rumor has it that the crush of the press weighed so much on the Battle Brook staff that they changed their openness to the press and retreated for a more private environment.

I don’t like to brag...and really Ripley Marsh wouldn’t let me brag about this. After all, it wasn’t like I hunted her down and begged her to let me write a story. No, if I were honest, and I am, the trainer approached me one morning at a 6AM training session at The Wire, where she keeps most of her stable outside of the farm.

So it is with Ripley’s permission that I am writing this story.

Back in Y13, Ground Zero was merely a thought between Oak Hill Farm and Battle Brook Stable, then known as Witch Creek. Ripley Marsh is notorious for her aggressive promotion of her stallions. DW Flamekissed was merely a grade five stallion with solid HOTY race form, but he didn’t break any records nor win any awards. He’d sired three horses at that point in his career with just one retiring in Year Twelve and the other two weanlings at the time of this planning.

Dare To Dream was a true blue warrior with 113 races under her belt, 38 of which were victories. She was a Hall Of Fame level animal with the appearance to back her impressive record. Her most notable victory came in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon and she’d produced one horse prior, a grade five mare by the name of Dreamcatcher.

The pedigree had been uninspiring at that point. DW Flamekissed hadn’t sired Eternally Smoldering, the Kentucky Open and Wire Finish Cup winner yet and Summer Romance hadn’t gone on a tear until her five year old season, merely a year ago. Dare To Dream’s filly, Dare To Impress, wouldn’t demonstrate her sheer brilliance until Year Fourteen, winning both the Preakness Champion Stakes and Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

This wasn’t the first time that Battle Brook had pitched a slightly remarkable breeding to an unknown stallion and landed a future winner. Their cornerstone stallion, Touch Up, is the epitome of such outlandish plans.

“We never really nitpicked the details of this breeding. It was more like, Oak Hill Farm posted an in search of ad looking for a stallion for their mare and I responded. DW Flamekissed comes from an outcross and the outcross with Dare To Dream seemed like it matched and would produce if the foal was given the opportunity to grow in the right environment.

Ground Zero has had a roller coaster career and he’s now five years old and showing his best form. I really think DW Flamekissed offspring get better as they age and now he’s running consistently in HOTY type races, most recently finishing second in the Arlington Million. He’s dabbled on the dirt and won. He’s won on the turf from 7F to 10F. He’s a classy animal and sometimes I wonder if stretching him out would give us even better results considering both Eternally Smoldering and Dare To Impress have won going long with success.”

Upon meeting Ground Zero on the backstretch of The Wire, you would think the horse a world beater. His eyes were bright and alert, his muscles rippled under his dark coat. He exudes confidence even though he’s only won a single race on the season, back in January Week 1.

Ground Zero has 57 starts under his belt, but he is competing at a level that he hasn’t competed on ever… With the exception of his lone victory, every other start has come in HoTY company. While many may question Ripley’s decision to keep the horse at the top level, she says the only being she will question is Ground Zero himself.

“He’s been a tough workhorse this year. I’m seeing him make moves that I haven’t seen him do his entire career prior. We watch the intact stallions retire at three and four, after they’ve hit grade one and at least one of the major Horse of the Year awards. We forget about these quiet champions that come to the track day in and day out, put in their A effort and skim beneath the surface of racing royalty. However, I think he’s on the edge of getting his due.”

Based on the impressive workout I witnessed where the muscular horse clicked through fractions of 1:12 ⅘ around the dogs, I’d tend to agree. His last out second place finish was in the Arlington Million Stakes, his best HOTY finish since September last year.

He’s a feisty sort of horse, bucking and kicking as though he hasn’t a care in the world. You can tell his enthusiasm creates affection for him. Ripley and I watched him receive his morning bath, her with her hands tucked neatly into her pockets, full of swagger and quiet confidence.

“Zero has bounced around a lot and at moments I regret selling him, but I’m thankful he’s back in my barn. He’s a good looking animal and I hope to close out his career with a bang. If he continues to improve, I think I may have a super six year old in Year Nineteen. And beyond that, he’s finally coming home...and staying home.”