When Grayson Meadows went under a few years ago it seemed as if they were planning to never make a return. They sold off all of their prized stock, big names in racing such as Call Me Crooked, Tears of Blood, Tears of an Angel and Passion Heart among the many sold. After the unexpected passing of her brother, Hadley Grayson admits she never intended to return to the game either, however there’s something about horse racing that pulls everyone back in. It’s been since year seventeen that Grayson Meadows has been seen, however they unexpectedly popped back on the map again. Not as strong as they once had been but with just as much ambition as they had previously.
Located in the hills of the Nebraska panhandle, Grayson Meadows started back in Y14. At the time owned by Mary and John Grayson, Grayson Meadows started out small with four horses by the name of Honorary, Silver Lining, Limelight and My Kingdom Come. Later ownership would be split and the main over-seer of GM would fall into the hands of the Grayson's grandson, Tanner Grayson. Over the year they gained more horses and saw the greatest success with Passion Heart who jumped form Grade Five to Grade Two in just one season, took down big names like The Devil's Hourglass, and lost in the Breeders' Cup by a whisker. They also found success in a leggy, spirited bay filly by the name of Call Me Crooked, who in Y15 brought home the elusive Turf Triple Sprinter Crown for team GM and earned her place in horse racing immortality. Today, she’s a hall of fame inductee. Later they would go on to win the Y14 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf with a turf triple crown near misser Dare To Impress, the Y14 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with the outstanding Take Flight, and the Y14 Filly and Mare Sprint at insurmountable long odds with future Hall of Fame Inductee Tears Of The Angel. In Y15 they took home the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint again with Tears Of An Angel, and the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with the plucky Allouette Divine who had showed the boys how it was done by taking a leg of the triple sprinter crown the year before.
The following year Take Flight hit his stride and became a force to be reckoned with in the turf marathoner division. Blue Heroine terrorized the juvenile ranks and took home a Breeders’ Cup win and Daddy’s Overdraft turned into a formidable miler who later took home the Breeders’ Cup Mile. They had a stellar line up of juveniles coming up to year seventeen, names that are still known today, Flash and Class, Impassioned Blood, I Bet My Life, The Dark Knight, Jacques Cousteau, Insociant and Passionist.
Over the last few months new owner Hadley Grayson has kept things pretty hush hush, until now. Reporters met the young woman at 5am sharp, Hadley refused to meet any later telling reporters “oh you don’t want to miss a morning here, you’ll understand when you see it”. Grayson Meadows put in their own training track back in year fifteen and prefers to train in their backyard, very few individuals have seen their horses in action at home. Least to say our reporters were not disappointed despite losing precious hours of sleep for this.
“It’s no secret we love our sprinters here, once we brought Aaron Evertt to train with us in year sixteen our sprinting program absolutely exploded. I’m sure everyone has noticed our ranks consist almost entirely of sprinters as well now.” Hadley Grayson replied when asked about what their new string looked like. “We were just at a sale recently here where I’m sure everyone noticed we bought exclusively sprinters. We’re hoping to build up our program again and focus on producing the best sprinters we can. You’ll see why in a little bit here.” The young blonde haired woman couldn’t stop smiling as she brought us through the facility. She brought the reporters past the gallop track where many horses were warming up for their works that morning. A few were very recognizable.
The returning faces:
I Bet My Life has snuck a few wins in since his return to Grayson Meadows, Hadley swears the stallion still has untapped potential in him. “He’s always been one of my favorites, I helped his momma foal him out. He’s been a spitfire since day one. I haven’t met many horses that like to run as much as he does. I’m not even sure he likes winning, I think he just likes running and is pretty happy regardless of where he ends up.” The stallion has been getting back into the swing of things around the farm and at the races, Hadley said she’d never seen him look better.
Proclamation was never raced under Grayson Meadows’ white and blue colors but he was bred by GM. The three year old has been snagging wins in the undercards recently but Hadley spoke of a possibility of aiming him at horse of the year races soon, saying the colt could even make an appearance in the later portion of the triple sprinter crown. “He’s a bit nasty, I wouldn’t let just anybody near him but he’s got a fantastic mind for running.”
Flash and Class is another regally bred filly who Hadley expressed a lot of interest in. She is beyond happy to have the mare back and running under Grayson Meadows’ colors. “It feels a lot like we were meant to have her and finish her career out.” The energetic mare put in a solid work before the reporters and really looked to be hitting her stride and coming into a form we have yet to see from her.
Constitution was an unusual type, but between him and Spirit of Liberty, GM homebred Lady Liberty is turning into one hell of a broodmare. Grayson Meadows sold the colt at a sale as a yearling, but watching him run over the years Hadley expressed a bit of guilt over selling him as well. “He did so well though, and if we can get him going half as well as he had been going, I think we’ll have a solid older turf sprinter... as if we don’t have enough already.” He’s put in a win and a few lack-luster performances but Hadley said the stallion was just getting back into the game and his competitive streak was coming out more by the day.
“Spirit of the Angel has always been one I’ve regretted selling. Nelly had a lot of untapped potential, if she had been managed correctly she really could have been something. We’re mostly just focusing on getting her to Grade One. If she’s anything like her dam she’ll throw fantastic foals.” Hadley smiled at the mare as she flew by everyone at break neck speed. “She’s small but I wouldn’t underestimate her, she did spend the majority of her time here protecting Spirit of Liberty from everyone else.” Hadley mentioned that if the mare shaped up some she’d consider throwing her at the Breeders’ Cup just to see if she could pull a major upset.
“He was one I could never get rid of, he was too much fun to just hop on and ride around the farm, I considered retiring him but he just wanted to run. He really isn’t done yet.” Hadley beemed about SmashDashing. “He’s hit a few undercard wins and I’m hoping he’ll be in good enough form to start running with the big guns in the older horse turf sprinter division.” Hadley expressed frustration with getting him to find competition in grade one races and it seems that the colts return to the horse of the year races is inevitable. “Again another grade one older horse running the turf sprints, you’ll notice we’ve got a few too many of those here real soon.”
The new faces:
Halcyon was a impulse purchase from BBS, the gelding also took a little while to settle in. “He’s growing at the moment so we’re going to let him sit for a month or so and try again.” Hadley adores the gelding nonetheless and he seemed pretty content in his stall.
Tread Carefully is one GM is really excited about for obvious reasons. “We bred Unbroken who is doing quite well and we’re known for our love for Heart of Stone babies here, Rules of Passion was one we’ve always admired from a distance, to have her colt among our ranks is something I never thought would happen but I’m incredibly grateful for it.” Hadley mentioned the colt took a little while to settle in and is slow to mature but his first outing he took a solid second place finish which she was incredibly pleased with. “He’ll be back week two if there’s a maiden for him.”
“Ambush is another one we bought from the sale that took a hot minute to settle in, we’re having some issues finding a good first race to stick him in but I’m at the point where I’m ready to just throw him to the wolves. It’s he might be making an appearance in some three year old HOTY races soon here since G3 undercards without older horses are a dime a dozen, we’ll see what he’s made of I guess.” Regardless of the short reprieve from racing, the colt was an absolute tank during his workout and looked every bit the part of a horse who was ready to run the lights out of his competition.
“She reminds me so much of her mom but she’s slightly slower to pick it up.” Hadley expressed frustrations with the young Ambrose Light. “She’s very much been overshadowed by Proclamation but I think that’s about to change. She has Divie’s heart and brain, I just can’t wait to see what she can do.” The lightly raced daughter of a GM favorite, Allouette Divine showed promise as she breezed past with stablemate Hemingway.
“Hemingway is a horse we haven’t quite figured out yet, he’s probably the most HOTY experienced horse in our three year old string, maybe even in our older horse string, but we haven’t quite clicked with him yet. He’s a tough nut to crack but we’re going to keep pushing him to the triple sprinter crowns and see what happens.”
The Fallen Jester has made a few appearances under GM colors but Hadley has admitted to finding it somewhat difficult to find the colt somewhere to run. “We have a lot of horses like him here.” However, the colt did just score a win at the wire recently and looked great doing so.
Some Attitude was nothing short of impressive as she breezed by with Superbad. The colt has been running under GM colors for a few weeks now and is starting to settle into herself. “I love this colt for no real reason, his somewhat sour attitude isn’t exactly a favorite around here but like have you seen his stride? He’s huuuuuge!”
“I’ve always admired Super Sparky from a distance, more of like something I always wanted but couldn’t quite have, now that I have one of his daughters in my string I’m not disappointed at all. She’s so much fun to be around and she has a bright future, not to mention who couldn’t love that big white face?”
Shadowfax is a horse Hadley has expressed some frustration with as well “He’s sassy, he’s opinionated and if he doesn’t get his way God help whomever is handling him.” The stallion has put forth some honest efforts but has yet to hit a win this season.
True Sunrise just hit a major win in the Royal Red Richard Memorial stakes. “He’s showed a lot of promise in the last few months he’s been here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse settle in so well here in such a short period of time, it’s like he knows he’s meant to be here. We’re still working on his grade one wins but I have no doubt he’ll get there very soon. From there if we think he’s ready to take on the big boys we’ll do that. Again... another older turf older horse sprinter showing quite a bit of promise.”
Regal Rose is another recent addition to the racing string. This older mare has been slowly beginning to terrorize the horse of the year ranks and looking at her form and record, she’s expected to do big things this season before going off to be a broodmare. “I can’t wait for her to hit her grade one win. Again, an older turf sprinter that totally stands to kick some major butt. I’m so excited for her to hit her stride because I think she won’t stop”
“Everyone at the farm has decided to make it a joke that I really like grey’s because we now have an abundance of them. Overtime was another impulse purchase at the sale but I really like how she’s settled in thus far. She’s shown some promise and I’m excited for her future with us, I’m hoping to run her next year as well.”
“Minute Trinity just put in a fantastic effort at the Summer Cup which is a form I think both Aaron and I are excited to build off of. She’s such a lovely mare who I think has quite a bit of potential. We can’t wait to see what she does with the rest of her season despite getting a slower start than most.”
Lasheeva has been a solid undercard competitor for all of her career, sitting at seven wins, the mare is starting to get back into the swing of things. “I think she’s another one I wouldn’t mind keeping around for another season.”