I only ever received two interviews back that I sent out (sorry Free I fudged out on yours, too much chaos in my family recently (and yours)), and no one did one for me, so I decided to go ahead and publish the two that were finished. They are very belated, but you should still be able to enjoy them : ) Please remember the sales info on horses here was from the middle of the year sale. I plan to maybe do a stronger interview set next year, maybe one member per month, which would be timely.
CRUISEY'S INTERVIEW1. How has this season been treating you? What things have surprised you, and what things have caused some disappointment?
• This season has been treating FRS pretty well, actually! I would have to say my best horses are evenly split between all three age groups, there are a handful that stand out and then there are those stubborn donkeys that don’t want to play nice in Horse of the Year contentions. Obviously having horses that you had high hopes for once they hit that grade, and them not wanting to return the favour is always disappointing (cough Apache Warrior cough), but things will work itself out anyhow.
2. Have you chosen any seniors to return for a 5YO season yet? What are some of the things you look for in an older horse to keep going, and what signs tell you they're ready to be done?
• Indeed, I have! Apache Warrior, Charmed Weapon, Ice Fiend, Katana, Orpheus, Samaritan Hero, and Sweet Talker will all be coming back 100%. It’s still a toss-up for Insouciant, Peacebreaker and Sweet On You, depending on the rest of the season. I personally look for consistency when it comes to older horses, and how well they’ve been attempting to perform G1/open races. If they continue to be super consistent in undercard races, but for some reason cannot hit the board in HoTY (and they’re G1), I’ll just retire them (take a look at Hot Looks and Refute for example). If they make a good effort and end up in the top 1-4, they get to run!
3. With Apollo Sunset's sad passing, has Orpheus taken up a new place in your heart? He has really sprung forward this year, do you plan to keep him on?
• I told myself I wouldn’t get attached to Orpheus…but here I am lol. He really has grown on me, truthfully, and I do plan on keeping him in my roster. The poor dude has been bounced around so many times I feel bad for him. I’m quite impressed with his race turnaround!
4. You've won five legs of the 3YO's triples series this season so far, that's quite impressive! Do you feel your three year olds are overshadowing your older string in terms of HOTY success?
• Ah thank you
I’m pretty proud of my ponies <3 I don’t really feel like they’re overshadowing the success of the older string. Like I said a few questions ago, each age group has the “popular kids” and the “not so fortunate” kids, as I like to call them.
5. Do you have a favorite juvenile? How many are doing well at HOTY, and have any reached G4? Are there any in particular you feel will be usurpers early next season when the primary preps start up?
• …I do lol. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. Disturbia, Fifty Dreams, and Redoubtable are among my favourite juveniles right now. All three of them have actually hit G4 and (knock on wood) look to be on the right track for the Breeder’s Cup! As for usurpers, I really hope True Light & Love Bites will be ready for their respective Tiara series. I have a feeling most of my juveniles will be late bloomers.
6. Samaritan Hero has become a household name after switching stables a few times and being quite a dirt router threat as a 3YO. He seems to be hanging in there this season, will he be coming out those gates again next season, in a hope to recapture the steam he had last season?
• He’s gotta keep up his father’s legacy somehow lol! His poor brother, Firefall, wasn’t as successful on the track as him or his older sisters. Hero will 100% be racing next season in hopes to try for more of a marathon distance.
7. How are things looking for you for Breeders this year? We're only a few short months away.
• Things are actually working out for me so far (*knocks on wood*). There are still a few iffy’s I’m trying to work out, but for the most part everyone has their race. If anyone is interested, they can take a sneak peek at my plans here
8. Do you have any current breeding lines you're looking to get into? With such a large sale selection approaching, has anyone caught your eye in particular? Your breeding barn is smallish compared to other stables who have been here five or more years. With your larger racing strings, will they boost your breeding barns once retired, or you do plan to sell and stay smaller?
• Hmm that’s a hard one! As you know, I have a ton of reserves to your ponies, so I see a lot of Isa lines coming in the future. I like to think I have a good mix of everyone’s lines at this time, although the newer stables need to show me what they have, so I can plan some more outside fun things xD I’ve had my eye on some youngstock in the sale (not like I need any eyeroll), anything with older or ‘rarer’ lines I tend to go for. I definitely think my larger strings will boost the breeding barn, I don’t plan on selling anyone as of after the September sale, but if I was it would only be to free up stalls for horses with rare lines, or ones that I don’t have access to a lot already.
9. Since you made Innerstellar a private stud he's been staying on the down low. Any new buzz you can give us about this HOFer?
• Of course! He’s pretty special to me, but I don’t want to hoard all of his lines... A two-year breeding agreement between Battle Brook Stables and Firestone Stud was created, so he will have a Y20 foal out of Artemis’ Glory by the name of Loose Cannon. and a Y21 foal out of BBS’ Cataclysmic that will be on its way to Firestone Stud for training. After that, no plans have been made, however after Y21 there may be a foal for sale … *shifty eyes*.
10. You've been plugging some large names in the sales recently, such as Scintilla and Coco Cabana. What's prompting some of these sales, and istillwouldn'tmindhavinghellfirejussain?
• Two reasons prompted the sale of both horses. As much as I LOVE Scintilla (I had so much fun racing her), Peacebreaker will be entering the breeding shed in about a year once she’s finished racing and will take over Tilly’s stall. Since The True Fallen For birthed both of my girls, I had to choose which one would stay to continue Fallen’s legacy in the Firestone barn. They’re both pretty evenly matched in terms of racing style, so it was a tough decision for sure. But with Wire Tap entering the stud barn, I have Foolish Lad’s pedigree covered there and I want to keep the Worldbreaker lines, seeing as Pilly is one of three fillies sired by him. As for Coco Cabana, I truthfully never got along with him (even though he was one of the first few horses I purchased). I have Fire Goddess (same dam), and a reserve to Whispering Melody (through buybacks), so I have his pedigree covered there, too. And, maybe we can work something out in regards to Hellfire
[IZZY'S PSA BREAK IN: OHREALLYBIGPUPPYEYES]
KENREN'S INTERVIEW1-Everyone knows about your new breeding window for mares. How much does this window effect your studs? Will they have shorter breeding careers as well? If so, what will all those lovely ponies be doing for 10+ years of retirement?
Honestly, it’s going to be a matter of demand. Ideally, my current young stallions and those that will be coming off of the track in the coming years will have 4-6 foals, about the same as the mares (though the mares will be on the lower end of that spectrum). When they retire will largely depend on a) outside interest, and b) when I have a replacement foal whose breeding appeals to me. If a stallion gets a lot of attention early on and has a couple of foals in his first seasons, I’m happy to retire him fairly young. If he’s having trouble gaining interest, I’ll market him and hope for the best, but those ones will tend to stay around a little longer. I also overall have a lot fewer stallions than mares, especially in the dirt and dual categories, so I need them a little bit more - at least until the young bloods move in and make it possible for me to retire some of their predecessors. It’s going to be an individual consideration, but all things going my way, I’d still love to be able to breed them most in their early seasons and then retire them to make room for the large crops coming up. As for what they’ll do… well, you never know when one of those stallions may be offered up as a contest prize down the road
Otherwise, they’ll be in my retirement area and I will continue to keep up on their progeny/descendant records (for example, what is currently seen on Native Harlot’s page).
2-You were recently quoted for saying you were crazy for selling a HOF horse. What prompted this sale, and can we expect to see more of these at some point?
I feel like this is similar to some of the sales Ripley has made of top-notch horses that just don’t appeal to her personally for whatever reason. I picked Simply A Flyer up out of a reclaim sale, and while she should be garnering tons of attention in my breeding lineup, she just doesn’t appeal to me. It’s a shame for a horse like that to just sit in my barn because I don’t want to breed to her, so instead I’m selling her in foal to Laddie Luck, which is the original pairing I had lined up for a Y20 foal for myself. As for seeing more sales like this down the road, it’s hard to say. The answer is probably not, but I would have said the same when I picked this one up. My interest in breeding horse can be fickle sometimes, and instead of hoarding horses I’m not likely to breed, I’m generally okay cutting them loose for others to enjoy.
3-Could you explain for us VS's core foundation herd? Being unregistered, they seem to all only have about one foal each. Are you planning to continue breeding them, and if so, what do they provide to your stable (or ours several generations down) that raced stock does not?
The core foundation herd are the horses listed as the sire and dam of my created horses. While it’s not particularly up to date, it was a good resource for me when I had less breeding horses of a certain distance or surface and I didn’t want to actually create a new broodmare/stallion for just one foal before I had horses retire from my racing string. The herd page itself was mostly just to give me available options though, as said, it isn’t updated with all of the progeny involved or all of my created parents. Horses bred in this matter include Rebound (out of Great Drama, dam of Greater Avalanche, herself the dam of GM winner Mudslide), Devil You Know (out of Charity, half to Chiquato), and Stradivarius (by Stolen Legend, half to Bold Musician). Honestly they’re not likely to show up particularly often from here on out and the entire page may be condensed to those that have actually been used, but I wouldn’t put it past me to make a half to a particularly good create down the road. I think it adds about the same to the game as a create itself does, with the added benefit of some family connections. Fresh lines and variety, though that may become less necessary as our breeding pool expands and outcrosses become more available.
4-Earthly Witch's retirement was a bit rapid-although you've already explained to us why, are you facing any regrets?
Not at all! As I’ve said, I was perfectly content to retire her at the conclusion of her 3yo year. She had absolutely nothing left to prove to me, and I’m not really the type to chase HoF. I decided that if I was going to run her another year, I wouldn’t do it against the division that she’s already proven herself dominant in. If I was going to run her at 4, I was going to do it against the colts on their terms, aiming for the BC Classic. However, that division is INCREDIBLY strong this year, and I had to step back and evaluate both she and her competition, as well as the 3yos in the same division that I had coming up. She just wasn’t at the same level she was last year, and Gallantry and Night Terror seemed poised to move into the spot she was filling. My options were either retire her or move her back to the distaff division (which Exotic Dancer and Radiant Heat were ready to move into), and I decided that, again, she had nothing left to prove to me in that field, and was best served retiring to make room for the horses that were ready to make moves. She was, and is, a very special filly for me, and I am extremely happy with how her career panned out. After all, even in her short career, she still racked up 21 wins, which is a feat many don't reach after 5 years of racing. She had a full career as far as I'm concerned.
5-It seems several stables are facing older horses with smaller win captures this season despite great youth seasons under their belts. Are you experiencing this as well? If so, do you plan to retire those horses, or try for another season?
It’s pretty individual, but I’m currently planning to hold over six of my older horses for another year (more now, after reclaims and the September sale... but mostly undercarders). Only two of those are running in HOTY company currently (Shady Biscuit and Valaska), and they’re finishing out of the money more times than not. I only have one older horse I’m running that’s struggling after a good 3yo year, but the Cotillion Stakes** winner Bohemian Rhapsody also had nearly a year off the track. After I evaluated my stock coming into the older ranks next year, I decided that she would likely not be running next year unless she fails to reach G1 this year - in which case, she will run until G1 then retire. It’s hard to get a horse back to the same level after that kind of break, and a horse like Valaska will really compete with her for races. So, no, I’m not having that particular problem this year, but only because most of my older horses this year just weren’t that good when they were young! But overall, I tend not to race a horse at 5 if it had a very good juvenile or classic year, and I’ve retired plenty of those types of horses after a mediocre 4yo season.
6-You almost took the Triple Tiara this season. Is there a reason Radiant Heat missed the first leg? Any comments about your other triple racers?
Easy answer: Radiant Heat wasn’t ready for the first leg of the Triple Tiara, and that spot was given to Amarillo By Morning, who was in a better position at the time and finished third in that race. Radiant Heat only had one win at the time, after racing lightly early in the year and finding some struggles along the way. Her 3yo record at the time was 5-1-1-1, which didn’t particularly fill me with confidence. So, Amarillo By Morning got the 8f leg, and Radiant Heat ran in the Brevity Oaks - and won. With the miler going back to miler races and Radiant Heat now sporting another win under belt, she was given a wonderful run in the rest of the series. Overall, my luck in the classics this year has been humbling. I haven’t had horses ready for the TC/TT in years, so to have the run I had with Radiant Heat and Gallantry was very exciting. I also had some luck in the new Spring Sprinter Series, so that was also very exciting! My turfers were lackluster, but they’d also originally been aiming for the distance races, so I’m excited to see how the second half of the classic season goes!
7-There seems to be something in the water when the pairs of our ponies get together to make little fuzzies - given their records thus far. How are you feeling about future matches that have been planned?
The future matches are obviously pretty exciting given how well Gallantry and Mournful Malister have run this year. The Y19-born is Sun Shower, the delectable crossing of Phantasm Frost and Summer Romance, so it’s hard not to be excited for that one. Phantasm Frost was always a barn favorite, and even though Summer Romance took off after we had her, she obviously more than made up for that later on. Y20 is pretty REI heavy for me, capitalizing both on success and reserves, and includes a crossing of Super Cat and Wings of Jayde, The Good Fight and Loud And Clear, and Proletariat and Barely A Sound. Given that those are my first foals for my half in each of those pairings, the prospect is very exciting!
8-Catch us up on your juveniles. There are some who haven't placed out of the money yet, and most of them seem to be running in HOTY. Any chance we'll see some of them in the sale next season, like you've done with Snow Snake?
I do have two that haven’t placed out of the money yet (Andromeda and Xantalis), but most of them have had their turn off the board. But you’re correct, all of them have at least some HOTY experience. In a time where even the undercard races are overpopulated, especially early season, I’d much rather throw them in massive HOTY races than massive undercard races. However, while I think it’s the easiest route to an eventual HOTY win, it’s not the only route - my primarily undercarder Rhodium was worked into a few HOTY races later in the year and has scored her first HOTY win. As for the sales, two sold in the September sale this year, and both horses I was always planning on selling after I got them going. But I can’t guarantee that a horse of Snow Snake’s caliber will be up for sale next year in this type of sale - I just knew that he wasn’t going to be a useful breeding horse for me when I have a lot of top turf sprinter stallion prospects, while he would be a wonderful foundation horse for someone else. I could have waited until he retired to sell him, but I have Wildcat King who he clashes with this year and Gladiator who he’d clash with next year, so it just seems like the right time. So whether or not there will be more in the future will depend on the overall circumstances year to year.
9-Which two yearlings are you the most excited about, and why?
That’s a hard question for sure, but the first of my two would probably be Shenanigans’ first foal, Malarkey. He is by Limited Edition and co-owned by Stride of Perfection, where he’ll be going upon retirement (due to the overwhelming amount of Trust Limits line I already have). With both parents being classic and BC winners, he’s an exciting blueblood from two first-time parents. While I don’t put a lot of stock in expectations based on breeding, it’s still exciting to see how his story will unfold. Second favorite is a bit tougher since I like the crop a lot in general, but I suppose it would be Manticore. He’s a cross of one of my fairly successful creates, Criosphinx, and the lovely Feline Frenzy, who is also the dam of Wildcat King and Ambush. It’s probably not the most conventional pick, but I’ve always been a fan of the least likely breedings.
10-Do you have any Breeder's news to dish? It might be a touch early - but readers don't care. They want dirt.
At this point, not horribly early! I can say that probably for the first time ever, I’m going to be pointing two horses at the same race from the get-go - Masquerade and The Good Fight will be meeting each other for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint! So that’s exciting and weird for me, but the two of them are both too good to miss the race, especially when Masquerade couldn’t run in last year’s BC Juvenile Sprint as the favorite because of a mistake when races were posted (as he runs 6-9 and the race was mistakenly run at 5f). So they both get to go. Otherwise my likelies are: Wild Sonata to the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Andromeda to the Juvenile Fillies, Blue Moon to the F&M Sprint, Wings of Jayde in the F&M Turf Sprint, Valaska in the F&M Turf, Radiant Heat in the Distaff, Stradivarius in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Carnal Nature in the Juvenile Sprint, Passionist in the Turf Marathon, Palace of Fire OR Amarillo Bandit in the Juvenile Turf, Xantalis OR Ghost Ship in the Juvenile, Wildcat King in the Turf Sprint, Shady Biscuit in the Dirt Mile, Royal Charm in the Filly Dirt Mile, Nephilim in the Mile, Wild Daisy in the Filly Mile, Mr. Wild in the Turf, Night Terror in the Marathon, Gallantry in the Classic, Malibu Star in the Turf Filly Marathon, and Exotic Dancer in the Dirt Filly Marathon.
11-It seems you're no longer favoring your less is more type of racing approach? Several years ago you were succeeding tremendously by racing less than the average but gaining a lionshare of wins. A good chunk of your horses are now on the tracks 20 times in a season, rather than the past of about 14. Thoughts on this transition?
Before last year, I had two years where I basically missed the first few months of racing, pretty much, because the timing was really bad for me - school, or work, on top of workout needs. While some of my horses still managed to catch back up, a lot of them had to come from behind or otherwise suffered because of missing those first few months. So while some of them succeeded, it wasn’t an intentional lessening of races. Now I try to keep them to 20 races or less when I have the whole season available to me, giving them at least two months off during the year. My undercard horses actually end up having more races than my HOTY horses because I’m trying to catch up with them, but I do make a conscious effort to keep their race counts manageable for the most part. This year I think they’ll probably have less on average than last year because I’m more aware of it!
12-Any plans on picking up horses in this next sale? What sort of gaps do you have in your roster?
I know the sale is over now, but I did indeed have a very small dirt miler gap in my roster that I filled. Overall though, I’m generally on the lookout for lower-grade projects I can race up and then sell once they’re on their feet again. Some, like, Hellion, just appeal to me even though they clash. And as ever, I’m generally on the lookout for lines that I like but don’t have, hence my purchase of Coco Cabana and Flaming Confidenza, in foal to Fleet Street. Certain parts of my breeding string are well full, especially on the broodmare side, but I’m actually low on stallions in the dirt and dual department - at least until some retire, so I’m generally on the lookout!
13-Talk to us about progeny from your horses at other stables. Any you are particularly proud of? Any stables you'd like to branch more transactions with?
Honestly, I’m pretty happy breeding with pretty much any stable, and I think that shows in the widespread representation of my breeding stock (at least in youngstock, and in the coming years!). The Pyrotechnics foals have done exactly as I’d hoped, and Alcuard’s first foals have been wonderful. I know there are others that I can’t think of off the top of my head, but I do know that there are going to be more and more exciting outbred horses in the next couple of years!
14-We know how you love pedigrees. What trends do you see moving into the forefront in the next few seasons? Any fresh blood we should be introducing, or tried and true lineages that shouldn't be missed before they're gone?
As you know, I’m a big proponent of breeding to young breeding horses, because I’m particularly fond of ‘proving’ a new lineage - for example, I’m very proud to have raced the first HOTY-winning daughter of Malibu King. I think fresh and rarely-used lines have a lot to offer the game, especially when some of the top producers are so prolific! Given the amount of success I’ve had with created and oddball lineages, I am confident in reminding everyone that you don’t have to breed to the best to get the best. Breed to the horses that appeal to you personally, even if they aren’t successful. You could be the one to make them successful! Don’t breed just because you think the line is fancy or blueblooded - they may not run to their breeding, and you’ll just be disappointed. Do what feels right to you, and you’ll never be disappointed!