Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
FRIEND OR FOE FINDS A NICHE AS SIRE IN VIRGINIA
Moving through the various states in the Eastern region, both familiar and unfamiliar names emerge atop their respective states’ sire lists. Some stallions, such as South Carolina’s Done Talking, were returning to their roots, while others, such as Virginia’s Friend Or Foe, have made themselves at home in a new niche, as all dealt with the challenges unique to their regions.
Virginia
The racing and breeding industry in Virginia has had its ups and downs in the 21st century. The return of local action at Colonial Downs in 2019 after several years with no in-state races for statebred horses was a welcome development for the Virginia industry, which had worked hard to keep local farms and training centers afloat in the interim. The Virginia Breeders Fund had worked to cultivate state breeding with awards for Virginia-breds running around the country, and to incentivize boarding and training in the state with the Virginia-certified program.
But in the meantime, other equine pursuits in the state, home to Middleburg, a mecca of equestrian sport, and Morven Park, a major eventing venue, never slowed. And so, some of the state’s leading Thoroughbred stallions found another outlet for success by pulling duty as both racehorse sires and sport horse sires. That was the case for the two most popular stallions in the state in 2020, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred – Friend Or Foe, standing at Smallwood Farm in Crozet, and Remarquez, standing at Colordale Farm in Winchester.
Friend Or Foe, who raced as a homebred for perennial New York-leading owner-breeders Chester and Mary Broman, won the 2010 Empire Classic as a 3-year-old in his most successful season of racing, when his victories also included the Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park, part of the Big Apple Triple. Friend Or Foe was a stakes winner at 4 and stakes-placed at 5 in 2012. He also made several forays into graded stakes company, with his best effort a fourthplace finish in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap in 2011, beaten just a nose for third.
Smallwood, which is owned and operated by Phyllis Jones and her daughter Robin Mellen, has been in operation for more than 50 years. Friend Or Foe has learned to jump since his retirement from the racetrack and is available as both a racing and sport horse sire.
“We’ve bred everything from Clydesdales to event horses at Smallwood,” Jones told the Virginia Thoroughbred Association. Friend Or Foe’s “offspring have turned out to be wonderful and calm horses.”
Bolstered by the Bromans, who have continued to send mares to support Friend Or Foe, the stallion finished as Virginia’s leading stallion with state-sired progeny on the track for the third consecutive time in 2020. His leading progeny is the Broman homebred Mr. Buff, who has earned more than $1.2 million. His 10 stakes victories include the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Empire Classic, and on Jan. 23 he won the Jazil for the third time to open his 2021 campaign.
California-bred Remarquez, who was unraced, is a frame overo who is registered with both The Jockey Club and the American Paint Horse Association, as well as with the American Quarter Horse Association for the breeding of cross-bred offspring known as appendixes. The versatile stallion has sired winning racehorses, as well as dressage, eventing, hunter/ jumper, polo, and Western sport horses.
Colordale Farm is located in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, within 45 minutes of the five largest eventing, hunter/ jumper, dressage, and foxhunting show venues in Virginia: Middleburg, Warrenton, Upperville, The Plains, and Morven Park.
New Jersey
Hey Chub was New Jersey’s leading sire in four consecutive years, from 2016 to 2019, but he stood in Pennsylvania in 2020, leaving an opening at the top of the sire list. Il Postino stepped in for Colonial Farms, and leads that operation’s stallions ,who are poised to step up.
Il Postino, by Distorted Humor, sired five winners from 10 starters in 2020, and finished the season with progeny earnings of $294,581. That was enough to edge out another perennial state stalwart in Don Six, with $246,734 to become New Jersey’s leading resident sire.
Colonial Farms introduced a new stallion to the state in 2020 in the maiden winner Sea Wizard. He quickly became the busiest stallion in the state, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, as he covered 19 mares in his debut season. It was no wonder – Sea Wizard is a son of emerging sire of sires Uncle Mo, whose first sons to stud took three of the top four spots on the national freshman sire list in 2020.
New England
Indian Ocean continues to lead the New England region’s small group of Thoroughbred stallions. Standing at Briar Hill Farm in Massachusetts – where the vast majority of the region’s stallions are based – he sired just one winner from six starters in 2020, but that was enough to give him a narrow edge by progeny earnings on the season.
Indian Ocean, by Stormy Atlantic, put together a solid record of 5-3-0-2 in his brief racing career, winning the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes and finishing third in the Grade 2 Swaps Stakes in 2005. His best runners have been Natalie Victoria, a multiple stakes winner at Monmouth who earned more than $500,000 in her career, and stakes winner
Indian Gracey, who was third in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes in 2010. He also is the sire of stakes winners Indian Assault, Indian Splendor, Oceans of Honey, and Wild About Chrome.
North and South Carolina
The Elloree Training Center in South Carolina is known for giving champion racehorses their early starts as yearlings and 2-year-olds, and for launching the careers of top riders. Now, the operation is known for standing a regional leading sire who continues a family affair.
Done Talking, a Skeedattle Associates homebred by Broken Vow, entered stud in 2014 at Elloree, remaining in the family that had raised him up to racing success. Franklin “Goree” Smith, who owns the training center, gave the horse his lessons as a youngster, and mentioned the colt to brother Hamilton Smith, who wound up training the colt on the track. He went on to win the Grade 3 Illinois Derby in 2012 and start in the Kentucky Derby.
Overall, Done Talking has sired 11 winners from 14 starters, a strong strike rate considering the five stallions standing between North and South Carolina have limited opportunities to attract mares. He sired seven winners from 11 starters in 2020 to lead the states by winners and earnings. His bankroll of $294,246 was more than four times that of the region’s runner-up fellow
Elloree resident Straight Talking, who also is a member of his extended family. Straight Talking is out of Grade 3 winner Gin Talking, while Done Talking is out of Gin Talking’s Grade 3-winning daughter Dixie Talking.