Gainesway Farm Photos and Text by Emily Hufford
It was a cold and snowy afternoon when we arrived at Gainesway Farm, which once had over 40 stallions but now is home to 13 active studs. Horses who reside there but are off-limits to the public include Winning Colors and Lyphard. More importantly, Gainesway is the home to top stallion Broad Brush, who stands for $100,000.
The day we got there it was snowing hard, but the stallion manager still kindly agreed to bring out Officer, Sir Cat, Sunday Break, and Smoke Glacken. We walked along a beautiful pool framed by the names of the famous stallions who lived there in the past to get to the breeding shed, where the four stallions were paraded in front of us.
 Officer © 2004 |
The first horse out was Officer, one of my personal favorites on the racetrack. The bay son of Bertrando won his first four races without effort, drawing away easily each time without influence from the whip. After 3 losses and an injury, he returned with another breathtaking, easy victory at Santa Anita. Then all of the sudden his career was ended with another injury. An incoming sire of 2003, Officer's first crop of two-year-olds will run in 2006. |
He stands for $12,500. Next up was Smoke Glacken, the Eclipse Champion Sprinter of 1997. Already a sire of several stakes winners, such as Smok'n Frolic and 2004 Derby hopeful Read the Footnes, Smoke Glacken is standing for $25,000.
 Smoke Glacken © 2004 |
 Sir Cat © 2004 |
Third out was Sir Cat, a son of Storm Cat who won 5 stakes in 14 races. He stands for $6,500.
Last out in the snow was Sunday Break, a new sire who is standing his first year at stud. A son of Forty Niner, Sunday Break won the Peter Pan Stakes and was third in the 2002 Belmont Stakes. He won 4 races total. We wanted to see Orientate, but he had just arrived back from the Southern Hemisphere, so his winter coat had not grown and it was too cold to bring him out. The stallion manager told us to just walk through the 4 barns that house the stallions and see them all. This gave us an opportunity to see super sires such as Broad Brush, Mt. Livermore, and Lear Fan, and I got to achieve one of my dreams by getting to actually meet and pet Officer. Young sires such as Formal Gold, Subordination, and K One King also live there. |
 Sunday Break © 2004 |
 Cozzene © 2004 |
One of the last horses we saw was Cozzene, a Breeders' Cup winner and sire of two other Breeders' Cup winners, Tikkanen and Alphabet Soup. Gainesway was a wonderful farm and we highly recommend it. As with all farms, it is best to visit when breeding season is over because they are very busy during the spring. Turf Angels.com Rating: 5 stars |
