Hope Springs Eternal
“Hope springs eternal,” a good friend said this to me recently as we were catching up on the young horses at TLF. And I could not agree more. What a great time of year it is right now.
The two-year-olds are shipping to their trainers. The yearlings are growing up. And the foals are all here. The race horses are actively campaigning. It is easy to imagine each of their future careers — ears pricked, legs strong and fast, and maybe a flower blanket or two.
Two-Year-Olds
We have five two-year-olds — three have shipped to their trainers and two will be going in the coming weeks.
BB’s Big Buddy — a colt by Modernist out of Jenny’s Prayer (Tapit) — is with Riley Mott. He’s currently working three furlongs and doing everything the right way. They are affectionately calling him “B to the 4th Power” in the barn.
Family Crest — a colt by Justify out of Secret Keeper (Into Mischief) — is stablemate to B to the 4th Power. You will most likely be seeing this big guy after BB. He moves great, he has a wonderful mind, and he is so big — like Baby Huey. So we are giving him time to mature and slowly ticking along with him.
City of Mischief — a colt by City of Light out of Into Chocolate (Into Mischief) — is up in Saratoga with Bill Mott. We received a text from Ciaran at Wavertree saying “I like him,” which felt like winning a really big prize. He is likewise working three-eighths and we will see how he progresses.
Then the two fillies, Larksfly and Seneca Falls, will head up to Saratoga in the coming week or two as they wrap up their time at Wavertree.
It is a huge gift to be able to start our horses with friends like Ciaran and Amy and have them ready — brains and bodies — to head to the track.
With some big sire power coming in, I’m quietly sitting here rooting for our little Modernist colt. ♥
Yearlings
We have 10 yearlings flourishing at Lane’s End and Glencrest — one NY-bred and nine KY-breds. We are tentatively pointing four to sales this year.
The first up will be the ’25 Respective, a filly by Munnings. She is the first foal of Respective, who is herself a half-sister to 2026 Kentucky Derby starter Potente (G2 San Felipe Stakes winner and G1 Santa Anita Derby placed). This girl can walk and looks incredibly quick.
Then we have three great colts at Lane’s End. We have decided to keep one — our Gunrunner colt out of Ilsa, making him a half-brother to Beauty Reigns — and potentially offer two others for sale. First is the ’25 Secret Keeper by Not This Time: he is correct, has great range, and a lot of substance (and loves scratches and being told he is very handsome). Second is the ’25 Paradise Woods by Gun Runner, who has class for days and is the full brother to the highest-priced yearling filly of 2025, now named Tennesseesmokeshow.
Our philosophy around sales and racing decisions balances running TLF as a business — supporting operational costs with sale proceeds and cheering on our progeny with their new owners at the track — while keeping a select few to race. To raise good horses, sell good horses, and campaign good horses: that is what we aim to do.
Our entries for the latter part of the year will be determined by the first few sales. We are also educating ourselves on the NY-bred sales market, as we have a handful of broodmares that will qualify.
Foals
Our foaling season wrapped up with a lucky 13 healthy and adorable foals — five fillies and eight colts. We have a Nyquist filly out of Meadowsweet and a Flightline filly out of Paradise Woods that are giving all of us goosebumps. And I keep coming back to a handsome Charlatan colt out of Shysheisnot. I think he could be a sleeper. The mare was fierce on dirt and grass, he is a NY-bred, and by far the best foal she has had to date.
Horses on the Track
Our horses on the track have been picking up momentum as the year progresses.
Beauty Reigns had about six months off and came back to run third, fourth, and then win by daylight. Seven furlongs on the dirt is her sweet spot, and we are excited to see her bump back up in class.
Capitol Hill won his first start back after his winter break, going one mile on the turf at Keeneland. A perfectly timed ride by Junior Alvarado — he closed at just the right moment and hit the wire. That day also happened to be my goddaughter’s birthday party, so we had a winners’ circle full of future racing enthusiasts, which filled our cups. We will be seeing him next this weekend at Saratoga in the G3 Poker Stakes.
Lennilu kept up her winning ways in Florida with six wins over the turf, tapeta, and dirt surfaces at Gulfstream. She competed at Keeneland in a graded stakes and finished fifth. Racing as part of a partnership has been such a positive experience — I can’t wait to see where they point her next. If you didn’t catch her last race, I highly recommend pulling it up: she was cut off in the stretch, essentially did a dressage side-pass at the gallop, came again to finish second by a nose, and won by disqualification.
Two horses still need a little luck from the racing gods. Necessity — we know she has the talent and the heart. In her last two starts, she ran through a whiteout squall that hit when the gates opened and finished third, and then in her next start on the turf at Keeneland, the jockey to her inside fell off at the break and she went with the loose horse, staying on to finish third. She is in on Friday at Churchill and we are hoping for an uneventful, smooth trip.
Then there is my heart horse, Resilience. We have tried him long, we have tried him short, and we think we have found his preferred distance and preferred type of ride. He is in on Saturday going seven furlongs at Saratoga.
Retirement
We have retired one of our most favorite boys — Victory Way. He was such a special horse to campaign and always gave his all. He finished with earnings just under $300,000 across 14 starts (3-3-3). Retired sound and happy, he is enjoying some time to let down before heading to my dear friend Michelle St. John and her family’s farm in Maryland. Her family operates Bonita Farm, and their new focus on aftercare and retraining is such an exciting development for the industry. Her mother has a true gift with horses — they simply blossom under her care. In the coming weeks, he will head to their farm and begin looking for his next career. He is going to make such a fabulous horse for someone — honest, eager, athletic, and a gelding for most of his life.
—
I am incredibly proud of how TLF is poised for the year and how our horses are performing — both at the track and at the farm. Gratitude to all of the people behind each of these horses, giving them the absolute best of care and knowing them as individuals. What an incredible time to be in racing.