Sallusto Tackles New Challenges With Thorostock

In this age of specialization, it is rare for someone supremely accomplished in one aspect of the Thoroughbred business to switch gears and take on ownership in a different facet of the industry. But that is exactly what bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto has done with Thorostock, his 40-acre rehab and breaking and training facility near Morriston, Fla. In just more than three years with Thorostock, Sallusto, 49, is proving himself to be horse racing's version of Shohei Ohtani, who is showing it is possible to excel at hitting and pitching in Major League Baseball. Thorostock is beginning to graduate young runners from its program who are racing directly into the winner's circles at Belmont Park and Pimlico Race Course, and Sallusto has started to attract name-brand racing stables and clients—such as Donegal Racing, Airdrie Stud, Michael Imperio, Newtown Anner Stud, and LNJ Foxwoods—that are sending both sales purchases and older horses to him for early training or R&R. Sallusto, whose father Justin trained on the East Coast, grew up in New York and New Jersey. After a forced foray into college, he graduated to various equine supply businesses before deciding to buy some horses for himself just after the turn of the century. Two became stakes horses, and he wound up selling them for neat profits. One of the buyers was Michael Iavarone, and Sallusto would soon after make a name for himself buying headline horses for Iavarone's IEAH Stable. The boldest headline belonged to Big Brown, whom Sallusto bought a majority share of for IEAH from Paul Pompa Jr. Big Brown would go on to win the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1), putting IEAH on the map. Deals for Kip Deville and Court Vision followed, and everything Sallusto touched seemed to go on to win in grade 1 company. Although IEAH eventually flamed out, Sallusto continued buying top runners at auction and privately. Caledonia Road won the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and was named champion for Newtown Anner Stud, which became a major client. Their Off the Tracks, another Sallusto purchase, won the 2016 Mother Goose Stakes (G1). He has purchased future grade 1 winners Violence, Homeboykris, Laragh, Negligee, Beach Patrol, Next Shares, Arklow, Mind Control, and I Want Revenge. With an expanding family (he has three children with wife Kacy), Sallusto wanted to cut down on the gypsy lifestyle of constantly attending sales and establish a home base. A training center seemed like a good way to stay challenged and motivated, while being able to remain close to his family. Thorostock, formerly Stonebridge Farm, opened under Sallusto's ownership in 2018. He had previously sent horses to the farm and, after spending time there, fell in love with the setting. The operation has 60 stalls, a swimming pool, Eurosizer, round pens, and a three-quarter-mile dirt racetrack to get horses ready to begin or continue their race careers. The horse population of around 70-75 is evenly split between yearlings and 2-year-olds, and older horses in for R&R, many of whom were also broken at the farm as 2-year-olds. A recent pair of Thorostock graduates are indicative of the range of services offered by Sallusto. The two 3-year-old fillies were bought by Sallusto last year out of Florida training sales, and were brought to the farm to further develop. Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot—Love Contract) made it to the races May 6, when she won her debut, a six-furlong maiden allowance race at Belmont, by 11 1/4 lengths in 1:09.69. She returned to run second in the June 6 Jersey Girl Stakes and is being pointed to the July 10 Victory Ride Stakes (G3). Edie Meeny Miny Mo (Upstart—Plum) broke her maiden at first asking April 23, winning by 4 1/4 lengths at Pimlico. She returned on June 13 to score in an allowance optional claimer there by six lengths and has a date in the July 31 Monmouth Oaks (G3). "Nick's the best," said owner Michael Imperio, who co-owns Bella Sofia and is the son of the late trainer Dominick Imperio. "My father was old school; he liked everything perfect and was tough to please. After he spent time at Nick's farm, my Dad said, 'Michael, you finally found the right guy. Nick really takes care of the horses and stops on them, just like we did in the old days. You're gonna get lucky with him.' My father's respect means a lot. Nick doesn't rush. He checks everything out." "Our philosophy is age-old," noted Sallusto. "Time and patience. Those two fillies didn't run until they were 3. They never had anything wrong with them, but they weren't quite ready, be it mentally or physically, to do their job. We bring them in and give them time to mature, and we exercise as much patience as our clients allow us. We want to give them every opportunity to become the best horse they can possibly be. "We work intensely on certain things that others might ignore. For instance, we spend a great deal of time doing corrective shoeing, because those can be problems waiting to happen. We stay on top of details like that every day. We also do laser therapy, magna-wave therapy, and employ things like Bemer blankets, which generate cell activity." Sallusto added he prefers to get added work into the horse at Thorostock before shipping them to their racetrack trainers. "I tend to get them further along than most people do before sending them out," he said. "Most of the horses I send in run an average of six weeks after they leave here. We try to bring them a little further along in fitness. If a horse is going to have a developmental issue like a shin, I'd rather they get that at the farm than at the racetrack. It depends on what the client wants, but at a minimum, our horses are up to a half-mile in their works before leaving. The older ones we'll get further along—up to five-eighths before sending them in." Sallusto is aided in great part by farm manager Jim Randolph, who worked 15 years with noted Florida horseman J.J. Pletcher before coming to Thorostock. He oversees a staff of some 30 people. Sallusto hasn't completely retired from buying horses. And with Thorostock, he is able to augment his purchases by assuring they get the best early training to maximize their potential, while doing the same for those coming from other agents and stables. "The overriding thing that sets us apart is the great team we have in place, and the care we give to each horse," he noted. "We train each horse individually, and fit the program to the horse."