The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association will honor national award winners at its 40th anniversary awards dinner Sept. 6 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in Lexington and will celebrate state and Canadian winners at that dinner as well as a Sept. 5 luncheon at Godolphin near Lexington. Following are profiles of the winning breeders by state as well as a pair of Canadian honors.
ARIZONA
Marvin Fleming
Fleming Thoroughbred Farm was Arizona's leading breeder in 2024 for the ninth consecutive year.
Brothers Marvin and Gerald Fleming own and operate the 320-acre, full-service facility near Wilcox, Ariz. Fleming Thoroughbred Farm features a five-eighths-mile training track, training barn, foaling barn, and a covered barn for mares.
"Next year I hope to be talking about it being 10 years in a row," Marvin Fleming said.
The Fleming brothers stand four stallions including Arizona's leading sire Lotsa Mischief, a stakes-winning son of six-time leading national sire Into Mischief .
Lotsa Mischief is working on an impressive streak of his own. He was Arizona's leading stallion for the fourth consecutive year in 2024 when his progeny earnings surpassed the $1 million mark for the first time. Fleming credits his top stud for much of the farm's recent breeding success.
"Breeder earnings can be a numbers game. We have a lot of runners out there, and the Lotsa Mischief foals, they've been doing very well on the track," Fleming said. "That's what brought us to the top—the numbers and having a hot stud right now."—Pete Denk
ARKANSAS
McDowell Farm
The heartbeat of Arkansas racing runs through Oaklawn Park but the birthplace of many notable state-breds competing at the Hot Springs track is about 60 miles south, at McDowell Farm near Sparkman, Ark.
Owned by husband and wife Bill and Mary McDowell, the farm has been recognized for an 18th time as Arkansas breeder of the year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
The McDowell enterprise is a family affair with Bill and Mary's children, Kirk and Leslie, also working on the farm, which was founded in the early 1970s by Bill's late father, Donald Dewitt McDowell. As a breed-to-sell operation, McDowell is home to four stallions owned by outside clients: Caddo River, Gentlemen's Bet, The Big Beast , and Whelen Springs.
The Big Beast, a son of Yes It's True, ranked second among Arkansas sires in 2024 progeny earnings while Gentlemen's Bet also cracked the top 10.
The most accomplished runner bred by McDowell Farm in 2024 was Lochmoor, a son of Laurie's Rocket who previously stood at the farm. Lochmoor earned $293,875 while producing a record of 4-1-1 in six starts for owner William Kennedy Jr. The highlight of the year for the gelding came in the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders' Championship Stakes at Oaklawn Park, which he won by 2 1/4 lengths over 11 rivals as the heavy favorite. Produced by the Elusive Quality mare Copperelle, who was bought privately by Bill McDowell, Lochmoor also finished third in the Nodouble Breeders' Stakes.—Karen M. Johnson
CALIFORNIA
Richard Barton Enterprises
Richard Barton Enterprises built upon its leading California breeder status of 2023 to lead the state again in 2024. For the second consecutive year, the Barton team was named the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's California breeder of the year, and in 2024 Barton-bred runners earned $3,672,009 and won 148 races.
It is a true team, one that encompasses actual family members as well as farm employees who are considered family. Richard and Beth Barton founded the business, while daughter Kate Barton Penner serves as executive vice president. Many of those who work at the farm—Barton Thoroughbreds near Santa Ynez, Calif.—have done so for years, headed by farm manager Kevin Dickson.
"We couldn't have done it without our amazing team at the farm in Santa Ynez," Penner said. "Kevin has done a great job overseeing all the daily operations, and he also plays a big role for us when consigning our horses at California sales."
The farm is full service, standing several stallions and breeding mares for both Barton and its clients. But it is the sales prep operation that really propels Barton forward. They send all of their foals to market, usually via yearling sales, and as a result Barton-bred runners succeed for a wide variety of owners, many in California. —Tracy Gantz
CANADA, LARGE BREEDER
Adena Springs
Led by Moira, the 2024 Eclipse Award-winning outstanding turf female, Adena Springs of Frank Stronach and his late wife Frieda again was leading breeder in Canada, taking home an unprecedented 15th Sovereign Award.
In 2024, horses bred by the Aurora, Ontario, nursery earned more than $1.6 million. Moira, a daughter of Stronach's successful sire and 2004 (United States) Horse of the Year Ghostzapper who was recently relocated to Adena after standing at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa in Kentucky, already had a stellar career. After defeating males in track-record time in the prestigious Queen's Plate Stakes in 2022, Moira was honored as Canadian Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly.
The mare's 2024 campaign was highlighted by a victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T), which she won in her third attempt on the heels of a third-place finish in 2023. With two wins and two seconds in four outings and earnings of $1.58 million in 2024, Moira was awarded a Special Sovereign Award.
Off the track, Moira was a winner in the sales arena. At Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale in 2023 she was purchased for $3 million by DM Racing Ventures, a group that included many of her original owners who had paid $150,000 for the multiple champion as a yearling. Following her 2024 Breeders' Cup triumph, Moira was bought by Australian-based Bayles for $4.3 million at the same auction.
"She's just a great horse," trainer Kevin Attard said. "She showed brilliance from the get-go."—Ron Mitchell
CANADA, SMALL BREEDER
Jesse Korona
When the 3-year-old filly Catilinhergrtness defeated a field of accomplished males to win the King's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack—the most prestigious race in Canada—it marked a bellwether moment for the small breeding program of Jesse Korona.
In addition to her King's Plate triumph for owners WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, the Omaha Beach filly named after WNBA basketball star Caitlin Clark finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) and at year's end was voted a Sovereign Award as champion 3-year-old filly.
Korona, who owns the Target Training personal training center in Etobicoke, Ontario, acquired Caitlinhergrtness in utero when he bought her dam Belatrix for $40,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale upon the advice of veteran Canadian trainer Reade Baker.
Caitlinhergrtness was sold as a weanling for $65,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale and fetched $160,000 when she went through the Keeneland September Yearling Sale ring. She was then bought by Siena and WinStar for $375,000 as a 2-year-old in training at the Ocala Breeders' Sales.
Korona's breeding program has evolved quickly since he acquired his first horse in 2018, but it's the result of a lengthy, methodic plan put together by the breeder. —R.M.
FLORIDA
Stonehedge Farm
Marilyn Campbell, breeding as Stonehedge, secured her fourth award for the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Florida breeder of the year in 2024.
Stonehedge Farm South near Williston, Fla., was purchased by Campbell and her late husband Gilbert, who was a former Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' & Owners' Association director—in 1988, formerly known as Waldemar Farms. The 500-plus-acre facility is rich in history, being the birthplace of 1975 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Foolish Pleasure. Their farm manager, Larry King, has been there for more than 50 years, following in the footsteps of his father, who managed Waldemar Farms.
Dean Delivers, a gelding by Stonehedge stallion Cajun Breeze, put together another big year for his breeders in 2024. He won four stakes races in a row including the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes at Laurel Park and the Rumson Stakes at Monmouth Park, and followed that with a third-place finish in the Vosburgh Stakes (G3). He has hit the board in 21 of his 29 career starts, earning $840,410.—Olivia Newman
INDIANA
Greg Justice
A longtime participant in the equine industry, Greg Justice has been breeding Thoroughbred racehorses for more than 40 years. Based in Lexington, the 67-year-old Justice owns and operates Justice Farm.
Some of his success has come north of the Kentucky border. Last year marks Justice's fourth consecutive Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association breeding award for Indiana; he won his first in 2015. Now, Justice has it for the fifth time.
Justice attributes his longstanding ties to Indiana to the state's breeder awards, which allocate 20% of the gross purse of races in the state to the breeders of Indiana-bred Thoroughbreds. (Claiming races for prices of less than $10,000 are excluded.) That explains his involvement there despite being based in "horse farm country" Lexington.
In 2024, Justice bred four stakes winners: Breezy Justice, Elegant Justice, Goodlookinjustice, and Under the Palms while also racing all but Under the Palms. The latter, sold as a yearling for $105,000 at Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale in 2022, competes for Tilted Shamrock Stables and Magdalena Racing and is trained by Kenny McPeek.—Isaiah Pinto
IOWA
H. Allen Poindexter
Named the Hawkeye State's 2024 Horse of the Year, Seventeen Black enjoyed most of his success racing for Poindexter Thoroughbreds, Kevin Eikleberry, and AG Racing Stables. He helped Allen Poindexter secure another title as the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Iowa breeder of the year.
Poindexter bought the gelding's dam, American Sugar (by Harlan's Holiday), for $15,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She won multiple stakes before retiring to Poindexter's broodmare band. In 2020 she produced Seventeen Black, a son of grade 1 winner Mendelssohn . He hammered for $300,000 to Amerman Racing as a weanling at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale and at 3 started his career for that owner in California.
It was not until spring 2024 that Seventeen Black began to hit his stride. He won a May 11 claiming race at Santa Anita Park, then finished off the board in a starter allowance race before being purchased by the current owners and heading back to the Midwest. Racing at Prairie Meadows, the gelding proved unstoppable. In a June 23 starter allowance race he romped, coasting home 11 3/4 lengths clear of runner-up Pleaseusetheportal. He reeled off five consecutive wins at the track, rounding out the season with his first local stakes victory, which came Sept. 28 in the non-black-type Governor Terry E. Branstad Stakes.—Carly Silver
KENTUCKY
Godolphin
Entering the year off three straight national breeder of the year titles, Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation kept the good times rolling in 2024 to claim the Kentucky breeder of the year honor while also being named a finalist by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association for both the national breeder of the year and national owner of the year.
In terms of the Kentucky breeding accomplishments for Godolphin, which breeds and campaigns horses throughout the world, the 2024 racing season would be led by a pair of 2-year-olds in champion juvenile filly Immersive and grade 1-winning colt East Avenue.
Immersive hit the ground running under trainer Brad Cox as she won her six-furlong maiden special weight debut by two lengths in July at Saratoga Race Course and followed with three straight grade 1 wins. A daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist and out of the Bernardini mare Gap Year, who won at 2, Immersive registered clear victories in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) in August at Saratoga, the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) in October at Keeneland, and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar.
East Avenue, a son of Medaglia d'Oro , secured a grade 1 score in the Breeders' Futurity in October at Keeneland. East Avenue is trained by Brendan Walsh.—Frank Angst
LOUISIANA
Tony Doughtie
Tony Doughtie has established himself within the equine industry in Louisiana despite living a state away. The owner of Doughtie Construction in Huntsville, Texas, has showcased his homebred talent in Louisiana.
For 2024, Doughtie was named the state's leading breeder by percentage of stakes winners at 40% from starters, according to the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Most notably, Tdzshininluckystar, the then-3-year-old gelding, earned two black-type victories. He won the June 1 Louisiana Legends Cheval Stakes and the Aug. 3 Louisiana Stallion Stakes, both of which were at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., more than three hours from Huntsville.
Tdzshininluckystar was Doughtie's highest-earning racehorse last year, with more than $180,000 in 2024 alone. Across 11 starts, Tdzshininluckystar, along with his two black-type wins, was twice runner-up and twice third.
Another stakes winner for Doughtie in 2024 was Tdz Hint of Power.
Tdz Dancinlilslew won a 3-year-old maiden race in February. Five days later, Tdz Hint of Power won an allowance race, both of which were at Delta Downs.—I.P.
MARYLAND
R. Larry Johnson
During his lifetime, R. Larry Johnson was a titan of Mid-Atlantic breeding and racing. After his death, his daughters, Tracy Mulroy and Kelly Caraballo, are keeping his aptly named Legacy Farm going. They are forging ahead with the help of Andrew Motion, Jonathan Smart (who runs the farm), and trainer Mike Trombetta.
In 2024, Johnson homebred Future Is Now won the Intercontinental Stakes (G2T) and Franklin Stakes (G2T). Johnson-bred Mindframe placed in the 2024 Belmont Stakes (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1) for owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables.
Mulroy noted that "last year, my dad had been sick. ... We thought he had time left, but I think my sister and I sort of decided we wanted to more consciously start really getting to these races. And so we did."
Johnson bought Future Is Now's fourth dam, the Maryland-bred filly Ran's Chick, in the late 1970s.
Mulroy said, "He bought three horses out of that auction—Ran's Chick, Beltway Traffic, who was appropriately named and wouldn't come out of the gate, and the third horse, who nobody can remember." As it turns out, "Ran's Chick never made it to the racetrack; she bowed. And so he famously said, 'So I decided to compound my stupidity by breeding her.'" —C.S.
New Jersey
Vincent Annarella
The New Jersey state motto is "Liberty and Prosperity," two concepts embodied by Vincent Annarella. Named the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association New Jersey breeder of the year, the owner of Holly Crest Farm has nurtured generations of Thoroughbreds at his nursery, located near Middletown, N.J., and last year sent a standout to the Haskell Stakes.
Sea Streak didn't hit the board in that race, but he did finish 2024 with wins in two Monmouth Park stakes: the May 11 Long Branch Stakes and Aug. 25 Charles Hesse III Handicap.
Sea Streak's dam, the Silver Deputy mare High Noon Nellie, has produced three stakes winners so far. Her 6-year-old Mr Speaker gelding, Speaking, won this year's John J. Reilly Handicap at Monmouth Park, his third consecutive victory in that race. He has won eight of 21 career starts and earned $515,770 through July 8.—C.S.
NEW MEXICO
J. Kirk and Judy Robison
Longtime breeder/owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison, best known for their success with champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior , have been voted the 2024 Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association New Mexico breeder of the year.
Residents of El Paso, Texas, the Robisons enjoyed success in the Southwest with their homebred New Mexico-bred stakes winners Community Leader and Higher Ed. Community Leader was named the 2023 New Mexico-bred champion 2-year-old male and crowned the 2024 New Mexico-bred champion 3-year-old male.
Higher Ed won two outings and placed behind his stablemate in the Mountain Top New Mexico Bred Thoroughbred Futurity and Rio Grande Senor Thoroughbred Futurity at 2. The gelding scored his first stakes victory as a 3-year-old in 2024 with a 4 1/2-length romp in the Kendrick Stakes at SunRay Park.
Successful entrepreneurs in the restaurant and real estate businesses, the Robisons purchased their first racehorse in 1995. The couple currently own 28 mares that they breed in California, Kentucky, and New Mexico and count 50 horses in training. They race several horses in partnership with Stonestreet Stables.—Molly Rollins
NEW YORK
William "Buck" Butler
When William "Buck" Butler began breeding horses at the end of the first decade of this century, he never imagined that he'd win trophies and titles, but that is exactly what's happened to a man who credits New York's breeding and racing program with providing opportunities to achieve success beyond his wildest dreams. He was named the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's New York breeder of the year.
Butler earned his first breeder of the year award at New York Thoroughbred Breeders' annual awards ceremony in May, thanks to half siblings My Mane Squeeze and Rotknee. My Mane Squeeze was voted New York-bred Horse of the Year, champion 3-year-old filly, and champion female sprinter, while Rotknee took home the trophy for champion male sprinter. Their dam In Spite of Mama earned Broodmare of the Year honors.
In 2005, Butler purchased a 2-year-old filly by Carson City at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training for $65,000. He named her Mama Theresa, and she would become the foundation of his breeding operation.—Teresa Genaro
NORTH CAROLINA
Nancy Shuford
For more than 50 years, Nancy Shuford has immersed herself in the equine industry. Starting in the early 1970s, Shuford was primarily interested in show horses but eventually pivoted to Thoroughbred breeding by the end of the decade.
Today, Shuford owns and manages Rock House Farm near Hickory, N.C., roughly an hour from Charlotte, since returning to her home state in 1971 after spending time away with her husband, who served in the United States Navy and pursued an education at Columbia University.
Out of her 26 mares, Bashful Bertie is her favorite. She is the dam of three-time grade 1 winner Beach Patrol, who earned more than $2.5 million in his racing career. Another prominent horse bred by Shuford is Speed King (by Volatile ), a son of Shuford's broodmare Athenian Beauty. He won this year's Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park.—I.P.
OREGON
Connie Erickson
Connie Erickson works hard to prove her stallion Rise Up, and it is paying off.
She has upgraded her broodmare band for Rise Up, a grade 3 winner at 2, and those runners have earned her leading breeder honors in her home state of Oregon as well as the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Oregon breeder of the year, the latter for the second consecutive time.
Erickson and her husband, Lee, run Ruah Ranch near Sublimity, Ore., and Connie is hands-on. It comes from her long experience with horses, which has included breeding and riding Lipizzans. Acquired through bloodstock agent George Adams, Rise Up is a millionaire son of Rockport Harbor. The horse won six stakes during his seven seasons of racing, a career that encompassed 49 starts.
Rise Up's runners include Whiskeyjack, an Erickson homebred who won the non-black-type 2023 OTOBA Juvenile Stakes and in 2024 placed in the Irish Day Stakes and Muckleshoot Derby at Emerald Downs in Washington.—Tracy Gantz
PENNSYLVANIA
Donny Brown and Tom McClay
First-time Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association winners Donny Brown and Tom McClay have been in the Thoroughbred breeding industry for almost 20 years. Together, Brown and McClay share Warrior's Reward LLC, named after their longtime stallion.
They are based near Carlisle, Pa., 30 minutes west of Harrisburg, at Sapphire Equine. A hemp farm turned horse farm has become a home base for Brown and McClay with the help of farm manager Susan Grove. In 2024, Brown and McClay retired their stallion Warrior's Reward. He was relocated to Kentucky, where he now resides at Old Friends Equine near Georgetown.
In 2024, Brown and McClay had three homebreds win stakes races: Candy Reward and The Boy's Warrior, both by Warrior's Reward, and Twilight Dancer, by Tapiture . Overall, Warrior's Reward LLC was the breeder of 64 starters in 2024, with 84 wins from 449 starts and earnings of more than $2.4 million.—I.P.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Franklin G. Smith
Franklin G. Smith again is the leading breeder in South Carolina, an honor he has held for 13 out of the past 15 years.
Smith acquired his first horse in 1972. He has since built the Elloree Training Center near Elloree, S.C., into a vast enterprise that includes breeding, foaling, and training. Smith was represented as a breeder by 19 winners in 2024, including stakes winner Spencerian, a daughter of Irish War Cry who won four of six starts and placed third twice.
The mare, whose 2024 purses totaled $144,075 and to date has earned in excess of $230,000, won the Politely Stakes and finished third in the Maryland Million Distaff Stakes last season, and finished third in the What A Summer Stakes in her first 2025 start for owner Larry E. Rabold and trainer Hugh I. McMahon.
A Maryland-bred, Spencerian began her career racing for Smith under the tutelage of Smith's brother,
Hamilton Smith, who is based at Laurel Park.—R.M.
TEXAS
Danele Durham
Danele Durham was always drawn to Thoroughbreds, acquiring her first riding horse in 1972, when she began riding and showing hunters at the age of 10. Her parents had dabbled in Thoroughbred ownership throughout her childhood, and Durham said no truer statement has been made than "It's in your blood."
In 2007, when her children were out of their infant years, she left the real estate development business to return to her true love—the Thoroughbred.
Durham is a dedicated horsewoman; not only is she a successful breeder, but also a multiple stakes-winning trainer. Texas Bling, by Too Much Bling, owned by Hall's Family Trust, put her on the map as a trainer when he won the 2012 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes, following that with a second-place finish in the 2013 Smarty Jones Stakes behind Will Take Charge, igniting Kentucky Derby (G1) dreams.
Durham Farms had a banner year in 2024, leading all Texas breeders—highlighted by Too Much Kiki winning Texas Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly. Her dam Soft Music, owned by Durham, was crowned Texas Broodmare of the Year.—O.N.
VIRGINIA
Audley Farm
With Thoroughbred racing and breeding on the upswing in Virginia, more chapters are being written into the rich history of Audley Farm on the northernmost edge of the Shenandoah Valley. For its accomplishments in 2024, Audley Farm was named Virginia breeder of the year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
Audley Farm's achievements as a breeder in 2024 were led by Virginia-bred Horse of the Year Determined Kingdom, a stakes winner who made $285,988 last year with a 4-0-1 record in six outings for trainer Phil Schoenthal and owners Determined Stables and Kingdom Bloodstock.
Last fall, Determined Kingdom was sold for $190,000 to R. Larry Johnson at the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale. The now-6-year-old gelded son of Animal Kingdom, bred by Audley Farm Equine out of the Fastnet Rock mare Filia, currently races for trainer Mike Trombetta and Johnson's estate following the owner's death.—Byron King
WASHINGTON
Nina and Ron Hagen
Nina and Ron Hagen have enjoyed more than 40 years of working together in the equine industry. In 1983, the couple bought the property that would become their mainstay, El Dorado Farms near Enumclaw, Wash.
One year later, Nina and Ron got married in a Western horseback-themed wedding ceremony outside Seattle. Their hearts were set on each other and their love for horses. Since 1984, the Hagens have owned and managed El Dorado Farms.
Since establishing El Dorado Farms, the Hagens have led Washington in breeding eight times. For their efforts, the Hagens were named the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's breeder of the year for Washington for the first time.
Additionally, in February, Emerald Downs announced the Hagens as members of the 2025 class of the Washington Racing Hall of Fame.
Currently, El Dorado Farms stands four stallions: Barkley, Coast Guard, Raise the Bluff, and Private Gold. In addition to breeding Thoroughbreds, El Dorado Farms helps neighboring farms with foaling, foal nurturing, and breeding around the state.—I.P.
