Larry Connolly of West Paces Racing is no stranger to Ascot Racecourse. The self-professed anglophile made his first visit to the storied track in 2018. He later expanded his English racing experience by attending the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2024.
He didn't know it at the time, but that visit to the storied Newmarket sales ground would put in motion the wheels that would lead to him and his partners not just running horses at this week's Royal Ascot meeting but also establishing a regular stable across the Atlantic.
Having made trips to England since the early 1990s, Connolly's excursions were mostly centered around golf until he attended Cheltenham Racecourse in 1996.
"I love all the traditions and pomp and circumstance that the Brits have," Connolly told BloodHorse. "I love going to Cheltenham and being in the Cotswolds; I love the after-racing scene in the pubs."
As Connolly involved himself further into the Thoroughbred industry, he became acquainted with Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock. During that first Ascot visit in 2018, Foley introduced Connolly to Amanda Prior and Camilla Perrett of Great Britain Racing International, the agency that promotes international interest in the sport in the United Kingdom.
Connolly, who co-founded West Paces with Keith Mason in 2019 in Atlanta, had been encouraged to buy horses in England, but it wasn't until he noticed how well European-bred horses ran at Saratoga Race Course that he took the idea of buying horses in England seriously.
"The vision was, 'Let's go over and try,'" he said. "We're a 'Moneyball' outfit. We're probably going to get outbid on most of the horses we like, but maybe we can find one or two that don't get quite as noticed."
With Foley's skilled eye and trainer Tom Morley's reputation for conditioning talented runners, West Paces Racing began examining the catalog. One of those they liked was Lot 121, a colt by Dark Angel out of the Oasis Dream mare Create a Dream. Bred by St. Elias Stable, the bay sold for 130,000 guineas (approx. US$178,737).
Two years later, and the colt now named Euston Hall enters the Royal Ascot meeting with two wins from two starts at 3—both coming at a mile in his most recent starts—with a chance to shine at England's biggest meeting. He ran second and fourth as a 2-year-old.
Euston Hall is trained in the U.K. by Ed Walker, but Morley is very much involved in the horse's progress. Morley said the colt would "need to get lucky" to draw into the field for the June 18 Britannia Stakes.
"He's right on the cusp of whether he would get in there or not," Morley said. "That would be the preference of the races for him to run in. If he didn't get into that, we would consider running in the (June 20) Jersey Stakes, or maybe head to Goodwood with him, depending on what his trainer thinks is the best idea."
Named after the property where the West Paces team resided during its Tattersalls visit, Euston Hall is home to Henry FitzRoy, the Duke of Grafton. While there, the collaborators enjoyed the property and activities lined up by GBRI and the Duke. That connection led to naming the colt in honor of the Duke.
Having a fond experience, the West Paces team returned to Tattersalls the following year.
This time, West Paces Racing found a Kodiac filly, now named Crazy Cubana, who they needed to go to 126,000 guineas (approx. US$169,547) to secure. She's only raced once but proved to be game on debut.
In a 6-furlong battle May 9 on the turf at Nottingham Racecourse, she was patiently ridden mid-pack with four rivals ahead of her with about a half-furlong to go. The leaders moved up but left an opening down the middle of the course for Crazy Cubana to jet through and reach the wire a half-length the best.
"We would have paid a lot more money for her than what we paid," Foley admitted. "I think she ended up being pretty well bought. ... She looked like one of these gymnasts in the Olympics, just bouncing around; super athletic—just was really excited to get her for the price we did."
Morley described her as green in victory, and she is pointed toward the June 19 Albany Stakes (G3).
He said the decision to keep the horses in England comes from the observation of horses purchased in Europe sometimes struggling with early training in the United States. Instead, West Paces decided to let them get used to racing in an environment they are familiar before bringing them to the U.S.
"Euston Hall is a big galloping type. He probably doesn't want the rattling fast ground and all the very tight turns of Saratoga this year," Morley said. "So we'll aim at bringing him over in the autumn with a view to getting onto these new beautiful, big, expansive turf tracks at Belmont Park.
"Crazy Cubana, depending on how she equips herself in the Albany, will head over after Ascot. She will come to me in New York. The idea was, she would join up straight away with the Saratoga string, with a view to running up there during the meet."
Both Euston Hall and Crazy Cubana will run under the West Paces UK banner. This is not a one-off. As West Paces plans to continue its involvement at Tattersalls with Morley, Foley, and Nick Esler scouting the talent, there will be more horses purchased to supplement the blossoming bi-continental operation.
"The vision for those horses, it was a separate remit, and so we need to get to a number, and it's a combination," Connolly said. "For West Paces Racing U.S., we're trying to have a portfolio of horses that provide entertainment and running interest. Do we like a two-turn dirt horse? Absolutely, but that's not always per our budget—the best available horse. Going over to Newmarket, clearly we're buying turf horses, and so it seemed to make the most sense in order to raise the needed capital to tap into a little bit of West Paces U.S., as well as some individuals that share the vision. And they want to go to the sales too and experience it. So it's a little bit of both, and it will probably continue to be that."
There were two others purchased at Tattersalls. The first is by Lope de Vega, a colt that Foley said "is probably our most hopeful, exciting prospect." He will probably make his debut in August. The other is a filly, who was injured and has been retired for breeding.
"It's definitely a leap of faith to even start the idea, but I think they're really excited and learned a lot more about it," Foley said of the West Paces partners' European experience. "They've really enjoyed it, and it's been exciting for me to get to see them experience it."
The West Paces Racing team raves about how Prior and Perrett have helped inspire their foray into English racing and made their navigation of the landscape as smooth as possible. Connolly hopes others reach out to GBRI and follow their footsteps. It's a journey that Connolly, for now, can only dream about winning at one of the most prestigious tracks in the world. Maybe that changes this week.
"It is very special," he said of the opportunity. "I have a much greater appreciation of how difficult it is to get to Ascot. So having runners there now is very special. One can only dream of actually winning there. I don't know how I would handle that."
