Jerry Namy was drawn to horse racing at a young age when his father asked him to choose the winner of the 1947 Kentucky Derby—which he did, the Jet Pilot, and earned his first baseball glove. Since then, his love of sport has grown and it has been more than 20 years since he bought his first racehorse. Namy can succeed in claiming to be both a great racehorse owner and breeder, while also campaigning for a 1st place winner. Don’t Tell Sophia and breed the rising star sprinter Rays of mischief . The latter recently ended his 2022 campaign on a high, going home with a 7 3/4 length win Oaklawn Park‘s Ring The Bell Stakes December 10.
Namy, 84 years old, talking to BloodMarketHorseView about his venturing into the livestock business, his brilliant Parent Chicken Breeding Flash Campaign, the thrashing of three black athletes to date, and his memories of Millionaire racehorse Don’t Tell Sophia.
MarketWatch: Looks like your horse has been running across the country since Remington Park arrive Keeneland arrive Lonely Star Park. How many horses make up your stable?
Jerry Namy: I have about 13 races (active) and most of them are with Karl Broberg. And then I have a few with Phil Sims, who lives in Kentucky. Karl works in the Southwest, so we run a lot in the Southwest—Remington in Oklahoma in the fall. Lone Star gets too hot in the summer, the weather is rough this year and I hate running on a 103-degree afternoon. I want to be more involved in the race in Kentucky and New York, so hopefully we’ll be there next year. The wallets in Kentucky right now are amazing. Each race is like a wager race.
Karl was pretty much involved in the claim. But over the past few years, he’s taken it to new heights. And now in my stable we have also progressed in the quality of horses that can compete in some of the better races.
MW: I see you are also the breeder of Flash of Mischief and now own its dam, the mare of Political Force Flashy campaign . She’s been on the track for you and being an even better mom. How did you come to get her?
JN: We bought her in 2010. I have a good friend in Versailles, Kentucky who has a ranch, Doug Arnold. I keep all my mares and ponies at his Buck Pond farm. I was just getting back into the business at the time. I have a partner, Bob Schumacher, with whom I bought some horses but then we were both involved in a plane crash (2009). My partner died from his injuries in the accident. So I bought his family out of the joint horse business we had.
Doug told me one day “You need some better horses.” So in 2010 he bought me five horses at Keeneland’s Annual September Sale, and the Flashy Campaign was one of them.
She has had a good career. We thought she would be a lot better than she is now, but she was injured in the third race. She was hit pretty badly and damaged several ligaments. But even with that, she ran through her 5-year-old season. We sent her to the breeding barn in 2015.
War campaign (right) breaks his maidenhood at Churchill Downs
MW: She created three black bettors with Mischievous Flash, war campaign and Royal Mesa .
JN: She is a super broodmare. We had five ponies that she produced. Royal Mesa, Flash of Mischief, War Campaign, and Gunfire, and now she has a big one-year-old pony on Arrogate’s farm. He’s the biggest she throws.
She passed on some amazing genetic traits and real talent. They are not the same because we have some sprinters and some two-turn horses. But they all have that same huge drive and huge desire and I think when you hit four or five in a row like that, it really shows a progression.
The 2-year-old boy (Gunsplash) broke his maidenhood in adverse conditions. He was in a far off position, 10th place, and the track that day was horribly skewed inside. He ran five or six laps wide and still found a way to win. He was running at the Springboard Mile on December 18 (where he finished fourth). He will continue to get better and better as he matures. We think he’s definitely a two-headed horse.
MW: Which Flash Campaign did you breed this past spawning season?
JN: She is a pony Structure The current.
MW: Several descendants of Operation Flash were bred by some of the leading stallions in the country in into naughty and gunman . How do you approach the stallion selection process?
JN: Doug and I discussed and decided who to breed them with. We were very fortunate to have Gun Runner quite early in his steed career. I think I paid $45,000 when I sent him a Flash Campaign a few years ago. Doug sent me a picture of a nice Gun Runner pony and said ‘Try Gun Runner.’ It’s a combination of researching families and trying to pick the best fit for success.
Don’t Tell Sophia Wins 2014 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland
MW: It would be remiss not to mention Don’t Tell Sophia. She is a very successful racehorse for you and your partner, Phil Sims. Can you talk about that experience?
JN: Doug Arnold brought my attention to Sophia. Phil raced her three times and Doug and Phil talked about it and arranged a trade and I bought half of Sophia. She won seven bet races, including a Level 1 Spinster. And she finished second in (2014) Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita . Park. She is fun to watch because she comes from so far away. I watch her races on some cold winter nights when there’s nothing to do.
At Distaff, we were far behind. We were out in Santa Anita to see and I was like god, she let them get away but she flew away in the end. And only the 3-year-old girl won (Unable to mine) hit her. We had to go one way after another, otherwise she would have been closer but she ran brilliantly and we were happy to take second place.
MW: Would you consider keeping her for self-breeding?
JN: Yes, I was thinking of trying to keep her for breeding but I also had to consider the risk and the reward and we knew she had a lot of value. We ended up selling her to (Kasumi Yoshida) from Japan who bred her. I haven’t seen any outstanding results yet but sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the race there. It was hard to sell her but we got her $1.2 million at Keeneland’s November 2015 Sale.
MW: Would you say ‘Sophia’ is the best horse you’ve ever owned?
JN: I think Flash of Mischief right now is possible. He looks better and better. I also have his 3-year-old half brother now in Kentucky—Operation War and he’s had some really cool races. Last time at Churchill, he was given a generous pension. He’s resting a bit and then we’ll get him running again this winter. We want to put him in some bet races next year. His last race was 1 1/4 and he ran in 2:02 and changed and won a nice long run. We’ll put him in some two-way bet races. Phil and I think he’s very good and could be in the top ponies next year.
