One of the most successful ownership groups in recent years with a reputation for procuring high quality young seed added another 1st place winner to their list on May 20, when National treasures won the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1) on a field of six other 3-year-old ponies vying for the Triple Crown’s middle jewel.
The ownership team behind the horse, led by SF Racing’s Tom Ryan, celebrated the win and reflected on the path that led them to the classic winner’s circle on Saturday.
Ryan said: “Yesterday, everything went as we hoped; things hardly go as you draw them, but yesterday it did,” Ryan said.
National Treasure, son of Lane’s End Quality Sugar , was bred in Kentucky by respected breeder Peter Blum and consigned as a Hip 13 for the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale by longtime partner Bridie Harrison. Ryan and partners committed a large portion of their budget to the purchase of the foal, and when the hammer dropped to $500,000, National Treasure became part of their winning program.
Ryan said: “He was a Hip 13, one of the first horses we saw very early on on sale. “It was a nod, a wink and a smile of agreement. He matched the look and was the silhouette of the commercial sporthorse style we were looking to buy.”
Tom Ryan with National Treasure after Preakness Stakes
“He is a horse that when we see him he has all the criteria that we need in a horse, but he has other things. He has a presence about him. She’s a classic horse; we all agree…we’re getting this horse, it’s 13 years old, and it doesn’t matter if you’re superstitious or what,” Agent Donato Lanni, who signed tickets to the National Treasure, commented. “The fact that he’s also been named, so we don’t want to change the name. Peter (Blum) comes up with good names for these horses.”
The team, all of whom agreed on adding the aspiration to the roster of future runners, included Ryan, Lanni, John Moynihan and coach Bob Baffert.
The pony comes out Medaglia d’Oro mare Treasure races in partnership with SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.
“We narrowed the group down to specific sires and pedigrees, but more importantly by males. It’s on Quality Road and has been at the top of our list for a long time, and after this bonus, it’s sure to be. I’m sure it will continue to be like that,” Ryan said. . “He has a lot of the good qualities that Quality Road can bring, and you can also see a little bit of Medaglia d’Oro in the horse, so we feel like we’re getting the best of both worlds. two worlds. The horse that looks like him has agility but it looks like he’ll be able to pull off his speed.”
Bob Baffert watching Hip 552 at Fasig-Tipton May Midlantic Sale
Harrison’s Hurricane Place Ranch, the nursery that nurtured the winners of the 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Real , sold the then lust for a SF Bloodstock and Starlight West collaboration for $350,000 at Keeneland’s Annual September Sale.
Perhaps Lanni and Ryan felt a little confused buying the National Treasure, but they drew on their knowledge, past experience, and relationship with Bridie Harrison to ensure the right horse.
Donato Lanni
Ryan said: “We now have a Preakness winner and a Derby winner from her lot. “We entered Preakness with the feeling that Authentic would be the winner for us, but it turned out we just had to wait a bit, and it was a National Treasure, coming from the same draft.
“Bridie raises horses very naturally; she does a great job. What I like about Bridie is that we have a relationship where Donato or I can ask her a question that she will answer transparently; I like that about her.”
The preliminary list was put together by Ryan and moved to the next step on a sales basis with Lanni. Further examination by Baffert and Moynihan removes that list even further. The Hall of Fame trainer plays an important role in the post-purchase management of these horses; The hatchlings and hatchlings undergo a systematic program of voter turnout, pre-training and their first set foot on the track, all before they reach Baffert’s barn.
“If we find a product, we’ll do our best to buy it,” Ryan said. “There’s a plan, but it’s flexible. Finding new horses is the hard part, the ones that fit the program. We could make a long list, but you know, by the time Bob’s done. that list, it gets very tight, and that’s exactly what we want, and it’s part of our premise to do this effectively.
“Usually we give them a month or six weeks at the Margaux Farm just to relieve the stress, to be the horses for a little while before we move on to the next stage of the system. There, they went down to Ocala to meet Angela and Eddie Woods—and talk about good people, their management style and approach being top class.I never had to worry.Eddie knew to prepare. what to move on to the next stage, which is Los Alamitos with Mike Marlow; they work through Mike’s System sometimes for two or three, sometimes five or six pieces, and then move on to the show Bob’s. You know, ice cream rises to the top.”
The partnership has stood by Baffert through years of ups and downs, and fittingly, the “Avengers” as they are known, all have one common goal: to win classic and fun races. looks like doing it.
“This is a great group of people; we nicknamed them the Avengers because we all came together; it was a team effort,” Lanni said. “People working together, no ego, people coming together for success and it works.”
Ryan shared a similar sentiment: “It’s been great to share this with so many of our partners. I’m so appreciative of the organizations and I’m so proud that we have a combined organization. here. I want to see the growth of more organizations in the future. I really feel like it could revive racing in this country.”
