Oaklawn ParkThe last race in January took on extra meaning as it featured the last horse owned solely by the late Rick Porter’s famous Fox Hill Ranch.
And Sweet tea like so many of Fox Hill’s athletes over the past two decades in Hot Springs, Ark., have sprinted in the special maiden weight class for mares and athletics, crossing the finish line first under the leadership of Luis Quinonez.
Sweet Tea races for Porter’s widow, Betsy, after his death on June 6 from a relapse of cancer. Delaware Auto Dealer is 80 years old.
Rick Porter’s longtime executive assistant, Victoria Keith, said: “He has a number of families, but that was never in the plan for anyone in the family to continue with Fox Hill, ” Rick Porter’s longtime executive assistant, Victoria Keith. “She was the last solo. Of course, when we spoke to Betsy, we said we definitely wish Rick was there to witness her win.”
A native of North Carolina, Keith has named most of Fox Hill’s horses in his 17 years as vice president. She says sweet tea, a Southern staple, is one of her favorite drinks and believes the name fits the super sire’s 4-year-old daughter. Into Mischief .
Sweet Tea is one of only three horses that Fox Hill still owns. Sweet tea and Salute the flag a 4 year old child Curlin filly, was in Oaklawn with trainer Larry Jones after both horses were withdrawn from the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Royal Ship is a 2nd place winner for Southern California coach Richard Mandella. Fox Hill owns Salute the Flag and Royal Ship in partnership with Anthony Manganaro’s Siena Ranch. Siena Farm bred Salute the Flag.
Porter opened Fox Hill in 1994, said Porter, and kept 25 to 30 horses for training during peak years.
Eclipse Award Winner Havre de Grace and Lark Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Winner Round pond 1st grader Spin hard , Omaha . Beach , The joy of victory , Prank and Eight bells , runner-up with men in the 2008 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (G1), is one of the most prominent horses carrying the familiar red and white silks of Fox Hill. Havre de Grace in 2011, becoming the third woman in a row to be crowned Horse of the Year.
Owner Rick Porter leads Havre de Grace into the winners’ circle after her victory in the 2011 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse
Jones, who began coaching Fox Hill in 2006, said: “If you look at Fox Hill Farms’ numbers in terms of how many horses they’ve got compared to what they’ve done in the business, that’s it. was the pinnacle of the game,” said Jones, who began coaching Fox Hill in 2006. “Mr. Porter was very lucky. He put a lot of time, effort and research into it and it paid off. They did very well. “
Porter had to cut back on his racing activities because of his illness. After his death, Keith said one Fox Hill horse was claimed, a pair was sold privately, several others were retired and remodeled, and others are still for sale at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton.
On the recommendation of renowned bloodline agent Donato Lanni, Fox Hill purchased Sweet Tea for $300,000 at Keeneland’s September 2019 Promotion. Sweet Tea, still underrated, was with Mandella in Southern California in early 2021 before she joined Jones.
After Porter’s death, “We decided to keep the two collaborators,” said Keith. “And this (Sweet Tea), with Larry liking her, we don’t believe she’s going to sell and bring in as much as our opinion of her. We decided to keep her. and run her for Fox Hill . . . Cross our fingers that Larry was correct.”
Sweet Tea, the most popular, ranked sixth in her November 26 career debut at Churchill Downs after the slow break one step. A back-to-back favorite in her 4-year-old debut, Sweet Tea ($5.40) led at every call point in her long-running win Jan. 30 in Oaklawn. Both races are six springs.
“I think she wanted to be more of a sprinter,” Jones said. “We thought she would win easily at Churchill the first time we ran her.”
With Fox Hill numbers dwindling, Sweet Tea is only its third winner since Porter’s death.
Sweet Tea represents Fox Hill’s 36th Oaklawn win. It has four more partnership partners, notably the 2008 grant winner Kodiak Kowboy who won the Eclipse Award as the country’s champion sprinter the following year.
Jones, who met Porter through one of his former coaches, John Servis, trained the majority of Fox Hill’s sole-owned Oaklawn winners (22).
Fox Hill has 16 bet wins at Oaklawn, the latest to come Windmill in the $150,000 Dixie Belle for a 3-year-old sprinting last February. In addition to Havre de Grace, Jones also coaches Hard Spun, Eight Belles and Windmill.
“It was really good,” Jones said of his run with Fox Hill.
Illustrating the quality Fox Hill has shown at Oaklawn, 35 of its 36 sole proprietorship winners have come from equity, grants, or prime-time weighting companies.
“Oh, he loves Oaklawn,” Keith said, referring to Porter.
Jones had a win at the 2021-22 Oaklawn meet with a former Fox Hill horse, Wings of an Angel a 4 year old child Quality Sugar filly, who won her debut on January 7. She is currently racing for owners Frederick Hertrich III and John Fielding in the ninth race on February 12, a sprint that allows the grant input for older women.
Jones said that he “certainly” intends to run Sweet Tea again before the Oaklawn meeting ends on May 8.
“Hopefully her and Wings of an Angel, as they’ve been wobbly. Hopefully, Wings of an Angel can continue to work through her condition and leave room for her,” Jones said. “Hopefully, they don’t have to run against each other.”
Salute gets to take part in her first race on February 13, which will mark her two-turn debut.
