by Murray Brown

When it comes to yearling pickers, I’d like to believe that I have seen them all; at least all in the last 60 years or so. If I were rating them, I’d come down to four.

Here they are in reverse order as to how I’d rate them:

#4 DELVIN MILLER

All I can say is that he had an incredible feel, call it a sense for looking at a horse. In all my years at Hanover he would visit the Fairgrounds to look at the yearlings each year. At least ostensibly that was what he was doing. Most of his time would be spent kibitzing with his dear friend John Simpson.

Miller had the most unusual way of picking yearlings. He would walk through the stables looking over the stall doors at them. Occasionally a yearling might grab his fancy, although you would never know which one it was. In all the years, when he came to Hanover, I cannot recollect him ever having a single yearling out on the floor. Many was the time I and others offered, “Can we get that one out for you Delvin?” The answer would always be, “I’m okay. I can see all I need to with it in the stall,” or something similar.

I can recall the first time he saw Delmonica Hanover. I remember it so well, because it was a cold nasty Friday when the rain had turned to snow; in October, no less. He hesitated before her stall, maybe looking at her a little longer. Maybe because he had trained her grandam Lively Lady, who he knew was a top filly.

Once again, we asked if we could get her out. The answer was the same as it always was.

Here’s a tidbit about the sale. Miller had been commissioned by Arnold Hanger, an extremely wealthy man who’s company built the Lincoln Tunnel and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and who was also a prominent thoroughbred owner. His instructions to Miller were “Buy me a good one,” with no price set. After the sale Miller called Hanger and told him that he had bought ‘Delmonica’ for him. He told him she brought $5,000. Hanger was aghast. “I told you to buy me a good one.” Of course she would go on to become a thrice world champion and become one of the few American-bred and owned horses to win the Prix d’Amerique.

#3 BILLY HAUGHTON

The greatest all around horseman of my experience, was also one of the greatest yearling pickers ever. The biggest part of his ability in doing so was his innate talent as a horseman. He had a knack for picking diamonds in the rough from the time he bought the great filly champion Belle Acton for $1,500 in 1954. Classifying Belle Acton as a filly champion is perhaps unfair. She raced at a time when it was almost unheard of to have races that were restricted to females. Most of her success took place at a time when there was very little opportunity, if any, for fillies and mares to race against their own sex. Belle Acton’s success was attained in racing against and often beating the best male free-for-allers of her era.

There was no great secret to Haughton’s success. It was due to a remarkable combination of great horsemanship and hard work. He would look at all the yearlings on offer; colts and fillies, trotters and pacers. At the sale, when one was selling within his price range, or often below it, he would nod his head, more times than not, having no idea for who he was buying that particular yearling.

That was something that he and Apples Thomas would sort out after the sale. Haughton was less discriminating than most. He knew when a yearling had faults. There were some faults he could live with and those were often the yearlings he would buy. I have often thought that this was a good reason why very few of his great horses became great sires. Great racehorses with physical faults didn’t usually translate to becoming great sires.

#2 GENE RIEGLE

There are some who might say that Riegle belongs at the top of this list. Maybe he does. But it is my list and I’m doing the choosing. The list from which Riegle was picking was small, but elite. His primary owner George Segal, together with Segal’s pedigree advisor Myron Bell would each year come up with a list of blue-blooded yearlings for Riegle to evaluate. Segal did not want Riegle to be influenced by his opinion on the yearling’s pedigree, so when he’d look at a yearling, he would have no idea as to who the sire or dam of that particular yearling was. He was in effect looking at the horse partially blind. Segal and Riegle had a code between them.

Riegle would tell Segal a number which was presumably his rating of the yearling. Segal would write it down in his catalog and they would go on from there.

The most often heard question from Segal was “Too small?” Otherwise, the conversation between them was short. I’m guessing that after Riegle insisted on Segal buying Western Hanover, that Segal’s prejudice against smaller yearlings might have disappeared.

Riegle didn’t need much time to look at a horse. The norm was 30 seconds or so, maybe a minute if he liked it.

#1 CASIE COLEMAN

She credits her transition to a stable concentrating on buying yearlings for Grand Circuit competition from one of mostly overnight racehorses to the vagaries of fate. As she is fond of saying, “Everything happens for a reason.” Her stable at the time was one of the most successful in all of North America. For reasons known only to them, the higher ups at WEG decided that her horses racing there had to race from detention. Although they continued racing as well as they had previously, the requirement was very difficult to all concerned especially to the horses and those that took care of them. it also was highly expensive for the owners, of which Coleman herself was a participant in the majority of them. “Alright,” Coleman thought to herself, “They don’t want me to race claimers and in overnights, so I’ll just switch to buying yearlings and racing them at 2 and 3.” Thus began the change from running a huge stable of overnight horses, to a smallish, some might say boutique operation concentrating almost entirely on Grand Circuit 2- on 3-year-olds,

It was in the aftermath of the astonishing 1-2 finish by her still owned Legendary Hanover and Nijinsky, now trained by Anthony Beaton, in the Meadowlands Pace that she and I spoke.

It has been a long ride from racing a few claimers to what has taken place in the last few weeks. First, a win in the North America Cup by Nijinsky, then last Saturday, Legendary Hanover and Nijinsky finished 1-2 in The Meadowlands Pace. Going into the Pace, did you think that this was possible?

“You are probably going to think that I’m bragging. Maybe I am, a little. But I thought everything pointed in that direction. The two colts were physically in the best of shape. Tony Beaton has done a fantastic job with them. They were fit when I sent them to him. He has if anything improved on their condition. They were absolutely sound and in peak racehorse condition. They drew well. Nijinsky got the 3-hole and Legendary the 6. Their drivers James MacDonald and Louis Roy are arguably the two best in Canada and among the best in North America, if not the world. I thought that we had everything going for us including the good vibes sent from doggie heaven from Chubby. I didn’t even think that we had to have good luck, only no bad luck, and we had a good chance to finish 1-2 in the race.”

I rate you as the number one yearling picker that I’ve known in a lifetime in the sport. Would you agree with that?

“Firstly, thank you. I don’t know about No. 1, but I believe that I’m probably in the conversation, among the better ones. There is really no great secret to my success. I think that good horsemanship is certainly a factor. I’ve been around horses all my life, hundreds and hundreds of them, maybe a thousand or more. I think I know what a good horse needs to look like; I’ve seen a lot of them. I simply took what I had learned from racing overnight horses and translated it to buying yearlings. The next maybe most important factor is work, hard work. But work that I enjoy. I really love looking at horses. I like going to horse sales. I enjoy breaking and training yearlings and making racehorses from them. I now enjoy my life outside of racing where I can help develop the horses and then turn the day-to-day work over to Tony Beaton and his crew.”

Take us on your journey to making, or perhaps I should say acquiring, a yearling that you hope will someday become a major Grand Circuit winner.

“I get the sales catalogs from Lexington, Harrisburg and the Ontario Sale. I map out the order in which I’m going to look at the yearlings. I don’t pay all that much attention to their pedigrees. I’m much more concerned with conformation. I look at all the pacing-bred yearlings. The only exceptions are maybe from a couple of smaller consignors with who I have previously had a poor experience. Otherwise, I look at all of them. My first look is usually a cursory one.

“The vast majority of them are eliminated after that first look. I think I learned the lesson regarding where I look at all of them through my experience with Bulldog Hanover. I didn’t look at him because I was down on his sire Shadow Play. I’m certainly not saying that I would have bought ‘Bulldog’ or for that matter even have liked him. But I should have looked.

“After the ‘first look,’ I’m down to a much smaller number. Let’s say 30 or so for each of the two major sales. Then I’ll look at them again and then again and even again, each time eliminating a few. I find that I often like these yearlings less and less after each look. There might be a dozen or so that look the same or on a very rare occasion even better through all the cuts. I then go ‘to war’ at the sale with that small group. At that point, price is the determining factor. I try to buy into every yearling on which I’m the final bidder. I consider myself to be very careful on how I spend my money. I’m also usually a very disciplined bidder. The price or thereabouts I set for a horse is usually all that I am going to bid.”

Let’s speak specifically of Legendary Hanover and Nijinsky.

“They are two entirely different looking horses. ‘Legendary’ is a great big colt. At times I thought that he might be a bit too big. Nijinsky is the type of colt I generally like. Of the Bettors Delights I’ve had, he resembles the better ones. He is medium sized, maybe a hair on the smaller order. Yet in the ways that count to me, they are the same. There are some things I demand in a yearling, a big strong rump, a strong shoulder, a great head, a bright eye, an alertness. I don’t want a deadhead.  Also, good length. I haven’t seen any top horses that wear a short hobble. Both Legendary and ‘Ninja’ check all the boxes in that area.”

How did you come to buy them?

“They passed all the preliminary steps. Going into Lexington and Harrisburg I loved them both. They were on the short list. 

“Legendary Hanover sold at Lexington. I looked at him and I immediately fell in love. I was a little concerned about his size though. Was he too big? Could he stay sound as big as he is? I thought yes but I thought I’d have to consider his size and not rush him. I train his half-brother Linedrive Hanover who for pure speed might be the fastest horse I’ve ever had in my stable. But he has had lameness issues all his life. I knew Legendary would be expensive, but how expensive?

“I had spoken with Josh Green, Eric Good’s farm manager. He said that they were looking to buy a yearling that one day could become a home run horse. They were starting a farm in Kentucky, and were looking to one day stand a stallion at it. Did I like anything that might fit those qualifications? I told him about Legendary. I said I was going to try to buy him. We got together and decided that we would go to $200,000 on him. I overstepped my budget and went to $220,000. Then I was out. Josh got in and signed the ticket at $260,000. He told me after and said that I could come in for a piece if I wanted to, which of course I did.

“Nijinsky sold at Harrisburg. He brought $120,000. I actually thought he might have brought a little more. He also checked all the boxes. He was and still is a beautiful horse. He looks like all the good Bettors Delights I’ve had, especially Betting Line; dark, sharp and long with some white on him. I think what might have hurt his price a tad was that Jeff Snyder is listed as his breeder. Jeff is more known as a buyer rather than as a seller. But he wasn’t the seller. The seller was Fred Hertrich’s All American Standardbreds who had bought his dam while she was carrying Nijinsky. Thus, Jeff is the breeder.”

You speak of perfect conformation being a requirement.

“When I say perfect, I mean just that or close to as perfect as I can find. I want a yearling that stands perfectly. No toeing in, no toeing out, no back on its knees or over on its knees, I want length, a great head and eye. I want a yearling that in effect speaks to me. He is saying I want you to teach me. I like to see them walk, sometimes too much to the person showing them. I like what I consider to be a ‘light walk.’ It’s hard to describe, but I know it when I see it. If I’m at a farm and I’ve liked the yearling on the floor. I want to see it turned out. When that happens, I want the yearling to appear cheerful and ambitious out there with its ears pricked and looking for real estate to get over.”

Are there any consignors that you favor?

“I like dealing with most of them especially the ones with which I’ve had the most success. Among them are Hanover, Hunterton, Fair Winds and All American. I especially enjoyed going to Hanover when Dr. J was in charge. She had a good idea of what I would like and what wouldn’t interest me. Most consignors are pretty up front about their horses, they are pretty honest in their appraisals but they wouldn’t say anything detrimental about any of them. Dr. J was different. She would lay it on the line, good or bad. Listening to her saved us both a lot of time and effort. She also, in my opinion, knew her yearlings better than just about any other consignor.”

Of all the good horses that you trained; did you have a favorite?

“I suppose that would be Sportswriter. He was the first horse that I trained that I would consider to have been a top horse. Close behind him would be Betting Line. They were both great in every respect. If they had any faults, I don’t know what they might have been.

“There’s an interesting story related to Sportswriter and subsequently to Betting Line. Steve Calhoun was a major client when I had my racehorse stable. He was very much opposed to my switching from racehorses to yearlings. ‘Why would you do that?’ he would say. ‘With racehorses, you know what you have and can start earning money with them immediately. With yearlings, there is a lot more time and expense involved and you may end up with nothing.’

“Anyway, I was at Harrisburg and was speaking with Steve about racehorse prospects in the mixed sale. In the conversation, I mentioned that there was an Artsplace yearling coming up that I liked and was going to try to buy. That was the gist of it. Nothing else. The next day I was speaking with Steve. He said ‘I see you bought that colt you were talking about. If there is a piece of him available, I’d like to buy it.’ That was Sportswriter and it was the first yearling that Steve had bought. He later also had a piece of Betting Line.”

What about drivers? You’ve used a lot of great ones. Do you tell them how to drive your horses?

“Never! That is why they are getting paid to do what they do. I might tell them what I feel are a horse’s tendencies, but how to drive a horse, never. I’ve been fortunate to have used some of the best drivers who have ever sat behind a horse. In no particular order, they include the MacDonald brothers, Mark and James, David Miller, Steve Condren (who for several years also helped with the training in Florida); Brian Sears and Jonathan Drury.”

You’ve had a lot of good to great horses. Are there any that you really liked and were unable to get?

“There is one especially. That would be Somebeachsomewhere. Tom Hill had horses with me. We saw Somebeachsomewhere in Senena Esty’s consignment and we both really loved him. He was selling as the first horse in the third session at Lexington. We had decided that we were either going to buy him or make someone else pay a lot of money to get him. We were at dinner. It was getting late so we got into the car and went to the sale. We hit heavy traffic and got there after he had sold. Brent McGrath had bought him for $40,000. I don’t know how much further Brent might have gone, but we were prepared to go a whole lot more than $40,000. Just think, if Tom had bought him nobody would have ever heard of Somebeachsomewhere. His name would have been (insert the name) Hill.”

Note: Coleman has had numerous good to great horses. Here is a list of those that earned over $500,000 and how much she paid for them. This coming from a stable that never had more than 20 yearlings and more often in the area 10 or less.

Horse — Earnings — Purchase Price

Chancey Lady — $2,072,092 — $60,000

Betting Line — $1,879,061 — $60,000

Western Silk — $1,679,347 — $50,000

Betterthancheddar — $1,634,314 — $30,000

Sportswriter — $1,566,460 — $50,000

Lucan Hanover — $1,405,785 — $47,000

Idyllic — $1,296,967 — $13,000

Lucky Man — $1,280,610 — $90,000

Vegas Vacation — $1,162,272 — $32,000

Stag Party — $925,355 — $125,000

Art Colony — $762,840 — $157,000

Legendary Hanover — $710,959 and counting — $260,000

Nijinsky — $709,265 and counting — $120,000

Linedrive Hanover — $655,580 and counting — $75,000

Alexis Faith — $586,546 — $55,000

Pretty Katherine — $525,653 — $120,000