Lessons from his mom helped breeder extraordinaire Kevin Greenfield succeed in France
by Murray Brown
Kevin Greenfield is perhaps best known today as the president and a partner in Hickory Lane Horse Farm, in Findlay, OH, purchased in 1996 and today, as it always has been, one of the major breeders of standardbreds in the state of Ohio. Greenfield’s status in the world of standardbred breeding is however much more than that. His influence stretches throughout North America and even to Europe, most specifically to France, a country until recently closed to American bloodlines for many decades. I recently had the privilege of speaking with Greenfield on a variety of subjects.
Let’s begin at the beginning. How did you become involved in our great sport?
“As a young boy, I began accompanying my father going to the races at nearby Raceway Park, now sadly no longer in existence as are so many former thriving racetracks. I really loved watching the trotters and pacers perform. Later on, after law school, like so many novices with an interest in racing, I became a part owner of a cheap horse. My interest grew. By December of 1996, my horse holdings had grown to the point where I felt that it would be wise to consolidate them. Hickory Lane Farm in nearby Findlay, OH, became available. The circumstances and the price were right and I had made the acquaintance of Brad Wallace, a person who had been the farm manager for the previous owners. Together with Brad and Leonard Buckner, we bought the farm. It is now almost 30 years since and the horse population has grown. The farm is owned by GBW Breeding Farms Inc a combination of its three owners, Brad, Leonard’s widow Becky, and myself. We now, individually and as a group, stand seven stallions, Branded By Lindy, Guardian Angel As, In Range, Lous Pearlman, Racing Hill, Uncle Peter and What The Hill; own about 40 broodmares, and regularly sell about two dozen yearlings at the Ohio and Lexington Selected Yearling sales. I believe we’ve been somewhat successful mostly because, we each, in effect, stay in our own lane, and are active in the area in which we have the greatest expertise.”
You folks involved in breeding and racing in Ohio have experienced good times and not so good ones. You are presently involved in what appears to this outsider as a great period.
“Ohio has most always been the state that had the largest number of USTA members as well as broodmares. In addition to our racetracks, we also have by far the largest number of fairs at which harness racing takes place. In the early 2000s, things began to falter. The numbers were going down, both in membership and in mares being bred and owned. Neighboring states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana had adopted rich sires stakes programs energized by the income from casinos at the racetracks. Those involved in our program believed that it was necessary for Ohio to do the same. The great leadership at the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association (OHHA) did a fantastic job. Without bragging, I believe that Ohio now has the number one program in North America. All parts of the industry in Ohio benefit from it. We received tremendous support from the politicians in Columbus, most specifically Robert Schmitz, Jim Buchy and William Batchelder. It has all come together in the OHHA through the efforts of our past leadership, including, but not limited to, Skip Hoovler, Dr. John Mossbarger, Jerry Knappenberger, Steve McCoy, John Konesky, Renee Mancino, Steve Bateson, and the current president Scott Mogen, and its executive director Frank Fraas, and the OHHA board of directors, where I believe that we have the strongest program of its type in North America.”
Although your home base is Ohio, you are also involved in stallion management in other parts of the country — in New Jersey and Indiana in the United States and even in France.
“Yes, I am the syndicate manager for the stallions Don’t Let Em and Dover Dan in Indiana, Tactical Landing and Ecurie D in New Jersey, as well as the stallions we stand here at Hickory Lane Farm in Ohio. The care of the stallions is in the best of hands with Dr. Paul and Cathy Webb at Ivy Lane Farm in Goshen, IN, Laura Young at Southwind Farms in Pennington, NJ, and of course Brad Wallace here in Ohio.”
The “star” of your stallion portfolio is undoubtedly Tactical Landing. How did your association with him come about?
“In 2016, Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Farm were selling a yearling full brother to the great filly Mission Brief. Horse agent Ernie Martinez contacted me. He described the colt as the most beautiful yearling that he or perhaps anybody else had ever seen. The colt was named Tactical Landing. Martinez was putting together a syndicate to buy him. He wanted me in as one of those involved in securing him. He said that he was certain that the colt would, as he should, bring a whole lot of money. He said that there were several prominent people including great French horseman Jean Pierre Dubois who were already part of the syndication group. Others were Bob Stewart, who would become his trainer and his wife Dr. Lynda Stewart as well as his part owner Steve Stewart who would stay in for a piece. An added benefit for me would be that if he turned out to become the great horse as Martinez was certain of him becoming, I would play a part in managing his stud career. As much as this seemed a fairy tale, what was promised actually came to pass. After his 2-year-old season, Tactical Landing blossomed at 3 under the superb hands of master horseman Jimmy Takter. He is now arguably one of the world’s top trotting stallions. At the young age of 9 he already sired two Hambletonian winners, those from his first two crops, a first in the breed. I consider myself to have been extremely fortunate to have been included in his ride to the top. When he went to the stud, I had a great mentor in Mike Klau, the former business manager for Southwind Farms.”
As a syndicate manager of trotting stallions, you were involved with opening up the French studbook which had been closed to outside stallions for decades.
“It was kind of interesting. I had very little knowledge of, or to be quite frank about it, interest in French breeding or racing. In 2022, I was contacted by Mike Tanner, the executive vice president of the United States Trotting Association. He asked me to be part of a group going to France, who’s goal was to establish a greater rapport between our two countries with regard to the breeding and racing of trotters. On our trip, I met some great people involved with French trotting including Jean Pierre Barjon, president of SETF the French breeding authority, Guillaume Maupas, its executive director, Emmanuelle Morvillers, head of its international department, Marianne Simonnot, international department marketing liaison and Claude Guegan, a French breeder and bloodstock agent. During some conversations, the subject of opening the French stud book came up. It had been closed for decades. I had been told by many to basically forget about even thinking of changing the status quo; the French were deeply entrenched with their own blood; there was zero chance that they would change. However, I had been taught by my mother, now 95 years old, that if you truly believe in something, to never take no for an answer. I thoroughly believed, as did my French counterparts listed above. Together we put together a plan where 60 French mares could be bred to Tactical Landing in 2025 and 2026 using transported frozen semen. The resulting foals are recognized by the French stud book and are free to race in France as French breds. There are now over 50 French mares carrying foals by Tactical Landing. I can’t wait to see them compete in France.”
In addition to Tactical Landing, it appears that you might have another trotting sire on the verge of stardom in In Range. Are you surprised by his immediate success?
“No and yes. Yes, to the extent that he has performed so well nationally. We breeders are, if nothing else, eternal optimists. Of course, in the big picture, most stallions to varying degrees will fail. However, as with most breeders, when we take on a new one, we feel that this one might be different. As breeders, it is the nature of the beast. In Range was an extremely fast 2-year-old, probably the best of his age group winning his first five races at 2. Swedish agent Robert Lindstroim approached us with the view of purchasing him. I fell in love with the horse when I first saw him. I loved his pedigree which featured two great sires Bar Hopping and Windsong’s Legacy, both horses who died far too young. Together with Archie Yoder of Rose Run Farm, we bought him and put together a syndicate in Ohio. It was easy to do. The fact that he is presently the second leading money winning sire in North America behind only Chapter Seven is fantastic. He has done this as did Chapter Seven initially, with a group of decent, but far from elite mares. The shareholders are in the process of amending the syndicate agreement to authorize more shares, as the demand from top breeders to purchase shares is very strong. The future will likely bring him bigger and better books.”
As a syndicate manager of stallions what do you see as your prime responsibilities?
“I look upon myself as the fiduciary responsible primarily to the shareholders in the stallions and to the stallions themselves. To the shareholders, who have entrusted their investment with me, I feel I need to maximize their investment by standing the horse at a fee where it will allow that investment to be returned to the purchaser within a reasonable period of time, either by a monetary return or hopefully more by them breeding their mares to the horse and getting their return in horses produced by him. For the stallion itself, one needs to price him at a number where he will get a full or near full book of mares and to market the horse so that it attracts as many good mares as possible from outside. In the rare cases, where I hit upon the horse who’s popularity exceeds the allowable size of his book, to be able to apportion his bookings in a manner most fair to the syndicate shareholders and to the horse itself. As an attorney, I have the benefit of being able to prepare all syndication documents and make sure that all laws are complied with, both domestically and internationally.”
If you have a question or comment for Murray Brown, he can be reached via email at: [email protected]
