Dr. Megan Moschgat and Tim Hayes are enjoying life knee deep in the Bluegrass
by Murray Brown
The sad passing of Rob Reiner this past week brought to mind one of his greatest hits as a director, the movie, When Harry Met Sally, which in turn brought to mind one of the nicest couples I know Megan and Tim. What do Megan and Tim have to do with Harry and Sally or for that matter Rob Reiner? Absolutely nothing as far as I know, other than that they are a pair of couples, one fictional and the other very real. However, that is the way my eccentric mind sometimes works.
Megan is Dr. Megan Moschgat, the resident farm veterinarian at Spring Station Bloodstock LLC in Midway, KY, and Tim is Tim Hayes the assistant farm manager at Armitage Farm, also in Midway.
I first met the couple nine years ago when all three of us were working at Hanover Shoe Farms. The lure of opportunity at two of the fastest growing, high quality farms in harness racing brought them to Kentucky. They are now landed Kentuckians and have been in their respective positions for the last three years.
What is the main difference you have found between living in Hanover, PA, and Midway, KY?
Hayes: “In Hanover, so few people knew anything about horses in general, or the role of Hanover Shoe Farms in harness racing. There are many people, maybe the majority of those who live there, who have no idea of the history and achievements of the Farms. There are actually a few who think that somehow the Farms manufactures shoes.
“Here in Kentucky, the horse is prominent. A great deal of the lifestyle centers around every facet pertaining to the equine, whether it be breeding, sales or racing, especially thoroughbred racing at Keeneland. Unfortunately, harness racing has never captured the interest of locals to near the degree that thoroughbred racing has. Although when speaking with folks about harness racing, they seem interested and willing to learn. Perhaps with the growth of our sport in the Commonwealth, there will be renewed interest in it.
“I would guess in terms of prominence, the only area in which the horse might be second in the public’s eye would be to Kentucky basketball, which is religion in these parts.”
Let’s pick up on a few of your observations. Have you two succumbed to Kentucky Wildcat fever yet?
Hayes: “The answer is not yet and probably never. If I have a rooting interest, it would be for Syracuse or Tennessee in the college ranks. Syracuse because, I grew up as an Orange fan and Tennessee, a different shade of orange, because my daughter went to school there. My major hoops interest is in the NBA, where I am a fervent fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.”
Moschgat: “Not yet, but I’m not discounting the possibility that it will grow on me. Right now, most of my time is spent with my job here on the farm and in supervising the home which we just finished building here in Georgetown, just adjacent to Midway.”
You mentioned, at least in relative terms, the lack of interest in standardbred racing in Kentucky, most specifically in Lexington. Why do you think this is so?
Moschgat: “That is indeed a puzzle. We probably have the greatest location of all racing anywhere, here at The Red Mile in downtown Lexington, KY. Keeneland, out by the airport in Versailles will draw upwards of 15,000 on a typical race day, with as many as 30,000 for a big day of racing, while here in downtown Lexington, The Red Mile struggles to get more than a few thousand to a day of racing with some of our best stars competing. Oft times, out of towners here for the sales make up a big portion of those that do come. I wish I could explain it. I just can’t.”
You guys are involved not only in breeding and selling your yearlings, but have also been owners for some time.
Hayes: “Like many owners, we probably have too many in training. Fortunately, we have been somewhat successful with the ones we own. We have horses with Tony Beaton, George Ducharme, and Todd Schadel. We had two horses race pretty well for us this year Tony Beaton had the Bettors Delight filly Naughty Delight, which took a record of 1.51.2 and made $113,134 and George Ducharme had the 3-year-old Huntsville colt Digging For Gold who we call Ted. He has a record of 1.52f and has earned $282,759. We also own the good Papi Rob Hanover colt Dreamboat Hanover who won the Standardbred at Delaware last year on Jug Day.
“This coming season we will have four 2-year-olds in training. We bought into a Bulldog Hanover colt that Tony Beaton bought in Lexington and a Sweet Lou colt that Todd Schadel signed for in Harrisburg. We also have two homebred fillies with George Ducharme, one is by Stay Hungry and the other is by Cattlewash.”
Tell us about your respective jobs at Armitage and Spring Station.
Moschgat: “In both we have higher positions and greater responsibilities than those we had at Hanover.
“I am the resident vet at Spring Station. As part of my responsibilities, I’m involved with just about every facet of health care of the equines here at the farm. In terms of health care, I supervise the day-to-day needs of the horses here on the farm. When an equine health situation exceeds routine, we are fortunate in that there are specialists in just about every area of equine health available in this area.
“My duties range from keeping our medicinal supplies up to date, to supervising the reproduction of the broodmares on the farm. I’m involved in determining when mares should be inseminated, checking pregnancies, foaling and just about every area of reproduction. Our broodmare band has been growing, to the point where we now are expecting 60 foals this season from the 70 or so mares which are owned by the farm. We expect to be selling somewhere around 55 yearlings in Kentucky next fall.”
Hayes: “I’m the assistant farm manager here at Armitage Farms. Dale Holly, who has a background mostly with the thoroughbreds, is the farm manager. I work together with Dale on just about every facet of the farm. Dale is the guy who is overall in charge, while I suppose my responsibilities deal mostly with the horses. I’m involved with them from before the time when they are conceived. I also consider myself to be somewhat of a ‘Mr Outside’ when it comes to marketing our yearlings. I’ve been involved in the industry all of my life and I think I know most of the players in it. I’m available to help our customers and convey my thoughts on any yearlings in which they might be interested. Dale has been very much a quick read and his knowledge of our breed and our people in it keeps expanding on a daily basis.
“We sold our first significant group of yearlings this past season. Among them was Hip #182 at Lexington Jimdougie Armitage which brought $750,000. What a great thrill that was!
“Together with the farm’s advisor Doug Paul, Dale and I, we determine which stallions each of the mares will be going to. We have all trotters here and almost without exception, we patronize only the top trotting stallions. We just had our booking conference. From only our relatively small broodmare band of 48 mares, we will be breeding eight mares to the ultra-popular Chapter Seven and five to the at the moment, perhaps equally popular, Captain Corey. We breed for the marketplace and offer our entire yearling crop for sale each year. We will be offering 26 yearlings in Lexington next fall.”
You guys are not only involved with working standardbreds, you also have a couple of retirees that you take care of in addition to several pets.
Moschgat: “Our two pensioners are Acton Hanover ($265,049) and Avalanche Hanover ($398,019), two horses we have been associated with from the time they were babies at Hanover. Acton pretty much adopted me from when he was a baby at Hanover. I’m not sure how he feels about me, but I was in love almost from the first time I saw him. I bought in on him as a yearling at Harrisburg and have owned a small piece ever since. When we retired him, we looked for a buddy to keep him company. Avalanche became available and they’ve been together ever since.
“We also have two dogs and a cat who are members of our extended family.”
