On Tuesday, her new vet clinic at her Pheasant Hill Farm in New Jersey will be the site of the Breeders Crown final draws for the male sophomore pacing and trotting divisions.

by Victoria Howard

Dr. Patty Hogan is one of, if not the best, veterinary surgeons. She also is one of the nicest people in the horse racing industry. She fits the bill of not only beautiful on the outside, but just as beautiful on the inside.

Hogan has not only saved many horses’ lives (both thoroughbred and standardbred), but has miraculously managed to help future champions (such as Always B Miki) go on and resume their racing careers after seriously injuring themselves.

Hogan’s dream was to buy a beautiful farm where she could not only breed and raise horses, but also operate her lucrative equine facility.

“I had been fortunate enough to lease clinic space and barns and paddocks at neighboring Fair Winds Farm for 14 years, but as my practice continued to grow and Fair Winds downsized, we were running into issues with having enough room to handle our patient population. In 2020, I hired another surgeon, Dr. Alex Curtiss, who has really excelled here, so the need for more room was essential,” Hogan said.

“It was actually my husband, Eddie (Lohmeyer), who came up with the idea that we should look into purchasing the 305-acre Perretti Farm, located around the corner from the clinic.

“Initially, I thought he was being absurd because of the size and scope of the project and the amount of money required.

“However, once I looked at the farm I knew this was exactly the dream farm I always wanted. It was absolutely perfect.

“From a business point, in reality I was actually paying more in rent at Fair Winds then my mortgage, feed, and labor costs would be at the new farm, so it ended up making better financial sense.

“Aside from the obvious financial commitments, it was a big personal leap for both of us. It meant retirement for Eddie from training horses — selling our house in Florida, as well as our farm in Cream Ridge — and moving everything over to the new property.

“That’s a huge transition for anyone, for moving is not easy — at any age.

“It certainly was a huge lifestyle change, especially for my husband, for he had spent 50 years training harness horses and winter trained in Florida developing horses. But Eddie is a man who has never stopped learning and accomplishing things in life and this was just another challenge for him to put his talents to.

“He has really done an incredible job throughout this entire project — from its inception to its completion — and he makes one hell of a farm manager.”

Now called Pheasant Hill Farm, the old Perretti Farms was once the home to many champion horses. At one time it was the largest horse farm in New Jersey, specializing in the breeding and racing of standardbred horses.

The farm is located on State Rd. 526, in the heart of New Jersey’s famed horse country in Cream Ridge and was founded in the late 1980s by noted automobile dealer and restauranteur, William J. Perretti. After the death of Perretti, all the horses were dispersed and the farm went on the market.

Superstars Muscles Yankee, Malabar Man, Presidential Ball, Matts Scooter, McArdle and Rocknroll Heaven were just some of the champion stallions that stood on the farm.

The offspring of these great sires have produced some of harness racing’s strongest lines.

On the property next to the main barn is an Olympic size indoor dressage arena where Hogan has installed her new clinic.

“We took the 13,000 sq. ft. indoor riding rink and converted that into a seamless examination area and surgical facility. I now have a stall space for 100 horses.”

Talking about her new purchase, Hogan lights up like a Christmas tree.

“There is no way to adequately describe how beautiful and thoughtfully planned out this farm is. You have to see it and experience it yourself to understand how very special it is.

“Mr. Perretti did everything first class when building it — whether it was the design and structure of the barns, the layout of the paddocks, or the extensive underground watering system. Whatever he did, he never cut a single corner here. Even the quality of every piece of material chosen — down to each screw used — is quite impressive.

“The beauty of the farm is just breathtaking. The feeling you get as you make your way down the long driveway and enter into the rolling hills of Kentucky is magical.

“The pastures are pristine. There are 12 miles of fencing and dense woods. We have large pastures for our own Standardbred broodmares and retired horses. There are 17 two to three-acre paddocks for client lay-ups and we are even growing some of our own hay on the front 40 acres.

“We have a real boutique business of providing surgical services to a large Thoroughbred racehorse population, and many of those horses stay for 60 to 90 days.

“Therefore, all our turnouts are a minimum of 30 days, and most stay for 60 to 90 days. We try to keep them fairly fit physical condition so that when they return to race training they are in excellent shape and can easily resume an athletic routine.

“The fields here range from a round pen, up to a three-acre sloping paddock, so the horses get plenty of exercise, and I think our clients are very pleased with what they get back.

“At the clinic we offer orthopedic surgery; soft tissue surgery, management of orthopedic infections, laser surgery, endoscopy, gastroscopy and more. Our post-operative rehabilitation program is tailored individually for each patient and we treat each patient with the best care with personalized diet and exercise program.”

Pheasant Hill Farm will undoubtedly carry on the history that began with Perretti Farms for our wonderful athletes who deserve the best care.

Hogan is also very much into rehabilitating and re-placing horses when their racing careers are over. She is certainly one of the sport’s biggest superstars and we are blessed to have her.