THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021 CON LIMA SWEETENS SPA TOASTS RACING STALWART by Chris McGrath B. WAYNE HUGHES DIES It's the kind of tale that might prompt a listening barman to catch the eye of one of the regulars and give a wink. Sure you have, pal. A Texas-bred Commissioner filly? You hear that, folks? This guy has a $22,000 2-year-old RNA with a Hall of Fame trainer. And she's the top turf sophomore filly in America. Well I guess it must be your round, buddy. But nobody needs to tell Joseph F. Graffeo, himself the son of a bartender, the kind of odds being confounded by Con Lima, who has been beaten by a single American rival in eight starts on the turf and took her earnings to $884,865 when making all in the GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational earlier this month. Graffeo has been in and around the game for four decades, hardened by all the usual ups and downs, and this filly's rags-to-riches rise-- with a lucrative expansion in her ownership group--has melted his sentimental armor. Cont. p6 B. Wayne Hughes | Spendthrift Farm IN TDN EUROPE TODAY by Joe Bianca MISHRIFF OUT ON HIS OWN IN INTERNATIONAL B. Wayne Hughes, the billionaire businessman and Mishriff recorded a first British Group 1 in style in philanthropist who resurrected Spendthrift Farm and turned it Wednesday’s Juddmonte International at York. into one of the leading stallion farms in North America, died Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Wednesday at his farm residence surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old. Born Bradley Wayne Hughes on Sept. 28, 1933, in the small town of Gotebo, OK, he was known by his middle name since childhood. The son of a sharecropper who fled Oklahoma=s Dust Bowl and resettled in California shortly after he was born, Hughes grew up poor in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. Winning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, he graduated with a degree in business in 1957. Climbing the professional ladder in real estate, Hughes had recently opened his own firm when business associate Kenneth Volk, Jr. brought him an idea in 1972 for buying and renting out private self-storage locations in major cities. Hughes and Volk pooled $50,000 together and founded Public Storage, which became an immense success and established Hughes=s business empire. The company has grown to a $40-billion valuation and was the foundation for Hughes to expand into other successful real estate ventures. 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Jockey Tom Garner celebrates victory in Wednesday's Social Media Strategist Justina Severni GI Jonathan Sheppard H. aboard The Mean Queen (Ire) (Doyen {Ire}). See the North American Racing section for the race result. | Sarah Andrew Associate Producer Katie Ritz KEENELAND TO ADD HRA TO NOV SALE 10 Director of Customer Service Keeneland has created a separate, single-day selling session, featuring horses Vicki Forbes [email protected] of racing age, at the upcoming November sale. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen O'ROURKE, SERLING & ORTIZ JOIN WRITERS' ROOM 10 The TDN Writers' Room crew celebrated their 100th recording by hosting guests Chief Financial Officer Ray Villa NYRA's Dave O'Rourke and Andy Serling in addition to Jose Ortiz. [email protected] [email protected] TODAY’S GRADED STAKES WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor ET Race Click for TV Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN 8:50a Sky Bet Lowther S.-G2, YOR -------------- ------- [email protected] 10:35a Darley Yorkshire Oaks-G1, YOR -------------- ------- European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 16 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • AUGUST 19, 2021 B. Wayne Hughes Dies, cont. from p1 Despite his fortune, Hughes was well known for sticking with his middle-class habits, eating fast food--SoCal staple In >n= Out Burger was a favorite--dressing modestly and hanging out at the track he was raised in the shadow of, Santa Anita. Introduced to horse racing by his father as a young boy, Hughes was involved in the sport for decades as an adult before making his big splash with the purchase of Spendthrift in 2004. The historic farm, which once stood Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed, fell into bankruptcy when the Thoroughbred market crashed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1993. He purchased Spendthrift in 2004 and traded in his residence in California for a life on the farm in Lexington. Hughes quickly began restoring the historic brand and its land, renovating almost all the farm=s signature structures and returning Spendthrift to a viable commercial breeding operation. Beholder | Benoit The farm gradually returned to prominence and has soared in the past decade with the breakout of superstar sire Into Mischief. Spendthrift has also campaigned multiple champions Beholder (Henry Hughes) and Authentic (Into Mischief) in recent years and dominated last year=s Fasig-Tipton November Night of the Stars, buying dual champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) for $9.5 million as one of several multi-million dollar purchases to pair with Into Mischief and the rest of the farm=s ever-growing stallion roster. Following Beholder's 8 1/4-length victory in the 2015 GI Pacific Classic, Hughes said: AI=ve had a few good horses in the past, but she is the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I=ve never had that feeling before. I think it=s called pride.@ Cont. p4 ANOTHER SUMMER Anytime you can win by over 7 lengths 1 going 5 /2 furlongs, that’s impressive. If this colt continues to mature and put it all together, he has a hell of a future.” “– Terry Finley, West Point Thoroughbreds 2YO COLT MAGNOLIA MIDNIGHT WATCH RACE a $320,000 OBS Spring purchase, was an impressive winner of a MdSpWt at Colonial Downs on Tuesday, winning by 7 1/4 lengths gearing down. Owners: West Point Thoroughbreds, Southern Wives Partners, Stable 71, and Titletown Racing Stables Breeder: Southern Wives Partners Trainer: Dallas Stewart BRILLIANTLY FAST G1 WINNER BY A TAYLOR MADE/ WINSTAR VENTURE TRAVIS WHITE 859.396.3508 | LIAM BENSON 859.397.0059 | TAYLORMADESTALLIONS.COM PIONEEROF THE NILE TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 16 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • AUGUST 19, 2021 "It's a very, very sad day for me personally, and for racing in "But if I had one day to pick, it's when I asked him for a favor general," said Beholder and half-brother Into Mischief's trainer for my son," Mandella said, reluctant to elaborate in detail. "My Richard Mandella. "He was such a stand-up guy, trying to make son had some health problems, and Mr. Hughes did something the world better, and a lot of that nobody else could do." fun." Said Hughes after being Mandella, who said he had honored as the 2020 known Hughes for 25 years, Galbreath Award winner by described him as a bastion of the University of Louisville: old-school horsemanship. AThoroughbred horse racing AHe was like those old has been a tremendous owners who used to come to passion of mine ever since the track and see the horses my father took me to the train and have breakfast and races as a young boy. It=s talk about them--the old- something he and I got to school type." share together, and I've been Asked what memory of fortunate to be able to make Hughes stands out above all it a large part of my life and others, Mandella sidestepped share it with so many that are a carnival of indelible dear to me. There are few moments with the likes of Hughes with winning rider Gary Stevens and trainer Richard Mandella thrills greater than what Beholder. "She had so many following Beholder's thrilling 2016 BC Distaff win | Horsephotos horse racing can provide, and days you could pick--the last it is our responsibility to do a race she ran in at the Breeders' Cup. The Pacific Classic just took better job of improving this great sport so that future your breath away," he said. generations can enjoy it as much as I have.@ TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 16 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • AUGUST 19, 2021 Hughes devoted a legacy while disrupting the considerable portion of his industry by continually wealth to philanthropy, almost implementing new ideas on both always anonymously and the breeding and racing sides. without fanfare. He gave a Hughes was preceded in death staggering $400 million to his by his father William Lawrence, beloved USC and committed his mother Blanche, and his son over $100 million more to Parker. He is survived by his wife pediatric cancer research after Patricia, his son Wayne Jr.