MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 LARRY JONES REFLECTS AS HE NEARS 1000 ‘TEXAS’ FLAVOR IN OCALA by Michael Adolphson If people are the sum of their life experiences, with stories built upon one another like the chapters within an anthology, or levels to a skyscraper, then the nearly 1000 victories trainer Larry Jones has tallied tell a tale of greatness and assemble a construction of character. Built through intense trials, from the ill-fated Eight Belles (Unbridled's Song) to his own hospitalization after a life-threatening accident, Jones has fortified his portfolio with faith and surrounded himself with enough material to keep building. A farmer turned racehorse trainer, who became a three-time Kentucky Oaks winner, Jones has cultivated an enviable 19.6% career strike rate, while counting 23% of his graded victories in Grade I events--14 total. Cont. p5 Erich & Janet Brehm | Horsephotos by Steve Sherack The comebacking 2014 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero’s AGE JUST A NUMBER FOR LEADING SIRES workout Saturday wasn’t the only breeze that owner Erich John Berry looks at the performance of older sires in light of Brehm Sr. was keeping a close eye on this past week. the weekend’s Australian results. After purchasing 18 yearlings at public auction in 2015 with Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. prices ranging from $11,000-$120,000, Brehm and partners will send four of them through the ring at the upcoming two-day OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Nine more are slated to go under the hammer this spring at the OBS April and June sales. The remainder of the group will be campaigned by trainer Keith Desormeaux on the West Coast. “Keith Desormeaux is really good at looking at the way a horse moves and what’s in a horse’s mind,” Brehm commented. “I think that’s really critical. Guys like [bloodstock agent] Dennis O’Neill, and from my camp, Keith Desormeaux and April Mayberry, can really find these diamonds in the rough and pick good horses out consistently. They have that skill. The 63-year-old Brehm continued, “We have a great team. It’s nothing I’m doing, trust me. It’s all about the team. I guess maybe my value is that I have the formula. I have to decide between our six different partnerships how we’re splitting the horses up. So far, it’s worked out pretty well. The OBSMAR quartet, consigned by Mayberry Farm, Agent V, were selected at the yearling sales by Desormeaux and Mayberry. Cont. p3 JOSEPH DIORIO © COMMERICAL APPEAL . with remarkable ROI “That was a very impressive breeze in a group of very FAST . (Hip 77) Co-fastest breeze — 10 FLAT talented horses at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale. Eligible for double the awards of a non-NY-sired NY-bred Those Mission Impazibles (30% of first-place purse money vs. 15%) look like runners!” ELLIOTT WALDEN Eligible for the NY Stallion Stakes Series races President/CEO & Racing Manager of WinStar Farm Eligible for more than 800 restricted racing opportunities and millions in stakes money for NY-bred 2-year-olds Send your quality mare to a quality New York sire and reap the rewards and awards, without the expense of out-of-state shipping and boarding. NY-BREDS OFFERED AT OBS MARCH SELECTED 2YO’S IN TRAINING SALE — MAR. 15-16 >> nytbreeders.org / 518.587.0777 For more information visit our website or call 518.388.0174 Foaled on Leap Day, a filly by Can PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER the Man out of Hey Julie (Strong Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] Hope) bounds through her pasture. She is owned and bred SR. 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[email protected] Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing: Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 12 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MAR. 14, 2016 ‘Texas’ Flavor cont. from p1 “Wally’s grandfather taught him how to bet horses, so we started a little program of study until 10 p.m. every night, then The group includes: go bet the last three races at the harness track,” Brehm • Hip 53, f, First Dude--Keep On Burnin, by Gilded Time. commented. “We just started as degenerate gamblers. *$40,000 OBSAUG. **1/2 to Burnum (Roar of the Tiger), GSP, Interestingly enough, about a year into the game we started $230,216. ***:10 1/5. making a lot of money and we paid off all of our student loans, • Hip 234, c, Majesticperfection--Seal of Approval, by bought cars, took Vindication. *$115,000 KEESEP. **1/2 to Paid Admission vacations...it was silly. (Candy Ride {Arg}), SP, $186,918. ***:10. We literally had t- • Hip 454, c, Mizzen Mast--Catchy Tune (SP, $132,470), by shirts made up that Bernstein. *$95,000 KEESEP. **:10 1/5. said ‘Trifecta Kids.’ Me • Hip 563, c, Hard Spun--Final Fling (GSW & GISP, $181,204), by and Wally go back 30 Bertrando. *$65,000 KEESEP. **:10 4/5. years and he’s an accountant and does “The partnerships have really interesting people who come finances for all of the from all different walks of life,” Brehm offered. “I’m in the partnerships now. The cardiovascular world [as Western United States Area Sales guy that got me into Director at CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc.]--we grow heart tissue- the game is still -so one of my partners is a cardiologist.” integral in everything Texas Red (right) | NYRA/Coglianese Other partners include fellow Texan Richard Rawlings of ‘Fast that I do in it today.” and Loud’ fame, a retired anesthesiologist, a dermatologist and After watching subsequent 1976 GI Kentucky Derby third- a commercial real estate investor. Brehm’s son Erich Jr. and a place finisher Elocutionist compete in person at Arlington Park, group of his friends are involved in a group as well. Each the duo shifted their attention to Thoroughbreds. Trips to partnership typically contains about four or five people. Louisville on the first Saturday in May as fans–and later as “My goal of the partnerships is to start with three horses and owners--quickly became the norm each spring. Some early have it be a progressive thing,” Brehm explained. “We’ll buy success as an owner, however, didn’t necessarily turn out to be three horses, sell two and race one. My goal is always to sell the the best thing for Brehm in the long run. best horses. Don’t let the tail wag the dog. The first goal is to “I probably spent 20 years, honestly, just losing a lot of money, make sure that the partners always feel like they have a chance but having a lot of fun,” he revealed. “At one point, I think I financially. Right now, between all of my partnerships, we have owned eight horses and had a bunch of mares. Because I had a 18 owners in the game, and for the most part, none of them little bit of early success, I thought I knew what I was doing. I were in it before. I brought them in, they’re all happy and didn’t know anything.” they’re bringing friends in now, too.“ Enter Keith Desormeaux. But who brought Brehm in? Rewind to his college days at the “About 20 years later, I was kind of out of the game a bit, not University of Illinois-Chicago while his close friend Wally Gorzela completely, but not really in it, either, and bought a horse at a studied at nearby DePaul.