FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2018 FIELDING PROVES BOTH TAKING STOCK: KUMIN’S PARTNERSHIPS ARE IN PLAIN SIGHT LUCKY AND GOOD by Sid Fernando If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be now. Since appearing on the scene four-plus years ago, Sol Kumin’s various racing partnerships--notably Head of Plains Partners, Madaket Stables, Monomoy Stables, and Sheep Pond Partners--have become ubiquitous on weekends and astonishingly successful at the highest levels. All told, the Kumin entities have won 38 Grade I races to date. This year has been particularly fruitful, with 10 individual winners of 16 Grade I races, including the Triple Crown, Kentucky Oaks, and Coaching Club American Oaks, with plenty of racing still to come. Last year, there was some controversy surrounding Kumin and the Eclipse Award for leading owner. A letter to voters from one of his associates making a case for Kumin left a bad taste for some. Cont. p5 (click here) John Fielding | Array Marketing IN TDN EUROPE TODAY by Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--John Fielding has been a force to be CLASS PREVAILS IN YORKSHIRE OAKS reckoned with on the harness racing circuit for decades, owning Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) could try to emulate her sire with an Arc win after romping in Thursday’s some of the best in the industry such as Pinkman, Father Patrick, G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Shake It Cerry, Maven and this year’s Hambletonian Oaks winner Europe. Manchego. One fateful day in the late nineties, Fielding met Standardbred and Thoroughbred breeder Fred Hertrich at a Standardbred sale at Woodbine and the rest, as they say, is history. “He and I, as he always likes to say, were sharing a Labatt Blue, sitting on a bale of straw and shooting the breeze,” Fielding recalled. “We became friends very, very quickly and have become best friends over the years. We have never had a disagreement as partners. He is one of the smartest men I have ever met in my life, bar none.” Together, they have bred some great Thoroughbreds, such as MG1SW sire Shamardal, and the duo have had a particularly eventful Saratoga meet. Fielding and Hertrich bred their first GI Whitney S. winner in Diversify (Bellamy Road); Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) captured the GII Lake Placid S.; and Saturday they hope to be able to say they have bred a GI Travers S. victor should Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) cross the wire first. “I had the two big Standardbred wins [in the Hambletonian Oaks and Peter Houghton Memorial] and the Whitney in one day [Aug. 4],” Fielding said. 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WORLDWIDE INFORMATION TODAY’S GRADED STAKES International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN EST Race Click for TV [email protected] 9:25a Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup S.-G2, YOR -------------- TVG European Editor 10:00a Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack S.-G2, YOR -------------- TVG Emma Berry [email protected] 10:35a Coolmore Nunthorpe S.-G1, YOR -------------- TVG 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 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 14 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • AUGUST 24, 2018 Fielding Proves Both Lucky and Good cont. from p1 is really, really great for the New York breeding program as well, “Then Rushing Fall won last week, which was great, and now so that’s good. We are more and more involved in the New York hopefully we have a good result with Catholic Boy Saturday,” he program as we go forward. We are starting to drop a few in continued. Canada as well, so they are Ontario-bred.” Fielding was introduced to harness racing by his father and The founder of Array, the world’s largest manufacturer of owned his first Standardbred at just 16. It was Hertrich that cosmetic advertising, continued, “I’ve been on the board at introduced him to the world of Thoroughbred breeding. Woodbine entertainment since 2004. I’ve always had some “I’ve been going [to Thoroughbred races] since I was a kid and Ontario-bred or sired horses with breeder Dave Anderson, who always loved it,” Fielding said. “Fred and I bought our first mare is a good friend of mine and Fred’s, and trainer Catherine Day- with the late [Dr.] Phil McCarthy, who was a great friend of Phillips. We have started dropping some foals here and the Fred’s and mine. We were also partners with the Taylor boys [of Ontario-bred racing program is fantastic.” Taylor Made farm] in that first mare. That was in 1998 or ‘99 Fielding and Hertrich have enjoyed plenty of success at the and we have been partners ever since. Fred does have some sales, as well. In 2004, they sold Shamardal’s dam Helsinki (GB) mares on his own, but most of them we have in partnership.” for $3.9 million in foal to Cherokee Run and sold her weanling The pair now have 100 mares together at Hertrich’s filly by Unbridled’s Song for $1.9 million. More recently, the Watercress Farm in Kentucky. friends sold a Medaglia d’Oro colt out of the well-bred Poof Too “Our partnership in the horses is kind of unique. As [Fred] likes (Distorted Humor)--now named Big Muddy--to Todd Pletcher for to say, he is in charge of handling all of the details and, I would $850,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September. say, between him and Rob Tribbett, almost all of the work,” “We are a commercial breeders, so we try to sell most Fielding said. “I pitch in where I can, but he says I’m mainly there everything,” Fielding said. “We are selling around 54 yearlings at for the luck because I’m very lucky.” Keeneland this year and we will sell some later developing yearlings in October. Sometimes we will keep a filly from a family we want to continue or if a horse fails to meet its reserve, we might race it ourselves. We have a horse racing [Thursday] actually out of a mare that died giving birth this year. The horse is named Grandma’s Favorite (Denman {Aus}) and is in the last race at Saratoga.” Fielding and his longtime partner only have about six horses in training currently, but are planning on expanding that side of their business going forward. Cont. p4 Diversify | Horsephotos The Toronto resident added, “I am very lucky to have Fred as a partner. He is just a super guy, integrity driven and just a really good person. Rob works exhaustively for Fred doing all the pedigree stuff. He also runs the Standardbred operation, so he is a busy guy.” In addition to foaling mares at Watercress, Fielding and his partner also drop some foals in New York to take advantage of the state’s incentive program. One example of that is their new Empire-bred Whitney winner Diversify, who won last year’s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and romped in the GII Suburban H. prior to his Saratoga score. “He has been really devastating in his last couple of starts, so I am excited to see where he will go next,” Fielding said. “I think it TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 14 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • AUGUST 24, 2018 suit with a win in the GI Belmont Derby July 7. “I am very excited for this weekend,” Fielding said. “That would be our first Travers winner. He is already a Grade I winner on turf and not many horses are Grade I winners on both surfaces.” He continued, “We got our first Whitney winner and I think Rushing Fall is headed to a Grade I next. Then we have to see what 2-year-olds pop up and what is headed to the Breeders’ Cup.” It takes more than luck to have the kind of racing success Fielding has had with both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds.