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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By any measure, Steve and Denise Smith's Mesingw Farm, which celebrated just its fifth anniversary in December, had a banner year in 2025. From the sales ring, where the operation sold its first seven-figure yearling, to the racetrack where it had a graded-stakes placed juvenile at Saratoga in August and a Breeders' Cup starter in November, Mesingw was hitting on all cylinders. The momentum has carried into the new year with the Mesingw-bred Explora (Blame) a leading choice for the GI Kentucky Oaks following her win in the GIII Honeybee Stakes last Sunday. The Smiths will be hoping the success continues in Ocala where they will offer a pair of fillies through Tom McCrocklin's consignment at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale next week. “Tough to beat,” Denise Smith said when asked to assess 2025. “It was a pretty darn good year. I don't think anybody in their right mind would be disappointed in how last year went.” Denise was a school district superintendent in Saratoga with no involvement in racing when she first started dating Steve, but she quickly joined in on his dream of breeding Thoroughbred racehorses. “As we started dating and the relationship got more serious, I said one of my dreams was to have a horse farm and breed Thoroughbreds and race them,” Steve recalled. “Long story short, we ended up coming to Kentucky. This is where it all happens. We are happy we did. We bought a small farm in Athens, not too far from Juddmonte. The idea was to have five or six select broodmares. We started with lower level broodmares because we didn't want to make mistakes with very expensive broodmares.” What started as a plan for five or six broodmares soon escalated and with a broodmare band that currently numbers some 30 head, Mesingw Farm needed a new home. “We have had good guidance with people we've associated ourselves with,” Steve said. “When were first introduced down here, it was actually Bayne Welker from Fasig-Tipton that we met and got to know and he's been a guiding person for us all along. He is the one, when we bought the first farm in Athens, who said where you want to be is between Versailles and Midway. We bought too many mares, we outgrew our first farm and we ended up purchasing Lane's End yearling division farm on Old Frankfurt Pike. They called it the Fort Blackburn Division. That's where our horses are stabled now.” Looking back at the farm's trajectory, Steve added, “There is no why. I just wanted to do it.” Meringue | Coady Media The Smiths say their operation is a mix of breed to race and to sell, as exemplified by their success at Saratoga last summer where their homebred Meringue (Frosted) finished second in the GIII Adirondack Stakes just days before they sold a colt by Good Magic for $1.6 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. “That was my dream in the breeding business,” Denise said of the sale result. “To sell a million-dollar yearling. And hopefully at Saratoga, because that's my home town. That was beyond our wildest expectations.” As for Steve, he dreams of a victory on the First Friday in May. “I am filly guy,” he said. “A lot of people ask me if I want to have a Derby horse and I say I want an Oaks horse. I wouldn't turn down a Derby horse, for sure, but fillies are our thing.” He could soon check that box, too, if Explora continues on her path towards Churchill Downs. The Smiths purchased Collections Choice (Bernardini), with the future Honeybee winner in utero, for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. It was a productive sale for the couple, who also purchased Catbrier (Street Sense), with future 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' Meringue in utero, for $32,000 at that same auction. The Smiths sold Explora for $22,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September sale and watched as the filly returned the following year to sell to Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The filly won the GII Oak Leaf Stakes and was second in the GI Del Mar Debutante and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies last year before cementing her position near the top of her division in the Honeybee. “We're proud of her,” Denise said of Explora. “We wouldn't be good breeders if we weren't producing graded stakes winners. That's the goal for all breeders, to be producing graded stakes winners.” Steve admitted to some complex emotions watching a horse he bred head towards the Kentucky Oaks carrying someone else's colors. “Probably a lot of mixed emotions,” he said. “Obviously, I will be so proud of her. And it will just drive me to try to get there again.” Explora | Coady Media The experience of selling Explora and watching her blossom into a graded-stakes winner with Classic ambitions, the Smiths have adjusted their program. When they thought they weren't getting the best price for their yearlings last fall, they weren't afraid to bring them home. “What we did this year was a direct result of Explora,” Steve said. “I should have kept her and got her breezing and evaluated her ability at that stage of the game, even if we would have sold her and stayed in for part. “So we kind of adjusted our model a bit. It all turns with the yearling market and what we think our yearlings are worth. We try not to be slanted, but we know what we have. We get a chance to see them race around the field, we know how they move. The yearlings we did not think the right number was there on the reserve, we just kept.” Denise adds, “A good example is Meringue's half-brother by Oscar Performance. He was in the Keeneland sale and when it came to the day of the sale, he only had four vettings. We were shocked. So we scratched him and sent him into training. He is a good horse and we are not going to devalue him in any way. We know what we have.” Predictably, the new approach has led to a larger class of newly turned 2-year-olds for the operation, which currently has 19 horses in training. Two of the juveniles who were taken home from the yearling sales last year will hit the track at OBS this week. Scheduled to work Friday is Candy Illusion, a filly by Twirling Candy (hip 453). She is out of Tizanillusion (Tizway), a daughter of graded-placed Hermione's Magic (Forest Wildcat), and RNA'd for $75,000 at Keeneland last September. “As soon as Tom McCrocklin realized she didn't sell, my phone rang right away,” Steve said of Candy Illusion. “He asked what we wanted for this filly. And I said, 'I am not sure, Tom. I think I am going to keep her, but I will send her to you.'” Expected to breeze Saturday is Flaming Martini (Flameway) (hip 728), a daughter of Eiswein (Klimt). The Smiths purchased the mare as a yearling and she raced in their Elements Racing colors. “She broke her maiden first time out and oddly enough, just never ran that race back,” Steve said Eiswein. “So we bred her. We sold the mare in foal last year, but we kept the filly just because we liked her physical.” For the Smiths, racing is a game of patience and it's the horses who always come first. “It took forever to get Stellify (Justify) to the races and we would start with her, have to stop, start with her, have to stop,” Steve says of the graded stakes winner who took them to the Breeders' Cup last year. “I can't give enough credit to Brad Cox. He was patient. And he would say the same about us. He would say we are the most patient owners in the world. Really, I am not, but if you don't have patience in this business, the horses will make you have patience. You just have to take that pill and swallow it and do the best thing for the horse from a physical standpoint.” That horse-comes-first philosophy starts right with the farm's name. “When we moved to Kentucky in December of 2020, we were trying to decide what to name the farm,” Denise said. “I researched the native American history in Central Kentucky and I was reading all of the legends. Mesingw is the spirit guardian of the forest and the animals. He basically tested the character of hunters and young braves who would go into the forest hoping to find him to have their character tested. If they were pure of heart and took good care of the animals and were respectful, then they would have a successful hunt and if they weren't, if they were greedy or let animals suffer unnecessarily, then he would make accidents happen to them. We kind of liked that. If you treat animals well, they will treat you well.” If 2025 was anything to go by, it would seem Mesingw is well-pleased with the Smiths. And with Stellify and Meringue still on the bench to resume racing this year, a graduate aiming for the Kentucky Oaks, and a host of racing and sales prospects just getting started, the best could be yet to come for Mesingw Farm. The post After ‘Tough to Beat’ 2025, Mesingw Farm Ready for More in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
A couple of key people with a strong relationship with Bayer started the race. I think it was eld at Levin for 9 years. The reason the Bayer succeeded was simply money. The Grp1 NZ 2000 Guineas in 1981 was worth $40,000. The Bayer was worth $90,000 thanks to the very large sponsorship of Bayer. Altitude won both races which at that time were only 11 days apart. Noble Heights won the 1000 Guineas but it was near impossible for the fillies to back up within 4 days for the Bayer which would have involved a boat trip. The moved the Bayer out a week the next year 1982 and the filly Our Flight which was second in the 2000 Guineas and won the 1000 Guineass backed up in 11 days to win the Bayer. The great Kingdom Bay won the 1984 2000 Guineas but could only manage a third two weeks later in the Bayer. Princess Dram won the Bayer that year ridden by Maree Lyndon. The Bayer had been elevated to Grp 2 status. The Bayer was worth $110,500 and the Guineas $70,000. As time progressed there was pressure to move the Bayer out further from the Guineas races as it was considered too hard to race the top 3 yr olds over 1600m three times in 3 weeks. Arguably the Bayer existed and thrived because of Bayer's sponsorship which made the race worth at least a third more than the Guineas, was on the way home for the Guineas horses from the North Island (float and boat trip) and when it acquired Group status it became more attractive. Bayer also pumped a considerable amount of money into promoting the race and on racecourse hospitality. When Bayer pulled the pin a significant amount of sponsorship went with it - something NZTR nor the Otaki Maori/Levin Racing Clubs could ever match. The Bayer initially was one of those few races that were televised on national TV and so was very favourable for sponsors. -
HRNZ putting large amounts of Industry money into a seven horse Trot Slot race, that will undoubtedly be a wagering disaster, is a disgrace. Just another example of recklessness with Entain money. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Just a Touch will be heavily favored to win a depleted renewal of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), but should Vodka Vodka prevail in the March 7 race, that story would make a poignant addition to the historic race's lore.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The popular "Ship and Win" program, now in its 16th consecutive year, has attracted more than 3,000 horses to Del Mar, helping the track continue its reputation as one of the nation's foremost "full field size" locations.View the full article
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