From the Balkans to the Bluegrass, Breeder Tomislav Mitrovski Chasing a Dream

[Wandering Eyes]

What drives someone to leave everything behind to follow a dream? And what happens when the dream is within reach, but one last obstacle stands in the way?

Tomislav Mitrovski was watching from home when Color Comin' In (Rock Your World), the first horse he ever bred, overcame a troubled start and stormed home to a three-length victory in her debut at Churchill Downs. Over the moon with the result, Mitrovski immediately called his wife to celebrate a win that felt like the start of something bigger.

When Mitrovski packed up his life and moved his family from their home in North Macedonia, a small country in the Balkans, to Lexington, Kentucky, he hoped to accomplish two things: become a Thoroughbred breeder and get a job in horse racing. After just three years, Mitrovski has already checked off that first goal by breeding a filly who looks like the real deal. The second goal, however, has proven more elusive.

The morning after becoming the breeder of a 'TDN Rising Star,' Mitrovski was clocking in at Dillard's, where he works as a sales associate in the women's shoe department. After years of effort and countless applications, Mitrovski has had no luck finding a job in the Thoroughbred business.

But Mitrovski did not uproot his life and move across the world to stop now.

“I was over 50 when I came here,” he said. “It wasn't easy to cut all your ties and just move, but if it was easy, everybody would do it. I'm not giving up. I think I will make it sooner or later. The big thing for me is that I have a great start as a breeder. That was a really crazy result and I hope better things are ahead.”

An engineer by trade, Mitrovski fell in love with horse racing in the 1980s, following greats like Spend a Buck, Ferdinand, Snow Chief and Sunday Silence. There was no Thoroughbred racing in his home country, so he followed the sport's biggest events around the world– from Europe and the U.S. to Japan and South America. To immerse himself further, he wrote about racing for various Yugoslavian magazines for almost 20 years, but there was such little local interest in the sport that the column had little success.

In 2022, Mitrovski, his wife and their two adult children were granted green cards and they moved to Kentucky. A few months later, Mitrovski teamed up with bloodstock agent Chad Schumer to launch his breeding program.

At the Keeneland November Sale, Schumer landed on Sleepless Dixie (Dixie Union), a 14-year-old stakes-placed mare who had produced several winners. None were standouts, but she was in foal to Rock Your World. Mitrovski was working a shift at Dillard's when he got the message that he was officially a horse owner.

“We bought her for $7,500, so that was a fantastic deal,” Mitrovski recalled. “I remember Chad texted me and said, 'You got very lucky today.' It was a strange feeling. It was something you dream about all your life and then it finally happens.”

Mitrovski sent his new mare to a small boarding operation in Paris. When Color Comin' In was foaled the following February, she was a little crooked up front, but Mitrovski described her as “the sweetest creature ever.”

He initially sent the filly to the Keeneland November Sale, but she RNA'd there for $9,000. Color Comin' In improved dramatically as a yearling, but when he sent her down to the OBS October Sale, he encountered another obstacle. The sale took place between two catastrophic hurricanes in Florida and out-of-town buyers were scarce. She sold for just $11,000.

Color Comin' In breaks her maiden at Churchill Downs | Coady Media

Mitrovski tracked the filly as she was pinhooked for $100,000, selling to Justin Casse at the OBS March Sale after breezing in 9.4, and started putting in works at Churchill Downs this spring. Then he watched as the Norm Casse trainee was entered in a competitive maiden for her debut. The field included a $1.2 million full-sister to MGSW First Captain (Curlin) and a $410,000 OBS March graduate.

“I guess I was much more hopeful that I was confident,” Mitrovski admitted. “It was a really good bunch of fillies in that race, but she ran like a rocket. It was an impressive win and a really emotional result. I hope that this is just the beginning of something better. When the first horse you ever bred is a winner at Churchill Downs, it's really nice.”

Casse has reported that Color Comin' In, who is campaigned by CKDS Racing Stable, is pointing for the listed Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 29.

With a Churchill Downs winner to his credit, Mitrovski is already off to a fast start as a breeder. But breaking into the industry remains a tougher race to win.

When Mitrovski and his family arrived in Lexington back in 2022, they spent several weeks living in a hotel while he searched for a job. He hoped to find something quickly so they could settle near wherever he ended up working. After sending his resume to 20-some operations with no positive responses, Mitrovski was confused, disheartened, and knew he had to start looking elsewhere.

“Maybe the problem is that I don't have any hands-on experience, but I was applying for administrative jobs,” explained Mitrovski. “Maybe I just don't have the recommendations. I guess that's the reason, but I don't know.”

His wife Donna, who was an economist back in North Macedonia, had already found a job at the Fayette Mall. Mitrovski joined her there.

Mitrovski and his wife Donna at Keeneland | Sara Gordon

In the Dillard's women's shoe department, Mitrovski has waited on some of the sport's most prominent owners and breeders. He recognizes them from the many racing articles he has read over the years and chats with them about their horses in between fetching them a different shoe size or helping adjust a heel strap.

Mitrovski said he is grateful to the team at Dillard's for giving him a chance, but sometimes he can't help thinking about how far he is from where he wants to be.

“I still hope that I will find something in the industry,” he said. “If I need to learn something, if it's about horses I will learn. No doubt about it. Maybe my expectations are too high, but it's something I've wanted to do all my life. I never gave up on my dreams and when I came here, I found hope again. It's good to have hope. Like with Color Comin' In, you have a good feeling with yourself, a satisfaction that you've done something right.”

Color Comin' In was the only foal Mitrovski bred out of Sleepless Dixie. Last year the mare lost her foal a few months before her due date. He bred her back, then sold her at an online auction last spring. This past fall, he took the money he made from selling Color Comin' In and Sleepless Dixie to find a new mare. With the help of Chad Schumer, he bought Waverly Place (Awesome Again), a great-granddaughter of champion Winning Colors, for $17,000.

This spring, the mare produced a colt by freshman sire Yaupon.

“He is a very promising young stallion and the foal is very correct and very strong, so we have high hopes for him,” said Mitrovski. “The dream is still alive.”

In the months leading up to their move to Kentucky, friends and neighbors would approach the Mitrovskis and ask them if they were really ready to trade secure, professional careers for a fresh start in an unfamiliar world that few in their community even knew existed.

Mitrovski said he believed he owed it to his family to take the leap.

“I'm telling my kids all the time that if you want something, don't waste your time with something else,” he said. “I don't think I would be in this situation without my wife and my family having my back. This is a family business at the end of the day. I'm doing this for myself, but I'm doing this for my kids also.”

“I'm here to stay,” he continued. “I don't think I will go back to anything else. This is where I want to be. We will continue to breed horses and hope we will have other success after this. Coming here to Kentucky was always the dream, so don't give up your dreams.”

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