2026 Mating Plans: Marc Wampler, Pocket Aces Racing and Somewhere Stables

[Wandering Eyes]

Marc Wampler has been involved with racing since 1993 and currently is the racing manager and bloodstock agent for Pocket Aces Racing as well as offering similar services to private clientele.

When breeding, the first thing Wampler asks his clients is whether they are breeding a racehorse or a sales horse. He says he believes it's an important initial step in the process as the pool of potential stallions to use varies depending on the answer. “If breeding to race, the stud book offers many options and an opportunity to find value. If breeding to sell, the focus narrows to commercial sires–in today's market that usually means the most-recently retired, fashionably bred, graded stakes winners–and it will take money to make money.”

From there, Wampler says he likes to start zeroing in on specific stallions by establishing a stud fee range that suits the mare, based on her pedigree, performance, and physical.

“Over-breeding your mare can be just as dangerous as under breeding, especially from a commercial standpoint. You don't want your weanling or yearling to show up at the sale as one of the worst-bred progeny by a particular sire.”

“I also like to make a critical assessment of each mare's physical attributes and flaws so I can match her up to a stallion who will hopefully improve her weaknesses and further enhance her assets.”

Wysteria, 10, Tale of the Cat–Smokey Diplomacy, by Dynaformer
Wysteria was unraced, but she has been a huge success for my commercial breeding client–Somewhere Stable. She is the complete mare as she delivers on the racetrack (her first foal was Grade II winner Implicated) and the sales ring (with foals bringing $150K, $155K and $290K at auction). We approach breeding her very carefully as Somewhere Stables only has two mares, and her progeny have the potential to either “make” or “break” their year financially.

After careful consideration, and a protracted effort to find an available season, we decided that Yaupon would be the perfect match for Wysteria in 2026. As we did our research, Yaupon quickly rose to the top of our “wish list” as he is a proven success with his progeny's racing results (2025 champion freshman sire) and sales results (53 of his foals sold as weanlings in 2025 and they averaged more than $165K). In addition, we thought the sales history of both horses was a good indication that the breeding would mostly produce a foal that was physically attractive at a young age, as Yaupon was a $350,000 sales yearling and Wysteria brought $200,000 at the same age. While he is standing for $60,000 in 2026, we're optimistic that he will be standing for even more by the time we sell Wysteria '27.

Neom, 10, Mineshaft–Noble Grey, by Forestry
Going into 2025, Neom was a big question mark for us, because despite her half-sister Ag Bullet's achievements, they didn't seem to translate into more money for Neom or her foals. As time went by, the aforementioned sister developed into one of the, if not the best, turf sprint fillies in North America. To date, said mare is a Grade I winner of more than $2.9-million and was placed in both the 2024 and 2025 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint against the boys.

That said, our luck changed when Neom produced a gorgeous Good Magic colt last year, and he sold for $140,000 at Keeneland November via the Nicky Drion consignment. We weren't entirely sure what changed, but she was finally living up to our hopes for her.

For 2026, we decided to breed her to Gunite. The son of Gun Runner was a tremendous juvenile, and is by a stallion who needs little introduction as he annually sits near the top of the sire list. Gunite's sales record in 2025 for mares in foal and weanlings was a great indication that breeders and buyers are going to stick with him for the long haul. We're basically making a bet here that his offspring are going to come out running early and at a high level. If we're right, we should get rewarded.

Pocket Aces Racing
Pocket Aces Racing has been around for 20 years now and for much of that time we have sold, or placed, our fillies and mares once their racing careers are over. However, enough time has gone by now that we've been able to see a few of those fillies and mares go on to have success producing sales horses and racehorses for other people. Considering this, we've become more cautious about which fillies and mares exit our program, especially ones we anticipate having an upside in the not-too-distant future and that might not sell particularly well at the time of retirement.

Chemical Reaction will be bred to Barnes | Patrycja Szpyra

Chemical Reaction, 5, Collected-It'schemistrybaby, by Meadowlake
This maiden mare is being transferred from the racing division of Pocket Aces Racing to the broodmare wing of the operation. A flashy chestnut with an excellent physical, we think she'll be able to produce good-looking sales babies as well as bringing a nice page with her as the half-sister to MGSW Majestic City (City Zip) and stakes-placed Backstreet Hero.

We have decided to breed Chemical Reaction to Barnes for 2026. As many know, finding value with freshman stallions has become a real challenge. However, we have noticed that some farms are starting to buck the trend and offer fees for first year sires that work for everybody and we think Barnes is just such an opportunity. We like him because he is a son of Into Mischief, the best horse at stud in North America, who is also well on his way to establishing himself as a sire of sires. Barnes was classy with plenty of speed, and was a $3.2-million sales yearling. As commercial breeders, it behooves us to produce successful racehorses in the long run, but we have to remember that the sale comes first. It is always comforting to know that the stallion must've been attractive as a young horse because they sold so well.

Windy Lu Who, 9, Justin Phillip–Windsail, by Grand Appointment
Pocket Aces Racing campaigned stakes winner Windy Lu Who for most of her career, along with her breeder/trainer, Susan Anderson. Racing six seasons, she was the model of consistency, soundness and determination at a high level on the regional scene. At approximately 16.1hh, she is built like a tank with a flashy chestnut coat and striking white blaze on her face. As the old saying goes, “black kittens come from black cats” and we are confident in her ability to produce good-sized, correct foals with a little flash to them–attributes you need in the sales ring.

For 2026, we have decided to breed Windy Lu Who to Jonathan's Way. We were looking for a first year stallion that represented good value, and he ticked off those boxes. It also helped that Susan bred and sold Jonathan's Way for $290,000 as a weanling. Of course, we did do our due diligence and considered several other options, however, we just kept coming back to the son of 2024 champion first crop and 2025 champion second crop sire, Vekoma. The physical match was ideal for producing a commercial foal and we knew what a talented, but hard luck, racehorse he was. Considering the market premium on incoming sires, the stud fee of $8,500 was exceptional value, given all we were getting.

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