2026 Mating Plans: Joel Politi

[Wandering Eyes]

by Joel Politi

I have been around horses since I was young and grew up with a 12-horse barn in our backyard. My Dad bred and raised almost all of the horses that he ran and I've been paying attention to breeding my whole life. I love this aspect of horse racing, have owned horses myself for more than 20 years and I bred our first mare in 2017.

Currently have 12 broodmares, and Mark Taylor and Travis White with Taylor Made help me with all of my matings. We banter back and forth until we reach a solid plan. We look at what breeding patterns have worked, but also try to pick matings based on the physical of the mare.

Here is a look at some of the matings we have planned for 2026.

SERENGETI EMPRESS, 10, Alternation–Havisham, by Bernardini. Will be bred to Gun Runner.
She is the 'Queen' and will always be the star of our stable. She has three foals currently (all colts), including a 2-year-old by Curlin and a yearling by Not This Time. She is barren this year. We debated sending her back to Curlin, but her P360 reports with Gun Runner were so good, that we are sending her that way. She is such the perfect physical that I think she could pair well with lots of stallions. I don't plan on breeding her every year, so we will make the most of her opportunities and root for a filly.

LI'L TOOTSIE, 8, Tapiture–Informative Style, by Dayjur. Will be bred to Into Mischief.
Little Tootsie is exactly the kind of mare that I like to develop and own. Tom Amoss and I bought her at the sale and she went on to win a pair of stakes and she's multiple graded stakes placed. She is a big racey looking mare and put up really fast numbers on the sheets. Her first two foals are by Not This Time, she has an Vekoma in her belly and she is going to visit Into Mischief this year. Her P360 report with him was really good and she is a good match for him physically. We are giving her every chance to succeed.

LITTLESTITIOUS, 8, Ghostzapper–Broadway Play, by Quality Road. Will be bred to Girvin.
Littlestitious is another mare that Tom and I bought and raced. She won multiple stakes and had lots of ability. She is a very well-built Ghostzapper mare that has lots of his physical attributes.

She's had a couple of Not This Time foals, including a very nice 2-year-old. Unfortunately, she had a beautiful Curlin colt who got sick and passed away as a weanling. She is currently in foal to Liam's Map and is booked to Girvin this year. I love Girvin as a sire. We sent two mares to him last year and are sending two back again this year. I think this is a really good physical mating. Girvin will give her a little more size, since she's a little more compact.

DEL MAR MAY, 10, Jimmy Creed–Big Lou, by Malibu Moon. Will be bred to Sierra Leone.
Del Mar May is a graded stakes-placed Jimmy Creed sprinter that had lots of ability on the racetrack. This will be her sixth foal. She is currently in foal to Twirling Candy. She is a stake producer now, as her 4-year-old Boutwell Time (Not This Time) won a stake in December. She's booked to Sierra Leone. I don't love going with freshman sires as a rule. But he is such a good physical, a strong pedigree and race record, that I like sending this well-established mare to him. He will help her with her size too.

EVERLOVING, 4, Violence–Marwa (GB), by Exceed And Excel (Aus). Will be bred to Vekoma.
Everloving is another yearling that Tom and I bought at Keeneland. She is an absolutely gorgeous physical. She's by Violence and is a half-sister to World Record (Gun Runner). Her extended family is very deep and loaded with real runners. She is recently retired from the track and there aren't many sires hotter than Vekoma to help her get off to a good start. There is lots to like about this cross including Speightstown over Medaglia d'Oro.

 

New sire Goal Oriented during his racing days | Horsephotos

MALIBU COVE, 13, Malibu Moon–Spirited Away, by Awesome Again. Will be bred to Goal Oriented.
Malibu Cove is a Grade I-producing mare by that I bought during Keeneland November who is in foal to Taiba.

She is a beautiful mare and has two Into Mischiefs in the pipeline–a yearling and 2-year-old.

When Goal Oriented became available, it was an easy decision. I am a big fan. I think he is a beautiful physical with lots of ability and the Giant's Causeway cross with her has already worked well.

 

CANDY STRIPER, 12,Twirling Candy–Grant Marty a Wish, by Beautiful Crown. Will be bred to Girvin.
Candy Striper was my first broodmare. She is by Twirling Candy. We claimed her at Churchill Downs back in 2016. I sent her to Maryland since I had some shares in Holy Boss and she had five foals with him. They have all proven to have lots of ability. Two of them turned into stakes performers, and one was Maryland champion 3-year-old filly, Bosserati. She has a really beautiful yearling by Maclean's Music and is in foal to Maxfield. I chose Girvin for her because I love him, but also he will help her with a little bit of size in her foals. She has been a really great mare for us.

BOSSERATI, 6, Holy Boss–Candy Striper, by Twirling Candy. Will be bred to Post Time.
This is a total sentimental breeding. Bosserati was the first stakes winner that I bred and as I said she was the Maryland champion 3-year-old filly. She was a really fast turf sprinter and we think that she will cross very well with Frosted's line. I mostly picked this mating between Post Time and Bosserati so that two Maryland-bred champions trained by Brittany Russell can have a foal. This is the only mare that I will have in Maryland, so hopefully it's a good foal.

TULANIAN, 9, Twirling Candy–Silent Circle, by Indian Charlie. Will be bred to Munnings.
Tulanian is a very nice Twirling Candy mare we purchased. She is a half to two graded stakes horses. She has four foals and is in foal to Girvin. Her 3-year-old filly by Maclean's Music broke her maiden at Churchill and ran second in an allowance there. Her yearling by Munnings was so good-looking, that we decided to go back to him. Munnings is such a value sire at this point. He can get any kind of runner and their cross worked very well the first time.

MICROBIOME, 7, Twirling Candy–Sonja's Angel, by Smoke Glacken. Will be bred to Maclean's Music.
Microbiome is a big beautiful Twirling Candy mare that we bought during Keeneland September. She won very impressively as a juvenile at Saratoga first-time out and had a soft tissue injury that fall. She has a very nice Not This Time 2-year-old and a yearling by Munnings. The Maclean's Music-Twirling Candy cross has worked very well for us and physically he will help her. Maclean's Music tends to add muscle and stockiness to their frame.

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