Sibling Rivals Set to Shine in BC Turf Sprint

In a quiet paddock at Saxony Farm in Lexington, surrounded by rolling hills and turned out with an old steeplechaser to keep her company, an unassuming broodmare crops away at the late-autumn grass.

The mare's name is Vassar. She is 20 years old. And as the rain falls down in the Bluegrass, not one, but two of her offspring are 2,100 miles away, putting in their final preparations for the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

When Stormy Liberal and Leinster break side by side in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park in Southern California, the half brothers will become just the fourth pair of siblings to race against each other at the Breeders' Cup. Should Leinster deny Stormy Liberal's quest to win a historic third consecutive edition of the Turf Sprint, Vassar—a daughter of Royal Academy out of the L'Emigrant mare Dixie Fine—would become just the sixth mare to produce multiple Breeders' Cup winners in the event's 36-year history.

"She's been an absolutely terrific broodmare," owner Jeff Bowen said. "She's had six foals to race, all winners. These horses are almost like my children, so when they go on and do this well, it means the world. I have pictures of 'Stormy' up all over my house. He's a hard-trying horse and has the heart of a champion, and he's shown it over and over."

Vassar might not know her status among an elite group of mares, but she knows the warmth and comfort of the boarding barn and the expert care provided by the team around her. She also knows not to worry as long as her pasture mate, a dark bay gelding named Gryffindor, is by her side.

"She's an interesting one," said Kate Sheehan, bloodstock adviser to Bowen, who owns the mare. "She's very quirky. She's extremely intelligent. Gryffindor is her comfort blanket; she frets when she's alone. She's a neat horse and she's definitely a personality at the barn.

"Her progeny give us such a rush because they're so exciting. Stormy Liberal is such a neat little horse. He's a fighter. Leinster, when he finally got on the turf to sprint … we've never been that excited about a horse to find where he belongs. I know it's super fun for Jeff—he loves the game and he loves his horses, so he deserves all the success in the world."

Vassar was bred in 1999 by Bowen and partner Mike Akers under the banner of Twin Hopes Farm. She failed to meet her reserve twice when offered at auction, no doubt in part because of her nervous nature.

"She was a beautiful specimen, but when she went to the sale, she kind of lost her mind on sales week and would hide in the back of her stall and didn't want to sell," Akers recalled. 

Vassar was retained to race in France with trainer Nicolas Clement, but she only won one time and was retired after seven starts. It was as a broodmare that she made her mark.

The mare's first foal was a son of Belong to Me eventually named Garifine, who ended up as a $105,000 RNA at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Sent to Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables to prep for a 2-year-old sale, he came into his own and sold for $1.8 million at the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in 2006.

Gold Square campaigned the colt for most of his career, and he wound up stakes-placed. Meanwhile, Vassar was foaling out the Stormy Atlantic  horse Coast Guard, a $300,000 Keeneland September yearling who went on to be grade 1-placed; Scholastic, a winning daughter of Johar; stakes winner Shimmering Moment; and Caminetto, a winning son of Stormy Atlantic who brought $500,000 at Keeneland September in 2010.

Breeding under the Dapple Bloodstock and Gryphon Investments banners, Akers and Bowen went back to Stormy Atlantic in 2011, when the Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion's fee was listed as $30,000. The resulting foal, a plucky bay with a diamond star and a pencil-thin blaze, was not as much of a hit at auction as his more expensive siblings. Agent Dennis O'Neill plucked Stormy Liberal from the 2014 OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale for a mere $100,000, and it wasn't until he was claimed by Peter Miller for Rockingham Ranch that the gelding began to excel.

Not only did he win the Turf Sprint in 2017 at Del Mar, Stormy Liberal doubled back at Churchill Downs last year and became just the second two-time winner in the race's history, a feat that earned him an Eclipse Award as champion turf horse of 2018. Although he has not won a race this season, he's only finished off the board once and comes in off a solid third in the Sept. 27 Eddie D. Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita.

Bowen and Akers dissolved their partnership after Stormy Liberal was foaled, and Bowen ended up with Vassar. He sent the mare to Majestic Warrior, and Leinster was the result. Dunne picked up the colt in 2016 for $85,000 under the Taconic Bloodstock banner at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky select yearling sale, and when he failed to sell as a 2-year-old, the pinhooker and his wife, Amy Dunne, kept Leinster to race, first with D. Wayne Lukas, then with Rusty Arnold.

"Both Stormy Liberal and Leinster went through the Wavertree program," Sheehan said. "They were a little late-developing, but Ciaran always said they were smart, very pretty horses. He's had luck with the family all the way through. Obviously, he's a big fan.

"They're a little like her," Sheehan said of Vassar's foals. "They kind of like to find a little bit of trouble out in the field. They're mischief makers, smart, athletic, always light on their feet."

Leinster comes into the Turf Sprint off a runner-up finish to Stubbins in the Oct. 5 Woodford Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G2T) at Keeneland and will meet that rival again Saturday. He was third Sept. 7 in the Runhappy Turf Sprint Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs, a race in which Stormy Liberal ran fifth. Leinster's breakout moment came Aug. 3 at Saratoga Race Course when he won the Troy Stakes (G3T) in a stakes-record 1:00.23.

"Under Rusty's tutelage, he became a world-class turf sprinter," Bowen said. "It was a very pleasant surprise, really. He's really blossomed. He set a track record in the Troy Stakes and ran extremely well in his last two." 

Currently in foal to Uncle Mo , Vassar produced one other foal after Leinster, a Distorted Humor  colt who failed to meet his reserve at $240,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale.

The colt will be retained to race by Bowen, who has owned racehorses for 20 years and currently owns the same amount. He said the sport's ups and downs make the victories all that more rewarding, and he couldn't be prouder to own the plain chestnut mare who will spend the weekend grazing in a quiet Kentucky paddock.

"As you can imagine, Vassar is an extremely special mare to me," Bowen added. "We treat her like she's the queen. She's been good to a lot of us for a long time. As a breeder, you wish you could get so lucky to have a mare like that."