Coffee Pot Brews a Good One in Carpe Diem

By Charlie McCarthy

The husband-and-wife team of Bob Cummings and Annette Bacola didn't hesitate when asked to explain why their breeding/racing business is named Coffee Pot Stables.

It's just that each had a slightly different take on the matter.

"We owned a house on Coffee Pot Blvd. in St. Petersburg, Fla.," said Bacola. "I've always had a feel for marketing, and had the idea of saying, 'Coffee Pot Stables: The horses and the coffee are always hot!'"

Bob had grounds to differ with his wife.

"We share all decisions, basically—talk it over over a cup of coffee, that's why it's called Coffee Pot Stables," Cummings said. "We try to come up with ideas that we mutually agree upon."

One such idea—that perhaps required only a quick espresso—resulted in a colt foaled Feb. 29, 2012, at Woodline Farm near Paris, Ky.

Three years later, Carpe Diem could be a strong contender on the road to the 2015 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). The chestnut son of Giant's Causeway   is scheduled to make his 2015 debut in Saturday's $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) at Tampa Bay Downs.

MITCHELL: Carpe Diem Faces Ocean Knight in Tampa Derby

"Giant's Causeway always has been a favorite," Bacola said via phone while on business in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "He stands for a lot of money, but he's worth every penny. In fact, we're going back to Giant's Causeway with the mare this year."

At home in Chicago, Cummings said he liked the breeding match even before Carpe Diem's on-track success.

"Giant's Causeway, obviously, a very successful stallion, and we had had some pretty good success with the offspring of the mare," Cummings said of pairing the former European Horse of the Year winner with Coffee Pot's Unbridled's Song mare Rebridled Dreams.

"Doncaster Rover (by War Chant) had done real well. Then J.B.'s Thunder (by Thunder Gulch) was good, too... And the price was right."

Beau Lane, the patriarch whose family operates Woodline Farm, knew he had a special yearling courtesy of Coffee Pot's breeding recipe.

"Never got in trouble. Never was a silly colt in any way," Lane said of Carpe Diem. "He was bred to be a good one the day he born. Very exceptional.

"A lot of times the good ones are born with a real self-confidence. They're not scared of anything. He wouldn't run and hide behind his mother. He'd lead through the door."

Through Lane's Beau Lane Bloodstock consignment, Coffee Pot Stables sold Carpe Diem for $550,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale to Northwest Stud, which pinhooked him for $1.6 million at the 2014 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s March auction of 2-year-olds in training.

Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm and Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm now race Carpe Diem in partnership.

The Todd Pletcher-trained colt aced his debut in a 5 1/2 furlong maiden special weight race at Saratoga last Sept. 1, and won the 1 1/6-mile Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (gr. I) at Keeneland on Oct. 4 to become the first grade I winner produced by Coffee Pot.

Carpe Diem then finished second to Texas Red in the 1 1/16-mile Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1.

Annette Bacola deserves some credit for any success Carpe Diem has had or will enjoy.

"We were trying to piece together how we bought Rebridled Dreams a few years ago," Cummings said, "and the best recollection is Annette spotted her and said we should buy her. I rely on her judgment."

That was just one of many decisions that have impressed a veteran breeder such as Lane.

"They're very knowledgeable," Lane said of Coffee Post Stables' owners. "Most of my clients ask me to do the breeding, but I can't do it any better than they can. They do a wonderful job of picking who to breed their mares to. And Bob and Annette are great people, and wonderful people to work with."

In return, Cummings gave Lane a big assist.

"We use the Nick reports, tours of the stables, and then we go to breeding farms and bounce ideas off of Beau. He plays a bigger role than he realizes," said Cummings, who has enjoyed a career in the private equity field.

"It starts with how good the mare is, and how much we want to invest in a stud fee to make sure we're not overbreeding or seriously under breeding and then it's a matter of process of elimination."

Bacola explained Coffee Pot Stables' preference for a "like-to-like" philosophy.

"The Nick report is the industry gold standard and a valuable tool, but it's not the end-all," Bacola said. "We've always liked to breed like to like. If you have a horse super strong on grass, breed to a horse who was strong on grass. If you have a horse strong at short distances, breed to a horse strong at short distances. Some other people prefer trying to breed a more well-rounded horse."

The Cummings—married for 20 years with one child (son Davis Cummings, 18)—began their thoroughbred career in the early '90s, when they embarked on racing partnerships with Gary Drake of New Phoenix Stables.

"Over the years, we migrated to have a few of our own," Bob Cummings said. "Then a few became several, and then several became more."

The first horse Coffee Pot Stables owned fully was a New York mare named Truebreadpudding, a gray-roan daughter of Proud Truth out of Bread Fruit. She won the 1999 and 2000 editions of the Yaddo Handicap at Saratoga Race Course, was second in the 2001 Beaugay (gr. IIIT) at Aqueduct Racetrack, and won the 2001 Mount Vernon Handicap on the Belmont Park lawn.

"We retired her about a year later and she became our first broodmare," Cummings said. "She kind of became our foundation stock. We went from there and bought a farm in Kentucky in 2001, and basically began to do both racing and breeding, and breeding to sell and breed to run as well."

Love of thoroughbreds and racing goes back a way for both Bacola and Cummings. Annette had an uncle, a former Upstate New York jockeys agent who would take her to Saratoga.

Bob's father was a close friend of a gentleman named Tom Carey—no relation to the Careys of Hawthorne Race Course—who had a small farm. Carey introduced them to Gary Drake.

Lane said the Cummings' love of equines is obvious by how they treat their own.

"There's never a hold back," Lane said. "Never a, 'How much is it going to cost? What's the cheapest way to do this?' Never. They want to do the best they can for every horse they have."

The best example of the Cummings' approach can be seen with 19-year-old mare Miss Thermal Tech.

"We board (her) for them. She hasn't been bred in a couple of years and probably never will be bred again—she broke her pelvis," Lane said. "They pay board every month and try to giver her the best life they can. They think as much of her as they do any of the others."

Cummings downplayed he act of kindness.

"I don't think we're that unique in that regard," said Bob, who with Annette owned True North Farm near Versailles, Ky., until about five years ago. The two now have Coffee Pot Farm near Elburn, Il. "I think a lot of horsemen are very conscious of the full life cycle of (horses).

"It's just the way we are."

Cummings said few things compare to the thrill of racing, especially with a homebred, but admitted: "When you can sell a yearling for half a millions dollars or more, that's pretty exciting, too."

So is the possibility of Carpe Diem running in the Kentucky Derby.

"It's terrific when you're rewarded by seeing that, and very gratifying to see how the connections now are doing a very thoughtful and good approach to bring him up to Derby time," said Cummings, who was hopeful of seeing Carpe Diem run for the first time in person at Churchill Downs on May 2.

"I certainly will make every effort that I can," he said.

Annette had a slightly different take. "Oh, we'll be there," she said.