Propensity for Classic Pedigrees Sparks Flay's Passion

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay's proclivity (or propensity) for breeding classic-level contenders infused with European families crossed with American sire power aligns with his first passion and business in food. Ahead of the Keeneland September Sale, the esteemed breeder took time to share a little more about his philosophy on breeding, what he sees in his Book 1, Day One horses set to go under the hammer Sept. 12, and the relationship he has with consignor Stone Farm, an integral piece to his success.

MarketWatch: How did you first get interested in the sport, and what made you want to pursue Thoroughbred breeding seriously?

Bobby Flay: I got interested in the sport when I was a teenager; my grandfather took me to Saratoga Race Course, which hooked me. That's a story that you hear from lots of people. Saratoga is a special place. I started out just being a kid that liked to place bets on horses and would cut out of school to do so, and I have stayed interested in it ever since then. When I started working for a living and making a few dollars, I got involved by taking a leg of a horse here and there, but nothing serious, and nothing with any real plan. There was no rhyme or reason; I didn't really know that much about it.

I've been friends with Barry Weisbord for a long time; he knows so much about the purity of the business in terms of pedigrees. A little over 15 years ago, we decided to get a plan together. He did this purely from the standpoint of this is a guy from another world (being the restaurant business), that's not in the horse business who's interested, and it could be good for the horse business if this person has a good experience. His feeling was always that what's good for the business is good for me. He wanted me to have a good experience because, unfortunately, plenty of people come into this business and they don't have great experiences for one reason or the other. We devised a plan that was going to be based on decent pedigreed horses, and that's how it started. 

We started with an excellent pedigree filly from the Better Than Honour, Best in Show family, and from there, the mare Lacadena  had America , which I bred and raced. America's first foal was First Captain , and it's gone on and on. That was one of the families I started to develop, along with Pizza Bianca 's family and a few others. 

I love it, you know, I could talk about the business part of it all day long, but the bottom line is, I just love it. I pay very close attention to it, alongside my other business, which is always based on food. I like the people in the industry. I love the animals and going to Stone Farm to see the horses. I love the big race days and getting dressed up for it. I like going to big events. The fact that we competed over at Royal Ascot this year was special. 

It's one of the things that, as an industry, I think we could do better in terms of letting people understand what it entails in terms of the experience from a positive standpoint. Because when I take somebody racing, a lot of times it's the first time or they went 20 years ago by accident or something. You take them to some crazy big race, whether it's the Breeders' Cup, Royal Ascot, or the Saratoga Sale, and they are like, 'What is going on here?' It's global. You can be standing next to the Sheikh of Dubai and billionaires from Ireland; it's some of the world's most interesting and successful people. 

MW: Do you breed to sell or race, or both?

BF: I breed to produce great horses, that's the goal, and they're not bred to race or to sell initially; those decisions get made later. My philosophy is I have no problem presenting horses that I produce to the sales, but it's okay if they don't sell. I'm perfectly fine racing them. This is one of the big reasons why Stone Farm has become an essential part of my recipe. As far as I know, they are one of the purists in the business in terms of just letting horses be horses, they have beautiful land, and it's a beautiful place. I also love them as a family and like being around them (the Hancock family). They raise beautiful horses, whether they are horses that I sell or race, that gets answered before and during the sales, and I'm okay either way. 

MW: Currently, how many horses do you have in your operation?

BF: It usually hovers between 10 and 12 broodmares. In the racing stable, I have Pizza Bianca, Contemporary Art , and I own a leg of First Captain because I bred him and then stayed in for a piece. That's become a regular norm now at sales. I have a horse named American Hustle  that I did not breed; I bought him as a weanling. A friend of mine and I just did a fun buy of three American Pharoah   weanlings; we sold two and kept one. I have a horse named Kid America who's a 2-year-old out of America by Uncle Mo  , so he's a half brother to First Captain and half brother to the $2 million (Curlin  ) filly I sold at Saratoga this year. Mezcal  is a filly out of Cathryn Sophia , who won the 2016 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). I have a filly named Old School who I bred in Europe and she's by Frankel . I also have her 2-year-old full brother with Roger Varian in England. He's the only horse I am racing overseas, and I bred both of them. I have a horse named Sbagliato, after an Italian cocktail that means 'mistake.' He is a 2-year-old by Quality Road  , a half brother to Contemporary Art. And I have a Pioneerof the Nile  filly, Cinnamon Cat, with Michael McCarthy in California.

MW: What is your philosophy on matings? You seem to infuse European blood into American sprint sires.

BF: That's an interesting observation, but a true one. So first things first, with these mares, it's proven sires only, established at the top of the chain. All the household sire names, I have no problem spending for top stud fees because I think it's worth it. I'd rather pay for the fact than pay less for the guess. Some people like using newer sires, and it's fun for them, and that's what they should do. I don't think there's any right or wrong way; this is my philosophy. On the European side, what you've noticed, like with Fastnet Rock , Pizza Bianca's sire; I had a few, like five or six broodmares in England, and I sold most of them, but I kept a couple and brought them over to the U.S. because I wasn't enjoying it over there. I do like European racing; it's as fun as fun can be, but I wasn't getting there enough, and I like to see my horses.

I bred Cover Song  to Dubawi  in 2018 because I had an opportunity to go to him; as you know, he's not easy to get. So I decided to bring a couple of the progeny and a couple of the big pedigree mares over, like White Hot  came over in foal to Fastnet Rock; the Dubawi filly, Contemporary Art, came over with Cover Song. So it was worth the round-trip ticket. That's the result of what we have now. It's going to take a while to see if breeding European mares to U.S. sires works, but it has in generations past; Bull Hancock did it with Nasrullah, and you watch Juddmonte and Coolmore be successful doing it. It's about surfaces, getting people out of the mindset that if you want a turf horse, you have to breed European families to European sires and vice versa. I don't think that's the case; if you have good blood, it's going to show up where it needs, it's going run well, where it needs to run.

MW: Touch on the three Keeneland September Book 1, Day One horses you are selling Sept. 12.

BF: Hip 115, the Uncle Mo colt out of White Hot; as a colt, he's got a little more bone structure than Pizza Bianca, a more feminine horse. This horse looks very powerful to me, and I think that people see that immediately.

Hip 88, the Constitution  —Tizahit  filly. The mare has produced a grade 1 winner, Come Dancing . I bought her in 2020 when she was in foal with this horse, and I'm bullish on this sire in a big way. I think Constitution is the next round of top sires that we will have in North America. He's proving to show that already; the data shows it. The mating was a coupon, so to speak, when I purchased the mare, and I love the mating.

Hip 131 the Uncle Mo—Amagansett filly. The dam is an unraced Tapit   mare from the Misty For Me , U S Navy Flag , and Roly Poly  family; it's a gigantically talented family. I bought the mare as a yearling for $875,000 at the Saratoga Sale to race. She didn't run and ended up having an ankle issue, so I bred her. I think Tapit is undoubtedly going to be an important broodmare sire.

It's like what Mr. (Ron) Winchell is doing with his Tapit mares; he's taking his Tapit mares and breeding them to Gun Runner  , and they're all running. It's crazy that can be the next cross for Amagansett. I'm a huge fan of Uncle Mo. I liked that he will take a mare with a lot of stamina built into her pedigree, and it's still classic speed. He was such a fast horse. I remember watching him win his maiden at Saratoga; I'll never forget it. I called Todd (Pletcher) and was like, what was that? He had blistering speed, and he could carry it for distance. I'm always looking to breed horses with classic potential, but many times, the classic potential and sires come along with a one-paced horse. I love Uncle Mo for instilling speed into classic distances, so for that reason, that's why I used it. 

MW: Tell me about your relationship with Stone Farm. You put a lot of trust in them to raise your horses.

BF: I went to see Stone Farm, and if you haven't been there, it's like the horse farm from the movies. It has beautiful rolling hills in Paris, Ky. The horses have tons of space per acre, and the horses are allowed to live like horses, and that's an essential thing to me. Arthur (Hancock) comes from American horse royalty, he is basically a part of it himself, and he's got these kids who are just amazing. I just love Lynn so much. She does a great job, and she's learned so much by being next to Arthur and their family. Staci is great, too; they all are. I love watching her succeed. Hopefully, I've given her good things to be successful with, but I think so. I love being around them as people; that's honestly what it's all about. I mean, making money is one thing; business is business. I'm in the restaurant business, the most challenging business in the world to make it in, but I love it because it's my passion, and this is my passion as well. I will only spread that passion around the people who make me happy. 

MW: Where do you see your program headed? What's the long-term goal?

BF: The long-term goal is for it not to get out of control. I want to keep it around this size. It's manageable, and it's all of excellent quality. I would love to win some big classic race one day with something I bred. Breeding a Breeders' Cup winner doesn't happen very often. That was an amazing moment, but also, it'd be great to see a horse that I've bred win one of the Triple Crown races.