Woodford Thoroughbreds Program Elevated by Isolate

Isolate , the Florida-bred son of Mark Valeski , gave breeder Woodford Thoroughbreds their third graded/group stakes winner of 2023 when he captured the $1 million Godolphin Mile (G2) March 25 at Meydan Racecourse. The 5-year-old romped home to victory, leaving the competition in the dust by 5 1/2 lengths in the one-turn dirt race.

"When Mark Valeski retired from the racetrack the guys from Airdrie Stud, Brereton Jones and his son Brett, approached John Sykes; they thought he would be a good fit for the Florida market," Shannon Machholz, director of marketing and client relations with Woodford Thoroughbreds said. "(They) wanted us to consider standing him at the farm. At the time, Woodford was standing a couple of stallions.

"After looking at him, Mr. Sykes decided he wanted to have him on the farm, and he wanted to go ahead and buy into the stallion as well. Our philosophy was, 'If we're going to own a stallion, we're going to support it.'"

Mark Valeski initially stood at Woodford Thoroughbreds before returning to his racing connections, Airdrie Stud, in Kentucky to stand.

Isolate was born on Woodford's 1,000-acre farm in Central Florida from the Unbridled's Song mare Tranquil Song.

 "It's nice to be able to say a Florida-bred horse, raised in Florida, that came off the farm can be successful and compete on the highest stage," Macholz said. "Mr. Sykes gets great satisfaction being able to say that his farm-raised horse has had success coming off of (the operation)." 

Isolate was selected to shine at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale as a weanling for his breeder. 

"When we went to sell Isolate as a short yearling, we thought he was such a nice individual, and we would bring him to Kentucky to try and put a few more eyes in the industry on him," Macholz said. "Mark Valeski was doing decently well on the racetrack, and we were confident in explaining to people exactly who he was and promoting the Mark Valeskis we were selling in Kentucky.

"This colt was a nice package; he was super balanced, leggy, and racy looking. We enjoyed showing him to people, talking about Mark Valeski, and Jimmy Gladwell was one of the people who walked into him." 

Dean Reeves of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing purchased the weanling for $70,000 that November.

"Jimmy (who purchases for Reeves) is from Florida, so we didn't have to sell him too hard on the stallion, he had knowledge of him, and he's got a great eye for horses as well. We were absolutely thrilled to get $70,000 for the horse when he sold," Machholz recalled. "Selling him was the purpose and getting more eyes on the horse. If we had left him and sold at OBS, it would have been a Florida market, potentially someone wanting to pinhook, and we just felt like this wasn't a pinhooking type of horse. He was more of an end-user type horse, and that's what he ended up being."

Trainer Katherine Ritvo saw the horse through his initial paces on the oval, where the colt would win on debut at Gulfstream Park as a 2-year-old before placing in the Nashua Stakes (G3) that fall in his third start. 

The following year at 3, Isolate hit the board in three of his four races, all at six or 6 1/2 furlongs. He transferred to Tom Amoss' barn for his final two starts of 2021, finishing the season with a four-length win in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer at Fair Grounds. In 2022 at 4, he won the Work All Week Stakes and Tale of the Cat Stakes, and was runner-up in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes.

Between November of 2022 and his first start this year in Dubai, the horse changed hands, selling to RRR Racing (Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi) and given a new trainer in Doug Watson. Meydan Racecourse has proved to be in his favor; he was runner-up in both the Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) and Mahab Al Shimaal (G3) in preparation for his group 2 victory March 25. 

"Being a commercial operation, our goal is to get these graded stakes horses, and when it happens, it elevates our program but also offers affirmation that we are trying to do the right thing. Getting success, it's one of those things that don't happen very quickly. Sometimes you have to be patient," Machholz said.

"I think that has a lot to do with his key to success; he has been a super nice and consistent horse. Maybe now that he's 5 and fully matured, he will come into himself, which wouldn't surprise me from his breeding."

Woodford Thoroughbreds went on to sell Tranquil Song during the 2018 Keeneland November Sale but still consider her part of the family as her new owner Beth Bayer used to be the director of sales for Sykes. The mare has produced seven horses of racing age with six being winners. Isolate is her best foal to date, but a Cloud Computing   3-year-old, My Aunt Snookie , is poised to command attention with similar connections in owner Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and trainer Amoss. The filly currently sits on a record of 2-1-0 in five starts. The mare has a 2-year-old Enticed   colt and a yearling colt by Tacitus  , both bred by Bayer in Florida.

Earlier this year, two horses bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds earned graded/group stakes distinction: Kentucky Derby (G1) contender Rocket Can , winner of the Holy Bull Stakes (G3); and Mimi Kakushi , winner of the U.A.E. Oaks (G3).