Threefold Family Blessings in Cats Inthe Timber

Louisville businessman Chip Montgomery, owner of Haymarket Farm, saw the family he bought into in 2016 come full circle April 15 when his 3-year-old homebred Cats Inthe Timber  notched her first stakes win in the 1 1/16 mile Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel Park.

Cats Inthe Timber, by Honor Code  , is a daughter of the unraced Tale of the Cat mare Wychwood , a half sister to grade 1 winner True Timber  , and Montgomery is reaping the benefits of an astute decision he made three years ago to purchase two daughters of Cats Inthe Timber's second dam Queen's Wood based on the family's potential.

"The filly herself is a real trier, a real competitor; she's not the biggest filly," said Montgomery. "As Brittany (Russell) said, when she gets in the hunt, she likes to win—she guts it out coming down the lane. Saturday was exciting for us."

In the Weber City Miss, Cats Inthe Timber broke from the outside, trailing in fifth for the first quarter-mile before making a bid for the lead in the far turn. She sat third at the top of the lane with Jevian Toledo in the tack, behind favorites Crypto Mama  and Girl Trouble . Approaching the eighth pole, the filly dropped her head and outfinished Crypto Mama and a rallying Six the Hard Way , winning by a driving half-length margin in 1:47.42 for Russell, her trainer.

Montgomery added: "We tend to get involved with a family and stay with that. I would say, even though she's a little smaller, the family has pretty good size. We will probably keep her and eventually put her in the broodmare band."

Montgomery purchased family matriarch Queen's Wood from the WinMar Farm Dispersal at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in foal to Quality Road   for $47,000. The Tiznow mare had produced four foals with one runner at the time of sale.

The mare produced a To Honor and Serve  filly in 2015, subsequently named Honor Indy , a runner Montgomery purchased as a 4-year-old during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February Mixed Sale for $30,000 and put in foal to Frosted   that same year, 2019.

True Timber, Queen's Wood's 2-year-old of 2016 by Mineshaft  , turned out to be the family's rising star a few turns down the road. He flew onto Montgomery's radar in January 2020 when Montgomery's farm manager, Kelly Jackson, noted the colt's half sister, Wychwood , was entered in the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. 

At the time, the colt with conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin had hit the board in seven graded events, including the Cigar Mile Handicap twice (2018-19). He would break through with an elusive grade 1 victory at the end of 2020 under trainer Jack Sisterson's guidance, when he won the Cigar Mile in his third attempt.

At the Keeneland January sale, Montgomery grabbed True Timber's half sister Wychwood for $70,000 in foal to Honor Code. That resulting first foal, while small, turned into a trier, winning her second start at 2 in a 6-furlong maiden special weight at Delaware Park in October 2022. This year, Cats Inthe Timber has steadily progressed with a win in January and fourth in the Beyond the Wire Stakes, her first stakes appearance in March. A return to the Laurel track gave the filly the opportunity to win April 15.

Seven-year-old Wychwood has a yearling filly by Hard Spun   and is due in May with a foal from the last crop of More Than Ready . Second dam Queen's Wood has an Authentic   yearling colt for 2023, and her Omaha Beach   juvenile colt will be offered as Hip 837 during the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training April 26 with consignor Scanlon Training and Sales.