At Breeders' Cup, Small Farm Beats the Odds

BryLynn Farm occupies an attractive yet unassuming 100 acres near the equally down to-earth community of Reddick, north of Ocala. Its broad pastures, three-board fencing, and oak-lined single-lane driveway blends so seamlessly into Central Florida's landscape that the farm could be passed unnoticed driving down U.S. 441.

What the farm lacks in pomp, however, is more than compensated for by the high quality of runners produced here. BryLynn's record in the Breeders' Cup World Championships is remarkable—just short of unbelievable, actually.

When California turf star Big John B breaks from the gate in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Longines Turf (gr. IT) at Keeneland, the gelded son of Hard Spun   will become the sixth Breeders' Cup World Championship starter bred and raised at BryLynn. They include Aikenite   (Yes It's True  —Silverado, by Saint Ballado), Jeranimo   (Congaree  —Jera, by Jeblar), Knights Templar (Exploit—Religiosity, by Irish Tower), Love of Silver (Arctic Tern—Silver Clover, by Secretariat), and Teaks North (Northern Afleet  —Teaksberry Road, by High Honors).

Aikenite started in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I), and provided the farm with its best finish to date with a fourth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I). Jeranimo made two starts in the Mile and one in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT), while Knights Templar and Love of Silver each started in the Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) and Teaks North started twice in the Turf. In 2011 the farm had horses it bred starting in three different Breeders' Cup races—Teaks North in the Turf, Aikenite in the Sprint, and Jeranimo in the Mile.

"Going to the Breeders' Cup, to me, is more important than going to the Derby because it's always been about the breeders, and we've always been about breeding," said Toni Jones, who owns the farm with her parents, Joe and Phyllis Bryant. "It is just an honor."

BryLynn has benefited from a long association with the Taylor family of Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, which has advised in buying mares, planning matings, and helped sell its yearlings.

"It is beyond unusual," said Pat Payne, Taylor Made's vice president of sales, about BryLynn's representation in the Breeders' Cup. "But you have to attribute it to good management, listening, and everybody working together. When you have a good team and everyone listens, then you can produce good horses and find success. We are just happy to be part of the team."

Baldomera was one of the mares the Taylors found for Jones, who bought her privately for "a pretty good price."

The stakes-winning daughter of Doneraile Court had been racing as a homebred for Hidden Lane Farms from 2 to 5 and placed in both the Cicada Stakes and Floral Park Stakes (both gr. III). She retired with more than $313,000 in earnings.

"She is a big mare, over 16 hands, with a big shoulder and big chest; and she's so easy," said Jones. "When she is due to foal, it is only a day from her due date. She is so predictable. If she is due on the 5th, she'll foal on the 6th. She just lays down and has them. She is a great mare."

Baldomera is a great producer, too. Out of six foals of racing age, she has produced four winners and two graded stakes winners. Big John B is her second foal and first black-type winner, though it took some time for him to distinguish himself in stakes company. Her third foal is grade III winner Circle Unbroken, a gelding by Broken Vow   who races for Travis Morgeson.

BryLynn is a commercial operation that aims to sell most of its foals as yearlings, but occasionally has to sell them at 2.

"When we plan matings, we are looking to produce horses that fit in Book 2 or Book 3 of the Keeneland September yearling sale," Jones said. "A few that don't get sold or don't make the yearlng sales end up going to Art Fisher to be trained."

Big John B wound up going the juvenile sale route because he had been relatively unimpressive as a yearling. Art Fisher, who owns Flying Fish Stable, agreed to take a half interest in the horse in exchange for breaking and training him. Fisher got Big John B to the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-year-olds in training sale where the gelding suffered an entrapped epiglottis.

"That hurt his value, but we decided to just let him go," Fisher said.

Kentucky owner Tom Conway, who currently serves on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, bought Big John B for $30,000. The gelding would change owners five times between the ages of 3 and 5, running primarily at the allowance and claiming levels. He did not get his first shot in a stakes until he wound up with the late California trainer Mike Mitchell. Both Mitchell and trainer Mike Stidham found Big John B in a claiming race at Keeneland April 11, 2014. Stidham made the claim for owner Michael House, but the gelding was shipped to Mitchell's barn.

"Over the decade that I worked for Mike, we had our unique program for claiming," said trainer Phil D'Amato, who took over Mitchell's stable when he had to step away for health reasons and now trains Big John B. "When we claimed Big John B, he seemed to fit the turf marathon division, which is usually weak. One of the keys with him had been a 1 1/2-mile race at Gulfstream Park he won, so he wanted to go long. I put him in the marathon-type training with nice, long gallops and not so fast breezing."

In the second half of 2014 Big John B won three consecutive races including the grade II Del Mar Handicap, which earned him a place in the Breeders' Cup Turf where he finished ninth.

The gelding has come back just as strong this year, having won the grade III Cougar II Handicap and taken the Del Mar Handicap again to earn another chance in the Turf.

"The ability has to be there, but just as important is their confidence level and mental toughness," D'Amato said. "Once he started winning, he got that confidence. When horses get good, they get good. That is the zone he is in right now. This is probably the best he's ever been."

BryLynn's secret to steadily producing good horses is actually no secret, according to Payne.

"Whether you are building a broodmare band or building a house, you start out with a good foundation," he said. "They bought good-looking mares with size to them that were sound. And if you look at the families of their horses, they come from producing families."

BryLynn has significantly scaled down the size of its operation, the aftermath of a protracted divorce and the Great Recession that hit at the same time. Jones, her father, and one employee now run the farm that at its peak had 40-45 mares and now has only six, according to Jones. What remains undiminished is the family's commitment to quality.

"We're committed to producing that horse with a good shoulder, a great hip, and a great walk," Jones said. "We will be there at the Breeders' Cup to watch Big John B, but we will also be at Keeneland shopping for horses."