Tonalist Breeders Await Second Breeders' Cup

Rene and Lauren Woolcott didn't necessarily plan to be the breeders of Tonalist, but they've loved every moment of their association with the classic winner.

The Woolcotts offered Tonalist's dam, Settling Mist, at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton November sale while she was in foal to the 2014 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner. But with little interest being shown, the daughter of 1981 dual classic winner Pleasant Colony was pulled from the sale without ever entering the ring. 

The next year Tonalist was foaled in Kentucky at Cathy and Wayne Sweezey's Timber Town then raised by Raymond Figgins and his staff at the Woolcotts' 240-acre Woodslane Farm near The Plains, Va. With just five mares at their Virginia farm and one in Europe, Lauren Woolcott said they have fully enjoyed being associated with the classic winner.

"Just knowing that we bred a champion horse means more and more to me as time goes by. It meant a lot to me last year at the time, but for small breeders like us, it just continues to become more meaningful," Woolcott said. "I think we're happiest for the people who work at our farm. They put so much into it."

In 2012 the Woolcotts offered Tonalist, through agent Sweezey & Partners, agent, as a yearling at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearlings sale where the bay colt failed to reach his reserve on a top bid of $195,000. 

Woolcott said they were genuinely disappointed that day, noting that buyers were shying away for reasons that varied, from the bay colt being too long to some believing that buying gray sons of Tapit was the way to go. The Woolcotts' loved Tonalist's conformation and demeanor but with no bidder reaching the reserve at the auction, they opted to sell Tonalist in a private sale to current owner Robert "Shel" Evans.

Evans' father Thomas Mellon Evans bred and campaigned Pleasant Colony.

Also in 2012 the Woolcotts would privately sell Settling Mist to Charles Fipke in a deal that saw the Woolcotts retain her Speightstown   filly of 2012, Settle 'n Speight. Racing for Woodslane, that filly won a maiden special weight race in her second start Sept. 5 at Delaware Park. 

Because the Woolcotts nominate all of their foals to Breeders' Cup, four years after the sale that saw no interest in Settling Mist, they could be in line for a nice payday.

Last year Tonalist finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. The couple plans to arrive in Lexington Oct. 29 in advance of Saturday's race.