Former CVF Horses
Act As If | Adverse | Algiers | All Net Joe | Angel Dancer | Bad Gambler | Bagavond | Brave Sir Robin | Candooz | Carolina Fuego | Cinnamon Light | Credit Gal | Christening | CV Danny Boy | Diligent Gambler | Doubly Hard | Fighting Speedy | Flip de Lite | Flippy Diane | Gin Dandy | Good Law | Highland Cat | Hunter’s Tale | Iguazu | Inthejailhousenow | Introspect | Irish Weekend | Island City | JC’s Lady | Just Zip It | Key On Richie | Kissin the Breeze | Little Rich | Love Mert | Luminous Lady | Metrology | Mintage | No Bad Habits | Now It’s Personal | Pine Call (Chloe) | Raf and Ready | River Salt | Satin Queen | Sea Forty | Seaside Salute | Seneca Falls | Senor Gran | Southern Missile | Storm Magest | Strings and Arrows | Sweetiewheatie | Tactical Gold | Talking Blues | That’ll Do | Through Thicknthin (Babe) | Ty’s Ridge | Unconcerned | Warwhatisitgoodfor (Charlie) | Watson I Need You | Weekend Caller | Willfulness
Act As If
Act As If’s Stats
CVF MacBeth Partnership
Gr./ro. Filly 2003 (KY)
Smoke Glacken-Miss Actress (Mr. Cockatoo)
Claimed at Belmont 5/12/06 for $35,000
We bought Algiers at the Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale of two-year-olds in training in May, 2007 for $20,000. The bay son of Tomorrow’s Cat (out of Kawajlain by Claramount) made it to the races that fall, then went on to race 13 times for us as a three-year-old, first at Aqueduct and Belmont for Bill Turner, then at Finger Lakes for Mary Coffey. Along the way, he picked up a win, two seconds and two thirds, for total earnings of $22,307. At the end of his three-year-old year, we decided it was time for a second career for Algiers, and with the help of the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program and CVF partner Tom Zyra, we’ve found a new home for him, as a riding horse, in western New York.
Algiers
Algiers’ Stats
CVF Halma Partnership
Bay colt 2005 (NY)
Tomorrows Cat-Kawajlain (Claramount)
Purchased at Fasig-Tipton Timonium May 2007
for $20,000
Race Record (all with CVF): 14-1-2-2 $22,307
Retired, pleasure horse in upstate New York with CVF partner Tom Zyra
Algiers Visiting With Friends
Bagavond was a very fast turf sprinter who won a race for us each year from 2006 through 2009 – all four of the wins at Belmont. When the aches and pains of racing caught up with him in 2010, we retired him to the tender care of our partner, Peggy Rees Smith, who is retraining him for a new career as a riding horse and possibly as a hunter-jumper.
Bagavond
Bagavond’s Stats
CVF Buchanan Partnership
Bay gelding 2003 (NY)
by Abaginone-Stylish Aristocrat (Groovy)
Purchased May, 2005 for $42,000
CVF Record: 27-4-3-2 $154,506
Retired 2010 to the care of CVF Partner Peggy Rees Smith
Bagavond jogging at Saratoga
Robin fighting to the wire
Brave Sir Robin, a bay gelding by Runaway Groom out of the English mare Brave Hearted, by Dancing Brave, was a tough, gritty competitor for us in the NY-bred ranks. We purchased him at the 2003 Saratoga sale of NY-bred yearlings, and he won a race for us each year as a three-, four- and five-year-old, earning over $150,000 in the process and averaging more than a dozen starts a year. The highlight of his career was winning a NY-bred allowance in December, 2006, finishing just ahead of his Castle Village Farm entry mate, Unconcerned. We retired him at the beginning of 2008 when he injured a sesamoid, and were able to give him a year off to recover, thanks to the generosity of John Hettinger’s Akindale Farm. Once he recovered, Brave Sir Robin made it plain that he wanted to come back to the race track, and Bobbi Rossi, who had been the assistant trainer for Jimmy Ferraro when Brave Sir Robin was in Jimmy’s barn and then gone out on her own as a trainer, decided that Robin would make the perfect stable pony. So that’s where he is today, teaching young horses how to act professionally around the race track.
Robin Ponying
Brave Sir Robin’s Stats
CVF Baden-Baden Partnership
Bay gelding 2002 (NY)
Runaway Groom – Brave Hearted (Dancing Brave)
Purchased at the Fasig-Tipton 2003 Saratoga yearling sale for $28,000
Race record (all with CVF): 39-3-6-6 $151,479
Currently: stable pony for trainer Bobbi Rossi at Belmont
Robin and Unconcerned run One-Two
It’s not often that a claiming horse gets to be stakes-placed, but Carolina Fuego did that for us in 2007, when she finished second in the Delaware Certified Distaff Stakes, in only her third start for Castle Village Farm. All told, in the slightly more than two years that we owned her, Carolina Fuego had a win plus six seconds and six third-place finishes. We lost her to a claim at Monmouth in the summer of 2009, and she was subsequently claimed again. She ran through the 2010 racing season in New Jersey, then was retired.
Carolina Fuego
Carolina Fuego’s Stats
CVF Chant Partnership
Chestnut mare 2004 (KY)
Stephen Got Even – Sweet Carolina (Deputy Minister)
Claimed 2007 for $40,000
Lifetime Record: 36-5-9-7 $190,385
CVF Record: 24-1-6-6 $72,519
2nd Delaware Certified Distaff Stks. (DEL)
Claimed away 2009; retired 2010.
Carolina Fuego at Aqueduct
Christening
Christening’s Stats
CVF Leonatus Partnership
Dk. Bay or br. Filly 2003 (KY)
Vicar-Birthright (Belong to Me)
Purchased at Keeneland September 2004 for $40,000
DG Herbie Up at Saratoga
Diligent Gambler is the winningest horse ever for Castle Village Farm, and one of the toughest. We claimed him at Saratoga in 2004 for only $35,000. In the next two and a half years, he ran 28 times for us, winning eight races, with seven seconds and eight third-place finishes, earning more than $236,000. Along the way, Diligent Gambler was honored as the 2004 Florida-Bred Claimer of the Year. And he was stakes-placed, finishing third in the Coyote Lakes Stakes at Aqueduct. After he was claimed away from us in February, 2007, we kept an eye on Diligent Gambler and were able to buy him back from his new owner, so that we could guarantee him a good retirement. After some time off to recover from the rigors of racing, Diligent Gambler returned to trainer Leah Gyarmati’s barn, this time as her stable pony. He’s happy these days having Leah riding him out to the track every day, where he entertains the fans and shows young horses how it’s done on the training track, all the while enjoying his status as the barn’s elder statesman.
Diligent Gambler
Diligent Gambler’s Stats
CVF 2004 Claiming Partnership
Gray gelding 2001 (FL)
Diligence – Vegas Lady (Personal Flag)
Claimed 2004 for $35,000
CVF Race Record 28-8-7-8 $236,462
Lifetime Record 44-12-8-10 $365,862
3rd Coyote Lakes Stks. (AQU)
Retired from racing; stable pony for trainer Leah Gyarmati
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Herbie Castillo Up
Every once in a while, a claim just leaps out at you from the pages of the Daily Racing Form. That was the case with Fighting Speedy. After a couple of good races as a two-year-old in New York, her breeder, Robert Perez, took her to Florida for the winter, even though Fighting Speedy was a New York-bred. And on January 30th, 2005, he put her in at Gulfstream for a $30,000 tag. We snapped her up, waited until the Gulfstream meet ended, then began racing her where she belonged, in New York. That summer, she won an allowance race for us at Saratoga, and she went on to win her N2X NY-bred allowance and two open-company allowances for us, as well as gaining black type with third-place finishes in the Union Avenue Stakes at Saratoga and the Broadway Handicap at Aqueduct. In the 22 races she ran in our silks, Fighting Speedy failed to pick up a check only twice, one of which was the NY-bred championship filly sprint, the Iroquois Handicap. When we dropped her in for a $40,000 optional claiming tag in December, 2006, Gary Contessa claimed her, and she raced on for another two and a half years, though without the success she’d had in trainer Leah Gyarmati’s barn. So, in the spring of 2009, our partners contributed the money to buy her back privately from her last trainer and to arrange for her retirement. Thanks to our friends at the New Vocations Thoroughbred Adoption Program, Fighting Speedy is now enjoying a comfortable post-race life as a broodmare in Kentucky. She lives at Greg Tabler’s farm, was bred to Bluegrass Cat in 2010 and had her first foal, a colt, in January, 2011
Fighting Speedy
Fighting Speedy’s Stats
CVF 2005 Claiming Partnership
Chestnut filly 2002 (NY)
Senor Speedy-Scrapping (Fight Over)
Claimed at Gulfstream 1/30/05 for $30,000
Claimed Away 11/23/06 for $40,000
CVF Race Record: 22-4-7-5, $207,496
Lifetime Race Record: 37-6-10-8 $281,710
3rd: Broadway Hcp., Union Avenue Stks.
Broodmare on Greg Tabler’s farm in Kentucky; delivered a colt in January 2011
Fighting Speedy Wins at Saratoga
The first horse in our 2010 Claiming Partnership was Good Law, a five-year-old gelding that trainer Bruce Brown claimed for us at Aqueduct on April 7th, 2010, for $25,000. Good Law, a lovely reddish New York-bred, had a lifetime record of 8 wins and a total of 14 in-the-money finishes from 27 starts, with earnings of over $146,000 when we claimed him. In his very first race for us, on May 5th, Good Law prevailed in a tough stretch drive to win a starter allowance at Belmont. He followed that up with a solid second-place finish in a NY-bred allowance/optional claimer, where he was claimed away for the same $25,000 that we paid for him. He earned a healthy return for the partners. In fact, the partners have never paid a cash call, still had money in the bank to claim a new horse (No Bad Habits) and pay the bills, and have already received over 40% of their initial capital back in cash. After a lengthy layoff, Good Law returned to the races in 2011 for his new connections and is currently running in allowance company at Finger Lakes.
Good Law
Good Law’s Stats
CVF 2010 Claiming Partnership
Chestnut Gelding 2005 (NY)
By Good and Tough-Above Reproach (Crafty Prospector)
Claimed by CVF 4/7/10 for $25,000
Claimed away 6/4/10 for $25,000
CVF Record: 2 starts, 1 win, 1 2nd, $25,000 in earnings
In training at Finger Lakes.
Good Law at Belmont
We purchased Iguazu, a beautiful dark brown Virginia-bred colt by the champion sprinter Smoke Glacken, as a two-year-old. His dam, Green Jeans, was a four-time winner on the NYRA racing circuit, and Iguazu’s female family produced several graded-stakes winners.
Iguazu made his racing debut for us in November, 2009. After that, he had some growing pains and was turned out on the farm, so he’d have time to mature. He came back to the track, switching to trainer Bruce Brown’s barn at Belmont, in September, 2010, and returned to the races on December 9th, running a strong second in a maiden race at Aqueduct and following up with a strong 3rd on New Year’s Eve. His next time out, in February, 2011, Iguazu got that maiden win. In four tries after that, at the non-winners-of-two-lifetime level, he picked up a check each race. In his final race for us, on May 14th, 2011, Iguazu was claimed away, finishing his CVF career with a courageous third-place finish despite suffering an injury in the race.
Iguazu
Iguazu’s Stats
CVF Winkfield Partnership
Dark bay or brown gelding 2007 (VA)
By Smoke Glacken-Green Jeans (Green Dancer)
Purchased from breeder Althea Richards, August, 2009
Claimed away 5-14-2011
CVF Record: 8-1-2-2 $28,524
Iguazu with David Cohen Up in the Aqueduct Paddock
Introspect was simply the best horse Castle Village Farm ever had – at least so far. The son of European turf sprinter In Case and the productive mare Axspect, Introspect was purchased for $15,000 at the 2001 Fasig-Tipton Timonium yearling sale, on the advice of our friend Woodberry Payne. After his basic training at Woodberry’s Ingleside Training Center in Virginia, Introspect came to Bill Turner’s barn at Belmont, where, over six years, he ran 51 times, winning six, and finishing in the money more than 50% of the time.
Introspect coming back from a win
The highlight of Introspect’s career was winning the Hollie Hughes Handicap at Aqueduct in 2007, at the advanced age of seven, and he twice finished second in the Hudson Handicap at Belmont, the championship sprint race for New York-breds. During occasional winter breaks at Jeff Seder and Patti Miller’s farm in Pennsylvania, he showed himself to be a serious foxhunter, happily leaping stone fences and charging around the countryside.
We lost Introspect to a claim at the end of his seven-year-old season, then watched, dismayed, as he moved down the claiming ladder. Our partners, who didn’t want to see this gallant horse toiling in the lower claiming ranks when he should have been enjoying a well-deserved retirement, contributed enough money to buy him from his then-owner and to board him while he recovered from some racing injuries. Many thanks to our former office manager Jamie Jones, without whom the purchase could not have occurred and who personally cared for Introspect during his recovery. Thanks also to Woodberry Payne, who arranged for Introspect’s retirement home. Today, Introspect is happily serving as a pleasure horse, back in Virginia.
An Introspective Introspect
Introspect’s Stats
CVF Timonium Partnership
Bay Gelding 2000 (NY)
In Case – Axspect (Northern Prospect)
Purchased at Fasig-Tipton Timonium October 2001 for $15,000
CVF Record 51-6-6-14 $380,892
Currently in retirement as a pleasure horse in Virginia
Introspect Winning the Hollie Hughes
We were lucky to be able to buy one of the last City Zip yearlings bred by New York breeder Gus Schoenborn before he closed his farm. Our filly, Just Zip It, turned out to be very fast. Even though she missed more than a year due to injury, Just Zip It ran 15 times, winning three and finishing in the money 12 times, or 80% of her starts. She was stakes-placed three times, in the Union Avenue, Schenectady and Wandering Cloud Stakes. In every race she ran, she was all heart, trying every inch of the way. When it came time to retire her, we were able to arrange a wonderful home for her with breeder Justine Hughes, on Justine’s broodmare farm in Upperville, Virginia. Just Zip it, though failed to get in foal in 2010 or 2011, so we’re still waiting for her first foal.
Just Zip It
Just Zip It’s Stats
CFV Montrose Partnership
Chestnut filly 2004 (NY)
City Zip-Just Regular (Gate Dancer)
Private Purchase 2005 for $25,000
CVF Race Record 15-3-4-5 $156,204
3rd Union Avenue Stks. (SAR), Schenectady Hcp. (BEL), Wandering Cloud Stks. (BEL)
Retired from racing 2009; broodmare in Upperville, VA.
Just Zip It on the Track at Aqueduct
We claimed three-year-old Metrology at Belmont on September 12th, 2010. He’s a bay gelding by Purge out of Victory Thrill, by Victory Gallop. Including the race that we claimed him from, Metrology had a lifetime record of one win and one second from six starts.
Bruce Brown trained Metrology for us. In his first race in our colors, on October 16th, 2010, Metrology came flying through the stretch to finish third at Belmont. Then, in his next start, on November 5th, the same closing kick carried him up to second place. Unfortunately, he injured a knee in that race and was sidelined for the winter. In his comeback race, on June 30, 2011, Metrology made a thrilling stretch run under jockey David Cohen to prevail by inches at the wire. He was claimed away from us out of that race, but he gave us plenty of thrills while in our barn.
Metrology
Metrology’s Stats
CVF 2010 Claiming Partnership
Bay gelding (2007)
Purge-Victory Thrill (Victory Gallop)
Claimed by CVF 9/12/2010 for $25,000
Lifetime: 8-1-2-1 $36,200
CVF Record 3-1-1-1 $22,860
Claimed by Steve Asmussen June 30, 2011
View Metrology’s Pedigree
View Metrology’s Race Results
Metrology with Vinny DiSpigno and Bruce Brown
We claimed Pinecall, a filly by Family Calling out of the Temperance Hill mare Poupine, at Calder Race Course in Miami in September, 2003, for $12,500. She was our trainer Steve Rydowski’s first horse, and for a while Steve R. was the trainer, exercise rider and groom, while CVF Racing Manager Steve Zorn was her hotwalker. In 19 starts for Castle Village Farm and CVF partner Kathie Long, Pinecall won a maiden race and finished in the money four times.
Back in Ontario with Kathie, though, Pinecall, renamed Chloe, found her real talents in the show ring. After some time off, she was retrained at the Michael Grinyer stables and was shown in schooling jumper classes in 2006/2007, ridden by professional rider Heather McInnis. Chloe was leased out to three different riders over the next three seasons, showing in jumper classes on Ontario’s Trillium circuit and consistently winning ribbons. In fact, she qualified for the Trillium championships in 2009.
Chloe was matched up with new rider Phoebe Hawkyard in the fall of 2010 and they competed in a winter series of schooling shows, placing in every single class. They won the championship in the amateur 1.10 meter jumpers in their last show. They will be stepping up to the A circuit shows this summer.
Chloe and her champion ribbons
Pinecall’s Stats
CVF Lord Murphy Partnership
Bay filly 2001
Family Calling-Poupine (Temperence Hill)
Claimed at Calder September, 2003
for $12,500
Race Record : 22-1-2-3 $12,350; CVF Record: 19-1-1-2 $10,100
Current status: show jumper in Ontario with CVF partner Kathie Long
Chloe
Raf and Ready, a chestnut filly by Raffie’s Majesty, out of the Mt. Livermore mare Double Doubleville, spent her entire racing career with Castle Village Farm. We bought her as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale in October, 2003, for $14,000, then sent her to Woodberry Payne’s Ingleside training center, on the grounds of James Madison’s Montpelier estate in Virginia. There she learned the basics, and moved on to trainer Bill Turner’s barn at Belmont.
In 17 starts for us, Raf and Ready went through her New York-bred conditions, winning three races, and finishing in the money 12 of 17 times – an excellent 71%! All told, she earned $145,777 – more than 10 times her purchase price. Raf and Ready was always a tough competitor, and never stopped trying in her races.
At the end of her four-year-old year, we sold Raf and Ready to one of our partners, Joe Lech, who keeps her as a broodmare. So far, she has had two fillies, both so far unraced, a two-year-old by Cape Canaveral and a yearling by King Cugat.
Raf and Ready
Raf and Ready’s Stats
CVF Day Star Partnership
Chestnut filly 2002 (NY)
Raffie’s Majesty-Double Doubleville (Mt. Livermore)
Purchased at Fasig-Tipton Timonium Oct. 2003
for $14,000
CVF Record: 17-3-6-3 $145,777
Current Status: Broodmare, owned by CVF partner Joe Lech
Seaside Salute
SEASIDE SALUTE
CVF Aristides Partnership
Gr./ro. Gelding 2001 (NY)
Sea Salute-Love Tunnel (Mining)
Purchased at Ocala Breeders Sales Co. Apr. 2003 for $17,000
CVF Record: 21-4-4-2 $153,514
Current Status: Retired from racing, sold as hunter-jumper prospect
Race record for CVF: 22-4-4-2, $153,664
Seneca Falls was the first horse that we ever purchased at an auction sale. We got her at the Ocala Breeders Sales Co. April sale in 2000, not too long after Castle Village Farm had gotten off to a great start with our first claim, Flippy Diane. We named her in honor of the upstate town that was the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement in the 19th century.
Seneca started her racing career for us in December of her two-year-old year, and ran a total of 10 times for Castle Village Farm, with two wins and three second-place finishes, before she was claimed away in February, 2002. She went on to race for a variety of trainers over the next few years, until we saw her entered for a bottom-level claiming price at Philadelphia Park and arranged to have her claimed and retired.
Since leaving the race track in 2006, Seneca has been part of breeder Kathy Machesky’s broodmare band in Florida. She has three foals, a three-year old colt and a two-year-old colt, both by Sweetsouthernsaint, and a yearling colt by Fire Slam. The three-year-old, Sweetsouthernman, won his maiden at Calder in July, 2010.
Seneca and baby 2008
Seneca Falls’ Stats
CVF Snowbird Partnership
Bay filly 1998
Boundary-Damie’s Sis (Sunny Clime)
Purchased at OBS April Sale, 2000 for $17,000
Claimed Away 2/21/02 for $20,000
CVF Race Record: 10-2-3-0 $37,080
Lifetime Race Record: 38-8-10-3 $127,669
Claimed back for $4,000 in order to retire her, 2006
Currently a broodmare on Kathy Machesky’s farm near Ocala FL
Senaca Falls on the track at Aqueduct
We bought Strings and Arrows, a New York-bred colt by Bowman’s Band out of the stakes-producing mare Herb’s Prospect, at the Timonium yearling sale in 2007. We had great hopes for him, based on his physical appearance and his pedigree; his half-brother, Good Prospect, was stakes-placed as a three-year-old for trainer Leah Gyarmati, who also trained Strings and Arrows for us. But, early in his own three-year-old season, Strings and Arrows suffered a sesamoid fracture. While the fracture was repaired, he just wasn’t the same when he returned to the races, and, after a second injury, our partners decided to retire him. We were fortunate to have NYRA track veterinarian, Dr. Kirsten Pastir, agree to take on Strings and Arrows for retraining as a hunter/jumper prospect.
Strings and Arrows
Strings and Arrows’ Stats
CVF Manuel Partnership
Chestnut Colt 2006 (NY)
By Bowman’s Band – Herb’s Prospect (Claim)
Purchased at Fasig-Tipton Timonium yearling sale
September 2007 for $23,000
Retired 2010, with Dr. Kirsten Pastir in upstate New York
CVF Record: 9-0-1-2 $13,713
Strings and Arrows training for a new career
Sweetiewheatie
SWEETIEWHEATIE
CVF Sir Barton Partnership
Dk. Bay or brown gelding 2002 (FL)
Wheaton-Top Lady (Top Account)
Claimed at Belmont 5/21/06 for $35,000
Claimed Away December, 2006
Race record for CVF: 10-1-0-3, $44,475
Tactical Gold
Tactical Gold’ Stats
CVF 2007 Claiming Partnership
Bay horse 2001 (KY)
Tactical Cat-Party Line (Cox’s Ridge)
Claimed September 7, 2007 for $25,000
We purchased Talking Blues as a yearling in 2007 and promptly sent him to trainer Jim Crupi’s farm in Ocala, Florida, where he absorbed lots of sunlight, calcium and good food, growing into a very good looking race horse. He had three second-place finishes for us in 2009. On his fourth birthday, January 1st, 2010, Talking Blues won a maiden race at Aqueduct, cruising home 5 1/2 lengths ahead of the field. That was the high point of his racing career, though, and in September, 2010, we decided to retire him. He’s now at Hunter’s Run Farm in Suffolk County, Long Island, waiting to begin his second career as a show horse.
Talking Blues-Belmont Training Track
Talking Blues’ Stats
CVF Plaudit Partnership
Gray/roan Gelding 2006 (NY)
By Silver Music – Time to Chat (Gallant Hour)
Purchased August 2007 for $1,000
CVF Record: 11-1-3-0 $22,265
Training as a hunter jumper in upstate New York
Talking Blues Out of the Gate
We claimed Through Thicknthin at Woodbine, in Toronto, in June, 2006, to replace the previous horse in our Woodbine Partnership, Doubly Hard, who had been claimed away earlier that year. TnT, a bay Ontario-bred filly by Malibu Moon out of Coming Out by Mt. Livermore, ran a dozen times for our enthusiastic Canadian partners, scoring three wins and two thirds.
We retired Through Thicknthin at the end of the 2007 racing, renamed her Babe, and CVF partners Kathie Long and Jean Zorn supported her through her retraining at the Michael Grinyer Stables. Babe was shown in schooling level jumper classes by professional rider Heather McInnis in 2008 and 2009, and then was leased out for the 2010 season and shown in a low amateur division. Because of her young (for the show ring) age we have just recently tried her over larger fences. She has jumped a course of 4′9″ already, and that’s as high as the fences went at that show. This year she will be shown on the A circuit with Carra Ballantyne. Carra has ridden her whole life and has spent the past two years riding and working for professional rider Rob Carrey.
Babe With Kathie
Pinecall’s Stats
CVF Woodbine Partnership
Bay filly 2003 (Ont.)
Malibu Moon-Coming Out (Mt. Livermore)
Claimed at Woodbine June 2006
for $20,000
Race Record : 18-4-2-2 $59,347
Current status: show jumper in Ontario with CVF partner Kathie Long
Babe Over Fences
