THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF HIDDEN BROOK FARM

  NOVEMBER, 2011 · VOL. 1  NO. 6

UPCOMING  

SALES  

............ 

...........................................

Hidden Brook's 2011 stakes horses:
Amen Hallelujah-G1

(raised and sold
for Craig Beam)  

Awesome Feather-G1

(sold for Jacks or Better Farm) 

Awesome Maria-G1

(foaled and raised for
Robsham Stables)

  Bay to Bay-G1  
(sold for Adena Springs)  
Celtic New Year-G1

(consigned for Adena Springs)

Drill-G1

(consigned as a weanling) 

Game On Dude-G1

(consigned for Adena Springs)

Indulgence-G1

(sold for Adena Springs)

Kabu-G1

(bred, raised and sold) 

R Gypsy Gold-G1

(foaled and raised for
Robsham Stables)

Stately Victor-G1

(consigned for Adena Springs) 

Yawanna Twist-G1

(raised and consigned for
Steel Your Face)

Cool Bullet-G2

(sold for Adena Springs)

Travelin Man-G2

(foaled for Robsham Stables)

Great Attack-G3

(sold as a yearling)  

Inny Minnie-G3
(purchased for Jake Ballis) 

La Reine Lionne-G3

(purchased and raced
in partnership)

Silver Swallow-G3

(sold for Robert L. Dodd)

Stately Victor-G3

(consigned for Adena Springs) 

Tajaaweed-G3

Zapparition-G3

Alpha Bettor

(purchased as a 2-year-old)

Amiable Grace

(sold for Adena Springs)

Balooga Bull

(sold for Bernard Vertuca) 

Borug

(foaled, raised and sold
for Rabbah Bloodstock)

Bound by Humor

(raised & consigned for
Breed of Characters) 

Clarke Lane

(consigned as a yearling)

Clear the Runway

(foaled, raised & sold for

Diane Connell) 

Coastal Solace

(sold as a racing/broodmare prospect)  

Groomedforvictory

(raised) 

Hallway

(raised and sold for
Majestic Farm)

Happy Today

(foaled and raised for
Rabbah Bloodstock)

Hard Way Ten

(raised & consigned  

for Herman Sarkowsky) 

Hot Danger

(purchased as a yearling)

Hyperlink

(foaled and raised)

Lil Cherokee

(consigned for Ed Few)

Lord Henry

(purchased for Grayross Stable

& D.&S. Gregory) 

Lord Henry

Millennia

(purchased as a yearling)

Nina Fever

(sold as a yearling)

Old Bushmill

(sold for Robkat Racing Stable)

Pleasant Prince

(sold for Adena Springs)

Pure Class

(raised and consigned) 

R Bling

(foaled and raised for
Richard Averil)

Rogue's Jewel

(purchased for  

Blue Devil Racing) 

Rose Catherine

(purchased for Paul Pompa Jr.)

Sacred Ground

Shot Gun Pennie

 (purchased for  

Blue Devil Racing)

Why Take a Chance  

...........................................

To become a   

part of the  

HIDDEN BROOK program,  

call today  

(859) 988-9377  

...........................................

CONTACTS

Sergio de Sousa  

(859) 983-1897 

sergio@hiddenbrookfarmky.com

Jack Brothers

(917) 287-2273

jkckjbrothers@msn.com

Dan Hall

(859) 621-0526 

danhall@hiddenbrookfarmky.com

Mike Recio  

(859) 221-1809   

mrecio@hiddenbrookfarmky.com

Four grads take home paychecks   

Hidden Brook Grads Earn $1,100,000 at Breeders' Cup   

GAME ON DUDE Multiple Grade 1 winner was caught in the shadow of the wire in the $4,500,000 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)

Four Hidden Brook sales graduates hit pay dirt in four different races at this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships, taking home nearly $1,100,000 in a single day.

The Hidden Brook Farm and Sales program sent six runners into the Breeders' Cup, five on Saturday and one on Friday. All four money-earners came on Saturday's marquee race day, two in dirt races and two on the turf.

The key highlight--or heartbreak--was Game On Dude's game runner-up effort in the $4,500,000 Classic (G1). The Hidden Brook yearling graduate led at every point of call, until he was passed in the shadow of the wire by Drosselmeyer who came on the far outside. Game On Dude was tested repeatedly over the 1 ¼ mile distance, first by champion Uncle Mo, then by Grade 1 winners To Honor and Serve, So You Think (NZ), and Havre de Grace, and finally by the winner. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert paid tribute to Game On Dude and rider Chantal Sutherland, who was looking to make history as the first female to win the Classic. "He ran great," Baffert told the media afterwards. "He never got to see Drosselmeyer. He thought he had everybody beat...the horse thinks he won." A multiple Grade 1 winner of $2,134,658, Game On Dude is one of the leading candidates for champion older male and Horse of the Year.

The other Hidden Brook graduates to bring home Breeders' Cup paychecks are: yearling graduate Stately Victor, in the $2,700,000 Turf (G1); yearling graduate Great Attack, in the $1,000,000 Turf Sprint (G2); yearling graduate Pleasant Prince in the $500,000 Marathon (G2).

November Sale Wrap-up 

Hidden Brook Posts Over $1,700,000 at KY Mixed Sales    

Hidden Brook sold 28 horses at the Kentucky Breeding Stock Sales in November, for total receipts of more than $1,700,000.

With two horses sold at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and 26 more sold during Keeneland's marathon 11-day vendue, the Hidden Brook consignments brought $1,711,000, an average of $61,107.

Hidden Brook was also active on the buying front, purchasing horses for a number of clients.

Our next consignments will be at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Mixed Sale December 5th at Timonium, Maryland, and the Keeneland Winter Mixed Sale January 9th to 12th in Lexington. The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic offerings include Phase II of the Flying Zee Stable Dispersal, and may be accessed on the left side of this Newsletter. 

End of an Era

Flying Zee Dispersal Concludes at FTM on Dec. 5   

Hidden Brook will consign the remaining horses of New York's current Leading Breeder, Carl Lizza's Flying Zee Stable, at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale on December 5th.

Mares in foal to Giant's Causeway, Indian Charlie, Lookin At Lucky, Hard Spun, and Henrythenavigator headline the group, along with racing prospects by Tapit, Giant's Causeway, and Candy Ride (Arg). Twenty-eight broodmares, 30 weanlings, 23 racing/broodmare prospects, and 31 horses of racing age are among the offerings.

Flying Zee has been a perennial leading owner/breeder on the national scene, and especially in New York, for more than three decades. In 2011, Flying is New York's leading breeder by earnings, starters, winners, and wins. The dispersal is being held due to Mr. Lizza's death this past July.

Inside the WINNER'S CIRCLE  

with Paul Pompa Jr.

 

A popular feature of The HIDDEN BROOK TIMES is a Q&A with some of our valued clients. Paul Pompa Jr. has been with Hidden Brook for eight years, as a buyer, seller, and boarder. His familiar green, red, and white racing silks with the circle P have been carried to victory by dozens of stakes horses, including Champion Big Brown, Grade 1 winner Backseat Rhythm, Grade 1 winner Franny Freud, five-time Grade 2 winner D'Funnybone, and Breeders' Cup runner-up Rose Catherine. He took some time away from his schedule to speak with us by phone the week after Thanksgiving. Here are a few of his thoughts on the Thoroughbred industry and life in general.  

Born: August, 1958   

Residence: Warren, NJ

Family: Wife and two sons
Education: King's College, Wilkes Barre, PA

Primary business: Truck-Rite Distribution Systems,     

                                 Brooklyn, NY      

  

So Paul, how's life? It is doing well; I work hard every day in trucking and horses. I have a special family and extended family, making it that much more enjoyable.   

  

You are perhaps best known in the horse industry for Big Brown. Tell us about this horse, and what drew you to him. As part of our business plan, we go to the sales. The Hidden Brook guys and I have a process where we short list potential purchases. I use veterinarians to limit the numbers, and I make their short list even shorter. The year of Big Brown, we were looking for colts at the two-year-old sales. We really weren't worried about the pedigree, because a good horse makes his own pedigree. Big Brown had an advantage, because I owned his half-brother, Snake River Canyon, and we liked him a lot. Big Brown was a little bigger and a year younger. We focused in and got him.      

 

 I have to ask, because so few will ever experience it for themselves. Tell us about the Kentucky Derby. It was amazing. I took about 30 people: My brothers and their families, my sister and her family, and my Mom--who recently passed away. It was so good to see it through their eyes. And the Hidden Brook guys were with me as well, because they are part of my family too.    

  

What got you started in the Thoroughbred industry.  I was always an athlete, and after being in the trucking industry for years I needed an outlet. I felt that horses was the way. I first got into it in May of 2000.      

 

How many horses do you currently have? Approximately 60--half are in training and half are in my breeding operation.

What drew you to Hidden Brook? About three years after I got started in the business, and as I was getting more involved in Throroughbreds, my friend Bill Terrell recommended Jackie Brothers and Hidden Brook as a primary bloodstock outlet: choosing, buying, selling, advising.

How has the Hidden Brook experience been different for you than any other experience? I try to stick with people who are honest, and who I believe care about me. I have a spectacular relationship with Jack--and through him, I came to see how nice Sergio and Dan and Mark are. Ours is an ongoing relationship, one that I hope lasts a very long time.

What is the first race you can remember watching? I took my Dad and his two brothers to the 1993 Kentucky Derby. I was not into horses at the time. I did it for the social experience. Jerry Bailey won on Sea Hero that day--and he would go on to win a lot of races for me! But of course, I did not know it at the time.

Tell us about your own personal most exciting moment in racing.  Of course, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness are at the top. But I also have run big in the Breeders' Cup. My horses ran second and third in consecutive years at the Breeders' Cup [Ed note: Rose Catherine in 2009 and Backseat Rhythm in 2007]. Any time you have one that fires on a big race day, in a big venue...that's special and exciting.

What advice would you have for others who want to get in the game? I would advise people to start slowly, and learn what it's about. Don't go all in immediately; surround yourself with people you can work with, and are comfortable with. Also, use your business acumen to form solid relationships and make good decisions. Then, hopefully, get lucky!

What publications do you read? I read The Blood-Horse and the Times. I also read a couple of newspapers a day; and the Daily Racing Form.

First thing you read in the morning? My emails.

Favorite sports team? New York Rangers.

Favorite place to eat? Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City.

Special credo you live by? I try to be fair-I like to be known as someone who is fair in his dealings, both business-wise and personally. I am very fortunate to have tremendously wonderful parents, who instilled these values in me.

 

Thank you Paul Pompa Jr. for giving us a few minutes of your time in the Winner's Circle.

HIDDEN BROOK