A popular feature for The HIDDEN BROOK TIMES is a Q&A with some of our valued clients. Fred Brei has been with Hidden Brook ten years, as both a boarding and sales client. Owner/proprietor, along with wife Jane, of 89-acre Jacks or Better Farm in Ocala, Brei is perhaps best known as the owner/breeder of Champion and Breeders' Cup winner Awesome Feather. The Breis have twice been honored as Florida's small breeder of the year, and Brei homebreds swept the Florida Stallion Stakes Series divisional races from 2009 to 2011. In late February, he shared some of his thoughts and ideas with us.
Born: Poplar Grove, Illinois - LeMars, Iowa (Jane)
Residence: Ocala, Florida
Family: 6 children
Primary business: Jacks Or Better Farm
Mr. Brei, how did a builder/developer from Illinois and a registered nurse from Iowa come to be among the leading owner/breeders in the Thoroughbred business? We always tried to do it right and keep learning.
What got you started in the Thoroughbred industry? Back in 1972, we bought some cheap mares, bred to cheap studs, got cheap babies, failed, and then quit. In December 1995, I sold my business and retired. Retirement lasted about a year, and I needed something to do. So, we bought better mares, bred them to better studs, and voila! [laughs].
So, upgrading was that clear to you? In 1972, it was a hobby. Part of what made me quit was, my business got so busy that I couldn't even take the time to go to the track. By 1996, I ran the farm - was hands on. That made the difference.
How soon did you see success? The year 2000 was our first racing year, and we had a G3 winning 2-year-old named Radical Riley. I lectured my wife not to expect this all the time: I said, 'This is a fluke.' I will tell you this: There has not been a year since that we have not had at least one stakes winner. Awesome of Course was born in 2000.
What gave you such faith in Awesome of Course? He was 10 times the racehorse his record shows. As a 2-year-old, he had 2 bad knees. So whatever he won, he won with 2 bad knees. Had we not had that, he might have won a million dollars. That's why he did not run longer than he did or better than he did. Now, you tell potential breeders that, and they've heard it all before. But we know it's the truth.
You have bred to your homebred stallions and gotten some of their best progeny.Awesome of Course got you Awesome Feather, Fort Loudon, Awesome Belle, Redbud Road. Hear No Evil gave you Jackson Bend. Whew! We've been at it long enough that I feel we have an advantage from a standpoint that we know the horses we are breeding, because we have foaled most of them. We know their temperament, longsuits and short...Know what we should get or hope to get by a certain cross.
I read that you bought the dam of Grade 1 winner Midas Eyes at Keeneland because Jane "liked the look in her eyes." We refer to it as 'the eye.' We prefer a horse with the eye, the intensity of the eye. If a mare comes out and looks like "la-la-la-la-la" we walk past her. We look for the alert eye, the one that looks through you, but is not nuts. The guy we had looking at physicals told us, "the only stakes races she won were all restricted." We laughed and bought her anyway.
What tools do you use: Advisors, Measurements, Nicks...? Whatever decisions we make, we make ourselves. Physicals are a very large part of our thing: I want a horse who walks a particular way. Nicks not so much as parentage: I like to see some Northern Dancer, some Turn-to on the page...Princequillo, obviously caught my eye in a pedigree. It always made me look further. Precious Feather is an obvious example.
What drew you to Hidden Brook? We were looking for a place in Kentucky to send mares to get bred. Sergio does such a good job - He is extremely responsive. We knew other partners from Adena Springs, since we bred some of the first stakes winners by their good stallions. So it was the inside joke, "whatever you want to breed to, go ahead, you'll get a stakes winner." We built the relationship on those horses.
How has the Hidden Brook experience been different for you than any other experience? Early on, I sent a couple of mares up to Kentucky to foal. We wound up going to the sale and failing to sell them. The guy got insulted when I did not consign with him. I said, 'I paid my bill and paid it early. I had no idea you expected me to consign with you as well.' That attitude he gave me, I did not tolerate. I think a great deal of Sergio hands-on, day to day. Dan and the other partners have always been good horsemen.
Tell us about your own personal most exciting moment in racing. Awesome Feather's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. But not for the reason you might think. You see, when Johnny V. came out into Awesome Feather in the stretch, but did not knock her off stride, my entire family and I headed right to the winner's circle - before the end of the stretch run! I said, 'she won't lose now; that only pissed her off.'
What advice would you have for others who want to get in the game? The way I look at it, A) Get in on a level you can afford, whether it's one mare or 50; B) Be prepared to change; C) Stay for the long haul.
Favorite racetrack? Where we win. And then we can say, 'we prefer Florida.'
Favorite people to celebrate a race with? My wife.
Are your children involved in the industry? One son runs the farm on a day-to-day basis, and a couple of our daughters absolutely love it. The only question is, after we are gone, can they afford to run it?
What magazines are on your nightstand? None.
What is the first thing you read in the morning? The weather.
Favorite sports team? Jacks or Better Farm.
Favorite place to eat and/or favorite meal? The Wishing Well at Saratoga - and lobster tail.
Favorite quote or credo? My wife told me this morning that my answer has got to be: 'My way or the highway.'
Best advice you ever got from someone? Do what you're good at.
Final word for our readers? I wish you good health, good luck, and good racing.
Thank you Fred and Jane Brei, for giving us a few minutes of your time inside the Winner's Circle.
