Hidden Brook Farm Newsletter March, 2016 | Vol. 6 | No. 3

Hidden Brook and partners were very pleased with the returns from both of the March Two-Year-Old in training sales, starting with the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale on March 2nd and ending with the OBS March two-year-old sale on March 15 and 16.

The second edition of the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale at Gulfstream Park showed no signs of a sophomore slump, with sale average, median, RNA percentage, and overall gross all showing substantial improvements over last year's sale.

Hidden Brook's numbers were right in line with these results, selling their two offerings for a total gross of $650,000. Hip no. 19, a strapping chestnut colt by City Zip, sold for $300,000 to City Zip's former trainer Linda Rice, acting as agent for Zayat Stables.

Hip no. 21, Fiesta, an elegant bay filly by Speightstown, sold for $350,000 to Stonestreet Stables.

Despite drops in overall gross and average selling price at the OBS March Sale, as well as a slight increase in RNA percentage, Hidden Brook sold their dark bay or brown filly from the first crop of To Honor and Serve for $200,000, well above the average price of $158,923.

Hidden Brook would like to thank all the owners who consigned with us, as well as everyone who helped run both of our consignments in March. We look forward to working with you all again very soon.

Hidden Brook's consignment at the OBS Spring Sale of two-year-olds in training, taking place from April 11 - 16, will consist of five colts and three fillies. The consignment will be located at Barn 16.

Hip no. 6 - colt, by Tizway out of Parisian Gem.

Hip no. 261 - colt, by Discreet Cat out of Spun Gold.

Hip no. 332 - colt, by Street Boss out of Thoughtful.

Hip no. 367 - colt, by Frost Giant, out of Twirlaway.

Hip no. 418 - colt, by Tapizar out of Wildlife.

Hip no. 674 - filly, by Bodemeister out of Cuff Me.

Hip no. 719 - filly, by Stay Thirsty out of Diamond Corner.

Hip no. 1170 - filly, by Wildcat Heir out of My Fancy.

We look forward to seeing you at Barn 16!

MARCH FOAL PATROL

Plenty of beautiful foals were born this month, and we'd like to show you a few of them enjoying some of their earliest moments on Hidden Brook Farm.


filly, by Tale of the Cat, o/o Smokey Diplomacy

filly - by Stay Thirsty - out of Michael's Rose

filly, by Stay Thirsty - o/o Michael's Rose


filly, by Animal Kingdom - o/o Songs and Sonnets

filly - by Sky Mesa - out of Notell


filly, by Cairo Prince - out of Tempest Storm

filly, by Animal Kingdom - out of Placentia


colt, by Tale of the Cat - out of Beau Dare

colt, by Stay Thirsty - out of Twining Star


colt, by Proud Citizen - out of Uno Mas Promesa

colt, by Malibu Moon - out of Jeweliana

INSIDE THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

WITH JOE ORSENO

* Grew up in Southern New Jersey

* Moved to New York in 1997

* Wife, Michelle, is an equine vet

* Has 3 children and 3 grandchildren

* Has trained several horses for Hidden Brook

When did you first become interested in horseracing?

My dad used to take me to the races, so I just liked it as a sport. I would go with him and always enjoyed it. Then in high school, I was parking cars across the street from Garden State Park Racetrack and I got to meet a lot of owners and trainers and jockeys. So I got more excited about the business and hooked up with a trainer, Mickey Crock, and he invited me to come out on the weekend and walk hots. I didn't grow up around horses, but I started doing that on the weekends and just loved it. My dad passed away right out of high school and I just went to the racetrack and pursued a career. Started at the bottom and made sure I did everything - ponying, galloping, grooming. The guy who showed me around was a very good teacher.

What tracks did your dad usually take you to?

Garden State and Atlantic City. South Jersey tracks.

When did you decide to focus on training?

Probably about 1976 after being around and doing multiple jobs on the racetrack. I just always thought I'd be a trainer, and in 1977 I got my license.

What has been your personal most exciting moment in racing so far?

I've been very blessed in my career. It goes up and down like a lot of trainers, but I had a five-year run with Frank Stronach where we won 11 grade-1's. But winning two Breeders' Cup races in one day was a great day, and then in the same year we won The Preakness [with Red Bullet]. I think maybe the Preakness was the most exciting because the whole day revolves around one race.

I'm sure the fact that it was a big upset helped make it all the more exciting.

Yes. Everybody thought Fusaichi Pegasus was going to sweep the Triple Crown with no problem. He beat us in the Wood Memorial but I knew he shouldn't have and I just knew if I had five weeks to get Red Bullet ready for the next race, then we knew he'd be great, and sure enough he showed up and beat the horse that day.

When did you know Red Bullet was going to win that race?

I'm going to be cocky here, but I really felt when I entered him that I was entering the winner of the race. Of course you always have jitters and you're nervous about it, but between watching Fusaichi Pegasus train all week and knowing how well my horse was doing, I just thought I was going to win the race. I would have been disappointed if he came in 2nd. I had a lot of confidence in that horse going into that race.

What's the hardest thing about your job?

On a personal level, I really love what I do. I've been training 38 years and I still get out of bed with a bounce in the morning to go to the barn. But I guess the hardest part is having the success of some really good horses and then having a bit of a dry spell. I still get excited for a $5,000 horse turning for home, but I would like to be able to get back into those big races, and I'm as close now as I've ever been with some of the stock I've had, which is really exciting. I've got probably the best group of horses now that I've had in a long time.

Do you have any strange superstitions when it comes to training a horse?

Yeah, I am superstitious. I really am. Nothing strange as far as wearing the same clothes or anything like that. But I'll give an example. I usually breeze horses on Sunday and like to walk on Monday and give the help an easy day, and one time I breezed a filly on Saturday, which I usually don't do, and the filly broke down. The following week, I had a filly to breeze, and I knew it was going to rain on Sunday, and I said, I'm not breezing this horse on Saturday. I'm not doing it. Little stuff like that.

Was there a specific moment you felt you "made it" in the horse business?

No. The one thing I've always been told is that I'm the same person now when I'm not winning grade-1's as I was when I was winning all those grade-1's and even before that. I never let the success go to my head. Even when I was successful, I always felt that you had to keep doing well and you can never stop, because the success may end. I just always felt like I had to keep striving for more. I grew up playing sports, so I always set goals, and I still haven't reached mine. There's still a lot that I want to do. Even when I was with Stronach, never once did I say, "Do you know who I am? Do you know who I train for?" I never threw my weight around, and I'm proud of that.

Who were some of your favorite horses to train?

Perfect Sting has always held a special place in my heart. She went 5 for 6 one year and won The Breeders' Cup, and you always knew she was going to show up. She trained great.

Favorite Sports and Teams to root for?

I grew up 10 minutes from the Walt Whitman bridge, which is right by all the Philly teams, so I'm a big fan of the Eagles, 76'ers, Phillies, Flyers - I'm a Philadelphia fan. My wife is a big Giants fan. It gets pretty ugly in my house during an Eagles vs. Giants game. Sometimes she hopes the Eagles win so I'm not in a bad mood.

Favorite movies?

I mostly like comedies. There are definitely ones that stand out in my mind - I think "My Cousin Vinny" is one of the greatest movies ever made, and I could watch that over and over again. I got to know and meet and actually train a horse for Joe Pesci, and I wasn't star struck over the whole thing, but it was very exciting having him in the barn. "The Godfather" movies are great. Some war movies - "Von Ryan's Express", just one of those movies I remember watching with my dad that always brings back great memories.

Thank you, Joe Orseno, for giving us a few minutes of your time Inside the Winner's Circle...

BUYING OPPORTUNITIES

OBS Spring Sale - 2YO's in Training

April 11 - 16 | Ocala, FL

Fast-Tipton Midlantic 2YO in Training Sale

May 23 & 24 | Timonium, MD

SALE CLOSINGS

Fasig-Tipton July Sale | May 1

Keeneland September Yearling Sale | May 1

Fasig-Tipton Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age | June 15

2016 STAKES HORSES

3 SWs - 8 SHs