In the third instalment of his mini-series, New York breeding stalwart Robert D. Fierro remembers chance encounters imbued with significance for the state’s racing and breeding program
Previously your correspondent has described the development of the New York breeding program and my observations through 1980.
However, along the way as a frequent attendee at Saratoga for weekend racing beginning in 1965, it occurred to me that this bucolic setting was being totally undersold as a travel destination.
Indeed, when we proposed that the editor of Clipper, the in-flight magazine of Pan American World Airways, assign us to write a travel- themed article about Saratoga, she didn’t even know where it was – and neither did a lot of other travel editors, all based ironically downstate in New York City.
Given the assignment and working with the New York Times opera and ballet photographer Ken Howard, we produced an article which the editor then put on the cover of the August 1981, issue of Pan Am Clipper – it was the first serious look at Saratoga by a consumer publication in many years.
Frustratingly, however, the NYRA public relations people almost did not approve our project and harassed us every step of the way over two days.
This did not go down very well with yours truly, whose experience also included a term as president of a division of the New York Public Relations Society. We were determined to change that NYRA attitude.
Enter John Hettinger
But the most fortuitous trip made that year came in October when we braved driving the 60 miles from Queens to the village of Pawling in Dutchess County on the day Anifa won the Turf Classic in near hurricane conditions at Belmont Park. We sloshed our way to Akindale Farm, an extraordinary facility where we met owner John Hettinger.
A well-accomplished marketing executive and heir to part of a major legacy, Hettinger was well underway to becoming a singular force in the state’s breeding industry, leading the way for virtually every marketing, and therefore regulatory, change that occurred through the end of the century.
John Hettinger became not only an icon in future years and a friend, mentor and supporter along the way and will appear in several key parts of our tale.
The program had moved into a new era in 1981, ironically on the track at Saratoga where a New York-bred named Fio Rito upset the G1 Whitney Handicap at 10-1.
The first major impacts of the program became solidified in 1984, as we shall see, beginning with the foals of 1981. The establishment of the program had already increased the number of foals from around 500 in 1976 to beyond 1,500 in 1981, the number of new or converted farms rose to nearly 500, and the stallion population went from about 100 to over 200.
Crucial rule
The key to that impact was the when the state legislature passed the ‘breed-back rule’ in 1981. This law was promoted as the best way to increase both the quality and quantity of stallions and, of course, it was championed by owners of such prospects as well as mare owners seeking the kind of quality that existed in Kentucky. Foremost among the breed-back supporters was John Hettinger.
Briefly, the breed-back rule required a mare in-foal to an out-of-state stallion had to be bred back to a registered New York stallion in the year she dropped her foal for it to become eligible to earn breeder awards when it got to the races. The implication was that the mare would continue to reside in the state and could then be shipped to Kentucky or Virginia or Florida the following year to be bred and, hopefully, return to New York and repeat the process.
The rule changed the game and created enough controversy so that investors needed both financial and pedigree analysis to become more competitive. That opened the door for high-end investors to move in more strongly.
However, it also took the starch out of more modestly funded projects, including the one being developed by yours truly and his two partners. Indeed, they went back to their previous lives and left a more free-wheeling scenario in their wake.
Old Empire Thoroughbreds
That scenario led to the founding of my one-man shop, Old Empire Thoroughbreds, named in tribute to the state’s nickname – George Washington called it ‘the seat of the Empire’ in 1775. At that point what the company had to sell was my almost 20 years of marketing, financial, historical and pedigree consulting skills to an industry that needed a lot of all of it.
What followed was a series of events which occurred because I happened to be in the right place at the right time – sort of an absurdist serendipitous take on the original premise of Peter Sellers’ movie Being There.
In each case what transpired affected not only the direction of my involvement with the program but more importantly the individuals involved went on to establish themselves as movers and shakers in the game – and I just happened to meet them when we were all basically getting underway.
Read more: Robert D. Fierro – 1981: A New York Odyssey
One serendipitous and fortuitous experience, however, stands out. At Saratoga one Saturday I was looking for a seat in the clubhouse and, of course, there were none. I spotted three people on the bottom steps in the corner of the first level of the clubhouse and snuck over to see if I could share their space. Not only were they gracious, but they were also about to become big time people in New York, and we developed an extraordinary bond and helped guide the program later.
They were Primrose Hayes and Joanne and Gerry Nielsen. As it turned out, Primrose became the co-breeder of a robust colt by Overskate at the farm in Tivoli which she managed – eventually named Cheapskate, he was named New York-bred champion three-year-old in 1986.
That year Joanne and Gerry welcomed a petite, adorable chestnut filly by Overskate named Capades to their farm and she was named a multiple New York-bred champion beginning in 1988. In an irony of ironies to be detailed in another chapter, in 1993 Gerry became interim president of New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., not of his own choosing, replacing yours truly in a truly bizarre event.
And in 1984 at Blue Sky Farm a gray colt bred by Old Empire was foaled who would be voted New York-bred champion sprinter in 1987. That colt was syndicated as a yearling for $500 bucks a share among a group of racing newbies that included, among others future NYRA and Thoroughbred Racing Commentary president Charles Hayward.
He was named Omar Khayyam and he was part of a fortuitous chapter that was catalyzed by involvement of one Raymond E. Karlinsky in the state’s breeding program that culminated in hosannas and hallelujahs in 1984. You’ll meet him and how this happened in the next chapter.
• Visit the New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) website
Bob’s Business #2: A lot more than fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
Bob’s Business #1: How I met Steve Crist – then serendipity took over
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