NYRA/Amira Chichakly
By Sarah Mace
Diversify, whose crowning achievement last season was a brilliant wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney Handicap at Saratoga Racecourse, was the voters’ choice for the 2018 New York-bred Horse of the Year. Chester and Mary Broman were named the state’s outstanding breeders for the third straight year and sixth time overall.
The 2018 New York-bred Horse of the Year, Breeder of the Year and the winners of the New York-Bred Divisional Championships were announced at New York Thoroughbred Inc.’s (NYTB’s) awards banquet held on April 1, 2019 at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs.
Sponsored by the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, the event was emceed by Richard Migliore, who is co-founder and partner of Sport of Kings Media Productions. Migliore is best known for a stellar career as a jockey on the New York circuit. He won more than 4,400 races over a career spanning three decades, including 25 Grade 1 races.
The New York-bred Divisional Champions and Horse of the Year were chosen by a ballot of New York turf writers, handicappers, chart callers and racing analysts conducted by NYTB.
Diversify, a gelding by current New York sire Bellamy Road, was bred by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding. Campaigned by Lauren and Ralph Evans, he was trained by Rick Violette, whom the New York breeding and racing community sadly lost last October. Winner of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2017, Diversify won three of five starts in 2018, upping his game each time. Following a narrow win against fellow state-breds in the Commentator in May, Diversify won the Grade 2 Suburban by six lengths in July and the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap by more than three lengths in August. He earned $1,190,000 in 2018 and was also voted Champion Older Dirt Male.
The other multiple winner of the night was Holiday Disguise, who took home the hardware for Champion Female Sprinter and Champion Older Dirt Female. Her half-sister Midnight Disguise was honored as Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Both champions were bred by Dr. William B. Wilmot and Dr. Joan M. Taylor. Mind Your Biscuits, two-time New York-bred Horse of the Year was honored as Champion Male Sprinter
Chester and Mary Broman, whose names are synonymous with New York breeding and racing success, won 69 races with their homebreds in 2018, including five stakes races, and earned $3,352,927 in purses. Highway Star, who garnered two stakes victories last season retired with more than $1.3 million in earnings. The couple won the outstanding breeders award previously in 2004, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
A complete list of New York’s 2018 equine and human honorees follows:
New York-Bred Horse of the Year & Champion Older Dirt Male:
Diversify (Bellamy Road – Rule One, by Street Cry (IRE))
Breeder: Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding
Owner: Lauren and Ralph M. Evans
Trainer: Rick Violette
Champion Female Sprinter & Champion Older Dirt Female
Holiday Disguise (Harlan’s Holiday – Thin Disguise, by Yes It’s True)
Breeder: Dr. William B. Wilmot & Dr. Joan M. Taylor
Owner: Lady Sheila Stable
Trainer: Linda Rice
Champion Two-Year-Old Male
Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown – Marilyn Monroan, by Tapit)
Breeder: Hot Pink Stables & Sand Dollar Stables
Owner: Skychai Racing LLC and Sand Dollar Stable LLC
Trainer: Mike Maker
Champion Two-Year-Old Filly
Sue’s Fortune (Jump Start – Democrat Taxes, by Catienus)
Breeder: Richard Nicolai
Owner: Fortune Farm (Richard Nicolai)
Trainer: Jeremiah C. Englehart
Champion Three-Year-Old Male
Audible (Into Mischief – Blue Devil Bel, by Gilded Time)
Breeder: Oak Bluff Stables, LLC
Owner: China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners LLC, Starlight Racing, WinStar Farm
Trainer: Todd A. Pletcher
Champion Three-Year-Old Filly
Midnight Disguise (Midnight Lute – Thin Disguise, by Yes It’s True)
Breeder: Dr. William B. Wilmot & Dr. Joan M. Taylor
Owner: Wilmot, William B., Taylor, Joan M. and Wilmot, Devin T.
Trainer: Linda Rice
Champion Turf Male
Voodoo Song (English Channel – Mystic Chant, by Unbridled’s Song)
Breeder: Stonewall Farm
Owner: Barry K. Schwartz
Trainer: Linda Rice
Champion Turf Female
Fourstar Crook (Freud – Avril a Portugal, by D’Accord)
Breeder: Kathleen M. Feron
Owner: Dubb, Michael, Bethlehem Stables LLC and Aisquith, Gary
Trainer: Chad C. Brown
Champion Male Sprinter
Mind Your Biscuits (Posse – Jazzmane, by Toccet)
Breeder: Jumping Jack Racing LLC
Owner: J Stables LLC, Head of Plains Partners, Summers et al
Trainer: Chad Summers
Broodmare of the Year: Rule One, dam of Diversify
New York-Bred Trainer of the Year: Jeremiah C. Englehart
New York-Bred Jockey of the Year: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
New York Breeder of the Year: Chester and Mary Broman
