Question and Answer with Nathan Fox
Q: You acquired the stallion rights to Purim earlier this year. What caught your eye about him?
A: Purim is a horse that I had pursued as a future Richland Hills stallion for the past two years. Dynaformer was the first stallion that I purchased and syndicated for stud duty in Kentucky. He became so successful a stallion that I elected to move him next door to Three Chimneys Farm in the hopes that he would begin breeding the kind of mares that would allow him to prove just how great a sire he could be. Almost since the day that I moved Dynaformer, I have been on the lookout for one of his sons to fill his shoes at Richland Hills and Purim was the first to come along that I felt had all of the other ingredients that I have always looked for in a stallion prospect. He is almost the spitting image of his sire and he descends from a prolific sire-producing female family. Purim won sprinting, he won going long, he is a graded stakes winner on dirt and now a G1 stakes winner on turf at a mile. His dam, Kirsteena, was by one of the best racehorse sires in Kentucky in some time, Lord At War, and she comes from the same family as legendary sires Dr. Fager and Unbridled. What more could anyone want in a sire prospect?
Q: In 2005, you changed the name of your farm from Wafare to Richland Hills and spent millions constructing a state-of-the-art stallion barn and office complex? Tell us about those improvements?
A: I decided two years ago that in order for me to compete for the kind of stallion prospects that I wanted, I would need the type of showplace facility befitting those kinds of horses. Therefore, I moved to the middle of my property along Old Frankfort Pike and built a new entrance leading to a state of the art stallion complex and office. Only seven stalls were constructed in the 9,000 sq. ft. stallion complex in order to insure that our focus remained on quality rather than on quantity. Even though both buildings are new, we have tried to make them look as though they have been in place for decades and that they maintain the appearance of the traditional Bluegrass horse farm. Although many of my friends advised against changing the name of the farm from Wafare, my wife and I felt that the time was right with the building of the new facilities to start creating a new image for our farm which included a new name, logo and farm colors. We had a great run under the Wafare Farm banner but plan for the Richland Hills name to carry us to even greater heights in the future.
Q: Recently, the Thoroughbred Times ranked Wafare number one among consignors for the ratio of horses sold to starters. They said you raise "tough, solid, sound horses." How do you do that?
A: I believe that several factors have attributed to raising such durable racehorses. First and foremost, the quality of the land that we raise horses on is unbelievable. The balance of calcium and phosphorous in this soil enables us to raise big, strong racehorses with great bone. We provide them with everything they need including almost constant supervision while still letting them grow up like horses. The babies develop their competitiveness, toughness and strong immune systems by growing up together outside. Every horse is brought up once a day in the morning to be fed and, unless they are sick or injured, they are outside with their buddies.
Q: In 2006, you stood the promising young stallion Star Dabbler. How did that go?
A: Star Dabbler is a very interesting young stallion. He was a brilliant racehorse with a great sire’s pedigree whose promising racing career was cut short by an unfortunate accident. Star Dabbler was picked out and purchased on behalf of Mr. Barry Swartz by Buzz Chase. Buzz has purchased countless numbers of top racehorses for some of the leading stables in America but he will be the first one to tell you that Star Dabbler was one of his favorites. He was a big supporter of the horse along with many other leading breeders during his first season at stud. I received Star Dabbler very late in the year which put us a bit behind in marketing him and getting people to see him his first season last year but he still managed to breed a number of very nice mares. We are already receiving inquiries on him for the 2008 season so I anticipate that he will continue to be very popular.
Q: Besides Purim, you will have another new stallion in Storm Surge. How has he been received there?
A: Storm Surge will begin his North American stallion career in 2008 at Richland Hills. Along with Richland Hills, he is owned by his breeder Overbrook Farm, Taylor Made Stallions and La Mission. A graded stakes winner of close to $500,000, Storm Surge is one of the best bred stallions around. By Storm Cat and out of a daughter of Mr. Prospector (bred like top sire Tale of the Cat), Storm Surge’s female family had produced leading sires like Saint Ballado, Rahy, Devil’s Bag and Singspiel. I feel that an important factor in determining which of Storm Cat’s sons make it at stud is speed. With very few exceptions, the Storm Cats that have made successful stallions all possessed tremendous speed and Storm Surge fits that description. He broke his maiden going 4 ½ furlongs early in his 2-year-old season and continued to display this brilliance throughout his racing career. He is a very correct, attractive horse and should be well received. Storm Surge started breeding mares this summer at La Mission in Argentina and has proven to be a very popular sire. He was booked full within the first week and has proven to be a very fertile and aggressive breeder. I am really looking forward to his arrival at the end of '07.
Q: What are some of your goals with Richland Hills?
I feel as though Richland Hills is already off to a great start and heading down the right path of realizing most of my goals and expectations. Over the next few years, I hope to continue to add top young prospects to our stallion roster, improve the quality of our own broodmare band while providing the top quality care that our boarding clients have come to expect from the Richland Hills’ staff. I do not plan on getting much larger since it is key for us to maintain the attention to details and care for the horses which have proven successful for us over the past 23 years. One area that I do feel that we can expand on is representing our clients as consignors at the major Kentucky auctions, and I look forward to that challenge.
Q: You have some new partners in Richland Hills? How are they and how did that come about?
A: Corey Johnsen and Ray Reid recently purchased an interest in Richland Hills. Corey and I have known each other for a number of years from when he served as the president of Lone Star Park. I was born and raised in Texas and have always tried to support the racing at Lone Star and that is how he and I became friends. Corey, Ray and a group of their associates recently purchased Kentucky Downs and both were interested in getting involved in all other aspects of the horse business. This led to them buying part of Richland Hills, and they have already proven to be valuable partners with each making a number of contributions to the farm’s future success. I believe that the three of us make a very good team and that we each bring talents to the organization that will prove valuable in the near future.
Q: One of the top ranked two-year-old fillies in America is Secret Gypsy, owned by Richland Hills and your long-time partner John Kuehl? How is Secret Gypsy doing?
A: Secret Gypsy broke the track record in her first start this summer at Saratoga proving herself as one of the top fillies in the country. Unfortunately, she suffered a minor shin injury in the race which prompted me to bring her back to Richland Hills to recover. She is doing great and I hope to have her back with her trainer, Ronny Werner around the first of December. I learned a long time ago that if you take care of the horses, they will take care of you and that is always the philosophy that I live by. John and I are confident that by giving Secret Gypsy the time off that she needs that she will reward us many times over next year. We certainly feel blessed to own a filly with her kind of talent.
Q: You have raised many tough, solid stakes horses and even champions like McDynamo on your land. Why is it so successful?
A: I take a lot of pride in the racehorses that have been raised at Richland Hills over the past several years. This group includes horses like McDynamo (a three-time champion and all-time leading money earning steeplechaser), Blumin Affair (2nd Breeders’ Cup Juvenile [G1] and 3rd Kentucky Derby [G1]), Flying Glitter (multiple graded stakes winner of just under $600,000) and Crowned King (graded stakes winner of over $500,000) to name a few. I owe a lot of the credit for raising such quality racehorses to my staff at Richland Hills. Terry Nickell has been my farm manager for many years, and I would put him up against the very best in the business. He is an intelligent, articulate person whose skills as a horseman are unsurpassed. Diane Defer, the Richland Hills broodmare manager, and Ricky Barber, stallion manager, are also accomplished horse people whose attention to detail is remarkable. Diane can almost sense when a mare or foal are feeling ill even before they know it themselves. Ricky’s calm nature around the stallions seems to quiet and calm even the most aggressive stud horse. Jimmy Lancaster is another valuable member of the management team at the farm. Not only is Jimmy great around the mares and foals but he can fix just about anything on the farm. Anyone that has owned a horse farm knows just how valuable a person like that is. Finally, I spend a great deal of time studying pedigrees and planning matings for our future racing stars. Fortunately, a number of these matings have proven to be fruitful. There is nothing more rewarding for someone in my business than to plan a mating, deliver a healthy foal from the mating and see that foal go on and become a successful racehorse.
