SUCCESS STORIES
Since the beginning I have been very fortunate to have some exceptional clients to work for. To them, I am grateful. For a small operation we have generated some big results. Success in this tough business comes in all sizes. Here are just a few of the success stories that have been written at Amende Place
Anita Cauley and Ornate
Anita and her late husband Berry Ebert were my first customers at Amende Place. In 2002 they retired their stakes winning mare Ornate. They sent her to the farm with the intent to breed her to E. Dubai and then sell her in the upcoming Keeneland November Sale. They had no intention of keeping broodmares.
To the shock of everyone, Berry passed away later that year. I’m sure that Ornate was the last thing on Anita’s mind during that time, but she would become an endearing gift.
As planned, Ornate was taken to Keeneland and offered for sale. As fate would have it, she did not meet her reserve and returned to the farm to begin motherhood. Her first foal was a bay filly with an unusual marking on her head that resembled a mallard duck. She was named High Heels.
Sent to Anita’s long time trainer Garry Hartlage in the spring of 2006, it was apparent that she had talent. Her two year old campaign hinted at things to come with a 2nd in the Amy Fisher stakes and a 3rd in the G2 Golden Rod. Off to Oaklawn for the winter she came to life winning an AOC by 8 lengths. Three races later she would trounce a field of stakes fillies in The Fantasy Stakes( G2) and High Heels was on her to The Kentucky Oaks. High Heels made a great showing of herself in the Oaks, rallying for third beaten by eventual Belmont winner and champion Rags to Riches. She is now retired and has joined the broodmare band at Amende Place.
If the story ended there it would a good one, however, Ornate was just getting started. Her second foal, French Kiss would also give Anita and her team some thrills. A game little race mare by Hussonet, she would go on to win the Pippin stakes and run third in the Azeri (G3).
The icing on the cake would come in the spring of 2009 when Ornate foaled a grey filly by Smoke Glacken. She was a big filly, very broad across her chest and rump. She was a very poised and her time at Amende Place was uneventful.
I wasn’t at Churchill Downs when she came off the van for the first time, but I can imagine Gary and Anita’s reaction when this massive grey filly was led into the shed row. Named On Fire Baby, she had the look of an athlete and it wouldn’t take long to prove it.
Ridden by Joe Johnson for entire career, the comments on her first start at Ellis Park said it all, “Took over, ridden out.” Two starts later and back at Churchill she would take the Pocahontas G2 and then The Golden Rod G2 by 6 lengths. Favored for the 2012 KY Oaks she would finish 5th. This was Ornate’s second starter in the Oaks.
After a lackluster performance in the Acorn G1 at Belmont, Baby was given some time off to deal with some health issues that were beginning to take a toll on her. It was nearly eleven months later that she would resurface in the G1 Apple Blossom. She led every step of the way to win her first G1. This would also be the first G1 win for her owner/breeder Anita Cauley as well as for her trainer Gary Hartlage. It would also represent the first G1 winner to be raised at Amende Place.
Almost a year later and at her home track in Louisville she would add to her resume by winning the La Troeine G1. In front a huge local fan base that had followed her from the beginning she really put on a spectacular performance. From Churchill Downs to Oaklawn Park and Saratoga, On Fire Baby would continue to take us all on quite a ride. In every race, win or lose, she was a class act.
Baby retired with earnings of $1,090,190. I was there the day she came home. When I led her off the van was I amazed at her size and power. She calmly took a look around and began to graze. In the February of 2015 she was bred to Ghostzapper and is currently in foal.
Other Stakes winners raised at Amende Place:
Naples Bay - G3 winning half sister to Medaglia d’Oro in foal to War Front brings $3.6 million at the 2014 Keeneland November sale.
She’s a Tiger – 2yo champion filly of 2014. Sold for $2.5 million at the 2015 Fasig Tipton November sale.
Concorde Point - Bred and raised in partnership with Ed Rudley. The Winner of the West Virginia Derby G2 and Iowa Derby G3. Now standing at Hill n Dale farm.
Off The Tracks - Bred and raised by Lee McMillin. Winner of G3 Schuylerville.