(Editor's note: Maryland-bred Mindframe was profiled in the May 2024 issue of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred by John Piassek. Mindframe will compete in Saturday's Belmont Stakes-G1 at Saratoga, as he looks to become the first Maryland-bred to win the Belmont since Caveat in 1983. In preparation, his story is reprinted here)
The list of Triple Crown nominees released in early February included three Maryland-breds. One was a blank canvas: no races, no name, three workouts.
Now, he has a name – Mindframe – and he looks like a piece you’d want to display at the Met. He dazzled on debut at Gulfstream Park on the Florida Derby-G1 undercard March 30, breaking his maiden by 13¾ lengths with a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. That’s the third-highest Beyer by a 3-year-old this year (as of April 20), and is the highest by a first-time starter since Speed Boat Beach’s 104 at Del Mar in September 2022.
Mindframe’s Maryland roots run deep. He represents four generations for Mid-Atlantic breeder and owner Larry Johnson. Mindframe’s pedigree traces to the mare who started it all for Johnson: Ran’s Chick.
At the Timonium mixed sale in December 1978, Johnson and a partner took a $2,400 chance on a 2-year-old filly with an unassuming pedigree. Ran’s Chick’s racing career ended before it got started after she bowed a tendon training, and Johnson, not knowing what to do, took another chance on her as a broodmare. He was a fan of Oliver Goldsmith’s stallion Red Monk and sent Ran’s Chick to him. The resulting filly, foaled in 1980, was Whatwouldhappenif, an 11-time winner and producer of nine winners, four stakes performers.
Against all odds, Ran’s Chick became a prolific broodmare. From 13 foals, all starters, she produced 11 winners, including stakes winners Turn to T. J. and Special Kell. Her only two foals who did not win, Very Busy and Another Kell, became stakes producers. Her success helped launch Johnson’s breeding operation, now featuring almost two dozen broodmares at his Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Va.
“It’s been a remarkable ride that defies any logic or explanation,” said Johnson. “With each generation, I’ve tried to breed to better stallions, and the success has continued. I’ve been very fortunate.”
Special Kell’s third foal, by Star de Naskra, was named Star Kell. From nine foals, Star Kell produced seven starters, all winners, including Strike the Moon, a two-time stakes winner and earner of $680,170, stakes-placed What Time It is, the dam of Maryland-bred champion Never Enough Time, and her final foal, the Street Sense filly Walk of Stars.
“Being by Street Sense, I think that puts some quality in her,” said Johnson. “As a 2-year-old, I think she was immature. She was a tough filly to keep weight on, and she was hard on herself in training.”
She proved especially adept on tight tracks. She broke her maiden by 30¼ lengths – in a 1-mile race – on Timonium’s 5-furlong track as a 3-year-old in 2014, and won four times around Charles Town’s 6-furlong oval in 2015, including the Pink Ribbon Stakes.
Johnson retired Walk of Stars in 2016, and between her success and Strike the Moon’s, was optimistic about her as a broodmare prospect. Her first three foals won, including stakes-placed Hollywood Walk. For her fourth mating, Johnson took advantage of the share of Constitution he purchased and sent Walk of Stars to the WinStar Farm stallion in 2020. The resulting colt, Mindframe, was foaled at Dance Forth Farm in Warwick, Md., May 13, 2021.
“It was a pretty easy decision to breed her to Constitution,” said Johnson. “I watched him break his maiden at Gulfstream, and I thought it was remarkable. He had the rail on debut, he broke slowly, and just devoured the field. I thought he was a terrific racehorse, and I’ve had a good relationship with WinStar.”
As he watched Mindframe grow up at Legacy Farm, Johnson began to sense the colt might be something special.
“He was always kind of a standout, and as he matured, he became more of a standout,” Johnson said. “He was very athletic; you’d watch him in the field and say, ‘Wow, who’s he?’ As sales prep began, he began to thrive. He handled everything terrific, and as the summer progressed, he just seemed to get better and better. I was very high on him.”
Johnson decided to enter him in the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale, and sent him to the Bill Betz consignment in Kentucky with optimistic expectations. As the sale drew closer, Mindframe’s physique and stakes-laden pedigree started to attract more attention.
“I could tell he was being well-received,” Johnson said. “The right people were looking at him. The ones taking a second look and doing repository work were serious players.”
Watching from home, Johnson was delighted to watch the bidding on Mindframe soar past six digits. The hammer fell for $600,000 to Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, making Mindframe the most expensive horse Johnson’s ever bred. He was thrilled not only that the colt sold for so much, but that he went to high-profile, well-respected connections.
“I was stunned, pleasantly so,” said Johnson. “When I saw he was going to Repole and [trainer Todd] Pletcher, that made me quite pleased. To go to an end-user where I know he’ll be in Pletcher’s hands; I thought ‘If he’s going to be good, he’s going to be given the best opportunity there.’ ”
Mindframe had only one workout as a 2-year-old, but returned to the worktab at Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs base in late January and was ready by late March. Listed as the tepid 7-2 morning line favorite for his debut, Mindframe was bet early and often, closing as the 11-10 favorite. He made a powerful move to the lead on the far turn under Irad Ortiz Jr., and opened up in the stretch. Johnson, like most of the racing world, was awestruck.
“I knew there was the perception of a lot of ability there, but I couldn’t have imagined what he did,” said the breeder. “When Ortiz asked him, he just exploded. It was remarkable. To think I bred him, and that I have his mother and half-sister, and what that might mean in terms of future opportunities, it’s exciting.”
Johnson is looking forward to watching Mindframe on bigger stages.
“I saw where Pletcher said he was a little concerned about if he’d have enough conditioning, and said he [broke his maiden] all on ability,” Johnson said. “I hope he moves forward from that. I’m confident they’ll do the right thing by the horse, and we’ll see just how good he is.”
Walk of Stars’ most recent foal is the 2-year-old Virginia-bred Maclean’s Music colt Lonesome Road, foaled May 25, 2022. Johnson plans on campaigning the colt and is excited about what the future holds.
“He’s a big, strong, attractive horse. We’re going slow with him, he had some minor, nagging issues, but he’s about to start more serious training. Who knows what he might be, but I’ve got reason for optimism.”
Walk of Stars was expecting a foal by Jack Christopher, with plans to breed her back to Constitution for 2025.
