Go about comparing eras, or even years, in Thoroughbred racing and you can quickly find yourself doing mental jumping jacks. If Horse A in Year X was really better than Horse B in Year Y, does all this mean anything? And what about Horse C and Year Z? Well . . . he did this and she did that, which means they would have won these and not those and -- hey, let's start over.
The 2025 racing season produced more than its share of Mid-Atlantic highlights and headliners on stages local and national. There were championship contenders, local legends, out-of-towners, sprinters and steeplechasers. The only constant through it all was quality. The 2025 group would stand up against most any other, and there's no debate after taking a short trip to check on many of the year's best.
Mindframe
Tracy Mulroy found an article quoting her father, successful Mid-Atlantic owner/breeder R. Larry Johnson who died in February 2025, about the potential of Mindframe, a horse he bred and sold for $600,000 as a yearling.
"He said something like, 'Boy if Mindframe would win a Grade 1, that would be incredible for the rest of the family on the farm,' " Mulory said. "I never sensed any regret from him, even when Mindframe almost won the Belmont Stakes. He would be amazed by it. He bred a horse who stands at Claiborne Farm."
Racing for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables, Mindframe got his Grade 1 and then some, in 2025 with wins in the Gulfstream Park Mile-G2 in March, the Churchill Downs Stakes-G1 and Stephen Foster Stakes-G1 for trainer Todd Pletcher. Looking for a big finish before starting his stud career, the Maryland-bred son of Constitution lost jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. at the start of the Jockey Club Gold Cup-G1 in August and finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Classic-G1 in November. The oddball ending cost him some sentences in the Older Dirt Male championship conversation -- and a chance at Horse of the Year -- but did nothing to diminish the opinion of those around him.
"He's in Stall One, that's Bold Ruler, Secretariat and Easy Goer," said Claiborne's Jacob West in January. "Those are big shoes to fill, but the expectations for him were always very high. Buying him and getting him to the farm was the first thing. Once we secured him, it was putting him a position like this to attract mares. He's booked full already. People see the race record, they see who he's by, they see the family and once they come and see him they fall in love with him."
Standing for $50,000, Mindframe will breed 175-180 mares this year, West said, and if early indications mean anything he'll take to stallion life as well as he did racing.
"It's a big change from the racetrack to the farm," said West. "There are some horses that it takes a while for them to figure out they have their own paddock and can drop their heads and relax for a bit. He would be the furthest from that. You could detonate a bomb next to him and he wouldn't care. His mind sets him apart from a lot of other horses -- smart horse, he's made it easy. He enjoys the farm life, he's settled in beautifully. We've test bred him a few times and he's gotten the hang of that. He'll cover a great group of mares and we're excited."
Keeping the connection to the horse, and their father, Mulroy and her sister Kelly Caraballo bought a share and will send two mares to a horse whose female family is one of the Mid-Atlantic's most important. Johnson bought Mindframe's fourth dam Ran's Chick for $2,400 as a 2-year-old in 1978. She never raced, but became the foundation broodmare for a racing/breeding operation now in its sixth decade.
Mulroy said finding suitable mares for Mindframe became an unintended challenge as much of the broodmare population at Legacy Farm in Virginia hails from the same family. Stakes winners Street Lute, purchased by Johnson in 2024, and Spun Glass, a homebred from a different line, head to Claiborne for dates with the dark bay earner of $2 million.
"When they were selling shares in Mindframe, one of the first things I did was look them up," said Mulroy. "We only have a couple who aren't in that family. It's really, really crazy to think about."
Future Is Now
A multiple graded stakes winner and Maryland-bred champion, new broodmare Future Is Now won't go to Mindframe -- they share a third dam in Special Kell -- but might be headed to the next best thing in Constitution.
Mindframe's sire placed among the top five on the general sires list in 2024 and 2025 and has produced the likes of classic winner Tiz the Law and Grade 1 winner Americanrevolution among a growing reputation.
Mulroy and Caraballo enlisted the help of Mill Ridge Farm's Headley Bell as an advisor on matings and have added to their knowledge base thanks to his insights. Bell came to the farm, looked at the mares, helped create a list of horses to sell, answered questions and provided advice on stallions with various rankings. Somewhere, Johnson is smiling at the systematic approach. For whatever reason, his was a little more free-flowing.
"Our dad went more on 100-percent gut feel, but if we were going to rely on our gut feels we were going to have a big problem," said Mulroy. "He was so knowledgeable and had good instincts for it. It's been extremely educational learning about first-year sires, how horses fit certain mares, all of it."
A daughter of Maryland stallion Great Notion, Future Is Now won three of four starts (with a second) in 2025 and was scratched by a regulatory veterinarian before what was to be her final start at Keeneland in October. The curveball bit, but Mulroy is over it and looks forward to seeing her foals.
"That was always most likely going to be her last race and that's why it was extra upsetting that she got scratched," Mulroy said. "She was in peak form, to give her the winter off and bring her back next year was asking a lot. She doesn't owe us anything."
A five-time winner and earner of $513,155 in 2024, Future Is Now was just as good in 2025 -- opening with a win in the Giant's Causeway-G3 at Keeneland in April. She ran three times at Saratoga -- a second (by a half-length) in the Intercontinental-G2 in June and wins in the Caress-G3 and Smart and Fancy in July and August. She won seven of her final nine starts, with a second and a third, while finishing with $967,160 in career earnings.
"What a race record, there are a whole lot of ones there and when she lost it wasn't by much; she never threw a clunker," said Mulroy. "Everybody has their favorites, but she's one. We have amazing memories with our dad because 2024 was spent following Future Is Now around with him. She's a special horse."
Book'em Danno
Look at the numbers -- 16 starts, 10 wins, rather routine three-digit speed figures -- sprint star Book'em Danno exudes ability. But an intangible might be the biggest factor in his success.
"His will to win," trainer Derek Ryan replied -- without hesitation -- when asked what makes his horse so good. "Really."
You going to argue? The New Jersey-bred could easily be 12-for-16 or even better with a narrow loss to international standout Forever Young (Jpn) in the 2024 Saudi Derby-G3, a second in the 2023 Nashua, a second in the 2024 Perryville-G3 and a tight fourth (beaten a neck by Mindframe) in the 2025 Churchill Downs-G1 among the past performances. Owned by Atlantic Six Racing, the son of Bucchero won four of five starts in 2025 -- a three-horse handicap at Colonial Downs in March, and consecutive scores in the True North-G3, Alfred Vanderbilt-G2 and Forego-G1 at Saratoga, all at 7 furlongs or shorter.
The report card earned him a finalist nod for the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter, even though his connections opted against a start at the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar in California. There were reasons to run, and plenty more to bypass the opportunity.
"I'm glad I didn't go," said Ryan. "It went like I said -- speed-favoring track, shorter stretch. How are you going to close on a speed-favoring track? It was the right call. I know pundits said we needed to go, but it's supposed to be your body of work and he had some body of work. When I look back on it I say, 'How did I even make three races in Saratoga?' It's tough, especially there. Every race was good. It's not like we ducked anybody, and the race we lost at Churchill was a good race."
Bred by Greg Kilka and Bright View Farm, Book'em Danno worked twice at Monmouth Park after the Forego but then took a lengthy vacation. After some time at Hennessy Hill Training Center in Florida, the now 5-year-old gelding returned to Ryan's winter base at Tampa Bay Downs in January. This year, there's a November goal.
"Basically, we've got to figure out how to get to the Breeders' Cup in Keeneland," said Ryan, who looked to April or May as a return but wouldn't rule out a start before the Tampa meet ends. "How I get there, we'll see. He won't be running three times in Saratoga. He'll have a three- or four-race schedule to get to the Breeders' Cup. He had a long year, needed the break. He got bigger and stronger if that's possible."
Atlantic Six -- managed by Jay Briscione but including Jeff, Mark and Jim Rubenstein, Jeff Resnikoff, Jim Scappi and Frank Camassa -- spent $30,000 to buy Book'em Danno privately as a yearling through agent Chris Gracie in 2022. Kilka paid $14,000 for broodmare Adorabella (carrying future stakes winner Girl Trouble) in 2020, bred her to Bucchero the next year and sold her (in foal to Medaglia d'Oro) for $550,000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, Book'em Danno continues to make everyone look smart even if he didn't tout his ability from the beginning.
"He's not the prettiest mover you've ever seen, so you wouldn't say he had this in front of him," said Ryan of his first impression. "He's just a stone-cold freak. They come along once in awhile.
Post Time
Emma Wolfe once bought Post Time a stuffed cow for company in the stall. He destroyed it in four hours. He's tried to bite her, kick her, buck her off, run out of the stall, get sick, lose his shoes, gallop through parking lots, walk on his hind legs -- and succeeded at most of them -- but she's going to miss him.
In late December, trainer Brittany Russell's assistant and Post Time's exercise rider spent a few final days with the Maryland-bred at Fair Hill Training Center in Cecil County, Md. His racing career ended with a stakes win at Laurel Park three days earlier to put a bow on a 23-13-4-5 record with $1,558,705 in lifetime earnings.
A van would arrive in a few days to take him to his next career, as a stallion at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City. With a fee of $4,000, the son of Frosted is the most accomplished home-grown horse to retire to stud in the region since Breeders' Cup Classic-G1 winner Concern went to Northview after the 1995 season.
The statistics matter for sure, but Post Time was always about more than numbers to Wolfe. During that morning at Fair Hill, she fed the now 6-year-old a mint, slapped him on the neck, traced the various lines of gray, white and black through his coat and thought about their time together.
"Riding him was my favorite part of the day, seriously," she said of a daily ritual of lunging, plunging, rearing, striking and bucking on the way to the track, followed by a comparatively sedate gallop and calm walk back to the barn. "He doesn't do anything maliciously, and he doesn't want to get me off. A couple of times he knocked me off, he turned and looked at me like, 'Why are you down there? You're supposed to be up here.' So he does it because he's feeling good."
Which might be the best part about Post Time, a racehorse who loved his job and told everybody about it -- all the time. He won eight of his first nine races, topped by scores in the General George-G3 and Carter-G2. He placed in three Grade 1 stakes -- the Metropolitan Handicap and Whitney at Saratoga and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar. At home in Maryland, he lost once in 13 starts, a second to Barbadian Runner in the 2025 Maryland Million Classic.
Wolfe called the Breeders' Cup trip her favorite moment, even though he couldn't catch Full Serrano (Arg).
"Hopefully it's not once in a lifetime, but it was Brittany's first, and it was my first," she said. "He finished second, but it showed the world that he actually belonged."
On cue, Post Time edged a few steps toward the door like he could escape to visit with barn mascot Gomez the pig, say hello to the chickens across the way or meet that van to Northview out on the road.
"No you don't," Wolfe told him, then shut the screen. "You can't go anywhere just yet. You're going to love it there, but you get to stay for a few more days.
Kappa Kappa
A $65,000 yearling purchase by LC Racing at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic in 2023, Kappa Kappa followed a familiar Mid-Atlantic script as Cash is King joined the ownership list and she entered the stable of trainer Butch Reid at Parx Racing.
Unraced at 2, the Pennsylvania-bred won her debut at Parx (by 93⁄4 lengths) in July 2025, finished second in August and graduated the allowance ranks in a 6-length romp in September.
Then she rewrote everything. Entered in Keeneland's 7-furlong Raven Run Stakes-G2 in October, she got stuck on the also-eligible list and was likely staying home until scratches started piling up from the main entry list.
"She only shipped down there two days before the race, had a 12- or 13-hour trip, so she didn't get a chance to train there or settle in for a few days," said Reid. "That was a day where it was going to be a big crowd and a lot of commotion. They get a little bit bigger crowd than we normally have at Parx so I wasn't sure how she would handle it."
Composed as a judge stating jury instructions, she fought for the lead while outside early, got headed by Vodka With a Twist in the stretch, switched leads late and prevailed by a head -- all at 27-1.
"It's always a little surprising when they win at a big price, but I saw her in the paddock and she looked spectacular; she never turned a hair," said Reid. "She's a really, really nice filly, one we've got big ideas for. We'll go one at a time and see where we end up."
Reid tried Aqueduct's 11⁄8-mile Comely-G3 in December, but Kappa Kappa weakened late and finished sixth before earning a winter vacation at Eisaman Equine in Florida.
"She's soaking up some sun, eating some grass, all those things you want them do when they can," Reid said. "It's nice to get her out of this weather up here for a while. We wanted to try her long and she didn't fare so well. I still haven't given up on that, but for now she's maybe better at 7 furlongs or a one-turn mile."
Bred by Stone Jug Ranch, the chestnut daughter of Omaha Beach and the Pioneerof the Nile mare Pharoah's Princess didn't sell as a yearling at Keeneland September in 2023 but sold a month later near the end of the catalog at Timonium.
Mailata
Staying in the Reid barn, Cash is King and LC Racing homebred Mailata attracted attention from the start, and that didn't change through five starts as a 2-year-old. Mailata, named for star Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jordan, closed 2025 with back-to-back stakes wins and was likely headed to New York for his 3-year-old debut.
His namesake, a 6-foot-8, 365-pound left tackle, was born in Australia and played rugby before getting selected in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft. Thought of as a practice-squad player and long-term project, he rose through the ranks and has been a starter since 2021. He made an all-pro team, signed two contracts worth $60 million and won a Super Bowl after the 2024 season.
Like a first-round draft pick, Mailata the horse flashed ability from the beginning, even if he created some problems for himself.
"He's been pretty precocious from day one," said Reid. "He's a big, tall horse, who looks like he's got some range. The first start he got loose in the paddock and I thought he was going to jump the paddock fence. We chased him around for 15 minutes, then he got loose behind the gate."
Mailata finished third in that start in August, and fourth a month later after dropping far behind early in a field of 12. Trying to force some attention to detail, Reid added blinkers for the third start and got rewarded with a professional 21⁄2-length win going a mile in October.
"A lot of times that sharpens them up and I didn't really want that, but with him they seemed to really settle him down," the trainer said. "It improved his concentration. He was much better."
Off the maiden win, Mailata won the Pennsylvania Nursery against state-breds Nov. 26 by 31⁄2 lengths and pancaked two foes by 19 lengths in the Parx Future Stars Dec. 30. Both stakes wins came at 7 furlongs and, combined with the mile maiden win, Reid looks forward to trying longer distances in time -- perhaps in the Gotham-G3 Feb. 28.
"I haven't seen any limits as far as distance goes," Reid said, "but he'll get asked those questions here soon enough."
Reid trained Mailata's sire Maximus Mischief, who won his first three and finished third in the 2019 Holy Bull-G3 before being retired to Spendthrift Farm, for Cash is King and LC. Dam Bouquet of Gold produced two foals for Dan Ryan's Smart Angle stable before changing owners.
Daughter Jeanne Marie, a foal of 2021, won a stakes for Cash is King and LC. A 2-year-old full-brother to Mailata -- name to be determined, but Kelce is taken -- is part of a large group training in Florida.
Maximus Meridius
Mailata's 5-year-old stablemate Maximus Meridius could be headed to New York for his 2026 debut. He made the most of 2025, winning four of eight beginning with the Toboggan at Aqueduct in February and ending with the Blitzen at Parx on New Year's Eve.
The son of Maximus Mischief finished the season with $644,430 in career earnings fueled by four stakes wins. His four graded stakes tries have yet to produce a win or a placing, but he might get more chances. The Feb. 28 Tom Fool-G3 could be on the docket.
"We gelded him in 2024, and it took a while but he's better now," said Reid. "He still had a bad habit of kind of waiting on horses. Every jockey that came back said he was waiting or wouldn't go on. Mychel Sanchez seems to really have his number. His last race was really good, and he's not that far off some of the better horses. We'll travel lightly with him and see where he goes."
Slam Notion
Stop by the barn of trainer Robbie Bailes at Laurel Park and you'll see and hear plenty of horses. You might not notice Slam Notion, however.
"He's like a pony, just one of those horses who sits back and does his thing," Bailes said in January. "I've had some good ones and you know they're there every morning. Him, you would have no clue."
On the racetrack, they know him. Bred and owned by Eric and Nancy Rizer, the now 4-year-old son of Great Notion and the Grand Slam mare Balestra won six races in 2025 and rode a three-race winning streak into the new year with eyes on the 7-furlong General George this month. Off a December win in the Howard and Sondra Bender over older top handicap sprinter Quint's Brew, Bailes skipped January's 1-mile Jennings (won by Quint's Brew) in favor of a lighter schedule.
"It looks like he likes that 45-day, 60-day schedule," said Bailes. "It's hard to skip a race here and there because you never know what might happen, but the Rizers have been great and it's worked out for him."
Slam Notion broke his maiden in his second start, in December 2024. Allowance wins at Laurel in February and March sent him to stakes and he won the Star de Naskra (over Barbadian Runner) at Colonial Downs in July before an allowance win at the Virginia track in September.
The bay gelding put a bow on 2025 with scores in the Maryland Million Sprint and then the Bender.
The success didn't necessarily surprise Bailes, though he wasn't making predictions early.
"I thought he had a shot to win a stakes, but would I have told you he was going to do what he did throughout the year? Heck no," Bailes said. "He's just gotten better and better. That's something you hope for, but you never can count on."
Road to Oz, Master Seville,
Keys Discount
Mid-Atlantic-breds won the National Steeplechase Association's most prestigious timber races in 2025, headed by Maryland-bred Road to Oz's score in the Maryland Hunt Cup. Not to be outdone, Pennsylvania-bred Master Seville landed the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup. Maryland-bred Keys Discount shook up the state lines with a victory in the Virginia Gold Cup as part of a 5-for-5 campaign that included four other stakes triumphs and the NSA's timber championship.
All were bred to be flat horses, with Road to Oz actually winning a race for breeder Larry Johnson and trainer Mike Trombetta at Laurel before selling and changing careers. Keys Discount lost four times at Laurel Park, but did manage a second at 43-1 before heading to jumps. Master Seville, bred and still owned by South Branch Equine, never started on the flat but boasts six wins over jumps.
The success helped prove the capabilities of American Thoroughbreds in programs routinely filled by European imports, but the horses don't seem to care.
Road to Oz was cranking up for his 11-year-old season with some foxhunting. A day out involves exercise and some minor mind games.
"As long as the ground is good, he hunts away," said Beecher of the Quality Road gelding. "He's an easygoing horse so he's a bit lazy in doing extra work. He enjoys the hunting, so it gets him to do a little more and it's a good way to get more fitness into him before we push the button."
The gray hunts for about two hours, depending on how much running the hounds do. The point of January work is overall fitness. The real exercise starts later and will culminate with prep races at the Green Spring Valley Point-to-Point and My Lady's Manor and then a go at a Hunt Cup repeat.
"You'd be silly to try and change it," Beecher said of the schedule. "I'm very happy with him now. He's full of himself and feeling good. I've seen some horses after the Hunt Cup go back into their shell. He kind of came out of his shell. I remember thinking that if we really wanted to run him in the fall we could have, but why would you? He's 11 years of age, but he's an easy enough 11. Hopefully there's plenty more left in the tank."
A year younger than his stablemate, Master Seville progressed through the timber ranks to November's Pennsylvania Hunt Cup win. The son of late Maryland stallion Seville (Ger) didn't finish three of his first four races in 2021 and won twice each in 2022 and 2023. He pulled up and fell in his only two NSA starts in 2024 and won twice in 2025.
"He deserved to win a stakes, because he's beaten plenty of stake horses in the other races," Beecher said. "He may go the Grand National this year, he's won himself out of the apprentice races."
Beecher enjoys the relationship with owner Ann Kinsley, whose late husband Bob was the driving force behind their racing involvement. When he died in 2020, she scaled back but kept several horses and has found success with Beecher and trainer/jockey Sean McDermott.
"When Bob passed away, she said to us that this wasn't her thing and she didn't know much about the horses but she was willing to carry on with six or seven," Beecher said. "Master Seville didn't finish three of his first four sanctioned races. She said she was willing to stay on with him if I thought he was all right. Then he went on a tear. She's enjoying it and following along with the horses. It's nice that they're staying involved because they've bred nice horses. She won a Pennsylvania Hunt Cup with a horse she bred. How many people can say that?"
A few miles away at Jack Fisher's training base, Keys Discount ponders a way to improve upon a perfect 2025 -- or his people do. The championship campaign started at Middleburg in April, went to the Virginia Gold Cup in May, Shawan Downs in September, Middleburg again in mid-October and back for more at Great Meadow in the International Gold Cup two weeks later. Each was a win, each fairly easy and the last two by 10 lengths each.
Bred by Bryan Minnich, Keys Discount sold for $2,000 at Timonium as a yearling, and lost eight combined starts on the flat and over hurdles. The son of Medal Count has won six of eight over timber.
Simply Joking
Last year's plan for Simply Joking was the Cotillion Stakes-G1 at Parx Racing, where it would have been fun to bring a Pennsylvania-bred to the state's richest race for 3-year-old fillies. She sent that idea to the recycle bin after two solid stakes wins to launch her career, a big swing at the Kentucky Oaks-G1 in May and then an extended rest with an injury and surgery to remove a bone chip.
But she's back for more in 2026.
Bred by Larry Karp's Barlar program, producer of standout Pennsylvania-breds Imply (Simply Joking's dam), Vault and Bound plus former regional stallion E Dubai, Simply Joking took a roundabout route to her current home with Grantley Acres and partners and trainer Michael McCarthy.
After foaling in the Keystone State, she boarded at Kentucky's Grantley Acres for Karp and advisor Carl McEntee of Ballysax Bloodstock and eventually went to Keeneland September as a yearling in 2023. Her dam, a daughter of E Dubai, was a Pennsylvania-bred star -- winning a dozen races and earning $772,728 for Karp and trainer Bernie Houghton while making 26 of 30 starts in her home state. Imply's first foal, by Hard Spun, is Drum Roll Please -- a $250,000 yearling.
Held back by some X-ray issues, Simply Joking wasn't going to bring that but sold to Grantley Acres for $65,000.
"She was raised here for a short time, so we knew her," said Geoff Nixon, a Texan who bought his first horse in 2014 and has since branched into racing and breeding with a farm in Versailles, Ky.
"I love Practical Joke and thought she was worth taking the risk on. If she didn't make the races, she'd be a broodmare prospect."
The purchase looked smarter when Drum Roll Please won a maiden race and placed in the Remsen-G2 late in his 2-year-old season and won the Jerome to start his 3-year-old campaign in 2024. The staff at Grantley Acres prepped Simply Joking, got her over some of the issues and -- sent to trainer Whit Beckman -- she broke her maiden in a stakes at Fair Grounds in December 2024. She added the Silverbulletday Stakes to start 2025 and then finished second, three-quarters of a length behind Quietside, in the Fantasy-G2 at Oaklawn Park.
Next stop Kentucky Oaks.
"We turned down, stupidly, a lot of money for her a week before the Oaks," said Nixon. "We were there and it was the week of the race. I didn't think we could beat Good Cheer, but it's horse racing and you've got to throw mud at the wall sometimes. It might stick."
It didn't. On a wet fast track, Simply Joking broke from post two of 13, pulled early and finished last at 9-1 as Good Cheer won. Worse, Simply Joking went to the sidelines with a bone chip and, after surgery, didn't race again until October as Nixon sent her to McCarthy's barn with eyes on a West Coast campaign. Ninth in the comebacker in the Raven Run-G2 at Keeneland won by Kappa Kappa, she placed in two California graded stakes to end the year, including the Grade 1
La Brea. Nixon likes what he sees, and will hope for a big 2026 with the filly whose owners include longtime friend Ryan Conner and Nixon's mother and stepfather.
In the meantime, Grantley Acres bought Imply and added her to the broodmare band. The 13-year-old, whose dam Allude cost Barlar $17,000 in 2011, is in foal to Nyquist.
"It's a nice full-circle thing," said Nixon. "She was on the farm as a foal, and what our staff did here really helped her become what she's become. I remember Carl calling me and saying she was a good physical, but that she had some X-ray issues. We call her SJ and we're very proud of her."
Seismic Beauty
She wears her Maryland-bred credentials well, but Seismic Beauty may never set foot in her home state again -- and that's just fine.
Bred by Matt Dorman's 2500 Determined Stud, the daughter of Uncle Mo sold for $400,000 as a weanling and changed hands again for $550,000 as a yearling.
Racing for MyRacehorse, Peter Leidel and trainer Bob Baffert, she won three times in 2025 topped by a Grade 1 score in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar. Eleventh in the Breeders' Cup Distaff as the favorite, she went to the sales ring once more and this time rolled up to $2.5 million on a bid by Boyd Racing. New owners Jenny and Randy Boyd could have put her right into a blossoming broodmare program, that includes the 2025 purchase of Grade 1 winner Vahva, but Seismic Beauty headed back to Baffert in January to start a 2026 campaign.
"Physically, we think she's going to improve a lot, and we love the Uncle Mo sire line as a potential broodmare," said Brittany Linton, the Boyds' racing manager. "Randy and Jenny are fairly new to the game, and they want to keep a boutique stable. They're really excited to be part of it, they're willing to learn and are along for the ride."
After the sale in November, Seismic Beauty went to Kentucky's Killora Stud of Hannah and Aidan Jennings for a break from the track. She put on weight, went through bone scans and X-rays, got turned out daily, played in the snow and otherwise made herself at home.
"She's very, very sweet," said Hannah Jennings. "My 2- and 3-year-old daughters, Ella and Sophie, got to sit on her back when we fed her at night."
Seismic Beauty will have other jockeys soon enough, with plenty of opportunities in California.
"I hate to say it, but we were just looking for a good horse," Linton said about whether being a Maryland-bred made any difference. "She's running in California so it wouldn't matter if she was a Kentucky-bred or anything else either. She's a good horse, no matter where she was bred."
Rounding Up
You could fill an entire magazine with vignettes about the stars of 2025. Barbadian Runner, off a standout 3-year-old campaign for Scott Groh and Henry Walters, will return to see if he can take Post Time's spot among the Maryland-breds . . . Maryland-bred filly Dazzling Dame tossed her fascinator into the early Kentucky Oaks-G1 conversation with a win in the Busanda at Aqueduct Jan. 3. The daughter of Girvin, bred by Maria Haire, won three of four (two stakes) in 2025 for Respect the Valleys and the Russell barn . . . Another California-based Maryland-bred, Splendora was an Eclipse finalist in two divisions, champion female sprinter and older dirt female, after taking the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint-G1 for By Talla Racing and Baffert. Bred by The Elkstone Group, the daughter of Audible closed 2025 with three consecutive wins and was working toward a 2026 debut. . .
Maryland-bred Quint's Brew opened 2025 with wins in the Jennings and General George, placed in two graded stakes in New York but didn't race between May 4 and Dec. 20. Second in his return at the end of the year, the 5-year-old Mosler gelding won the 2026 Jennings Jan. 17-- and eyed even bigger challenges -- for trainer Ned Allard and breeders Paul Berube, Karen Linnell and Heather Hunter.
