Anyone familiar with the Pons family's Country Life Farm racing partnerships has seen enthusiastic owners at racetracks throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Maryland Million Day can be a high holy day for the orange and blue.

Perhaps lesser known -- but equally meaningful -- is the esprit de corps that follows partnership runners beyond racing careers. Kim Crowell can quote chapter and verse on the matter. A significant portion of her professional life has been spent at Country Life's main farm in Bel Air, Md., and their training annex, Country Life at Merryland, in nearby Hydes.

"I was at Merryland for seven years, and I was the broodmare manager but also did the yearlings and layups," she said. "Now I am part-time at Country Life doing night watch."

Crowell's current partner is 12-year-old Flash McCaul, who caught her eye and captured her heart while at Merryland during layups from the track.

"He was at Merryland for a little bit and has just kind of been a barn favorite," Crowell said. "I watched his last race at the Maryland Million in 2018, so when he was up for a new home, it was like 'Gimme that horse.' "

Bred by Country Life, the Friesan Fire Syndicate and Mary and Clifton Cornwell, Flash McCaul was born at the main farm April 27, 2013. From the first crop of Friesan Fire, he is out of the Cryptoclearance mare An T M. The Cornwells, who named the horse after a friend, stayed in as partners during his racing career.

Trained by Larry Jones for Fox Hill Farm, Friesan Fire won three consecutive graded stakes at Fair Grounds ahead of the 2009 Kentucky Derby-G1 and started as the favorite in the country's most famous horse race. He faded to 18th after getting bumped and squeezed at the start as Mine That Bird pulled a 50-1 upset. Two weeks later at Pimlico, Friesan Fire participated in another iconic classic -- the Preakness Stakes-G1 won by Rachel Alexandra. He finished 10th. He added the 2010 Louisiana Handicap before retiring in 2011 and joining the Country Life stallion roster for 2012.

"Flash McCaul was the first Friesan Fire offspring that we put into a racing partnership and he thrilled us with a first-out win at Laurel," said Christy Holden, Country Life's general manager. "He then followed that up with three stakes-placings and a couple of allowance wins. He was one of the horses that put Friesan Fire on the map with his first two crops. Flash was such a lovely, even-tempered horse that was everyone's favorite both at the track and on the farm, which is why when we decided it was time for him to stop racing and come back to the farm it didn't take long for Kim to snatch him up."

To be precise, Flash McCaul earned $214,821 in 26 starts with results of 3-7-1 for trainer Mike Trombetta. His second in the 2015 Maryland Million Nursery made him his sire's first stakes-placed offspring. He also finished second in that year's Maryland Juvenile Futurity and the 2016 Private Terms. He took his ownership group to the Maryland Million four times -- the 2015 Nursery and the classic in 2016, '17 and '18.

"Flashie was a barn favorite," said Tana Aubrey, Trombetta's Laurel Park-based assistant. "He was lovely to ride and all the riders loved getting on him. He won first time out after breaking slowly, he circled the field and won impressively. He got plenty of mints and carrots that night in his dinner.

"I'm so glad Kim has him. She's done a good job with him. I know she loves him as much as we all did."

After a bit of downtime from the track, Flash McCaul began his new life. Originally from Massachusetts, Crowell grew up on her parents' dairy farm and has a long history with Thoroughbreds.

"We were dairy farmers on a dairy farmer's budget, so we would get them off the track," she said of childhood mounts. "My first was a little mare when I was in seventh grade. She actually went to college with me."

Crowell attended Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., earning a degree in equine management while riding on the school's hunt-seat equitation team. She met Nicole Martin, now manager of St. Omer's Farm in Forest Hill, Md. (See Silmaril: Next Chapters in the January 2025 edition) there.

"Nicole and I went to Wilson College together, so we have been besties since then," Crowell said. "She started working at St. Omer's a year before I came down, and she actually hooked me up with the job interview at Country Life. We graduated in 2008 and I moved down here in 2017."

The friends operate a barn together not far from St. Omer's. Crowell, who welcomed her first child in 2024, lives nearby in Bel Air. Flash McCaul boards there with other off-track Thoroughbreds, including former Country Life stallion Super Ninety Nine. Crowell planned to retrain Flash McCaul as a hunter, but the gelding communicated a different agenda.
"I got him when he was 6, and we got started right away," she said. "His overall appearance is kind of striking; he's very handsome and has a perfect temperament. We went to the Retired Racehorse Project in 2019 for hunters and dressage. But then after that we took him cross-country schooling and he absolutely loved it, so we have been trying to be eventers now."
They are also three-time participants in the Real Rider Cup, an annual charity fundraiser at Fair Hill.
"I was honestly intimidated by the Real Rider Cup the first year," she said. "I didn't have a Retired Racehorse Project horse to take down to Kentucky, so it was just fun to do the Real Rider Cup instead. But once I did it, it was such a cool event. It's for a good cause obviously and you can't beat the heart of a Thoroughbred horse so anything I can do to promote them, I try to do."
Popular with the local crowd at the Real Rider Cup, Crowell and Flash McCaul receive solid support every year. It's not uncommon to see Country Life partners and Pons family members among the audience. Crowell and Flash McCaul are always accompanied by Country Life office manager Sallyellen Hurst who loves to serve as "super groom" and chief cheerleader for the event.

"It's a bit of an absurdity," Hurst said, "considering he's near 17 hands and I'm 15 hands."

With a return to that competition on the docket for 2025, Crowell also looks to move up to novice-level eventing this season.

"I try to get to a competition once a month; we'll do a few little shows and that's what we aim for," she said. "Just fun stuff. He has the perfect demeanor and he retired sound. I have been very lucky with him."