Page 6 - February 2007 The Game

6 The Game, February 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Conns; Gone Where the Action Is
If you want your stallion to get some action you have to be where the action is. This was the motivation of Kimberly and Randy Conn when they pulled up roots in Ottawa and relocated to the Simcoe area, south of Brantford, bringing with them the stallion, Shelter.
The couple admitted that while in Ottawa, they had received plenty of interest in the son of Seeking the Gold. However, every conversation had seemed to end with “What are you doing all the way out there?’
“Now that we have moved from the Ottawa Valley we are getting a lot of interest in him,” commented Kim, who mentioned that they named the new farm, Jericho Stud, after the hamlet where they are located. “With his bloodlines we wanted to give him a chance which is why we moved here.”
The ten year-old stallion entered stud in 2005 and his limited number of first foals are yearlings of 2007. “We’re proud of Shelter.” said Kim boastfully, “He’s throwing nice babies.”
If the Conns’ yearling filly, out of their Fast Play mare, Caraquet, is any indication of the type of foals he is producing, then Shelter has a nice future as an Ontario stallion. The filly is striking and very correct with a smart look about her, and comments from other foal owners have also been very positive.
Shelter is owned by Kimberly’s cousin, Rick Scriver, who was the last to race the horse at Woodbine.
Kentucky bred by Pin Oak Stud, Shelter is out of the Storm Cat mare, Missed the Storm, a Graded Stakes winner and dam of 4 winners.
His sire, Seeking the Gold, who stands for $125,000 in Kentucky, is a leading sire of more than 75 stakes winners including multi G1 millionaire, Dubai Millennium, multiple G1 champion filly Heavenly Prize, and Canada’s Champion filly, Catch the Ring.
One of Seeking the Gold’s latest Graded Stakes winners is Society Hostess (G3 Monrovia Handicap on the turf at Santa Anita, Jan 1), a five year old mare with similar bloodlines as Shelter (out of a Storm Cat mare, Touch of Truth).
Shelter’s racing career began under the ownership of Pin Oak Stables. His papers were also held by Woodbine trainer David Bell & partner Wilhelm Hauer. Paul Buttigieg had a piece of the action at one stage before David Bell claimed the horse back. Scriver made the final claim on May 28, 2004 and retired the horse the following year due to injury.
Kimberly and Randy both grew up in the Ottawa area where they met and married 24 years ago. Kimberly has ridden horses since the age of three, competing on the show circuit all of her life. Randy has always been in business for himself, recently retiring from the family owned “General Store”.
The move to the new location is already paying off for Shelter, and the Conns are looking forward to a bright future with the stallion. “He’s a nice horse with a great temperament.” says Kimberly, “He’s getting the attention he deserves this year and hopefully he will have a good bunch of foals in a few years.”
Shelter is standing at Jericho Stud for $1500 l.f in 2007.
Photo Above: Shelter, a son of Seeking the Gold, standing near Simcoe in 2007
Photo Below: The Conn’s yearling filly by Shelter - Caraquet, by Fast Play
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Did You Know....
That the mare who was purchased for a world-record price gave birth 28 days premature on December 19, 2006. The early birth of the bay filly by Pivotal, means that the weeks-old foal officially
became a yearling on January 1, 2007. The mare, Magical Romance was purchased by Lady Serena Rothchild for $9,358,608 at the Tattersalls December Mixed Sale in Britain on November 28, 2006. When the resulting foal begins her racing career, she will compete against horses that are six to 11 months older.
Honoring Frank
Julie Morton wanted to get into the thoroughbred racing business and began looking for a stallion for her Steady Growth thoroughbred mare.
Julie was hoping to get lucky and find a stallion who not only had great pedigree, but also had a race record to back it up. After many months of fruitless searching and networking she decided to simply breed her mare to a well known stallion in the area.
A date for the mating was booked; however, before the contract was signed, Julie spotted a classified ad in a show horse magazine which read something like, “Stallion with a world class pedigree, winner of more than $475,000, would make an excellent eventing stallion.”
Short on funds, Julie, waited three weeks before calling and, luckily, the stallion was still available.
Arriving at the seller’s farm, Julie, who had ridden and worked with horses all of her life, was impressed with the horse’s manner and looks and a deal was made.
In Frank’s Honor, a son of multiple graded stakes winner, Lost Code, arrived at Julie’s farm in October 2005.
During his racing career, In Frank’s Honor, had been a worthy competitor for many turf runners across North America, excelling in grass races at seven different courses including Belmont, Saratoga, Aqueduct, Keeneland, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita and Woodbine.
The horse was claimed by trainer Sandy McPherson for owner John Atto after winning for $62,500 at Gulfstream Park. They had envisioned the versatile and talented 7-year-old horse winning the Atto Mile at Woodbine. However, In Frank’s Honor was pulled up in a race in July and was put
away for the remainder of the year. The following year (2003) he competed in high priced claiming events before being retired after a winning perform- ance with a record of 8 wins in 37 starts, including one stakes score, and 14 placings seven of which were in stakes. Racing from age 2 to 8 he earned more than $479,000.
In Frank’s Honor’s pedigree includes a strong female family with his dam, Daunserly, by Oh Say, being a producer of 9 winners including Japan Stakes winner, I Am The Prince ($525,899) and Graded Stakes placed-winner, Don Juan A.
In Frank’s Honor’s first foals are due in 2007 with Julie’s Steady Growth mare due in May along with another of her mares (by Matter of Honor) due late that same month.
“He looks like a million bucks,” says Julie of her handsome chestnut stallion, “I wanted a stallion which was good but I never expected to get one as good as him.”
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Julie Morton and her stallion, In Frank’s Honor