In lower than 10 years within the enterprise, Bob Edwards has graced the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle 3 times. However when Carl Spackler traces up for the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar, it is going to be the primary time Edwards is listed as each an proprietor and breeder with none apart from his son-in-law Tyler Gaffalione, taking the reins on the satisfaction of the e 5 Racing Thoroughbreds operation.
“It is at all times particular going to the Breeders’ Cup,” stated Edwards, who gained his first Breeders’ Cup race with New Cash Honey within the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). “The competitors is phenomenal, one of the best of one of the best are there. It is a particular weekend. To have the chance to run a horse that is of Carl Spackler’s caliber, coming off two grade 1 wins, and we bred him, and our son-in-law is using him, it is an unbelievable feeling.”
The story of Carl Spackler corresponds with the start of Edwards’ enterprise into racing. Founding father of the profitable pharmaceutical firm e5 Pharma, Edwards dove into the Thoroughbred recreation after assembly distinguished bloodstock agent Mike Ryan at a household reunion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. From there, Edwards acquired a sampling of yearlings, a younger New Cash Honey amongst them.
Nevertheless, Edwards was eager to start out racing, and after a fast cease on the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Inventory Sale, Ryan discovered the proper candidate to take Edwards’ e 5 silks to the beginning gate. That horse was Zindaya , a then 4-year-old daughter of Extra Than Prepared that was a part of the Regis Farms’ 41-horse dispersal. A confirmed stakes winner on the monitor, Ryan signed the ticket for $550,000 for Zindaya and she or he joined Chad Brown’s steady to embark on her 5-year-old marketing campaign.
It took solely two begins for Zindaya to present Edwards his first profession victory as an proprietor within the 2016 Intercontinental Stakes at Belmont Park. The mare capped her 5-year-old season with a win within the Goldikova Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park, two days after New Cash Honey triumphed within the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Zindaya wins the 2016 Goldikova Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Zindaya retired on the finish of 2016 and have become the primary member of Edwards’ new breeding endeavor, titled Fifth Avenue Bloodstock.
“We’ve got an honest boutique breeding operation,” Edwards stated. “We preserve our mares at Indian Creek in Paris, Ky. They do an awesome job up there for us. Most likely earlier than the Breeders’ Cup, I will begin engaged on matings for my mares. I’ve an honest band of graded stakes mares. New Cash Honey remains to be with us. I nonetheless have Zindaya. After which we now have some mares that had accidents or could not make it racing however we felt had been particular however could not get the chance to indicate how particular they had been however we saved them as a result of their pedigrees had been fairly stout.
“And that was our program going into it, purchase fillies with good pedigrees in order that we now have a chance to breed them or promote them in November and that is how it began.”
Edwards made the choice to ship Zindaya abroad to Carl Spackler’s sire, main European stallion Lope de Vega , after having fun with success racing turf runners in the USA.
“I feel we get higher longevity working horses on the grass, not less than in my program,” Edwards stated. Other than New Cash Honey, Edwards campaigned elite turf mare Dashing Fall , an earner of practically $2.9 million who captured grade 1 races yearly she raced from ages 2 to five. The daughter of Extra Than Prepared gave Edwards his second Breeders’ Cup trophy along with her rating within the 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“As soon as we began breeding, I needed to get some horses from Europe,” Edwards stated. “I used to be over on the Tattersalls sale and I noticed among the horses there, there are some superb stallions in Europe and I simply figured let’s carry it again (to the U.S.). Let’s carry among the infants again and blend the blood up. I bred to Frankel a number of occasions with Zindaya and Lope de Vega a number of occasions.”
Like Zindaya’s different foals, Carl Spackler was dropped at the public sale ring at Guide 1 of the 2021 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Ryan, in attendance on the time, suggested Edwards to position a stiff reserve on the Lope de Vega colt.
“He stated ‘Do not simply give him away.’ So I put a excessive reserve and we ended up retaining him. We despatched him to Ian Brennan at Stonestreet and Ian referred to as me up instantly and stated ‘This horse goes to be one thing particular.’ Ian does not normally name me that early on however he actually appreciated Carl Spackler from the start. I used to be anticipating to get some good races out of him and have some enjoyable with him however I by no means anticipated to have this a lot enjoyable. We have been fortunate, he is a gifted horse.”
Like his dam and Edwards’ different previous star runners, Carl Spackler’s racing profession would develop beneath the attention of Chad Brown. Brown educated Zindaya, New Cash Honey, Dashing Fall, in addition to 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner and champion 2-year-old male Good Magic for Edwards (in partnership with Stonestreet Stables).
(L-R): Bob Edwards and Chad Brown
“Chad’s been pivotal in our success as a small boutique steady,” Edwards stated. “Not solely is he one among my associates, I met him by Mike Ryan 10-11 years in the past. We simply hit it off early on and Chad and his crew have finished an awesome job managing all our horses. We have had lots of success, three Breeders’ Cup winners and one second place within the Breeders’ Cup, so our stats are fairly good collectively.”
Unveiled as a 3-year-old throughout the winter of 2023, Carl Spackler was a standout from the second he hit the monitor. Graduating second day out at Gulfstream Park, the colt garnered a 105 Equibase Velocity Determine. Remarkably, in his 10 begins to this point, his solely non-triple-digit Equibase determine got here in his debut, the place he earned a 99 for a slender runner-up end.
Though disappointing in his stakes debut within the American Turf Stakes (G2T) on Derby Day in 2023, Carl Spackler rebounded with two decisive wins at Saratoga Race Course within the Nationwide Museum of Racing Corridor of Fame (G2T) and Saranac Stakes (G3T). These performances had been sufficient to persuade Edwards, Brown, and Gaffalione, that the colt might be a reside contender in that 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Whereas coaching final fall, Carl Spackler suffered a bout of colic that took him out of fee. Given ample time to get better from his sickness, the colt returned with vigor in his 2024 debut with a victory within the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs in Might.
Following a fifth within the Poker Stakes (G3T), Gaffalione and Carl Spacker turned a dynamic duo by the second half of the 12 months, tearing by three consecutive wins within the Kelso Stakes (G3T), Fourstardave Handicap (G1T), and Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T).
“He is the complete bundle. He is bought good gate velocity. He can come from off the tempo. He can shut. It is a particular horse who can run from anyplace,” Edwards stated. “Tyler stated he is nonetheless simply figuring all the pieces out and we nonetheless have not seen one of the best from him but. If it is his day and he is feeling it, he might be unstoppable.”
Carl Spackler wins the Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga Race Course
Nobody is aware of Carl Spackler higher than Gaffalione. The jockey, married to Edwards’ daughter Cassidy, has piloted the colt in all however his first three journeys to the publish. Whether or not taking the sector gate-to-wire or closing quick from off the tempo, Gaffalione is assured in Carl Spackler’s skill and feels the colt’s tactical working fashion will solely assist him Championship Saturday.
“He is proven us all the pieces we have to see this 12 months,” Gaffalione stated. “He is coming into the race in nice kind and that give us tons of confidence.”
Gaffalione has been aboard Carl Spackler’s previous couple of exercises at Keeneland forward of the Mile. Ranked among the many prime 5 riders within the nation up to now few years, Gaffalione celebrated a breakout 12 months in 2022 when touchdown the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Surprise Wheel and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash (G1T) the following day with Caravel .
“It is superb,” Gaffalione stated of the chance to trip Carl Spackler within the Breeders’ Cup. “I have been so thrilled for them up to now with their success within the Breeders’ Cup however hopefully now we will add to that collectively and make it a household affair.”
Following the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Edwards says he sees no cause to not marketing campaign Carl Spackler for an additional 12 months as a 5-year-old. A strapping crimson-coated colt, Carl Spackler has endeared himself to followers together with his quirky namesake and a peculiar lopsided blaze throughout his face.
“So long as he is wholesome, he is solely going to get higher,” Edwards stated. “And it is good to have the chance to run older horses. It is good for my household, it is good for Tyler to know he has a gentle mount, and it is good for the followers.
“He is developed a cult following. The followers like him. His title is nice, he is a very good-looking horse with that fairly blaze on him. I feel it is good for the game to maintain him energetic and if we will run him subsequent 12 months I would be pleased to.”
Carl Spackler in his stall at Keeneland
Carl Spackler, slapped down at 6-1 on the morning line within the Mile behind European heavyweights Notable Speech , Porta Fortuna , Ramatuelle , in addition to West Coast hero Johannes , drew the unfortunate outer 12 publish within the Mile.
No matter Saturday’s final result could also be, the expertise as an proprietor in racing has arrived full circle for Edwards.
“Zindaya was my first winner, my first stakes winner,” Edwards stated. “It is thrilling—I get goosebumps eager about it. Simply to be there with my household with a horse we bred that is a reside contender and our son-in-law is on the horse … it is onerous to beat that.”
