Three Derby Starters Are Bridlewood Farm Alums
BY BROCK SHERIDAN
With HH Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin homebred Sovereignty getting clear inside the final sixteenth to win Saturday’s Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1) by a length-and-a-half ahead of runner-up Journalism, the exacta included graduates of John Malone’s Bridlewood Farm located in Ocala, Fla.
In fact, the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby were graduates of early training programs in Ocala with third-place finisher Baeza an alumni of Summer, April and Jeanne Mayberry’s Mayberry Farm in Ocala.
“Those two horses were [trained early] down at Bridlewood Farm in Florida as roommates,” Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock, Michael Banahan said on NBC Sports following the race in reference to Sovereignty and Journalism. “And for them to arrive here on Derby Day and run down the stretch together was amazing.”
Bridlewood Farm general manager George Isaacs is equally elated but with a slightly different take. Bridlewood is part of the Journalism ownership team with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Don Alberto Stable, Robert V. LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith.
“I wish the exacta had gone the other way, but other than that, we couldn’t be more proud and it was a great weekend,” Isaacs said from his office in Ocala Tuesday morning.
Bridlewood’s impact extended beyond the top two with East Avenue, eighth in the Derby, also a Bridlewood graduate. And Saturday’s results were a culmination of foresight and plans established when Malone purchased the storied Bridlewood Farm in 2013.
“When the Malone’s purchased Bridlewood, one of the things we wanted to accomplish right out the gate was to rebrand ourselves as being a very important training center for some of the best equine athletes that get sent here for breaking and training in the fall of each year,” Isaacs said. “And we’ve been able to accomplish that in spades. Certainly, this weekend endorses that exponentially.”
Sovereignty and East Avenue were both bred and raised by Godolphin’s USA division in Kentucky before being sent to Bridlewood last year in the fall.
“Godolphin has historically used several farms in [central Florida],” Isaacs said. “I would politely say we get the “A” string—we get the cream of their crop to break and train each year. And I think our results reflect they were the cream of the crop.”
Journalism was bred and raised in Kentucky, then purchased by Aron Wellman and Brian Spearman’s Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $825,000 at the 2023 August Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. The bay colt was sent to Bridlewood following the auction.
They—along with dozens of other Thoroughbred yearlings for Bridlewood and their clients—were then placed under the guidance of Bridlewood Farm trainer Meda Murphy, who began the process of teaching and training them for the future careers on the track.
“We couldn’t be any more pleased because it just reflects that we’re doing our job properly and all the credit goes to Meda Murphy and her team,” Isaacs said. “John Malone and myself, we just try to provide the right tools and resources and infrastructure for each of our managers to do their jobs as well as they possibly can.”
Isaacs said all three Derby contenders began to show promise early in their development.
“To reflect on initial impressions we had when [Sovereignty, Journalism and East Avenue] arrived would be more in Meda’s area,” he said “But I am well aware that once they were training and once they were getting a little farther along in their early training and their 2-year-old year, they were kind of elevating themselves to the top of the crop. They were showing just how smart they were and just how easily they did things.
“Meda never asks a horse to come off the bridle,” Isaacs continued. “She’s more about laying a serious foundation into the horses and training them right so that they have a great foundation to build on once they leave here to go to their trainers. Meda took the bull by the horns as our farm trainer back in 2017 and she’s never looked back. She has made us proud every year and the bar just keeps getting higher and higher.”
While Isaacs appreciates the significance these Kentucky Derby results have in illustrating the work done at Bridlewood, he points out that this success is widespread in the illustrious Central Florida Thoroughbred industry.
“First of all, we all know that Florida is Spring Training Central for many of the [nation’s] yearling Thoroughbreds each year. And we also know the economics and impact of that as it relates to our industry and the community.”
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