BY SARAH WELK BAYNUM

Alan Lustig’s love for Thoroughbred racing dates to the 1970s, an era featuring some of the most famous racehorses in history.

“As a teenager growing up on Long Island, New York, I was fortunate enough to spend weekends at nearby Belmont Park,” Lustig said. “I watched the greats such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed complete their Triple Crown campaigns. Later, during my college years in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University, I was able to add the Preakness Stakes to my routine racetrack visits.” 

Lustig made the decision to relocate to Florida in 1990.

“Unfortunately, my busy schedule only allowed me to watch racing from afar. But in 2014, I once again caught the racing bug after an auspicious meet up with my future trainer, Mike Dini. He shared my enthusiasm for racing, and in particular, turf breeding. My first visit with Mike was at the [Ocala Breeders’ Sales] auction that year and it rekindled the flame for my old hobby.”

One of his first purchases at OBS was a Florida-bred named Creaky Cricket, who still stands out as an all-time favorite for Lustig. 

“I still remember the excitement of watching him win his first start at Arlington Park by more than 10 lengths. Then later, I remember the disappointment after he lost stakes races at both Woodbine and Mountaineer,” Lustig said. “This was followed by a day of mixed emotions at Saratoga two years later when I was standing in the winner’s circle after a victory—and having him claimed away.” 

Since then, Lustig has had several black-type winners including Bramble Queen and Bramble Bay. 

“Bramble Bay was a two-time [winner of the] Jersey Girl [Handicap] at Monmouth Park along with several near misses.”

Brambe Bay won the Jersey Girl Handicap in 2020 and 2022 and was second in 2021 and 2023. She finished her career with a third in the 2024 Jersey Girl Handicap.

But my most memorable horse was an unexpected bargain filly from late in an April OBS sale named Dynatail.

Lustig purchased Dynatail for $5,000 in the name of his Ballybrit Stable near the end of the third day of the 2016 Ocala Breeders’ Sales June Sale.

By Hightail out of Southern Dynamo, by Dyanformer, Dynatail would go on to win eight of 36 career starts including the filly division of the OBS Championship at the Ocala Training Center and the Penn Oaks at Penn National in 2017. She also won the Susquehanna at Penn National and the Salvatore M. Debunda PTHA President’s Cup at Parx in 2019, retiring with earnings of $546,475.

Today, Lustig is a recent retiree from a Nephrology practice in Saint Petersburg after more than 30 years in business.

Instead, he now enjoys focusing on breeding his broodmares at Pleasant Acres Farm in Ocala under the care of Helen and Joseph Barbazon. 

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s newest crew of 2-year-olds based at Tampa Bay Downs and Monmouth Park, led by a 2-year-old daughter of Dynatail out of Summer Front named Dyna Soar,” Lustig said. 

Dyna Soar has two published works at Monmouth Park, most recent breezing four furlongs in :51.20 on July 10.

Return to the July 16 issue of Wire to Wire