BY SARAH WELK BAYNUM
Gary Mesnick owns Thoroughstock bloodstock agency and is involved in various aspects of the racing industry.
“I started riding at a young age, at about 5-years old. I’ve always loved animals, particularly horses, and wanted to become a veterinarian eventually,” Mesnick said.
Mesnick took animal nutrition classes at Colorado State University and got his first taste of the Thoroughbred industry prior to his post-graduate studies.
“I wasn’t from a state where they had a vet school, and this is back in the late 1960’s. So, while trying to get into vet school, I worked summers at the racetrack, such as Atlantic City and Roosevelt Raceway. I also worked for various vets after classes part-time, which included work at a Thoroughbred breeding farm,” Mesnick said.
While Mesnick never attended vet school, he studied at the University of Florida, receiving his master’s degree in agricultural management after obtaining his undergraduate degree in Animal Nutrition. Upon graduation, Mesnick ventured into another area of racing before making his way back to horses.
“I didn’t go back into the horse business at first because I wanted to race cars for several years. When I was done doing that, I got back into the horse business and I went to Kentucky. I was the assistant manager at Shadowlawn Farm, what is now Ashford Stud. I made close friends with Stanley Petter and he helped get me associated with Stephen Gary Wilson at Happy Valley Farm. I came down to Florida and I ran Thoroughstock Horse Sales for them, which is the bloodstock agency I own now,” Mesnick said.
Today, Mesnick and Norman Dellheim are partners in several local Thoroughbred businesses.
“Norman and I take care of a lot of the breeding horses for our clients as well as sales prep through Thoroughstock. We also break and train horses too. Our partnership is under the name The Summit Farm. We sell horses in October and we also sell some horses again in January at OBS. We have about 36 horses total right now,” Mesnick said.
Mesnick has a few young Thoroughbreds by Ocala Stud stallions Roadster and Colonel Liam that he is excited about and says Florida offers Thoroughbred breeders much more than just good climate.
“We’ve recently bred to Roadster and Colonel Liam, and I like the way those horses are training. I like the people and weather in Ocala, of course—we’re not always fighting the weather as far as training or breeding. But we’ve always said that you get more for your money with a Florida-bred,” Mesnick said.
Mesnick has had some successful Florida-breds through the years including Prismatical, a multiple graded stakes-winning mare by Distinctive. Consigned by Thoroughstock at the 1987 OBS Winter Mixed Sale, she sold for $1 million in foal to Fappiano.
“Selling that broodmare for a million dollars at OBS was definitely a special moment for me,” Mesnick said. “It was before even 2-year-olds sold for a million dollars, so that was an impressive million-dollar sale at that point. This was back in the late 80s.
The Summit Farm also foaled and raised millionaire Lite The Fuse for owner and breeder Dick Dutrow Sr. and provided early training for multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Frisk Me Now after he was purchased.
“Another memorable and successful sale horse was Flat Out, by Flatter bred by Nikolaus Bock,” Mesnick said. “Flat Out was raised at The Summit Farm, then we sold Flat Out for him.”
While Flat Out sold at the 2006 OBS Fall Mixed Sale for a bargain $11,000 to Picturesque Farm, the Florida-bred star went on to earn more than $3.6 million and twice won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational.
“I told [Bock that Flat Out] was going to his best foal—and he did end up performing very well.”
