In lower than 10 years within the enterprise, Bob Edwards has graced the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle thrice. However when Carl Spackler traces up for the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar, will probably 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 pleasure of the e 5 Racing Thoroughbreds operation.
“It is all the time particular going to the Breeders’ Cup,” stated Edwards, who received his first Breeders’ Cup race with New Cash Honey within the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). “The competitors is phenomenal, the very best of the very 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 outstanding 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.
Nonetheless, 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 secure to embark on her 5-year-old marketing campaign.
It took solely two begins for Zindaya to offer 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.Join BloodHorse Day by day
Photograph: Benoit PhotoZindaya 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.
“Now we have a good boutique breeding operation,” Edwards stated. “We maintain our mares at Indian Creek in Paris, Ky. They do a terrific job up there for us. In all probability earlier than the Breeders’ Cup, I will begin engaged on matings for my mares. I’ve a good band of graded stakes mares. New Cash Honey continues 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 stored 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 possibility 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 US.
“I feel we get higher longevity working horses on the grass, at the least in my program,” Edwards stated. Aside from New Cash Honey, Edwards campaigned elite turf mare Dashing Fall , an earner of almost $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 wonderful stallions in Europe and I simply figured let’s convey it again (to the U.S.). Let’s convey among the infants again and blend the blood up. I bred to Frankel just a few occasions with Zindaya and Lope de Vega just a few occasions.”
Like Zindaya’s different foals, Carl Spackler was delivered to the public sale ring at E book 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 maintaining him. We despatched him to Ian Brennan at Stonestreet and Ian known as me up instantly and stated ‘This horse goes to be one thing particular.’ Ian would not often 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 proficient horse.”
Like his dam and Edwards’ different previous star runners, Carl Spackler’s racing profession would develop underneath the attention of Chad Brown. Brown skilled 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).
Photograph: Skip Dickstein(L-R): Bob Edwards and Chad Brown
“Chad’s been pivotal in our success as a small boutique secure,” Edwards stated. “Not solely is he one in all my buddies, I met him by means of Mike Ryan 10-11 years in the past. We simply hit it off early on and Chad and his group have finished a terrific job managing all our horses. We have had plenty 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 in the course of 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 so far, his solely non-triple-digit Equibase determine got here in his debut, the place he earned a 99 for a slim 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 could possibly be a stay 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 recuperate from his sickness, the colt returned with vigor in his 2024 debut with a victory within the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs in Could.
Following a fifth within the Poker Stakes (G3T), Gaffalione and Carl Spacker turned a dynamic duo by means of the second half of the 12 months, tearing by means of three consecutive wins within the Kelso Stakes (G3T), Fourstardave Handicap (G1T), and Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T).
“He is the total bundle. He is bought good gate pace. 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 every little thing out and we nonetheless have not seen the very best from him but. If it is his day and he is feeling it, he could possibly be unstoppable.”
Photograph: Anne M. EberhardtCarl 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 put up. Whether or not taking the sector gate-to-wire or closing quick from off the tempo, Gaffalione is assured in Carl Spackler’s potential and feels the colt’s tactical working fashion will solely assist him Championship Saturday.
“He is proven us every little thing we have to see this 12 months,” Gaffalione stated. “He is coming into the race in nice type 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 high 5 riders within the nation previously 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 subsequent day with Caravel .
“It is wonderful,” Gaffalione stated of the chance to trip Carl Spackler within the Breeders’ Cup. “I have been so thrilled for them previously 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 purpose 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 identify is nice, he is a extremely 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 might be blissful to.”
Photograph: Anne M. EberhardtCarl 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 put up within the Mile.
No matter Saturday’s end 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 enthusiastic about it. Simply to be there with my household with a horse we bred that is a stay contender and our son-in-law is on the horse … it is arduous to beat that.”
