Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition
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Philadelphia Inquirer
February 28, 2006

Pa. Slots Law Gives Birth to Boom in Breeding

One result is the first Pennsylvania-born child of Smarty Jones.

By Mike Jensen

By yesterday morning, just 12 hours after her birth, the brown filly stood steadily in her stall, noisily taking in her mother's milk, unfazed by a veterinarian who stopped by or other visitors.

A sheet of paper outside her stall gave her away. COVERING SIRE: SMARTY JONES. This one is a Smarty baby, the first born in Pennsylvania.

"A perfectly normal, lovely filly," pronounced Rick Abbott, who runs the Charlton horse-breeding farm in Cochranville, Chester County, with his wife, Dixie.

Normal in every way, except F. Eugene Dixon Jr., one of the richer men in Philadelphia and the head of the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission, paid $950,000 in January for her mother, Solvig, a 9-year-old mare already in foal to Smarty Jones.

"Mr. Dixon just was intrigued by the idea of having a mare in foal to Smarty Jones," Abbott said. "She happened to be the best one in one particular sale."

It's also no coincidence that this horse, a poster child of sorts, was born in Pennsylvania. After slots legislation was signed into law in 2004, breeders have started sending some of their better mares to the state to give birth, to take advantage both of lucrative bonuses paid to Pennsylvania-bred horses, which are slated to rise over 20 percent due to funds from the slots, and also the expectation of rising racetrack purses.

Abbott's 160-acre breeding farm quickly benefited, as the number of mares sent there more than doubled from 2004 to 2005, up to 60.

"We overtaxed the facility," Abbott said, noting that they kept the number to about 50 for 2006. "I would think that the quality of the horses we're dealing with also will go up, because it's going to take better horses to be competitive."

In fact, he's already seen it. In recent weeks, a mare gave birth on their farm to a foal sired by Tapit, a competitor of Smarty Jones at the 2004 Kentucky Derby and the winner of that year's Wood Memorial. Another foal was sired by Pleasant Tap, the winner of the 1992 Eclipse Award for top older male.

Right now, mares about to foal on their farm are owned by a who's who of local racing, from Afleet Alex trainer Tim Ritchey to Michael Matz, trainer of Barbaro, one of the early favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby. A third mare is owned by Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson of nearby West Grove.

In October, top bloodstock agent Mark Reid purchased the Walnut Green breeding and sales operation from Russell Jones in West Grove.

What this means is that more progeny of stars are coming to the state. Among others, mares to be in foal to 2004 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex, to 2004 horse of the year Ghostzapper and to 2005 horse of the year Saint Liam all are scheduled to come to their farm to give birth next year, said Mark Reid Jr., vice president of Walnut Green.

"I would say I could name 10 farms off the top of my head that I know are expecting" more mares, said Abbott, who is a member of the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission. "Some in Chester County, some are near Penn National [racetrack], some in York County. Actually, the farm right across the street was just sold to some breeders. It had sat on the market for probably five years."

Smarty's legacy

The continued popularity of Smarty Jones has to be the starting point for any look at the state of horse racing in Pennsylvania, since nobody really knows if the slots legislation would have passed if that horse hadn't become a kind of pop phenomenon as it won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, before he fell a crushing length short of the Triple Crown in that year's Belmont Stakes.

"I said to John Servis that the reason Smarty didn't win the Triple Crown was he had 61,000 slot machines on his back at the Belmont," Abbott said. "I think the stars all came into alignment. He certainly made it easier for the legislators who were on the fence to topple in favor of it."

Abbott gives Servis a lot of the credit for the horse's becoming so wildly popular and for giving a lift to the slots legislation.

"He put a human face on an industry that is often viewed by people as a bunch of rich guys trading money around," Abbott said. "John was able to put that face on an industry that needs help."
Two years later, busloads still are showing up at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky to get a glimpse of the horse, who stands for $100,000.
"It's hard to predict what's going to catch the public's imagination," Abbott said. "Look at American Idol."

Cornfields and horses

Good luck to any curiosity seekers hoping to check out Smarty's baby. There is no sign out front identifying the farm. In this part of Chester County, there often aren't signs identifying the roads.

Out by the street, all you see of the property is a cornfield and a few horses grazing. Most of the paddocks are farther down a winding, unpaved drive. The Abbotts have two barns, one with 24 stalls right across from their house and another with 11.

This wasn't the business they originally intended to pursue.

"I practiced law for eight years in West Chester and hated every day of it," said Abbott, who grew up in Berwyn. He and his wife had ridden show horses for years when he accompanied a client to historic Saratoga to see the races and take in a yearling sale.

"The first time I went was in 1971," Abbott said. "I went to the yearling sale, I poked around and said, 'How long has this been going on?' "

The Abbotts originally had a 20-acre farm in Newtown Square, Delaware County, but sold it to buy their current place in 1980. They have kept adding acreage and now are building a second house on the property for their daughter, who works for their business. That construction wouldn't have happened, he said, without this recent increased business.

"Last spring, we bought this field over here," Abbott said, pointing to land on the far end of their property, past a pond. "We put that in grass last spring. This summer we'll fence it. That will give us another 20 acres of pasture, which is something we never would have dreamed of doing before this explosion that we're having.

"You really see the trickle-down effect of it. The fence guy's going to get money, and the builder... . There's a lot happening."

There will be more trickling down. The 2004 law that legalized slot machines directed 2 percent of the gambling proceeds to Pennsylvania horse breeders.

Because of the legislation, funds for bonuses for Pennsylvania-bred horses are expected to rise from $9 million this year to $36 million once the 61,000 slot machines called for in the legislation are up and running in the state. That will add 20 percent to 30 percent bonuses to purses for Pennsylvania-bred thoroughbreds and harness horses.

Purses for all horses also will go up after getting a 12 percent share of slots revenue. You want to know why Servis said in 2004 that he would have to leave Philadelphia Park if the purses didn't go up? He wasn't bluffing about a dramatic increase. Daily purses at Philadelphia Park could go from $130,000 to at least $350,000, according to the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.

There was a lot of initial excitement and activity in 2004 after the legislation was passed, said Mark McDermott, executive director of the Horse Breeders Association. Some of that stalled when the slots hit political snags, delaying their implementation after the legislation was signed.

"Now people can see the light at the end of the tunnel," McDermott said yesterday.

Wake-up call

Abbott, watching on a monitor from his kitchen, could see Solvig pacing restlessly not long after sunset on Sunday night. He went over to her stall, and soon after her water broke. He called his wife, who had gone to bed early, expecting to be awakened for foalings.

Usually at some point during the process, the Abbotts have a quick twinge of fear. They see a purple tongue emerge or no movement from the foal and worry they have a dead horse on their hands. The feeling passes quickly, Rick Abbott said, but Sunday night there was not even time for such fears.

"This one went very quickly," he said.

"Rick and I had our hands on each front leg," Dixie Abbott said. "The mare just did her job." The labor took all of 10 minutes. This is the third foaling for Solvig, who won $800,694 herself on the racetrack and has produced horses by top sires War Chant and Giant's Causeway.

"She has a really good shape," Dixie Abbott said of this latest arrival, appraising the first hours of Smarty's baby, who has a little white speck on her forehead, kind of like her father. "She has an inquisitive look about her. She looks like an Ivy Leaguer."

They must say that about all the new foals on their farm, right?

"Oh, no," she said. "Some of them, you're like, 'You're cute, but it's a good thing your mama's going to love you.'"

This one, who may not get a name for a couple of years, will soon head to Kentucky with her mother. But they will be back soon enough so Solvig can foal another Pennsylvania-bred. In another month or so, Solvig will be in heat again, and she's already contracted for a date with another celebrity horse. "She'll probably have 10 minutes with Afleet Alex," Dixie Abbott said.