TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/920057
after a rest, you'd get them ready for Hia- leah — less than a handful; not the whole barn. The game has changed so radically over the past 25 years or so, it's almost im- possible to have a plan and stick to it. "The first real change came in the mid- 70s when people started going to more sales to pick out yearlings to buy and these commercial breeding operations began pop- ping up," she continued. "That was a big dif- ference. The numbers of horses sold have gone up and it's hard to think of a week now when there isn't a horse sale. Then more people wanted to have a skin in the game and now there are partnerships. It's still the Sport of Kings, it just isn't quite the same and there's definitely more of it. I also think it's harder to do well because I don't think we're always playing on a level playing field, which can be one of the big disappointments. That's why I say integrity is so important." Weber, moving with the times herself, went to the sales this summer and made her mark. Adding to her roster, she spent $1,275,000 on three yearlings the Fasig-Tip- ton Saratoga Sale in early August. Not sur- prisingly, two of those acquisitions were fillies to add to her broodmare band down the line, including a half to multiple grad- ed stakes winner Isotherm by To Honor and Serve and a daughter of promising young stallion Strong Mandate who is a half to three stakes winners, including eye-catch- ing New York stakes winner Seymourdini, as well as graded stakes winners Cali Star and Delightful Joy. "I have told people that if they want to