TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/947139
side," Hertrich says. "As soon as the mares foal and the foal is able to stand up, bye bye. We don't hothouse them. We bring them in when the weather is bad. We raise them as horses. They are herd animals. We made some tremendous athletes that have carried us through for 20 years." An instrumental part of the puzzle has been Rob Tribbett, whose father trained Standardbred horses for Hertrich. Upon Tribbett's graduation from the University of Delaware, he joined Hertrich's horse racing operation. Last year was a season of incredible highs for Hertrich, both with his breeding stock and his Breeders' Cup appointment. Rushing Fall's win in the Breeders' Cup made Hertrich the first breeder to win a Breeders' Cup race and Breeders Crown race. Hertrich was asked to make the trophy presentation. "John and I agree it was one of our biggest thrills, if not our biggest thrill, in the horse business," he says. "I don't know why, but that to us was a very exciting event. I guess what you look at is how the filly did it. She exploded down the lane. We were high-fiving 40 yards before the finish line. She was that good. Mike Ryan bought the filly. He buys a couple horses a year from us because he's had such great results from our stock. He called me after they broke the filly in Florida and told me she was something special. There were times I talked to trainer Chad Brown and he said this filly is as good as he's ever trained. Chad's an old Standardbred guy. I respect his opinion. He's an accomplished businessman and manager, but most im- portantly a superb horseman." Catholic Boy may continue the parade in 2018. He has received notice as a Derby horse following his victory by 4¾ lengths in the Remsen, his first start on the dirt and first time running a