Lebherz Looks for Premier Results at Barretts

Phil Lebherz has been fortunate enough to enjoy plenty of success as a racehorse owner, campaigning in partnership horses like champion She's a Tiger (Tale of the Cat) and her three-time Grade I winning half-brother Smiling Tiger (Hold That Tiger), graded stakes winners Epic Honor (Honor Grades) and Sierra Sunset (Bertrando) and Grade I placed Erica's Smile (Bertrando). Five years ago, the California native decided to venture into commercial breeding when he purchased the 40-acre Premier Thoroughbreds in Northern California. Through Havens Bloodstock Agency, Lebherz will offer three Premier-bred juveniles at the Apr. 4 Barretts Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Del Mar.

“There was a farm out there in Oakdale, which is about an hour and a half out of the Bay area, and a veterinarian [Dr. Jerry Black] was selling,” Lebherz said. “I went out there and saw it and I thought, 'That's nice.' We had already bred with Epic Honor actually, but we had just put him somewhere and let them breed him. But breeding was intriguing to me–I like farming.”

Among the sales-toppers from Smiling Tiger's first crop was a son of Erica's Smile who brought $190,000 at the 2016 Barretts Fall Yearlings Sale and, in 2017, the stallion topped that auction again with a $220,000 filly. Smiling Tiger was represented by stakes winner Spiced Perfection last year, as well as stakes placed Brown Tiger and Jacks Masterpiece and he went on to become California's leading freshman sire.

“He won California freshman sire and his babies did pretty well,” Lebherz said of Smiling Tiger, who now stands at Harris Farms. “There were some stakes winners in there, but it was our very first year and we really didn't know much what we were doing. We didn't really breed to the type of quality that we have now.”

Three of Premier's four Barretts catalogued offerings are by Smiling Tiger, including hip 114, a daughter of Tuscan Sunset (Trippi), who has been withdrawn from the sale. Lebherz owns the filly, and the mare, in partnership with Alan Klein. Through bloodstock agent Mersad Metanovic, the two men purchased Tuscan Sunset, in foal to Into Mischief, for $36,000 at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale.

“We bought Tuscan Sunset when we were first starting out and we didn't know what we were doing,” Lebherz said. “Mersad Metanovic bought her and I said, 'Ok, bring her out.' And we brought her out here and she had a baby and we're like, 'Hey a baby.'”

The mare's Into Mischief foal became Miss Sunset, who, racing for Lebherz and Klein, won last year's GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland and was most recently a dominant seven-length winner of the Mar. 17 Irish O'Brien S. at Santa Anita.

“We raised her and we gave her to [trainer] Jeff [Bonde],” Lebherz said of Miss Sunset. “At first she was kind of a nervous Nellie and in two of her races, she actually jumped over tire tracks from a tractor and that wiped her out because she jumped twice each time. Then in another race [2017 GI La Brea S.] against Unique Bella, she knocked one of her shoes loose, so the jockey just pulled her up. That's three races out of 15 and she has nine wins, a second and two thirds. She's been an amazing horse and she's really in form right now. We're excited about her.”

Of Tuscan Sunset's juvenile filly, Lebherz explained, “We are sitting on her. She is fine, a bit immature, needs more time.”

Lebherz, who has spent three decades working in the health insurance benefits fields and is founder and chairman of the insurance agency LISI, talks bemusedly about his quick success as a breeder.

“The dream is to get a black-type homebred that is world-class and I already did that in my very first try,” Lebherz said. “I think now I have to try and win one of the major races like the GI Kentucky Derby or something. I talked to Bob Baffert after he won the Triple Crown, we were just sitting around Del Mar watching the works, and I said, “What are you going to do now?' and he said, 'I want to breed a horse myself that wins the Triple Crown or a major race like the Kentucky Derby.' And I said, 'That's a worthy goal.' We're all kind of nuts in this business.”

Premier's Barretts offerings also include hip 57, a filly by Smiling Tiger out of a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Anak Nakal; hip 63, a full-brother to Spiced Perfections; and hip 75, a daughter of Violence out of Red Hot Bullet (Red Bullet).

The Premier Thoroughbreds broodmare band currently numbers some 25 head.

“We've been buying mostly Kentucky mares in foal and bringing them out here and we breed them back to Smiling Tiger or someone else,” Lebherz said. “We ship back to Kentucky [to breed] every other year and sometimes even more.”

Among the band is Sandi's Ready (More Than Ready), who Premier manager Dennis Yokum acquired in foal to Point of Entry for $150,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale. Since that purchase, the mare was represented by the ill-fated Smarty Jones S. winner Mourinho (Super Saver) and Zia Park Oaks winner Sandy's Surprise (Drosselmeyer).

“Right after we bought the mare, all of a sudden they started running,” Lebherz said of Sandi's Ready. “They did really well. We kept her back there [in Kentucky] and we're breeding her to Gun Runner.”

Barretts has combined its two juveniles sales for the first time this year and Lebherz said he thinks the change, which could lead to later-developing 2-year-olds being rerouted to Barretts Del Mar Paddock Sale in July, was a good idea.

“Some of the babies aren't mature enough to go into a 2-year-old sale,” Lebherz said. “So I'm glad they did that. The Paddock sale gives you more time to get them healthy or it gives the ones who don't mature as fast or were born later, time to catch up. So I think that makes sense. They've only done the [2-year-old] sale at Del Mar twice. So this will be the third time and the last time they did better than the first time. I think people are getting it now. They had the Breeders' Cup there and it was a big success, and I think that might help the whole program.”

The under tack show for the Barretts Spring sale will be held Apr. 2, beginning at 10 a.m. PT. The auction will be held Apr. 4 beginning at 2 p.m. PT.