Ashview Farm

'Unfinished Business' — Champion Nest Back in Training for 5-Year-Old Campaign

After an abbreviated three-race campaign in 2023, Nest (Curlin) has returned to training for her 5-year-old season. Mike Repole bought out his partners in the champion 3-year-old filly of 2022--Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House--for a co-topping $6 million at last fall's Fasig-Tipton November sale. "When we put her in the sale, I really went there with a game plan of she might retire as a broodmare," Repole said. "The Japanese were bidding on her and I've seen so many of these horses go to Japan, and, honestly, I didn't...

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Nest's Dam to Coolmore

Marion Ravenwood (A.P. Indy), the stakes-winning dam of expected champion 3-year-old filly Nest (Curlin), GISW Idol (Curlin) and this year's stakes-winning juvenile Lost Ark (Violence) was unsurprisingly popular in the Keeneland November sales ring Monday, with Coolmore's MV Magnier coming out on top to secure the 14-year-old for $2.6 million. Hip 187, in foal to Curlin, was consigned by the Lyster family's Ashview Farm. Ashview and Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables paid $400,000 for Marion Ravenwood at the 2017 renewal of this sale while she was carrying eventual MSP Dr...

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Nest Romps in Beldame

Nest tuned up for her engagement in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland next month with an effortless victory in the GII Beldame S. at Aqueduct Sunday. Making her first start against her elders, the 1-9 favorite broke well from her inside post and was on the lead in the early strides before allowing Travel Column (Frosted) to take over heading into the first turn. Nest settled into third as Travel Column set the tempo with First to Act tracking in second as the quarter went up in :24.52...

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The Jockey Club Elects Six New Members

The Jockey Club has elected six new members: Len Coleman, who served alongside Dr. Nancy Cox as co-chair of the blue-ribbon nominating committee that was formed to select members of the board of directors and standing committees of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA); Dr. Nancy Cox, in addition to her aforementioned role, Cox is the vice president for Land Grant Engagement and the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky (UK). Also elected were Marc Holliday, who was elected chairman of...

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Nest Romps in CCA Oaks

Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House's Nest (Curlin) found herself somewhat surprisingly on the lead early in Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks, but still left little doubt as to who the top sophomore filly in the country is right now as she galloped home 12 1/4 lengths clear of main rival Secret Oath (Arrogate) in the Saratoga stretch. Having seen a three-race win streak snapped when she settled for second as the favorite to Secret Oath in the May 6 GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, Nest was coming...

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Belmont Pair Are Latest 'A' Lysters

Wayne Lyster always knew it to be miracle enough, for a farm this size, simply to get both into the starting gate. The Derby-Oaks double hadn't been accomplished since the heyday of Calumet, 70 years previously, and at Ashview, they foal out no more than a couple of dozen mares every spring. As such, Lyster can justly take pride in the fact that both Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin) finished their races so well, for fifth and second, respectively, that they are now converging instead on the GI...

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This Side Up: Hoping for a Weekend of Rejuvenation

Our community couldn't have started the most momentous week of its calendar more auspiciously than by absorbing the wit and wisdom--or a sample, at least, of those infinite resources--of Arthur B. Hancock, III of Stone Farm, most deserving Honor Guest at the Thoroughbred Club of America's 89th Testimonial Dinner Monday. But I suspect that we'll need to heed his example and counsel rather more closely, over the coming years, if we are still to invite the world beyond our parish to judge us by the showcase we present the first...

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Nest Takes Off with Suncoast Victory

With a third place effort in the Tempted S. Nov. 5 at Belmont Park the only blemish to her otherwise perfect four race record, Nest used her neck victory Dec. 4 in the GII Demoiselle S. as a springboard into the winner's circle here. Carrying great expectations as the 1-5 overwhelming favorite, Nest briefly drifted out after the break, but went into the first turn comfortably stalking from third to the outside of the field. Glued to Alittleloveandluck (Arrogate) as the pair tracked a frontrunner through a moderate pace in...

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Taking Stock: Notes on Medina Spirit and Breeders Hertrich lll and Fielding

As I sat down to write this column Monday, I got a text from a bloodstock agent that said, "Heard Medina Spirit broke down at Santa Anita a little while ago. Gonna be a shit storm." I checked Twitter right away, but there was nothing yet about Medina Spirit (Protonico). I didn't have to wait long. Some minutes later, the "I heard Medina Spirit..." tweets started trickling out, and then the dam burst. Everyone had something to say, and most of it was derogatory or innuendo about his trainer, Bob...

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Breeders Ashview Farm, Santulli Hit Remsen-Demoiselle Double

It was 32 minutes that breeders Richard Santulli and the Lyster family will not soon forget. That was all the time it took for the partnership, which owns a limited number of mares, to have bred the winners of two graded stakes races on the same day at the same racetrack. The feat occurred Saturday at Aqueduct where the Lysters' Ashview Farm and Santulli's Colts Neck Stables bred the winners of the GII Demoiselle S. and the GII Remsen S., contested as the eighth and ninth races on the Big...

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Oscar Performance Yearlings Exhibit Sire's Best Qualities

With the Keeneland September Sale fast approaching, Gray Lyster of Ashview Farm is looking forward to showcasing his colt by Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy-Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire}). Bred by Colts Neck Stables, the bay catalogued as Hip 892 is a half-brother to the talented MGSW Venetian Harbor (Munnings). The sibling duo is out of the stakes-placed mare Sounds of the City (Street Cry {Ire}), who hails from the family of champion sprinter Safely Kept (Horatius). "He's actually the fifth generation of the family that we've raised here at Ashview,"...

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Weathering the Storm: Gray Lyster

While many questions regarding the Coronavirus pandemic remain unanswered, and with a stock market experiencing extreme volatility, there is continued uncertainty as to what could happen in our industry over the next few years. But many people in the industry have been through such ambiguity before. We sought the advice of industry leaders who successfully made their way through the Great Recession of 2008, and we asked what they learned from it and how they will use their experiences to guide them through the coming years. GRAY LYSTER, Ashview Farm...

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