Carrie Brogden

With the encouragement of Sergio de Sousa from Hidden Brook Farm and Carrie Brogden from Machmer Hall, a group of 17 Thoroughbred industry stakeholders have pledged to donate a total of $35,000 in prize money for a series of TAKE2 Thoroughbred Hunter and Jumper Classics at the Kentucky Horse Shows and Split Rock Jumping Tour in 2026. The 20 TAKE2 Classics, offering $1,750 in prize money each, will be held at 10 horse shows at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, between May and September. The TAKE2 Classics sponsors...

Another foaling year has begun and I truly have learned to go into each season with a "brace yourself" mentality as any long-term breeder realizes it is the only way you can keep your sanity year after year. This season, we continue to tackle the flock to the big-book first years and proven sires while breaking out the crystal ball to try to guess which of the bubble horses will succeed when their progeny hits the track. If any of you have ever participated in Geoffrey Russell's freshman sire contest,...

Since you asked readers for input at the end of Carrie Brogden's letter, I'll offer what I've observed over the 38 years that I've been a racing fan. First: look at how U.S. racing regards races for fillies and mares. The distances are shorter and purses are smaller. Getting a filly to the Kentucky Derby has become much harder ever since a points system was implemented. Plus, there's no Triple Crown equivalent for fillies. Every other top level racing country has Grade I classics for each gender... the U.S. has...

Recently, while reviewing board elections for several major organizations in our industry, I noticed something that gave me serious pause; there are very, very few women at the highest levels of policy and decision-making on those boards. My initial reaction was the typical frustration I have felt for decades, but I must have matured enough at some point to realize that frustration alone does not move an industry forward. I wanted to try to figure out why this is and consider what opportunities we might be missing. I serve on...

More Than Looks (More Than Ready--Ladies' Privilege, by Harlan's Holiday), winner of the 2024 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, was represented by his first three foals Saturday, when a colt and a filly arrived in Kentucky and a second colt was born in Florida. Multiple stakes-winning and multiple graded stakes-placed Eden Prairie (Mizzen Mast) produced a colt, bred by Sampson Racing Stables, at Chesapeake Farm in Kentucky. "We couldn't be more pleased with this colt. He's a strong, good-looking individual," said Chesapeake Farm's Collier Mathes. "The dam's success with More Than...

A newly created $25,000 Thoroughbred Hunter Derby will make its debut at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show in Virginia in early June and replace the recent Upperville Thoroughbred Hunter Classic, the planners of the event said via a press release on their website Dec. 31. The Derby will take place Tuesday, June 2 and reflects a growing, industry-wide effort to expand opportunities for Thoroughbreds at recognized horse shows. In recent years, trainers, owners and Thoroughbred advocates have worked to elevate the visibility and competitiveness of the breed in hunter...

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com CARRIE BROGDEN, MACHMER HALL First of all, I am an eternal optimist by nature. With a game-changing program in the works by 2036, I believe that you will see a complete reversal in the gargantuan problem we currently face with aftercare. I am beyond sick of seeing all the ISO posts on social media wanting to buy riding horses but the last...

1st-GP, $70k, Msw, 2yo, f, 7 1/2fT, post time: 12:50 p.m. ET The produce of Machmer Hall's sensational broodmare Special Me (Unbridled's Song) have earned nearly $4.4 million to date, and KEEPSAKE BOX (Twirling Candy) is set to become her 10th runner when she debuts in the Saturday opener at Gulfstream. Since being purchased by Machmer Hall for just $6,000 at the 2009 Keeneland January Sale, Special Me has thrown seven winners, including this filly's Grade I-winning full-brother Gift Box; Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), a three-time Grade I winner on...

Carrie Brogden of highly successful Machmer Hall fame is a self-described horse addict and she is not shy when it comes to admitting it. Still, the straight shooter with the commercial breeding business outside of Paris, Kentucky, has to make some decisions every fall when it comes to reducing the farm's stock. It is just the way it goes as October rolls around. "I am the ultimate horse sale junkie, just ask my husband Craig, who would be thrilled if we had 30 elite mares on a 250-acre farm," said...

Special Me, the dam of MGSW/GISP Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), GISW Gift Box (Twirling Candy), MGSW Special Forces (Candy Ride {Arg}) and 'TDN Rising Star'/MGISW Gina Romantica, has been pensioned from broodmare duty by Machmer Hall. Carrie Brogden announced the news on social media Tuesday morning, saying "I broke the news to Special Me that she has been retired as a broodmare and is free to live out the rest of her days in happiness, at Machmer Hall. She loves being a mother and we have let her raise her babies....

Ben Bernhard, Shannon Griffin, and Mandy Pope have been named to the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Charities of America. The three newly elected directors join current board members Carrie Brogden, Lesley Campion (vice president), Marette Farrell (secretary), Torie Gladwell, Marshall Gramm (treasurer), Ryan Mahan, Mike McMahon (president), Dan Metzger, Leah O'Meara, Liam O'Rourke, Morgan Richardson, Cathy Shircliff, Brook Smith, and Jesse Ullery. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis and Dan Rosenberg are directors emeriti. Thoroughbred Charities of America was formed in 1990 by Allaire duPont and Herb and Ellen Moelis...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Better known for breeding and selling top racehorses, Carrie and Craig Brogden touched down in Dubai late Wednesday and were trackside at Meydan on Thursday morning to watch their G2 Godolphin Mile hopeful Steal Sunshine (Constitution) turn in some light work over the track. It isn't the first time that the high-class Machmer Hall operation has been represented on foreign soil. The late Tepin (Bernstein) was bred by and came through the consignment before beating the boys on three occasions, including the 2015 GI Breeders'...