Wasabi Ventures

Letter to the Editor: Michele Pesula Kuegler

VIBRANT FORCE: HOW AFTERCARE SHOULD WORK Just over three years ago, we launched Wasabi Aftercare Fund to provide safe and secure retirements for all horses that are bred and/or raced by Wasabi Ventures Stables. Recently, we assisted in our first retirement of a horse bred, but not raced, by WVS. On Febr. 24, 2021, Vibrant Spirit foaled a healthy colt by Force the Pass. It was determined that he would not be kept to run for Wasabi. Rather than bring him to auction, WVS sold the colt to Bobby Flock...

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The Horse Fund: Taking The 'After' Out Of Aftercare

Aftercare. It's a hot button topic that is continuously discussed among those within and outside of the Thoroughbred industry. And though the racing community has made leaps and bounds in its efforts to ensure a safe landing for retiring racehorses, there is always room for growth, improved planning and increased funding. One charitable organization is forging a new path in this aspect of the industry, as The Horse Fund establishes a unique precedent for Thoroughbred ownership groups by taking the 'after' out of aftercare and instead, standing in as the...

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Nashville Sires First Foal

WinStar Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Nashville (Speightstown) was represented by his first foal when a filly was born Monday, Jan. 8, at Maryland's Murmur Farm. Bred by Wasabi Ventures Stables LLC, Robert Angelo, Terry Schuck and Greenspring Mares, the filly is the first foal from Maryland-bred stakes winner Why Not Tonight (Tapiture). "She's a leggy, correct filly with plenty of quality, and we are ecstatic with her as the first foal out of Wasabi's first stakes winner," said George Adams of Housatonic Bloodstock. "We'll be breeding multiple mares back to...

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Mating Plans, Presented By Spendthrift: Wasabi Ventures

by George Adams, Housatonic Bloodstock Wasabi has been focused on upgrading the quality of the foals that it's breeding over the last few years, and to that end will be using some higher-end stallions in 2024 than what we've bred to in the past. A stallion that we'll be patronizing heavily this year is Maclean's Music.  He's about to jump from a crop of 2023 2-year-olds numbering 41 and conceived off of a $20,000 stud fee (out of which he already has nine winners, three of whom have also picked...

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First Foal a Filly for Force the Pass

The first foal by Grade I-winning millionaire Force the Pass (Speightstown--Social Queen, by Dynaformer) arrived Feb. 4 at Murmur Farm in Maryland. The filly is out of Magical Point, a daughter of Point Given out of a stakes winning and producing full-sister to Grade I winner and sire Include (Broad Brush). Magical Point, the dam of three winners, and her filly are both owned by Wasabi Ventures Stables, who also stood Force the Pass at Anchor & Hope Farm in Maryland during the 2020 breeding season. Racing as a homebred...

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Force the Pass to Saudi Arabia

Grade I winner Force the Pass (Speightstown--Social Queen, by Dynaformer), who stood his first season at stud in 2020 at Anchor & Hope Farm in Maryland, has been sold and will continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia. The 8-year-old stallion was acquired last year by TK Kuegler's Wasabi Ventures Stallions, LLC, and represented Wasabi's first foray into the stallion business. "When we obtained Force the Pass a year ago, we had every expectation of turning him into a successful Midlantic stallion," said Kuegler. "We never had any intention of...

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Horse Owners Help Backside Workers Overcome the Digital Age

Edited Press Release Across the nation, communities have grappled with how to ensure that all community members have access to the internet and computers in order to complete schooling and access vital resources. In Louisville, over 20% of families lacked access to internet, including many of the workers and their families who work at Churchill Downs and surrounding racetracks.  Now, due to a generous donation to the Backside Learning Center from Wasabi Venture Stables Club members, many backside families will move closer towards digital equity. The Backside Learning Center (BLC)...

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First Mare Bred to GISW Force the Pass In Foal

The first mare bred to Wasabi Ventures Stallions' Grade I scorer Force the Pass (Speightstown--Social Queen, by Dynaformer) was confirmed in foal Mar. 12 at St. Omer's Farm in Forest Hill, Maryland. The mare, Wasabi Ventures Stables'-owned Magical Point (Point Given), is out of a full-sister to Grade I-winning sire Include and is the dam of three winners. Campaigned by his breeder, Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables, Force the Pass won the 2015 GI Belmont Derby as a 3-year-old. Also victorious in the GIII Penn Mile that season, he added...

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Wasabi 'Ventures' Into Stallions

After a devastating 2019 fire at Louis and Grace Merryman's Anchor and Hope Farm in Port Deposit, Maryland, the rebuilding process has come full circle with the arrival of Force the Pass, a Grade I-winning son of Speightstown, who will begin his first season at stud at the farm this year. Force the Pass also marks a new beginning for T. K. Kuegler's Wasabi Ventures Stallions as the first stallion to stand for the growing syndicate. Kuegler grew up listening to racing stories from his great grandfather, trainer P. J....

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