Brushwood buys (and sells) only the best
World-class bloodlines are the bottom line at Elizabeth Moran’s 260-acre enclave in Malvern, Pa., represented in 2003 by the $1.1-million top-priced Mid-Atlantic-bred auction yearling, as well as European 3-year-old filly champion Russian Rhythm. Story by Joe Clancy Jr.Photographs by Barrie B. Reightler

Sons and daughters of Storm Cat, A.P. Indy, Pulpit, Street Cry (Ire), Distorted Humor, High Yield, Giant’s Causeway take some sun in a paddock, canter up a long hill while testing their legs, nibble at the beginnings of lush spring grass, rest in a stall. Broodmares with ties to racing’s elite walk slowly while carrying their priceless foals through the final days.
The bloodlines at Brushwood Stable would be at home at any premier breeding establishment. And so, when it comes to quality Thoroughbreds, would the Pennsylvania farm’s owner Betty Moran.

She breeds, sells, buys, selects some of the world’s finest Thoroughbreds—not from a base in Lexington, Kildare or Newmarket. The horses say different, but Brushwood’s address reads Malvern, Pa.

Though Moran can well afford to keep her breeding program to herself, her strategy for Thoroughbred success involves frequent use of the sales market.

She purchases weanlings, yearlings and broodmares at the world’s major sales by acting on pedigree research, conformation study and instinct. She buys to pinhook or to add to her broodmare band (some 26 strong) or her racing stable (now at 20).

The Brushwood name can just as likely be seen on the other side of the ledger. As a consignor, through Kentucky-based Eaton Sales, Moran sold a $2.5 million colt in 2000 and a $5.5 million colt in 2001, plus others in the six-figure and seven-figure categories.
In 2003 Brushwood was represented as a breeder by European 3-year-old filly champion Russian Rhythm, sold as a weanling for $370,000 at the Keeneland November sale.
Brushwood sold Russian Rhythm’s half-brother (by Rahy) for $1.1 million at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling sale, the highest auction price for any Mid-Atlantic-bred last season.

“It’s a challenge,” Moran said of the sales game. “Say you raise one you bred out of one of your best mares. To see them sell well is as good as going to the races and doing well.”
And Moran has done well at the races. She won the 1985 Belmont Stakes with Creme Fraiche, a yearling purchase who bankrolled more than $4 million. Brushwood’s current stable star is $600,000-earner Kicken Kris, a Michael Matz trainee she purchased as a yearling at Keeneland. Other horses are with Bill Mott, Christophe Clement, Gregg McCar-ron, her son Michael Moran and in Europe.

Still, the sales action captures Moran’s attention. As a buyer, she studies pedigrees and works on an already sharp eye for conformation. Eaton’s Reiley McDonald assists, as does Moran’s son-in-law Franny Abbott.

Like any good shopper, Moran knows what she wants and often acts alone.
“You look for good conformation for sure, but I do like good pedigree,” she said. “You’re going to pay a lot. I could turn around and pinhook more of them, but I don’t do that much. Franny and I put our heads together and come up with a plan—we know which ones we are going to look at long before we get there.”

Moran spent $400,000 on Kicken Kris in 2001 and signed a $1.8 million ticket on an Unbridled—Storm Alert yearling colt last year. Named Saffir, that colt is in early work in Florida. In early March, Brushwood’s yearling barn housed eight youngsters—some homebreds and some purchases. Five are headed to the summer sales market and three will race in Brushwood’s green and blue silks.

Ever the buyer—and seller —Moran studies each one.
“This guy is growing nicely. This is our youngest one. He’s a little close behind, but I think he will square up. Watch this one walk—isn’t he great?
“Has the blacksmith seen this one?”

One new yearling grabs Moran’s attention—just as he did last year in the sales ring. The dark bay has a wide blaze, three white socks, a presence that all but screams “look at me”—and a $375,000 receipt (from Keeneland November) in the desk drawer. A son of Danehill Dancer and the Arazi mare Glint in Her Eye, the colt will stay with Brushwood to race—possibly with Michael Stoute in England.

“He was my favorite in the sale and I was prepared to spend much more than I did,” she said. “I just love him, everything about him. I don’t think there’s ever been a horse at the sale that I fell in love with like this one. It’s not the face, none of that. He walked right. He’s got a nice step. Look how he oversteps himself.”
The young horse walks like a championship boxer—proud and assertive—as he heads to the field with his seven friends. Still, it’s tough to get excited about a small furry horse with dirt on his nose.

Unless you’re Betty Moran. The Danehill Dancer was the last of the eight to go past, and Moran talked about each like a newscaster reciting the headlines. She rattled off prices, reasons, future plans. She is not a hands-off owner.

“I don’t come out here and pat them, kiss them and hug them,” she said. “They are stock certificates. I want them to be well taken care of, but it’s for business reasons.”
Of the eight youngsters on the 260-acre farm, three (the Danehill Dancer colt, a Storm Cat filly and a Distorted Humor colt) will stay. The others, all homebreds, will be sold.
The Brushwood breeding program is nothing but first-class, thanks to a constantly culled and even-more-constantly upgraded broodmare band. The ladies of Brushwood represent everything from European turf blood to all-American race track form.

Moran bought $1.4 million- earner Excellent Meeting privately from California breeders John and Betty Mabee in 2000, and has bred the mare to Storm Cat twice. A 2-year-old colt, of whom Moran still owns 25 percent, is training in Ireland and a newly born filly is at Brushwood. Moran isn’t selling.

“By Storm Cat out of a mare who was that good at the races? What’s that worth at the sales?” Moran said. “She’s correct, she’s very well-bred, obviously. This little filly would bring the world at the sales, but I will keep her to race, hopefully successfully, and then I will have a wonderful broodmare down the road. She’s something you really can’t buy.”
So are most of the rest. Mares such as La Affirmed (dam of five stakes horses, including Brushwood-bred group winners Bernstein and Della Francesca) and her daughter Layounne are priceless commodities. Russian Rhythm’s dam Balistroika (by Nijinsky II), and multiple Grade 1 winner Catinca go to the world’s best stallions. Moran owns shares in A.P. Indy, Danzig, Gone West, Kingmambo, Seeking the Gold and Storm Cat, among others.
Moran doesn’t let sentiment affect her choices when it comes to broodmares. If a mare doesn’t produce to the standard Brushwood needs, she will most likely be sold. The same goes for a filly on the race track.

“One of my biggest theories is if it’s not going to work, put them in foal and say goodbye in November,” she said. “I’m not going to deal with that. They’ve got to be good or I don’t want them.”

The two worlds of classy mares and dominant sires collide to form a Thoroughbred factory that has produced the likes of last year’s One Thousand Guineas-G1 winner Russian Rhythm, $1 million-earner High Yield, Grade 2 winner Della Francesca, and many others. Last year’s stars also included Capitano, a son of Belong to Me and the Tabasco Cat mare Heavenly Cat sold for a relatively modest $53,000 at the 2002 Keeneland September Yearling sale. Capitano finished second in two graded stakes at 2 in California last season and was weighted at 111 pounds on the Experimental Handicap.

Alajwad, a Storm Cat—La Affirmed colt (thus a full brother to Bernstein) sent the light bulbs all the way to $5.5 million at Keeneland September in 2001. The horse has won twice, and could blossom into a star. Moran owns a host of his relatives.

“It’s the same as the art world. You want a Monet or Munnings, but the little guys step up and do well too sometimes, so you never know,” said Moran. “Some of them get sold, some of them get kept. If we have an older mare like La Affirmed (who is 21) and she has a daughter we’re probably going to keep the daughter so we can keep the family going.”
Moran’s breeding operation includes what amounts to two divisions—mares who stay in Kentucky and others who return to Pennsylvania to have their foals. The Kentucky division, at Indian Hill Farm, co-owned with McDonald and Mickey and Karen Taylor (of Seattle Slew fame) is overseen by McDonald, while longtime employee Brooks Adams manages the Pennsylvania farm. Sales prepping is done by Eaton in Kentucky, though Brush-wood handles its share of responsibility—including foaling and the early weanling/yearling days.

“People years ago told me to watch young horses out in the field—you’ll be able to tell a lot,” said Moran, who began breeding and raising flat race horses at Brushwood in the late 1970s, after starting out as a steeplechase owner. “How they run in the field is a very good test. Russian Rhythm’s brother was worth endless amounts of money because I knew him in the field. I’ve never had a horse on this farm who could do what he did.”
John Ferguson, acting as agent for Sheikh Mohammed, was the purchaser of last year’s top sales yearling. Thinking business, Moran quickly pointed out that she owns the mare and her current yearling colt by Rahy.

For all her sales savvy, Moran isn’t all bottom line. A renowned philanthropist who supports numerous causes, she reserves a 26-acre field for retirees at Brushwood and keeps two retired mares—the Rokeby-bred Irish classic winner Forest Flower and Northern Dancer’s half-sister Born a Lady—in the farm’s ever-changing mix. Creme Fraiche died last year and is buried on the farm, leaving steeplechaser Tostadero, multiple stakes winner Glenbarra and champion show horse Ring Bearer meandering the retiree field. Forest Flower and Born a Lady share a big field with several mares waiting to foal.

“I like knowing they are there,” she said. “They deserve a home after they’ve done their jobs. I think the older mares lend some history to things. I bought them for the blood, and it’s still there.” In Pennsylvania.