Fifty Five collects second Mount Vernon victory

By Tom Law

John Crowe might as well mark his calendar now, for early March when the team working on production of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Annual Awards Dinner program comes calling about a mare he bred and sold privately more than three years ago.

Fifty Five, the pride of Crowe’s small Empire Equines breeding operation, took a step toward defending her New York-bred champion turf female crown Thursday with a victory in the $100,000 Mount Vernon Stakes at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old Get Stormy mare also won the 2019 Mount Vernon after finishing second in the 1-mile turf stakes in 2018.

“I’m always happy to talk about her again,” Crowe said back in March, when Fifty Five was about to add the champion turf female title to her champion 3-year-old filly crown from 2017. “No matter who owns her, we bred her so we are still connected.”

Fifty Five, owned by Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown, added $55,000 to her already seven-figure bankroll with her nose victory over Classic Lady. Ridden by Javier Castellano and sent off at 1-2 in the field of six, Fifty Five won in 1:36.45 for her ninth stakes win and 12th victory overall from 23 starts.

Foaled at Berkshire Stud in Pine Plains in late April 2014, Fifty Five was produced by the late Brahms mare Soave. Crowe and his wife Sandy bred Soave and purchased Soave’s dam, the New York-bred Cozzene mare Cozzeniki, for $14,000 at the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December mixed sale.

The Crowes originally tried to sell Fifty Five at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale but she didn’t meet her reserve on a bid of $24,000. They turned her over to Tom Bush and she won three times in her first five starts, including the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs.

“We’re very small,” Crowe said. “At most we were at 10 to 12 mares, but then cut back. We bought another one we bred to Get Stormy and I own several in partnership with Joe McMahon and with Mike McMahon’s group. Probably parts of six or seven mares and we own five on our own.

“Some are at McMahons, and some are in Kentucky when they’re being bred. We try to spread them around alittle bit and most of them are New York-breds.”

Brant purchased Fifty Five privately and turned her over to Brown after the Florida Oaks and while she only won once in five starts in his colors she placed in three stakes – two of them graded. The win came in the season-ending Ticonderoga Stakes on Empire Showcase Day to lock up the 3-year-old filly title.

“It’s been a very pleasant and rewarding experience,” Crowe said. “We had some mixed feelings about selling her, but we did well with the sale and Peter Brant did well with the purchase, so that’s pretty good.”

Castellano, aboard Fifty Five for 12 of her last 14 starts including a run of six straight that includes her now three-race win streak, marveled at the mare’s consistency.

“She knows where the wire is and she makes me look good. I’m the pilot and I have to time it right,” said Castellano, fourth in the current Belmont riding standings with just seven days left in the meeting before Saratoga opens July 16. “With three things against her today – layoff, shorter distance and slow pace – she should have got beat today, but she’s such a good horse with a good heart. The way she did it today was amazing.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2020/07/02/fifty-five-collects-second-mount-vernon-victory/

---