Happy Anniversary: Stonewall homebred Awesome Czech wins Yaddo

By Darby O’Brien

Peter Moore began working with Barry Schwartz of Stonewall Farm 20 years ago Friday, and Awesome Czech’s triumph in the $150,000 Yaddo Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, going 1 1/16-miles on the turf, made the anniversary that much sweeter.

“Today is 20 years since I started with him (Schwartz),” Moore said. “To the day. He reminded me of that the other day. And he said, ‘If that horse wins, you better tell them.’ Yeah. Twenty years to the day.”

Awesome Czech stumbled at the break and settled in fourth along the inside as Spinning Colors surged to the lead. With heavy traffic on the rail, Ricardo Santana Jr. swung the 4-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn four wide into the upper stretch and dug in. With a strong rally in the final sixteenth, Schwartz’s homebred prevailed in the final jumps to score by a half-length over favored Moonage Daydream. Spinning Colors finished third.

Trained by Horacio De Paz, Awesome Czech won in 1:41.41 over the firm turf.

“She likes that track,” said Moore. “Santana loves this filly. He’s really good on her, and for a moment I thought he screwed that one up. Honestly, when he came around I thought he wasn’t going to be able to get out. … This guy (De Paz) is doing a great job. He wanted Santana on this filly for a long time. Between the two of them, and the fact that she likes it up here, we’re thrilled. Thrilled to have that.”

Out of the Awesome Again mare Marvelous Martina – thus the name for tennis legend Martina Navratilova – Awesome Czech won her second stakes and fourth race in five starts at Saratoga.

Awesome Czech won last year’s Suzie O’Cain Stakes in mid-August 14 following a win in allowance company. De Paz had no intention of messing with that formula, as the filly came into the race with a narrow win in a 1-mile allowance in her last start at Saratoga July 4.

Looking ahead, De Paz hopes to see the filly improve when faced with potentially tougher company.

“We’ll see how she comes out of this,” he said. “New York-bred company has good purses. I always thought she was an open-company horse. We tried the Virginia Oaks last year and didn’t get the trip we wanted. Options are open for her.”

Schwartz bred Awesome Czech and she was foaled at his Stonewall Farm in Westchester County. Moore was there every step of the way.

“I was in Keeneland buying mares in foal and we’re both big fans of Mendelssohn,” Moore said. “And at the time, he wasn’t commanding huge money. We only paid 25 or 30 (thousand) for that mare. And we kind of felt it was a steal, even at the time. Obviously, it worked out. The first foal is, as you know, a multiple stakes winner.”

Awesome Czech is the first foal out of Marvelous Martina, a 9-year-old mare who won twice in her career and sold for $25,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Marvelous Martina is also the dam of the 3-year-old Central Banker filly Rare Society, who makes her second career start for Schwartz and trainer Linda Rice in Sunday’s fifth race at Saratoga.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/08/22/happy-anniversary-stonewall-homebred-awesome-czech-wins-yaddo/

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Iron Orchard improves to 2-for-2 in Seeking the Ante

By Julia Reedy

When Danny Gargan and Jimmy Gladwell saw Iron Orchard at the OBS April sale, they knew they couldn’t leave without her.

The 2-year-old filly was promptly purchased for $500,000 for owners Edward Childs and Randy Hill of R.A. Hill Stable – and has since rewarded her connections with back-to-back wins, including a 6 3/4-length score over fellow New York-bred Oriole Way in Friday’s $150,000 Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

“We liked the fact that she was fast and she was pretty,” Gladwell said of his first impression of the Authentic filly. “We had some dear friends of ours selling her and they were extremely high on her. They gave us even more confidence. And the New York-bred program, we love the program. We love to run up here. We’re just happy today and happy for all the connections.”

Gladwell was introduced to Childs through the late Hall of Fame trainer and mutual friend D. Wayne Lukas.

Lukas called Gladwell a few years prior asking him for a favor: could he help Childs pick out a few horses at the 2-year-old sales? Not one to deny an old friend, Gladwell agreed.

“He (Lukas) was a dear friend, and it’s been a great partnership with Mr. Childs,” Gladwell said. “Our main business is 2-year-olds in training, and our main clients are Dean and Patti Reeves at Reeves Thoroughbred Racing that have a large stable.

“It’s all been a lot of fun, and this has been a great day to see this filly do so well. … We came up and watched her run the first race and watched her run today. She’s grown. She’s filled out. Danny Gargan and his whole team have done an outstanding job with her and have been patient with her. She’s got a bright future ahead of her.”

For Edward Childs and his son, Alex, the journey has been nothing short of rewarding.

“He’s (Edward) been in it a long time and then we all got involved here probably three or four years ago,” Alex said. “We kind of went the Quarter Horse route and broke off from that, got into Thoroughbreds and then some partners and friends of ours jumped in there with us. It’s been a fun deal. It’s got its ups and downs, right? But it’s huge fun.”

As for Iron Orchard’s next start, Gargan said she could run in open company.

“She’s just lightning fast,” Gargan said. “Now, we’ll figure (it) out. We could end up in the Frizette next time (October 4 at Aqueduct). I wanted to get this, and she looks like she shows everything in the mornings like she’ll stretch. I think going a mile, she’ll break and when horses come to her, she gets faster. She does it so easy, so we’ll see who’s all going to show up there, but that’s what we’ll point her towards and hopefully we end up there.”

Bred by Pine Ridge Stable LLC and foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, Iron Orchard commanded the top price for a New York-bred filly and second most expensive price for a New York-bred overall at the OBS April sale. She originally went through the ring at the 2023 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, bringing $140,000 as a weanling from Castleton Way. A $97,000 RNA at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Iron Orchard later sold for $78,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale.

She’s the fourth foal out of the Brethren mare Onebrethatatime, a three-time winner who earned $133,283 and is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Wonderlandbynight and Gilded Miracle, the dam of Grade 1 winner Exaulted.

Onebrethatatime’s third foal, the New York-bred Not This Time 3-year-old filly Backcheck, won in her third start in June at Aqueduct and is entered in a $95,000 allowance on Saturday’s Travers Day undercard at Saratoga.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/08/22/iron-orchard-improves-to-2-for-2-in-seeking-the-ante/

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