The story of Caravel is one that Hollywood directors can only dream of, the tales that authors weave to warm our hearts and inspire us to believe that anything is indeed possible. Quite simply, the story of Caravel is a story about a woman who never lost faith in her horse.
Raised in the company of older mares across the field from herds of grazing buffalo, Caravel has risen to stardom after her decisive triumph in the July 24 Caress Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course. For co-owner, breeder, and trainer Lizzie Merryman, born in Maryland horse country, Caravel's success has been far from a surprise. Caravel's victory in the Caress only confirmed Merryman's belief that the filly she knew as a strong-willed foal, out of a mare Merryman was given for free, was capable of achieving great feats on the racetrack.
Merryman, a Maryland horsewoman turned Pennsylvania breeder who operates her small stable of horses at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., spoke with BloodHorse MarketWatch about her start in the breeding and training industry, acquiring Caravel's dam Zeezee Zoomzoom, and a possible bid for this year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Del Mar with both a new trainer in Graham Motion and co-owner in celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
MarketWatch: What did winning your first graded stakes mean to you?
Lizzie Merryman: It meant that a lot of years of hard work had finally paid off. Winning a graded stakes race at Saratoga Race Course just made it all the more special. (Caravel) really is so special. I RNA'd her for a lot of money ($330,000 in the Wanamaker's October online auction) last fall because I figured we'll keep her and keep swinging because I thought she was (capable) of more; she's the top echelon. And this year she's done everything right, everything I've asked of her. Her only defeats, in my eyes, have been because of bad trips.
MW: How does Caravel compare to other horses you've trained?
LM: She's just so fast and so smart. She's the smartest horse I've ever been around. I feel like the few good horses I have trained have all had strong personalities. They were never just a horse. They always had some strong personality traits and she's been that way since the beginning. She was a strong personality as a baby. I raised her as an only child because her mother was the only mare I had in foal that year. She had to go in the paddock with the older mares as a young horse and she was tough, she would fight her way through any crowd. She was respectful of the older mares but she also wouldn't back off.
MW: How did you acquire Caravel's dam, Zeezee Zoomzoom?
LM: A friend of mine, Kim Brette, called me from Florida where she was working as a vet tech down there and said "Amy Tarrant has this mare who got hurt but she needs to find a home as a broodmare or riding horse. I think she would make you a really nice broodmare."
Kim is a superior horse person. She's been in racing all over the world and has so much experience and knowledge. She rode for me a few years ago. We kept in touch over the years and every now and then she would tip me off about a horse and I wouldn't take them and then they would go to do well and I would think "Oh, she was right again."
I looked up (Zeezee Zoomzoom's) pedigree. It was a light pedigree with very few horses on the page but the ones on there were ones with ability that could run. She was by Congrats but her dam (Zee Zee) was by Exchange Rate, and she was a pretty good filly. (Zee Zee) won some stakes and was graded stakes-placed, ran in the Breeders' Cup. Plus Congrats has proven to be a great broodmare sire so I was pretty happy about that. I decided that yeah I'll take a shot on her. I got her for free.
MW: How long have you been a breeder?
LM: I've always bred horses. My parents were small breeders. They always had 8-12 mares and we bred all the horses that we raced. My first broodmare (Justine) was one of my dad's culls. The first foal I bred out of her was named Just a Wish, and she ended up being a stakes winner. We ended up selling her and she went to California and won a stakes.
MW: Where do you keep your mares and how many do you have currently?
LM: I keep my mares at Buffalo Run Ranch in Coatesville, Pa., which I share with my husband (William Rubin). He owns buffalo. So the mares and foals are up there and so are the buffalo. I have three mares.
MW: Do you still have Zeezee Zoomzoom?
LM: I still have 'Zeezee.' She was in Kentucky and she was bred to Street Boss. I'm hoping for another fast horse.
MW: Why did you decide to breed her to Caravel's sire Mizzen Mast?
LM: Being a young first-year mare I didn't want to breed her to a first-year stallion. I wanted to breed her to turf because I thought that was a strong trait in her family. I've had some Mizzen Masts over the years that I liked. I think his numbers are really good. He's had a fair amount of Breeders' Cup horses from small crops. I also wasn't breeding her to sell so I wasn't worried about the market, I just wanted a good racehorse. I wanted to give the mare the opportunity to breed to a good racehorse sire. There are very few Mizzen Masts out there but they can run. I have two of them and last weekend Caravel won the stakes at Saratoga and the other one (Flyingontheground) was second in a stakes in Maryland.
MW: How did you get started in training?
LM: Well after my divorce I figured I would go into training or go to vet school. I had a couple of horses on my own that I bred. I also had one horse from my parents, a really nice stakes filly named Proud Run. I decided to rent some stalls out at Fair Hill. So I had my four stalls and thought, "well, I'll give it a year and see how it works out." And now 25 years later I'm still doing it.
MW: Caravel didn't make her first start until the summer of her 3-year-old year. Did she have some physical problems early on or was she just a late bloomer?
LM: She was a late developer. As a 2-year-old she'd go through growth spurts. I still rode a little bit back then and I'd get on her and decide "oh, you need another break." Then she started coming along really well. The first time she ever breezed a little baby eighth of a mile down the stretch, I was blown away. I thought "wow, I have to run her." She's a runner. I told the rider who was on her to just two-minute lick her and watching her she looked like she was just galloping down the lane—galloping along yet she went in :11 flat. So we were always very high on her. The fact that she could really run wasn't a surprise; the fact that she's as good as she is is always a surprise. You never expect to win seven out of nine races like that.
MW: Caravel seems to have certainly found her niche in turf sprints. It appears as if she's getting better with every race.
LM: She has a high cruising speed and the fact that she'll settle now and then when they tell her to punch like that is amazing. She will wait for the cue to go. And that's so important with these type of sprinters. To me I feel they have such an advantage over a frontrunner or one that is keyed up from the get-go because they can save that kick until they really need it.
MW: How did Caravel end up in last October's Wanamaker's Sale?
LM: The Wanamaker's Sale is owned by my daughter (Liza Hendriks), and my sister's (Ann Merryman's) horse Fiya sold so well in it ($400,000 in the 2020 July online auction). I'm usually a seller when I get something nice so I told Liza we would put her in the sale and test the market. I think I chose the wrong sale though because the catalog came out and then she got beat in the Hilltop before the sale went live. It just looked like there was a chink in her armor but I knew she was much, much better than that. But that beat backed people off. I knew she wouldn't bring the money that I thought that she was worth after that race but she was already in there so we just waited it out. A lot of people vetted her but I told myself I was going to be pretty firm on her reserve ($330,000) because I knew she was all that and then some.
MW: In July, you sold 75% interest in Caravel to Bobby Flay. Although she is being sent to trainer Graham Motion, you still retain 25% interest. What are the plans for Caravel for the rest of the year going forward?
LM: You know, from the end of last year I started thinking that I'd like to try to make the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. But I didn't want to say it because it sounded stupid. A filly that just won a couple Presque Isle stakes and you think that much of her? So this year the Breeders' Cup has always been my goal and her new connections (Flay and Motion) plan on continuing on with that. I've always tried to give her progressive steps in her races and never throw too much at her so that she would have that confidence.
(Flay and Motion) want to try a grade 1 in Canada against the boys going three-quarters on the grass (the Aug. 22 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine). I think it'll be great because it'll be a good test to see if she belongs in the Breeders' Cup. The race is three-quarters and the Breeders' Cup is five furlongs this year, which is a very different type of race, but I don't think that'll be a big problem for her. She's gone back and forth between five furlongs, six furlongs, 6 1/2 furlongs many times; it's not an issue.
