A mainstay in racing for decades, campaigning horses such as Gulch, Waya, Mogambo, and Track Barron, Peter Brant walked away from the sport in the mid-1990's to focus his attention on polo. After a 20-year hiatus from racing, the onetime highest-rated amateur polo player in the U.S. retired his mallet in 2016 and immediately set his sights on returning to the sport of kings. He was determined to re-enter the world of racing just as he had left it, as an accomplished owner and breeder competing at the top of the game. After building his broodmare band and stable, acquiring South Florida training center Payson Park, and enlisting the services of leading trainer Chad Brown, Brant, 75, is enjoying a banner 2022, his runners having already earned $2.5 million with the year only halfway complete.
Brant, of White Birch Farm, spoke with BloodHorse MarketWatch about cultivating his breeding program and his aspirations for the future, and shared insight into some of his current star performers.
MarketWatch: Mr. Brant, you're enjoying a terrific year with your runners, between grade 1 wins with Regal Glory and graded stakes victories with Speak of the Devil, Rougir, Virginia Joy, Jack Christopher , Bleecker Street, and In Italian. I know you've enjoyed a fair amount of success in the past, but what do you believe has contributed to your success specifically this year?
Peter Brant: Well, I think a lot of that success is because this is my fifth year since I've gotten back into horse racing. When I re-entered racing in 2016, I wanted to come back to the industry in the same position that I had left it. I could also see how the game had changed since I was in it before. And so I decided to do some long-term investments in mares and breeding to build up a program, not only for myself, but for my family.
I've always been very keen on having good mares, I learned that from the Hancocks years ago. And a lot of my really good runners over the years came from my nice mares that I had bought, or race mares that I had bought, like Jameela. Then I bought some mares like Track Barron's dam, Golden Spike, from the Chenery estate. She was a Sir Gaylord Chenery farm homebred. So re-entering the game, I decided to invest in mares. But I also decided to buy yearlings, too, so that I could have some horses in training so I could have some action on the track while I was building what I would consider a holding that could continue on with reinvestment and culling. Getting back into racing, I figured my program would really come to hand in seven, eight years. And this is only the fifth year. Sometimes in horse racing it doesn't work out well the way you planned it, but if you have that field of lightning rods you're bound to get it at some point. I've always thought it's not as crazy and speculative of a numbers game long term as it is short term, providing you keep the blood fresh.
MW: Right now, you have a contingent of successful turf fillies. As the previous owner of top dirt horses like Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Gulch and part-owner of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Swale, why did you decide to concentrate your focus on turf horses—specifically fillies from Europe—when you re-entered the racing game in 2016?
PB: I purchased a lot of yearlings that were dirt horses, but I started moving toward the grass horses because I just noticed the popularity among the bettors with turf racing. Grass racing has increased substantially in popularity since the time I was in the industry before. On top of that, I had always run a bit in Europe, and I wanted to continue to do that as well as bring some of those horses from Europe over here to run. I look at it like a farm team where the horses are broke over there in the European fashion. And then when they're a little sounder and show they have some quality, but not interrupt their ability to go to the classics in Europe, then they can come over here to race if we felt it was the time or if it's ever the time.
Of course, we have been developing horses on the dirt as well. I live in the U.S., so sure, the dirt racing is important to me. But sometimes it takes 10 years to get to where you want to be. Sometimes it happens earlier and sometimes later, and we fully intend to participate and probably even concentrate more on the dirt in the next three years or so. Dunbar Road finished second and third in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). She almost won the race last year. We love dirt horses, but they have to get there and make it. We have Miles D, he was third in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) last year and won the Discovery Stakes. He's a very good horse and we think he'll be a very good older horse this year.
Like every American, we'd like to win the Kentucky Derby. I was fortunate enough to be a partner with Swale (in 1984) and that was one of the greatest thrills of my life, to win the Kentucky Derby with the Hancocks and Ed Cox and Bill Perry.
MW: You're also an active owner and breeder in Europe, campaigning Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Sottsass and breeding Stone Age, one of the current favorites for the Cazoo Derby (G1). What about that appeals to you about European racing and breeding?
PB: If you like racing, you can't not like European racing. The competition is incredible. It's made up of owners who have been coming over to the yearling sales in Keeneland and Saratoga and bought the very best that they thought they could buy for the last 40 years. And that has stamped their breed in becoming a very superior horse. The stallion blood over there was very high quality. You look at stallions like Galileo, who was probably the greatest stallion I've ever seen in terms of his statistics and the quality of group 1 winners. And now you have Dubawi, Frankel , Kingman , and Siyouni. These are great, great sires and I really wanted to breed to them over there. I keep half of my mares in the United States and half of them in Ireland (as well as in England and France). Sistercharlie and Newspaperofrecord are over at Coolmore in Ireland.
MW: How did you come to be associated with Chad Brown?
PB: When I got back into horse racing, I had been watching how well Chad had been doing. I thought he just looked like a guy that really wanted to win and do things the right way. I noticed how careful he was with his horses in terms of not pushing them too much when things looked off. He would stop on them, and that impressed me. I've just been with him ever since. He's got a great team of people, great riders, which I think is very important. He takes good care of the horses and manages things well. You could say I'm a real Chad Brown fan.
MW: Rougir was very impressive in the Beaugay Stakes (G3T) a few weeks ago, as was Speak of the Devil in the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2T) on Derby Day. What factors went into deciding to purchase both of these fillies at the Arqana December Sale and bring them both to the United States?
PB: The way they looked and their records. They both are beautiful horses. One (Speak of the Devil) looked like a great miler and the other (Rougir) looked like a distance horse but could also run a mile. I had a filly over there that I thought was a very nice filly and she ran against Rougir in her maiden race. It was seven furlongs and we made the lead and looked like we were going to win for fun, and then Rougir just passed us like we were trotting, so I've always been a fan of hers. I tried to buy her earlier but her owners didn't really want to sell her, but we got lucky she was in the sale and I bought her with Michael Tabor.
MW: Regal Glory is arguably one of the most proven turf fillies in the country at this point, coming off top-level wins in the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes presented by PEPSI (G3T) and Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T). It's been said that there were talks of retiring her after the Pegasus F&M Turf. What made you decide to keep her in training for the remainder of the year? What are your designs for her for the rest of the season?
PB: I was planning on retiring her. I remember saying to Walter Hancock after the Pegasus race, 'She's going to retire,' and as we were walking out after she won he was in the crowd there shaking my hand and said to me, 'Are you sure you want to retire her?' And I said, 'No, I'm actually not sure.' And then Chad, who is normally a fan of retiring horses at 6, also thought she should continue training and we decided to go on with her. (She is) going to the (June 11) Just a Game Stakes (G1T) next.
MW: With so many outstanding turf fillies, how do you plan to separate them all in the coming months?
PB: Well, that's Chad Brown's job. And sometimes he'll separate them and sometimes he won't. If there's certain races that we think are key races and two of our horses wind up in that race, we're willing to run them both. You can't take a horse like Bleecker Street and not run her at Belmont Park against the best, I mean, she's 6-for-6. She deserves the slot. But you also can't tell Speak of the Devil, either, that she can't run in the Just a Game. It's a race I've never won and I really want to win it because I owned Just a Game. It would be a great honor to win that race and I think it's a very important race. So you probably will see two or maybe three of my horses in there.
MW: I see you bought a share in Jack Christopher following his maiden victory last summer at Saratoga Race Course. What impressed you about the colt and what led to that decision?
PB: I saw him break his maiden at Saratoga and thought he looked very special. I watch these maiden races a lot. I had an opportunity to buy into him before the Champagne Stakes (G1) and we did that, and of course, he went to the Breeders' Cup and didn't get to run. I watched him train at Payson Park all winter and thought he was clearly one of the best horses there in training. And now he came back and won the Pat Day Mile Stakes presented by LG&E and KU (G2) at Churchill Downs off the layoff.
And that's what this game's about. You have certain instincts about horses and some of them are right and some of them are not. I think (Jack Christopher) was a good one. I loved the way he looked, he looked like he was a great speed horse, and he's by Munnings, who is by Speightstown. I've bought into other stallions like Constitution , Life Is Good , and other horses that I feel like will be good possibilities for stallions. Sometimes you have to wait a while to see if they will be a great stallion, so I think the young stallions are a good play.
MW: What was the impetus behind purchasing Payson Park Training Center?
PB: When I was a lot younger I used to keep my horses there with Leroy Jolley. Leroy used to send his horses there, and I noticed he had a lot of good dirt horses, Derby horses, coming out of Payson. I just thought naturally it was one of the best tracks I've ever seen in terms of keeping horses sound. We thought it needed help because it hadn't been cared for in a tip-top way. So we purchased it and kept it open to all the great trainers that were training there. And Chad was already training there. We put a lot into the track. We put in proper poles to measure, we redid the undersurface, and we screen the track material and level it on a regular basis. We also redid the turf course and put rails and markers on the turf course. It's been great for us. If you ask every trainer that stables there, they only say good things about our improvements.
MW: You are often joined at the races by family members. What do you think the industry must do to improve and remain relevant for future generations?
PB: I think it's important for the stewardship of any of these properties, which include the racetracks and the farms, to really care about our businesses and showcase the love that we have for the sport and make it more enjoyable for every type of person. You go to Belmont, people seem to be enjoying themselves and having fun and that's because it's more open to everyone, and you go to Keeneland, I mean, wow. There's proof right there that it can be done. These racetracks were built at a different time where you didn't have the media coverage that we have today. I think it's important that when owners have their horses running, they should go to the races more and watch their horses run. The joy of winning a race is second to very little.
The ownership of the racetracks is extremely important to adjusting those racetracks, like New York is doing. Downscaling and putting in more modern facilities like Longchamp did in Paris. It's important to modernize. You can't keep taking out of the game and not giving back, like a lot of the states do. The racetracks provide a lot of jobs for people; it's a family of employees and you have to invest back in. I think a lot of the problems with soundness in horses come from the fact the dirt and turf courses aren't taken care of in the way they should be taken care of. I don't buy the belief that the breed just isn't as sound anymore. I place a lot of blame on the facilities. The tracks seemed to be more concerned with gambling and field size now. I see now in New York that track maintenance is a priority and I see the difference now at Saratoga and Belmont. I believe they understand that now more than they've ever understood it.
