Getting a horse to the biggest weekend in racing is an accomplishment few get to experience. Breeders such as Woodford Thoroughbreds thrive off the achievements of those horses which only further validates the success of their program.
This year John and Susan Sykes of Woodford Thoroughbreds will see two horses from their breeding nursery take to the oval. Mimi Kakushi will run in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1), while Rocket Can goes in the main event the next day in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Mimi Kakushi, a poster child from the first crop of Lane's End stallion City of Light , is out of grade 2 stakes winner Rite Moment. Woodford Thoroughbreds sold the bay filly during the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale as part of the freshman sire showcase to 2-year-old consignor Al Pike for $180,000. She went on to sell for $250,000 to Woodrow Call at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
"As a foal, she was a knockout, very pretty, elegant, and leggy," said Woodford Thoroughbreds' director of marketing Shannon Machholz. "She had a ton of class and quality about her and developed into a nice individual as a yearling."
Machholz was on site to watch both horses gallop Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs and noted the Salem bin Ghadayer trainee was pretty relaxed and moving over the surface nicely. She will break from gate 1 Friday with Mickael Barzalona in the tack for owner Godolphin. The following day, Bill Mott pupil Rocket Can will start from post 18 in the Run For the Roses with Junior Alvarado in the irons.
While the son of leading sire Into Mischief may not have been a sales topper during the 2021 Saratoga Sale at Fasig-Tipton ($245,000 RNA), Rocket Can was a farm favorite for Woodford. Agent Donato Lanni took a liking to the gray/roan colt out of Tension and half sibling to grade 2 winner Tiz Midnight and scooped him up for client Frank Fletcher Racing Operations.
Machholz said: "From the moment he was born, he was good-looking. We were very excited about him. He maybe was a little immature at sale time. He had a good walk but lacked the big sexy, long walk everybody wants."
While the Sykes won't be at Churchill Downs on the day, the products of their breeding give back tenfold with validation of their mantra: "Raising runners."
"It's important to establish yourself in the industry as a breeder who gets runners. It's paramount for us, our brand, and our relationship in the total market," Machhholz said. "When someone buys a Woodford-bred, they are getting a horse that has the potential to run at the highest levels. It reinforces the fact that we are not just breeding sales horses. We are breeding horses that can run."
