The late Brereton C. Jones may be the most successful North American breeder to not be honored with an Eclipse Award.
The founder and master of Airdrie Stud, who died Sept. 18, built a powerful breeding operation focused a bit less on commercial sizzle and more on producing durable, successful racehorses. He stood stallions that often entered stud at $10,000-$15,000 and then supported them with a large broodmare band that at times numbered nearly 200.
"I love going to the breeding stock sales and sitting up close and making split-second decisions. I buy a lot of mares that way," Jones said in a 2004 interview with BloodHorse. "I enjoy playing the numbers game, and I love the free-enterprise system. I'd be bored to tears if I only had 10 mares, even if all of them were stakes producers."
Since 1971, Jones in his name and with partners bred 269 stakes winners that include 25 grade 1 winners, 29 grade 2 winners, and 35 grade 3 winners. Many of these elite racehorses he campaigned himself. Among 59 stakes winners he raced as an owner alone and in partnerships, 48 were homebreds.
Four of these homebreds were grade 1 winners. They are:
- 2008 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Proud Spell,
- 2010 Gazelle Stakes (G1) winner No Such Word,
- 2012 Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can, and
- 2015 Mother Goose Stakes (G1) winner Include Betty (co-bred with Lavin Bloodstock)
As an owner, Jones raced a grade 1 winner he did not breed but is by a stallion that stood at Airdrie at the time in 2015 Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria, by Majesticperfection. He also co-raced multiple grade 1 winner Divisidero (by Kitten's Joy) with Gunpowder Farm toward the end of the colt's career and now stands him at Airdrie. The freshman sire stands for $5,000.
Going back to 1998, Jones has been outside the top 10 leading North American breeders only three years and has never been outside the top 15.
Jones was runner-up on the leading breeders list by individual breeders twice—in 2010 and 2012, both times second to Adena Springs by earnings. In 2010 Adena Springs was named Eclipse Outstanding Breeder, and in 2012, this honor went to Darley, which ranked third on the leading breeders list by earnings but was represented by five grade 1 winners.
During 1998-2022, runners bred by Jones have won 5,256 races and captured more than $138.8 million in purses. The runners bred and raised at Airdrie have averaged more than $5.5 million in earnings during that 25-year period of time.
Jones also had a keen eye for stallions. Like many stallions overall, most of them had steady, useful careers. But a few have shaped the breed for generations, including Harlan's Holiday, Yankee Gentleman, and Indian Charlie.
Harlan's Holiday, a son of Harlan, entered stud at Airdire at $17,500 on the strength of three grade 1 victories in the 2002 Florida Derby (G1) and Blue Grass Stakes (G1), and 2003 Donn Handicap (G1). He was runner-up in that year's Dubai World Cup (G1) and Hollywood Gold Cup (G1). In Harlan's Holiday's first crop was a grade 1 winner named Into Mischief , who went on to become a four-time leading sire in North America and just set a record for the number of seven-figure auction yearlings sold in a given year at 15. Harlan's Holiday would eventually sire 7.1% black-type winners from foals of racing age, with 52 graded/group winners and six champions among his best.
Yankee Gentleman, a stakes-winning son of Storm Cat, entered stud at Airdire at $10,000 in 2004. The stallion would be a top 12 freshman and second-crop sire but was relocated to Louisiana for the 2010 breeding season. His second crop included a filly that never won named Littleprincessemma, who made her impact as the dam of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), 2023 leading Florida freshman sire St Patrick's Day (Pioneerof the Nile), and grade 1 stakes winner Chasing Yesterday (Tapit ).
Indian Charlie, the 1998 Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner, started his stud career at Vinery near Lexington but was on Airdrie's roster by 2002, when he stood for $10,000. He only made five starts before injury sidelined his racing career. As a stallion, he has sired 8.4% stakes winners from named foals and has eight champions among his 29 graded/group winners. Most significant among his best is multiple leading sire Uncle Mo, who was 2010's champion 2-year-old male and went on to set the progeny earnings records as a first-crop and second-crop sire. Uncle Mo was represented by five seven-figure yearlings during the first week of this year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Indian Charlie also is the sire of Feathered, who is the dam of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline .
"That has always been Dad's program; breed your mares to your own stallions, give those stallions that support and hopefully those stallions will come back and give us the same support in return," Bret Jones told BloodHorse in a 2019 video about Jones-bred Kentucky Derby (G1) starters Zandon and Summer Is Tomorrow. Zandon is by Airdire stallion Upstart , and Summer Is Tomorrow is by Airdrie stallion Summer Front.
"Our (Kentucky) Oaks wins are among the best memories we have because we did it as a family and did it as a farm," Bret Jones continued. "That is as special as it comes."
