Holmes' Bonner Hill Farms Finds its Roots Run Deep

Cristina Holmes worked at Godstone Farm from 2016 until 2020, when it was purchased by her family and renamed Bonner Hill Farms. Little did she realize that the name had a much deeper meaning. The farm in Southeastern Pennsylvania is very much a work in progress as Holmes charts a course for increasing its offerings, which include two relatively new stallions—Pat On the Back and Capo Kane—standing stud. And while Holmes is working to elevate breeding and racing in the state, the farm is a family affair as her parents and daughters help out with everything from administration to mucking stalls to foaling. Holmes tells BloodHorse about working for Judy Barrett at Godstone Farm, learning the business, and the significance of the farm name. BloodHorse: Tell me a little bit about Bonner Hill Farms. I understand that you purchased the farm not too long ago? Cristina Holmes: My father purchased the farm in 2020 because I worked there when it was Godstone (Farm) with Judy Barrett. So I've worked there since the end of 2016, then we purchased the farm in 2020, and then I started my own business on in August of '21. … I decided to venture off on my own. The very next day, Lenny (Liberto) gave me horses. And then Capo (Kane) came in November of 2021. We also started leasing Pat On the Back, the other stallion that is at the farm, in 2021, as well. Pat On the Back is owned by Harold Lerner, AWC Stables, and Nehoc Stables, who continue to be actively involved. BH: You worked for Judy Barrett when it was Godstone Farm. What were you doing for her? CH: I started off not knowing the racing industry, not knowing Thoroughbreds, which I've always worked with. I've always done stuff with horses off and on my whole life. So I used to do bookkeeping. When I had my youngest daughter, I decided I did not want to work in an office anymore. I took some time off, and then I went back and started working as a trail riding guide. Maybe a couple months later, just on a whim, I decided to work at a broodmare farm because it was something new, and I wanted to do something new. I went to interview that morning, I got the job that day, and within a few months, I said, "This is what I want to do, this is my calling." People didn't believe me, and I made it happen. BH: Tell me about the farm name. CH: My father's last name is Bonner, and actually, Lenny Liberto helped me pick the name of the farm. We were having to decide what the business name is, and since my dad was the first investor and they are involved in the operations, I wanted to name the farm after my father. Come to find out, after I told him, I have a great-grandfather in Georgia that used to have a farm named Bonner Hill Farms. So I kind of continued the legacy of my father's family. It was a good choice in name. BH: Was your great-grandfather's farm a horse farm? CH: No, it was just a regular farm in Georgia. BH: Your family bought Godstone Farm property and you renamed it. What changes did you make? CH: I brought in some specialists that come to the farm every six months, like nutritionists, who look at the babies. I try to make the horses as healthy as possible with the work of experts. I didn't make a lot of changes because Judy taught me how to (run a) broodmare farm really well. I kept the same vet (Dr. Gary Kubala), who has been a huge supporter of my business, and he has helped me tremendously. He's helped me further my education. He has helped me learn a little more about reproduction work and medicines. I've had a whole group of people who supported me and taught me different aspects of the industry in the beginning. I still have that support, but it was everything I needed, and it was just like fate. BH: You said you felt like this was fate. Why? CH: Everything was just put in place for me to smoothly transition into opening my own farm and venturing out on my own. Between the support of when Capo was a tough stallion, when he came in, very tough. So I even had to learn different methods to handle him. Now we have a fantastic bond, and he's easy to handle, but at first he was pretty tough. I even had my farrier teach me different methods of handling the stallion—all the way down to that. So that's what I mean by fate; just the group of people that supported me and encouraged and gave me advice. The biggest thing is to listen and learn, because knowledge is power. BH: Who were some of the other people who made up your support system? CH: So Thomas Forsythe, my farrier; my assistant manager in the beginning, her name is Jackie Bell, she was a big support and helped whenever I needed; Dr. Kubala; my family; the stallion owner Lenny Liberto, has been the biggest support as well. He has taught me how to market stallions, how to make advertisements, how to get my name out there. He's been a very big business mentor, along with my father as well. Lenny loves to teach me business. His biggest quote is, "Oh, that's Business 101. You've graduated to Business 102." BH: What kind of inspiration did it provide you when you learned about the family connection to the farm name? CH: It brought tears to my dad's eyes, and it was just another one of those, I would call it a God shot, of this is exactly what we're supposed to be doing. BH: Let's talk about the stallions. You're leasing Pat On the Back and he's only had three crops, two of racing age. He's already gotten a black-type winner. What are you seeing from him, and what feedback are you getting from people who are looking for a stallion? CH: He really does stamp his babies. He throws that nice shoulder and that nice powerful rear end and in a nice solid bone, too. 'Pat' retired sound as well, so I can't tell you that he's throwing soundness yet, because we have one crop, but he definitely throws that nice bone, that solid bone. He is my heart horse. He has a great personality. He could be tough, and he could be sweet at the same time. With his runners that we have now, two were first-time-out winners. So we have a lot of hope that he's gonna really get us some recognition, at least in Pennsylvania and hopefully through some of the other states. I'm excited to see what this new crop is doing. And it was only out of five runners that we have a black-type winner. BH: Then you have Capo Kane. CH: They look very different. Capo Kane's got that nice, sleek, tall, classic Thoroughbred look to him—big shoulder, big chest. He covered 49 mares two years ago. He was number one in the state for mares bred his second year. And last year we got 29, so he's getting the numbers for Pennsylvania this year. We have 10 new stallions (in the state), so I don't know what we're going to do this year, but for the past three years, he's done pretty well. … Capo's babies look just like him. We have them in training this year, and when they hit the track, we're all excited to see what they can do. I feel very fortunate for both stallions. BH: When you're looking ahead at what you envision for Bonner Hill Farms, let's say a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, what are you seeing? CH: I named this Bonner Hill Farms plural because that was me projecting into the future of wanting to own more land, maybe set up a stallion farm. I definitely would love some growth because that's what I've envisioned from the beginning. BH: Do you have a timeline for that happening? CH: It's a long-term goal. I'm hoping to at least acquire some more land in the next five years. BH: What haven't we talked about that you think would be important for our readers to know? CH: I do have a great staff. We take care of the horses. Our horses look great. They are all loved. We have a great system for foaling and breeding. We've done really well. My daughter, Madison Holmes, she's my assistant manager now. I would love to talk about my daughter a little bit. So Madison helps me foal every single baby. Even when she was in high school, she would say, "No, I want to help." And she would help and go to school. She's acquiring just as much experience as I have. I have another daughter who does help her on the farm, too. She's 10 years old. Her name is Renee. She helps feed, she helps clean the stalls. It really is a family-run operation. My parents are do the bookkeeping and some of the office stuff. BH: Let's circle back to Madison. At what age did she express a desire to get involved in the business? CH: She got involved in the business before I even started the business. She worked at Godstone for a little bit too when we were living on the farm in 2020, so she was 15 when she started working. She loves it, she loves the babies. She loves learning about them. She loves handling foaling. Last year, she got to foal our mare out by herself. It was her very first mare that she foaled out by herself, and I know what that feeling is like. You take this deep breath and you're like, "Alright, I gotta do this."