New owners Randy and Jenny Boyd made their presence in the Thoroughbred industry known at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale Aug. 4-5, securing two yearlings, including the top priced filly at $2.6 million—Hip 175, a filly by Gun Runner out of the multiple grade 1-winning mare Paradise Woods; and Hip 9, a colt by Practical Joke out of the stakes producing mare To Be Determined.
READ: Gun Runner Filly Out of Paradise Woods Brings $2.6M
The Tennessee natives have attended many Kentucky Derbies, marveling at the excitement, which propelled their decision to get into racehorse ownership. They currently have one horse of racing age in their stable—Tennessee Belle, a 2-year-old filly by Yaupon who broke her maiden Aug. 16 at Saratoga Race Course by an impressive 7 1/4 lengths for trainer John Ortiz.
The Boyds bought the filly last year after the 2024 Saratoga Sale, based on the recommendations of their agents—Billy Love and Brittany Linton. Love purchased the filly earlier that year from the Fasig-Tipton February Mixed Sale for $160,000, and consigned her under his own banner in Saratoga. She was bred in Kentucky by Breeze Easy.
Background
The Boyds have dedicated their lives to giving back. In 2018, they formed the Boyd Foundation, which makes donations to many areas with a focus on pets, animal welfare, the arts, mental health, and education. Among the Foundation's most impactful commitments are the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research and the Boyd Venture Challenge, a seed grant program for student entrepreneurs. Both are administered through the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville—where Randy Boyd has served as the president since November 2018. He is also a founder and chairman of tnAchieves, a non-profit that has helped send more than 133,000 students to community college free of tuition and fees.
"For the last 10 years, I have been dedicating myself to public service," Randy Boyd said. I was a commissioner of economic and community development for a couple of years, I was the special advisor on higher education to the governor for a year, and then for the last almost seven years now, I've been serving as the president of the University of Tennessee, which is something I volunteer for."
Jenny Boyd, who is co-chairman of the Boyd Foundation, owns a Scottish pub in Knoxville, called Boyd's Jig and Reel. She has a great talent for music, playing the fiddle, banjo, and mandolin on Tuesdays and Thursday nights at the pub. Jenny serves on many philanthropic boards and is on the board of the Tennessee Arts Commission.
In addition to their public service, the Boyds also co-own Boyd Sports, which owns six minor league baseball teams, including the Knoxville Smokies, a Double-A affiliate for the Chicago Cubs.
Randy Boyd noted that their baseball teams were their only other link to the world of sports before jumping into the horse racing industry.
"The last time we went to the (Kentucky Derby), we went to a special event where we learned how to bet, and a lot of things we did not know about horse racing," Jenny Boyd said. "It captured our attention, and we decided that we would get a racehorse. I think it's a good time in our lives to start something new. We're so excited about it because we've learned so much. We've had a crash course on horses, and we just love it. And, we love our horse (Tennessee Belle) very much."
Future Plans in The Industry
After their interest in the Thoroughbred industry was piqued, someone Randy knew at the University of Tennessee introduced him to Love, who was working with Linton. Originally, the Boyds just had an interest in pinhooking, with a plan of pinhooking weanlings to yearlings for a couple of years, and after they made a return on their investments, they would buy a racehorse.
"(Tennessee) Belle became available a little ahead of schedule, and we are so happy that we made the decision to go ahead and buy her."
Their first pinhook—a colt by Jack Christopher sold last month at Fasig-Tipton's July Sale for $110,000 to CHC and Maverick Racing. He was purchased at the Keeneland January Sale for $50,000 as a short yearling and consigned in July by Taylor Made Sales, agent for Love's Equine Stables. Love preps the weanling to yearling pinhooks for the Boyds in Ocala.
"Their previous involvement with sports and animals makes horse racing a great fit for both of them," said Love about the Boyds. "Both of them will be very big advocates of top-notch horse care from the day they are purchased and the remainder of their lives."
Both of the Boyds' purchases at the Saratoga Sale have been sent to trainer Paul Sharp in Ocala, Fla., who will break and train them ahead of their racing career. A decision has not yet been made on where they will head after that.
"Paul Sharp has been very instrumental in all this," Jenny Boyd said. "He did a great job training (Tennessee) Belle, before she went to John (Ortiz). I don't think we could have a better combination there."
"We're going to depend on Billy and Paul to advise us on where they should go next," Randy Boyd added. "With any type of new business, you count on your advisors and surround yourself with good people. I think we've got a great group of people. Our agents, Billy and Brittany, are great. Billy helps us pick out the horses, and Paul and John are both great trainers, and definitely a great match for us."
The Boyds will sell another pinhook—a filly by Jackie's Warrior in the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale, held Sept. 8-20 in Lexington. The filly, consigned as Hip 758 by Taylor Made Sales, agent for Love's Equine Stable, is a half sister to multiple stakes winner and graded-stakes-placed Corningstone. She is out of the Street Sense mare Ice Women, who is the dam of four horses to race, all winners.
The filly was purchased as a weanling at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Sale for $215,000 by Love/Linton, agent. She was bred in Kentucky by Deann Bear and Greg Baer, DVM.
The Boyds plan to purchase more weanlings this fall to pinhook next year; although Randy said if they find a weanling they really like, they may just keep it to race.
"Every year, we'll probably try to buy a yearling or two to race, and then every year we'll buy some number—to be determined—of weanlings that we will pinhook."
