Spendthrift Farm reached a fork in the road 18 months ago.
B. Wayne Hughes, who owned it since 2004, had just died. Tamara and Eric
Gustavson, Hughes’s daughter and son-in-law, inherited it and have diversified
the operation while also turning it inward.

“The quality of the broodmare band has taken off,” said Ned
Toffey, who has been Spendthrift’s general manager since the Hughes family took
control. “(The Gustavsons) have been a little bit more inclined to breed our
own mares to our own best stallions where, sometimes in the past, we might use
an outside stallion to support some of our lesser stallions and focus on that
more than breeding.”

Yogi Berra said, “If you see a fork in the road, take it.”
As Spendthrift has done just that in multiple directions, Toffey has become a
multitasker, what with a breeding operation that features four-year stallion leader Into Mischief (shown in the photo above) and
2020 racing champion Authentic, a broodmare operation highlighted by two-time
Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl and a racing roster that could put those
familiar, purple and orange blocked silks back in Kentucky Derby 2023.

And there may be dreams of Kentucky Derby 2026, too, where dreams
could carry a new foal by Into Mischief out of Monomoy Girl.

Toffey’s evaluation of the horses in training for Spendthrift
takes in a collection of high-priced auction buys. It ends with that new colt
who symbolized a new beginning for the farm that took root in Lexington, Ky.,
in 1937.

In a phone interview from Ocala, Fla., last week for Horse
Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Pod, Toffey curated the latest in HRN’s
Barn Tour series.

3-year-old colts

Kingsbarns. This son of Uncle Mo upped his record to
2-for-2 by winning a one-mile-and-70-yard allowance race by 7 3/4 lengths Feb.
12 at Tampa Bay Downs. Best priced at 50-1, Kingsbarns was one of the top 25
choices this week in Las Vegas futures for Kentucky Derby 2023.

Toffey said he and trainer Todd Pletcher were “leaning
towards the Louisiana Derby (G2)” on March 25 for the $800,000 colt.

“This is a remarkable horse that we bought last year at the
Fasig-Tipton 2-year-olds-in-training sale,” Toffey said. “He came out of that
sale with a few issues that took us a little longer than we would have liked to
get squared away, and I’m glad we gave him the time that we did.”

Encouraged by a physically demanding debut performance in
January at Gulfstream Park, Toffey said Kingsbarns showed “he might relish the
rodeo in that run to the first turn in the Derby,” even with only three starts
beforehand, all at age 3.

“Looks like a horse who can get the distance,” Toffey said. “Looks
like a mentally tough horse, and certainly looks talented. He’s one who’s going
to get a shot at a major prep here next. As you step up, you find out more and
more, and I’m cautiously optimistic that this horse is going to handle stepping
up.”

Victory Formation. It was a rude awakening at Fair
Grounds on Feb. 18 when this $340,000 son of Tapwrit took a 3-for-3 record into
the Risen Star (G2), broke as a 9-5 favorite and finished a tired ninth. “I
think it’s certainly too early to give up on him,” said Toffey, who indicated he
and trainer Brad Cox were mulling next-race options. “Even if he didn’t like
being off the pace, you sure would’ve liked to have seen him finish up a little
better than he did. He’s been a little bit of a tricky horse so far. I think he
caught us all by surprise when he won his first start and won it the way he did
(gate to wire by 4 3/4 lengths). He’s not a horse who tips his hand in the
morning. He showed much more speed and much more precocity than what he had
shown in his training. There’s a lot of questions with this horse. I’m hoping
that he just needed some more experience and that he’ll learn to rate. It’s
pretty tough to go through an entire career of doing nothing but running on the
lead.” Victory Formation probably needs a top-three finish in an upcoming major
prep to get into the Kentucky Derby.

Giant Mischief. His sixth-place outcome in Saturday’s
Rebel (G2) was not exactly the plan for the $475,000 Into Mischief colt who was
bred at Stonestreet in Kentucky. Giant Mischief faced traffic early in the slop
and had nothing left at the end. Since he was on Lasix when he finished second
in the Remington Springboard Mile, he still has no qualifying points for the
Kentucky Derby. He probably needs a top-two finish in one of the upcoming major
preps in order to get to Churchill Downs on May 6. That next stop had yet to be
determined by trainer Brad Cox. “As we progress through the spring, the quality
of competition steps up,” Toffey said before the Rebel. “It’s time to find out
what we’ve got here, but certainly he’s a horse that’s demonstrated a lot of
talent.”

Bishops Bay. His debut win around six furlongs at
Fair Grounds on Feb. 18 took 1:10.07 and earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure,
according to Daily Racing Form. The $450,000 Uncle Mo colt who is
trained by Cox was 125-1 in Nevada to win the Derby, but Toffey was in no hurry
to state that as a goal. “That’s a tricky one in terms of whether you chase the
Derby,” he said. “Right now, leaning towards an allowance race (next). We’re
not going to rule out the Derby but certainly don’t want to chase it. We have a
chance, we think, to have a really, really nice horse. Sometimes discretion is
the better part of valor.” Toffey said Cox needed “extra time” to bring Bishops
Bay to a first race, but he felt it was worth the wait. “Brad would be increasingly
more excited about this horse’s works. His first start certainly didn’t
disappoint. … Probably a little green. He went to sleep a little bit on the
lead but responded very well when a horse came to him. Anytime you run a 97
Beyer in your first start, that’s pretty exciting.”

Loggins. On a nearly five-month break since an
encouragingly narrow loss to division champion Forte in the Breeders’ Futurity
(G1), the $460,000 Ghostzapper colt was taken off the Derby trail. “This is a
horse who came out of the Breeders’ Futurity with some issues, and he’s been
laid up,” Toffey said. “Things in general have been very positive throughout this
layup period. Some recent, follow-up diagnostics suggested that he still needs
some more time. … It’s the old adage. You take care of the horse, they’ll take
care of you. I think one of the best things we can do for this horse is not
trying to chase the Derby. Bring him back, and let him dictate the schedule.
That’s really what we’re doing.” Cox reported Loggins was back in light
training this month in anticipation of his first breeze since last fall.

Older horses

Forbidden Kingdom. Continuing his comeback from a
summer break last year, the 4-year-old American Pharoah colt placed a distant second
to Taiba on Dec. 26 in the Malibu (G1) at Santa Anita. Trainer Richard Mandella
has breezed him in progressively longer workouts, including a 1:25.0 turn
around seven furlongs Thursday. “He had a wonderful work. Richard was very,
very pleased with that,” Toffey said. Mandella confirmed Sunday the seven-furlong
San Carlos (G2) on March 11 at Santa Anita would be Forbidden Kingdom’s next
race. “We’ll see him soon enough,” Toffey said. “He’s tinkering with some
issues. Richard is wonderful at problem solving. He’s been working on some
things there. They were very, very happy with the work (Thursday), so we’ll see
him get back to it here shortly.”

Sixtythreecaliber. The Gun Runner filly won three consecutive
races for trainer Tom Amoss to finish her 2022 campaign, peaking with a
thrilling victory over even-money favorite Kathleen O. on Nov. 25 in the Comely
(G3) at Aqueduct. Her 4-year-old debut, however, resulted in a last-place
disappointment as the 7-5 favorite in a muddy, Jan. 28 renewal of the Houston
Ladies Classic (G3). “She got beat fairly soundly, but Tom reports that she’s
come out of that very well and continues to train well,” Toffey said ahead of
Sixtythreecaliber’s 47.6-second, half-mile work Friday at Fair Grounds. “Don’t
have exact plans in place for her.”

Youngest horse

Unnamed colt. Sired by Into Mischief, the first foal
out of Monomoy Girl came into the world Feb. 17. It would be unfair to brand such
a young colt as the new face of Spendthrift homebreds, but high expectations
come with regal bloodlines. Toffey sounded proud but also matter of fact.

“He’s marked probably a little more along the lines of Into
Mischief,” Toffey said. “He’s got a pretty good, white stripe, almost a blaze
on his face and some white stockings. He’s a bay, so very similarly colored to
Into Mischief. So far he definitely leans that way a little bit. We’ll see how
the personality develops as they go. … We look at these foals at 30 days. That’s
sort of a good barometer for what you’re going to have.”

Until then, everything sounded positive from Toffey’s description
of the relationship between mare and foal. Standing and nursing have been
accomplished.

“She seems to be a very good mother,” Toffey said of the
8-year-old daughter of Tapizar mare. “You worry with any mare and maybe even
more so with some of these really good race mares whether they have really the
best mothering instincts, but there is no concern there at all. She’s done
everything exactly right, really a good mom so far. She has let the foal nurse.
She’s a tough mare, but she’s a wonderful mom so far.”

Asked if he would quote odds for the new baby to win the
2026 Derby, Toffey laughed and said, “I’m sure somebody will give them to you.
I’m not that brave.”

He was not so reluctant about reiterating plans this spring for
Monomoy Girl, perhaps offering a preview of the 2027 Derby.

“The plan right now,” Toffey said, “is that she will be bred
back to Into Mischief again this year.”