Godolphin, Repole, St. Elias lead owner, breeder awards
Godolphin and the partnership of Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables were honored Friday and Saturday during the 39th annual national awards from the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
The winners were presented across two days of ceremonies. The national awards luncheon was held Friday at the Thoroughbred Club of America with state and Canada breeders of 2023 being recognized. The national awards dinner was held Saturday at Fasig-Tipton, honoring all award winners in a program emceed by FanDuel TV’s Scott Hazelton.
Godolphin was announced as the 2023 national owner and national breeder of the year. Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables, George Krikorian and Zedan Racing Stables were the other finalists among owners. Juddmonte and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings were the other finalists in the breeders category.
Elizabeth Merryman was announced as the winner for 2023 national small breeder of the year. Joe Fafone and Amy Moore were the other finalists.
Repole Stable, owned by Mike Repole, and St. Elias Stables, owned by Vinnie Viola, won the Cot Campbell partnership of the year. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; Little Red Feather Racing; Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman; and SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Bat Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan also were finalists.
Frank Taylor was honored with the Dr. J. David Richardson TOBA industry service award.
Dance Card was named national broodmare of the year.
Time for Trouble was honored as Claiming Crown horse of the year presented by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.
A Lil Evil was the Rood & Riddle sport horse of the year.
Peter Giangiulio, Stephanie Giangiulio and Barbara Geraghty of Castle Rock Farm were honored with the Robert N. Clay award presented by Equine Land Conservation Resource. The honor recognizes a member of the Thoroughbred community who made an outstanding contribution to preserving land for equine use.
These were the state and Canada breeders of the year for 2023:
| TOBA awards | Breeder | Top executive |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Fleming Thoroughbred Farm | Marvin Fleming |
| & Gerald Fleming | ||
| Arkansas | McDowell Farms | Bill & Mary McDowell |
| California | Richard Barton Enterprises | Richard Barton |
| Canada | Adena Springs | |
| Canada small breeder | Sean Fitzhenry | |
| Florida | Stonehedge | Marilyn Campbell |
| Indiana | Justice Farms | Greg Justice |
| Iowa | Poindexter Thoroughbreds | Allen Poindexter |
| Kentucky | Godolphin | |
| Louisiana | Thomas Galvin | |
| Maryland | Dance Forth Farm | Tom & Chris Bowman |
| New Jersey | Bright View Farm | Christine Connelly |
| & Greg Kilka | ||
| New Mexico | Fred Alexander | |
| New York | Barry Schwartz | |
| North Carolina | Art Bauer | |
| Oregon | Connie Erickson | |
| Pennsylvania | Forgotten Land Investments | |
| & Black Diamond Equine | Christian Black | |
| South Carolina | Franklin Smith Sr. | |
| Texas | Carolyn Barnett | |
| Virginia | Ann Mudge Backer | |
| Washington | Sheridan Jones & Ken Miles |