**This is part of a series that profiles the top New York-based contenders heading to the Breeders’ Cup. Please see the attached photo of Haynesfield. Credit NYRA,
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Contact: Jenny Kellner
ELMONT, N.Y. – From his early days at Gallagher’s Stud near Ghent, N.Y., to his more than two-year sojourn at trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn at Belmont Park, Haynesfield has spent nearly his whole life in New York, departing the Empire State only for a pair of brief trips to the Keeneland sales in 2007 and 2008.
Haynesfield earned a return trip to
“In the beginning, we were hoping to have a nice New York-bred,” said assistant trainer Toby Sheets of the Speightstown colt, who was purchased privately by Harvey Weinstein’s Turtle Bird Stable after his second start, a maiden victory at
Haynesfield scored his first stakes win in his third start, defeating state-breds in the Damon Runyon at Aqueduct Racetrack, and he extended his winning streak to four with open company victories in the Count Fleet and Whirlaway Stakes. A brief flirtation with the Triple Crown trail ended with an eighth-place finish in the Grade 3 Gotham, and the colt was given an extended break before being brought back for a fall campaign that was capped by victories in the Empire Classic against fellow New York-breds and the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap.
“At the time, we thought the Empire Classic was his best race, and then the Discovery topped that,” said Sheets.
A grabbed quarter suffered after the Discovery did not heal as quickly as hoped, and the colt did not return to the races for nearly seven months. A victory in a restricted optional claimer at
While Haynesfield’s first foray into Grade 1 company did not go as planned – breaking through the starting gate before the Whitney at Saratoga Race Course, he finished a non-threatening fourth behind Blame,
Accompanied by Sheets, Haynesfield departed for
“It took him a little while to settle in and get his bearings, which is why I’m glad we came in early,” said Sheets. “It’s a lot more congested in the mornings during the workouts, and he’s also gotten a chance to work under the lights, because it will be dark by the time they run the Classic.
“He’s doing very well,” he added. “We were very lucky to have an owner like Mr. Weinstein, who is very patient and willing to give the horse as much time as he needed. He developed on his own time, and as he’s gotten older, he’s gotten more relaxed. He’s filled out, gotten taller, and he’s mentally much stronger than he was in the beginning.”
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