Anderson Farms: Quality on the Climb

………………Anderson, who “grew up on the farm,” also breeds prized Percherons and Clydesdales at said St. Thomas, Ontario, facility. While they often compete in the United States, his Thoroughbred operation sells and races all over the world. The proud Canadian is quick to point out, though, that their Ontario roots remain vital to this recent collective surge of success.

“It’s kind of my hidden secret,” he said. “There are so few horses comparably being foaled in Canada and I think we have a tremendous program here. Our purses are strong and we have an unbelievable facility at Woodbine, especially the E. P. Taylor turf course. It’s a real advantage for anyone trying to produce the best horse they can.”

In addition to its success with Wonder Gadot and through the sales ring this year, Anderson Farms also bred stakes winners Inflexibility (Scat Daddy) and Financial Recovery (Street Cry), as well as promising upstarts Mill Road (Quality Road), Fragrance (Malibu Moon) and Grace and Dignity (Animal Kingdom), who became a ‘TDN Rising Star’ when dismantling a Woodbine allowance field by 5 1/4 lengths Oct. 18. The final four of those were all horses who failed to sell for Anderson and subsequently partially sold to race with trainer Catherine Day-Phillips, with no lack of fingers crossed, in their colors. The farm also bred and sold the dam of this summer’s Prince of Wales S. winner Cool Catomine (Spring at Last).

“I am a commercial breeder and try to sell everything I breed,” Anderson said. “If I don’t sell them for one reason or another, I piece them up among friends and just try and have a little fun with them. This year we got really lucky with some of those misfits who turned out to be very nice horses and who knows how good that Animal Kingdom will be. I think that says a lot about our program.

“It’s a lot of hard work and many people think you can walk in and spend $10 million and it happens overnight,” Anderson concluded. “The absolute key to this game is–and I can’t stress this enough–to be patient. I feel like for us, or at least hope, that it’s only going to get better.”

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Feature Photo – The Anderson Farms-consigned hip 578 at Keeneland September | Keeneland photo

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