Read the Footnotes:
The next NY-bred Derby winner?
By Eric Donovan

Read the Footnotes winning the Grade 2, $200,00 Remsen

Earlier this year, Funny Cide proved that Classic winners could be bred in the Empire State. For those thinking a New York-bred's success in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness was a fluke, they had better reconsider. For Read the Footnotes has accomplished more in his two-year-old season than Funny Cide did last year.
All three of Funny Cide's 2002 races were against restricted New York-bred company. Taking nothing away from that gelding's triumphs, Read the Footnotes has now conquered open company rivals three times, including a strong victory in last Saturday's Grade 2, $200,00 Remsen, striding home an easy 3 3/4-length winner in 1:50 3/5 for a mile and an eighth.
Richard Violette Jr., the trainer of Read the Footnotes, could not be any happier with the position both he and the colt are in.
"He came out of the race terrific," Violette said Sunday morning. "He's 'outta here (Monday) and headed to Florida. We have no exact plans for him. We'll just ship him down to Palm Meadows and let him down for a little while."
What Violette is most pleased about is that the son of Smoke Glacken owned by Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables has already answered two important questions: Can he get a route and can he go two turns?
"His win yesterday probably saved us a prep race in the spring," Violette said. "We don't have to find anything out now. What you hope for now is that he takes that step of graduating from a good two-year-old to a good three-year-old. (Ttrainer) Patrick Biancone said it best last year, 'It's like playing poker. You're dealing the same cards, but when you shuffle the deck, the outcome can be different.'"
Violette, Klarman and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who set an American record for stakes wins in one year aboard Read the Footnotes, were all glad to see the colt settle nicely in his first two-turn try. "I tried to train him so that he would take the two turns well," said Violette, who is based here at Aqueduct. "He gained some weight between the Nashua and the Remsen, so I was hoping I did enough with him in the mornings. He's starting to mature and fill out."
In a little more than a three-month span, Read the Footnotes has won from five furlongs to a mile and an eighth and is a multiple graded stakes winner.
"It takes a special horse to win from five furlongs to a mile and an eighth," Violette said. "I think we could make a top sprinter out of him if we were to crank him up, but the first Saturday in May [Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs] is our first option."
Read the Footnotes was selected out of a two-year-old in training sale at Timonium in May for $320,000.
"He looked the part and worked very fast in a sale preview," Violette recalled. "He was certainly on our list to take a long look at. We paid a little more than we wanted for him, but obviously we're glad we did."
Read the Footnotes is out of the mare Baydon Belle, making him a half-brother to a pair of runners New Yorkers should be somewhat familiar with in four-year-old colt Blooming Grove and three-year-old filly Anabeltaylor. Larry Goichman, who bred Read the Footnotes and owns his aforementioned elder siblings, was happy to get $320,000 for Read the Footnotes as Blooming Grove and Anabeltaylor were and still are maidens after a combined 15 starts.
"We wanted to sell him," said Goichman from California on Sunday where he watched his Willard Straight run in the Hollywood Derby. "We want to sell all our colts who have market value in the U.S. Blooming Grove is by Alzao, who is not a popular sire in America, but Read the Footnotes is by a popular sire in Smoke Glacken."
Baydon Belle is one of 10 broodmares owned by Goichman. The mares are boarded at Keane Stud in Amenia, New York and when they go to Kentucky to be bred, they stay at Valkyre Stud in Georgetown.
"I bought my first mare in 1987 and was in racing partnerships for a couple years before that," Goichman said. "I've learned a lot as I've gone along. I've made some mistakes and planned some good ones." Thanks to Read the Footnotes, the value of Baydon Belle and her offspring have skyrocketed.
"His half-brother, a yearling by Stravinsky, is selling with Niall Brennan in February," said Goichman, who plans to breed Baydon Belle back to Smoke Glacken. "He's balanced and very well put together, just like Read the Footnotes."
From Los Angeles, Goichman flew to London after the races at Hollywood on Sunday to look at horses in England. That is where he purchased Baydon Belle in 1997 from a Tattersalls auction.
One question on his mind during the long flight will be can a New York-bred win the Kentucky Derby two years in a row?
"It's everybody's dream," Goichman said. "This has been very good for the New York-bred program. We're not second-class citizens anymore. Soon, we won't have to go to Kentucky to breed to stallions like Smoke Glacken and Stravinsky.
"What I really like about Read the Footnotes is that he's done everything they've asked of him and he hasn't reached down and been taxed yet. Hopefully, he stays good and sound."