Issue link: http://nytbreeders.epubxp.com/i/817947
May 2017 | nytbreeders.org | New York Breeder 21 with Summersault. Though competitive in two races just before going to Florida, she hadn't won since April 2016 and had little value as a broodmare. Running for a tag at Gulfstream was one option; so was selling her. Then Hennig decided to go south early in the Gulfstream season. He ex - pected the Gulfstream turf to be frm— Summersault had shown a demonstrat - ed aversion to ground with any cut in it—and by arriving early, he might avoid competition from the perennial top turf trainers. "So we got her down there right away and ran her in mid-December, and it made a big difference having her back on a regular turf course," said Hennig. Summersault won Dec. 16 by a half- length and came back to win by an iden - tical margin in early February before her win in the Orchid. Hennig has trained horses for Par - sons and Howe for more than a decade; the more gregarious of the duo, Parsons is the face of the partnership, with Howe preferring to take a more retiring role. A retired attorney, Parsons began to get seriously involved in horse racing when he was introduced to Cot Camp - bell in the 1980s. Though he went to the track occasionally, he hadn't really con - sidered ownership, thinking it beyond his budget, but the accommodating Campbell offered to sell Parsons a half- share in two ownership groups. "The hook," said Parsons, "was set." Within a few years Parsons had bought into another partnership with the syndicate, this one called Dogwood Classic. "There was a small colt in there," he said. "His name was Summer Squall." Second in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Summer Squall won the Preakness Stakes (G1) for Dogwood in 1990, and while Parsons owned what he called the equivalent of the horse's left rear hock, the size of his investment was hardly proportional to the pleasure he took in the experience. He remained involved with Dogwood until he and Howe went out on their own in 1998. "We were both on the board of the Buckley School in Manhattan," Parsons explained, "and we were talking before one of the board meetings. We discov - ered that we were both interested in horse racing, so we said, 'Let's do some - thing together.' We do everything 50-50." Hennig started training for Howe and Parsons in 2001, and the two are among the trainer's longest-standing clients. Hennig trained their frst graded stakes winner, Merry Meadow, who won the Sugar Swirl Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream in 2014 and went on to win three other graded stakes. "Mark is an extremely good trainer, and I trust him enormously," said Par - sons. "When I was looking for a trainer, I called the barn at Saratoga and this very nice person answered the phone and said she'd be glad to see me come around. "That turned out to be his mother, Pat. It turned out that she and I have the same birthday, and we ended up be - coming friendly with her. If you have a mother like that, you've got to be good." "We went through a few rough years together," said Hennig, "but they've been patient and communicated well, and they've got a nice group of mares and a good breeding program. They're really hitting on all cylinders." Initially buying colts, Parsons and Howe were more interested in the rac - ing side, not breeding, but an A.P. Indy mare named Lunar Colony changed that. The Will Farish and W.S. Kilroy homebred raced in England and made one start in the U.S. before being of - fered at the 2004 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. "We thought A.P. Indy was going to be a great broodmare sire, and that was the beginning of our breeding pro - gram," Parsons said. Through agent McMahon Blood - stock, Howe and Parsons bought the mare for $180,000, and she produced fve foals for them, four of them New York-breds. Two of them, Lunar Victory and The Tea Cups, are multiple stakes winners, the former selling for $350,000 as a yearling. "We start off with our love of the ani - mals," Parsons said. "We love our hors- es, but if you want to stay in the game, you have to have a plan. Our plan has been to sell colts and keep one or two fllies." It's a plan that seems to be working. At the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale in 2010, the partners pur - chased a Maryland-bred mare named Merryland Monroe in foal to Henny Hughes for $75,000. A month later she delivered Merry Meadow, who went on to earn more than $850,000 for the part - ners. A year later she had an Exchange Rate flly that Howe and Parsons named Blithely. Stakes-placed, she earned $310,000 and is now part of their small broodmare band, which they keep at Cedar Ridge Farm near Pine Plains. In 2015 they made the hard decision ADAM COGLIANESE/NYRA Parsons and Howe bred Lunar Victory, winner of the 2012 Empire Classic