Stark, actually: Kentucky Dreamin'
WHAT: A 1-month-old filly stretches her legs at Smokin C thoroughbred racehorse farm.
WHERE: 3521 Haut Street SW, Pike Township.
WHEN: This photo was taken the evening of March 28.
THE STORY: Steven Chumney bought a trail horse stable eight years ago, and turned it into a thoroughbred racehorse farm.
He began with one horse.
Today, he has a dozen mares who deliver annual crops of babies, and he employes three people.
He sells many as yearlings at the Keeneland auction in Lexington, Kentucky. He keeps others, and races them at Ohio's three throughbred tracks, including Thistledown. Along the way, he offers anyone interested an opportunity to buy shares in his horses. "If I could afford it, I would keep them all," said Chumney, whose real job is as an electrical engineer at Hillscher-Clarke.
Perhaps, some day.
In recent years, five of Chumney's yearlings sold for at least $100,000 apiece. That's a lot, but trying to make a perfect racehorse is expensive. There's an old industry adage: "Breed to the best and hope for the best."
"But everything in this business is a gamble," Chumney noted.
Last year, Cumney took one of his mares, Storm Raven, to Kentucky. He paid $100,000 to breed her with Justify, the 2018 Triple Crown winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Storm Raven delivered their filly this month at Chumney's farm; he's since taken both back to Kentucky, where mom will be bred again.
And this week, Chumney received confirmation that another of his mares, Ting Tang, is pregnant. The famous father is none other than American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 ortim.botos@cantonrep.com.On Twitter: @tbotosREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Smokin C Thoroughbred racehorse farm boasts Triple Crown offspring
