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Derby Dreams for Hidden Brook Farm and Texans' McNair

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“He makes it a little tough on us, the way he runs,” said Dan Hall, managing partner for Hidden Brook Farm, speaking of Street Life, the 3-year-old colt the farm owns in partnership with Houston Texans owner Bob McNair’s Magnolia Racing Stable.

“The way he runs” is coming from behind, spotting the leaders multiple lengths, and last Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, Street Life did just that, loping comfortably along until he hit the top of the stretch, where his jockey Junior Alvarado asked him to run, and run he did. Street Life led for only three strides of the 1 1/16 miles race, but they were the only three that counted: the ones that brought him to the finish line first.

Street Life boasts impressive pedigree, both equine and human. His sire, Street Sense, won the 2007 Kentucky Derby, and his owners are no strangers to the sport’s biggest races. Hidden Brook Farm, which bought Street Life as a yearling for $130,000, purchased Big Brown in 2007 for client Paul Pompa, Jr.; Big Brown went on to win the Kentucky Derby the next year.

McNair, who with his wife Janice formerly raced in the name of Stonerside Stable, ran second in the 1994 Kentucky Derby with Strode’s Creek, one of his first ventures into Thoroughbred racing. Stonerside would go on to win the Wood Memorial twice, with Congaree in 2001 and with Bob and John in 2006.  With Arthur B. Hancock III, Stonerside co-bred the last Wood winner to win the Kentucky Derby, Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

And if things go as hoped, McNair and his partners will return to the Wood Memorial winner’s circle with Street Life.

McNair purchased a 50% interest in Street Life after the horse won his first race, at Aqueduct last month. While Hidden Brook received offers to sell its full interest, the racing partnership wasn’t quite willing to give up the chance to be a part of a colt of which it thought highly.

“Our partners enjoy racing,” said Hall, “and we enjoy when we have a nice horse. Everybody was reluctant to sell completely, so we were looking for someone who might be willing to partner with us.”

Hall had gotten to know the McNairs when he was the general manager of Adena Springs, a multiple Eclipse Award-winning racing and breeding operation with farms in Kentucky, California, New York, and Canada; in 1997, Stonerside and Adena campaigned Touch Gold, who in winning the Belmont denied Silver Charm the Triple Crown.  Hall called the McNairs’ racing and bloodstock manager, John Adger, to see if they might be interested in buying into Street Life.

“I was so impressed with his maiden win,” said Adger from his home in Houston, “and I liked his pedigree very much. I told the McNairs that I didn’t want to tell them much about the horse; I just wanted them to watch the race.

“And when they did, they said yes.”

Last Saturday, neither Hall nor the McNairs were at Aqueduct for Street Life’s win, but three members of the Hidden Brook partnership made the trip to see their horse win by a half-length. Roger Sofer and Kevin Latta came from Texas, Hank Garda from his New Jersey home. They made an enthusiastic cheering section when their colt walked into the winner’s circle. Undeterred by the mud on Street Life’s face, Sofer kissed his horse’s nose as the photographer readied to take their picture, while Latta kissed his neck.

“When he wins the Wood, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Sofer exulted.

It’s a lofty ambition, but the Street Life team is indeed thinking Derby possibilities. With no graded stakes earnings, the dark bay colt with the distinctive blaze will need to finish first or second in the Wood Memorial to have a shot at making the Derby starting gate.

“We’re realists,” said Hall. “He’s passed every test so far, so the next logical step most likely will be the Wood Memorial, and we’ll see how he fares.”

“When you have a nice 3-year-old colt, you do a little bit of dreaming,” he continued. “It’s part of our business.”

Adger remembered standing with the McNairs as Strode’s Creek finished second in the Kentucky Derby. “Janice looked up at me and said, ‘John, Robert and I just love this Classic business.’

“I told her, ‘We could spend $50 million before we get back in this position again.’”

One imagines that the McNairs know all too well the difficulty of achieving success on the field of play. Bob McNair’s Texans played their first NFL game in 2002, and it was this past season that they made the playoffs for the first time, winning their wild card game against the Cincinnati Bengals before being defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional playoffs.

Several years ago, Stonerside sold its horse farms and dispersed much of its racing and breeding stock, and according to Adger, when the coaches of the Texans learned the news, they were disappointed because they’d no longer get to go to the Kentucky Derby.

Texans of another sort—Latta, Sofer, and Adger—will likely be back in New York on April 7 for the Wood, when Street Life is expected to take on 2-year-old champion Hansen. And if Street Life’s closing kick is any match for Hansen’s speed, the Texas connection will be back in Kentucky…for a lot less than $50 million.

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