Background of farm staff and updates on the Season 1 & 2 participants at Old Tavern Farm
Alpine Sky
July 17th, 2020Earlier this season, we asked what you wanted to learn more about at Old Tavern Farm. We received some great questions and inquiries. The farm staff reviewed them and their responses are below. Thanks for following.
I’d love to learn more about Greg and Trina’s background and career – what got them started in this field? Who were their mentors? Where have they worked in the past? What is their favorite part of the daily routine? What part do they like the least? What tidbit about them might surprise us to learn? – Jane
Greg: I grew up in Saratoga Springs and worked on horse farms throughout college. I graduated from Providence College with a BA in political science. After graduation I was hired full-time at Five Oak Farm where I spent about 10 years in various roles. They are also a small boutique breeding farm in Saratoga Springs. I have a MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia and left Five Oak to travel in 2015. While traveling I was approached by Old Tavern Farm to consult with the farm design and construction and was hired as Director once the farm was completed in 2016. My favorite part of the routine is night-check when the horses are in the barn. My least favorite is when one of the horses is sick or at the clinic. Surprising fact: I do not ride horses.
Trina: I was born and raised in Washington and graduated from Washington State University. I was introduced to the racetrack when I met the Ward family (Wesley and his father, Dennis). I started out breaking 2-year-olds with Dennis and ended up working in many other capacities on the racetrack over the next 20 years, including training, assistant training and galloping. After many years of working on the racetrack, I was ready to learn something new. I was introduced by a mutual friend to the team that was building Old Tavern Farm and was hired as Broodmare Manager in 2016. My favorite part of the daily routine is feeding all of the animals in the morning. My least favorite is to lose an animal or to see one of them suffering. Surprising tidbit: I got to travel to Dubai when Brass Hat ran in the World Cup.
How do you determine which horse(s) go into which paddocks?
There are a lot of factors in how we determine whom goes where. For example, age, sex, proximity to barn, turf management, personality, diet, etc. all are part of the discussion when we put horses in certain fields. As a smaller farm, we need to rotate the fields quite a bit to ensure there is adequate grass and nutrition.
With Old Tavern Farm, I'd love to hear progress reports on the foals from the last 2 seasons, even if they are now in hands of new owners. It would be fun to know their registered names, so that we can follow them if they race. Photos would be great, too. - Katherine
The foals from previous seasons have not been named. Memento d’Oro ’18 is scheduled to sell in July at OBS. You will be able to watch her work on the OBS Sales website. Comme Chez Soi ’19 is not named and we still have her on the farm. She is targeting the Keeneland September yearling sale. You will be able to see her go through the ring on the Keeneland website. We will also be posting to our social media pages as we begin sales prepping her over the summer. Below is a photo of Memento d'Oro '18. Her legs were wrapped for protection while traveling in the van.
Memento d'Oro 18.jpeg
