Midway could have a Derby horse: Bourbon War, partly owned by McMahon & Hill, in major prep race Saturday

Bourbon War winning at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 18, under Irad Ortiz Jr. (Photo by Lauren King, Gulfstream Park)

This story has been updated with Bourbon War's win. To read the revised version, click here.

By Abbey Huffman
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Once a horse that couldn’t get sold, Bourbon War could give his Midway-based owners their first Kentucky Derby starter.

The colt will try to earn official Kentucky Derby points in the Fountain of Youth Stakes Saturday, March 2, at Gulfstream Park.

Bourbon War has won two out of three starts and has impressed his connections with the talent he has shown. Steve Haskin of The Blood-Horse put him on his Feb. 13 “Derby Dozen” for the way he “weaved his way through the field, going in between, then inside horse and then sliced through an opening between the two leaders and drew off to a very professional victory.” He the Feb. 19 list as an honorable mention.

Bourbon War is partly owned by Bourbon Lane Stables, a public racing partnership managed by McMahon & Hill Bloodstock, LLC, with offices in Midway.

Mike McMahon with another of his horses (Photo provided)

Mike McMahon, from Saratoga Springs, New York, has been involved with the thoroughbred business in almost every way possible. It was a trip to the Bluegrass for a sale that made him realize he wanted to make a career out of his interest in racing and breeding. He started his own business in 2001 when he founded McMahon Bloodstock, LLC.

Nine years later, McMahon started his racehorse ownership group, Bourbon Lane Stables.

In 2011, McMahon’s good friend and business associate, Jamie Hill, joined the business and the firm changed to what is now known as McMahon & Hill Bloodstock, LLC and is based in Midway, at 119 East Main St.

The team also manages Spruce Lane Pinhooks. A pinhooker buys a horse as a weanling or yearling to sell or “flip” it for profit as a yearling or two-year-old.

Spruce Lane’s pinhooks are kept and prepped at Spruce Lane Farm, owned since 2005 by McMahon and his wife. It’s in the big bend in Hedden Road, which runs between Old Frankfort Pike and Big Sink Road.

Bourbon War’s owners first met him as a yearling in the Spruce Lane Pinhook partnership, and still have him -- through misfortunes that turned out to be happy accidents.

Just like every other youngster that goes through Spruce Lane, the goal was to sell him as a yearling. With a top pedigree, by the sire Tapit out of the mare My Conquestadory, a prestigious race winner, on paper there shouldn’t have been any trouble selling him.

A $410,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Bourbon War was entered to sell in the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. But X-rays revealed a bone chip, and the well-bred colt failed to sell.

Plan B was to send him to a two-year-old in training sale in Florida, where he would be timed “breezing” an eighth of a mile, or one furlong.

This time, there were a few interested buyers who had vetted him and seen clean medical results, but when he breezed slowly, nobody came back to scope him, and one interested trainer thought he saw a chip in the ankle on the X-ray. There was controversy between veterinarians on whether it was a chip or just a double exposure. It ended up being double exposure, but before they knew that, and shortly before the horse would have sold, McMahon and Hill scratched him from the sale.

After two sales failures, McMahon’s friends, Greg Burns and Mike Winters of Lake Star Stable, bought half the horse. Bourbon Lane Stable bought out some of the pinhook partners, and some still own part of him.

His name came from both owners. Bourbon Lane includes “Bourbon” in almost all its horses’ names. Lake Star contributed “War,” naming the horse after a Bruce Springsteen album, which is also fitting to Bourbon War’s pedigree, being out of My Conquestadory.

Bourbon War was sent to Winstar Farm’s training facility. In May, he went to trainer Mark Hennig’s barn at Belmont Park in New York to begin serious training.

Bourbon War won his first race and finished fourth in the Remsen Stakes, a Grade 2 -- the second highest of three grades for stakes races. Both outings were at Aqueduct in New York.

He started his three-year-old campaign by winning a $51,000 allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park in Florida on Jan. 18. The race was for non-winners of two races and had an optional claiming price of $75,000.

That win was Bourbon War’s second attempt going around two turns; the first was in the Remsen at 1⅛ mile, where he finished a well-beaten fourth; Hennig said he was much more prepared for two turns going into the allowance race.

Preparing to step back up into stakes company in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, Bourbon War breezed a half mile in 48.68 seconds Feb. 22 at Gulfstream Park, where he is stabled.

“We were pleased with it,” Hennig said. “We were just looking to sharpen him up a touch. The track wasn’t real quick that day, but I thought he got over it well -- finished strong and galloped out strong.”

Hennig said it’s comforting, heading into a highly competitive Grade 2 stakes, that his horse already has a win at two turns on the Gulfstream surface. “Any time you’re repeating something, I think, with a young horse like this and not throwing something new at him is more comforting.”

The time of transitioning from a two year old to a three year old is an important coming of age time for racehorses. Their connections hope to see growth in maturity, both mentally and physically. Hennig says he’s noticed more aggressive training from Bourbon War since they headed to Florida for the winter.

“I think he’s much more prepared for it at this point, physically and mentally, than he was when we ran him in the Remsen,” Hennig said.

After the Fountain of Youth, Churchill Downs will award 50 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points to the winner, 20 points to the place horse, 10 points to show and 5 points to the fourth placer.

Bourbon War drew post No. 4 out of 11 and has morning line odds of 10-1. Top rider Irad Ortiz Jr. will have the mount. Ortiz has been aboard Bourbon War in his last two starts.

Hennig said Thursday morning that he was “very happy with the post” and would “leave things in Irad’s hands.”

Other notable horses in the race are impressive maiden winner Hidden Stroll as the favorite; Grade 3 Nashua Stakes winner Vekoma; Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner Signalman; and undefeated Global Campaign.

The $400,000 Fountain of Youth is the 13th race Saturday at Gulfstream. Post time is approximately 5:32 p.m. The race will appear on “Fox Sports Saturday at the Races,” which airs from 3 to 6 p.m.