By: Teresa Genaro
Original Article – http://www.forbes.com/sites/teresagenaro/2016/02/11/from-park-avenue-to-belmont-park-sheila-rosenblum-is-on-top-of-the-world
On January 16, Sheila Rosenblum stood on the stage at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida, clutching a statue of Eclipse, the legendary 18th century racehorse for which Thoroughbred racing’s highest awards are named.
Moments before, her six-year-old mare La Verdad had been named 2015 champion female sprinter, and if there had been any doubt before the Eclipse Awards ceremony, this distinction confirmed that Rosenblum, a relative newcomer to the sport, had arrived.
A former dancer and model, Rosenblum bought her first racehorse in 2012 and got her first win three years later. Her initial forays into the sport had not been auspicious: the first horse she bought ended up in an ownership dispute that saw her returning the horse to its original owner. Giving the sport another shot, she bought seven yearlings whose racing careers could barely charitably be called mediocre; she dissolved the partnership and cut her losses. And then came La Verdad. “She has made a dream come true,” said Rosenblum that night in Florida, her Eclipse Award in her hand.
La Verdad, jockey Jose Ortiz, and Rosenblum with her children Erik and Kara and a member of trainer Linda Rice’s staff. Photo credit NYRA/Susie Raisher
Until the last several years, Rosenblum was best known as a regular on New York’s society and charitable scene; a year ago, she and her daughter Kara received the “Volunteer Par Excellence” Award from the March of Dimes. A Google image search of her now turns up dozens of photos at New York’s racetracks and the barn area of her trainer, Linda Rice. A year or so ago, you’d have been more likely to get photos on the red carpet and in the Hamptons. Those photos are just one indication of the extent to which Rosenblum has immersed herself in the sport
Racing in the name of Lady Sheila Stable (after a yacht that her now-estranged husband named for her), Rosenblum went on to form two all-women partnerships: Triumphant Trio, with Rice and Iris Smith, a well-known New York philanthropist; and Lady Sheila II, whose partners include Smith, Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman, equine artist Donna Bernstein, and Jill Zarin of “The Real Housewives of New York City.”
In total, Rosenblum and her partners spent about $5 million on horses last year, including $840,000 for a two-year-old colt by the same stallion that sired Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Pioneerof The Nile.
And while she’s found success with the horses she’s purchased at auction, the horses that she bought privately through trainer Linda Rice have become her stable stars.
In 2013, Rice encouraged Rosenblum, then a new client, to buy two fillies that were being offered by another of Rice’s clients. They were half-sisters, the second and third offspring of a mare whose first foal had become a successful racehorse.
One of those sisters was La Verdad, who retired last month having earned more than $1.5 million, most of it for Rosenblum. The other, Hot City Girl, became Rosenblum’s second graded stakes winner when she won the Charles Town Oaks last September. She’s earned a little over a half million dollars, and she’ll hope to add to that total with a win on Saturday in the Grade II Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park in Maryland.
Until a couple of weeks ago, it was La Verdad who supposed to run at Laurel in the Fritchie this weekend. Though Rosenblum knew she’d retire the mare this year to a breeding career, she and Rice had planned for the Fritchie to be her final race. That changed after the Eclipse Award.
“She’s done so much and I wanted to end her career as a champion,” said Rosenblum last week from her Park Avenue apartment overlooking Central Park. “If she didn’t win or if she got hurt…she deserves her new life and a new direction now. I wanted her to go out as a star.”
La Verdad won her final race, the Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack on January 9. She retired with a record of 16 wins and three seconds in 25 lifetime races.
In late January, she shipped to Kentucky, where she’ll be bred to Medaglia d’Oro. Winner of the 2002 Grade I Travers Stakes and the 2003 Grade I Whitney Handicap, Medaglia d’Oro ran second in the 2002 Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic; he was second in the Classic in 2003 as well.
As a stallion, he sired 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and the undefeated three-year-old filly Songbird. His stud fee is $150,000.
After being bred, La Verdad, a New York-bred herself, will return to New York to foal.
Rosenblum, who hadn’t planned to get into the breeding business, entered La Verdad into a sale following the Breeders’ Cup last October at Lexington’s Keeneland Race Course. After a courageous second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, the mare could have a commanded a price well into the seven figures. But Rosenblum couldn’t let her go.
“She’s a love story,” she said. “It was so bittersweet when she left Linda’s barn. I got teary knowing that I won’t be watching her race anymore. “But the good news is that she’s still mine, and I can watch her and her foals for a long, long time.”
That first foal won’t make an appearance until the spring of 2017, and this weekend, Rosenblum’s eyes will be on Laurel Park, where Hot City Girl is poised to try to follow in the award-winning footsteps of her big sister.
In addition to managing what is becoming a significant racing and breeding operation, in 2016 Rosenblum will focus on the partnerships she’s created and work to bring more women in the sport. The lone woman on a recent panel about Thoroughbred ownership, Rosenblum has a promising three-year-old colt named Matt King Coal, and she’ll be active at the sales again this year, where Rice will put on her bloodstock agent hat, selecting the horses on which Rosenblum will bid in the hope of adding them to the Rice barn.
“La Verdad put me on the map,” said Rosenblum, “and Linda begged me to buy her. There’s no La Verdad or Hot City Girl without Linda.”