On the heels of the recently held Minnesota Harness Racing Annual Awards Banquet (Feb. 23) an emerging pattern became clear: Wind Me Up has proven to be a quite successful sire out of the gate.

Wind Me Up’s first two crops of two-year-olds have now produced back-to-back Minnesota Horse of the Year winners.

From his very small first crop of foals (just 4 foals dropped with a late start in the breeding season) came the Minnesota horse of the year for 2017 in a colt named Giggle Monster (Wind Me Up-Sportstalk-Sportsmaster) who picked up seven wins and two seconds in nine starts as a freshman, easily claiming the two-year-old pacing colt of the year trophy and impressive enough to be voted as the state's overall Horse of the Year as well (Giggle Monster is owned by Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte and trained by Justin Anfinson).

His second crop produced 14 registered foals, which included yet another Horse of The Year nod, as Burning Blaze (Wind Me Up-Cowgirls N Indians-Jet Lag) dominated the two-year-old pacing colt division in Minnesota in 2018, also earning seven wins and two seconds from nine freshman starts, and sporting a 1:54.1f track record at Running Aces. Burning Blaze was voted 2018 Horse of The Year in Minnesota by a wide margin (Burning Blaze is owned by Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte and trained by Justin Anfinson).

Not only did his prodigy dominate the freshman colt pacing division in 2018, but he was also represented by the top freshman filly Pacer of The Year as well, in Windmeupnwatchmego (Wind Me Up-Dangerous Years-Western Hanover) who easily captured her division with six wins and two seconds from eight starts and her own 1:54.1f track record at ‘Aces’ (Windmeupnwatchmego is owned by Richard Davelaar and trained by Gordon Graham).

Wind Me Up (Bettors Delight-Breathe-Northern Luck) was a foal of 2008 and hit the racing scene in 2009. His on-track career spanned three seasons, with notable wins in the Thompkins-Geers Stakes and New York Sire Stakes as well as high profile appearances in the Metro Pace, Adios Pace and the Hoosier Cup. At four, he was a regular competitor at the Open/Preferred level at both Harrington Raceway and Dover Downs. He closed out his racing career with a summary of 44-11-10-5, earnings of $349,383 and a three-year-old mark of 1:50.2 at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Wind Me Up was campaigned by the George Teague Jr. Stable, with ownership partners including Teague Jr., Ted Gewertz, Fannin Racing and Robert Feldman.

Wind Me Up, pictured at home at the Sandbulte farm in Iowa.

In the fall of 2013, Minnesota breeder Alan Sandbulte was in search of a new stallion, one to replace Relentless Yankee (Artsplace-Rosey Yankee-Tylers Mark) who had been a top sire in Minnesota for several years and had been a big part of the Sandbulte's breeding and racing program over the years. Sandbulte was interested in a Bettors Delight stud, as he had taken notice of some of the sire's traits. Sandbulte felt that for Running Aces, you need a slightly bigger horse; stronger and able to handle tough trips, including first-over moves around the five-eighths turns. He had seen two different types of foals in Bettors Delight – some compact with good shoulders and good hind ends – probably well suited for half-mile tracks. But the other group he had seen had exactly what he was looking for – size and strength.

With the help of son-in-law Brandon Simpson, of the Renee Allard stable, Sandbulte's search was narrowed down, and they had their eyes on a Bettors Delight stud named Wind Me Up. Alan soon came in touch with George Teague Jr. and discussed a purchase of Wind Me Up. After some negotiation, the two were unable to meet on a price that satisfied both parties, but Teague informed Alan that he would be putting Wind Me Up in an upcoming sale. Sandbulte vowed to watch the horse in the sale. He ultimately was the winning bidder (for less than what the asking price had been privately) and eventually brought Wind Me Up back to his home base in Maurice, Iowa.

Allan ran into Teague Jr. one night at the Meadowlands a year or two later where he told him "George, I did buy that stud horse in the auction," to which Teague jokingly replied, “I know you did, and you still owe me some money." Clearly Teague thought he should have brought more at the sale. Based on his early results as a sire, it’s safe to say that he was probably right. Producing the state's Horse of the Year in back to back years in your first two racing crops is extremely impressive.

For Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte, harness racing is a family affair. It is a part of their daily life. Harness racing runs deep in their blood and it extends out to the far reaches of the family tree. They are no strangers to success in the racing business, either. Breeding and racing champions is what they strive for.

Alan is very pleased with the early success of Wind Me Up as a sire and with the types of foals he is seeing. He shared that they have great conformation, a great temperament, they are willing to learn, are great-gaited and they love their work. All of his foals exhibit some form of white markings, with a lot of diamond markings on the forehead and lots of white feet amongst his prodigy.

To date, his top 5 performers include: Giggle Monster(g) $77,980 3, 1:53.4f, Miss Sassy Pants(m) $54,180 4, 1:55.1f, Burning Blaze(g) $53,250 2, 1:54.1f, Windmeupnwatchmego(f) $49,950 2, 1:54.1f, Aint No Uppy Girl(m) $33,115 3, 1:55.1f.

Wind Me Up covered 33 mares in 2018, which was his largest book to date. Many in Minnesota are eagerly awaiting the next Wind Me Up stars to hit the racetrack, and eager to see what 2018 stars Burning Blaze and Windmeupnwatchmego will accomplish in 2019 when the racing season gets underway at Running Aces in May.

Wind Me Up stands at Bluff Country Equine in Winona, Minnesota for $850/Live Foal.

(Minnesota Harness Racing)