Trot Insider has learned that 2019 O'Brien Award winning trotter Evident Beauty has been retired and will begin her broodmare career with a new part owner.

A daughter of Trixton - Struck By Lindy, Evident Beauty was campaigned through her two- and three-year-old seasons by trainer Richard 'Nifty' Norman for owners Mel Hartman of Ottawa, Ont., Jeff Gural's Little E LLC of New York, N.Y. and Rob & Wayne Giles' R A W Equine Inc. of Burlington, Ont. She compiled a record of 13 - 6 - 4 from 27 lifetime starts with $890,866 in purses and a mark of 1:52.2 taken at the Meadowlands in her final career start.

"The first foal out of her might bring $300,000 and there's no way you can make that kind of money as a four-year-old," said Norman. "I brought Bee A Magician back as a four-year-old, and they just struggle at four. It's a tough transition from three to four when you have to race five- and six-year-olds. That was the decision we made and I think it was a good one."

Now, Evident Beauty is residing in Kentucky with her new part owner, Steve Stewart of Hunterton Farm. Stewart told Trot Insider that the deal to obtain a piece of the four-year-old actually began at a yearling sale in October.

"At the [Lexington Selected Yearling] sale, Mel Hartman had come up to us and asked if we'd be interested in Evident Beauty. We said 'sure!'," stated Stewart. "So the price [for 100 percent of the horse] came through Nifty Norman and we felt it was too high. And so we just kind of left it alone. And Mel said that's fine, we'll just probably keep her. And then it kind of went back and forth, and Nifty got in touch with us again around Harrisburg, the price came down some...and we had bought a bunch of other ones -- we bought Woodside Charm and Quincy Blue Chip."

Stewart then got a call from Gural, and a deal was struck for Hunterton to purchase the third owned by R A W Equine and keep Gural and Hartman in on the mare.

"It's kind of perfect for us. One of the partners had gone to look at her at Lexington, she's a really great looking mare. And Trixton is a horse we bred...it's always fun when you get something from something you started with. And as time has gone on, we're getting more of those."

The acquisition of Evident Beauty adds more black-type pedigree to the already solid nursery of Hunterton, with the aforementioned Woodside Charm (two-year-old filly trotter of the year in 2018) and Quincy Blue Chip (2019 NYSS champion) providing the Kentucky operation with three of the top broodmare prospects from that crop.

Evident Beauty and Only Take Cash could not be separated in the 2019 O'Brien Award voting which resulted in a tie for O’Brien Award honours.  Evident Beauty won 10 of 18 races and more than $617,000 in earnings at three. Her biggest win of the season came in the Elegantimage Stake where she overcame the outside post position 10 to get up for a neck victory.

She also added wins in two divisions and the final of the New Jersey Sire Stakes, the Del Miller, a Casual Breeze division, and the Moni Maker to her impressive resume.

"She got three-year-old of the year up your way and was named Horse of the Year in New Jersey, she's made almost $900,000," noted Stewart. "Those types of mares you can't own enough of."

This business model isn't the norm in harness racing and Standardbreds, but the broodmare and breeding game is where the Stewarts and Hunterton excel.

"Our deal is broodmares...there's much less competition when you're trying to buy broodmares than racehorses. And that's the way it should be, and I'm glad it's that way. That's not the way it is with the thoroughbreds. The thoroughbreds are so much more sales-driven, and I think a lot of times when a horse comes and it could race again you're probably going to be outbid by a breeder. Here, the business is driven by the racing people."

Stewart and his wife Cindy have either a piece or all of about 120 mares, with Stewart admitting that they hold onto mares maybe a bit longer than others might but for a good reason.

"We have a lot of faith in what we do so it's hard sometimes to think they won't produce another good one."

Stewart recalled when Evident Beauty's sire Trixton sold as a yearling under the name of Monarch Kemp. He was the 10th foal of former Canadian Horse of the Year Emilie Cas El and a prominent owner wasn't high on the fact that Monarch Kemp was that far down the production line.

"I said 'well, the eighth foal of the dam was Impressive Kemp, and she won the Breeders Crown. So would you have said the same thing two years ago...what's the difference between the eighth foal and the tenth foal?'"

Monarch Kemp sold for $360,000 to Brixton Medical AB, with that other owner as the underbidder. Renamed Trixton, he'd retire after his three-year-old season with a 12-2-2 summary from 19 starts, nearly $970,000 in earnings and with a Hambletonian title.

Stewart noted that the stud choice for Evident Beauty isn't evident just yet, but the field is narrowed to two likely candidates.

"When I talked to Jeff -- and I haven't even had this conversation with Mel yet -- it's either going to be Father Patrick or Greenshoe."