Gerry and Patricia Mulder have experienced a lot of ups and downs in the breeding business over the last 25 years, but they are riding high now thanks to Nathan Feelsgood
.
Despite a broken head pole from the half-mile on, the three-year-old colt gamely dug in to win his Junior Trendsetter Series division in 1:54 on February 3 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. He will try to make it two in a row in the $12,500 second leg of the series on Thursday night. Nathan Feelsgood, trained by Rob Harmon, will start from Post 9 as the morning line 5-2 favourite in the seventh race with driver Tim Tetrick at the lines.
The Mulders of Lansing, MI, bred and own the son of Mr Feelgood--Black Chana.
"We bought his mother for $26,000 (in June of her three-year-old season)," Gerry explained. "She was a daughter of Keystone Raider and she won her first start for us in 1:54 at Windsor. We knew she was special. She raced like a dream, but she wasn't finishing her miles well. We had the vets check her and they found that she had a leaky valve in her heart. They said she could still race with it, but we didn't want to continue with her. We figured we would breed her instead.
"The lady at the breeding farm thought Nathan Feelsgood was something special and when Rob went to see him, he wanted to take him back to New York and train him down right," he continued. "We only raced him six times last year because he had been a late foal. Rob told me he has speed, and that he has more than he even realizes at this point."
Nathan Feelsgood showed potential in his limited two-year-old campaign. The colt took a mark of 1:52.4 as an easy winner in a Kentucky Sire Stakes division at the Red Mile on September 2, 2010. He was sent off the second choice in the $300,000 sire stakes final, but folded on the front end after expending too much energy during a recall at the start of the race.
"The two horses on either side of him interfered with him and he bumped into the gate," Gerry explained. "There was a recall and it took going halfway around the track to stop him and turn him around. He just wore himself out."
The Mulders jumped into horse ownership in 1987 after meeting Bryon Babcock at their local Fraternal Order of the Eagles. Babcock was looking for a partner on Kawartha Frontier, a son of Tyler B who had been first or second in eight of his 12 starts that year. With that, the Mulders were hooked on horses. They eventually entered the breeding business and have had a few notable successes along with way, including the trotter Classic Lover (OKs Classic--Love Bowl) who earned more than $100,000.
"All we've ever wanted is a 'circuit' horse," Gerry said. "There is not much money to race for in Michigan. When Rob moved to New York, we went with him. We knew it would cost us more as owners, but we are also racing for a lot more money. In 2009, we made $29,000 and had to pay our bills out of that. This past year, we made $87,000. And Nathan Feelsgood isn't even at his peak yet."
(Meadowlands)