Jim Bullock couldn’t sound more pleased to be carefully building a top-notch Standardbred broodmare band in Ontario and to be completely renovating a thoroughbred farm he purchased last June near the town of Erin to provide a home for his mares.
“I would say it’s two-thirds passion and one-third business,” Bullock said when reached at his Florida winter home. “I think we can cover our costs and make a little money if we have some luck. I enjoy it very much.”
About 10 years ago, Bullock shut down Glengate Farms as commercial breeding operation that was one of the largest in Ontario and home to stallions Balanced Image, Apaches Fame and Angus Hall, among others.
Coupled with the closure of Armstrong Bros. farm in 2004, the loss of Glengate -— located just down the road from Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville -— was a huge blow to the province’s breeding industry.
Bullock, 72, has kept his hand in the game since then, but now Glengate is making something of a comeback as a breeding operation in a new location near Erin, Ont.
Bullock said he’s enjoying trying to build a select band of trotting broodmares.
“I thought (with trotters) there was a niche in the market when so many people either downsized or got out of it...We’ve got room on the farm for a total of 37 or 38 broodmares. I’ve upped mine to just over 20...Close to 90 per cent are horses that we bought as yearlings. (Trainer) John Bax and I, we raced them and then retired them to the broodmare band.”
Interestingly, it was Bax, a native of Peterborough, Ont., who purchased the original Glengate Farm from Bullock to be closer to Mohawk. Now Bullock and Bax are anxiously awaiting the offspring of some of the trotters they raced together.
Juanitas Fury, winning at Mohawk Racetrack
“The one we are kind of waiting with bated breath for at the moment is Juanitas Fury, who made just over $400,000 for John and I. She’s in foal to Muscle Hill and due in about 10 days. She’s going back to (stallion) Father Patrick,” Bullock said.
(Courtesy Ontario Racing)
This is AWESOME news for
This is AWESOME news for Ontario :)