Maryland-bred Cathryn Sophia was just named the top horse bred in the Mid-Atlantic by a poll put out by the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz. Voting was done by about two dozen media members and other Thoroughbred racing participants in the Mid-Atlantic region. Cathryn Sophia’s stellar 2016 season had her finishing in the money in all seven of her starts, winning four of them. She won three graded races and earned more than $1.1 million in 2016 alone. The big win of the year by the 2013 daughter of Street Boss was the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in May. She won by 2 3/4 lengths with Javier Castellano in the irons. The filly’s breeder Robert T. Manfuso told The Racing Biz, “It’s exciting. She’s a Maryland-bred and winning the Kentucky Oaks in an incredible thing.”
The filly is out of Sheave, an unraced mare by Mineshaft. She was sold by Manfuso in 2014 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale in Timonium and was bought by Charles Zacney for $30,000. He named the filly after his niece. She went in training with John Servis, based out of Prax Racing and was campaigned under the Cash Is King LLC silks. Servis called her a true campaigner.
Zacney sold Cathryn Sophia at this past November’s Fasig-Tipton sale for $1.4 million. She was bought by SF Bloodstock and will be bred to Pioneerof the Nile.
Fellow Maryland-bred Giant Run, bred by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds and trained by Tom Albertrani for owners Robert Baker and William Mack, was ranked sixth on the top Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred list. The 2013 colt is by Giants Causeway and out of the Polish Numbers mare Who Did It And Run.