Origin Stories: Raising Good Horses at Town and Country Farms

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Town and Country Farms celebrated a historic year in 2024 as the breeder of three Grade I winners.  The boutique commercial breeding operation is now looking to build on their success as they expand their business.

Transcript

00:00So when I think about town and country, I just think about a farm that does everything right

00:17from the ground up. You know, if you look at their matings and the mares they buy,

00:22and then the way they raise the horses, they put the horse first, raise these horses outside,

00:27they're tough athletes, and I think that combination gives them kind of a unique

00:33approach in the breeding world. Here at Town and Country, we take pride in our horsemanship.

00:38From the time of, I guess you could say, inception to the time the horse goes to the ring or the

00:43racetrack, we've done everything we can to get that horse prepared. Just the idea of doing whatever

00:50needs to be done for the horse. The farm's owned by Kiki Cortellis. It was started between her and

00:57her mother, Louise Cortellis. We've been here since 07, and Mrs. Cortellis, she passed away in 2023.

01:07She was the mind behind the mind, if you want to say, of the whole farm. She loved horses,

01:14she loved people, she was a teacher at heart. I've been here a little over eight years now,

01:20and what drew me to Town and Country was Mrs. Cortellis and her desire to raise good horses.

01:29I think when she bought this, she had probably bigger visions than all of us put together, so

01:34she knew that what it was capable of. You know, then Kiki's carried on the tradition, and we've

01:41branched out and did a little bit of boarding here. Recently purchased a couple of other pieces of land,

01:46so we've expanded the boarding operation, expanded the the farm in general. So Town and Country has

01:54been around and producing high-class racehorses for a long time, but I felt like 2024 was like just this

02:00breakout year for them. I mean, if you look at Adair Manor, the campaign she put together was just

02:05incredible, grade one winner. Formidable man, grade one winner, and then Newgate, you know, was a high

02:11dollar yearling for them, and then won his own grade one, and then you got Denim and Pearls, who was a

02:17brilliant grade two winner. As far as the Town and Country brand goes, it was just a sensational year, and I

02:24think they're just scratching the surface of the success you're going to see them continue to have for

02:29decades to come. It's day in and day out. It's seven days a week. We all have to approach it as a lifestyle, and

02:36to be rewarded, you know, with the horses that we've raised and produced at the racetrack like

02:42that is very vindicating. Being a commercial breeding farm, I hope when people purchase our

02:47yearlings, they know what kind of care they've came from and how they've been raised. It's also very

02:53special when you're this small and you have such a good year. It just goes back to the team and the

02:59raising of the horse and, you know, trying to let horses be horses, and we're very blessed. God has been

03:04good to the farm. That's one thing, and that was something that was very, very important to

03:08Mrs. Cortellis, was our foundation and our faith. We hope to continue to grow. We hope to continue to

03:15be a boutique commercial breeding farm, but we hope to continue to raise and develop good racehorses.

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