Breeders' Cup Connections: Breeder of Claret Beret Gets First Grade I Winner

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When Alvin Haynes passed away in 2014, his son Mitch wasn't exactly sure what to do with the handful of mares and foals his family had inherited. While Haynes had accompanied his father to the races over the years, he had never taken a real interest in the sport. But as he began to oversee the family's equine holdings, a genuine curiosity took hold. By the following year, he was at Keeneland purchasing a mare of his own. That single acquisition has elevated Haynes to the rank of Grade I-winning breeder. Following Claret Beret (Not This Time)'s win in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Haynes is hopeful he can represent the mare he bred at his home track come November.

Transcript

00:00And Claret Beret has punched her ticket to the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

00:04It's Claret Beret in the Apple Blossom has won it going away by five.

00:13My dad was in the breeding some.

00:16He liked to race horses.

00:17In 2014, he passed away.

00:20And we inherited some mares.

00:25Shortly after that, I decided that I wanted to buy a mare of my own.

00:30We bid on two or three, and then the third one, I think, was Bessie M.,

00:35and we ended up buying her for $42,000.

00:38My brother came to look at her, and he was showing him the catalog,

00:43and unmanoilous to us, my dad had owned the dam and the grand dam of her.

00:50In 2021, we decided to go to a stallion by the name of Not This Time

00:57at TaylorMade for $7,500.

01:00She had the baby, and she hemorrhaged at that time, and we lost the mare.

01:08So we had to have a nurse mare.

01:10So the nurse mare raised Claret Beret.

01:14We sold her as a weanling.

01:16She was nice.

01:17She brought $85,000, I think.

01:20She was correct and had some size to her, and she broke her maiden,

01:25and she was running claiming price and everything.

01:28She actually ran at Keeneland.

01:29I seen her run, bet on her, and the next thing I know,

01:33to my understanding, she won one race by 19 lengths.

01:36Since then, she's been on fire.

01:38And a rough in the Apple Blossom handicap.

01:42I was actually at dinner with some friends.

01:45My wife seen it, and she screamed,

01:47and everybody in the restaurant wanted to know what was going on,

01:51and it was pretty neat.

01:53And Claret Beret has punched her ticket to the Breeders' Cup disc staff.

01:57It's Claret Beret in the Apple Blossom.

01:59There's so many highs and lows,

02:02and the highs make you want to go deeper into it.

02:05She goes on and wins the Breeders' Cup.

02:07It'll be great.

02:09Oh, I live probably 10 minutes from Keeneland,

02:12and go every fall and every spring,

02:15and it's been to two different Breeders' Cups there already.

02:20It's just the enjoyment of it.

02:23You get to follow them, even if you don't own them.

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