By Liane Crossley
Special to NKyTribune
A rarity for which there are no statistics occurred on Dec. 3 at Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky when four-legged sisters finished first and second in the Holiday Inaugural Stakes.
The chances of the two horses even being in the same race are astronomical especially since one was sold twice at public auction and could have been campaigning far from her Kentucky roots.
Both the victorious Marquee Miss and runner-up Marquee Cal Gal are daughters of the stallion Cowboy Cal and the mare Marquee Delivery, who is owned by their breeder David Jacobs.
“I commented that it would be wonderful if my horse (Marquee Cal Gal) won and the other one was second,” Jacobs of Stamping Ground said. “Little did I know that it would be the opposite. I was very proud but I would have been prouder if it had been the other way around.”
The winner earned $28,830 while Marquee Cal Gal banked $9,300. Thanks to Kentucky’s Thoroughbred incentive fund, Jacobs receives a bonus of several thousand dollars for breeding the horses.
Jacobs’ connection to the siblings and his entrance into Thoroughbred ownership began in 1991 when a friend convinced him to purchase Copelan’s Girl, a consistent but low level performer who was churning out victories in Kentucky and Ohio. When his one-horse stable retired, Jacobs decided to breed her and race the offspring.
One of her first foals was Fast Delivery, a three-time stakes winner at Turfway Park and an overall earner of $263,835. Retired to Jacobs’ broodmare band, Fast Delivery produced Marquee Delivery in 2004. She also became a stakes performer and pocketed a nearly identical bankroll. Following the family tradition, Marquee Delivery joined Jacobs’ breeding division. Her first foal, born in 2011, is Marquee Cal Gal.
Jacobs generally sells his colts as young prospects but retains his fillies for his racing and breeding programs. A notable exception was selling Marquee Miss for $19,000 at 2014 Fasig Tipton October yearling sale in Lexington. At the time Marquee Cal Gal was winless in four starts. Jacobs said he saw no reason to pay training bills on two horses with duplicate pedigrees.
“I try to be fairly conservative,” Jacobs said. “I don’t want to be one of those people who blows what they made in another profession on horses and I have seen that happen a few times. I try to be cautious and have a little fun along the way but not get too overwhelmed.”
He can still capitalize on his sold horses if they are successful at the track. Despite no longer having ownership, Jacobs remains eligible for the breeder bonuses. And the value of Marquee Cal Gal and her relatives has increased thanks to Marquee Miss’s accomplishments.
Jacobs did not have to wait long to reap those rewards. Less than a year after the sale, Marquee Miss won a stakes race in her very first start.
Two days after Marquee Miss won that career debut at Arlington Park in Chicago, her older sister was in Pennsylvania gaining her first victory while racing for the eighth time. The connections of Marquee Miss recognized her as an overachiever and she has made all but two of her starts in the upper tier while Marquee Cal Gal excelled in less competitive races.
Jacobs said their drive is a family trademark.
“Every one of the fillies gives their best effort,” he said. “They don’t always win, but I have never seen one not give her best effort.”
In the Holiday Inaugural at Turfway Park, the sisters raced behind the leaders before rallying to the front. Marquee Cal Gal gained the lead before Marquee Miss edged past her in the closing yards to win by a neck.
The victory boosted the three-year-old filly’s bankroll to $225,109 and improved her record to four wins in 15 starts. The five-year-old Marquee Cal Gal has won eight of 22 starts for $164,770.
Jacobs is optimistic about the siblings’ younger and unborn family members. He is especially looking forward to the birth next year of a half sibling to the celebrated sisters.
That foal is sired by Hall of Fame member Tiznow best known as two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Jacobs has about a dozen Thoroughbreds boarded in Paris, Kentucky.
“I haven’t made a fortune but I haven’t lost much either,” Jacobs said. “It is pretty much a hobby for me.”
Liane Crossley is a freelance writer based in Lexington