The new team behind the familiar Pin Oak Stud has had its share of heartbreak in the last few years. But hope springs eternal in Thoroughbred racing, especially in the spring.
After one Pin Oak colt, Incredibolt, seemingly punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby by winning last Saturday’s Virginia Derby, another hopeful, Chaos Agent, looks to do the same in this coming weekend’s Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, another prep offering major Kentucky Derby points. The colts carry the gray and blue silks now associated with the Bernhard family, whose patriarch, Jim Bernhard, died in November.
“I’m happy for the horse and our staff, and especially happy for the Pin Oak team and the Bernhard family,” trainer Riley Mott said after Incredibolt’s win. “We’re missing a very important member today in Mr. Jim Bernhard, but I know he’s looking down on us.”
Pin Oak was founded in 1952 by the late Josephine Abercrombie, who died in January 2022 at age 95, and her father, James Smither Abercrombie, who died in 1975. Pin Oak bred or raced more than 100 stakes winners with Josephine at the helm, including Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valley and Eclipse Award champion Laugh and Be Merry.
The Versailles, Ky., farm was purchased in November 2022 by the Louisiana-based Bernhards just more than a year into their racing sojourn. Dana Bernhard, a retired attorney, was involved in equestrian pursuits all her life, but never Thoroughbred racing until her husband, Jim, founder of an investment firm, decided to buy a yearling for her as a birthday present at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale.
Their very first horse, a $350,000 Candy Ride colt, went on to be Geaux Rocket Ride, never worse than second in five career starts. The colt won the Affirmed and the Grade 1 Haskell and was second in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.
After providing the Bernhards with their first Grade 1 win, Geaux Rocket Ride also presented their first heartbreak. He sustained a leg fracture while training toward the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, and post-surgery complications proved unsurvivable.
The Bernhards persisted, continuing to be prominent buyers of yearlings and beginning to build a breeding operation. They expanded Pin Oak by adding several hundred acres with the purchase of an annex farm from Adena Springs. The total property is now more than 1,200 acres.
Last year, the blue and gray silks – the colors of Abercrombie’s alma mater, Rice University, and which the Bernhards kept in tribute – were seen around the world. World Beater won the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby, as well as the Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby and Audubon Stakes. Parchment Party won the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup and Birdstone Stakes and became the first American-trained horse to race in Australia’s famed Melbourne Cup, finishing 20th. And Incredibolt emerged with star potential by winning the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs.
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Shortly after those exciting times – the Street Sense was on Oct. 26 and the Melbourne Cup on Nov. 4 – sadness struck again. Jim Bernhard died Nov. 16 after a brief illness at age 71. His passing was recognized by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.
“Jim Bernhard was one of Louisiana’s most dynamic and visionary business leaders,” Landry said in a statement. “His hard work built companies that created jobs, strengthened our economy, and showcased the very best of Louisiana. Louisiana has lost a giant, but I know his legacy will endure for generations.”
Bernhard’s family has carried on with Incredibolt and other promising youngsters. Incredibolt, by 2022 leading freshman sire Bolt d’Oro, was a bargain $75,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale. The colt was sixth in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in his 3-year-old debut when stuck on a deep rail at Gulfstream, but he rebounded with a stirring four-length win in the Virginia Derby.
Chaos Agent, from the first crop of Independence Hall, was a $350,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by the Bernhards. The colt, trained by Josie Carroll, was a debut winner last month on Gulfstream’s synthetic track and takes his shot on Turfway’s Tapeta in the Ruby, which awards 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner.
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