Celebrating JOY on the Fourth!

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Published: 05 July 2014

Flying her colors high on the Fourth of July, JOY flew home to win the $100,000 Perfect Sting Stakes in her Belmont Park debut. The 4-year-old chestnut Pure Prize filly bided her time while trailing early, worked her way around a loose horse and the rest of the field under Irad Ortiz Jr. and took off in the final sixteenth of the one-mile test to win going away by more than three lengths over yielding turf.

Bred and owned by Dark Hollow Farm and trained by Graham Motion, JOY recorded her second career stakes win, her first having come nearly a year earlier in the Christiana at Delaware Park. With four wins, a second and three thirds in 15 starts, the filly now has earnings of $180,810.

A member of the stellar family that includes Hall of Famer and Eclipse Award winner SAFELY KEPT, JOY is a third-generation Dark Hollow Farm-homebred, and the first foal for her dam Safe Journey, by Flatter. A winner at 2, 3 and 4 and now a multiple stakes winner, JOY has been truly been a joy.

Dark Hollow yearlings make grand appearance at MHBA Yearling Show!

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Published: 05 July 2014

Dark Hollow Farm's classy homebred daughter of Pure Prize and Maryland-bred champion He Loves Me (by Not For Love) was named Grand Champion of the 80th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show, this year judged by top Mid-Atlantic trainer Tony Dutrow. It was the second time since 2009 that a Dark Hollow bred and exhibited yearling took the show's top prize.

The elegant bay filly, winner of Class IV, was one of two class winners for Dark Hollow Farm. The homebred Fairbanks colt out of Silver Ashlee, by Red Bullet, took the blue ribbon in Class II. 

Another Dark Hollow Farm prepared ribbon winner was Dorsey Brown and Richard Palmer's chestnut colt by Trappe Shot out of High Moment, by High Yield, who finished third in Class II.

Dark Hollow Farm has had tremendous success throughout the years at the historic show - 10 times yearlings exhibited in the name of Dark Hollow (solely or in partnership) have won their class, including future graded stakes winner Ready's Image. And among those shown who surprisingly didn't take home the blue were Hall of Famer and Eclipse Award winner Safely Kept, graded stakes winners New York Hero and Not for Silver, and recent stakes winners Eighttofasttocatch, Plum, Joy and Mystic Love.

No doubt about it: Dark Hollow Farm yearlings really know how show off!

Dark Hollow Farm’s Pure Prize Filly Stars at Maryland Show

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Published: 02 July 2014

A Pure Prize filly was selected by trainer Tony Dutrow as grand champion over 75 other entrants at the 80th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association's Maryland-bred yearling show June 29 at the Timonium Fairgrounds.

The grand champion filly, out of graded stakes winner and Maryland-bred champion He Loves Me, by Not For Love , was the winner of Class IV, for fillies conceived in states other than Maryland. She fit the picture of an athlete and was a beautiful mover, noted Dutrow, who is a regular auction buyer whose purchases have included Grace Hall, Smart and Fancy, In Trouble and Gracer. Dutrow made his selections based on what strikes him when looking for a future runner.

The Pure Prize filly was one of two class winners on the day for David and JoAnn Hayden's Dark Hollow Farm, which also took the blue ribbon in Class II, for colts and geldings conceived in states other than Maryland.

The colt is by Fairbanks and is the first foal out of the Red Bullet mare Silver Ashlee.

The Haydens had previously exhibited the show's champion and reserve champion in 2009. A regular showgoer since the mid-1980s, Dark Hollow Farm has solely, or in partnership, won a total of 10 classes.

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QUALIFY: the streak is growing!

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Published: 29 June 2014

Three races in 2014, three wins for Dark Hollow Farm, Arnold Davidov and David Schwaber's QUALIFY! Making his first start outside of Maryland, QUALIFY found Monmouth Park to his liking on Saturday, June 28, sticking close to the pace before taking charge in the one-mile allowance and winning by three-quarters of a length as the 1.30-1 favorite.

The 4-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro out of the A.P. Indy mare Open Flirt, bred by the partners with Alice Wolf, continues to learn and grow. He's shown his versatility, winning from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth, being on the lead or stalking, and has now taken three of five starts for earnings of $86,800.

Six figures for Dark Hollow Farm juvenile at FT Midlantic sale!

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Published: 25 May 2014

Making quite a presentation in the auction ring in Timonium at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale on the afternoon of May 20, the Dark Hollow Farm-bred colt from the first crop of Line of David sold for $100,000 to Gary Contessa, bidding for Wounded Warrior Stables.

Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the flashy chestnut represents a third generation descending from Dark Hollow Farm's foundation mare Safely Home. He is the third foal for the winning Flatter mare SAFE JOURNEY. Her first, current 4-year-old JOY, is a stakes winner of $120,810.

The colt's second dam, stakes-placed $114,923-earner Safe At the Plate, is a half-sister to Hall of Famer, Eclipse Award-winning sprinter and Breeders’ Cup Sprint-G1-winning multimillionaire SAFELY KEPT. Safe At the Plate produced nine winners, including graded stakes-placed runners Cognac Kisses ($178,094) and Kettle Won ($113,606) and $361,313-earner Glide Home. The remarkable family also boasts the likes of graded winners PARTNER’S HERO and SANTIVA.

SAFE JOURNEY's current 2-year-old is her first foal sold by Dark Hollow Farm. The mare has a yearling colt by Archarcharch and delivered a colt by Bodemeister this April.