In less than 10 years in the business, Bob Edwards has graced the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle three times. But when Carl Spackler lines up for the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar, it will be the first time Edwards is listed as both an owner and breeder with none other than his son-in-law Tyler Gaffalione, taking the reins on the pride of the e Five Racing Thoroughbreds operation.
“It’s always special going to the Breeders’ Cup,” said Edwards, who won his first Breeders’ Cup race with New Money Honey in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). “The competition is phenomenal, the best of the best are there. It’s a special weekend. To have the opportunity to run a horse that’s of Carl Spackler’s caliber, coming off two grade 1 wins, and we bred him, and our son-in-law is riding him, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
The story of Carl Spackler corresponds with the beginning of Edwards’ venture into racing. Founder of the successful pharmaceutical company e5 Pharma, Edwards dove into the Thoroughbred game after meeting prominent bloodstock agent Mike Ryan at a family reunion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. From there, Edwards acquired a sampling of yearlings, a young New Money Honey among them.
However, Edwards was keen to start racing, and after a quick stop at the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Ryan found the perfect candidate to take Edwards’ e Five silks to the starting gate. That horse was Zindaya , a then 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready that was part of the Regis Farms’ 41-horse dispersal. A proven stakes winner on the track, Ryan signed the ticket for $550,000 for Zindaya and she joined Chad Brown’s stable to embark on her 5-year-old campaign.
It took only two starts for Zindaya to give Edwards his first career victory as an owner in the 2016 Intercontinental Stakes at Belmont Park. The mare capped her 5-year-old season with a win in the Goldikova Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park, two days after New Money Honey triumphed in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
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Zindaya wins the 2016 Goldikova Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Zindaya retired at the end of 2016 and became the first member of Edwards’ new breeding endeavor, titled Fifth Avenue Bloodstock.
“We have a decent boutique breeding operation,” Edwards said. “We keep our mares at Indian Creek in Paris, Ky. They do a great job up there for us. Probably before the Breeders’ Cup, I’ll start working on matings for my mares. I have a decent band of graded stakes mares. New Money Honey is still with us. I still have Zindaya. And then we have some mares that had injuries or couldn’t make it racing but we felt were special but couldn’t get the opportunity to show how special they were but we kept them because their pedigrees were pretty stout.
“And that was our program going into it, buy fillies with good pedigrees so that we have an opportunity to breed them or sell them in November and that’s how it all started.”
Edwards made the decision to send Zindaya overseas to Carl Spackler’s sire, leading European stallion Lope de Vega , after enjoying success racing turf runners in the United States.
“I think we get better longevity running horses on the grass, at least in my program,” Edwards said. Apart from New Money Honey, Edwards campaigned elite turf mare Rushing Fall , an earner of nearly $2.9 million who captured grade 1 races every year she raced from ages 2 to 5. The daughter of More Than Ready gave Edwards his second Breeders’ Cup trophy with her score in the 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“Once we started breeding, I wanted to get some horses from Europe,” Edwards said. “I was over at the Tattersalls sale and I saw some of the horses there, there are some amazing stallions in Europe and I just figured let’s bring it back (to the U.S.). Let’s bring some of the babies back and mix the blood up. I bred to Frankel a few times with Zindaya and Lope de Vega a few times.”
Like Zindaya’s other foals, Carl Spackler was brought to the auction ring at Book 1 of the 2021 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Ryan, in attendance at the time, advised Edwards to place a stiff reserve on the Lope de Vega colt.
“He said ‘Don’t just give him away.’ So I put a high reserve and we ended up keeping him. We sent him to Ian Brennan at Stonestreet and Ian called me up immediately and said ‘This horse is going to be something special.’ Ian doesn’t usually call me that early on but he really liked Carl Spackler from the beginning. I was expecting to get some good races out of him and have some fun with him but I never expected to have this much fun. We’ve been lucky, he’s a talented horse.”
Like his dam and Edwards’ other past star runners, Carl Spackler’s racing career would develop under the eye of Chad Brown. Brown trained Zindaya, New Money Honey, Rushing Fall, as well as 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner and champion 2-year-old male Good Magic for Edwards (in partnership with Stonestreet Stables).
(L-R): Bob Edwards and Chad Brown
“Chad’s been pivotal in our success as a small boutique stable,” Edwards said. “Not only is he one of my friends, I met him through Mike Ryan 10-11 years ago. We just hit it off early on and Chad and his team have done a great job managing all our horses. We’ve had a lot of success, three Breeders’ Cup winners and one second place in the Breeders’ Cup, so our stats are pretty good together.”
Unveiled as a 3-year-old during the winter of 2023, Carl Spackler was a standout from the moment he hit the track. Graduating second time out at Gulfstream Park, the colt garnered a 105 Equibase Speed Figure. Remarkably, in his 10 starts to date, his only non-triple-digit Equibase figure came in his debut, where he earned a 99 for a narrow runner-up finish.
Although disappointing in his stakes debut in the American Turf Stakes (G2T) on Derby Day in 2023, Carl Spackler rebounded with two decisive wins at Saratoga Race Course in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (G2T) and Saranac Stakes (G3T). Those performances were enough to convince Edwards, Brown, and Gaffalione, that the colt could be a live contender in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.
While training last fall, Carl Spackler suffered a bout of colic that took him out of commission. Given ample time to recover from his illness, the colt returned with vigor in his 2024 debut with a victory in the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs in May.
Following a fifth in the Poker Stakes (G3T), Gaffalione and Carl Spacker became a dynamic duo through the second half of the year, tearing through three consecutive wins in the Kelso Stakes (G3T), Fourstardave Handicap (G1T), and Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T).
“He’s the full package. He’s got good gate speed. He can come from off the pace. He can close. It’s a special horse who can run from anywhere,” Edwards said. “Tyler said he’s still just figuring everything out and we still haven’t seen the best from him yet. If it’s his day and he’s feeling it, he could be unstoppable.”
Carl Spackler wins the Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga Race Course
No one knows Carl Spackler better than Gaffalione. The jockey, married to Edwards’ daughter Cassidy, has piloted the colt in all but his first three trips to the post. Whether taking the field gate-to-wire or closing fast from off the pace, Gaffalione is confident in Carl Spackler’s ability and feels the colt’s tactical running style will only help him Championship Saturday.
“He’s shown us everything we need to see this year,” Gaffalione said. “He’s coming into the race in great form and that give us tons of confidence.”
Gaffalione has been aboard Carl Spackler’s last few workouts at Keeneland ahead of the Mile. Ranked among the top five riders in the country in the past few years, Gaffalione celebrated a breakout year in 2022 when landing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Wonder Wheel and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) the next day with Caravel .
“It’s amazing,” Gaffalione said of the opportunity to ride Carl Spackler in the Breeders’ Cup. “I’ve been so thrilled for them in the past with their success in the Breeders’ Cup but hopefully now we can add to that together and make it a family affair.”
Following the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Edwards says he sees no reason not to campaign Carl Spackler for another year as a 5-year-old. A strapping crimson-coated colt, Carl Spackler has endeared himself to fans with his quirky namesake and a peculiar lopsided blaze across his face.
“As long as he’s healthy, he’s only going to get better,” Edwards said. “And it’s nice to have the opportunity to run older horses. It’s nice for my family, it’s nice for Tyler to know he has a steady mount, and it’s nice for the fans.
“He’s developed a cult following. The fans like him. His name is great, he’s a really handsome horse with that pretty blaze on him. I think it’s good for the sport to keep him active and if we can run him next year I’d be happy to.”
Carl Spackler in his stall at Keeneland
Carl Spackler, slapped down at 6-1 on the morning line in the Mile behind European heavyweights Notable Speech , Porta Fortuna , Ramatuelle , as well as West Coast hero Johannes , drew the unlucky outer 12 post in the Mile.
Whatever Saturday’s outcome may be, the experience as an owner in racing has arrived full circle for Edwards.
“Zindaya was my first winner, my first stakes winner,” Edwards said. “It’s exciting—I get goosebumps thinking about it. Just to be there with my family with a horse we bred that’s a live contender and our son-in-law is on the horse … it’s hard to beat that.”
