Texas breeder Sue Cook rightly refers to
Pope McLean as "a true Southern gentleman."
The owner of Crestwood Farm near Lexington has long been
known as soft-spoken, easy-going, no-nonsense. Low-key,
down-to-earth, family-oriented. But now meet the new Pope
McLean--the gambling, daring, risk-taking Pope McLean.
The change isn't apparent on the surface.
This metamorphosis isn't caterpillar-becomes-butterfly.
McLean, 64, still has all the personality traits that
have made him endearing to horsemen for 40 years. Nonetheless,
the change is significant.
For its first 30 years, McLean's farm on
Spurr Road--near Vinery and Hill 'n' Dale--was strictly
a commercial breeding operation. But in the '90s, McLean's
two sons joined their father, and together they decided
to take the Thoroughbred nursery to the next level by
standing stallions.
There are inherent risks in having a breeding
shed, and with the timing of the Crestwood venture, you
could compound those risks by a factor of many.
In the late '80s and early '90s, the stallion
boom was ending. No one was entering that side of the
game. Especially not someone like Pope McLean.
McLean's vocabulary includes the words "hard"
and "sell," but they are never used in the same
sentence. He's not gregarious. Makes no promises.
Which is exactly why his risk worked.
"I had always been on the other side
of the fence, choosing stallions to breed to," McLean
said recently in his farm office. "Standing stallions
is something I had wanted to do, but the time had to be
right. A lot had to do with my sons coming on the scene,
Pope Jr., in 1990, and Marc a couple of years later. The
three of us, and with my daughter now (Grandison began
working at Crestwood in 1999), it was like the pieces
of a jigsaw puzzle fitting together. Each one of us fills
a role or gap. We work extremely well together. In 10
years, we have never had an argument. I feel blessed to
have my children involved, and for each one to have a
niche.
(Pope Jr. is the farm's business manager,
Marc the farm manager, and Grandison does the billings,
registrations, and sale entries.)
"We had just gone through the '80s
where things had tightened down," McLean continued.
"A lot of the stallion shares we had that were worth
a substantial amount had declined in value. We were fortunate
in the timing. Not too many people were jumping in right
at that moment.
"Although we hadn't been standing stallions,
I had been in the business over 30 years. I knew a lot
of people and had made a lot of contacts." A big
shot in the arm, McLean said, was Seth Hancock of Claiborne
Farm deciding to stand Discover at Crestwood. "That
Seth considered us, well that gave us immediate credibility
in people's perception of our ability to stand a stallion."
BOOTING UP
Even though Discover wasn't a rousing success,
his mere presence opened the stallion barn door. This
breeding season, eight stud horses will stand at Crestwood.
Discover was one of two stallions at the
farm in 1994. The other horse, Storm
Boot, has been a smash hit. His first crop includes
the multiple graded stakes-winning fillies Bourbon Belle
and Hurricane Bertie. Bourbon Belle earned $1,152,223
and Hurricane Bertie bankrolled $940,041. They are among
the reasons Storm Boot covered 88 mares in 1999, 104 in
2000, and 79 last year.
Standing one year for $1,000 and the next
three for $2,000, Storm Boot now commands a stud fee of
$15,000. That may be a first, a stallion who started out
for $1,000 climbing to $15,000.
Owned by McLean in partnership with Trish
Moseley's Ardboe Stable, Storm Boot, a 13-year-old son
of Storm Cat, is the sire of 17 stakes winners.
Dixieland
Heat is another who has seen his
number of mares increase, covering 64 in 2001, up from
45 the year before. Owned by McLean in partnership with
Sue and Leland Cook, who raced him, Dixieland Heat is
the sire of four stakes winners, but among them is one
of 2001's most popular horses--Xtra
Heat.
Dixieland Heat stood for $3,000 his first
five years at stud. His price doubled in 2001 and remains
at $6,000 this season.
Xtra Heat won nine stakes last year, including
the grade I Prioress, and gained a legion of fans when
she nearly won the Penske Auto Center Breeders' Cup Sprint
(gr. I). She started 2002 with a victory in the Interborough
Handicap on New Year's Day. Sold by Crestwood as a weanling
for $9,100, Xtra Heat has earned $1.3 million and is one
of three finalists in two 2001 Eclipse Award categories--
sprinter and 3-year-old filly.
McLean bred Xtra Heat in partnership with
his sons, Peter Feringa Jr., and longtime Crestwood marketing
consultant Scott Rion.
McLean bought the dam of Xtra Heat, Begin,
for $20,000 at the 1995 Keeneland November breeding stock
sale. Begin was purchased on the advice of Crestwood pedigree
adviser Rob Keck, who suggested McLean look for mares
tracing to Mahmoud to mate to Dixieland Heat. Begin's
sire, Hatchet Man, is by The Axe II, by Mahmoud.
Watching Xtra Heat,
McLean said, has been a very moving experience for him.
The type he wishes more people could feel.
"I've always said that if these non-horse
people could just own a horse one time and experience
the thrill. It is just so exhilarating to have a close
connection with a horse. Take Xtra Heat. We not only bred
her but stand the stallion. When she won the Beaumont
(Stonerside Beaumont Stakes, gr. II) at Keeneland, I literally
got tears in my eyes. If people could just experience
that one time, we would have more people in the horse
business."
Twenty-two-year-old Begin is in foal to
Dixieland Heat and will be bred back to him.
The Cooks met McLean in 1994, when they
purchased a yearling filly by Eastern Echo from him for
$95,000. After just two starts, the filly reared one day
and struck her head, fatally injuring herself. But the
Cooks had fond memories of their introduction to McLean.
"He made such an impression on me at
the time," Sue Cook said of that chance meeting at
Keeneland eight years ago. "We were impressed with
his farm and what it was producing. When we began to think
about retiring Dixieland Heat...well, we're in Texas,
so Kentucky is a whole other world to us. We wanted a
smaller farm, a farm that would work closely with us.
They were interested immediately. When we went to Kentucky
and visited with them, once I met the family, I knew it
was a great fit for all of us."
Impressed with Crestwood's insight into
the cross that produced Xtra Heat, the Cooks privately
purchased a young Hatchet Man mare to breed to him this
year.
When Jeff Neilsen moved his mares to Crestwood,
it was on the advice of Dr. Al Polk, who owned Oriskany
Farm near Nicholasville, Ky. When Polk retired, he recommended
McLean. Neilsen, chairman of the real estate development
and venture capital firm The Everest Group in St. Paul,
Minn., is glad he did. Besides boarding 55 mares at Crestwood,
Neilsen retired his Petionville
to stand there in 1997 for $10,000 (his 2002 stud fee
is $7,500).
His association with Crestwood "has
been one of the highlights of being in the horse business,"
Neilsen said. "Pope is very straightforward. I trust
him. His word is his bond; it always has been."
Trust, honesty, and integrity are words
people hear often to describe McLean.
"The best description (of Pope and
his family) is that they are the most honest, down to
earth group you will ever meet," said Brian Burns,
who boards 30 mares at Crestwood and stands The Name's
Jimmy there. "Pope is the real thing; he tells you
what has to be said. He always steers you in the right
direction."
Besides owning 75% of The
Name's Jimmy, Burns has enough faith in McLean that
he bought 25% of another Crestwood stallion, General
Royal, and owns two shares in
Storm Boot.
HIGH-LEVEL PLANE
Pope (his mother's maiden name) McLean had
no formal horse background when his father, Dr. C.G. McLean,
became part-owner of a broodmare named Wicki Wicki, a
daughter of Balladier. Her principal owner was one of
the physician's patients, P.A.B. "Pete" Widener
II, former owner of Elmendorf Farm.
But a funny thing happened while Pope McLean
was taking pre-med courses at the University of Kentucky.
The foal from that mare, raised by McLean at his father's
The Farm, turned out to be Oil Wick (by Oil Capitol),
winner of the 1959 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill
Downs.
Goodbye medical school...hello Thoroughbred
industry.
Another of Dr. McLean's patients was Melvin
Cinnamon, manager of Calumet Farm. Cinnamon had managed
Coldstream Farm adjacent to The Farm, and also managed
The Farm before Dr. McLean purchased it from Henry Knight.
McLean worked at Calumet for 2 1/2 years,
starting in 1960, earning, as he calls it, "a good
education on the back-end of a pitchfork."
While at Calumet, McLean worked nights at
his father's farm. Widener gave him one of Wicki Wicki's
daughters, the Nahar mare Over Dose. Her first foal, a
colt by War Jeep, became the first horse ever sold by
McLean, bringing $2,200 at the 1963 Keeneland September
sale.
"Over Dose was pretty crooked in the
front end," McLean said, remembering as if it were
yesterday. "But that colt could run a little bit."
Named Johndolph, he won six races and ran third in the
1964 Ocean City Stakes.
In 1967 Random Shot, bred by McLean and
longtime friend Bill Robbins, won the Clark Handicap at
Churchill Downs. Random Shot had been purchased by James
R. Cowden Sr., the owner of Poplar Hill, adjacent to The
Farm.
Cowden and McLean then became partners on
some mares, and when McLean's broodmare band increased
to 15-20, he leased 100 acres of Poplar Hill for several
years.
McLean and another partner, M.W. "Washie"
Miller Jr., bought the Polynesian mare Polinique from
Cowden, and she went on to produce stakes winners Polito
and Foolish Polly, the latter racing for her breeders.
When McLean and his wife, Betty Ann, were
married in December 1962, Robbins was one of two groomsmen.
The other was John J. "Bud" Greely III, owner
of Wintergreen Farm near Midway, Ky. Robbins owns an insurance
agency and is a longtime bid spotter for Fasig-Tipton.
"Our fathers were close friends, and
he and I have been close friends," Robbins said.
"I was partners with Pope for 30-plus years. Now,
my sons are partners in mares with his sons.
"His ethics, his work ethic, and his
genteel disposition are unmatched. He stays on an even
keel, a plane, but it's a high-level plane."
By 1970, McLean's operation had grown to
the stage where it was time to move on. He began leasing
474-acre Crestwood, initially with Ted Bates, the assistant
manager at Calumet when McLean was there. When Bates took
a job with Fasig-Tipton, McLean stayed on, purchasing
the property in August 1974.
It might not seem like a big deal now, but
McLean said his move to Crestwood was as big a risk as
he has ever taken.
"We had purchased a home in town. When
we leased the farm, we moved out here. I sold the home
in town to buy horses, and had this farm leased. We would
have been out in the cold had that backfired." Though
conservative by nature, this was an example, he said,
where "I'm willing to gamble and put it all on the
line."
In 1999, Crestwood expanded for the first
time, with the purchase of an additional 240 acres just
three miles from the main property.
One of McLean's longtime philosophies has
been the ownership of stallion shares. When he first purchased
Crestwood, he owned breeding rights in such stallions
as Sham, Al Hattab, Creme dela Creme, Cornish Prince,
Triple Bend, Son Ange, Mito, and Bold Hour.
"I always thought owning shares, owning
part of a stallion, was a lucrative move, provided you
pick the right ones," McLean said. "At that
time I couldn't afford to purchase a major part of a stallion.
I saw that the right shares could escalate in value. You
had use of the stallion for three or four years and might
find yourself with something worth more than the cost
of the initial share. It sure helped over the years when
it came time to pay your stud fees. It has been a very
helpful thing to me over the years."
GUIDING PHILOSOPHY
McLean, solely or in partnership, has bred
more than 40 stakes winners. Countless others have been
raised and/or sold by the farm. For example, Crestwood
raised and sold champion Serena's Song; co-bred, raised,
and sold Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Sardula; and co-bred,
raised, and sold Screen Prospect, who won six stakes and
was grade I-placed in three races.
Today, McLean owns 42 broodmares himself
or with various partners. The farm boards another 110.
The vast majority of the McLean-controlled mares are bred
to Crestwood stallions.
Crestwood continues to search for stallions,
and now is in the position to turn down horses that don't
fit certain criteria. It's not hard, McLean said, to identify
stallion prospects such as Point Given, a classic winner
who enters stud this year with a $125,000 fee. At Crestwood's
modest level, however, more work is often involved. "Take
Storm Boot," McLean said. "He's well bred, but
a casual look at his race record wouldn't impress you.
I looked closer at his races and liked what I saw; liked
it a lot...that's the beauty of this business. A lot of
top racehorses have been flops at stud."
Whatever decisions he makes, McLean stands
behind them, win or lose. "That probably is my guiding
philosophy," he said. "If I give my word to
someone, that's it. If I lose on the deal, so be it. Keeping
my word, that's more important than anything. That has
always been first and foremost. Unfortunately, that isn't
always the case in dealings now.
"I think I've earned trust and respect
from people over the years. You are that way (trustworthy)
or you aren't. Honesty was instilled in me as a child
by my father, and I've tried to instill it in my children."
For Them, Home Is on the Farm
Like their father, Pope McLean's children
went to college and earned degrees. They saw what the
world has to offer. Then, like him, they decided the farm
is what they loved most.
Pope Jr. joined the operation in 1990 and
serves as business manager; Marc came on board less than
two years later and is the farm manager; and in May 1999,
Grandison returned with the skills necessary to modernize
and operate the farm's computer system.
After graduating with a business degree
from Transylvania University, Pope Jr. spent a short time
as a stockbroker. Marc, who always intended to work on
the farm, received a psychology degree from the University
of Kentucky. The two boys had worked summers at the farm
since their pre-teen years. Grandison received a management
information systems degree from Miami University in Ohio.
Pope Jr. was instrumental in the farm branching
out to begin standing stallions. "My father had a
track record in the business, and he had a clientele,"
he said. "I thought there was a spot for us to enter
the market. It was a way to help revitalize our farm because
the stallions increase your exposure."
Pope Jr., 36, and his wife, Lisa, have two
children, Katherine, 3, and Pope III (Mac), 10 months.
Lisa McLean is a partner in Bliss Collection, which designs
and imports children's sweaters from Peru.
It is surprising to no one that Marc, 33,
ended up as the hands-on horseman. As a child, he could
often be found "around the foals. That is what I
enjoyed."
Marc's wife, Amy, is a graphic designer
for The Bell Group, an equine advertising firm.
Grandison, 25, has vastly improved the workings
of the Crestwood office. She has installed a server to
link the network, worked on the farm's Web site, improved
the billing system, and begun entering horses for sales
electronically.
Last summer, Grandison married Lexington
attorney William "King" Offutt.
Pope Jr., Marc, and Grandison all have strong
sentiments about the lessons learned from their father.
"He has always conducted himself with
honesty," Pope Jr. said. "There is no substitute
for goodwill.
"It is rewarding for me to be a part
of what he has built."
"He has an intelligent way of dealing
with horses," Marc said. "Most importantly,
he believes in hard work, integrity, and standing behind
your job."
"He's just so well suited for this
business because he never gets upset," Grandison
said.
Though not a family member, an important
part of the Crestwood team is matings guru Rob Keck. A
California native, Keck has been at Crestwood 10 years.
Prior to that he participated in the Taylor Made intern
program and Irish National Stud program. He also went
through the University of Louisville's Equine Industry
Program.
A graduate of the University of Southern
California, Keck's parents would drop him off at the California
Thoroughbred Breeders Association's library when he was
just 12. He would pore through pedigree books, then catch
the races at Santa Anita.
