Whatever happened to Michael Jester and Penn Ridge Farms in Harrisburg, PA? Is the place closed?
Seemed like a beautiful farm when it was built maybe 12 years ago, but I didn’t know if the Pennsylvania breeder’s incentives weren’t strong enough to get mares to whatever stallions he stood.
The farm was on the market in 2016, but I don’t know if anyone bought it, and wondered what happened to all of the broodmares etc. Did see a variety of lawsuits regarding contractual obligations to the stallion owners. Seems like the whole operation has closed?
He closed the farm at least 5++ years ago. The former farm manager is a friend of mine. He moved to Northview Pa which has been on the market for a while now. He is now back in KY. NV is much bigger facility then Jester’s and was only completed around 2008ish. Jump Start was moved there from Penn Ridge. I forget where the other horses moved to. Pretty sure Jester closed after Real Quiet died in 2010
Jester is a real-estate developer in the York Pa area. The property the farm sits/sat on is quite big and was bought with the intention of being developed over time. As explained to me by his farm manager.
The breeding business in Pa has pretty much collapsed since the financial meltdown that started in 2008. It gutted my business model of boarding/breeding and raising foals/yearlings. Not long after the sh*t hit the fan mare owners ran. We got left with bunch of horses and owed a LOT of money.
At its height 08-09 ish the Pa foal crop was around 2,000±. The last couple of years under 400 foals have been Pa Breds. Maryland strengthened its breeding program in recent years. There are only so many mares to go around. The national foal crop has fallen 50% since the crash.
The Pa Breeders’ award is very good. Esp for stallion owners. IMO WAY too much money is given to stallion owners. In the end people still have to buy and race in PA for it to be of any meaning to a PA breeder. We made some very good money in breeders’ award for the few that raced in the state. But we generally lost money when sold as yearlings more so as foals at the regional sale in Md. We raised nice horses and just about all that raced in PA made up what we lost in production expenses with Breeders awards. Horses that sold well in MD or KY it didn’t matter where they raced.
There is little to no demand for “blue collar” horses. The majority are sold for under productions cost. Be it in Md or Ky.
There has been a LOT of negative press concerning racing in PA. Some rightfully deserved some not. PA has been the poster child, whipping post. So not a lot of people want to race in PA. I would bet the majority of horses in any PA trainers barn are, owner/trainer and run under a stable name. And or the trainer owns a leg or two. Friends of mine that train in Md don’t like running horses in Pa. They find it a PITA. esp at Parx. Prize money in Md is good enough and a lot less hassles to run out of your barn. Shippers are not treated well from what I have been told.
Very frustrating. I sold, rather gave away for little to no money my last 2 foal crops. A total of 7. One a made a little money with. 2 of those won races last year as 2 year olds. In Maryland. One filly I sold for $1,000 instead of keeping because the buyer said they raced in Pa. She ran 11 times last year as a 2 year old, 3 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds, over $90,000 to date. Because she is by a Md stallion she ran in one of the Maryland Million Stake races. Ran 4th beaten less than 2 lengths.
If she had been running in Pa we would have gotten over $20,000 in Breeders awards. Plus the owner would have gotten Pa owner’s awards on top of the purse money.
I sold my beautiful farm last year. Got a bump over what we paid for it 17 years ago. Had to put a lot of money into infrastructure and up grades, total house renovation also. Win some lose some. It is now a crop farm.
The Pa Breeders Association is run by well meaning people. Well meaning amateurs running a multi million dollar company.
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Gumtree - thanks for the info. = glad your friend was able to relocate to NV, and then move on to Kentucky. So sorry you had to make the tough call to sell your farm. Very hard to see crops growing in fields that once supported horses. I am assuming there are PA tax credits or whatnot for crops, just not for livestock.
Probably for the best Jester closed up shop at Penn Ridge - given the legal stuff going on with the stallion owners who were unhappy with his contractual obligations. But the money he must have spent building the farm. Holy cow. That experiment didn’t last long. Such a pity it now sits empty, and will be developed.
The state of Maryland has its own financial issues with supporting their breeding industry. Here’s hoping that Pennsylvania and Maryland both can see their way clear to provide steady funding to keep the TB industries alive in both states.
