 Linda
Wood works with mare Moon Spirit and colt Macho Moon
at Menoken Farms near Montrose. (Helen H.
Richardson, The Denver Post )
Mothering doesn't end with horse's sale, says
Montrose breeder
MONTROSE, CO - May 9, 2011 — Unofficially, pending his later racing
name, the newborn colt at Menoken Farms is called "Big Moose." He is a
son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, and on Friday, only
three days after his birth, he was in a stall with his mother, Polish
Nana.
Deciding it was time to feed, Big Moose refused to be interrupted to be
shown off, and delivered a swift kick to Linda Wood, the 59-year-old
Littleton native and Menoken Farms owner who gradually has become the
top thoroughbred breeder in Colorado.
Grazed, Wood winced and went right back to proudly conducting a tour of
her 220-acre farm, home — either long- or short-term — to stallions,
broodmares and their young offspring.
Not much of horse racing is about mint juleps, big hats, a huge crowd,
high-priced horses and affluent owners. It is far more about the gritty,
everyday work of men and women who love the sport, the animals in it and
the blood, sweat, tears, dirt, pride and heartbreak that go with it all.
For Linda Wood, it is a dream playing out daily, and that's the case
even on the mornings when she has been up all night with a foal, or has
slept on the couch within a few feet of the television monitor in her
living room, alternating between views of the two foaling stalls.
"It's a love-hate thing sometimes," she said, laughing.
But the longer you're with her, the more you realize this: The 'hate'
part? She doesn't really mean it. She lives on the 220-acre farm with
her husband, geologist and hydrologist Wayne Goin; a few trusted
workers; the horses; and an affable farm dog, Gypsy. Her part-time job
as a medical technologist at the Montrose hospital has evolved from an
economic necessity to a refreshing diversion. "I like the change and I
like to put a different mind-set on," she said. "It's like going to a
movie."
Colts all her "babies"
Wood doesn't own the horses that list Menoken Farms as their breeders as
they run at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, or at other tracks throughout the
country. Attempting to explain all the ties involved in breeding and
ownership would require more type than in a Daily Racing Form, so this
is going to have to suffice: Wood has three successful and prodigious
stallions at Menoken Farms — her own Coverallbases, 22, and Oliver's
Twist, 19; and the current hot property, Grand Minstrel, 6, of which she
owns 50 percent in partnership with other prominent horsemen and
horsewomen.
She has many broodmares and sells the in-house offspring to owners
around the world, but much of the business also is mares being brought
in to be bred. One notable example: Danzip, last year's dominant colt at
the Arapahoe Park meeting, was a Menoken Farms product owned by Keith
and Mindy Grinolds, plus Ted Betz, all from the Fruita area.
But Danzip and every darn one of the Menoken Farms horses remain Linda
Wood's "babies."
"I sell all my horses because if I keep any back, people think, 'Well,
she's keeping the best for herself,' " she said. "So we just sell them
all. But when you raised them up, they're still kind of yours. I'm there
the day that they're born, and it's usually 2 a.m., and I have them
until they're yearlings and sometimes older."
It's a family passion ...
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