FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 4, 2025
TOBA Announces State Breeders of the Year and National Broodmare of the Year
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association announced today the state breeders of the year, National Broodmare of the Year, Claiming Crown Horse of the Year and Rood & Riddle Sport Horse of the Year for the 40th anniversary of the TOBA National Awards.
2025 State and Canadian Breeders of the Year are:
- Arizona Breeder of the Year – Fleming Thoroughbred Farm LLC (Marvin and Gerald Fleming)
- Arkansas Breeder of the Year – McDowell Farms (Bill McDowell)
- California Breeder of the Year – Richard Barton Enterprises (Richard Barton)
- Canada Breeder of the Year – Adena Springs
- Canada Small Breeder of the Year – Jesse Korona
- Florida Breeder of the Year – Stonehedge, LLC (Marilyn Campbell)
- Indiana Breeder of the Year – Justice Farms, Inc. (Greg Justice)
- Iowa Breeder of the Year – Poindexter Thoroughbreds, LLC (Allen Poindexter)
- Kentucky Breeder of the Year – Godolphin
- Louisiana Breeder of the Year – Tony Doughtie
- Maryland Breeder of the Year – Larry Johnson
- New Jersey Breeder of the Year – Vincent Annarella
- New Mexico Breeder of the Year – J. Kirk and Judy Robison
- New York Breeder of the Year – William Butler
- North Carolina Breeder of the Year – Nancy Shuford
- Oregon Breeder of the Year – Connie and Lee Erickson
- Pennsylvania Breeder of the Year – Warriors Reward LLC (Donnie Brown and Tom McClay)
- South Carolina Breeder of the Year – Franklin G. Smith Sr.
- Texas Breeder of the Year – Danele Durham
- Virginia Breeder of the Year – Audley Farm Equine, LLC
- Washington Breeder of the Year – Nina and Ron Hagen
Sataves has been named National Broodmare of the Year.
Like a Saltshaker will be honored as Claiming Crown Horse of the Year.
The Rood & Riddle Sport Horse of the Year will go to Zealand.
“It is a great honor and privilege for TOBA to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of the state breeders, as well as these three amazing horses,” said TOBA president Dan Metzger. “They each achieved remarkable success in 2024 and we look forward to celebrating with them in what promises to be a memorable evening at Fasig-Tipton.”
The TOBA National Awards Luncheon honoring the winning breeders will be held on Friday, September 5, 2025 at Godolphin, followed by the TOBA National Awards Dinner on Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Fasig-Tipton.
Bluegrass music and 14-time Grammy award-winning Dan Tyminski and the Dan Tyminski Band will perform live at the 2025 TOBA National Awards. Tickets for the TOBA National Awards are available online at https://wedoauctions.com/tickets/toba25/tickets
The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), based in Lexington, Ky., was formed in 1961 and is a national trade organization of leading Thoroughbred owners and breeders. TOBA’s mission is to improve the economics, integrity and pleasure of the sport on behalf of Thoroughbred owners and breeders. Projects managed by TOBA include the American Graded Stakes Committee, Claiming Crown, Ownership Seminars, Breeding, Conformation & Pedigree Clinics, US-Bred, TOBA Owners Concierge, OwnerView and the Sales Integrity Program. TOBA provides international representation for U.S. owners and breeders on the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee, International Cataloguing Standards Committee and International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation. Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) is the charitable arm of TOBA. TOBA Media Properties, a subsidiary of TOBA, is the co-owner of BloodHorse LLC. TOBA is represented on the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium as founding members.
Contact: Andy Schweigardt
Senior Director of Industry Relations & Development
(859) 277-5891
andys@toba.org