David Mowat (right) and Wesley Ward at Royal Ascot

David Mowat is the TOBA June Member of the Month.

From breeding a New York classic winner to hitting the board in England, David Mowat has done it all. A resident of Ellensburg, Washington, Mowat has made his influence felt worldwide. In the name of Ten Broeck Farm, he currently races four-year-old Kimari, who won the April 3 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

“I was born and raised in Seattle,” Mowat said, “went to the University of Washington, and I’ve had a small ranch over in the eastern part of the state, oh, for about fifteen, twenty years. And now I’m basically living here, but Seattle’s really my home.” After achieving success in the construction business, specializing in working on bridges and highways, Mowat found another love: horses.

“My daughters each had a riding horse,” he recalled fondly, “and got into the jumping. And it was something I could kind of do with them, go around to these shows and whatnot.” His daughters, Kim and Mari, served as namesakes for Kimari. Mowat called the filly “the first I’ve ever had named after somebody I knew or care about that was actually any good.”

“At that time my wife had gotten involved with a couple ladies and they had a race filly,” Mowat recalled. “And I happened to go down to, at that time, Longacres and that kind of started my interest in it. And then I went back to Kentucky and actually took my daughter Kim back there and was going to buy a broodmare, and I didn’t know much about it at the time. And the broodmare went for a little more than I wanted to pay, and I bought the weanling.”

Mowat purchased Fawn Leap Farm near Midway, Kentucky. At the 1990 Keenland November Sale, Fawn Leap bought the Caveat filly Beware of the Cat for $280,000. From her, Mowat bred 1996 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Editor’s Note and 2002 Cartier champion juvenile colt Hold That Tiger, a $1.1 million weanling. Of Editor’s Note’s classic win, Mowat said, “I did go to it, went to the race; it was pretty cool.” He also owned Won’t Tell You, a full sister to Affirmed, and Waggley, from whom he bred grade 1 winner Marley Vale.

After selling Fawn Leap, Mowat bought Ten Broeck Farm, also in Midway. Despite selling Ten Broeck to John Oxley about 20 years ago, Mowat still utilizes it as his nom de race. Ben Walden Sr. first served as Mowat’s mentor, while bloodstock agent Ben McElroy currently picks out horses for Ten Broeck. Mowat boards his handful of race fillies and broodmares at McElroy’s farm on Newtown Pike.

In recent years, Mowat has turned his focus to fillies who excel on multiple surfaces. At the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling sale, McElroy bought a daughter of Exchange Rate for $135,000; named Sunset Glow, she placed in Ascot’s Albany Stakes (G3) at two. Then, Sunset Glow returned home and tallied back-to-back graded stakes wins. McElroy also selected Chanteline at the 2015 Keeneland November sale, where she fetched $200,000; the Majesticperfection filly captured the 2018 Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes (G3T).

“I can’t tell you whether she’s better on the dirt or the turf but she’s good on both of them,” Mowat said of Kimari. He added, “Well, she’s big, she’s strong, and she’s pretty, got a great personality.” The Munnings filly beat the boys by 15 lengths first time out, meriting a trip to Ascot. In her second start, she placed in the 2019 Queen Mary Stakes (G2) before coming back stateside. She reeled off two turf stakes wins at home and then finished off the board in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T). Kimari hit the board in all three of her 2020 starts, annexing the Purple Martin Stakes on dirt and running second once again at Ascot. Undefeated in both 2021 starts, Kimari is trained by Wesley Ward, another Washington native.

“I haven’t actually seen a horse race for a year,” Mowat shared, due to COVID protocols. However, he’s excited to see Kimari run this summer; Ward is aiming the filly at the July 28 Honorable Miss Handicap (G2) at Saratoga. Mowat added, “The goal is hopefully to get to the Breeders’ Cup, but we’ve got to get there yet one step at a time.”