Breeder Kahn Enjoying A Memorable Two-Month Stretch

The horses bred by native Californian Brian Kahn are doing particularly well in the last 60 days. On March 7, The Puma, a 3-year-old son of Essential Quality, won the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), defeating favorite and eventual Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Further Ado. On March 28, The Puma narrowly ran second to Commandment in the Florida Derby (G1). The Puma, bred by Kahn in partnership with Hidden Brook Farm, earned 100 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points for these performances, solidifying a place in the starting gate for the upcoming Run for the Roses. Equally impressive, Kahn, who as a teenager walked hots for Gary Jones, also bred In Our Time, the winner of the April 12 Giant's Causeway Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kahn's interest in racing started in high school. "I would tune in daily to a well-known sports broadcaster, Jim Healy. It was his enthusiasm for racing that first piqued my interest in the sport," Kahn said. Healy was a renowned and very innovative broadcaster in L.A., using sound effects and humor along with commenting on current sports topics. "Imagine a sports shock jock," Kahn explained. "Healy was famous for little phrases that caught on with the public." Kahn said the stallion It Is True was named in reference to an expression so tied to Healy that it appears on his tombstone. Healy's enthusiasm for racing kindled Kahn's interest. "His show was where I first heard about horse racing," Kahn said. "I began following horses in 1979. I was excited by the track, by this community I found on the backstretch." He continued, "There were all these fascinating horses to watch. Affirmed was 4-years-old. The first Derby I watched was Spectacular Bid's. It was a magical time, and I absorbed everything I could about racing and the track. I was hooked." Fast forward a few years, and Kahn explains his "hobby" went beyond being a spectator. "I started working at the track, walking hots for couple of different trainers, including Gary Jones. As my interest grew, talking to people in the business, it became apparent that I had to go to Lexington if I wanted to get into the game." The personable Kahn knew he wanted to participate, and he wasn't shy about asking questions. "I was looking for a way in, and fortunately, I met (Taylor Made's) Duncan Taylor. After hearing about my interest, Duncan said the words that changed my life, 'Come to Kentucky and start working for us.' It was 1989, right before Sunday Silence's Preakness win." Kahn loaded up his car and drove to the Taylor's Nicholasville, Ky., farm. The transition wasn't entirely benign. "On my first day at Taylor Made, I almost got injured by the first foal I lead out of the barn," he recalled. "But the Taylors are good people. They taught me the Taylor Made way to raise horses. It was a great education." Kahn began at the bottom rung, but enjoyed the outdoor work. At night he read every racing magazine and book he could find. Duncan Taylor recognized Kahn's passion. "(He) thought with my background and interest in the track, that I could find a niche in client relations. I began to contact owners with soon-to-be-retired race mares and develop relationships into Taylor Made clients. I worked with the Taylors for three years." Back in California, Kahn kept his ties with Taylor Made while looking for opportunities to participate in the horse business. "The first mare we bought was a graded stakes winner trained by Bruce Jackson, Miatuschka," he said. "We bred her to Dayjur and sold her in the (1994) Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $380,000." Kahn's first attempt at identifying and buying a good race mare that would be a good broodmare prospect had been a home run. "Miatuscka started it all. From then on, I have just kept investing in horses. It is what I have been doing ever since," he said. Although based in Venice, Calif., Kahn spends 3 1/2 months of the year in Lexington. "I come in for the spring meet at Keeneland. April is wonderful in Kentucky. I get to see this year's foals and in the afternoon, there's racing. I return to attend the September sale, catch the Keeneland fall meet and stay through the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale." Kahn only acts on his own account, not as an agent for others. Although Kahn does many of a bloodstock agents' tasks, he is "glad one of them is not having to deal with clients' concerns. I can concentrate on the horses, without distractions." Kahn admits this is no easy task. "I am just trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat," he said. "I read the past performances, looking for those filly or mares that have the right combination of performance and pedigree. I follow the stakes horses, as well as those in the claiming ranks. It is a gift that there is so much information there to evaluate. But it takes a lot of time and legwork for each prospect." A good example of Kahn's process resulted in The Puma. Kahn had been following the mare Eve of War's race performance. Trained by Todd Pletcher, she won a maiden special weight impressively. "To see a Declaration of War filly win a sprint on the dirt, that caught my attention," Kahn recalled. "Eve of War was a big, strong, athletic mare. She did get graded stakes placed in the Monmouth Oaks. But really didn't perform like I thought she might, off that impressive maiden win." When Eve of War was consigned by Taylor Made to the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Mixed Sale, Kahn bought her for $135,000 via Hidden Brook Farm as agent. "I had met Bryan Cross (of Hidden Brook) when we both worked at Taylor Made. Bryan, in fact, took over my duties when I left." After his time at Taylor Made, Cross began with Hidden Brook Farm and currently handles bloodstock services and client relations. "As it turned out, Hidden Brook was familiar with the mares' family, so we bought her together," Kahn said. Initially, Kahn wanted to breed the mare to Charlatan, but Hidden Brook managing partner Sergio de Sousa suggested Essential Quality. "We bred the mare to Charlatan the next year, but I am so glad we followed Sergio's suggestion," Kahn said. The foal that became The Puma but didn't stand out at first. "It wasn't until I saw him at the Keeneland Yearling Sale that I was struck by his presence," Kahn remembered, "and he had nits you could pick, but overall he was just a nice, big, strong horse." The yearling didn't meet his reserve ($95,000) at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, so he was pointed to the juvenile auctions. "Hidden Brook trainers gave us promising reports on his progress and we consigned him to the 2025 OBS April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale," Kahn said. "Marquee Bloodstock got him for $150,000. "We were disappointed in the price, because we felt we had a good horse. But I only have room in my stable for well-bred fillies with residual value." The horse that Kahn thought had "potential" has exceeded all of his expectations in the last 60 days. "You always hope that the matings you plan result in a stakes winner. But, to get a Derby contender when you only breed a few mares a year? It's unbelievable," he said. In Our Time, the other recent graded stakes winner bred by Kahn, is out of a mare he claimed at Hollywood Park. "Laura's Pleasure (dam of In Our Time) was a very fast 2-year-old. She was from a fast family," he said. "Her brother, named Sea Of Secrets, ran one the fastest quarter miles ever, when they still ran that distance at Santa Anita. When she dropped in class, I grabbed her. "Initially, I bred her to More Than Ready, and the resultant foal, Important Mission won the Garhoud Sprint. I had a share of Not This Time, and sold the resultant yearling for $325,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale." The filly that became In Our Time returned to the sales ring in the 2024 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. The current owner had lost faith in her and advised the consignor to sell the untried filly without reserve. It is unclear if there was no live bid, but the sales results indicate that she was an RNA at $9,000. Unexplained anomaly notwithstanding, the filly returned to the track. After prevailing in a $12,500 claiming race, In Our Time changed ownership. By January of 2025, her true value began to reveal itself when In Our Time finished third in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G2T). The mare placed in four more graded stakes before notching her first graded stakes win in the Giant's Causeway at 5. Kahn has cut an interesting path, from walking hots to finding himself responsible for two current horses competing at the highest level of racing. Will he join the short list of breeders responsible for a Kentucky Derby winner? "It is hard to believe that I have been able to succeed at this level, with a small band of mares. But it is a great place to be," he said.