 
 UNTITLEDby Steve Myrick
 
      
                Peter Rosbeck's Deep Bottom Pond Farm is situated
      on a piece of land that rivals more famous Paris Pike or
      York Road addresses for sheer magnificence. But he has one
      thing they never will.  His address comes with an ocean.
              Rosbeck has established a small breeding operation
      on Martha's Vineyard, the summer vacation mecca off the Cape
      Cod, Massachusetts coastline.
                Who can put a price on beauty?  How much is it
      worth to locate a Thoroughbred farm in a setting which just
      makes everyone feel good all the time? In a game where a
      shadow can affect a million dollar race, and rainstorm can
      ruin a champion's chances, who is to say that it doesn't
      make a difference.  
              From his island base, Rosbeck is waiting with
      unbridled enthusiasm for his foals to mature, so that he can
      take a run at the lucrative bonuses now being offered to
      registered Massachusetts bred racehorses, stallions, and
      broodmares.
              Rosbeck is a real estate developer.  He is
      accustomed to looking at numbers, and quickly gauging the
      return on investment.  When he looks at the numbers
      associated with the state breeding program, he gets very
      excited.
              There were about 150 broodmares registered in the
      Commonwealth in 1992, and nearly 300 this year.  If every
      mare had a live foal and every foal got to the racetrack,
      that would be about 450 racehorses competing for bonus money
      which equals 1% of the daily handle at Suffolk Downs.  All
      of the money must be payed out, either in state bred stakes
      races, or bonuses for Massachusetts breds who win in open
      company.  The owner of a horse who runs first, second, or
      third in an open race will get a bonus equal to 30% of his
      share of the purse.  The breeder will collect a 25% bonus,
      and the stallion owner, a 15% bonus. Rosbeck hopes to pocket
      more than his share of those bonuses.
              "The mares that I brought up were quality mares,
      and they were in foal to some quality stallions," says
      Rosbeck.  "They should be some racehorses to reckon with in
      this Massachusetts bred program.  They'll know I was out
      here on Martha's Vineyard breeding some horses."
              Peter Rosbeck's "addiction" to Thoroughbred racing
      and breeding was the result of a family tragedy.  He was
      grieving for a brother killed in Vietnam, and concerned
      about the failing health of his parents, when he flew into
      Boston's Logan International Airport one day. The flight
      path often takes passengers directly over Suffolk Downs.
      Rosbeck drove out of the airport on that sunny morning, and
      a few minutes later found himself standing by the rail,
      mesmerized by the foreign sights and sounds of morning
      workouts.  Veteran New England trainer John Kelly was
      standing nearby.
              "I just started asking questions," says Rosbeck,
      "just to get my mind off the tragedy."   Before he left the
      track that morning, he had arranged to travel to New York
      for a state-bred sale.
              "I bought a horse called Iron Star.  He had run,
      and obviously got hurt, and they layed him up for about a
      year.  People said he was ready to race again," says
      Rosbeck. "I think of it today, how naive. If somebody told
      me that today, I'd say sure, why don't you race him, why are
      going to sell him?"
              But if it was a naive decision, it was also a good
      one.  Iron Star really was ready to race.  Rosbeck signed
      the check for $3,500, and ten days later got a call from
      John Kelly telling him his horse was entered in a $5,000
      claiming event at Suffolk Downs.
              "Not really knowing what that meant, the whole
      claiming business, I said 'that sounds fine.'  So my first
      racehorse I owned for ten days," says Rosbeck.  "because not
      only did the horse win, but they claimed him for $5,000. All
      of a sudden I had twice as much money.  It was hardly the
      time to walk away."
              Since that day twenty-five years ago, Rosbeck has
      bought and sold hundreds of horses.  He is not nearly so
      naive now, but he still seems to have a knack for turning a
      healthy profit.
              Deep Bottom Pond Farm is an extension of Rosbeck's
      long established Hidden Point Farm in Ocala.  Noted Florida
      stallions Country Pine, Regal Search, and Blue Buckaroo
      stand at Hidden Point.  About eighty mares are foaled there
      each spring, with virtually all of Rosbeck's stock moving
      through sales rings in Florida and Kentucky.   For several
      years now, he has focused exclusively on breeding. 
              The Operation on Martha's Vineyard is much smaller.
      It is located in the town of West Tisbury, roughly in the
      center of the nineteen mile long island. Deep Bottom Pond
      Farm is surrounded by new homes being developed by Rosbeck's
      company, including a modern residence where he and his
      family spend much of their time. The cedar shingled homes,
      open fields, and ponds are designed to blend with the town's
      agrarian history.
              "Open space is the answer," says Rosbeck.  "We've
      got to find a way to do it without abusing some of the very
      things that we come here for.  I've been able to create some
      more farm land, but I'm doing it hopefully with an economic
      base, not just in terms of keeping open space, but in terms
      of employment, and all the related business.  That's what
      makes the total economy."
              There are now five broodmares stalled at Deep
      Bottom Pond including daughters of Sham, Arts & Letters, and
      Coastal.  Five foals were born on the island last year, and
      five more are due this spring.  The farm has been received
      with tremendous enthusiasm by Vineyard natives and visitors
      alike, and it may not by small much longer.
              I get letters, people will come by with carrots, we
      get a lot of people touring on bicycles, they stop.  My
      goal, is to get more people on Martha's Vineyard involved in
      the Massachusetts breeding program.  I anticipate holding a
      few informal seminars," says Rosbeck, for "both year round
      and summer people.  I'd like to build up the mare population
      so that we could have one or two Thoroughbred stallions out
      here."
              With many years of experience as a commercial
      breeder, Rosbeck's mating philosophy has gravitated toward
      the Florida standard of precocious speed.  He firmly
      believes that the auction trend toward well conformed
      individuals is the right direction for the breed.
              "Pedigree counts.  When people say pedigree doesn't
      mean as much, it doesn't mean as much in the sales arena. 
      Certain defects are just not being tolerated in sales
      arenas.  This doesn't mean people aren't paying attention to
      pedigrees, but good individuals will way outsell their
      pedigrees.   This means we're improving the breed. We're
      being more selective.  We should be getting better
      racehorses."
              It may be a while before the auction companies
      build a sales pavilion on the island, but Rosbeck feels the
      unique setting offers several advantages for raising
      Thoroughbreds.   When temperatures dip in the fall, the
      waters surrounding the island stay relatively warm,
      tempering the onset of winter.
              "The island has a lingering fall.  When other
      people are into winter and they've lost their grass to
      frost, we've still got grass.  Our weather is not as severe,
      in terms of winter, as other parts of New England."
              Though surrounded by water, Rosbeck doesn't see the
      transportation as a problem.  Access to the island is by
      Massachusetts Steamship Authority ferry.  He has developed a
      good relationship with the ferry crews.  
              "The Steamship Authority is very obliging, knowing
      that we have livestock.  They try to accommodate us so we
      don't have unusual waits.  Once the horses get on the van,
      they probably don't know if they're on a ferry, or on the
      highway."
              With part of the breeding operation much closer to
      the family's mainland home, in a Boston suburb, Rosbeck says
      his four children have taken a greater interest in the
      Thoroughbred business.
              While his son Peter, Jr. has developed more and
      more knowledge of the process, it is thirteen year old
      daughter Danya who seems cut out to carry the passion for
      raising horses.  Danya foaled the first baby at Deep Bottom
      Pond.
              "We got things ready, and I said go ahead, you do
      it," says Rosbeck.   With experience gained on the Florida
      farm, Danya helped the mare successfully foal what is
      probably the first Thoroughbred baby ever born on the
      island.  
              "I said to myself, this is a thoroughbred, on this
      land, that I've cleared and fenced.  This is the reward."  
              The next day the excitement spread to his
      employees, who assembled on a beautiful spring morning, to
      see the new foal. 
              "That mare came out of the stall, and not only was
      the mare proud, but the baby was  proud.  They went off on a
      little run.  I've seen this hundreds of times, but some of
      my help had never seen a baby run across a field with her
      mother.  I got goosebumps, it was almost like the first time
      I had ever seen it.  I guess that's what we did it for."
      
                                -end-
                    Copyright (c) 1993 Steve Myrick
      						
              Steve Myrick lives and works in Groton,
      Massachusetts, where he operates Snappy Lede Writing &
      Photography Co.  He can be reached via E-Mail at Pen and
      Brush, modem (703) 644-6730.
      
