Mike Carroll once said when it comes to his lifelong passion for breeding and raising racehorses, “You should never give up on your dreams.”
Mike lived his dream surrounded by horses for most of his life. When he opened Grandview Farm in Belwood, Ontario, he began a very successful and internationally respected breeding program. That 100-acre farm was the birthplace of some great Canadian racehorses.
Sadly, Mike, who retired and sold his farm a couple of years ago, passed away recently at the age of 72.
Mitch Kursner, who has boarded his mares at Grandview and recently went into the broodmare business with him, credits his friend for raising Safe Conduct, the 2021 Queen’s Plate winner, bred by Mitch.
“He was such a great friend,” said Mitch. “That trip we took to the Queen’s Plate that day had Mike’s fingerprints all over it. I never have gotten there without him.”
Born in 1951, Mike was raised around horses and his first love was the equestrian scene and hunters and jumpers. He rode at the ‘A’ circuit and rarely missed a horse show.
Mike moved to Thoroughbreds in the 1970s, working for the famed stable of business tycoon Robert Sangster. He joined the legendary Windfields Farm in Oshawa, ON in 1980 as foreman of the broodmare division and worked there for eight years during the heyday of high-priced sales yearlings, most of them by Windfield’s great sire Northern Dancer.
Mike opened his own Grandview Farm in 1993 as a breeding farm, broodmare operation and he worked as a breeding consultant for many clients. Mike also bred a small group of his own horses and in 2001, a bay filly born at Grandview, would go on to racing stardom.
Maryfield, a daughter of Elusive Quality from the Desert Wine mare Sly Maid, whom Carroll owned by friend John Harvey, Jr. Sold for $80,000 as a yearling and then later claimed for $50,000, Maryfield, under California trainer Doug O’Neill, won the 2007 Breeders’ Cupp Filly & Mare Sprint(G1) in the slop at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Maryfield also won the Grade 1 Ballerina among her numerous stakes wins and she was named the 2007 Eclipse Award winning Female Sprinter.
Mike and John were honoured as 2007 Canadian Breeders of the year by the CTHS Ontario.
“It was a pretty special day, I’ll tell you that,” Carroll said to the Wellington Advertiser. “It’s beyond your wildest dreams. You never think it can happen to a little guy from Belwood.”
Mike bred 2007 Princess Elizabeth Stakes winner Mrs. Began, two-year-old champion Go Greeley and Grade 2 stakes winner We Miss Artie, who has sired a champion. He raised Plate winner Safe Conduct, a son of Bodemeister, for Mitch and that colt has earned over $750,000 for Wellsprings Stable.
Two years ago, a More Than Ready yearling he bred with Mitch sold for $225,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
As successful as Mike was in the industry, he often said his favourite time was when he was just hanging out with his horses. In that Wellington Advertiser interview he said, “It’s just about taking the moment to enjoy the horses, or enjoy the horse’s accomplishments on the race track. That’s nice.”
A Celebration of Life will be held at Centre Wellington Museum in Fergus, Ontario on Saturday, June 24, 2023 at 1 pm. Please RSVP by June 1, 2023 to lenbailey58@gmail.com. Donations in Mike’s honour would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to Hospice Wellington (hospicewellington.org/donate) or to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society (longrunretirement.com).
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