Wes Melcher
© www.wesmelcher.com
MELCHER MAKING STRIDES AT F-T FLORIDA
By J.M. Severni
Although Wes Melcher has only been in racing for the past three years, he’s making a mark on the industry that could become more profound after hip 50 goes through the ring at next Monday’s Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Melcher purchased the War Chant colt, who is a half to graded stakes winners Well Spelled (Spellbinder) and Kobe’s Back (Flatter) for $68,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Sale.
Melcher, who owns Double Infinity Ranch outside of Dallas, has always been a fan of racing, but has only become involved from the ownership side recently.
“I grew up going to the Quarter Horse races in Ruidoso, New Mexico–my parents had a cabin growing up there as a kid, so we went there every summer and watched the All American Futurity and watched the Quarter Horse races,” the West Texan explained. “So that’s really where I first got excited about racing.”
It wasn’t until after he helped start the Dallas-based World Ventures–one of the largest travel clubs in the world–that Melcher began to take racing more seriously.
“I’ve always been a sports fan and I’ve always been a racing fan and then I went to the Kentucky Derby five years ago and I decided that I was going to own a horse, so I started doing my research,” Melcher said of his start in ownership. “I basically read every book that was written about horse racing and I started reading veterinary handbooks and watching conformation videos. I basically gave myself a horse anatomy and physiology degree myself. I claimed my first horse in July of 2011.”
Melcher now has about 40 horses that run mostly in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana under trainer Brett Calhoun.
Melcher’s commitment to the sport became even more serious last June when he purchased Double Infinity Ranch outside of Dallas. Not only does Melcher keep a string of broodmares on the ranch, but his yearlings are broken there, as well.
“I bought a ranch just outside of Dallas in June,” Melcher offered. “We put in a 5/8-mile training track, so I bought about 20 yearlings this year. All of those horses except for the horse that’s selling [at Fasig], were broken and trained at my facility.”
The War Chant colt has been in Florida with consigner Paul Sharp since being purchased in October.
“Because it was so late in the year, he went straight to Paul Sharp in Florida. Paul actually broke some of my horses last year,” Melcher commented.
Although Melcher has pinhooked horses since 2011, hip 50 could turn out to be one of his most profitable resells.
“The pedigree had already show one graded stakes horse,” Melcher said of his decision to buy the colt as a yearling. “When I had bought the horse, Kobe’s Back had broken his maiden in a stakes race in California, so obviously the pedigree was very active. We really liked the horse when we saw him in person and I used John Gasper, who used to be the farm manager at Vinery. He and I work together on a lot of different horses and he’s been kind of an advisor for me and he liked the horse as well, so we decided to buy him. When Kobe’s Back kept developing it didn’t fit my racing program because the horse was worth so much more than the horses that I run. So, we decided that it was a better pinhooking prospect than a racing prospect for me because we know he’s going to be a graded stakes horse caliber.”
The Fasig-Tipton Under Tack Show will begin at 9:00 Friday morning at Adena Springs South and the Fasig-Tipton 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will start at noon on Monday.
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