Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — A couple of new stall nameplates were recently needed in the barn of trainer Ron Burke at Gaitway Farm in New Jersey, but not because the pair are new additions. Instead, the names of two 2-year-olds were changed after naming rights were made available for bidding on ongait.com, with all proceeds — which eventually totaled $7,200 — going to horse aftercare programs.

“We sold the naming rights of those two horses, and they are two of our best,” explained Mark Weaver of Weaver Bruscemi LLC, which shared ownership in both the formerly named Six Feet Please and Neopolitan, monikers of which they were staked under.

Johnny Yoder got the final bid of $2,600 on Six Feet Please, who he renamed Silverstone, while Spiro Apostolatos, who owns horses as The Panhellenic Stable, paid $4,600 to rename Neopolitan to Grizzly Bare.

Silverstone won in 1:55.2 on Monday at Gaitway with driver Yannick Gingras. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

“I think they will get fun out of it and maybe some exposure,” said Weaver.

Both Apostolatos and Yoder took advantage of the naming rights to promote personal businesses.

In addition to training a small stable of approximately five horses in Ohio, Yoder owns Silverstone Decorative Concrete in Dundee, Ohio. Apostolatos is using the opportunity to promote his organic hamburger franchise Bare Burger.

“We have a franchise called Bare Burger, primarily in the Northeast, originating in Queens, N.Y., and we’re also in a couple countries,” explained Apostolatos. “I wanted to do this because I own horses with Ronnie (Burke), because I like helping out horses and love the animals. So I would have (bid) to whatever I needed to have gone. This was a great cause and I was able to help out the horse community.”

Both Silverstone, an American Ideal colt out of the Bettor’s Delight mare Upfrontanpersonal, and Grizzly Bare, a Muscle Hill colt out of the Andover Hall mare Sugar Cone, made their first 2-year-old race appearances on Monday (June 7) at Gaitway Farm.

The two were among the 24 first-year pacers and trotters sent out in the morning session by the Burke barn. There were nine qualifiers for 2-year-olds and seven were won by Burke-trained horses, including Silverstone, who won in 1:55.2 with driver Yannick Gingras. Grizzly Bare, who was driven by David Miller, led through three-quarters in his qualifier before making a break while being challenged.

“Silverstone was very good today,” Burke said after the victory. “I thought it was a good effort. With Grizzly Bare, I was surprised because he usually doesn’t make a break. I think he got excited when that other horse got to him and they were really trotting.

“Overall, I’m happy with both of them. I think moving forward they are both going to be very good horses. These two are two of our best. I liked the name Six Feet Please and didn’t mind it, but Neopolitan I hated — I don’t know why — so I didn’t mind changing that.”

Silverstone was a $50,000 yearling purchase by Weaver Bruscemi, Burke Racing, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Phil Collura. His dam, Upfrontandpersonal, is a sister to New York Sires Stakes standouts Thirty Two Red, Forty Five Red, We Think Alike and Miso Fast, who also finished third in Breeders Crown finals at two and three.

Grizzly Bare’s maternal family includes the 2002 2-year-old Filly Trotter of the Year Pizza Dolce, as well as the stakes-winning Mars Bar, The Lindy Treaty and Big Stick Lindy. He was a $70,000 yearling purchase by Weaver Bruscemi, Burke Racing, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Beasty LLC.

Weaver said he hopes to have a second offering of naming rights in 2022.

“This was pretty well received,” said Weaver. “I hope the horses go on and have pretty good years as it would help. We were very happy with this. We didn’t know if it would bring $500 or $5,000, and we got $7,200 going to a good cause.”