Also largely unchanged is the status of the broodmare band and horses in training. There are 35 Calumet broodmares, a number de Seroux said will remain constant. Region of Merit, who won this year's Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III), is still with Christophe Clement, who is currently based at Payson Park.
Calumet Farm, which since 1992 has been home almost exclusively to horses owned or bred by Henryk de Kwiatkowski, will soon be open to other owners for boarding and training purposes."In the last few years, the farm was mainly closed to the outside world, and the plans are to open the farm," said Emmanuel de Seroux, whose Narvick International took over management of Calumet in October. "We plan to use the facility more extensively than it has in the last few years and possibly stand stallions again."De Seroux said stallions won't be part of the mix until 2005. Until his death in March of this year, de Kwiatkowski made most of the decisions regarding the farm. Now, the decision-makers include de Seroux and Richard Cross, both of Narvick; three trustees; and members of the de Kwiatkowski family, including sons Conrad and Stephan. "The de Kwiatkowski family is very keen to stay in the horse business," de Seroux said. "We provide information to the trustees and they make the decisions, but the family is also very much involved."In October, farm manager Tony Cissell and farm trainer Joe Schlich were dismissed. Cross has visited the farm regularly since then. De Seroux said there are no plans to hire a new farm manager, but filling the farm trainer position is under consideration for the future. "The basic Calumet team is still there -- the yearling manager, the broodmare manager, and the assistant trainer -- and the office staff has not changed," de Seroux said.