FIVE MINUTES WITH ... MEG LEVY

Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times Today

From her beginnings as a three-horse consignment at the 1999 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale, Meg Levy has developed Bluewater Sales into one of the Thoroughbred industry’s leading consignors.

Levy grew up riding show horses in Jupiter, Florida, and moved to Lexington after graduating from college. She broke and showed yearlings for several different operations, including six years with Eaton Sales, before venturing out on her own.

Bluewater Sales has 49 horses cataloged in the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale, a considerable step up from where she began 12 years ago. Her top seller through the sale’s seventh session was an $875,000 colt by Bernardini.

Among Bluewater’s most notable yearling consignments are Grade 1 winners Drill, Benny The Bull, Take Charge Lady, and Awesome Gem. She has also sold top mares including Asi Siempre, Angara (GB) and Gorella (Fr).

Levy took a brief pause during the Keeneland sale to spend five minutes with staff writer Joe Nevills.

Date of birth: February 7, 1966 Birthplace: Willingboro, New Jersey Residence: Lexington Profession: Owner, general manager of Bluewater Sales Marital status: Husband, Mike; three sons

What was the last movie you saw?
The last Harry Potter movie. I actually liked it. I love the Harry Potter series.

What is your favorite movie?
The Man from Snowy River.

What is your favorite racing movie?
Racing Stripes.

What is your favorite kind of music?
I like country, I admit it.

Who is your favorite musical artist?
I like George Strait a lot, but Miranda Lambert’s my favorite.

What is the last book you read?
Racehorse Breeding Theories, by Frank Mitchell. I loved it. I thought it was a really comprehensive overview of all the theories around. We all hear about different breeding theories as we go, but it’s nice to see them all in one place and compare them. I read weird stuff.

If you were not a consignor, what would you like to be doing?
I'd like to be training horses.

What was your best investment?
I bought a broodmare for $7,500 and sold her for $100,000 in 30 days. Bought her in January and sold her in February. What is your favorite sports team? I think I have to say the [University of] Kentucky Wildcats because I live here.

When you cook dinner for guests, what’s on the menu?
I don’t cook dinner for guests. My husband does and it’s usually
fish—and it’s usually spectacular. I’m not the cook in the house.

What career advice would you have for someone looking to get
into your line of work?
Don’t take anything personally and work your tail off. You have to
have a passion for this business in order to survive.
What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
[Pinhooker] Murray Smith told me that when I went out on my own,
I was not going to have a lot of friends, and she was right. It’s a very
competitive business.

What is the best race you ever saw?
The Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in 1988, the first Breeders’ Cup I
ever went to at Churchill Downs. It was very, very competitive and
Alysheba won it.

What are the best and worst decisions you have made in racing?
Most of my best and worst decisions would be keeping a horse or
deciding to sell one. The best decision is letting the horse tell us what
to do, basically. The worst decision would be letting the owner tell us
what to do.