Griffin Place
Breeding For Excellence
About Griffin Place
Breeding For Excellence
Located at the foothills of the Cascades, near Buckley, Washington, Griffin Place is a premier Thoroughbred breeding farm, owned by Terry (William T.) and Mary Lou Griffin. Read more…
2019 Washington Racing Hall of Fame: Griffin Place, Produced by Emerald Downs
2025 Sales Consignment
August 26, 2025 | Emerald Downs
HIP 17
Bay Filly
Grazen x No Talking Back
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HIP 26
Chestnut Colt
Clubhouse Ride x Ros’s Girl
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HIP 31
Dark Bay or Brown Colt
Dads Caps x Sea of Red
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HIP 39
Bay Colt
Sir Prancealot (IRE) x Tizarae
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HIP 48
Dark Bay or Brown Colt
Army Mule x Atta Gal Val
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HIP 53
Dark Bay or Brown Filly
Straight Fire x Bella Mia
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HIP 60
Dark Bay or Brown Colt
Conveyance x Courtroom Charmer
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HIP 63
Gray or Roan Colt
Sharp Azteca x Dontkissntell
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HIP 64
Bay Colt
Straight Fire x Duranga
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HIP 66
Bay Filly
Eight Rings x El Bell Camp
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Blessed Are Our Broodmares
Excellence starts with good mares, and through the years we have worked diligently to assemble an outstanding broodmare band.
It all started with two “Blue Hen” mares: Outofthebluebell, who we purchased at Keeneland in 1993, and then our 1995 purchase of Bold Magestrate.
Outofthebluebell, a $195,966 stakes-winning daughter of Mr. Prospector’s brother Red Ryder, produced our first state champion, 1999 champion juvenile filly and 2000 Washington Horse of the Year Rings of Chime, a daughter of Metfield. A Northern California stakes winner at 2, Rings a Chime won the Gr. 1 Ashland Stakes and was runner-up in the Gr. 1 Kentucky Oaks the following year. The $606,315 earner would later become a Gr. 1 producer.
Outofthebluebell was named 2000 Washington Broodmare of the Year, and in 2012 Rings a Chime became the fifth distaffer elected to the Washington Racing Hall of Fame.
Outofthebluebell’s daughter Campanita, by Son of Briartic, was a multiple stakes producer for Griffin Place, led by her stakes-placed daughter Bella Campana, by Slewdledo, who became the dam 2017-18 Washington champion Bella Mia, a four-time stakes winner of $177,373. A daughter of Harbor the Gold, Bella Mia’s first foal. Ship Cadet, by Midshipman, won Saratoga’s 2023 Skidmore Stakes (where he defeated future 2024 Preakness Stakes-G1 winner Seize the Grey). Ship Cadet earned $182,000 as a 2-year-old.
SW BOLD MAGESTRATE & SW OUTOFTHEBLUEBELL, our first two mares that began Griffin Place.
Our second major broodmare purchase, the track record-equaling stakes winner Bold Magestrate, by Magisterial, produced seven winners including 2000 Washington champion 2-year-old filly Best Judgement, who in turn produced $1174,937 stakes-placed Impeached, by Northern Afleet, the dam of $174,211 stakes winner Slack Tide, by Shaman Ghost, who won a trio of Emerald Downs stakes in 2021-22 and was second in two other stakes.
Another purchase was $72,420 stakes-placed Cozzene’s Angel, by Cozzene, whose first foal Toccet won the Gr. 1 Champagne Stakes, Gr. 1 Hollywood Futurity, Gr. 2 Remsen Stakes and the Gr. 3 Laurel Futurity and set a new record for graded stakes wins by a juvenile runner. Later we sold Cozzene’s Angel, bred to Giant’s Causeway, for $1,350,000 at the 2005 Kneeland January sale, and she would later be bred to international powerhouse stallions Sadler’s Wells, Galileo (Ire) and Fastnet Rock (Aus).
Cozzene’s Angel and foal (foal by Out of Place named Hockey Fan)
More recently we added Washington champion older mare No Talking Back, by Flatter, to our band of topnotch producers, A $170,509 stakes winner, No Talking Back’s first foal is 2024 2-year-old stakes winner He’s Not Talking, by Brody’s Cause. No Talking Back is a fourth generation Washington champion racemare!
Unraced Atta Gal Val, by Atta Boy Roy, is a daughter of 2012 Washington Broodmare of the Year Coup de Foudre – dam of 2012 Washington Horse of the Year Makors Finale ($121,050) and 4-time state champion Absolutely Cool ($406,892). She produced her first foal for us, 2021 Washington 2-year-old champion Cobra Jet ($112,875).
Other young mares roaming our fields include additional Campanita daughters Racy Rascal, by Intro Mischief, and El Bell Camp, by Munnings; Atta Be a Joy, an Atta Boy Roy half-sister to 2004 Washington champion 3-year-old and $196,848 stakes winner Spanish Highway; and Tizarae, by Tiznow.
Each year we strive to offer a select group of yearlings for ourselves and our clients at the WTBOA Summer Sale. Since 2005 Griffin Place has sold the Washington salestopper on nine occasions, including in 2024.
In 2016 we were honored with the prestigious S. J. Agnew Special Achievement Award. Three years later more honors followed as we were voted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame in the breeder category.
Longtime members of the WTBOA Board of Directors and Sales Committee, we continue to be active supporters of the Washington Thoroughbred industry. We currently are members of the Slew’s Crew Partnership which races 2022-23 Washington Horse of the Year Slew’s Tiz Whiz.
Breeding for Thoroughbred Racing Champions
Griffin Place-Bred Washington Champions
Rings a Chime (1999-2000)
Best Judgement (2000)
Mulcahy (2007)
Lady Golightly (2010)
Bella Mia (2017-18)
Cobra Jet (2021)
Griffin Place-Raised Champions For Clients
Stakes winners Old Pal, Ferrariano, and Zabracadabra.