It seemed like Arroyo was destined to become a trainer, but instead he shifted his focus to the bloodstock business and teamed up with his father Nelson, who has long since retired from racing, to form a team. Arroyo Blood Tribewhich operates from Ocala, Florida. In the second year of pinhooking, the father-and-son team impressed at the 2025 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of 2-year-olds in training, selling a son of Midshipman for $650,000 after Arroyo Bloodstock acquired the colt for $140,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. The horse was among five pinhooks acquired by the Arroyos were sold, all exceeding their yearling prices.
In addition, they have teamed up with Brandon Arroyo, Elijah’s younger brother, to create TBX/Thoroughbred Exchange, a web-based platform soon available as an app that provides data such as gallop times and videos to assist buyers in their sales selection process.
Elijah Arroyo’s answers have been edited for space and clarity.
Blood Horse: You had the opportunity, given your early jobs in racing, to become a trainer. Why bloodstock instead?
Elijah Arroyo: It just clicked with me, my dad and my brother. I would say it’s probably the first time everything felt right. It felt good to be at the sale and picking out horses, just the whole process. I think it was something I didn’t know much about before, and the hunger to learn more, and the feeling that I was starting to figure it out. It’s very pleasant. Another part is the fact that we can be involved in the purchase of it, during the teardown and training (at Britton Peak, headquartered at the Oak Ridge Training Center near Morriston, Florida) and then during the sales part. It’s an amazing feeling to be part of that whole process.
BRA: What is it like working with your family?
EA: It’s the best. We have a lot of things in common, and a lot of things that make us different, and that helps us work together in a very positive way. My father has a great eye for a horse from his experience as a jockey. It really gives me a unique perspective when I look at a horse. I’ve always been very interested in numbers – analytics and statistics – so we brought that into the game together. While he is looking at a horse, I can view various statistics of the stallion and the family. We combine all those things together.
My younger brother, Brandon, is really into media, photography and videography. He’s a master at that and that’s really been a big part of our TBX business. Making videos and taking photos of so many different horses also helped Brandon develop a really good eye. We all have a good mix of different perspectives, so that when we all land on a horse, we have a lot of confidence in the future.
BRA: How did you and your father get introduced to the blood bank side of the business?
EA: We have had many great mentors: Dean DeRenzo, Randy Hartley, Donato Lanni, Nick Hines, David Meah, Nathan McCauley and Chad Summers; There have just been a lot of good people around us.
BRA: Now that you see some of the pin hooks you sold making it to the races, who got you excited?
EA: For us, that’s the even more exciting part, seeing them race. Desert Gate (bought for $100,000 as a yearling; sold for $260,000 at 2; and was twice placed in Grade 1 and winner in Grade 3), for example, he was a very, very good pinhook, but not our most successful. But for us he is our most important horse because of what he has achieved at the races and that means a lot.
BRA: How is the capital raised to purchase the horses as yearlings?
EA: Every horse we have has a syndicate behind it. When we started, we contacted several people who wanted to pinhook with us. We realized that it is very difficult, at least for us, to distinguish who you are going to buy which horses for, because everyone wants to buy the same horse to pin on. If two clients have a budget of $50,000 for a horse, you basically have to prioritize one over the other for whatever horse might fall for that price. We felt that by putting the customers together (on a horse), no priorities were set. Everyone becomes the priority. We thought that was very important. Regardless of budget, it helps to get a better quality horse if you can stretch your budget.
BRA: Yearling sales in 2025 delivered robust results. How did that affect your purchasing power?
EA: My father and I have gone through all the results from the past years and looking at the trends, my father says we need a bigger budget (in 2025). We realized that it would become more difficult to buy horses that meet all the requirements for yearling sales. So by bringing customers together it was easier for us to buy the horses we thought we loved. (Among the yearlings purchased last year was Jackie’s Warrior, the then first crop yearling sire, who topped the final day of the OBS October Yearling Sale when he sold to Arroyo Bloodstock for $180,000.)
BRA: Are you lucky to have done so well in this venture so quickly?
EA: I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe it is a blessing. We have had great teachers. We were fortunate that we learned the right way from the beginning. When it comes to sales, to combine that with the experience we have in the racing world and to stick to our teachings, I think that has been the most important thing in our success. Dean (DeRenzo) and Randy (Hartley) taught us some very important things that we think have contributed to our success when it comes to looking at a horse and analyzing the horse, as well as the other people I mentioned earlier.
They all gave us little tips that helped us a lot when it comes to purchasing the horses and caring for them during the winter. Without their teachings and guidance, we might be at the same point (as when we started). I think this is an important part of our accelerated success. We’re just trying to keep our heads down and humble because there’s so much more to learn.
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