Just Philtored carries the torch for breeder ZWP stables

It all started when Oklahoma native Elliot Campbell moved to Baltimore, Maryland for work at the age of 24. Having never been to a horse race before, he was fascinated by a photo hanging behind the cash register of a local GNC store. The horse pictured was stakes winner Cherokee’s Boy, a Maryland-bred horse that competed in the 2003 Preakness Stakes (G1).

“I asked the guy at the store, ‘What’s the story with the horse?’ And he said, ‘Oh, that’s my horse, Cherokee’s Boy. He ran in the Preakness (Stakes) last year,” said Campbell, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Michigan-based Trace Medical Company.

That man turned out to be the late Dave Picarello, one of the co-founders of ZWP Stable. Picarello invited Campbell to one of his races, and the rest is history.

When Picarello passed away in 2023, Campbell, along with partner and trainer Gary Capuano, took over ZWP Stables in honor of their friend. ZWP Stables and Capuano’s Non Stop Stables reached a new milestone together on December 6 when their home-bred Just filtered won the Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes at Laurel Park.

The daughter of Great idea earned her third stakes win for owners Red White and Blue Racing and London Reid Thoroughbreds. Just Philtored is out of the Malibu Moon mare Slow and Steady, which was used by ZWP Stable and formed the backbone of their breeding program.

“When Foard Wilgis passed away in early 2021, and Dave (Picarello) sadly passed away in 2023, they co-owned Slow and Steady and (stakes winner) Steady N Love with Gary (Capuano),” Campbell said. “When Foard passed away I bought his share, and when Dave passed away I bought the remaining share. So we ran under ZWP for years as a tribute to them, but really we just ran our last race under the ZWP side.

“ZWP was actually acquired by London Reid Thoroughbreds, my company. They are my boys’ middle names. My wife (Melanie) and my two boys, especially my 9-year-old, just enjoy watching this from a distance the most. We don’t get to Maryland that often to watch the races, but it is truly incredible.”

All of Campbell’s horses will race under London Reid Thoroughbreds, with the exception of some partnerships.

Campbell said Just Philtored was like all the other foals from Slow and Steady. “The problem with the Slow and Steadys is that they all want to be racehorses,” he said.

Although Campbell’s broodmare group of just a few horses is small in number, they have been mighty with results. Slow and Steady bears her last foal at the age of 25 Archangel . The 2022 Maryland Broodmare of the Year has produced twelve riders from twelve to the start, with earnings of more than $2 million. She will retire after the 2026 season.

Capuano purchased the mare in 2002 for just $14,500 at Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic December Mixed Sale.

ZWP Stable’s most successful runner to date is the winner of multiple stakes Malibu beauty a 7 year old daughter of Buff and a half-sister of Just Philtored. The mare earned just $1 million during her career for Capuano, who owned the mare jointly with Campbell. The mare has recently retired and is coming to visit Vekoma in 2026.

Campbell hopes that Malibu Beauty and the rest of the mare’s fillies can pass the torch for their great broodmare Slow and Steady.

“She is the mother of the whole,” Campbell said of Slow and Steady. ‘If it hadn’t been for Slow and Steady, everything would have been destroyed. She’s great.

“It’s a great sport and I’m really proud of everyone who has been involved. From Lynn Ashby with Marlyn Meadow Farms in Delaware to Gary and his daughter Tori, who works with all our babies. There are a lot of people I don’t even have much contact with because I’m so far away, but it really does take a team.”