Her homebred daughter of Street feeling , Proctor Street was bold as he rallied among the horses for a 3/4-length victory in the $289,665 Cardinal Stakes over the Churchill Downs turf. Winning the raise to stakes was just another feather in the cap for a family that has worked at Moseley for five generations.
Horses had always been in Moseley’s blood. Her mother was a friendly rook hunter and her father owned several race horses in England that she would travel to see. In the 1960s, Moseley and her late husband, Jimmy, decided to become involved in racing and breeding themselves, spending $47,000 on a yearling daughter of Round Table to be named Drumtop.
The price was higher than the Moseleys had planned to spend on their first horse, but thanks to Claiborne Farm’s Bull Hancock, they were encouraged to enter into a partnership with Alice Chandler.
Drumtop would go on to have an incredibly successful career, winning ten stakes between 1969 and 1971 and earning just under half a million dollars. She set three course records and defeated men several times.
“At that age you didn’t realize how hard it was to have a horse of that caliber,” Moseley said. “She definitely made us happy and had such an impressive career. She beat the boys countless times, so that was pretty exciting.”
Drumtop wins the 1971 Edgemere Handicap at Belmont Park
When Drumtop’s racing career was complete, Chandler wanted to sell the mare, but the Moseleys wanted to keep her for breeding. Owner/breeder Paul Mellon, an inaugural Pillars of the Turf inductee into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, had been beaten by Drumtop in several races and was interested in the hair.
“We could never have afforded to buy her back at that point,” Moseley said. “When we went to Mellon, he said, ‘She hit me so many times.’ He bought the other half from her and we alternated foals.”
Drumtop proved successful as a broodmare. She produced three stakes winners: solid sire Topsider, Group 3 winner Brogan and 1979 Cascade Stakes winner War of Words. She also produced Aliata, dam of the stakes-placed Archstone.
Archstone went on to produce Proctor’s Ledge, a three-time rated stakes winner and a first-ranked daughter of Mind zapper who is the mother of Proctor Street.
Moseley said Proctor Street has always been on the small side, but the bloodline she carried gave her confidence in the filly’s potential.
“I always believed in her more than anyone just because I knew what her bloodlines were,” Moseley said.
Proctor Street started her career with a first victory over Horseshoe Indianapolis and has steadily risen through the ranks. She has won five of eight starts and boarded seven times for earnings of $451,910. But even if she was not successful, she still has great sentimental value to Moseley.
Patricia Moseley with Proctor’s Ledge at Saratoga Race Course in 2017
A few years ago, Proctor’s Ledge died while foaling and lost her foal. The same year, Proctor’s Ledge’s Street Sense half-sister, Choate Bridge, also died.
“Her mother had passed away and (Proctor Street) was all that was left of that line,” Moseley said. “It means a lot to her that she’s doing so well. Even though she didn’t do that well, she still meant a lot to me.”
In the decades that have followed Drumtop’s racing career, it has always been crucial for Moseley – a Massachusetts native and former chairman of Suffolk Downs – to maintain the Drumtop line in her breeding. Moseley currently has about 10 mares spread between Kentucky and New York.
“This was such a grassroots family in Claiborne, it was such a strong family,” Moseley said. “We kept most of it, I think I sold very little of it. I fully believe in the family, it’s been pretty good for us. Hopefully it will flourish again with Proctor (Street).”
Proctor Street looks set for a strong four-year campaign with coach Brendan Walsh at the helm. Walsh also trained Proctor’s Ledge and her last foal, a 3-year-old full brother to Proctor Street named Tram who is unplaced after two starts.
“Proctor’s Ledge certainly had a lot of success, but Brendan keeps saying this one could possibly be better,” Moseley said. “That’s more than I could ever dream of.”
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