Oh, for a daughter to take the legacy forward!That was the late Marty Wygod's thought, year after year, when his dual Grade I winner Tranquility Lake (Rahy) persisted in stubbornly producing colts. True, her Storm Cats had served his program well: After Market and Courageous Cat both won Grade Is, while their brother Jalil made $9.7 million as a yearling. But then, finally, the mare delivered a filly–her very last foal, by Smart Strike.Emily Bushnell, his daughter, recalls ecstatically calling Wygod at 5 a.m. when the foetal test came through. They named her Meadowsweet, which flowered along Tranquility Lake on the family ranch in California, and she showed nice ability in a light career: won a couple, and ran a close fifth in the GI Del Mar Oaks.And then, as he began his final battle with illness last year, Wygod gifted Meadowsweet's Into Mischief colt to his daughter, along with longtime advisor Ric Waldman. Just days before Wygod lost that battle, when still in feisty and amusing form at the hospital, Resilience booked his GI Kentucky Derby gate by winning the GII Wood Memorial.The horse was very aptly named, and not just for the fortitude he imparted to grieving friends and family when briefly threatening to win at Churchill, ultimately fading into an honorable sixth.“It was really special,” Bushnell recalls. “It was going to be a hard time, no matter what, but I think the horse really helped us, changed how we all processed what we were going through. Grief is hard, but this was like being shown there was still a future to look forward to. My dad lived a long life, a great life, and here was a way of carrying that on.”And, in fact, Wygod had left with that same consolation. For he knew that he had a daughter worthy of the legacy.He had taught her well; taught her, in fact, resilience. Because with horses, as with life in general, success is a ladder scaled on rungs of disappointment. Sure enough, asked how she was raised, Bushnell shares a couple of instructive glimpses of the character that sustained not only an astounding business career but also a Thoroughbred program (operated alongside her mother Pam) that raised 124 stakes winners.The first goes back to when he was teaching her to ride. Wygod, remember, had always been a hands-on horseman, gaining his first experience as a 15-year-old walking hots at Belmont for Woody Stephens and Homer Pardue.“Whenever I would fall off, or the horse took off with me, it was always the same,” Bushnell recalls. “Yes, you should be as careful as you can, but it was all about getting straight back up and trying again. I think that was instilled into me from a very young age, to be determined, keep trying, work really hard.“And then, at the track, we did a lot of traveling together and of course, you always remember the big wins, and how exciting they were. But I'll also never forget when After Market was first or second choice at the [Monmouth] Breeders' Cup, and we had all that rain, and he didn't like soft turf. I was thinking, 'Oh, it's the Breeders' Cup, I can't believe we'll actually scratch.' But in his mind there was never a doubt. It was the right thing for the horse, and that was all you ever needed to think about. So I think that was also an incredibly important lesson, in how to approach those hard decisions that you're always going to face.”Already in girlhood Bushnell knew that she had inherited a passion. In New Jersey, there had been riding horses and racetrack lay-ups on the farm; and after moving to the opposite coast, father and daughter were constantly on the backside at Del Mar or Santa Anita, visiting the likes of Life Is Sweet and Sweet Catomine, both Breeders' Cup winners by Storm Cat out of the homebred Sweet Life (Kris S.).“They had the most incredible demeanor,” Bushnell recalls. “You could just go in and sit with them, they were such loves–but then such fierce competitors on the track. When you're lucky enough to have an emotional connection with horses like that, it's pretty powerful. Then, when I moved East, my dad would come out and I'd drive him out from the city to the track at 5 a.m. So horses were definitely the common ground between us, a special part of our relationship from an early age.”Wygod was always thinking ahead and, with Bushnell's brother Max also coming East for college, began to question the future of River Edge, the Californian farm where he had stood Pirate's Bounty and Benchmark. It was the latter, in fact, who had focused the River Edge manager, Russell Drake, on his half-sister Tranquility Lake as a yearling.Drake became a cherished mentor. “He was such a big influence in learning about horses and horsemanship,” Bushnell says gratefully. “How to take care of them, how to ask the right questions, make sure you have the right people looking after them. I believe he grew up in Arizona, and he was super old school. He had an incredible eye, and would really take his time with horses. Whenever he came to Kentucky, he would give everyone a hard time about how bad the grass looked, compared to California. But also just incredibly patient and kind. We'd spend a lot of time just squatting in front of horses, him pointing out what he's looking at and why. At the end of the day, I know we're all just making educated guesses, but this was really getting our hands on horses and seeing how each one is unique, and then doing the right thing for each one's plan.”As Bushnell grew up, her father began to measure the depth of her engagement.“I mean, he had impeccably high standards,” she says. “He'd expect everyone to think through every single angle–and the one thing you didn't think through will always be what he asks. But I think that's why he did so well, because he always was thinking of the next move. A mare would foal and next day he's asking what we're thinking, not even for that breeding season, but the following one. He was always a year ahead. And because he had started thinking about whether to keep the farm in California, and how involved I wanted to be, he started pulling me into the daily and weekly conversations.”When Wygod finally broke up River Edge, instead concentrating a band of quality broodmares at Lane's End, Bushnell bought a couple out of the Barretts dispersal and tested the water with her own little program. And, planner as he was, her father had long prepared her even for the poignant conversations that became inevitable in his final weeks.“I mean, for the previous 20 years he'd been like, 'If I go tomorrow, this is the plan with the horses; this is who you need to call; this is what I think.' And I'd be like, 'Okay, but you're fine and we're going to dinner tomorrow night: you need to relax!' Even after the Wood Memorial, in the hospital, he was saying, 'So you going to call the jockey's agent? You going to do this? Going to do that?' 'Yes, we've got it.' So I promise it was all very meticulously planned!”Sure enough, the dovetailed operation–now under the banner Tranquility Lake Farms LLC–could hardly have made a better start. At Saratoga last year, an Into Mischief colt out of Sweet Sting (Awesome Again) made $2.4 million, second highest price of the sale; and this time round a daughter of millionaire Paradise Woods (Union Rags) by Gun Runner was its top filly at $2.6 million.Naturally Bushnell isn't going to take all the credit for this culmination to decades of diligence. As just one example of a family developed by her father through five generations, Beauty Reigns (Tapit), third in the GI Test Stakes last month, boasts Sweet Life as third dam.“It's been wild,” Bushnell says of the way these dynasties have been received in the ring. “You feel so passionate, seeing your horses in the barn, about the bloodlines they represent. So just to have that confirmation-seeing them brought out and getting that sort of reaction-is incredible.”Not that she can afford to indulge sentiment unduly. Sweet Sting herself was moved on for no more than $385,000, carrying a sibling to her sales knockout, at Keeneland last November; along with her Not This Time filly for $250,000.“But I have her daughter by Empire Maker,” Bushnell explains. “That's kind of the goal, to make sure we're selling horses when, hopefully, they're peaking in value, or close to that, still with a lot of upside. I always wanted an Empire Maker broodmare, she's a great physical, and hopefully the family continues to produce great individuals and her value increases.“My dad always wanted to keep the best, to compete on the track. Only every now and then would he sell one. But I'm looking down the road and asking how can I make this sustainable for our family. So selling some of the best is going to be part of our business plan. We don't have big numbers, but we have great families that have been cultivated over generations, so being able to sell one or two a year makes a real difference to how we can operate.”Moreover the revenue freed her hand to add fresh blood to the program with a $1-million Tapit filly at the September Sale: a half-sister to GI Alabama Stakes winner Eskimo Kisses (To Honor and Serve), and granddaughter of none other than Winning Colors (Caro {Ire}).“My dad and I were underbidders on Eskimo Kisses,” Bushnell explains. “It's a family we'd gravitate towards, whenever we saw it in a catalogue, and we really loved her. Then last year at Tattersalls I saw Oujda (Fr) (Sioux Nation) [out of another granddaughter of Winning Colors] and loved her, too. She went past what we were willing to pay then [750,000gns], but when we came across this one at Keeneland, after the great sale in August, I was hopeful we might be able to bring her home-and was so excited when we did.”Bushnell is comfortable with the prospect of maintaining 15-20 mares, not just from an economic perspective but also to ensure that farm graduates can be properly tracked, and assisted if later reaching a difficult crossroads. She is also grateful, in this and many other ways, for the assistance of Kate Sheehan. They first met through horses when at adjacent colleges and, Drake having supported Sheehan early in her career, she became an ideal conduit for the transition from California to Kentucky.Ciaran Dunne, meanwhile, handles the education of the young stock in Florida. That yielded a bonus earlier this spring, when Dunne was looking to bring partners into an exciting filly Bushnell watched win on debut at Keeneland. Lennilu (Leinster) followed up in a Gulfstream stakes and then ran a close third of 23 at Royal Ascot.“That was so fun,” Bushnell says. “We don't usually have early 2-year-olds, and I'd never been before, but it was amazing. She's tough as nails and beat the boys at Gulfstream on Saturday so hopefully goes to the Breeders' Cup.”Perhaps that prospect will quicken the interest already being shown by Bushnell's children at just eight, seven and four.“My husband and I brought the kids up to Saratoga a lot this summer,” she says. “And my two oldest were getting up with me every morning at 5.30 and they're like, 'We want to go to the track!' 'You do? Okay!' So we'd all get on our bikes and ride over to Oklahoma. And they loved it, which I'm really excited about.“Obviously I really miss just being able to call my dad and talk about everything. But seeing so many things that we talked about come to fruition, it does make me feel really proud of what I'm continuing on.” The post Wygod Legacy in Tranquil Hands With Daughter Emily Bushnell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.