By his own estimate, Michael Dubb has won 30-35 Grade I races in New York over his long career as an owner, but it was only a little over a month ago when he experienced what he calls one of his ultimate thrills at the races. That's when Kathynmarissa (American Pharoah)-purchased by Dubb as a yearling-won one of Saratoga's iconic races, the Grade I Diana, in the presence of Dubb and the five-year-old mare's namesakes: Kathy and Marissa.“I'm involved in the Adelphi Hotel and the two bankers who I work with very closely with from Bank of America were named Kathy Flock and Marissa Magneson,” said Dubb. “I kidded them and said when we get the loan done on the Adelphi so I can build it, I will name a horse after you. Hence, Kathynmarissa was born.”After a sendoff in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Kathynmarissa will van across town to be sold at the Nov. 2 Fasig-Tipton November Sale as hip 208, the final horse in the sale. “We have had the pleasure of selling some wonderful horses for Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso, including one that brought a whole lot of money here several years ago named Monomoy Girl,” said Fasig-Tipton's President and CEO Boyd Browning, of the mare who sold for $9.5 million at Fasig November in 2020. “They do things the right way and represent the very best of Thoroughbred ownership.”American Pharoah is currently standing on a lease from Coolmore at the Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan, where he will remain at least through the 2027 breeding season due to overwhelming demand from breeders there. “One of the things that's really attractive to me with Kathynmarissa is that she's by American Pharoah,” said Browning. “We all remember American Pharoah on the racetrack, but what is kind of overlooked about him is the success he's had as a stallion. He's produced 10 Grade I winners around the world. He's truly an international sire who produces runners all over the world at the highest levels.”Kathynmarissa wins the Diana | Sarah AndrewIn fact, it was the sire that first attracted Dubb to Kathynmarissa as a yearling.“I was just tickled pink that I was able to obtain an American Pharoah filly,” said Dubb of his $200,000 yearling purchase. “When I saw her, I could not believe the conformation and the good looks, the look in her eye. She was the whole package, at first look, top to bottom, front to back.”She has lived up to those looks on the racetrack.Like many a turf filly, experience has been Kathynmarissa's friend, and she is having a breakout year in 2026 at the age of five, with wins in the GIII Modesty at Churchill, Grade I Diana, and Grade II Flower Bowl in her most recent start. That said, Dubb said he knew she was special before the racing world realized it.“I knew it when she was three years old,” he said. “I knew what we had.”That year, in 2024, she won a stakes race at Kentucky Downs, in the Pepsi Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational over Kentucky Downs's undulating course at a mile and five-sixteenths. She followed that up with a Grade I placing in the American Oaks. She was lightly raced at four, and has come back in 2026 with a vengeance.Kathynmarissa has always been special to Dubb, both due to her naming story and because she has been a part of his program for so long now.“Kathy and Marissa were both at the Diana, and they said it was one of the greatest experiences of their lives,” he said. “The part of the story I haven't told is at the time when I met Cathy and Marissa, they were both working for Bank of America and now Marissa works for me. Kathy is still my Bank of America liaison. But now Marissa is in my office and it's special because I walk into Marissa's office and she's got all the Kathynmarissa pictures hanging on the wall.”The Diana wasn't just special for her namesakes, but for Dubb as well.“The Diana was always a race that I really never thought I would be blessed and fortunate enough to have a horse who could win, so that probably to me is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”Soon, of course, someone else will have the experience of breeding her.Dubb says there's a lot to recommend, starting with her race record and versatility.Kathynmarissa wins the Modesty at Churchill | Ashley Phillips“She's won at so many tracks,” he said, naming Santa Anita, Churchill, Saratoga, Kentucky Downs, and Belmont. “There are certain horses for courses, but Kathynmarissa is one of those horses who will run her race on any course. She's also a horse that has versatility, has the class, and lets the jockey do what she needs to do to win anywhere from a mile to a mile and five-sixteenths.”There are also her looks. Brian Graves, who will consign her for Gainesway, calls her “stunning.”“I'd describe her physical as a stunner,” said Graves. “She's got size, she's got scope, she has a beautiful long neck and plenty of hip, and Kathynmarissa is just the type of mare that I think a lot of people will look at and imagine getting not only a very atheletic foal, but one that would be very, very commercially oriented, something that they could go out to the commercial market and do very well with.”Browning points out her pedigree page; she's out of the Chilean mare LaDalila, a Classic winner in her native country, and is a half-sister to a champion three-year-old filly in Chile.“When you look at the pedigree for Kathynmarissa, all you see are Grade Is. She's a Grade I winner herself. She's out of a Grade I winner. Her half-sister is a Grade I winner. Her second dam is a Grade I performer. And she was bred by Don Alberto, who are known for producing top-quality horses around the world.”Dubb said that he is approaching the Breeders' Cup with mixed emotions.“The Breeders' Cup is going to be bittersweet because it will most likely be the last race for her under my ownership,” he said. “Somebody might say to me, `who's the best horse you ever campaigned?' and I would answer `Monomoy Girl.' And then I would also say, `and Kathynmarissa.' I would put her at that level and that class. I'm sure she is the best turf mare that I've ever been fortunate enough to campaign. And so the Breeders' Cup is going to be really special.”Dubb said that he would also be at Night of the Stars as Kathynmarissa–the last lot of the night–goes through the ring. He thinks people will like what they find.“Honestly, I think when breeders come to see her, they're going to see perfection. They're going see a really nice-sized horse. And I'm going to quote my trainer, Chad Brown, who's won the Breeders' Cup four times. He's been asked which Breeders' Cup winner Kathynmarissa reminds him of and his answer is `none. She's in a league of her own.'”Dubb said he thinks her appeal will be broad-based.“She nicks very well with some of the top stallions; she's an A++ Nick with Into Mischief. So I think there's going to be really broad appeal for her. And when you back it up with her physical and her race record, I think she's going be one of the stars of the show when she sells at the Fasig Night of the Stars.”The post Dubb Prepares for Breeders’ Cup with Kathynmarissa Before Fasig November Send-Off appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.