OUR FOUNDERS STORY
Our story began with an unfortunate mishap. One morning in 2003, we woke up to 60+ horses on our farm with raging diarrhea. Not a pleasant situation. It took almost a week, but we finally received confirmation from our grain supplier that the source of our problem a malfunction at their mill resulting in way too much magnesium added to our mix. It wasn’t a serious health concern, but it did cause us to start thinking about finding an easier way to clean up the mess. Washing off all those horses multiple times was more work than we ever wanted to face again. So, Mary Lou did some brainstorming with Dr. “Bud” Hallowell and with the help of a local chemist, came up with the formula for Shiny Hiney™. We tested it for almost a year on our own foals before we began to market it, and we have been very happy with the results.
A. L. “Bud” Hallowell, DVM
Longtime Washington horseman and respected equine veterinarian. He started working for veterinary clinics in Ellensburg and Centralia before becoming the farm veterinarian for the Agnew family’s T-90 Ranch in Tenino. Then in 1964 he moved his family to Kentucky and began working with the famed equine practitioner Dr. William McGee. After spending the 1964 breeding and foaling season in Lexington, he turned down an offer to remain in practice with Dr. McGee and returned to Washington to start a private practice specializing in equine reproduction.
A longtime WTBOA member he served on the Board of Directors, as sales veterinarian and on several committees and advisory boards including the board of the Washington Thoroughbred Foundation. He was co-chairman with fellow equine veterinarian Dr. Robert Penney of multiple Short Courses and was able to secure world-class speakers such as Penny Tweedy, Elliot Burch, George Morris, Monty Roberts, Tom Gentry, Sid Rickets from England, Bill Opppenheim, Brian Sweeney, John Williams general manager of Spendthrift Farm, Helen Crabtree, Dr. Woody Asbery, Kent Hollingsworth, LeRoy Jolley, Mathew Mackey-Smith, Ronnie Mutch, Stanley Petter, Jr., Chris Cahill, Lee Eaton, Frank “Jimmy”Kilroe, Walter Kauffman, Lee Vogt, Don Bert, Dr. Bill McGee, and Dr. James Rooney.
He became a popular speaker and authored articles on reproduction, and his research on colostrum lead to publication in Equine Reproduction.
In 2004 he was appointed to the Washington Horse Racing Commission and served until 2012.
He was a lifetime member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Mary Lou Griffin
Co-owner with husband Terry of Griffin Place
Located at the foothills of the Cascades, near Buckley, Washington, Griffin Place is a picturesque and modern Thoroughbred breeding farm. We are actively involved in breeding and marketing racehorses, and we are committed to the Washington Thoroughbred industry.
We have a strong history of breeding, raising and selling top-class horses. We were Washington’s Leading Breeder by money won in 2000. That year, two of our homebreds, RINGS A CHIME and BEST JUDGEMENT, were named Washington Champions. RINGS A CHIME became our first G1 stakes winner and she, in turn, produced G1 SW COUNTRY STAR, and her dam, OUTOFTHEBLUEBELL was voted Broodmare of the Year.
In 2002 we had incredibly good fortune when our mare, Cozzene’s Angel, whose first foal produced TOCCET. He became the second leading two-year-old in the nation by money won and a multiple G1 stakes winner. TOCCET won the G1 Champagne at Belmont, the G1 Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park, the G2 Remsen at Aqueduct, the G3 Laurel Futurity and set a new record for graded stakes wins by a two-year old.
Excellence starts with good mares. and through the years we have assembled an outstanding broodmare band starting with SW OUTOFTHEBLUEBELL. Over the years we added Sp Cozzene’s Angel, the dam of multiple G1 SW TOCCET; SW BOLD MAGESTRATE, dam of Washington Champion BEST JUDGEMENT who would produce Sp Impeached; Sp Lady Beverly dam of Washington Champion LADY GOLIGHTLY, $184,86 SW BLONDAWAY; Campanita, dam of three stakes-placed horses: Sp Rain Shadow, Sp Bell Adieu and Sp Bella Campana, dam of 2017 Washington Champion BELLA MIA, Prado’s Joy dam of Washington Champion SPANISH HIGHWAY and SW ASHBY HILL; Mia F Eighteen, dam of triple G3 SW SUMMER HIT ($575,299) and Emerald Downs champion STARBIRD ROAD; Sp Briar de La Rose, dam of Washington Champion MULCAHY; Sp ATOYAC, dam of Turf Paradise Derby winner KEAGAN, and Courtroom Charmer (owned in partnership), dam of Sp Cariboo Road.
Recent additions to our broodmare band are Dixie Dreamin, by Dixieland Band, our homebred Impeached, by Northern Afleet, Matching Skies, by Henny Hughes, Tizarae by Tiznow, and Racy Rascal by Into Mischief.
Our sales program remains strong. 2005 hallmarked a defining year for us in the sale ring. We topped the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale when we sold Cozzene’s Angel sold for $1,350,000. Then we topped both Washington sales as our Tribunal filly out of BOLD MAGSTRATE (owned in partnership) brought $100,000 in the WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale, and we were the agent for the sale topper at the WTBOA Winter Mixed Sale. This was an unprecedented achievement. We have since topped the WTBOA yearling sale several other times with homebreds or for client horses.
We are proud to have sold Horse of the Year G1 SW RINGS A CHIME, Champions LADY GOLIGHTLY, BEST JUDGEMENT, MULCAHY, Derby winner KEAGAN, and additional SWs NEWFOUND MAN, EBONY N ICE, SILVER SCREEN GIRL, WILD CYCLE, CUDDABINTHEWHISKEY, and MIDNIGHT MARTINI, plus Sp Bella Campana, Rain Shadow, Cariboo Harbor, Mashiko, Bell Adieu, Blameitontherain, Café Tortoni, Formal Plan and Weepinbell.
We were honored in 2012 to have Rings a Chime inducted into the Washington Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.
In 2016 we were awarded the prestigious S.J.Agnew Achievement Award.
We continue to be active supporters of the Washington Thoroughbred industry. Mary Lou is a graduate of Colorado State University, a member of the WTBOA Board of Trustees, as well as the WTBOA Finance and Sales Committees, the Northwest Race Series Committee and former member of the WSU Equine Advisory Committee.