It’s All About Love

Veterinarian and breeder John McDermott’s interest in the Not For Love sire line has helped him produce a successful runner with Kant Hurry Love.

What’s “love” got to do with it?

There have been many songs, movies, books, poems, and short stories that have tried to answer this question. In Thoroughbred racing, especially with breeding and bloodlines, “love” may have something to do with it.

One of those people who believe in that “love” is Granville Veterinarian Service co-practice owner John McDermott, who is also a breeder at his Seldom Silent Farm in North Hebron, which is about five miles west of the New York-Vermont border.

Since becoming a breeder, he has been interested in broodmares sired by the well-bred Not For Love, who was the leading Maryland sire from 2003 to 2011 following a modest career that with a couple of wins in allowance races at Saratoga.

McDermott eventually acquired two mares from that linage that became a mother-daughter combination: Baby Love and She’s All Love. Because of that acquisition and his fascination with the Not For Love breeding line, McDermott has produced one of his better offspring so far with stakes-winner Kant Hurry Love.

“Do I love pedigrees? Absolutely,” McDermott said. “I can’t go toe-to-toe with the guys in Kentucky, so I have to be more creative. The Not For Love breeding could really prove herself. You will have results.”

McDermott has some results as a result of his creativity. After purchasing Baby Love from Dan Hayden’s Sugar Maple Farm in 2007, McDermott bred the mare to Majestic Warrior, winner of the 2007 Hopeful. Their product was Bonus Points, who won the Maryland Million Classic Stakes and Parx Derby in 2017.

McDermott also bred Baby Love to Grade 1 winning sprinter Yes It’s True. That combination produced Candid Desire, who earned over $500,000 with a victory in the 2017 Holly Hughes Handicap.

As part of the breeding industry, McDermott eventually sold Baby Love with the hopes to earn breeders’ award money through her. Because of that, he was searching for another mare with the Not For Love pedigree.

After losing opportunities to claim or purchase another mare with that pedigree in both Louisiana and Finger Lakes, McDermott learned about She’s All Love, the daughter of Baby Love who suffered a career-ending injury at Belmont Park and became rehabilitated at repurposing clinic farm in 2017.