Woman of Substance Sheila Rosenblum and Her Race to the Top

Photography: Weston Wells, Hair: Trennace Gallatin, Make Up: Natasha Smee

When Sheila Rosenblum went looking for a new challenge, she found it—and then some—in the fast-paced world of thoroughbred racing.

While she always loved horses—and, like many socially prominent women, was drawn to the equestrian world—it was the prospect of an empty nest in the not too distant future (her daughter, Kara, and son, Erik, would soon be teenagers) that also served as motivation to move beyond a gilded Park Avenue life and photo ops on Manhattan’s charity circuit and into a sport where few women have thrived.

“I’ve long been fascinated by horses and dreamed of owning one since I was young,” Rosenblum says. Back then, she could only fantasize about a canter through Central Park; as a youngster, ballet was her consuming passion; and as an up-and-comer both at the School of American Ballet and The Royal Ballet School, riding just wasn’t an option. “It’s a dangerous sport and dancers can’t take the risk,” she says.

Rosenblum left ballet at 19 after the Ford and then Wilhelmina modeling agencies came calling. While she was freed from hours of rigorous dance practice every day and could enjoy a more flexible lifestyle, broken limbs on fashion models are about as welcome as they are on ballerinas— arm slings and plaster casts hardly make for a good photo shoot. When she began to phase out of her second career, she took up dressage, often described as horse ballet. It was a most appropriate sport for a former dancer to choose.

But it was only in 2010 that Rosenblum’s passion for horses put her in the path of a life-changing opportunity. While on safari in Africa she learned about a “fantastic German filly” that was for sale. And then it all began to click: Here was the chance not only to fulfill that desire to own a horse, but also to start an entirely new career—racing thoroughbreds. Once Rosenblum owned the horse, she quickly became consumed with her new venture.

The highlight of Rosenblum’s racing career came in January when her champion La Verdad won the 2015 Eclipse Award— considered the equine equivalent of an Oscar—for top female sprinter. After La Verdad took home the prize, the Daily Racing Form, the sport’s bible, wrote, “Few horses in recent seasons have combined the pure speed, admirable consistency and in- disputable class that La Verdad put on display throughout her 24-race career.”

Beyond partnering with Rice, Rosenblum attributes her recent successes to some hard-earned insights: how she learned racing is a numbers game, that it’s better to have several good horses instead of a single expensive racer. “Pedigrees are important, but there are so many variables,” she says, like “soul, talent, luck. Some horses are great natural athletes; others don’t even know how to break out of a gate.”

Her stable moved beyond its focus on yearlings to adding 2-year-olds closer to racing age. “Some can race as 2-year-olds if they’re ‘forward’ and have the talent, but successful ones at that age are few and far between. For many, it’s too much stress,” she says. She likes to compare the readiness to race to a dancer’s readiness to perform: “Even though young ballerinas are very muscular, their bones are still growing. You have to be careful how far you push them and that’s the same with horses. Linda and I like to work slower and give the horses more time to develop.” And even if a horse is ready to run at 2, she and Rice make sure it gets frequent breaks from the track. “At the end of the day, horses want to be horses, frolicking in a field somewhere outside the paddock. And they perform better when they have time off.”

Rosenblum’s goal is not only to keep her horses healthy and winning at the track, but also to make thoroughbred racing more attractive to women. “Most women don’t know much about it,” she says. While traditionally male dominated, the sport has had its share of iconic doyennes, like Lillian Phipps, Ethel Mars, Marylou Whitney and Penny Chenery Tweedy, who bred and raced the great Secretariat. Rosenblum says their achievements and tenacity have helped motivate her. “They worked as hard as men in racing and brought a major love for horses and glamour to the business,” she says.

Rosenblum has brought more women into the sport through her all-female syndications. Following the creation of Lady Sheila Stable, she formed her first syndicate, Lady Sheila Stable Two in 2014 with investors that include Dorothy Herman, CEO of New York real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman, and Jill Zarin of Real Housewives of New York. (Joining LSS2 required a $100,000 buy-in.) This first syndicate owns shares in four horses, including Matt King Coal, who was being groomed for the Kentucky Derby. A second syndicate, Triumphant Trio, was formed in 2015 in partnership with Rice and philanthropist Iris Smith and helped Rosenblum secure some major wins. This syndicate includes Champion of the Nile, sired by Pioneer of the Nile, who also sired Triple Crown champ American Pharoah. In addition, Rosenblum recently created her third syndicate, Lady Sheila Three.