Delaware? Worthington? Dulaney? Shenandoah? Red River? You could spend all day trying to figure out the valley honored in the Thoroughbred racing stable name of owner Rocky Rashall and never get it right.
Because there is no valley in Respect the Valleys. Not a literal one anyway.
"My dad was a jockey so, knowing the ups and downs, when I was looking for a stable name I know there are a lot more valleys than mountains in ownership," said Rashall, officially Roger Rashall Jr., in ealy March. "You don't have to love them, but you have to respect them. It's just something that popped into my head."
And Respect the Valleys, active in the Mid-Atlantic with trainer Brittany Russell in Maryland and sales consignor Madison Meyers in Virginia, is headed toward a peak with 3-year-old filly Dazzling Dame. The daughter of Girvin finished second in the Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs March 14 -- not quite a guaranteed spot in the Kentucky Oaks-G1 at Churchill Downs May 2, but a step forward nonetheless. In the $250,000 stakes, she set a pressured pace before yielding late to Grade 1 winner Bottle of Rouge from the barn of Bob Baffert. At press time, Dazzling Dame's 40.75 Oaks points were seventh on the overall leaderboard.
The Maryland-bred is the latest success for Respect the Valleys, which started its first horses in 2019 and has won 11 or more races in five of the last six years while pushing its total earnings toward $3 million.
Bred by Florida resident Maria Haire and foaled at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Dazzling Dame took a meandering path to the cusp of national prominence.
In 2006, Haire bought 13-year-old broodmare Ms. Mostly for $80,000. Bred by leading owner/breeder Fred Hooper, she produced six winners for Haire, who never forgot her. Fast forward 10 years, when Haire spied Ms. Mostly's stakesplaced granddaughter Awesome Dama in the catalog at Keeneland January. Haire bought the young Corinthian mare for $20,000 and has been rewarded with three winners -- so far -- topped by Dazzling Dame.
Advisor Glenn Brok wasn't sure Awesome Dama was the right mare to buy, but Haire wouldn't hear it -- a character trait the go-with-your-gut breeder continues to flash.
"That was all my mom," said daughter Catherine Jager, also Haire's partner in Hare Hill Farm in Florida. "She said she wanted her."
By now, Jager is used to such decisions working out and got reminded again when Dazzling Dame went to Keeneland November as a weanling in 2023. She failed to meet her reserve, but attracted a $40,000 private offer after leaving the ring. Jager thought they should sell. Haire, not so much.
"No way," she told her daughter and the would-be buyers. "We'll get more for her in Florida."
Jager pushed, ultimately gave up, and a few months later the yearling Dazzling Dame brought $65,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's winter mixed sale. Rashall was part of the pinhooking partnership, Tahoe Bloodstock, that bought the filly and she was supposed to sell -- for a profit -- at OBS March in 2025. The bidding stalled at $45,000 and consignor Lane Richardson advised Rashall to consider buying the filly outright.
"We entered her and scratched her from a few sales," said Rashall. "She has a great stride now on the track, but she didn't quite check all the boxes as a sales yearling. We took her to the 2-year-old sales, and it was the same thing. She did what she was supposed to do, she just didn't stand out as far as walking, didn't show as well at the barn. Lane knew I raced up there and he said, 'You should try to buy her back.' I had a leg at the time, and I ended up buying all of her at the sale."
Rashall lives in Texas, where he helps manage his family's auto auction and other business ventures including a Scooter's Coffee franchise. His father Roger "R.D." Rashall rode from 1981-87 in Louisiana, New England, the Midwest and Arizona -- reaching a high of 80 wins (from 447 mounts) in 1986. The younger Rashall got back into racing as an owner with a friend in 2016, and loves the way Dazzling Dame and other runners connect his family to racing again.
The $65,000 yearling and $45,000 juvenile won four of her first five starts, including three stakes, and earned $240,525. (She has since added $50,000 with her Virginia Oaks second.) Trained by Russell, Dazzling Dame won her debut at Laurel Park in June, added Monmouth Park's Sorority Stakes in August and Delaware Park's White Clay Creek in October. Her only defeat as a 2-year-old came when fourth in the Pocahontas-G3 at Keeneland in September.
To start 2026, she blitzed four foes in the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct Jan. 3, scoring by 111⁄2 lengths, then spent the winter at Fair Hill Training Center while being aimed toward the Virginia race and a chance at the Kentucky Oaks.
"I didn't have those kind of hopes for her, I was just hoping to run well in Maryland," said Rashall, who was joined by national names Medallion Racing and Madaket Stables in the filly after the Busanda. "Everybody says this is what you want to be part of, that this makes all the valleys worthwhile.
"She's done her job. It's a little nerve-wracking. I'm used to the other parts of the game. You get a lot of bad news, so I don't ask too much."
Haire will keep up too, though it's not her first brush with the big time.
Her mother Mary Haire bred Exclusive Rosette, the granddam of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
Maria Haire bred millionaire graded stakes winner Stallwalkin' Dude, an achievement that helped her earn the 2015 Small Breeder of the Year Award from the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association.
Other graduates of the program include former Mid-Atlantic stallion Eclipticalspraline, a son of Ms. Mostly, and Maryland-bred stakes winner Play Harder among others.
Previously a client in Pennsylvania, Hare Hill moved when Northview Stallion Station consolidated at the Maryland division. Mares typically foal there. Young horses eventually head to Florida for sales prep and are sold as weanlings or yearlings, with a few retained for racing.
"When Northview closed its Pennsylvania farm we kind of followed to Maryland," said Jager. "We're really happy with how David Wade treats us and Doris Hogarth the broodmare manager is fantastic. The breeder incentives are really nice too. Those help us stay in Maryland."
Haire had a stroke in 1999, which affects her speech and mobility, but she is as involved in the business as ever and helps make key decisions that lead to success stories such as Dazzling Dame.
"Fingers crossed and toes crossed," Maria said about her plans to watch the filly race this year. "Wowie. We're excited."
Awesome Dama's yearling filly by Engage, born on Preakness Day last May, sold for $65,000 at OBS January and a 2-year-old filly by Pinehurst will join the Hare Hill broodmare band after getting injured as a yearling. Awesome Dama will be bred to Girvin again this year.
"It's very rewarding to see all the hard work come together," said Jager. "My mom's been in the business since before I was born and my grandmother was really into it too. Dazzling Dame has been a really nice surprise and a lot of fun to follow along with."
