by Pete Denk

When Hip #470, a West Virginia-bred Kokand colt out of Sporan, by Mountain Cat, sold for $5,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale on Tuesday, the result meant a lot more than money to Tym Mar co-owner Janet Hoke, D.V.M.

Hoke—a breast cancer survivor—and Tym Mar co-owner Alan Parker are donating 10% of their gross receipts to the Lexington affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the largest source of non-profit funds in the world dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

With a total of 21 yearlings scheduled to go through the fall yearlings sales, Hoke set $500,000 in gross sales as her threshold to make the donation.

With four more yearlings to sell, the donation will surpass $50,000.

“If it wasn’t for the people who provided all the research before me, I wouldn’t be sitting here today talking to you,” said Hoke, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. “I feel the need to give something back, and this is the only way I could do it. Nobody knows how long they get to be in this world, so I want to do something good.”

Seventy-five percent of Komen’s funds go to help women who cannot afford treatment.

The donation will eat up most of Tym Mar’s yearling profits, Hoke said. The small commercial breeding operation moved from Pickaway, West Virginia, to Plant City, Florida, in spring of 2007.

“We’re very small breeders. We pinhook a little bit and breed 10 or 20 mares a year,” Hoke said. “One of my hopes is that other people in the horse business might do the same thing. There’s a lot of money in the horse business, and I hope a few other people could spare some.

“Everyone thinks breast cancer won’t happen to them, but it’s one in every six women.”

Al Grasch, race chair for the Lexington branch of the Komen for the Cure Foundation, said Tym Mar’s donation is the single largest contribution in the Lexington affiliate’s history.

“We’re just absolutely thrilled,” Grasch said. “It’s particularly gratifying to have a cancer survivor reach out like this and help the cause. It’s very helpful for us to be involved in the Thoroughbred industry.”

Pete Denk is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer