Elizabeth M. Merryman decided not to follow her original career choice as a vet, and instead, took a different path. Today the highly successful breeder, owmer, and trainer, who hails from a racing family from Maryland, breeds mares on her farm in Pennsylvania, and is on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeder’s Association (PHBA).
Averie Levanti photo
“My father, John, and mom, Katharine, were owner/breeders, and all of my siblings trained and rode the horses,” Lizzie explained. “I had a role in there too, as the youngest of six. I was exposed to mares and foals, and the whole process, from an early age, and I really liked that.”
Heading to college at Cornell, she was planning on a future as a vet. “But then I decided I didn’t like Microbiology enough,” she laughed. “When I graduated college, my father was culling some mares, and shortly thereafter, I got my first broodmare, and I’ve had them ever since.”
Zeezee Zoomzoom appeared in her life at the perfect time. The filly had a bowed tendon, and was just coming off the track. A friend working for a vet in Florida contacted Lizzie with the offer to take Zeezee Zoomzoom as a possible broodmare, and she was free to a good home.
Zeezee Zoomzoom broke her maiden at Saratoga on Travers Day in 2015, made $140,000 as a two-year-old, and showed enough ability on the track. Despite a weak pedigree, with her dam being the only strength in her bloodlines, Lizzie took her. Sight unseen.
“I sent her from there to Kentucky, and she was bred to Mizzen Mast,” she said. “The first time I saw her, she was carrying Caravel! I very much won the lottery there!”
Averie Levanti photo
The incomparable Caravel retired with 15 wins in 26 starts, earning close to $2 million, romping against the boys in many races. Her impressive wins included the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, and she was named the PA Bred Horse of the Year, along with many other honors from the PHBA.
Horses come in all shapes and sizes, and their personalities differ, too. “Horses are like people,” Lizzie said. “They are all completely different! Zeezee Zoomzoom is very much an Alpha mare, and she’s kind of a loner. Nobody messes with her! They all kind of worship her from afar, and are terrified of her. She’s not very big, and actually she’s pretty small. And she throws very big babies! Caravel was perfectly normal size, and was probably the smallest of her foals, which is kind of funny.”
“Zeezee Zoomzoom throws really correct babies, and they all look different, they all look like the horse they’re by. But they’re all really correct, which is really nice.”
Lizzie emphasizes the importance of fillies and mares in racing, as well as when they head to become broodmares. “I’m always begging Brian (Sanfratello, Executive Secretary, PHBA) to add more fillies stakes races, because we want that black type on the filly so that people want to breed the mare and keep the line going.”
She currently has three mares, including one of Zeezee Zoomzoom’s daughters, Tipsy Chatter, and a mare that she trains for a client that she bought after she retired. “I gave them the year off. Two of them I bred, and they didn’t catch, and it was kind of late in the season, so I let them go. One of them I didn’t breed back because she had a pretty tough foaling, and I thought it was nice timing to have a foal-free spring,” she laughed. For now, she’s admiring several of her outstanding yearlings, including a filly out of Zeezee Zoomzoom by Nyquist, and a filly out of Tipsy Chatter out of Yaupon.
Now she’s looking forward to good news from Kentucky, as Zeezee Zoomzoom is waiting to get ready to be bred to Vekoma, and Tipsy Chatter is going to be bred to Jackie’s Warrior. The other mare she plans on breeding locally. She just may ‘win the lottery’ again with another star filly from her star mare!
Elizabeth Merriman
Trainer Stats
Starts 1540
Firsts 186
Seconds 198
Thirds 190
Total Earnings $7,453,449
Cover Photo Credit to Averie Levanti
