New York native and entrepreneur Martin J. Wygod decided early on that he could breed and raise a better racehorse on his own farm. In 1975, farm manager Russell Drake signed on and together they planned and built River Edge Farm from the ground up on 163 acres outside Buellton, California.

One of the first stakes winners bred by Wygod was Pirate's Bounty, a Kentucky-bred son of Hoist the Flag who began his stud career at River Edge in 1979. He was California's leading freshman sire and topped the state's 2-year-old sire list twice and general sire list three times. More importantly, 44 of his 63 stakes winners were bred and raised at River Edge.

In 1994, Eclipse award champion Bertrando entered stud at River Edge and Benchmark, a multiple graded winner raced by Wygod, followed in 1999. Storm Cat homebred Tribal Rule joined the roster in 2003. In the "Stallions" section of this website, you will be able to view their sire and race records, 5-generation pedigrees and female families.

River Edge Farm ranked 19th among North America's leading stud farms
in 2006 and was the leader on the West Coast based on cumulative sire performance statistics compiled by the Thoroughbred Times. In 2007, each of
the River Edge stallions sired a Grade I winner. Bertrando and Tribal Rule also
led several leading sire categories in California. In 2006-2008, Mr. and Mrs. Wygod were the leading California breeders with progeny bred and raised at River Edge earning over $10.5 million in the three-year period.