October, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Happy Saver Stays Perfect in Jockey Club Gold Cup

Lightly raced ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Happy Saver (Super Saver) squeezed inside of favorite Tacitus (Tapit) and out-finished fellow sophomore ‘Rising Star‘ Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) to stay perfect in Saturday’s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Wertheimer homebred broke his maiden by an auspicious 5 1/2 lengths going seven furlongs on the GI Belmont S. undercard here in June, and saw out nine panels when taking a Saratoga allowance July 26. He again displayed his appreciation for a route of ground in Laurel’s Federico Tesio S. Sept. 7, and was the 2-1 second choice facing just four foes.

Away on top from his rail draw, the chestnut settled in along the fence as July’s track-and-trip GII Suburban S. winner Tacitus showed the way and Mystic Guide tracked outside of Happy Saver. Happy Saver required some energetic handling to keep pace as Mystic Guide ratcheted up the pressure on the leader past six panels in 1:13.61. Tacitus came off the fence a path while preoccupied with Mystic Guide to his outside, giving Happy Saver just enough room to make his move. Happy Saver kicked his way through by midstretch after Mystic Guide had already taken over, and lowered himself gamely from there to outstay his competition.

“We were OK with [not having the lead],” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who was celebrating his first Jockey Club Gold Cup win after Vino Rosso (Curlin) was taken down 12 months ago. “I told Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] in the paddock that usually I have a little idea of a plan, but this one was tricky to me. Everyone has the same style and I don’t think anyone really wants to be on the lead, but someone is going to inherit it, so just play it by ear.

“Watching the race, I thought he was a little uncomfortable inside there. He was in a tricky spot. Johnny [Velazquez, aboard Mystic Guide] had first run on him and was able to keep him in there. To his credit, that was a pretty game performance to come up the inside there in his fourth start and first time against older horses going a mile and a quarter. To do that after breaking his maiden on June 20th is hard to do.”

Ortiz offered: “He has a big heart, like I told Todd in the paddock. He’s a fighter. Every time he has a horse in front of him and when you ask him to go, he passes the horse and then he puts his ears up. He still had something after he went by Johnny’s horse.

“It was emotional. I wanted to win it so bad. Last year, I got DQ’d and that was for Todd, too. He’s a cool horse, a special horse. I rode him first time out and we knew he was a nice horse. Todd has always liked him.”

Pletcher added, “I was very proud of the horse and his performance. I’m happy for the connections, the Wertheimers have been loyal supporters for many years and I’m appreciative of that. It’s great to get a Grade I win for them. He’s by a Derby winner we trained, so it’s fun all the way around.”

As for whether Happy Saver would take the next logical step and contest the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the conditioner said, “First and foremost we’ll see how he bounces out of this race. It was a tough race and he’s still a lightly raced horse. That’s part of the reason we decided to come here instead of going to the [GI] Preakness [last Saturday]. We’ll enjoy this for the moment and talk to the Wertheimers and come up with a plan. I wouldn’t say we’re definite for it, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.”

Saturday, Belmont Park
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP S.-GI, $242,500, Belmont, 10-10, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:01.77, ft.
1–HAPPY SAVER, 122, c, 3, by Super Saver
                1st Dam: Happy Week, by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Lassie’s Legacy, by Deputy Minister
                3rd Dam: Weekend Surprise, by Secretariat
‘TDN Rising Star‘. 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. O-Wertheimer and Frere; B-Wertheimer Et Frere (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $137,500. Lifetime Record:
4-4-0-0, $273,400. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mystic Guide, 122, c, 3, Ghostzapper–Music Note, by A.P.
   Indy. ‘TDN Rising Star‘. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael
Stidham. $50,000.
3–Tacitus, 126, c, 4, Tapit–Close Hatches, by First Defence.
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-William I. Mott. $30,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1 1/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 2.35, 7.10, 0.65.
Also Ran: Prioritize, Name Changer. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Pedigree Notes:
Happy Saver is the fourth Grade I winner and 12th graded victory by Pletcher-trained and now Turkish-based Super Saver.

He is the 15 Grade I winner (47 graded) out of a mare by top broodmare sire Distorted Humor. Dam Happy Week was a $600,000 KEESEP yearling purchased in 2018 who was multiple stakes-placed for these connections in addition to being taken down from third in the GII Shuvee H. at Belmont in 2011. She produced a Candy Ride (Arg) filly in 2019 and a full-sister to Happy Saver Feb. 3 before being bred back to Sky Mesa. Happy Saver’s third dam is Weekend Surprise, the blue hen dam of A.P. Indy, Summer Squall, et al.

The post Happy Saver Stays Perfect in Jockey Club Gold Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Civil Union Earns Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Berth With Hard-Fought Flower Bowl Victory

Joseph Allen's homebred Civil Union, a 5-year-old mare by War Front, surged to the lead in deep stretch under Joel Rosario and held off a fast-finishing My Sister Nat to win Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Victory in the 1 1/4-mile turf fixture for fillies and mares earned Civil Union a fees-paid spot in the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf as part of the Win and You're In Challenge Series. The Breeders' Cup will be held at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 6-7.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Civil Union was timed in 2:01.28 for the 10 furlongs on firm turf and paid $8.10 for the win. Chad Brown, who's trained five of the last six Flower Bowl winners and six overall, took the next three positions, with My Sister Nat second, Nay Lady Nay third and Cambier Parc fourth in the field of seven.

Civil Union had only My Sister Nat beat in the early going as longshot Lovely Lucky set the pace – under intermittent pressure from Cambier Parc – through fractions of :24.62, :48.93 and 1:14.36 for the first six furlongs.

Rosario moved Civil Union into contending position along the rail heading toward the far turn, with Jose Ortiz opting for the overland route aboard My Sister Nat.

Turning into the stretch, after a mile in 1:38.27, Cambier Parc poked her head in front as Lovely Lucky fought back along the rail. Rosario switched off the rail aboard Civil Union and found a seam to the outside of Cambier Parc, and began their drive for the wire.

Ortiz was forced to go wide into the stretch, making a bold but belated run with My Sister Nat in deep stretch but ran out of ground.

The win was the fifth from eight starts and the first in a Grade 1 race for Civil Union, produced from the Unbridled's Song mare, Photograph, the latter a granddaughter of Andover Way, a G1 winner for Allen who was the dam of successful sire Dynaformer. Andover Way's grandam is Darby Dan Farm foundation mare Golden Trail.

The post Civil Union Earns Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Berth With Hard-Fought Flower Bowl Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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War Front’s Civil Union Finishes Fastest in Flower Bowl

The 3-1 third choice in a field of seven, Joseph Allen’s progressive Civil Union (War Front) built on her last-out success in the GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga with a breakthrough top-level tally in Saturday’s GI Flower Bowl S. at Belmont Park, securing a berth in the gate for the GI Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in the process.

Allowed to settle last but one beneath Joel Rosario, with only G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})’s French and American Group 3/Grade III winner My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) behind her, Civil Union was content to bide time from a ground-saving position as longshot Lovely Lucky (Lookin At Lucky) set a modest pace in advance of favored Cambier Parc (Medaglia d’Oro). Always traveling sweetly, Civil Union was short of room entering the final 2 1/2 furlongs, but accelerated three off the inside once La Signare (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) vacated that spot. With one of the best finishers in the business at the controls, Civil Union came calling for the lead nearing the sixteenth pole and was home first as My Sister Nat attacked the line down the center of the course. Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never), who was relegated to second favoritism in the last few clicks of the tote, could not quite match strides with the top two and settled for third, one spot ahead of a disappointing Cambier Parc.

It was the second Flower Bowl win in the last four years for Allen, trainer Shug McGaughey and War Front, whose daughter War Flag landed the spoils at 9-1 in 2017 before finishing a respectable sixth behind Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.

“When she started off this winter in Florida, I never imagined that she would be a Grade 1 winner,” the Hall of Fame conditioner admitted. “She’s progressed the right way. It’s fun. She’s a nice mare to train and nice to be around. She ran under some different tactics today on Joel [Rosario’s] part, but that’s why he’s such a great rider. He knows what to do.”

A debut winner from three starts for the Chad Brown barn in 2018 and 2019, Civil Union took a course-and-distance allowance in her second appearance for this barn ahead of a facile score in the 12-furlong River Memories S. July 12. With Rosario in the irons for the first time in the Sept. 5 Glens Falls, Civil Union sat handy to a walking pace, then covered her final three furlongs in a smart :34.97 to best My Sister Nat by a length.

Pedigree Notes:

Civil Union becomes the 23rd Grade I/Group 1 winner for her Claiborne-based stallion and is the 25th top-level scorer out of a daughter of the late Unbridled’s Song, three of which–Contrail (Jpn) and Volatile–have come this season.

Photograph is an unraced daughter of Black Speck, whose produce include the aforementioned War Flag as well as the former G2 UAE Derby hero Lines of Battle (War Front), who won the G1 Champions & Chater Cup in Hong Kong (then named Helene Super Star) en route to honors as that jurisdiction’s champion stayer. Civil Union’s third dam produced influential sire Dynaformer (Roberto) as well as the dam of GISW sire Offlee Wild (Wild Again).

A full-sister to the 2-year-old colt Battle of Britain, Civil Union has a weanling full-brother named Operation Torch. Having produced her first eight foals by War Front, Photograph was most recently bred to Tapit.

Saturday, Belmont Park
FLOWER BOWL S.-GI, $250,000, Belmont, 10-10, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:01.28, fm.
1–CIVIL UNION, 124, m, 5, by War Front
1st Dam: Photograph, by Unbridled’s Song
2nd Dam: Black Speck, by Arch
3rd Dam: Andover Way, by His Majesty
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Allen Stable Inc; B-Joseph Allen LLC (KY); T-Claude R McGaughey III; J-Joel Rosario. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 8-5-1-1, $396,810. *Full to War Dispatch, GSW & G1SP-Fr, $765,320; and George Patton, GSP-Fr, $105,521. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–My Sister Nat (Fr), 122, m, 5, by Acclamation (GB)
1st Dam: Starlet’s Sister (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune
3rd Dam: Allwaki, by Miswaki
(€20,000 Ylg ’16 ARQFEB). O-Peter M Brant; B-Ecurie Des Monceaux (FR); T-Chad C. Brown. $50,000.
3–Nay Lady Nay (Ire), 122, f, 4, by No Nay Never
1st Dam: Lady Ederle, by English Channel
2nd Dam: Bright Generation (Ire), by Rainbow Quest
3rd Dam: New Generation (Ire), by Young Generation (Ire)
(€44,000 Wlg ’16 GOFNOV; €50,000 Ylg ’17 GOFOR; $210,000 2yo ’18 OBSMAR). O-First Row Partners & Hidden Brook Farm; B-Stephen Sullivan (IRE); T-Chad C Brown. $30,000.
Margins: HD, 3/4, 2 3/4. Odds: 3.05, 5.20, 2.90.
Also Ran: Cambier Parc, La Signare (Fr), Beau Belle, Lovely Lucky.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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‘A Good Heart And A Good Soul’: Trainer Barry Abrams, 61, Dies;

Racing hasn't lost its greatest trainer, but arguably its greatest fan.

Barry Abrams died peacefully Friday night at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., after he was taken off a ventilator following a recent fall at home that injured his back. He was 66. Services are pending.

Abrams had courageously battled throat cancer for 15 years. A bear of a man at 6-4, 315 pounds before he was stricken, Abrams bared his soul in a story I authored about his ordeal that appeared in the October-November 2015 issue of North American Trainer Magazine, excerpts of which follow in this item.

Barry Abrams never smoked. He got cancer anyway. Side effects from the treatment over a 10-year period caused him to lose his taste buds, prevented him from swallowing (he used a feeding tube), he couldn't eat, run, go in the ocean or a swimming pool.

“I'm just functioning and happy to be alive,” he said. “I can eat cookies as long as they're liquified and made pudding-like. I can't swallow anything else because I have no salivary glands that create saliva.”

He lost half his voice box during surgeries, reducing his speech to a whisper, but he never complained.

“Ordinarily, you talk about things like saving for the future and making plans for this and that, but facing this, you realize that there could be no future,” he said in the 2015 article.

One of Barry's dearest friends was trainer Richard Baltas, who assisted in the barn operation during Abrams' five-month recovery in 2011. “He's very kind with a good heart,” Baltas said. “Years ago, I wanted to leave Louisiana and come home to California, but I needed a job.

“Barry didn't quibble. He simply asked me, 'How much do you want to make?' and that was it. He came to my wedding on Feb. 26, 2011, when he was sick with cancer. He's done many kind and generous things for me.”

Said Abrams' wife, Dyan: “Barry is so kind and helpful. If you needed the shirt off his back, he'd give it to you. … He's one of the good ones. He's got a good heart and a good soul.”

Trainer Peter Miller was looking forward to winning the Breeders' Cup Mile with a horse Abrams owns in part, Mo Forza. “Barry and I have known each other probably 25, 30 years,” Miller said several days ago. “Barry's a great guy. Everyone loves him, and this horse really helped keep him going.”

A highly accomplished conditioner of both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds, Barry Abrams will forever be associated with Unusual Heat, a horse he claimed for $80,000 on June 10, 1996. The son of Nureyev would go on to become one of the greatest stallions in California racing history.

With Barry's passing, two questions will forever remain unresolved: did racing love Barry more, or did Barry love racing more?

Call it a dead-heat.

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