Authentic proved he is the real deal with a powerful front-running 2 ¼-length victory against stablemate Improbable in the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course
Month: November 2020
Order Restored With Euro Quartet
LEXINGTON, KY–Everything must fall the right way, no doubt, to win any horse race, let alone one on the greatest of stages. There were many dominoes that fell that led to Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) getting a start in Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland, and as the English and Irish Guineas winners Kameko (Ire) (Kitten’s Joy) and Siskin (First Defence) toiled in behind, it was a dark horse-indeed, the longest shot in the field at 73-1-that burst from the pack in midstretch to lead home an Aidan O’Brien-trained trifecta from Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Lope Y Fernandez (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Given O’Brien’s record at the Breeders’ Cup, it is quite remarkable that the great trainer’s three runners here were no shorter than 10-1. Even more surprising is that O’Brien had never before won the Mile, but he amended that record with aplomb on Saturday.
When Order Of Australia traveled across from Ireland last week, he wasn’t even in the race, having been placed on the also eligibles list as the 15th horse in a maximum field of 14. Just hours after leading the Ballydoyle string through their first spin over the Keeneland dirt on Thursday, the 3-year-old was in the Mile with the scratch of William Haggas’s One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) after the 6-year-old mare had tied up.
Just a further few hours after that, Order Of Australia’s plans changed again when his rider Christophe Soumillon tested positive for COVID-19, ruling him out of his two rides at the meeting. Soumillon’s fellow Frenchman, the in-form Pierre-Charles Boudot, stepped up to deputise, and in fact the rising star rider was a huge beneficiary of others’ misfortunes on Saturday due to the virus; Ioritz Mendizabal had ridden the James Fanshawe-trained Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB} to win the G1 Prix Jean Romanet in August and finish third behind Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix de l’Opera, and had been set to travel to Kentucky to partner the 4-year-old filly in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf before a positive COVID test stopped him getting on the plane. Audarya and Boudot bested the six-time American Grade I winner and 3-1 favourite Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) at 12-1 in that mile and a quarter contest to make Fanshawe a perfect one-for-one at the meeting. Audarya and Order Of Australia were just Boudot’s fourth and fifth mounts in Breeders’ Cup races, and while he has been ascending the ranks in Europe for some time, he has assured his status as a world-class jockey.
“It’s a dream come true,” Boudot said of his Breeders’ Cup double. “It is only by chance to get these rides and I’m sorry for Ioritz Mendizabal and Christophe Soumillon. It’s a difficult situation with COVID, but I was given two nice opportunities. I’m over the moon.”
Order Of Australia, fourth in the G1 Irish Derby and seventh in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club this spring, broke his maiden over the all-weather at Dundalk on Sept. 18. He is a three-quarter-brother to Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler of the World {Ire}), who made history of her own at last year’s Breeders’ Cup when making her trainer Joseph O’Brien the youngest-winning conditioner ever at the meeting in the Filly & Mare Turf.
Audarya had franked the form of the Aga Khan and Dermot Weld’s Tarnawa, and that 4-year-old filly obliged four races later in the G1 Turf to make it three straight Group 1 wins. Tarnawa, remarkably, had been the second of Soumillon’s two rides at the Breeders’ Cup, and as Soumillon served his isolation in Lexington that ride was picked up by Colin Keane, who had come to Kentucky to ride Siskin in the Mile.
Another weighing room star inevitably on the minds of many after Tarnawa’s victory was Pat Smullen, who served a long and successful tenure as stable jockey to Weld. Smullen retired from race riding in the spring of 2019 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and tragically passed away in September aged 43 following a courageous battle in which his courage and fundraising efforts were life-changing for many others.
Tarnawa led home an exacta of European-trained fillies in the Turf, with Ballydoyle’s ever-reliable Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) delivering once again to be second. She had filled the same spot behind Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the 2018 edition of the same race at Churchill Downs.
It was the first win at the Breeders’ Cup for Weld, and in fact that was a major theme on the day for the European contingent. It was another veteran Group 1-winning mare, the 4-year-old Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead), who got the ball rolling earlier in the day on Saturday for team Europe after a blank Friday, bursting from the pack in midstretch to give trainer Kevin Ryan and jockey Tom Eaves their first Breeders’ Cup winner. It was also a fairytale result for Terry and Margaret Holdcroft’s Bearstone Stud. The Shropshire nursery bred both Glass Slippers and her winning dam Night Gypsy (GB) (Mind Games {GB}), and while the Holdcrofts offer some of their small yearling crop at auction each year, Glass Slippers was one they held on to. She has validated that decision many times over, having won last year’s G1 Prix de l’Abbaye as well as the G1 Flying Five S. in September. Glass Slippers was the first European-trained winner of the Turf Sprint, and Ryan was already putting a return trip to the 2021 Del Mar Breeders’ Cup on the radar in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s race.
“Why not?” Terry said. “Kevin and Margaret [Holdcroft] are going to keep her in training. We don’t get a lot of time with these horses. If everything goes right, we’d love to come back.”
Mark Pennell, stud manager of Bearstone Stud, said, “She’s so cool. Wherever she travels, she just seems to thrive on it. There was something different about her today. She got very excited, pawing the ground and wanted to get on with it.
“It’s just massive for everybody because we’re not a massive breeding operation; we don’t keep many horses to race. We lost the mare and decided that we were always going to keep that filly from a foal. She always looked like an athlete. I’ve worked with Terry and Margaret for 40 years and to get a horse like this at the end, it’s been worthwhile. If you’re persistent and keep trying, you’ll get one. We kept her, and raced her, and broke her in at home–we’ve done absolutely everything with her and it’s just been unbelievable. I can’t tell you the number of messages I’ve had off people that have been in the racing industry for years; it’s just been amazing. It’s just phenomenal and she’s really put us on the map.”
Audarya, likewise, was the first Breeders’ Cup starter and winner for longtime Newmarket trainer James Fanshawe. The progressive bay has hit her best stride this year over a mile and a quarter, and she put an exclamation point on a stellar year for Coolmore’s recruit Wootton Bassett (GB). The son of Iffraaj (GB) had long promised to explode into the major leagues, and he fulfilled expectations in major fashion in 2020. His 14 stakes winners this year is more than double what he has achieved any other season, and in addition to Audarya includes G1 Prix de l’Abbaye scorer Wooded (Fr), who bested Glass Slippers by a neck in her Abbaye defense at ParisLongchamp on Oct. 4.
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Authentic Goes All The Way, Tops Baffert Exacta In Breeders’ Cup Classic
Through all the shadows of controversy and the challenges of the pandemic, Authentic made a clear case for Horse of the Year honors in this Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic. The 3-year-old son of Into Mischief flew out of the gate and led the field all the way around the Keeneland oval to win the $6 million event by 2 1/4 lengths, delivering another major victory to his thousands of owners. The race had to be hand-timed when timers malfunctioned, but was later reported as another track record: 1:59.19.
That time bests the track record set by Triple Crown champion American Pharoah in the 2015 Classic of 2:00.07.
Fans may not have been able to attend this year's Breeders' Cup, but there was plenty of cheering from those on hand when Authentic crossed the wire in front.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was especially thrilled to see Authentic avenge his last-out defeat in the Preakness, when the filly Swiss Skydiver bested him by a neck. It was Baffert's second Breeders' Cup win on the card, following Gamine in the Filly & Mare Sprint, his fourth Classic win (all with 3-year-olds), and his 17th overall Breeders' Cup victory. The trainer also saddled runner-up Improbable and fifth-place finisher Maximum Security in this year's Classic.
“I tell you what, I needed that, didn't I?” Baffert quipped. “We really were disappointed after the Preakness; I was sort of surprised. He's a quirky horse, but Johnny really knows him well. He's just getting better and better. I'm so happy for the connections, MyRacehorse, and especially Wayne Hughes.”
It was also the second Breeders' Cup win on the day for Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez (Gamine), whose total now stands at 18. Velazquez was grateful to celebrate his first victory in the Classic victory.
“The older I get the more emotional I get,” Velazquez said. “It worked out perfect. Bob said to take him to the lead so he doesn't wander so much and keep his mind on running. It worked out. He did everything I wanted him to do.”
Majority owner B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm was in attendance at the Breeders' Cup, though he'd missed the colt's triumph in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
“It's been such an unbelievably surreal year,” said Spendthrift president Eric Gustavson. “To say that the horse has brought us a lot of light and distraction is an understatement… To have the off date Kentucky Derby and then the back to normal Breeders' Cup and to
be able to win those both in one year and with a 3-year-old, man, it's too much.”
Authentic is co-owned by Starlight Racing Stable (Jack Wolf, et. al.), Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin and J. Monteleone), and approximately 5,314 individuals who bought microshares via the upstart ownership group My Racehorse launched by Michael Behrens.
“It's an amazing ride,” Behrens said. “I could never have imagined that it would end like this. I mean, this is the pinnacle of racing. And when we set out to do this a couple years ago the idea was to celebrate this sport with as many people as possible, and to have 5,314 people to have an ownership stake in Authentic, I couldn't have asked for anything better. And the partnership with Spendthrift and Eric and Mr. Hughes, it's been tremendous having this opportunity. And I just, I really can't believe this happened. I mean, I love racing and I want more and more people to be able to experience this and to have this happen? I don't know, it's crazy.”
Authentic was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, and is out of the winning Mr. Greeley mare Flawless. He commanded a final bid of $350,000 at the Keeneland September sale, and has now won six of his eight lifetime starts for earnings of $6,371,200.
Leaving from post nine in the 10-horse Classic field, Authentic burst from the gate and went straight to the lead. Velazquez got him clear of his rivals and made his way to the rail, then took a nice hold with a easy two-length lead. Maximum Security was up on his outside in second while Global Campaign, Tiz the Law, and By My Standards were up close as well. Improbable was sixth in the early going.
“I didn't think there was too much speed in the race, and once I got him running past the wire for the first time, he was looking good for it,” Velazquez said.
Authentic continued to carry his speed all the way around the course, never looking in danger through the stretch and hitting the wire 2 1/4 lengths the best. Improbable checked in second after coming from further off the pace, a length better than Global Campaign on the wire. Tacitus was fourth, and Maximum Security finished fifth.
The remaining order of finish was: Tiz the Law, Title Ready, By My Standards, Tom's d'Etat, and Higher Power.
Other connections had the following comments after the race:
Second-place jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Improbable) – “I had a good trip, a perfect trip. I had him in the clear. He just got beat. It was a great race.”
Second-place co-owner Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm (Improbable) – “He just kind of let the other horse get away and nobody went with him. I don't know what the pace was because they messed up the fractions. But they kind of walked the dog out there. But he ran his race. He was wide both turns but he was second best.”
Third-place trainer Stanley Hough (Global Campaign) – “This horse has been through a lot in his career. We got his foot problems behind him and today was the first time he was really able to show his potential. We are so proud of him and he ran a great race.”
Third-place jockey Javier Castellano (Global Campaign) – “I had a beautiful trip, that's what I was looking for today. I knew there was a lot of speed in the race, but I had to play a little bit to get him to move forward. With this horse I didn't want to be too far back. I thought he ran a good race and I'm satisfied with how he did today. I was happy where I was positioned because they were going pretty quick. Maximum Security is the kind of horse that wants to set the pace. Our horse is a pace-maker too, but the other horses had more speed than my horse. We had a good early position and I'm very satisfied with how he did.”
Fourth-place trainer Bill Mott (Tacitus) – “He ran well. The trip was good. He saved ground around both turns and look like he needed a little room in the stretch. He ran a big race.”
Fourth-place jockey Jose Ortiz (Tacitus) – “He ran well. He sat back today. Relaxed well. I was hoping for a hot pace. I didn't see the fractions, but it didn't feel like it was very hot. So it took the chances away from me. I was expecting a hot pace and to pick up the pieces and close and have a shot to win the race. I was expecting a fast fight. It didn't happen that way but he ran really, really good. He improved a lot from the last two.”
Fifth-place jockey Luis Saez (Maximum Security) – “It was a good trip. He was right there. We came to the stretch and the winner was rolling. It was very impressive. But, he tried. He ran a good race.”
Sixth-place trainer Barclay Tagg (Tiz the Law) – “I was happy with the way he came into the race. I thought he would run his race but (jockey Manny Franco) said he was just too keen and didn't run.”
Sixth-place jockey Manny Franco (Tiz the Law) – “I had an OK trip. I was down inside. My horse never settled for me. He was pulling me the whole way hard. When I sent to looking for him he was done.
(Were you trapped inside?): “I was inside looking for a way to get out to a clear run. I had wait longer than I wanted to. It is what it is.”
Eighth-place trainer Bret Calhoun (By My Standards) – “I thought Gabe (Saez) had him in a great spot early on. Broke sharp, got in a good spot. I thought everything looked pretty good and like Gabe wanted to start picking them up and from the outside they started moving and kind of held him down there. He wasn't able to continue his move picking up horses and kind of had to wait a little longer until they cleared him. I think once he tried to go again, they just smoothed out and out-stepped him there. That next move, they just outstepped him. I don't know if he got a little discouraged having to wait or he lost a little momentum. He got outkicked from there, it looked like.”
“The track (playing to speed), and I didn't want to do anything different and change anything up. We're not that fast to change things up. You can't run with those horses early. It shows what good a race Whitmore ran (in closing to win the Sprint).”
Eighth-place jockey Gabe Saez (By My Standards) – “What can I say? The horses didn't come back. Speed-biased all day long. I got him into a great spot right from the beginning. I was in a great position tracking off the pace. Running around the three-eighths pole, and they weren't stopping. He ran every step of the way. I got a little bounced around the five-sixteenths pole. Franco's horse (Manny Franco, Tiz the Law) kind of came out a little bit, but I was not going to get there today. They were running.”
The post Authentic Goes All The Way, Tops Baffert Exacta In Breeders’ Cup Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Authentic Runs Them Off Their Feet in the Classic
Authentic (Into Mischief) provided Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert with a fourth victory-all with 3-year-olds–in the $6-million GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, leading throughout en route to a 2 1/4-length defeat of stablemate Improbable (City Zip) as the sun set in Saturday’s main event at Keeneland.
Ridden for speed by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the GI Kentucky Derby hero and narrow GI Preakness S. runner-up led the Classic field under the wire for the first time, doing so with a minimum of fuss, and with stablemates Improbable and Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) deferring, was able to get the opening half-mile in :47.06, according to Trakus.
They began to edge closer to the front-runner as they raced into the final half-mile, but Authentic remained strong up front while Improbable tried to make a race of it wide on the turn. Holding firm into the final three-sixteenths of a mile, Authentic kicked on gamely and was home safely ahead of Improbable, who covered a whopping 67 more feet than the winner, according to Trakus.
Global Campaign (Curlin) raced prominently throughout and finished third, two lengths ahead of Tacitus (Tapit), who rallied from next to last for fourth.
Manny Franco elected to take back favored GI Belmont S. hero and Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (Constitution) off the early pace in third, but he offered no stretch rally and finished sixth.
The final time of 1:59.19 established a new track record for 1 1/4 miles, besting’s American Pharoah’s final clocking of 2:00.07 in his Classic victory five years earlier.
Authentic joins fellow Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Unbridled, and the Baffert-trained American Pharoah to defeat their elders in the Classic. Baffert also won the Classic with fellow sophomores Bayern (2014) and Arrogate (2016).
“You know what, they were all training so well and he was training well,” Baffert said. “I think Johnny [Velazquez] got to know him a lot better and he’s just a quirky guy. But when I saw him out there, he’s catching up with these older horses. That’s what they do at this time of year, what a horse. He’s the real deal.”
A debut winner sprinting at Del Mar two days shy of a year ago, Authentic aired by 7 3/4 lengths in Santa Anita’s one-mile GIII Sham S. in early January. He was a powerful winner in the GII San Felipe S. Mar. 7, then suffered his first career defeat, finishing second to Honor A.P. (Honor Code) in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.
Saved by the wire in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. July 18, Authentic showed no signs of slowing down, turning back Belmont winner Tiz the Law at 8-1 in the postponed Derby. He lost little in defeat coming up a neck short of the brilliant filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Preakness S. last time Oct. 3.
“There were two races where he came back where he was really blowing hard,” Baffert said. “It was the Santa Anita Derby and the Preakness. So that means he probably, maybe I didn’t have him as sharp as I love and he just struggled that day. But we got him back and I’ve got a great team and we just tightened the screws on him. He’s maturing right now and this is, I won it with 3-year-olds, and because this is when, the time of the year they catch up. It was a tough field, but I just told Johnny, I said, ‘This is the horse that you rode in the Derby. You can ride him with confidence.’
Campaigned by a powerful partnership, Authentic carried the orange-and-purple silks of B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm LLC to victory in the Classic. MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing are also co-owners. Spendthrift also campaigned three-time Breeders’ Cup champion Beholder and Mile upsetter Court Vision.
“I’m just happy for Wayne Hughes and everybody,” Baffert said. “That was awesome.”
“Oh, man, it’s such, it’s in such an unbelievably surreal year,” Spendthrift’s Eric Gustavson said. “To say that the horse has brought us a lot of light and excitement and distraction is an understatement. To have the off date Kentucky Derby and then the back to normal Breeders’ Cup and to be able to win those both in one year and with a 3-year-old, man, it’s too much.”
B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift had purchased a majority interest in Authentic just days before the Santa Anita Derby from SF Racing, Fred Hertrich, John Fielding and Golconda Stables, and the colt’s number of owners grew exponentially when the Spendthrift-backed micro-share syndicate MyRacehorse bought in shortly after Authentic’s first defeat.
“Yeah, well, I mean, this has been quite the ride,” MyRacehorse’s Michael Behrens said. “It’s an amazing ride. I could never have imagined that it would end like this. I mean, this is the pinnacle of racing. And when we set out to do this a couple years ago the idea was to celebrate this sport with
as many people as possible, and to have 5,314 people to have an ownership stake in Authentic, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. And the partnership with Spendthrift and Eric and Mr. Hughes, it’s been tremendous having this opportunity.
“Wayne has given so much to the game over the years. He’s been in racing for 50 years and he bought Spendthrift in 2004 and made it into a business, and now to, with a lot of help from Johnny V. and Bob who are in the room here, to realize this dream, that sometimes it feels like you can only dream. It’s really not quite attainable, which is what makes it like so sweet, it’s unbelievable. But for Wayne, it’s everything,
for us, for the team at Spendthrift, that’s the best part, that Wayne has reached the top of the mountain here and we get to celebrate with him.”
Pedigree Notes:
As if Into Mischief wasn’t already having a year for the record books, Authentic put the cherry on top with a GI Breeders’ Cup Classic win to go along with his GI Kentucky Derby win. Currently the leading sire in North America, Into Mischief also bookended Breeders’ Cup Saturday, opening the World Championships with Gamine’s win in the GI Filly & Mare Sprint and closing with Authentic’s Classic. The Spendthrift sire has 27 black-type winners of 2020 to go along with his 81 stakes winners–33 graded–in nine crops to race.
Authentic’s dam, the Mr. Greeley mare Flawless, won once in her only two starts and was named a ‘TDN Rising Star’ off that performance. She has had six foals, with all three to race winners, while her 2-year-old colt, Mint (Bodemeister), is as of yet unraced. Flawless’s yearling colt is named Push Button (Bodemeister) and she has been bred back to Into Mischief for next term after not producing a foal in 2020.
Authentic’s broodmare sire, Mr. Greeley, died at age 18 in 2010, but continues to make an impact through his daughters. They have produced 79 black-type winners to date, including another Breeders’ Cup winner, Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor), who captured the GI Juvenile Fillies in 2013.
Interestingly, Authentic’s only inbreeding through five generations is to Icecapade through his sons Clever Trick on Into Mischief’s dam side and Wild Again on Flawless’s side, as he is the broodmare sire of her dam, Oyster Baby. A multiple graded stakes winner in his own right, Icecapade is probably best known for being the first foal out of 1975 Broodmare of the Year Shenanigans (Native Dancer), making him a half-brother to the incomparable Ruffian (Reviewer).
Quotes from the Also Rans:
“He just kind of let the other horse get away and nobody went with him. I don’t know what the pace was because they messed up the fractions. But they kind of walked the dog out there. But he ran his race. He was wide both turns but he was second best.” –Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm on Improbable
“This horse has been through a lot in his career. We got his foot problems behind him and today was the first time he was really able to show his potential. We are so proud of him and he ran a great race.” —Global Campaign’s trainer Stanley Hough
“It was a good trip. He was right there. We came to the stretch and the winner was rolling. It was very impressive. But, he tried. He ran a good race.” –Maximum Security’s jockey Luis Saez
“I was happy with the way he came into the race. I thought he would run his race but [jockey Manny Franco] said he was just too keen and didn’t run.” –Tiz the Law’s trainer Barclay Tagg
Saturday, Keeneland
LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC-GI, $5,520,000, Keeneland, 11-7, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 1:59.19, ft.
1–AUTHENTIC, 122, c, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Flawless, by Mr. Greeley
2nd Dam: Oyster Baby, by Wild Again
3rd Dam: Really Fancy, by In Reality
($350,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-Spendthrift Farm LLC,
MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC & Starlight Racing;
B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-John
Velazquez. $3,120,000. Lifetime Record: 8-6-2-0,
$6,191,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Improbable, 126, c, 4, City Zip–Rare Event, by A.P. Indy.
‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($110,000 Wlg ’16 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg ’17
KEESEP). O-WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc. & SF Racing LLC; B-St.
George Farm LLC & G. Watts Humphrey Jr. (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$1,020,000.
3–Global Campaign, 126, c, 4, Curlin–Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy.
‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($250,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Sagamore
Farm, LLC & WinStar Farm, LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Stanley M. Hough. $540,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1, 2. Odds: 4.20, 3.70, 25.20.
Also Ran: Tacitus, Maximum Security, Tiz the Law, Title Ready, By My Standards, Tom’s d’Etat, Higher Power. 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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