Chacun Pour Soi’s odds trimmed to 3-1 for Queen Mother Champion Chase
Chacun Pour Soi had his odds for the Queen Mother Champion Chase trimmed to 3-1 after an easy 19-length win in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork.
Month: December 2020
Cigar Mile Winner May Head For Taller Timber In Pegasus, Saudi Cup
Cigars and timber are not usually a good pairing. But Calumet Farm's True Timber proved his talent at the highest level with a 5 1/2-length win over Snapper Sinclair in Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
Trainer Jack Sisterson said True Timber will fly to Keeneland on Monday and could start preparations for another challenging race, with the nine-furlong Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup on January 23 a possibility, along with the nine-furlong $20 million Saudi Cup on February 20 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“He's going on 7 [years old] and I don't want to take away what he loves to do, which is train and run,” Sisterson said. “He's not slowing down any. You need to capitalize. We'll look to bring him down to Palm Meadows in Florida and look at the Pegasus race form. We've also been invited to the Saudi Cup. We'll look at options like that and stretch him out. It'll be the first time around two turns for us, so we'll train him a little differently and see if he takes to that, and we'll go from there.”
True Timber registered his first win since September 2018, earning a trip to the winner's circle for the first time in 14 starts. The son of Mineshaft capped his 6-year-old year by capturing a race in which he's come close in the past, having run second by three-quarters of a length to Patternrecognition in 2018 and third in 2019 to Maximum Security.
“For True Timber, what impressed me the most was proving to people that he could win a big race and do it impressively,” said Sisterson. “He showed us in the morning that he has such a will to compete at a level like that. But from the outside looking in, the general public may have questioned his talent. He put forth his best effort, which we knew he had, yesterday.”
True Timber gave both his rider and conditioner an early Christmas gift. Jockey Kendrick Carmouche, who has been riding professionally since 2000, earned his first career Grade 1 victory after piloting the bay Kentucky bred.
The victory also marked the second career Grade 1 score for Sisterson, who took over True Timber's training duties this summer when Kiaran McLaughlin retired to become a jockey agent. Sisterson, who started on his own as a trainer in 2018, previously won the Personal Ensign with Vexatious this summer at Saratoga Race Course.
True Timber graduated at second asking in December 2016 on the Big A inner track with Carmouche in the irons. The pair have partnered up on nine occasions for a record of 3-1-3. Carmouche entered Sunday's Closing Day leading Jose Lezcano by four wins for the fall meet's leading rider.
“It means a lot for me for my staff who does all the hard work and to have someone like Kendrick say he'd ride them back, it gave us a lot of confidence and means a lot,” Sisterson said. “To be able to team up and win a race like that, it's been a long time coming but a well-deserved victory for Kendrick, who is a talented jockey and deserves a win like that. I didn't give him any instructions. He just told me, 'I got you, brother,' before the race in a text. We are just fortunate enough to add one victory to what is hopefully a riding title for him.”
Though True Timber was on a winless streak, he still registered competitive efforts against top-flight competition, including a third in the Grade 1 Forego on August 29 over a sloppy Saratoga track. With the Cigar Mile being contested over another sloppy and sealed track, Sisterson said that experience proved beneficial in preparing him to take dirt, as he tracked in third position through the opening half-mile on Saturday behind pacesetter Mr. Buff and King Guillermo.
“I think what benefitted him the most yesterday was his outside position,” said Sisterson on True Timber leaving from post 5 in the six-horse field. “We learned in his training and in the runs that he had, he doesn't like being shut on the inside. We don't work him on the inside in company; he's always on the outside, and he breezes like a happy horse and trains like a happy horse on the outside.
“He ran a credible race in the Forego and I think if he was on the outside and not pressured, he might have hung around to not be beat as far, but he still finished a good third. I think his outside position yesterday really helped him out.”
Sisterson's other Cigar Mile entrant, Bon Raison, finished last of six but came out of the effort in good order. The 5-year-old son of Raison d'Etat entered off a 10th-place finish in last month's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland and will now receive a freshening after running nine times in 2020.
“We took a shot. He's a homebred and a beautiful horse who has talent and I think as a plan for him moving forward, he'll get a well-deserved break,” Sisterson said. “We think he has a few nice wins in him. Maybe not at that sort of caliber, but if we pick and choose our spots, we can bring him back in the springtime and have some fun with him next year.”
Also owned by Calumet, Bon Raison won against on October 16 going six furlongs against optional claimers at Keeneland.
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Mr. Monomoy to Stand in New York at Waldorf Farm
Climax Stallions LLC has obtained a majority interest in graded stakes winner Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice–Drumette, by Henny Hughes) and he will stand at Dr. Jerry Bilinski’s Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, NY. His initial stud fee has been announced at $5,000 Stands & Nurses.
Mr. Monomoy is a half-brother to seven-time Grade I-winning champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and hails from the family of champion Heavenly Cause (Grey Dawn {Fr}).
“We bought Mr. Monomoy specifically for the New York breeding program” said Sean Feld, managing partner of Climax Stallions “It is hard to find one champion in the immediate family of a stallion let alone two and look at where the family did their winning. Heavenly Cause won the Acorn and Frizette plus his half-sister Monomoy Girl also won the Acorn before taking the Coaching Club American Oaks. Then you factor in his sire, Palace Malice’s accomplishments, who won the Belmont, Jim Dandy and the Met Mile. It’s a very deep and classy pedigree and we are very excited.”
Mr. Monomoy broke his maiden in his second start by 5 1/2 lengths to earn ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors. He closed his career with a wire-to-wire 2 1/2-length score in the GII Risen Star S.
“He was able to win going short and then win a major Kentucky Derby prep by carrying his speed around two turns at 1 1/8 miles,” said Mr. Monomoy’s trainer Brad Cox. “Those are two major checkmarks that make a top sire in my opinion.”
“Mr. Monomoy, with his athleticism, brings speed, precocity and a New York pedigree to New York,” said Bilinski. “I have no doubt once breeders feast their eyes on this stallion, they will want to breed their mares to Mr. Monomoy.”
The post Mr. Monomoy to Stand in New York at Waldorf Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Undefeated Demoiselle Winner Malathaat Florida-Bound; Pletcher Thinking Kentucky Oaks For Curlin Filly
The ability to overcome adversity and will to win were on full display in Saturday's nine-furlong Grade 2, $150,000 Demoiselle for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y., when Shadwell Stable's Malathaat overcame unfavorable circumstances with a furious rally to make the grade in her third career start.
Breaking from the rail under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Malathaat appeared to be uncomfortable taking some kickback when in behind horses, but allowed her class to prevail with a five-wide move around the turn as she collared Millefeuille in the final strides.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he was impressed with the winning effort.
“She had to overcome a lot. I was proud of her for persevering,” Pletcher said. “When she got in the clear, she put in a strong run. It was an impressive performance considering all the adversity along the road.”
In winning the Demoiselle, Malathaat earned 10 qualifying points toward the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, scheduled for April 30, 2021, at Churchill Downs. Pletcher said he would like to give her two starts prior to the Oaks, which he won with Ashado (2004), Rags to Riches (2007) and Princess of Sylmar (2013).
Pletcher said the Curlin bay would ship to his winter division at Palm Beach Downs in South Florida this week
“She'll ship to Palm Beach Downs early this week and we'll give her an easy month. I don't know what her next target will be, we'll just see how she's doing,” Pletcher said. “Ideally, we would be looking at two races prior to the Kentucky Oaks if everything goes according to plan.”
Unbeaten in three starts, Malathaat gave Velazquez his 2,000th victory at Belmont Park with a 1 ¾-length win in a seven-furlong maiden special weight on October 9 at Belmont Park. She mirrored her winning ways into stakes company when leading at every point of call to take the one-mile Tempted on November 6 at Aqueduct. The Demoiselle was her first start going two turns.
Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Malathaat is the first offspring out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, who also was conditioned by Pletcher. She was bought for $1.05 million at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Her triumph in the Demoiselle made her a third generation graded stakes winner. Her maternal granddam Dream Rush was a four-time graded stakes winner, including the Grade 1 Test in 2007 at Saratoga.
“She's shown that she's special from very early on,” Pletcher said. “It's very hard to win three consecutive races and she's done it at three different distances now at Belmont, and over a sloppy track at Aqueduct. I'm not sure that she really relished the going but she still was able to keep finding a little more and I was proud of the effort.”
Pletcher also sent out Known Agenda for the Grade 2 Remsen, where he finished a distant third to Brooklyn Strong.
Like Malathaat, Remsen third-place finisher Known Agenda also appeared to not handle the sloppy going on Saturday, where he picked up two Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
Pletcher said he was still pleased with the effort from the Curlin chestnut out of Grade 1-winner Byrama. Owned by Vincent Viola's St. Elias Stable, Known Agenda notched a second out maiden triumph at the Remsen's nine-furlong distance on November 8 at the Big A.
“He was never comfortable and finally when he got out late in the clear he found some ground. His last quarter was pretty much the same time as the previous two, it's just at the quarter pole he was in a hopeless position,” Pletcher said. “Part of it is immaturity, greenness and not relishing the sloppy conditions. I still think he's a horse with some upside. He's still putting it together. I think a race like that and the experience he gained hopefully will move him forward, so we'll take him down to Florida as well. We'll target some of these Derby preps. There are a lot of good options. We'll play it by ear.”
Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq graduated in August at 5 ½ furlongs ahead of a third in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Hopeful, both on the Saratoga main track. The Into Mischief bay made his last two starts on the Keeneland turf, winning the Grade 2 Bourbon on October 4 and a last out 10th in the Grade 1 Breeders' cup Juvenile Turf.
Pletcher said Mutasaabeq could go back to the main track for the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man on January 2 at Gulfstream Park.
“We're thinking about the Mucho Macho Man with him and give him another try on the dirt,” Pletcher said. “He's been training pretty well on the dirt, so we'll explore that. We can always go back to the turf if we need to.
“We were very fortunate to be able to train for them. It's a tremendous organization,” Pletcher added regarding Shadwell Stable. “It's been an honor and a pleasure and it's nice to have some good horses for them. We've been fortunate to win three graded stakes so far this year with them.”
Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Stonestreet Stables' Likeable, 13th in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile last out, and worked a half-mile in 51.40 on November 25 at Palm Beach Downs.
“We have a lot of options for him, including an allowance race. We'll get him started around the first of January. We'll see what the new condition book at Gulfstream has to offer,” Pletcher said.
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