Steve Asmussen Talks ‘Family Horse’ Super Stock On Writers’ Room

One of the few major races left to win for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen is the most significant prize in racing, so a win in this year's GI Kentucky Derby would satisfy an ultimate career goal. But if he were to do it with Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby victor Super Stock (Dialed In), a horse with the Asmussen family's fingerprints all over him, it would represent the sentimental success of a lifetime. Wednesday, Asmussen joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to discuss Super Stock, the permanent chip on his shoulder, who he would pick between some of his legendary trainees head to head and more.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Asmussen talked about his emotional connection to Super Stock, who is co-owned by his father and was ridden to victory by his oldest son for his first stakes win last summer.

“We've been very fortunate in racing, had many successes, but a circumstance in which you can leg your son up on a stakes winner for your parents is quite unique, to say the least, and is a very special experience,” he said. “I have so many emotions about it. You imagine having that kind of success going into a race, but I did not realize what it actually meant, and the outpouring of love, respect and support since the [Arkansas Derby] for my parents and who they are has been the best part for me. This is my mom and dad's story. They supported us unwaveringly and put me and Cash in the positions we've been in to have success in this business. They're both 79 years old and unique circumstances allowed them to keep this horse. Dad has had Grade I winners in the past, he's just sold them all. That probably would have happened with this horse as well if not for the pandemic. It's brought mom and dad to the forefront and gotten them the respect and admiration that I know they deserve.”

Asked how it would change his life to win a Derby after coming up empty with his first 21 starters, Asmussen said, “I don't know yet, but I'd hate to lose this chip on my shoulder, lose the edge. The next horse that you run is the most important horse. Our motto around here is, 'Everything matters or nothing matters.' So don't lose that chip. We've got to keep it in front of us. We get tremendous opportunities and we respect them and want to make the most of them. Whenever Super Stock won, it was meant to be, so that's what we're looking for going into the Derby. It'll happen, if it's meant to be.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to the weekend's big races and handicapped all five participants' chances to win the Writers' Room Derby Chase fantasy 3-year-old contest. In the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they lamented yet another slap-on-the-wrist fine for a trainer with a drug positive and lauded Indiana Grand's decision to broadcast video explanations for all of its steward decisions. And, in welcoming new sponsor the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project, they talked about TDN's most-read story of the week, which featured trainer Joe Orseno railing against the Lasix ban in stakes races. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

The post Steve Asmussen Talks ‘Family Horse’ Super Stock On Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Cupid Filly Quickest At OBS Spring Sale’s Third Under Tack Session

Hip No. 576, a daughter of Cupid consigned by Q Bar J Thoroughbreds, sped a quarter in :20 2/5 to post the fastest work at the distance at the third session of the under tack show for Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The bay filly is out of Callipepla, by Yes It's True, from the family of graded stakes winner Annie Cake.

Three youngsters turned in quarters in :20 4/5.

  • Hip No. 429, consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Agent, is a bay colt by Maclean's Music out of You Make Luvin Fun, by A. P. Indy, a half sister to graded stakes winner Classic Elegance.
  • Hip No. 479, a chestnut colt by Carpe Diem consigned by Parrish Farms, Agent, is a half brother to stakes placed Sixties Music out of Apple Strudel, by More Than Ready.
  • Hip No. 605, a dark bay or brown colt by Union Rags consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, is a half brother to stakes placed Champagne Humor out of Champagne Ice, by Roman Ruler, a full sister to grade one stakes winner Ruler On Ice.

Twenty-eight horses shared honors for the session's fastest eighth, clocked in :10 flat

  • Hip No. 423, a colt by Outwork out of Xtra Heat consigned by All Dreams Equine, Agent III
  • Hip No. 435, a filly by Practical Joke out of Zifena (GB) consigned by Eisaman Equine, Agent
  • Hip No. 446, a colt by Tapiture out of Afleet Lexi consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales LLC
  • Hip No. 463, a filly by Arrogate out of Amen Hallelujah consigned by Mayberry Farm, Agent XII
  • Hip No. 470, a filly by Klimt out of Anea consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent III
  • Hip No. 477, a colt by Shaman Ghost out of Apology Accepted consigned by AVP Training and Sales
  • Hip No. 478, a colt by Wildcat Red out of Appealing Diva consigned by Coastal Equine LLC (Jesse Hoppel), Agent
  • Hip No. 486, a filly by Arrogate out of Artemis Agrotera consigned by Sequel Bloodstock, Agent for Chester & Mary Broman
  • Hip No. 487, a filly by Maclean's Music out of Artfully consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds
  • Hip No. 488, a filly by Secret Circle out of Arty'skentuckygirl consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent XLII
  • Hip No. 490, a colt by Arrogate out of Ask the Question consigned by Wavertree Stables, Inc. (Ciaran Dunne), Agent III
  • Hip No. 496, a filly by Tapiture out of Aunt Glo consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent LV
  • Hip No. 512, a filly by Maclean's Music out of Beautified consigned by Paul Sharp, Agent I
  • Hip No. 526, a colt by Connect out of Better Not Blink consigned by Eddie Woods, Agent XXII
  • Hip No. 530, a colt by Runhappy out of Bible Belt consigned by Wavertree Stables, Inc. (Ciaran Dunne), Agent XXVII
  • Hip No. 537, a filly by Cairo Prince out of Blakely's Smile consigned by Craig L. Wheeler, Agent
  • Hip No. 546, a colt by Gormley out of Blushandbashful consigned by GOP Racing Stable Corp.
  • Hip No. 549, a colt by Liam's Map out of Bode's Dream consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales, Agent XVI
  • Hip No. 550, a filly by Twirling Candy out of Boldy consigned by Old South Farm LLC, Agent
  • Hip No. 566, a filly by Nyquist out of Broadway Play consigned by Lucan Bloodstock (Karl Keegan), Agent VI
  • Hip No. 572, a colt by Klimt out of Cabo Time consigned by Centofanti Thoroughbreds, Agent I
  • Hip No. 575, a colt by Violence out of Calling Rhy Rhy consigned by S G V Thoroughbreds LLC (Steven Venosa), Agent
  • Hip No. 584, a colt by Street Boss out of Capitalism At Risk consigned by Coastal Equine LLC (Jesse Hoppel), Agent IX
  • Hip No. 591, a filly by Practical Joke out of Cashconsiderations consigned by Two Oaks Equine, Agent
  • Hip No. 593, a filly by Upstart out of Casual Cocktail consigned by Paul Sharp, Agent III
  • Hip No. 594, a filly by Curlin out of Catch the Flag consigned by Wavertree Stables, Inc. (Ciaran Dunne), Agent
  • Hip No. 601, a filly by Munnings out of Caymanbird consigned by Mayberry Farm, Agent X
  • Hip No. 608, a colt by Gormley out of Changing Vista consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales LLC

The Under Tack Show continues Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. with Hip No.'s 609 – 811 scheduled to breeze.

To view the full results from Wednesday's under-tack show, click here.

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Cupid Filly Earns OBS Bullet Wednesday

The under-tack show ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training reached its halfway point with its third session Wednesday and a filly by Cupid (hip 576) became the second juvenile of the week to work a quarter-mile in :20 2/5. Out of Callipepla (Yes It's True), the bay filly is consigned by Jenn and Quincy Adams's Q Bar J Thoroughbreds.

“That was a 'wow' work,” Quincy Adams said Wednesday afternoon. “She galloped out strong. She's so classy. She is just a princess. She walked back to the barn like an older horse. She's a cool horse.”

Q Bar J purchased the filly for $42,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October Yearling Sale.

“She was just big and scopey and had muscle like she was going to be fast, but also looks like she could get two turns,” Adams said. “She's filled out in all the right places. She has that big hip that everybody likes–that big motor–and she's got a real big slinky walk. She has some scope to her and she's got some size.”

The filly is from the first crop of GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita winner Cupid (Tapit).

“We've had three Cupids and we really liked all of them,” Adams said. “They've all been kind of different, but the biggest thing that I've seen is that they all have good minds.”

A filly (hip 317) by another Coolmore first-crop sire, champion Classic Empire, worked the bullet quarter-mile of :20 2/5 during Tuesday's second session of the six-day under-tack show.

Twenty-eight juveniles shared Wednesday's fastest furlong time of :10 flat. Three were from Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables consignment, which sent out one of three juveniles by Juddmonte's late champion Arrogate to share the day's fastest furlong.

Hip 490, a gray colt by Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), turned in his :10 flat breeze just minutes into the day's session. Out of Ask the Question (Silver Deputy), he is a half-brother to multiple Grade I winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) and was purchased by Dunne for $155,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale on behalf of the pinhooking partnership responsible for last year's highest-priced colt, a $1.25-million son of Quality Road.

“He's been one of our talking horses all year,” Dunne said. “He's just a beautiful horse. He's got the best of both worlds. He's got the stretch and length of an Unbridled's Song and he's got the power of a Silver Deputy. He's a really nice colt.”

Wavertree also sent out a filly by Curlin (hip 594) to work in :10 flat Wednesday. Out of the unraced Catch the Flag (A.P. Indy), a full-sister to Canadian champion Catch the Thrill, the juvenile was purchased privately after RNA'ing for $120,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase.

“The Curlin is a beauty,” Dunne said. “She is as pretty as a picture, a medium-sized filly with a ton of class. She has always worked well and we weren't surprised when she showed up to work today.”

Rounding out the trio of Wavertree's :10 flat workers was hip 530, a son of Runhappy out of Bible Belt (Pulpit). The dark bay colt is a half-brother to graded placed Hardworkcleanlivin (Colonel John). He was purchased by Columbia Bloodstock for $250,000 as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November sale before RNA'ing for $120,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The Runhappy was an expensive foal who went into a yearling sale when Runhappy was not the flavor of the month, shall we say. So they called an audible and figured they would give him more time,” Dunne said. “He was an expensive foal and when you look at him, you can see why.”

Wavertree had one of six juveniles to work in :9 4/5 Tuesday, when hip 253 shared the week's fastest furlong so far. Bred by Brenda and Philip Robertson, the son of Cairo Prince RNA'd for $35,000 at Keeneland last September.

“He's a really cool horse,” Dunne said. “Philip Robertson owns him and he really liked him as a yearling. He drew one of the later books at Keeneland and he wasn't willing to give him away. He figured he would take a shot down here and it looks like he might have been right.”

The majority of Wavertree's OBS March consignment worked quarter-miles at the under-tack show ahead of last month's sale, but an increasing emphasis on gallop-out times prompted Dunne to limit his April consignment to furlong works.

“Regardless of how far a horse works, they want to clock them galloping out from the wire to the five-eighths pole, which is an extra three-eighths of a mile,” Dunne explained. “They just do the gallop-outs by how fast they went, not by how far they went. The horses who go eighths obviously gallop out a better three-eighths than the horses who went a quarter. We had some horses that I thought worked really, really well in March going quarters and they wanted to come back and knock them for how they galloped out. Whereas if they had gone eighths, that wouldn't have been an issue. To my mind, there is no advantage to going a quarter anymore. It's all become too much about what they do after the wire as opposed to what they do to the wire. So that was our reasoning to backing them up.”

In addition to hip 490, Arrogate also had a pair of fillies share Wednesday's furlong bullet. Hip 463, a daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Amen Hallelujah (Montbrook), was purchased for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale by Nice Guys Stables and worked in :10 flat for Mayberry Farm.

Also working in :10 flat, hip 486 is a daughter of multiple Grade I winner Artemis Agrotera (Roman Ruler) who is consigned by Sequel Bloodstock on behalf of Chester and Mary Broman. Her half-brother Chestertown (Tapit) topped the 2019 OBS March sale when selling for $2 million.

Also working in :10 flat Wednesday were:

Hip 423, a colt by Outwork (video) consigned by All Dreams Equine; Hip 435, a filly by Practical Joke (video) consigned by Eisaman Equine; Hip 446, a colt by Tapiture (video) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales; Hip 470, a filly by Klimt (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 477, a colt by Shaman Ghost (video) consigned by AVP Training and Sales; Hip 478, a colt by Wildcat Red (video) consigned by Coastal Equine; Hip 487, a filly by Maclean's Music (video) consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds; Hip 488, a filly by Secret Circle (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 496, a filly by Tapiture (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 512, a filly by Maclean's Music (video) consigned by Paul Sharp; Hip 526, a colt by Connect (video) consigned by Eddie Woods; Hip 537, a filly by Cairo Prince (ld   HYPERLINK “http://obscatalog.com/apr/2021/537.mp4” video) consigned by Craig L. Wheeler; Hip 546, a colt by Gormley (video) consigned by GOP Racing; Hip 549, a colt by Liam's Map (video) consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales; Hip 550, a filly by Twirling Candy (video) consigned by Old South Farm; Hip 566, a filly by Nyquist (video) consigned by Lucan Bloodstock; Hip 572, a colt by Klimt (video) consigned by Centofanti Thoroughbreds; Hip 575, a colt by Violence (video) consigned by S G V Thoroughbreds; Hip 584, a colt by Street Boss (video) consigned by Coastal Equine; Hip 591, a filly by Practical Joke (video) consigned by Two Oaks Equine; Hip 593, a filly by Upstart (video) consigned by Paul Sharp; Hip 601, a filly by Munnings (video) consigned by Mayberry Farm; and Hip 608, a colt by Gormley (video) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning each day at 8 a.m. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding commencing at 10:30 a.m.

The post Cupid Filly Earns OBS Bullet Wednesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Caravaggio Colt Tops Second Day Of Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale continued in robust fashion during the second and final session with a son of Caravaggio lighting up the sale ring when selling for 240,000 guineas. The clearance rate remained a feature of the sale, finishing on 88 percent, whilst the turnover of 10,408,500 guineas was the fourth highest for the sale since 2008.

SackvilleDonald's Alastair Donald secured the attractive colt by first-season sire Caravaggio for 240,000 guineas after seeing off the efforts of Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan. The son of the Galileo mare Bright Sapphire is a half-brother to the group-placed colt Wall of Fire.

“He is for a new Hong Kong client, he will go out to Hong Kong at the end of the season,” revealed Donald. “He will be pre-trained in England, he is a lovely big horse and he has a nice pedigree. He breezed well for a big horse and looks the type to do well in Hong Kong.”

Donald added: “They don't race until they are 3-year-olds, so don't want a 'here and now' horse. The sire looks like he has got a very nice 2-year-old already and this is the first I have bought by the sire. I did like the yearlings – they are particularly good walkers, and this horse's movement is very good.”

The colt was sold by Yeomanstown Stud, who bought the colt at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 155,000 guineas. Yeomanstown Stud's David O'Callaghan commented;

“He is a beautiful colt, he breezed really well and has a great attitude. We're very pleased, he was always a lovely horse and he hasn't missed a day.”

Kuwaiti buyer Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah bought the second highest priced lot for the day when going to 185,000 guineas to secure the Union Rags colt out of Careless Jewel. Named Tattered Flag, the February born colt was bought last September by Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud for $115,000 and was part of a three-horse draft that included lot 90, a colt by the fellow U.S.-based sire Practical Joke. He made 140,000 guineas and was bought by trainer Michael O'Callaghan.

“I am very pleased,” said Whitehead. “They are two nice horses, and the Union Rags will be a lovely horse later in the year.”

Whitehead's 2020 buying mission took place during the real depths of the COVID pandemic with travel restrictions and problems, but he is now obviously delighted that he managed to make the journey stateside;

“It was touch and go whether we'd get to the U.S. last year. That has been a great start, but we are only halfway there – we've another seven or eight to sell”

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“We introduced the £250,000 Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus this year, in addition to the lucrative £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus and it is clear that owners have embraced these unprecedented bonuses. We have seen solid and diverse demand at all levels of the market from start to finish which has produced the best Craven Breeze Up clearance rate since 2000 and key indicators which have held up well, especially when taken in the context of the COVID – related challenges and restrictions which we are all still grappling with and which continue to hinder international travel.

“Nevertheless, to hear consistently positive feedback from owners, trainers, agents and consignors about the bonuses has been gratifying, and reinforces our commitment to exploring as many innovative ways as possible to reward owners who buy at Tattersalls with extra prize money. There is no doubt that we will see plenty of this crop of Craven Breeze Up graduates performing at a high level and it would be even more pleasing than usual if the Royal Ascot and Group 1 bonuses were won in the coming months.

“Despite the prolonged difficulties with international travel, overseas buyers have again demonstrated their appetite for high class Tattersalls breeze up 2-year-olds. Buyers from America, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have all been active, many of them using the live internet bidding platform, and as well as paying tribute to the consignors who have as ever presented an outstanding collection of two year olds, we must again commend everyone for their patience with the regulations and determination to overcome the obstacles we continue to face. We are still having to conduct sales under strict guidelines, but as well as looking forward to the forthcoming Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale, we are also looking forward to returning to more normality in the not too distant future.”

The next chance to buy a 'breezer' at Tattersalls is at the Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which takes place from April 28-30, with all lots breezing on the Rowley Mile at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28 before the sale on Friday, April 30.

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