Breeders’ Cup announced Wednesday plans to utilize 100 percent of seated capacity at Del Mar for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 5-6. Tickets will go on sale to the public at noon ET/9 a.m. PT on Friday, July 16. Available seating options and pricing can be viewed now at BreedersCup.com/tickets.
Month: June 2021
Havana Gold’s Chipotle Strikes For Windsor Castle Triumph
Eve Johnson Houghton trainee Chipotle (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) annexed Doncaster's Mar. 27 Brocklesby on debut before making light of a three-pound penalty in an Apr. 28 conditions test over Ascot's five-furlong strip, but was compromised by soft conditions when relinquishing his perfect record in Sandown's May 27 Listed National S. last time. The Tattersalls Ascot yearling, purchased by Johnson Houghton for a bargain 10,000gns, went postward at odds of 22-1 for Wednesday's Listed Windsor Castle S., but was off script at the break and left trailing on the far side after missing his cue from the supposedly doomed one box. Sneaking forward from halfway, he quickened smartly for the overall lead with 100 yards remaining and was driven out to dip under the magic minute and secure a career high by 2 1/4 lengths from Dig Two (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}).
“He's a horse that trains himself, he travels and when you ask him off he goes,” explained Johnson Houghton. “He's an absolute dude of a horse and didn't enjoy the soft ground at Sandown last time. All through the day I felt we couldn't win from stall one, but then after the [Royal] Hunt Cup [won by Real World from stall four] I thought we did have a chance. Charlie [Bishop] had the courage to stay on the far side and, off a rattling fast pace, he really picked up.”
Bishop and Johnson Houghton joined forces to snag this meet's 2018 G1 Queen Anne S. with Accidental Agent (GB) (Delegator {GB}) and the rider added, “I was quite keen to get a level break, but he bunny hopped when the stalls opened. I had to be patient, but I got a dream run through. We've always liked him and we never pressed any buttons when he won the Brocklesby and that [conditions] race here. He didn't like the soft at Sandown and, to be honest, I didn't give him the best of rides. Eve's a brilliant trainer and I feel quite emotional that she's kept the faith with me.”
Chipotle is one of two scorers from as many foals produced by a daughter of Aunty Mary (GB) (Common Grounds {GB}), herself a winning half-sister to MG1SW European champion Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}). Attraction is the dam of MGSW G2 York S. victor Elarqam (GB) (Frankel {GB}), G3 Sapphire S.-winning sire Fountain of Youth (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and dual US Grade III runner-up Cushion (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). Chipotle's dam Lightsome (GB) (Makfi {GB}) is a half-sister to G3 Firth of Clyde S. second Mary's Daughter (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) and a full-sister to the dam of last term's G3 Naas Fillies' Sprint runner-up Sussex Garden (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). The April-foaled bay shares his second dam Flirtation (GB) (Pursuit of Love {GB}) with stakes-winning G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis placegetter Titi Makfi (GB) (Makfi {GB}). From the family of G1 Prix de la Salamandre-winning sire Lord of Men (GB) (Groom Dancer), Flirtation is a half-sister to stakes-winning G2 Prix de Royallieu third Carmita (GB) (Caerleon) and to the dam of G3 Polar Cup scorer You Never Know (Swe) (Diaglyphard).
Wednesday, Royal Ascot, Britain
WINDSOR CASTLE S.-Listed, £65,000, Ascot, 6-16, 2yo, 5fT, :59.78, g/f.
1–CHIPOTLE (GB), 129, c, 2, by Havana Gold (Ire)
1st Dam: Lightsome (GB), by Makfi (GB)
2nd Dam: Aunty Mary (GB), by Common Grounds (GB)
3rd Dam: Flirtation (GB), by Pursuit of Love (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (4,500gns RNA Wlg '19 TATFOA; 10,000gns Ylg '20 TATASY). O-The Woodway 20; B-Theakston Stud (GB); T-Eve Johnson Houghton; J-Charles Bishop. £38,480. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $72,500.
2–Dig Two (Ire), 129, c, 2, Cotai Glory (GB)–Vulnicura (Ire), by Frozen Power (Ire). (€13,000 Wlg '19 TATFBR; £28,000 Ylg '20 TATIRY). O-Lit Lung Lee; B-Ballybrennan Stud Ltd (IRE); T-Hugo Palmer. £14,554.
3–Boonie (Ire), 129, c, 2, Brazen Beau (Aus)–Dice Game (GB), by Shamardal. O-Seymour Bloodstock & Mark Balnaves; B-Seymour Bloodstock (IRE); T-Kevin Ryan. £7,274.
Margins: 2 1/4, HD, NK. Odds: 22.00, 7.00, 18.00.
Also Ran: Bond Chairman (GB), Armor (GB), Kaboo, Ruthin (GB), Guilded (Ire), Albion Square (GB), Home City (Ire), Admiral D (Ire), Barging Thru (GB), Ernie's Valentine (GB), Amalfi Coast (Ire), Superior Force (GB), Golden Bell, Amazonian Dream (Ire), Robasta (Ire), Poderoso (Ire), Flaming Rib (Ire), Royal Emerther (Ire), Freyabella (GB), Spring Is Sprung (Fr), Silks Pass (GB), Dusky Prince (Ire), Lord Gorgeous (Ire), Bicep (Ire). Scratched: Tipperary Sunset (GB). Click for the Racing Post result. Video, sponsored by TVG.
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Letter To The Editor: Move By The Jockeys’ Guild At Monmouth Dangerous, Unfair To Riders
The Jockeys' Guild decision to cancel insurance for jockeys who ride in races at Monmouth Park is vindictive and dangerous.
To proclaim Monmouth's new whip policy “extremely dangerous and is creating an even greater risk to both the equine and human athletes, including the potential for injury and/or loss of life to the jockeys and the horses” is in my opinion an extreme over-dramatization. But to characterize the jockeys' situation as “extremely dangerous” and at the same time refuse to insure them is a new level of histrionics and reveals the Jockeys' Guild to be an organization of bad faith.
As a long-time fan of Thoroughbred racing, I frankly fail to see how not being allowed to whip a horse to make it perform is “dangerous.” The rule does not prohibit the use of the whip if needed to avoid a dangerous situation within a race.
It comes down to an unwillingness on the part of the Jockeys' Guild to adapt to the new realities of public perception of animal welfare. Their punitive and backward approach will cause harm to the very group whose interests they claim to represent.
—Holly Brunner, Thoroughbred owner and fan
If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.
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Bloodlines: Long-Term Stallion Success In Kentucky Is An Incredibly Small Target
In the great scheme of sport, becoming a stakes winner is a huge accomplishment, with only about three percent of the breed attaining that level of racing success. Only a fraction of one percent wins a graded or group race.
And from that tiny fraction, made even smaller by the virtual requirement of a G1 victory, comes the subset of colts who enter stud and breed on the next generation. For example, of the 18 stallions who covered their first book of mares in Kentucky in 2021 and stood for a fee of $10,000 or more, every one was a Grade 1 winner, and some of the half-dozen new covering sires priced below that fee were, as well.
Yet from that supremely elite group, how many can reasonably be expected to succeed?
Very few. Even with excellent racing records, good to exceptional pedigrees, good to excellent conformation, and very good books of mares to share their genetic potential, perhaps only a third of the entering crop will be in demand a decade later.
From a review of the stallions who entered stud 10 years ago in 2011, only five were at stud in Kentucky for a fee of $10,000 or higher (actually, the least expensive of these is Lookin at Lucky at $20,000). The five are leading sire Quality Road ($150,000), Munnings ($40,000), champion Blame ($30,000), Kantharos ($30,000), and champion Lookin at Lucky ($20,000).
From the numbers above, roughly two-tenths of a percent (1.8) of an annual foal crop of 10,000 colts would get a spot at stud in Kentucky, and maybe a third of those will continue to be sufficiently in demand to retain a spot at stud in the Bluegrass at a significant fee.
That is a steep hill to climb.
Among the stakes winners over the weekend, however, two showed up with close relationships to stallions who did not make the grade in Kentucky.
Winner of the Searching Stakes at Pimlico, Blame Debbie is by the aforementioned Blame, one of the success stories among the entering sire crop of 2011. By the good sire Arch, Blame was the champion older horse of 2010, when he won the G1 Whitney, Stephen Foster, and Breeders' Cup Classic. He is the sire of 31 stakes winners, including classic winner Senga and the additional G1 winners Nadal (Arkansas Derby) and Marley's Freedom (Ballerina). In addition to last weekend's stakes win, Blame Debbie won the G3 Dowager at Keeneland last year.
The broodmare sire of Blame Debbie, however, is Horse of the Year Invasor (Candy Stripes), and he is a horse who did not achieve the level of stallion success required to stay in Kentucky. An Argentine-bred who was unbeaten in Uruguay, then purchased by Shadwell and raced internationally, Invasor won 11 of his 12 starts, earning $7.8 million.
In addition, Invasor is by Candy Stripes, also the sire of the highly regarded stallion Candy Ride and from an elite Argentine family. Yet, even with a very good pedigree and an exceptional racing record both domestically and abroad, Invasor was unable to reproduce his own excellence in his foals and was returned to South American to stand at Haras Cuatro Piedras in Uruguay.
A similar instance to the 2006 Horse of the Year came with the 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick (by Phone Trick), who entered stud in 1999 at Walmac.
A fast and early-maturing horse, Favorite Trick was unbeaten at two, when he won all eight of his starts, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and was elected Horse of the Year. He did not train on at that level of success at three and was retired to stud at four.
Overall, the dark brown horse failed to have the consistent success so important to maintain a permanent residence in Kentucky, and he was sent to stand at stud in Florida, then in New Mexico, where he died in 2006.
Even so, Favorite Trick is the sire of the second dam of Informative (Bodemeister), who won the G3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth on June 12. That second dam is the unraced So Spirited, a half-sister to the G1 winners Roman Ruler (Fusaichi Pegasus) and El Corredor (Mr. Greeley), and their dam, the Silver Deputy mare Silvery Swan, was one of the very best mares that Favorite Trick covered in his stallion career.
Silvery Swan produced three graded stakes winners, a fourth racer who was G1-placed, and a pair of daughters who have produced stakes horses. So Spirited didn't produce any, but her winning daughter Lucky Black (Hard Spun) is the dam of Informative. The colt's sire is G1 winner Bodemeister, who has 22 stakes winners from 848 foals of racing age, and he has been sold and exported to stand at Karacabey Stud in Turkey.
The economics of breeding racehorses and standing stallions makes the market intensely dynamic, as this synopsis has indicated, and yet horses by stallions that have been deemed no longer up to standard for the premium market in Kentucky still have viability and the potential to produce quality racers.
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