One day after breaking the all-time North American wins record, Steve Asmussen got right back to business in a big way Sunday at Saratoga, as his Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) shook off intense pace pressure and kicked clear in the lane to capture the GII Adirondack S. Adding to the significance of the moment, Wicked Halo is both by and out of Asmussen trainees, and her dam won the same race at the Spa in 2015.
Unveiled going five furlongs in the mud at Lone Star June 5, the homebred broke on top from the rail, won a pace fight and kept going for a two-length success, with the second and third finishers coming back to win next out. Tried in the Debutante S. three weeks later at Churchill, the gray was not off as well and dictated sizzling fractions before just fading late to be third.
Drifting up a bit to be the biggest price among four rivals who took the bulk of the play here, Wicked Halo was beaten out of the gate by Microbiome, but Jose Ortiz stayed aggressive and sent the Winchell colorbearer through inside of that one to eventually make the front through a scorching :21.55 quarter. Those two continued to spar past a :44.80 half as Mainstay looked to launch a three wide bid approaching the stretch, but that filly soon flattened out and Wicked Halo remained the last pace player standing going by the eighth pole. She slammed the door soon after and hit the line clearly in charge while understandably getting a little leg-weary. Deep-closing longshots Interstatedaydream and Saucy Lady T rallied mildly to get into second and third, respectively. Mainstay was fourth, while race favorite Onetheonesandtwos (Jimmy Creed) never factored, checking in sixth.
The win was Asmussen's second consecutive and fourth overall conquest of the Adirondack.
“Ron [Winchell, owner-breeder] giving us horses like this makes all the accolades possible,” he said. “This filly, her mother won the Adirondack, and what a great sire Gun Runner is proving to be. To duplicate what her mother did is very special.”
Asked about Wicked Halo surviving pace pressure and still emerging victorious, Asmussen said, “That's Saratoga tough. The filly on the outside [Microbiome] outbroke her a little bit. They ride aggressively here and horses either respond or get beat and she responded. For a 2-year-old filly, and the way she acted in the paddock off hard races, it's a level of class that is hard to come by.”
“In these 2-year-old stakes races there's going to be pace because a lot of them break their maiden wire-to-wire or are just sitting off it,” said winning rider Jose Ortiz. “A lot of times, the pace is going to be hot in races like this, and it was hot this time. Tyler [Gaffalione, aboard Microbiome] broke better than me. I put her up there and she responded well. They were going fast, but she was ready. Steve had her ready to run.”
Asmussen added that he's unlikely to run Wicked Halo back in the Sept. 5 GI Spinaway S., saying, “I think we may give her a break. I got overly aggressive with the mother and being fortunate to have the family continuously, you need to learn from it.”
Pedigree Notes:
Wicked Halo's victory gives Three Chimneys Farm's freshman sire Gun Runner two graded stakes winners in as many days, following Pappacap's score in the GII Best Pal S. Saturday at Del Mar. She is the first foal to race out of Just Wicked, a full-sister to Grade II winner My Miss Lilly out of SW Wicked Deed. Just Wicked is responsible for a yearling full-brother to the winner and produced another Gun Runner filly this season before returning to the dual champion once more.
Sunday, Saratoga
ADIRONDACK S.-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-8, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.99, ft.
1–WICKED HALO, 120, f, 2, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Just Wicked (GSW, $208,460), by Tapit
2nd Dam: Wicked Deed, by Harlan's Holiday
3rd Dam: Marfa's Squall, by Marfa
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
3-2-0-1, $144,650. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. *Second SW for freshman
sire (by Candy Ride {Arg).
2–Interstatedaydream, 120, f, 2, Classic Empire–Babcock, by
Uncle Mo. ($105,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $130,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP; $175,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Flurry Racing Stables
LLC; B-William D. Graham (ON); T-Brad H. Cox. $40,000.
3–Saucy Lady T, 120, f, 2, Tonalist–Fila Primera, by War
Front. ($5,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman &
Stuart Tsujimoto; B-R. S. Evans (KY); T-James K. Chapman.
$24,000.
Margins: 3HF, HF, HF. Odds: 4.70, 16.70, 36.75.
Also Ran: Mainstay, Microbiome, Ontheonesandtwos, J L's Rockette, Shesawildjoker, Boss Lady Kim.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post Gun Runner’s Wicked Halo Gives Asmussen Full-Circle Win in Adirondack appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
6th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-8, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.72, ft, 2 1/4 lengths.
DREAM LITH (f, 2, Medaglia d'Oro–Elle Sueno, by Street Cry {Ire}), the longest shot in the field at 36-1, was quickly in stride from an outside post and settled into a tracking spot through fractions of :22.60 and :45.75. She split horses coming off the turn and ground down the lane under a vigorous ride from David Cohen before drawing away late with good energy. She left no doubt about the outcome with 2 1/4 lengths of daylight on Mommasgottarun (Maclean's Music). Dam Elle Sueno has a yearling full-sister to Dream Lith and a 2021 filly by Justify. Bred back to Laoban, she is out of 2009 GI Darley Debutante S. winner Mi Sueno (Pulpit), who is in turn out of 2004 GI Ashland S. winner Madcap Escapade (Hennessy). Sales History: $590,000 RNA Wlg '19 FTKNOV. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $55,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Cypress Creek Equine & Arnold Bennewith; B-Southern Equine Stables, LLC (KY); T-Robertino Diodoro.
The post $590K Medaglia d’Oro Weanling Buyback Wins Spa Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
The win by Princess Grace in Saturday's Yellow Ribbon Handicap was the sixth at that level at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., for trainer Michael Stidham.
And maybe it was just the heat of the moment, but it seemed in the winner's circle afterward that seeing the 4-year-old daughter of Karakontie bursting between horses at the top of the stretch in the $200,000, 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 event and proceeding resolutely to a 1 ¼-length victory, topped the previous five here for the 63-year-old Stidham.
“I always, always love coming back to Del Mar,” Stidham, 63, said. “I was here all through the 1980s and it's almost like coming home. It's a great feeling. Part of my family – my daughter from college and my mother – are here and it's just a fantastic feeling.”
Stidham trained Princess Grace's mother, Masquerade, and said that the two were similarly tenacious, “always digging in and trying to win every time out.” Princess Grace, he said, was more talented – as evidenced by five wins and a second in six career starts over six different racetracks. “She should be undefeated, the one loss was just unlucky,” Stidham said.
Based in New Orleans, Stidham campaigns horses extensively in the Midwest and East, but has had success shipping here for stakes events over the last seven years.
In 2014, he won the San Clemente Stakes and the Sandy Blue with Istanford. He took back-to-back runnings of the Jimmy Durante during the fall meeting in 2018 and 2019 with Elsa and Alms, respectively. Pixelate's victory in last year's Del Mar Derby made it three straight years of at least one Del Mar stakes victory for Stidham, a streak that Princess Grace extended.
“I have to say, one of the reasons I'm here is David Jerkens, the racing secretary,” Stidham said. “He's constantly calling me and wanting me to bring a string out – which I did a few years ago – and keeping me updated on races. He does a great job, and I want to give him credit for being part of the reason I came.”
Princess Grace exited the Yellow Ribbon in fine fettle. Her next assignment is undetermined.
“I haven't looked past (the Yellow Ribbon),” Stidham said. “This was going to be her test to step up to another league and she obviously passed the test really well.”
The post Stidham Celebrates Another Stakes Win At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
