Month: August 2021

Grade 1 Winner Known Agenda Retired To Spendthrift Farm For 2022 Season

Known Agenda, the dominant winner of this year's Grade 1 Florida Derby, has been retired from racing and will take up stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022.

The son of leading sire Curlin will stand for an introductory fee of $10,000 S&N and will be offered through the farm's renowned “Share The Upside” program on a limited basis. He is available for inspection by appointment.

“Any time you can add a Florida Derby winner by Curlin with his looks and pedigree, you jump at the opportunity. Known Agenda ticks an awful lot of boxes, and the Florida Derby has produced a lot of very good sires, especially in recent history,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “We are delighted to partner again with Vinnie Viola, who bred and raced this colt out of his Grade 1-winning mare. Known Agenda is one of those rare classic-type Grade 1 winners that is by a Grade 1 winner and out of a Grade 1 winner. He reminded us quite a bit of Vino Rosso, another son of Curlin that we stand that Vinnie co-owned and campaigned with Todd Pletcher. If Known Agenda's foals look anything like what we have seen from Vino Rosso, then the sky's the limit.”

A homebred for Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stables, Known Agenda broke his maiden as a 2-year-old last fall at Aqueduct, defeating eventual G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes winner Greatest Honour. At three, he won a Gulfstream allowance race by 11 lengths before capturing the prestigious $750,000 Florida Derby going away by 2 3/4 lengths, stamping himself as a leading sophomore.

“We are excited to be standing Known Agenda, our first homebred to go to stud, at Spendthrift Farm,” said Viola. “This colt showed early promise at two and continued to move forward at three with a dominant victory in the Florida Derby. We are looking for him to continue the great tradition of Florida Derby winners going on to successful stud careers, and we plan on supporting him heavily in that mission.”

Known Agenda joined champion Essential Quality and Medina Spirit as the only Kentucky Derby contenders to run a 6 on the Ragozin Sheets heading into the Run for the Roses, where he would encounter a troubled trip breaking from the vaunted post No. 1.

An earner of $641,700, Known Agenda became the first Florida Derby winner for his sire Curlin. He is also a Grade 1 winner by a Grade 1 winner and out of a Grade 1 winner, as his dam Byrama captured the 2013 Vanity S. (G1) on the main track at Hollywood Park.

“Known Agenda reminded me a great deal of Vino Rosso. He possessed the qualities of some of the better Curlins we've had. He's a good-sized, athletic, very well-balanced horse,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “His Florida Derby win was ultra-impressive, and, obviously, that's been a great race for us when you think of the colts that have gone on to become top sires like Scat Daddy and Constitution.”

The post Grade 1 Winner Known Agenda Retired To Spendthrift Farm For 2022 Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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UOFL Equine Industry Series in Person in ’21

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program (EIP), in conjunction with Horse Racing Nation, released its free Fall 2021 speaker series, which will be held in person this year on the UofL campus. The series includes panel discussions on the “Super Card” trend in racing and growing racing through diversity and inclusion.

The final event in the series will be an interview with Houston business owner, philanthropist and horse owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. The events will be held from 5:30-6:45p.m., and will be broadcast live on the Horse Racing Nation Facebook page.

This year's series features:

Sept. 14  – “Examining Horse Racing's 'Super Card' Trend,” Horn Auditorium – UofL College of Business

  • Eric Halstrom – vice president and general manager of racing, Indiana Grand Racetrack & Casino
  • Ben Huffman – vice president, racing and racing secretary, Churchill Downs and Keeneland
  • Jon Moss – executive director, Iowa HBPA Inc.

Panel moderated by Jude Feld, racing analyst and contributor, Horse Racing Radio Network.

Oct. 12  – “How Racing Can Grow Through Diversity and Inclusion,” UofL Student Activities Center

  • Jason Wilson – chief operating officer, 1/ST Content
  • Greg Harbut – founder and president, Harbut Bloodstock
  • Ron Mack – executive director, Legacy Equine Academy

Panel moderated by Alicia Hughes – digital content editor, TVG/FanDuel.

Nov. 9  – “An Evening with “MATTRESS MACK,” aka Jim McIngvale,” UofL Student Activities Center

The series concludes with an entertaining evening with Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, known in racing circles for his strong opinions on the sport, horses running medication free and supporting the ecosystem of horse racing by placing wagers at the racetrack instead of advance-deposit wagering accounts.

Tickets are required for the free events. For more information and tickets, contact Kimberly Spear at kimberly.spear@louisville.edu or 502-852-7727.

The post UOFL Equine Industry Series in Person in ’21 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Bloodlines Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Pacific Classic Winner Tripoli Charts New Trails For Kitten’s Joy, Tapit

A victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic made Tripoli the first Grade 1 winner on dirt for the important sire Kitten's Joy, one of the two top-tier sons of El Prado (by Sadler's Wells) at stud in Kentucky. The other is Darley's Medaglia d'Oro, a top-class dirt racer who sires elite racers on dirt and turf.

Kitten's Joy, an exceptional turf champion here in the States, has sired 14 G1 winners on turf, and his importance in that regard is such that he is one of the most consistently popular sires in the country for European breeders and buyers. With performers such as Hawkbill (Eclipse Stakes), Roaring Lion (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes), and Kameko (2,000 Guineas) abroad, there is no question that the success which Kitten's Joy has shown in America also translates directly into exceptional form overseas.

Based at Hill 'n' Dale Farms outside Paris, Ky., Kitten's Joy stands for $60,000 live foal this year, and he has high-class young sons at stud in Kentucky (G1 winners Oscar Performance at Mill Ridge; Divisidero at Airdrie; Big Blue Kitten and Real Solution at Calumet), in Japan (Hawkbill at Darley Japan), and in Europe (G1 winners Kameko at Tweenhills and Bobby's Kitten at Lanwades). Roaring Lion unfortunately died after one season at stud, and his only crop are now yearlings.

An imposing individual who combines substance and scope in his physique, Kitten's Joy gets turf performers so consistently that Tripoli made his first 11 starts on that surface, winning two. Switched to dirt three races back, the handsome chestnut has won two and finished a close second to Express Train (Union Rags) in the G2 San Diego Handicap in their prep for the Pacific Classic.

A good horse on turf, Tripoli is evidently better on dirt. With victory in the Pacific Classic, he became the seventh G1 winner for Tapit as a broodmare sire. Is the latter fact a telling point? Probably.

An unequivocal factor for both speed and for stamina, Tapit loves grass. Eats it every day.

His racers, however, are not widely tested on turf racing. Some have excelled, but with their pace and handy way of going, they tend to do quite well on dirt, and they aren't most trainers' first thoughts for “turf horses.” While their action and overall aptitude indicates that the Tapit stock should be as good on firm turf as over dirt, they don't shape like horses who would prefer racing over a bog.

Bred in Kentucky by Blue Devil Racing Stable LLC, Tripoli is the second foal of Love Train, who is one of her sire's 283 black-type horses. A winner of three races from 10 starts and $146,499, Love Train was third in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and is a half-sister to stakes winner Starfish Bay (Elusive Quality), who is the dam of stakes winner Blind Ambition (Tapit).

Love Train was bred by Gainesway and sold at the 2011 Saratoga select yearling sale for $250,000. An elegant filly with quality, typical of the Tapit fillies, Love Train showed enough ability for Blue Devil Racing to bring her back to Kentucky and put her in the broodmare band. Bred to high-quality sires annually, Love Train did not excite the commercial market with her foals, except for a chestnut colt by Kitten's Joy.

A good-sized colt with much of his sire's muscularity and robust stance, Tripoli was a very good yearling, and he sold like it. Bringing $450,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale from the Lane's End Sales consignment, Tripoli sold for the fifth-highest price by a yearling of his sire that season.

Aside from the colt later named Tripoli, however, Love Train proved herself a noncommercial broodmare, and for the 2020 Keeneland November sale, she was entered and sold for $70,000 to Barry K. Schwartz. Although listed as in foal to leading sire Union Rags, the mare does not show a reported foal of 2020 and may have been empty at the time of sale.

Now that Tripoli has made good, both the sire and dam can bask in some of the reflected glory of their son's G1 success.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Pacific Classic Winner Tripoli Charts New Trails For Kitten’s Joy, Tapit appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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