September, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Forego Winner Yaupon To Stand At Spendthrift Farm Upon Retirement

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon, winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, will stand at Spendthrift Farm for the 2022 breeding season.

The Uncle Mo colt will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar as a primary goal before retiring at year's end. A stud fee will be determined at that time.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Bill and Corinne (Heiligbrodt) on their newest Grade 1 winner, Yaupon. Obviously, the last time they won the Forego at Saratoga it was with Mitole, so we are hopeful Yaupon can close out his racing career in similar fashion,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Aside from being extremely fast, Yaupon is one of the best-looking sons of Uncle Mo you will find anywhere. When breeders come out to the farm and see a fast Saratoga Grade 1 winner by Uncle Mo that is as beautiful as he is on the end of a lead shank, we believe we will get a lot of 'Yeses.'”

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Yaupon has won six of his eight races including the first four starts of his career in 2020. After winning on debut at Churchill and capturing a Saratoga allowance race, the dark bay colt reeled off back-to-back graded victories by open lengths, including the G2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga over Grade 1 winner Basin in 1:08.50 for six furlongs. Yaupon also won the G3 Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness weekend by four lengths in 1:09.10, a performance that would make him the betting favorite in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

This year, Yaupon has entered the second half of his 4-year-old season fresh and on another winning streak. He returned to Pimlico to take the Lite the Fuse Stakes on July 4 in 1:09.42 before Saturday's Grade 1 triumph as the favorite in the storied Forego. Making his first start at seven furlongs, Yaupon led gate to wire in 1:21.74 in the Forego, defeating five Grade 1 winners and earning a 103 Beyer.

“Yaupon is an absolutely stunning physical with an unbelievable pedigree, and he might have been one of the fastest horses we have ever seen at a 2-year-old-in-training sales,” said Bill Heiligbrodt. “Last year, after four straight wins and two graded stakes, we thought he had a very good chance to win the Breeders' Cup, and he ended up being the favorite in the race. But a very rough trip nullified any chance. After his most recent victory in the Forego, we look forward to returning to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Corinne and I have been racing horses since the 1980s and have been lucky to be represented by a lot of nice horses. Yaupon is our best ever when you combine speed, pedigree and conformation.”

By leading sire Uncle Mo, Yaupon is out of the Grade 1-placed mare Modification, by Vindication. He has now banked $703,264 to date.

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Full Brother To Songbird Will Debut Saturday At Saratoga

OXO Equine's Galt, a full-brother to two-time champion Songbird, will make his career debut in a seven-furlong maiden special weight on Saturday [Race 7, 3:53 p.m.] at Saratoga.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the son of Medaglia d'Oro, out of the graded stakes-winning West Acre mare Ivanavinalot, was purchased for $400,000 as a weanling from the 2019 Keeneland November Sale, where he was consigned by Eaton Sales.

Galt has breezed consistently over the Oklahoma training track since late June and most recently went a half-mile in 48.15 seconds on Aug. 29.

Mott said Galt has developed well in his time at Saratoga.

“He's made a lot of progress,” Mott said. “He was very backwards when he came in, and he's progressed probably as rapidly as you could possibly expect. He still is a big, gangly colt, but we have enough work into him and he's improved enough that we think we can get a start in him. He's a big, handsome leggy colt that's come around well enough that makes us think we can get him started.”

Jockey Joel Rosario has the mount from post 8.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle Misbehaved for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert V. LaPenta.

The bay son of leading sire Into Mischief was bought for $875,000 from the OBS April Sale from DeMeric Sales. He is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Loveofalifetime, making him a full brother to Into Mystic – a multiple turf sprint stakes winner.

Misbehaved worked a half-mile from the gate over the Oklahoma training track in 49.21 on August 21 before drilling through a half-mile over the main track in 47.66 on August 29.

“He's trained like a horse that will run well in his debut,” Pletcher said. “His last gate work was particularly good, so hopefully he gets away cleanly and runs the way he's been training.”

Leading rider Luis Saez will ride from post 4.

Olympian, owned by Gatsas Stables, R. A. Hill Stable and Swick Stable, makes his debut for trainer George Weaver.

The gray or roan son of American Pharoah worked a half-mile in 48 seconds flat from the gate on August 29 over the Saratoga main track.

Olympian is out of the Unbridled's Song mare Alpha Mama, who produced turf graded stakes-winner Alpha Kitten.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from post 5.

One race prior, juveniles will contest 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course featuring Bass Racing's regally-bred Annapolis for Pletcher.

The homebred son of War Front is out of graded stakes winner My Miss Sophia, who also was Grade 1-placed on turf.

Annapolis has several turf works under his belt, including a seven-furlong move on August 15, where he went the distance in 1:28 flat. He last went five furlongs in 1:02.77 over the Oklahoma training turf on August 29.

“He's been training well. He seemed to take to the turf course when we breezed him,” Pletcher said. We're looking forward to getting him going. He's a big, strong colt. There could be dirt in his future but right now, it looks like he's a little better on the turf.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 6.

Mott will send out Juddmonte homebred Calloway Peak. A son of Arrogate, who won the 2016 Grade 1 Travers in record time, Calloway Peak is out of the Mizzen Mast mare Filimbi, who was a graded stakes winner at one mile over the grass. Her grand dam is 2001 Kentucky Oaks winner Flute.

“He's worked well,” Mott said “He's still a very immature colt. He's green, but we feel like we'll benefit from getting him started.”

Breaking from post 3, Calloway Peak will be piloted by Joel Rosario.

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Brennan: Essential Quality ‘The Total Package’ From Day One

Niall Brennan has prepared young horses for their racing careers long enough to know a potential star when he sees one. When he broke Grade 1 Runhappy Travers winner Essential Quality at his training center in Ocala, Fla., he said he saw a bright future ahead of the sensational Tapit colt.

Trained by Eclipse Award winning conditioner Brad Cox, Godolphin's Essential Quality added a fourth Grade 1 triumph to his stellar ledger on Saturday by winning the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers.

Essential Quality earned Champion 2-Year-Old honors last season with victories in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland.

Following his lone defeat when fourth in the Kentucky Derby, Essential Quality racked up meaningful wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5 and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 30 at Saratoga. In doing so, he became the first horse since Arts and Letters in 1969 to take down all three races.

“We had a few Godolphin colts and he was one that you could really see the light going on,” Brennan recalled. “Especially for a Tapit colt, many of them can be unfocused. They can be a little tough, but this lad wasn't. He was a good feeling colt but always very professional and smart.”

Brennan said that progeny of multiple champion producing sire Tapit can be tough to handle, but Essential Quality carried himself in a professional manner.

“Tapits are tough. They're hardy,” Brennan said. “The ones that are good are very good. He was never a bad actor, and was always a smart horse. He played around like all colts do. They get turned out every day in the paddock. He always showed that he would go to the racetrack, love his job and train well. Every day he would catch your eye.”

Brennan described Essential Quality as the “total package” because he had many attributes that great horses display early on in their development.

“You know they have talent when they have a good frame of mind, demeanor and conformation. He was the total package,” Brennan said. “When he went on to Brad, he just kept going and stepping forward. He was easy to be around. He was one of those colts. You can't ever say for sure how good a horse will be until they go out there on the track and do it, but he had done everything right.”

Brennan said Essential Quality really started flaunting his excellence early on in his 2-year-old year.

“You could tell he had that ability and had taken better shape physically and putting it all together,” Brennan said. “It was a nice progression from February to March and March to April, The good ones keep progressing and focus on their work. He did show talent and that he really loved his job.”

Brennan's sentiments were echoed by Godolphin USA president Jimmy Bell.

“I remember the comments from him early on. Niall said, 'You can go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do with him',” Bell recalled. “He was very, very forward. All you had to do was ask him and he would deliver whatever it is you might be wanting. When he came in to Brad as a 2-year-old, in his second or third breeze he had Brad scratching his head because he was doing things a little differently than the rest of them. The talent isn't a surprise, the surprise is how much he's done with it in the afternoon.”

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Silver State Possible For Woodward Or Kelso

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State (Hard Spun), who had a six-race winning streak snapped with a third-place effort behind Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Whitney S. Aug. 7, going remain at the nine-furlong distance for the GI Woodward S. Oct. 2 or could cut back to Belmont's one-turn mile for the GII Kelso S. Sept. 25.

The 4-year-old has already shown an affinity for the latter track and trip, having made the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. the last of his half-dozen victories in a row June 5.

“He's doing great,” David Fiske, manager and bloodstock advisor to Ron Winchell, told the NYRA notes team. “He's been remarkably sound all year.”

Fiske also reported that Wicked Halo (Gun Runner), wire-to-wire winner of the GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga Aug. 8, is getting some down time.

“She's taking a little break,” Fiske said. “After the Adirondack we decided to just give her some time and get her ready for the later part of the year. [Trainer] Steve [Asmussen]'s relying on his experience with her mother [fellow Adirondack winner Just Wicked {Tapit}), and he felt that he might have rushed her a little bit, so he didn't want to make the same mistake.”

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