When trainer George Leonard III began training horses in 1991, his stable was represented by two winners that earned a grand total of just over $5,000 combined. The conditioner's 15th winner of 2021, California Angel (California Chrome), earned a check better than 20 times that amount in Wednesday's GII JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. at Keeneland, coming with a strong finishing kick over the top of rivals to give Leonard III his first stakes victory of any variety while securing a fees-paid berth into the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf Nov. 5 at Del Mar.
Void of any early speed as heavily favored Turnerloose (Nyquist) tried to build on her victory in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Sept. 6, California Angel settled one from the tail and three wide down the backstretch and into the second turn. Ridden along by Rafael Bejarano five-sixteenths of a mile from home, the chestnut was produced on the grandstand side in upper stretch, some eight off the inside, and raced on her incorrect lead for most of the final two furlongs, but was up in the nick of time to cause the upset. Diamond Wow (Lookin At Lucky) sat a wide trip, mostly without cover, from a high draw and battled on bravely through the lane, only to be pipped late while covering 17 feet more than the winner, per Trakus. Turnerloose had no visible excuse in third.
California Angel was no better than a 28-1 gamble for her Sept. 8 unveiling going the mile at Kentucky Downs, and she was off to an inauspicious and awkward start before settling in a detached last of nine. Ridden without panic by Bejarano, she was steered into the three path at the half-mile point, made eyecatching outside progress in the false straight and kicked home powerfully down the center to score by 2 3/4 highly impressive lengths. She wasn't off to the most promising of beginnings when last seen in a six-furlong allowance over the Churchill main track Sept. 30, but she gained steadily to round out the trifecta.
“I thought I had a special filly from the beginning, but I never dreamed of being here,” Leonard said from the winners' celebration on the Keeneland turf course. “After she won [her debut], I heard all this talk and we decided to try this. It's just been a dream come true. Everything's worked well, got an excellent rider in [Rafael Bejarano]. He gets along with her good. She made a perfect run. I couldn't ask for anything more. We're looking forward to California.”
Pedigree Notes:
California Angel is the second graded winner and second black-type winner for her expatriated sire, joining GII Prioress S. upsetter Cilla. One of 47 North American winners from her sire's two crops to race (78 winners including the Southern Hemisphere), California Angel was acquired by the BBA (Ireland) for $60,000 in utero at Keeneland January in 2019 and fetched $5,000 as a KEENOV weanling 10 months later. Leonard signed the ticket on California Angel after she worked an eighth of a mile in an extremely green :10 3/5 at this year's OBS June Sale.
The Feb. 10 foal is out of a stakes-placed half-sister to SW Let Em Shine (Songandaprayer) and Puerto Rican SW Golden Diamond (Gemologist) and is a half-sister to a yearling Distorted Humor filly that sold to Niall Brennan for €72,000 at this year's Goffs Orby sale. Sea Mona is the dam of a weanling filly by Irish National Stud's outstanding Invincible Spirit (Ire).
Wednesday, Keeneland
JPMORGAN CHASE JESSAMINE S.-GII, $200,000, Keeneland, 10-13, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:44.30, gd.
1–CALIFORNIA ANGEL, 118, f, 2, by California Chrome
               1st Dam: Sea Mona (SP), by Tiz Wonderful
               2nd Dam: Justaspell, by Johannesburg
               3rd Dam: Lovethespell, by Capote
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($5,000 Wlg
'19 KEENOV; $5,500 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Chris Walsh; B-Irish
National Stud (KY); T-George Leonard, III; J-Rafael Bejarano.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, $213,700. Werk Nick
Rating: B+. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Diamond Wow, 118, f, 2, Lookin At Lucky–Patriotic Diamond,
by Hat Trick (Jpn). O-Diamond 100 Racing Club, LLC, Amy
Dunne & Patrick L. Biancone LLC; B-Patrick Biacone Diamond
100 Racing C (KY); T-Patrick L. Biancone. $40,000.
3–Turnerloose, 120, f, 2, Nyquist–Goaltending, by A.P. Indy.
($32,000 RNA Wlg '19 KEENOV; $50,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Ike & Dawn Thrash; B-William Humphries & Altair Farms LLC
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $20,000.
Margins: HD, NK, 1. Odds: 17.80, 9.90, 0.80.
Also Ran: Dressed, Opalina, Roughly a Diamond, Misthaven (Ire), Kneesnhips, Bhoma, Queen Judith, Rigby, Boxing Day, Ontheonesandtwos. Scratched: Blissful, Decree of Love, Haughty. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post California Chrome Filly Flies Home To Upset Jessamine appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.
After finishing a well-beaten third behind potential GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite Corniche (Quality Road) sprinting on debut at Del Mar Sept. 4 (video), the promising War At Sea (c, 2, War Front–Serene Melody, by Street Cry {Ire}) stretches to two turns at Santa Anita Friday.
Off at 24-1 in his unveiling for the patient Ron Ellis barn, War At Sea chased from an inside fifth as Corniche threw it down through an opening quarter in :21.72 in a stretched-out field of 10. With the subsequent unbeaten GI American Pharoah S. winner in a race of his own turning for home and on his way to 'TDN Rising Stardom,' War At Sea continued on down the lane to pick up the show slot, eight lengths adrift the $1.5-million OBS April topper. War At Sea earned a very solid 78 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
“Obviously, the horse that beat him is one of the top 2-year-olds in the country and might even be favored in the Breeders' Cup, so he got beat by a good one,” Ellis said.
“I was very impressed with the way he ran. He had trained like he's a really good horse and I think the more distance, the better for him. He's not really a sprinter and I knew that first time out, but he showed a little bit more than I thought he would at 5 1/2 [furlongs].”
War At Sea has breezed five times since his debut, including a four-furlong drill in :47 4/5 (9/46) in Arcadia Oct. 11. He's listed at odds of 4-1 on the morning-line while facing nine rivals going a mile at Santa Anita Friday.
“Because I wasn't expecting much from him as a sprinter, I didn't wind him up real tight for that first start,” Ellis said. “We've tightened the screws just a little bit–I got him geared to improve with each race. We've got long-term goals with him. He probably was only 85% first out and he's probably at 90% now. After this race, he should be at a 100%. Just trying to have him get a little better with each race.”
Produced by a stakes-winning daughter of the brilliant Serena's Song (Rahy), War At Sea, bred in Kentucky by Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding, brought $525,000 from Doubledown Stables, Inc. after powering through an eighth in :10 from the Eddie Woods consignment at OBS March earlier this year. This is the female family of Grade/Group 1 winners Sophisticat (Storm Cat), Honor Code (A.P. Indy), et al. The War Front/Street Cry cross is also responsible for MGSW War Decree.
“I was very surprised that a horse of his size and pedigree to go farther could do that [go in :10 flat],” Ellis said. “I loved him at the sale.”
“The War Front colt was very backward as a yearling,” Woods said earlier this spring. “They didn't feel like he was going to bring what he should [as a yearling], so we were very lucky to get him from Mr. Lewis. He's trained beautifully all year. He's gotten better and better as we've gone along. We've always thought he was a serious horse.”
Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).
The post Second Chances: Promising War Front Colt Returns at Santa Anita Friday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
12.40 The Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, 7fT
DALMATIAN COAST (IRE)Â (Galileo {Ire}) represents Messrs Tabor/Smith and Magnier and Westerberg in this intriguing affair and is a notable newcomer as a half-brother to the G2 Richmond and G2 July S. winner and G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas-placed sire Ivawood (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}). Ballydoyle's May-foaled bay meets Robert Scarborough's once-raced Paris Lights (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), the Jessica Harrington-trained full-brother to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) and half to fellow Classic hero Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).
The post Half to Ivawood Starts at The Curragh appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
