Month: November 2021

Bloodlines: Aloha West’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint Adds To Hard Spun’s Growing Legend At Stud

Among the stallions whose stock enjoyed success at the 2021 Breeders' Cup, Darley's Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) clearly scored the most with three winners: Yibir (in the Turf); Space Blues (Mile); and Modern Games (Juvenile Turf). All three victories came on the turf course at Del Mar.

In other stallion news, Gun Runner confirmed his position as the top freshman sire with Echo Zulu's impressive victory in the BC Juvenile Fillies, which almost certainly will translate into an Eclipse Award for champion juvenile filly, and Quality Road had a correspondingly impressive winner with Corniche, who is a virtual certainty as the Eclipse Award winner for champion 2-year-old colt.

Of all the sires of winners at the 2021 Breeders' Cup, however, the one who added luster to his resume at a most opportune time was the 17-year-old Danzig stallion Hard Spun, who stands at Darley's Jonabell in Kentucky.

Hard Spun has had a really good year as a sire in 2021, with Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap winner Silver State and a half-dozen other stakes winners, including Grade 1-placed Caddo River. At the Breeders' Cup in full view of all the most important breeders and against the strongest competition, Hard Spun captured a major share of the limelight with the winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint in Aloha West, whose victory pushed the sire into the top 10 stallions nationally by total progeny earnings for 2021.

Second in the Kentucky Derby to Street Sense and second in the Breeders' Cup Classic of 2007 to Curlin, Hard Spun was part of the splendid three-year-old crop of 2007 that included other star sires of the present like Horse of the Year Curlin (Smart Strike) and champion juvenile Street Sense (Street Cry). All three are important stallions in the immensely competitive Kentucky sire pool.

And of the three, Hard Spun would be viewed as the value play by many breeders, standing for $35,000 live foal in 2021 and 2022. For next year, Street Sense is set for a stud fee of $75,000, and Curlin is $175,000.

And yet Hard Spun has proven he can get the major racers, with 87 stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Questing (Alabama Stakes), Wicked Strong (Wood Memorial), Silver State, and others.

Bred in Maryland by Bob Manfuso and Katharine Voss, Aloha West is out of the Speightstown mare Island Bound. The dark bay colt brought $160,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, selling to Gary and Mary West, with their agent Ben Glass signing the ticket.

Various setbacks kept the handsome colt from racing at two and three, and he won his debut on Feb. 7 of 2021. Trainer Wayne Catalano noted that Eclipse Stables's “Aron Wellman spotted the colt after he won, and he inquired about buying the horse. The Wests and their agent Ben Glass always want to know if anyone wants to buy a horse, and they say 'yes' or 'no' about selling a horse. They sell a lot of horses. They don't know at the time just how they will turn out, and this one turned out really well. But Mr. West is a business man, and he makes business decisions.

“These are all wonderful people to train for, and sometimes, when the Wests are willing to sell a horse, I try to find owners to keep them in house. Mr. West is a great guy about allowing me to do that.”

Catalano said that he was especially happy to keep Aloha West, as the lightly raced 4-year-old colt “has a world of speed, and we knew there was ability there. But that colt has really shown so much willingness that he deserves to compete with the best.”

A nose away from winning three of his first four starts, Aloha West has also won three of his last four starts, but the Breeders' Cup Sprint was his first stakes victory. The dark bay has now won five of nine starts, all in 2021, and earned $1.3 million.

Aloha West is the second winner of a Breeders' Cup race for Hard Spun. His son Spun to Run won the 2019 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and stands at stud at Gainesway in Lexington.

With the pedigree and speed of Aloha West, there is clearly a spot at stud for him sometime in the future, but Eclipse Thoroughbreds has indicated that he will race in 2022, when he would obviously compete for further glory at sprints…and perhaps at somewhat longer distances.

The post Bloodlines: Aloha West’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint Adds To Hard Spun’s Growing Legend At Stud appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Juveniles Buff My Boots, Sparkle Sprinkle Face Off Again In Saturday’s Smart Halo

Buff My Boots and Sparkle Sprinkle, respectively first and third in the Maryland Million Lassie last month, are entered to renew their budding rivalry as part of a field of eight for the $100,000 Smart Halo on Saturday at Laurel Park.

Bird Mobberley's Buff My Boots and Eric Rizer homebred Sparkle Sprinkle have met in each of their past two starts. Buff My Boots ran third and Sparkle Sprinkle sixth in an Oct. 3 starter optional claimer at Laurel that served as their Maryland Million prep.

Buff My Boots set the pace in the Lassie through testing splits of 22.58 and 45.63 seconds and lost the lead by a head to Sparkle Sprinkle once straightened for home before coming on again to get up by a half-length over My Thoughts.

“To tell you the truth, I thought she was beat at the head of the lane when [Sparkle Sprinkle] came to her, and she showed her guts. She dug back in,” trainer John Salzman Jr. said. “There's no doubt about it, she can run. And she's fast, and it looks like she'll carry it a little further. She was sort of going away from those horses. There were some horses that came running late, but she's a nice filly. She's done everything I've asked of her. Knock on wood, she seems to have come out of that race good.”

Buff My Boots drew outside Post 8 under regular rider J. D. Acosta. If Salzman opts not to run on the quick turnaround, he will point to the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Fillies for Maryland-bred/sired horses going seven furlongs Dec. 4.

“It's just a little quicker back than I'd like to see off a big effort like she gave me,” Salzman said. “If there's something that I don't like or if somebody shows up that I think is really tough, I'll just skip it and wait for the Maryland-bred race.”

Sparkle Sprinkle was making her stakes debut in the Lassie, her fourth career start. Trained by Jerry Robb, she opened with back-to-back wins Aug. 28 at Timonium and Sept. 18 at Laurel, before running a troubled sixth in the Oct. 3 race won by Click to Confirm, who is also entered in the Smart Halo.

Louis Ulman and Stephen Parker's Whiteknuckleflyer graduated by a head in her fourth and most recent start, a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight on the Laurel turf Oct. 21. Favored over nine rivals, she raced in stalking position before taking over the top spot past the sixteenth pole and hanging on to win in a photo over Candy Light and Candy Arcade.

“She ran well in that race. The two that were behind her, second and third, were first-time starters that were pretty well-bred and look like they might be nice horses, so I thought it was a pretty good race,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “She came out of it good and breezed well the other day, so we're going to look at the stake and see how it comes up.”

In addition to her win on turf, Whiteknuckleflyer was also second to Laurel-based Murph in the Sept. 25 Small Wonder sprinting over Delaware Park's main track. The Smart Halo will be her first race at a distance other than 5 ½ furlongs.

“It pretty much doesn't matter what kind of track I run her on. She seems to handle both turf and dirt just fine. We're definitely pleased about that,” Capuano said. “She's not quite as quick as some of those other fillies, so she doesn't mind being behind and running on. It works out well.”

Jorge Ruiz returns to ride from Post 4. All fillies will carry 122 pounds.

Click to Confirm, wheeling back in nine days after suffering her first loss while finishing seventh as the favorite in an optional claiming allowance at Laurel; Intrepid Daydream, a 16 ¾-length maiden special weight winner Oct. 20 at Delaware; Luna Belle, fourth by a length in the Lassie; Trade Secret, a last-out winner for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen; and Buy the Best, riding a two-race win streak, round out the field.

Smart Halo, by top Maryland sire Smarten, won the first race on the inaugural Maryland Million Day program in 1986, beating In the Curl by a neck in the Lassie to cap a perfect 3-0 campaign. Bred in Canada by E.P. Taylor and owned by Sam-Son Farm, Smart Halo was trained by Canadian Hall of Famer Jim Day.

The post Juveniles Buff My Boots, Sparkle Sprinkle Face Off Again In Saturday’s Smart Halo appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Undefeated Run To Daylight Headlines Saturday’s James F. Lewis III Stakes At Laurel

David Raim's Run to Daylight, undefeated through three starts including back-to-back stakes wins, hits the road for the first time in an attempt to keep his perfect record intact in Saturday's $100,000 James F. Lewis III at Laurel Park.

The 10th running of the Lewis for 2-year-olds and 25th renewal of the $100,00 Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting six furlongs, join the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go for females 3 and older going 1 1/16 miles on the nine-race program. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Run to Daylight, a gelded bay son of champion sprinter Runhappy, has been favored in each of his first three races, winning by 11 ¼ combined lengths, all at trainer Jeff Runco's Charles Town base. Run to Daylight debuted August 22 and captured the Sept. 18 Henry Mercer Memorial going 4 ½ furlongs, before taking the 6 ½-furlong Vincent Moscarelli Memorial Breeders' Classic Oct. 9.

“So far he's done pretty good. He's a nice Runhappy colt that's won two stakes now, and he's got a little experience,” Runco said. “We stretched him out and he kind of got off a little slow in his last start, but was able to overcome that and ran very well. He kind of pulled away there at the end. He ran a nice race.”

Because of his tardy break last out, Run to Daylight showed a new dimension in the Moscarelli after a pair of front-running triumphs. All of his races have come under jockey Arnaldo Bocachica, who returns to ride from Post 2 in a field of eight. All horses carry 122 pounds.

“Whenever you have a horse that's gone to the lead twice, and won both on the lead, if they get off slow and then they show that they can come from off the pace, its shows that the horse definitely has some talent and he's versatile,” Runco said. “He doesn't have to be in front. I like seeing that; I'm sure any trainer would. He ran a real nice race off the pace last time and finished up well.”

Run to Daylight initially fetched $115,000 at Keeneland's January 2020 Horses of All Ages sale, then was purchased by Raim for $60,000 as a yearling eight months later from the Dromoland Farm consignment. Runco signed the ticket.

“We've liked him all along. I liked him when I bought him as a yearling. I've had some siblings out of same family and they've all run pretty good. He's a real nice-looking colt. Once we got him in training, he worked well,” Runco said. “I'm not sure if he'll go a route or not yet. It's still a little early, but that's a possibility. He definitely looks like six or seven [furlongs] is going to be fine for him as a 2-year-old.”

Runco also entered Coleswood Farm, Inc.'s homebred Amidships, a maiden winner second time out Sept. 18 at Charles Town who ran a decisive second to his stablemate in the Moscarelli, 10 lengths clear of third-place finisher Ryan's Sword. By Midshipman, he is also making his first start outside his native West Virginia.

“He ran a good race, and he had a little bit of a tough trip. He got off just a tick slow, not bad, but he had to chase three wide on a really hot pace. He was three wide around the turn and it just kind of got to him the last part of it.,” Runco said. “I'm not saying which one of the two is better; the other horse won the race. But when you chase three wide, that's tough on a horse that's only run two times. He's a pretty nice colt, too. If he gets a good trip I think he'll be formidable, also.”

Denis Araujo has the call on Amidships from Post 3.

Three other stakes winners are entered in the Lewis – Timonium Juvenile winner Cynergy's Star, coming off a sixth in the Maryland Million Nursery Oct. 23 at Laurel; Local Motive, winner of the Hickory Tree on the Colonial Downs turf Aug. 8 in his second start; and No Sabe Nada, who captured the Sept. 25 First State Dash at Delaware Park. No Sabe Nada was most recently third in the one-mile Rocky Run Oct. 16 at Delaware; the winner, Cooke Creek, came back to be second in the Nov. 6 Nashua (G2) at Belmont Park.

Bird Mobberley's Maryland-bred Local Motive was a debut winner July 24 going six furlongs on the main track at historic Pimlico Race Course, then cut back to five-eighths and switched to turf for the Hickory Tree, rallying by a half-length. In his most recent start, he pressed the pace set by eventual winner Buff Hello into the stretch before tiring to be third by 2 ¼ lengths, beaten a neck for second by Coastal Mission. Both horses were also nominated to the Lewis.

“He chased that horse all the way and he didn't stop. He got beat a [neck] for second but, on a normal basis, I don't think that horse beats him again,” trainer John Salzman Jr. said. “He's doing fine, he's training fine, he came out of that race and everything's good. The only reason I'd hesitate is the three weeks. That horse ran big. It's just going to be up to what the race looks like.”

Salzman is proud of how Local Motive has rebounded from a failed run in the Timonium Juvenile, where he went off as the favorite but was pulled up by jockey J.D. Acosta and vanned off following a freak incident. Acosta rides back from Post 7.

“He's a nice horse. He's done everything I've asked of him. He's won on the turf, he's won on the dirt. Timonium was just a freak thing,” Salzman said. “He got hit in the eye and it scared him more than anything. He was all over the place and he scared the rider. He did the right thing and he pulled him up. He thought something serious was wrong and, knock on wood, it wasn't. He came back and he gave me a big effort.”

Completing the field are Timonium Juvenile runner-up Slaats, a popular waiver maiden claiming winner Oct. 15 at Laurel; Beast or Famine, a winner of two straight; and Tops the Chart, who exits a Sept. 25 maiden special weight victory at Monmouth Park.

The James F. Lewis III honors the late longtime Maryland horseman and first president of Maryland Million Ltd. He bred and/or campaigned a number of prominent runners in the region, led by 1974 Test (G2) winner Maybelline, Flirtation (G3) winner Heartful and multiple stakes winner Swift Attraction. His daughter, Lisa, is a multiple graded-stakes winning trainer based in New York and Florida.

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