The Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve serves as an ideal sporting event to combine amazing fashion with elite competition as the finest array of hats for any horse racing event compliment the best 3-year-olds on the planet competing in the historic run for the roses.
Month: May 2022
Jack is Back in Pat Day Mile
In the post-race interview, trainer Chad Brown compared Saturday's impressive GII Pat Day Mile winner Jack Christopher (Munnings) to Hall of Famer Ghostzapper (Awesome Again), who Brown worked with while under the tutelage of Bobby Frankel. Like Jack Christopher, Ghostzapper also missed the Triple Crown series and focused on races around one turn during his 3-year-old season before blossoming into a top handicap horse at four, including a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.
“This horse reminds me a lot of Ghostzapper, I was fortunate to work with that horse, he moves about the same as him and that one had a few rough patches as well,” Brown said. “He has a lot more to do, how far we'll see. It's a wonderful victory, very gratifying, but it's bittersweet that we got him to the first Saturday in May [but not the Derby], which we had been thinking about since he debuted at Saratoga. To get him here on the first Saturday in May, and to get him to the winner's circle, it'll always be in the back of my mind what could have been. It is what it is.”
While those are some big shoes to fill, and whether a 10-furlong Classic is in Jack Christopher's future remains to be seen, but he's certainly off to a good start with three impressive victories from as many starts.
Well hyped heading into his six-panel debut at Saratoga Aug. 28, the flashy chestnut–who is the spitting image of his sire–more than lived up to the buzz with a dazzling 8 3/4-length score, earning 'TDN Rising Star' honors. He followed suit with a decisive score in Belmont's one-mile GI Champagne S. Oct. 2, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. The early favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the $135,000 FTKOCT buy was scratched by the vets the night before the race. A stress fracture was discovered in his left shin which required a screw and he did not return to Brown until February, making the GI Kentucky Derby basically impossible.
Hammered down to 3-5 favoritism for this return, Jack Christopher brushed with his inside neighbor a bit after the break, but was kept steady by Jose Ortiz and tugged his way up three wide between horses to establish position exiting the chute. He pressed from a joint second as GII Best Pal S. winner Pappacap (Gun Runner) clocked early fractions of :22.70 and :45.61. Sidling up besides the pacesetter on the backstretch run, the Brown pupil seized command at the top of the stretch with Pappcap still to his inside and GIII Swale S. victor My Prankster (Into Mischief) ranging up to challenge on the outside. Neither proved to be any match for Jack Christopher, who was kept to task by Ortiz when he began to drift slightly in the lane and gunned clear in the final sixteenth to win as he pleased. Pappacap held second over My Prankster.
“We asked a lot of him today after a long layoff and an injury,” Brown said. “Coming off of a layoff, you never know, especially running a mile. I had a really good feel, here on Derby Day, I asked a lot of him. I chose this race because I wanted him to run against his own age group, and I didn't want to sprint the horse. I wanted to run him in a race that allowed him to stretch his legs a little bit, get comfortable at some point of the race, protect him, and to move him forward. It certainly worked today.”
The Eclipse winner continued, “Jose did a great job, he got squeezed a little bit at the start, and made the good decision to use him early to move him up and out and in the clear. He really took control of the race at that point. At the end of the day, he's a super talented race horse and if we can keep him on the track, we'll see a lot of great things from him.”
“Cutting back to one mile brought my horse's 'A' game today,” Ortiz said. “I was worried around the three-eighths pole because I thought if there was one horse that could beat me it was Pappacap after he ran so well last time [fourth in the GI Curlin Florida Derby]. So I moved into him and when I got to him at the five-sixteenths, I felt like I had him. I heard Flavien [Prat on Pappacap] asking for more and he wasn't getting anywhere. So I was confident and waited longer so I had plenty horse for the end.”
Pedigree Notes:
Jack Christopher is one of five Grade I winners for Coolmore's Munnings and one of three of his offspring to secure that top-level score in 2021 along with Eda and Kimari. Breeder Castleton Lyons purchased the winner's dam Rushin No Blushin for $70,000 at the 2014 KEENOV sale in foal to Congrats. The half-sister to MGISW sire Street Boss (Street Cry {Ire}) did not have much luck at first. The resulting foal died and her next two foals did not do much running. She was barren in 2018 and then came Jack Christopher. The 13-year-old mare's only foal since is a juvenile filly by Mo Town. Rushing No Blushing failed to get back in foal to Munnings for 2022 and visited Complexity last spring. This is also the family of graded winners Bellera, Life Imitates Art and Beyond Blame.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
PAT DAY MILE S. PRESENTED BY LG&E AND KU-GII, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 5-7, 3yo, 1m, 1:34.81, ft.
1–JACK CHRISTOPHER, 122, c, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours
2nd Dam: Blushing Ogygian, by Ogygian
3rd Dam: Fruhlingshochzeit, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT). *TDN Rising Star*. O-Jim Bakke, Gerry Isbister, Coolmore Stud and White Birch Farm, Inc.; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $291,400. Lifetime Record: GISW, 3-3-0-0, $621,400. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Pappacap, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy. O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse. $94,000.
3–My Prankster, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–My Wandy's Girl, by Flower Alley. ($600,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Lawana L. and Robert E. Low; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $47,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, HD, 2. Odds: 0.70, 7.50, 8.20.
Also Ran: O Captain, Trafalgar, Doppelganger, Tejano Twist, Kavod, Major General, Trademark, Ben Diesel. Scratched: Howling Time.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
The post Jack is Back in Pat Day Mile appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Pricey Arqana Buy Speak of the Devil Leads Home Brant and Brown 1-2 at Churchill
Peter Brant's €$1.95-million investment at last year's Arqana December sale to acquire Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) looks like it might be paying off as the even-money favorite in Saturday's GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. showed off an uncommon turn-of-foot to blow away fellow Brant/Chad Brown representative and 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian. The victory came almost exactly 24 hours after Brant and Brown celebrated another victory with a fast-finishing female in still-unbeaten GIII Modesty S. heroine Bleecker Street (Quality Road). Brown saddled the exacta in that event as well, and Brown and Brant also took last year's Distaff Turf Mile.
Having previously carried the colors of Rashit Shaykhutdinov, Speak of the Devil's career highlights in her native country included a nose second in the 2020 G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for Fabrice Chappet and a head third in last August's G1 Prix Rothschild after being transferred to Frederic Rossi. She returned to winning ways with victories in Saint-Cloud's Oct. 31 Prix Isola Bella and Nov. 16 Prix Tantieme before heading off to auction.
Entering with plenty of buzz off a sharp-looking worktab mostly at Payson Park, the bay sat at the back early as In Italian cleared off easily and doled out splits of :24.86 and :49.70 while kept off the fence. With second trailer Wakanaka also traveling well off the inside, pilot Flavien Prat on the eventual winner opted for an early move entering the home bend. Slicing inside of Wakanaka and then out into the clear, Speak of the Devil and Prat were all the way up to challenge In Italian in a practical blink of an eye. In Italian punched back along the fence as Speak of the Devil continued on far out in the course, but the latter ultimately had an extra gear or two and scampered home much the best.
“I thought I was in some good holes, but for some reason she was not progressing down the backside,” said Prat. “So I decided to drop down to the inside, and as soon as I called on her she cut really well. The track feels very good after all the rain.”
“So lucky to have this filly,” Brown said. “She was turned her over to us last fall. Every week she kept getting better and indicated everything you want to see. You hate to run these fillies against each other, but really there's not a lot of options out there at a mile right now, so we let them settle it on the racetrack and today Speak of the Devil was better.”
Speak of the Devil was not the first 2021 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale seven-figure alumni to succeed on the racecourse in recent days–€2.5-million buy Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) took the May 1 G3 Prix Allex France Longines at ParisLongchamp in the colors of Haras de Hus.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
LONGINES CHURCHILL DISTAFF TURF MILE S.-GII, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 5-7, 4yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:37.47, fm.
1–SPEAK OF THE DEVIL (FR), 118, m, 5, by Wootton Bassett (GB)
1st Dam: Moranda (Fr), by Indian Rocket (GB)
2nd Dam: Spain, by Bering (GB)
3rd Dam: Sevilliana (GB), by General Holme
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (€45,000 Wlg '17 ARQDE; €62,000
Ylg '18 AROYRG; €1,950,000 4yo '21 ARQDEC). O-Peter M.
Brant; B-Herve Viallon (FR); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat.
$306,900. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older Mare-Fr at 7-9.5f, MSW
& MG1SP-Fr 15-6-3-2, $604,576. *1/2 to Morando (FR)
(Kendargent (FR)), MGSW-Eng, GSP-Fr, $374,805. Werk Nick
Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 118, f, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Florentina (Aus), by
Redoute's Choice (Aus). 'TDN Rising Star' (475,000gns Ylg '19
TATOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB);
T-Chad C. Brown. $99,000.
3–Wakanaka (Ire), 118, f, 4, Power (GB)–Storyline (Ire), by
Kodiac (GB). (£3,500 Ylg '19 GOFFPR). O-Team Valor
International & Gary Barber; B-Mrs Jean Brennan (IRE);
T-William I. Mott. $49,500.
Margins: 2 3/4, 3, 3. Odds: 1.10, 2.20, 4.50.
Also Ran: Lady Speightspeare, Flower Point, Abscond. Scratched: Mona Stella, She Can't Sing. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Pedigree Notes:
Speak of the Devil is the 17th group/graded winner for her sire, and eighth out of a mare by Indian Rocket. Her dam is a half to MGSW winner Myasun (Fr) (Panis) and a full to SW Matwan (Fr), who is the dam of a group winner, a stakes winner, a group-placed runner and a stakes-placed runner. Moranda has a 2-year-old filly by Anodin (Ire) and a yearling colt by Best Solution (Ire).
The post Pricey Arqana Buy Speak of the Devil Leads Home Brant and Brown 1-2 at Churchill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Confidence Behind ‘The Next Sottsass’ Ahead of French Derby
Jean-Claude Rouget is not prone to hyperbole so, when the decorated French handler compared the unexposed Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) to his only G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) earlier this week, some people did a double take.
Not Benoit Jeffroy, who manages Haras de Bouquetot on behalf of the Al Shaqab operation. Jeffroy has long been aware of the standing in which the multiple Classic-winning trainer has held Al Hakeem and, when the colt won the Listed Prix de Suresnes at Chantilly on Tuesday, he wasn't one bit surprised that Rouget told the French press that 'he reminds me a lot of Sottsass'.
“Jean-Claude is a straight-talking man and he says what he thinks. It was no surprise to us to hear what he said about Al Hakeem because he always told us that the horse was a colt with a lot of ability, he just needed to show it on the track,” Jeffroy explained.
High praise indeed for a horse who has graced the track just four times, winning three of those starts, with Tuesday's Chantilly victory a personal best by some way.
However, Jeffroy is predicting that Rouget's bold comparison between Sottsass and Al Hakeem can become evident to everyone when the highly progressive colt tackles the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly on June 5.
“Who knows, maybe after the French Derby we can really start comparing him to Sottsass, let's wait and see,” he said.
“He is a great physical and, the fact that he showed what he could do at Chantilly the other day is very exciting with a view towards the French Derby.”
Jeffroy added, “There are a lot of similarities between Al Hakeem and Sottsass. They are by the same sire and have the same broodmare sire in Galileo (Ire).
“But the way this horse has been training, that's what reminds Jean-Claude most of Sottsass, as his work has been very good.
“Even as a 2-year-old, Jean Claude said that this might be the next Sottsass, the way he was training and behaving at home. Let's hope he is.”
It is that Siyouni cross with Galileo mares that not only produced one high-class colt in Sottsass but also St Mark's Basilica (Ire), hailed by Aidan O'Brien as 'possibly the best horse we've ever had at Ballydoyle,' after he scooped the prize for Horse of the Year at the 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards.
It may well be written in the stars for Al Hakeem but the comparables to Sottsass don't end with his pedigree. His dam, Jadhaba (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who showed classy form for Rouget before her career was cut short after she suffered a setback, was purchased by Al Shaqab for €620,000 at Arqana in 2014 from Ecurie des Monceaux, who also produced Sottsass.
“Jadhaba is a Galileo mare and, when it came to mating her, we felt that she needed a bit of speed, which is why we went to Siyouni,” he said.
“We thought the cross might work well and, not long afterwards, along came Sottsass and St Mark's Basilica, on the exact same cross. It just made a lot of sense.
“Galileo (Ire) crossed with Danehill has worked really well, as has Galileo and Pivotal, and she has got both. Hopefully Al Hakeem can be the third top-class colt from this cross.”
He added, “Jadhaba was in training with Jean-Claude as well. She was highly regarded and won twice as a 2-year-old and, after finishing third in a Group 3 on her only start at three, she developed a little issue so we had to stop. But she seems to have passed on a lot of her ability.”
If Al Hakeem can come good on Rouget's praise, it will stand the Al Shaqab operation in good stead for the future as she has a Siyouni filly at foot and is back in foal to the sire.
“Her first colt, Dahiya (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), won for Andre Fabre and Al Hakeem is only her second produce,” said Jeffroy of the broodmare.
“She also has a lovely Kingman (GB) filly in training with Jean-Claude, a very good looking Siyouni filly foal at foot and she is back in foal to Siyouni, so she could be an exciting young mare for us. She also has a Shalaa (Ire) yearling filly that is very similar to Jadhaba, a nice filly with good depth.
“Sheikh Joaan al Thani deserves it. He is passionate about the game and has invested a lot of money into it. He deserves to have bred a good one as a reward for all his investment.”
New dreams abound for a team that will forever be associated with Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), who carried the colours of Al Shaqab Racing en route to recording back-to-back Arcs in 2014.
Given Al Hakeem is being compared to another Arc winner in Sottsass, it seems fitting to ask if the mind has been allowed to wander as far as the great race on Oct. 1.
“No, step by step,” Jeffroy laughed. “The Arc is an important race and of course it's in the back of our minds but let's take it race by race and hopefully–hopefully it takes him one year less than it did for Sottsass!”
The post Confidence Behind ‘The Next Sottsass’ Ahead of French Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
