Month: September 2022

Creative Cause Colt ‘Wahlop’-s Rivals in DMR Juvenile Turf

Sent off right at his morning line of 8-1, Packs a Wahlop (Creative Cause) worked out a nice trip beneath Hall of Famer Mike Smith and exploded away from his rivals in the final eighth of a mile to capture Sunday's GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf at the seaside oval and become a leading U.S. candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile the first weekend of November.

Away alertly from the nine hole, the $27,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $270,000 OBS April (:10 flat) acquisition showed good speed and rolled forward to press a moderate early tempo outside of the rail-drawn Ah Jeez (Mendelssohn) through a half in :47.24. Shadowing the front-runner's every move while going well around the second turn, Packs a Wahlop came after the front-runner in earnest with a quarter-mile to race and sprinted home impressively to score by open lengths. Don'tthinkjustdoit (Smiling Tiger) hugged the fence into the lane, came out and finished well for second, but was ultimately disqualified to seventh after a lengthy stewards' debate for causing a chain-reaction of interference at midstretch. Valiancer (Tapiture), who attacked the line nicely in the middle of the track, was moved up from third to second, while Dandy Man Shines (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) was placed third to complete a Jeff Mullins-trained triple.

“That was kind of the plan along,” said Mullins. “He showed speed going five-eighths; we figured he would be laying close somewhere in a comfortable position. Mike's worked him every time and he's had all the confidence in this horse, we all have.”

An even fourth sprinting over a sloppy Gulfstream main track June 3, Packs a Wahlop graduated by 1 1/2 lengths in a five-furlong maiden over this turf course Aug. 5 and was stretching out for the first time Sunday.

Pedigree Notes:

Packs a Wahlop is the 24th stakes winner and sixth winner at the graded level for his Airdrie-based stallion, who is also responsible for Grade III winner and Grade I-placed Skyler's Scramjet, who has a second dam by City Zip's sire Carson City. Oak Ridge Farm acquired Packs a Wahlop's treble stakes-winning dam for $87,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, and she produced a Frosted filly last year before being bred to another son of Tapit in the form of Cupid this past breeding season.

Sunday, Del Mar
DEL MAR JUVENILE TURF S.-GIII, $104,500, Del Mar, 9-11, 2yo, 1mT, 1:35.96, fm.
1–PACKS A WAHLOP, 120, c, 2, by Creative Cause
1st Dam: City by the Bay (MSW, $172,240), by City Zip
2nd Dam: Glitter Time, by Glitterman
3rd Dam: Fujitime, by Timeless Native
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($27,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $270,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Red Baron's Barn LLC & Rancho Temescal LLC; B-Oak Ridge Farm (KY); T-Jeff Mullins; J-Mike E Smith. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $110,000. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
*2–Valiancer, 118, c, 2, Tapiture–War Angel, by Declaration of War. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($7,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $150,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Doug Gans, Gary Jacobs, Larry M Katz, Michael Lewis, William Meathe & Kevin Riggs; B-Savesnine Corp (KY); T-Jeff Mullins. $20,000.
*3–Dandy Man Shines (Ire), 118, c, 2, Dandy Man (Ire)–Zehrah (Ire), by Raven's Pass. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. (€75,000 Wlg '20 GOFNOV; €90,000 Ylg '21 GOFOR; 105,000gns 2yo '22 TATBRE). O-Red Baron's Barn LLC & Rancho Temescal LLC; B-Mr John Frances Keegan (IRE); T-Jeff Mullins. $12,000.
*Don'tthinkjustdoit (Smiling Tiger) finished second, but was disqualified and placed seventh.
Margins: 4 1/4, HD, HF. Odds: 8.00, 38.90, 4.00.
Also Ran: Ah Jeez, De la Luna, Wound Up, Don'tthinkjustdoit, Mas Rapido (GB), Syntactic, Stone Point, Tahoma, Park City, Ti Sento (Ire), President Z. Scratched: Buffett, Taltariate. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Pimlico’s Closing Weekend Attracts 143 Nominations To Four Stakes

A total of 143 nominations were made to a four $100,000 stakes, two each on dirt and turf, on the Saturday, Sept. 24 program during closing weekend of Pimlico Race Course's fall meet.

Pimlico launched its nine-day fall meet Sept. 9 and served up four stakes worth $475,000 in purses Sept. 10 led by Set Piece's second straight graded triumph at Pimlico in the $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3). Set Piece's prior win came in the May 21 Dinner Party (G2) on the undercard of the 147th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Featured on the final Saturday of Pimlico's fall stand are the 1 1/16-mile Polynesian for 3-year-olds and up and six-furlong Weather Vane for 3-year-old fillies on dirt and the Laurel Dash for 3-year-olds and up and Sensible Lady Turf Dash for fillies and mares 3 and older, both sprinting five furlongs on the grass.

Most popular among horsemen was the Sensible Lady, which attracted 41 nominations led by 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) winner Twilight Gleaming and Robin Sparkles, 21-1 upset winner of the Caress (G3) July 23 at Saratoga; and fellow multiple stakes winners Bulletproof One, defending winner Can the Queen, Creative Credit, Dontletsweetfoolya, Miss J McKay, and Spun Glass.

Also prominent among Sensible Lady nominees are stakes winners Can't Buy Love, Ellanation and Lady Edith; Honey Pants, and Whispurring Kitten, respectively 2-3 behind Can the Queen in the May 20 The Very One at Pimlico; and Golden Bell, the Wesley Ward-trained stablemate of Twilight Gleaming that is unbeaten in two starts this year including a win over her elders last out Aug. 1 in a Monmouth Park allowance.

Twilight Gleaming and Golden Bell are also among 38 nominees to the Laurel Dash along with Carotari, whose multiple grass stakes wins include the 2021 Troy (G3) at Saratoga; and Dale Capuano-trained stablemates Alwaysinahurry, winner of the 2021 Concern at Laurel Park, and Justwaveandsmile, who strung together six consecutive wins sprinting on the turf including the July 30 Ben's Cat at Laurel before a troubled fourth in the Da Hoss Sept. 6 at Colonial Downs.

Also nominated are 3-year-old colt Blue Collar Boom, undefeated in two career dirt starts this year for trainer Damon Dilodovico; and stakes winners Chess Master, Classicstateofmind, Cowan, Determined Kingdom, Grateful Bred, Greeley and Ben, Nothing Better, Smooth B, and Spycraft.

Ridin With Biden, fourth in the Aug. 20 Iselin (G3) at Monmouth following his dominant victory in the 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony July 30 at Laurel, and 2020 Maryland Million Classic winner Monday Morning Qb top 29 nominees to the Polynesian. Both were trained by Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr. at the time of their wins, but Monday Morning Qb was claimed out of his last start Aug. 24 at Delaware Park for $62,500 by trainer Norman 'Lynn' Cash.

Other nominees include 2021 Peter Pan (G3) winner Promise Keeper, trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher; multiple stakes winners Bal Harbour, claimed from Pletcher by trainer Robertino Diodoro out of an 8 ¾-length victory Sept. 5 at Saratoga, Double Crown, Sea Foam and Tappin Cat; Dontmesawithme, winner of the April 23 Harrison E. Johnson Memorial at Laurel; Laurel's Feb. 19 John B. Campbell winner Galerio; Joe Sharp-trained stablemates Twilight Blue and Intrepid Heart, respectively 1-2 in the Aug. 13 Fort Larned; and Plot the Dots, second to Ridin With Biden in the Deputed Testamony.

Lady Scarlet, who captured the six-furlong Miss Preakness (G3) May 20 at Pimlico; Elm Drive, winner of the 2021 Sorrento (G2) at Del Mar; Feb. 5 Forward Gal (G3) winner Girl With a Dream, unraced since March 5; stakes winners Buy the Best, Disco Ebo, Stand Up Comic, and Swayin to and Fro, the latter in Pimlico's Sept. 10 Shine Again; graded stakes placed Half Is Enough and Smash Ticket; and Intrepid Daydream, riding a three-race win streak; are among 35 nominees to the Weather Vane.

Pimlico will wrap up the fall meet Sunday, Sept. 25 before racing moves to Laurel Park for its calendar year-ending fall stand starting Friday, Sept. 30.

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‘Maker Magic’: Trainer Enjoying Record-Breaking Meet At Kentucky Downs

Money Maker. Maker Magic. Maker Happen. Million Man Mike. Magic Mike. Pick your pun, but trainer Mike Maker is having an unprecedented run at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

After a record Saturday, Maker went out and won Sunday's first race, a starter allowance with a $70,000 purse, with Just Say When. That gave him a record-breaking 11th victory of the meet, eclipsing the mark of 10 set by Wayne Catalano in 2013.

“Hopefully we keep going today,” Maker said before he went out and did just that Sunday. “The horses have been showing up, so we're very grateful for that. We have a lot of horses that fit here, so we have high expectations coming into the meet.”

Just Say When gave Maker an 11-5 lead over his closest competitor (Wesley Ward) for the Kentucky Downs training title, which Maker has earned a record six times.

After the first five days of the seven-day session, Maker-trained horses have earned $2,000,289. That includes a cool $1,095,033 just on Saturday, highlighted by victories with Somelikeithotbrown in the $1-million WinStar Mint Million(G3) and Red Knight in the $1-million Kentucky Turf Cup (G2), which Maker won for a record fifth time.

“He ought to be the next trainer elected into the Hall of Fame,” said Tom Egan, who owns Red Knight. “He doesn't have the big feeder farm or sheikhs or princes sending him horses. He has made them on his own. If Mike has one fault, it's that he doesn't talk enough. He is a quiet, soft-spoken man but has extraordinary abilities to train horses.”

Maker also had seconds in Saturday's six graded stakes with Atone (Mint Million), Artemus Citylimits ($1 million, G2 FanDuel Turf Sprint) and Run Curtis Run ($600,000, Franklin-Simpson). Maker also had a second with second-time starter Fire Baron in a maiden race.

As great as Maker's day was, it would have been more had some of his leading horses been registered Kentucky-breds, most prominently the New York-born Somelikeithotbrown, Red Knight, and Run Curtis Run as well as the Ontario-bred Artemus Citylimits. Had those horses been born in Kentucky and sired by a Kentucky stallion, Maker's tally would have been another $692,325 Saturday, for a total of $1,787,358.

Maker doesn't view it as money left on the table — that would be if his horses hadn't run well. His view is that just the base purses for which all horses run at Kentucky Downs is lucrative.

“Whether they're Kentucky-bred or not, where else are we going to find any race even worth half of what the Kentucky-breds race for?” he said.

“He points so many horses here,” said Peter Proscia, whose Paradise Farms Corp., has won four races at the Kentucky Downs meet, all with Maker. “He starts early in the summer to get ready for the September meet here. With the big pots, it's really a no-brainer.”

“And,'' added owner David Staudacher, who frequently partners with Proscia on horses, “he's got the Maker Magic.”

Five of the six graded stakes winners Saturday were bred outside Kentucky. Registered Kentucky-breds (foaled in the state and by a stallion standing in the Commonwealth) benefit from lucrative purse supplements from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

Saturday's six stakes winners, where born, what they earned:

$1-million WinStar Mint Million: Somelikeithotbrown (New York) Earned $330,770, missed out on $270,630;

$1-million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf: Dalika (Germany) Earned $334,180, missed out on $273,420;

$1-million FanDuel Turf Sprint: Bran (France) Earned $320,540, missed out on $262,260;

$1-million Kentucky Turf Cup: Red Knight (New York) Earned $317,130, missed out on $317,130;

$1-million The Mint Ladies Sprint: Campanelle (Ireland) Earned $317,130, missed out on $259,470; and

$600,000 Franklin-Simpson: One Timer (Kentucky) Earned $345,960.

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