Month: September 2022

Saturday Insights: Array Of Expensive Colts On Display At Del Mar

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                                         

6th-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 6:44 p.m.

Making his first start Saturday for trainer Bob Baffert, FORT BRAGG (Tapit) was a $700,000 FTKOCT yearling purchase for the large ownership group of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Rob Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan. Bred in partnership with SF Bloodstock LLC, this is the first foal out of March X Press, who herself brought $560,000 from Parks Investment Group out of last year's Keeneland November Sale while in foal in Quality Road. Fort Bragg put in back-to-back fast works over the Del Mar track, going five furlongs in :59.1 (3/97) Aug. 28 and again in :59.2 (8/55) Sept. 4.

One gate to his inside is Gun Bullet (Gun Runner), a $475,000 KEESEP yearling out of John Sadler's barn for AMA Zingteam. This colt is a half-brother to GSW & GISP Royal Mo (Uncle Mo) and out of a daughter of MGSW Irish Linet (Seattle Song).

Out of the OBSAPR sale (:10), Fleet Feet (Nyquist) looks to rebound off a debut in graded stakes company at Del Mar Aug. 14. The $325,000 pick up suffered a troubled trip and finished sixth in the GIII Best Pal S. and now returns in maiden special weight company for George Papaprodromou.

Also an OBS grad, Jam Session (Maclean's Music) brought $280,000 from the April sale (:10) and debuts out of the barn of Mike McCarthy. TJCIS PPs

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Santa Anita Ship & Win: Goodbye Summer

The boutique race meets of the summer will officially be over after this weekend's action: Saratoga's final day was Monday, and Del Mar's final day will be this coming Sunday.

Closing weekend at Del Mar features a pair of Grade 1 contests for 2-year-olds, the Debutante on Saturday and the Futurity on Sunday, as well as three additional stakes races over the two cards. The blockbuster Kentucky Downs meet also continues on both Saturday and Sunday, with six stakes on Saturday's card and another on Sunday.

Saturday also features big days at Pimlico, Canterbury, and Hastings Park. Pimlico's card is highlighted by the G3 BWI Turf Cup and has three additional stakes, while Canterbury's Minnesota Festival of Champions features six stakes races for state-breds. Hastings Park will host its biggest day of the year with the G3 British Columbia Derby topping the docket.

Seven “Win and You're In” races will be contested this weekend, including two from Kentucky Downs and five from Ireland – three from Leopardstown Racecourse on Saturday, and two more from the Curragh on Sunday.

Also worth noting are the third and final leg of Canada's Triple Tiara to be held at Woodbine on Sunday, and the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown to be held at Fort Erie Racetrack on Tuesday next week.

Here's a quick look at some of this weekend's graded stakes:

Saturday

5:10 p.m. – Grade 2 FanDuel Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs

The six-furlong FanDuel Turf Sprint drew a full field of 12 starters and three also-eligibles. The race winner will receive an invitation into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1). Trainer Wesley Ward, who won last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with Golden Pal, is saddling Lael Stables' 4-year-old Arrest Me Red, the 9-5 morning line favorite. A six-time winner in 10 starts, Arrest Me Red took the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) in May at Churchill Downs and finished second by a half-length to Casa Creed in the Jaipur Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park on June 11, which was also a Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

The well-traveled Sonata Stable's 4-year-old Arzak, who has raced at 11 tracks, will be making his Kentucky Downs debut on Saturday. Trained by Michael Trombetta, Arzak has won two of four starts this year, both at Woodbine in Canada, taking the black type Thornhill Stakes and the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier Stakes. He comes into the race off a fourth-place finish in the Troy Stakes (G3) at Saratoga on Aug. 5, less than a length behind winner Golden Pal.

Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable, and Jerry Zaro's 7-year-old gelding Chewing Gum started the year off right with a victory on Jan. 1 in the Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park for trainer Bill Mott. He did not race again until July 23 in the Connaught Cup Stakes (G2) at Woodbine, where he finished fourth.

Turf Sprint Entries

5:45 p.m. – Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs

The remarkable 8-year-old Arklow, who has earned more than $3 million in career earnings, will be running in his fifth consecutive Kentucky Turf Cup, which gives the winner an automatic starting position into the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). Owned by Donegal Racing and Joseph Bulger, and trained by Brad Cox, Arklow won the 1 ½-mile Turf Cup in 2018 and in 2020 and finished second in 2019 and in 2021. Arklow has run in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf three times, with his best finish being a fourth-place effort in 2018. He made his 2022 debut in the Bowling Green Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on July 31, finishing second, a half-length behind Rockemperor (IRE).

Otter Bend Stable's Gufo, the 7-5 morning line favorite, earned a free berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf when he captured the Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, coming from seventh place at the top of the stretch to win by a half-length. Trained by Christophe Clement, Gufo has won nine races in 19 starts, including this year's Pan American Stakes presented by Rood & Riddle (G2) at Gulfstream Park. Another veteran in the field is Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher's 6-year-old gelding Temple. Trained by Mike Maker, Temple finished third, less than a length behind the winner, in the 1 3/8-mile United Nations Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park on July 23. In March, Temple won his seventh career race, taking the Mac Diarmida Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park. Maker is also starting Trinity Farm's 6-year-old New York-bred gelding Red Knight, who won his 2022 debut after an 11-month layoff, capturing the black type 1 ½-mile Colonial Downs Stakes on July 27.

Turf Cup Entries

7:30 p.m. – Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at Del Mar

The Debutante, which is contested at seven furlongs out of the chute on the main track, has drawn eight promising fillies for what is considered the meet's championship race for their bracket.

Not surprisingly, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – a specialist with young horses who has won the Debutante 10 times previously, including the last three runnings – has the race's solid favorite at 9/5 in Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Home Cooking, who'll have the saddle services of Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith. He'll also saddle Fast and Shiny, owned by the same trio.

Del Mar Debutante Entries

Sunday

8:30 p.m. – Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at Del Mar

Nine juveniles have been entered for this seven-furlong contest on the main track, of which three are trained by Baffert, including G3 Best Pal winner Havnameltdown, the likely favorite. Baffert's other runners are recent maiden winners Newgate (Into Mischief) and Cave Rock (Arrogate), who graduated by 3 1/2 lengths and six lengths, respectively.

Best Pal runner-up Agency also enters the field for trainer Mark Glatt, as does last-out listed stakes winner and most experienced runner in the field, The Big Wam for trainer Luis Mendez.

Del Mar Futurity Entries

The post Weekend Lineup Presented By Santa Anita Ship & Win: Goodbye Summer appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Claiborne’s First-Crop Sires Send Strong Contingent to Keeneland

Following the passing of world-renowned international stallion More Than Ready this summer, four of his sons now stand in Kentucky in the hopes of carrying the torch for their accomplished sire.

Among them, Catholic Boy holds the distinction of earning Grade I victories on two surfaces. After collecting six graded wins over his three-year racing campaign, Catholic Boy launched his stud career at Claiborne Farm in 2020. The farm's Walker Hancock said that the $2.1 million earner, who is out a daughter of productive broodmare sire Bernardini, has all the criteria to replicate his sire's success.

“He has turned into a really gorgeous sire,” Hancock said. “He has the perfect mix of More Than Ready and Bernardini, which I think is appealing to breeders. He really fits the mold of a great stallion and we look for him to continue More Than Ready's legacy.”

The picture of versatility on the racetrack, Catholic Boy won the GIII With Anticipation S. at two in his second career start for Jonathan Thomas and then switched to dirt to take the GII Remsen S. As a sophomore, he tallied turf scores in the GIII Pennine Ridge S. and GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. and got his signature dirt Grade I in the 2018 Runhappy Travers S. He returned to the grass at four to take the GII Dixie S.

Launched at a stud fee of $25,000, Catholic Boy bred over 130 mares in his debut at Claiborne. This year his first crop of yearlings will go through the sales ring, but which surface will they ultimately excel on?

“They're kind of across the board,” Hancock explained. “They're a bit like More Than Ready in that you can get bay and chestnut, big and small. You can look at one Catholic Boy and say that this one looks like it's going to be dirt and then you look at the next one and say this one is going to be turf. He's really providing that versatility through his offspring that we saw him have on the track.”

At the breeding stock sales, Catholic Boy's first weanlings averaged over $60,000. With 20 of 24 sold, five youngsters sold for six figures. The Claiborne sire will be represented by nearly 60 yearlings at the Keeneland September Sale. Within that group, Claiborne will offer two in Book 2. Hancock said the pair is an accurate representation of the versatility Catholic Boy seems to be throwing.

Hip 714, a Catholic Boy colt out of Line (War Front) | Sara Gordon

Hip 638 is a filly out of the winning Speightstown mare Fashion Week. The yearling's second dam is Grade I-placed Theyskens' Theory (Bernardini), a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion Stevie Wonderboy (Stephen Got Even).

“We've had buyers come to the farm over the last two weeks and every single one of them seem to really like her,” Hancock said of the filly. “She has a real presence about her. She's a really pretty individual and she looks like she'll hopefully be one of Catholic Boy's highest-priced yearlings.”

Hip 714 is a colt out of the winning War Front mare Line, who hails from a long line of Claiborne-bred broodmares. Line's dam Wend (Pulpit) was a three-time graded winner on grass.

“It looks like he'll have a little turf influence in his athletic abilities,” Hancock explained. “We're really pleased with how he has progressed. He has really blossomed with sales prep and I think buyers will be pleased with what they see.”

As the son of a War Front mare, this colt is a result of the matings that Claiborne envisioned when they brought Catholic Boy to the farm with the hope of supporting broodmares by their flagbearing sire.

“One of our draws with Catholic Boy was that we have a lot of War Front mares and More Than Ready crosses really well with Danzig,” Hancock noted. “[The cross] has had a ton of success in Australia especially and I think we'll see it more and more here in America hopefully in the next couple of years. It's a good cross because some of the War Front mares aren't the biggest and leggiest, but Catholic Boy is really providing the kind of size and leg they might need.”

Claiborne will showcase yearlings by a second first-crop sire at Keeneland September with Demarchelier, who has over a dozen youngsters cataloged for the auction.

A regally-bred son of Dubawi–and the only stallion in Kentucky by the globally-successful Darley sire–Demarchelier was a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut for Peter Brant and Chad Brown in his lone juvenile start. At three, he defeated allowance company on the Keeneland turf and then showed an impressive turn of foot to take the GIII Pennine Ridge S. After incurring a career-ending injury in his next start, he retired to Claiborne.

Demarchelier strikes a pose | Sara Gordon

Hancock said their team was not sure how the talented bay would be received by the market with his short-but-impeccable turf resume, but he shared that they were thrilled with how breeders responded to the new stallion, who has stood for a fee of $5,000 in his first three years at stud.

“Demarchelier bred 102 mares in his first crop, which we were more than happy with,” Hancock said. “[Despite] being a horse that was just three for three and with a very European pedigree, he really wasn't that hard of a sell thanks to Dubawi doing so well as an international sire. Peter Brant supported him heavily and he always told us that the horse had a ton of ability.”

While Catholic Boy seems to be throwing an array of types with his progeny, Hancock said that Demarchelier is definitely stamping his offspring.

“Every single one of them looks exactly like him. They're not the biggest, but they're really good movers. They look like they're going to be very turfy. If you've seen Dubawi, Demarchelier has a lot of his characteristics. Obviously Dubawi's sons are really excelling in Europe and we expect Demarchelier to do that here too. We have a lot of really good breeders behind the horse and I think when they hit the racetrack this time next year, they'll speak for themselves.”

For more TDN Features on first-crop yearling sires, click here. 

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