Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's multiple Grade 1 winner Forte, a finalist expected to be named champion 2-year-old male of 2022, has begun stepping up preparations for his expected sophomore debut in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 4 at Gulfstream Park.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday that Forte exited a three-furlong breeze in :38.38 Saturday at Palm Beach Downs in good order. It marked the Violence colt's return to the work tab since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
“It was very good,” Pletcher said. “It was his first work back, just a nice introductory three-eighths. We'll probably go a half-mile next week.”
Forte graduated at first asking last spring at Belmont Park and ran fourth in the Sanford (G3) at Saratoga. He hasn't lost since, reeling off wins in the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga and Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland prior to the Breeders' Cup.
Joining Forte as an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 2-year-old male are Del Mar Futurity (G1) and American Pharoah (G1) winner Cave Rock, runner-up to Forte in the Juvenile, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Victoria Road.
The Fountain of Youth follows the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 4, also at 1 1/16 miles, as Gulfstream's 3-year-old prep races on the road to the $1-million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) April 1.
“We've got the Fountain of Youth penciled in as our target and, so far, it's gone according to plan,” Pletcher said. “We've still got a ways to go.”
Mama's Gold, a 3-year-old New York-bred Bolt d'Oro colt, drew off to break his maiden by 21 1/4-lengths in a six-furlong state-bred maiden claiming tilt on Saturday at Aqueduct.
Owner-trainer Chad Summers won a three-way shake to halter Mama's Gold for $25,000 out of the impressive third-out graduation that garnered a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
Mama's Gold, with Jose Lezcano up, broke alertly from post 4 and marked off fractions of :23.15 and :47.03 over the fast main track, opening up a nine-length advantage at the stretch call en route to an eye-catching victory in a final time of 1:11.32.
Mama's Gold made his first two starts traveling six furlongs in state-bred company in the care of trainer Mike Maker for owner-breeder William Butler, finishing fifth in his August debut at Saratoga, a tilt that featured Curly Larry and Mo, who would end his campaign with a pacesetting off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
He followed with a seventh-place finish off a three-month layoff on November 26 at the Big A in a race that runner-up General Banker exited to win the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way ahead of picking up Kentucky Derby qualifying points for a third-place finish in the Jerome.
“Mike Maker is an outstanding trainer and no matter where his horses are running, he always has the horse prepared to run,” Summers said of the impressive maiden score. “On paper, it looked like a one-horse race and he did what he was supposed to do. The way he did it, he was geared down throughout and the track wasn't very fast, but he made it look fast. That was encouraging to see.”
A half-sibling to multiple stakes winner Rotknee, Mama's Gold is out of the winning Speightstown mare In Spite of Mama, who is a half sister to graded stakes-placed A Freud of Mama. His third dam, Nothing Special, produced multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Haynesfield.
“We knew the horse was a half to Rotknee, but so did they,” Summers said. “Looking at his first two races, they looked better on paper than his final results. In his first race, the horse that ran fourth ran in the Breeders' Cup and in the second race the horse that ran second came back and won the $500,000 stakes and has Derby points.
“Obviously, you're a little concerned about the drop from maiden special to maiden $25,000, but he's a New York-bred and he had all his conditions,” continued Summers. “We love Bolt d'Oro, and it's one of those ones where you take a look at him and if he's OK, you take a shot.”
Summers said Mama's Gold exited the race in good order and that he will take his time before planning a next start.
“We came to check on him at night check and he was hollering for more food. He seems like a happy horse,” Summers said. “We'll treat him like a good horse, but he has all his conditions so we'll take it step by step. We won't rush into anything and just let him take us where he takes us. Hopefully, that third race is an indication of who he is and not the first two.”
Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England's New York homebred General Banker, who finished a closing third in the Jerome on Jan. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack, had his first breeze back over the Belmont Park dirt training track Sunday.
The son of Central Banker covered a half-mile solo in :49.65, which ranked 25th of 116 timed moves at the distance.
“I had him a few ticks faster than the clockers did, but he galloped out five-eighths pretty good,” said trainer Jimmy Ferraro.
General Banker earned his first stakes victory two starts back with an emphatic maiden-breaking score in the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way, dominating his 10 rivals by 8 1/2 lengths with a rallying trip under Eric Cancel. He made his open company debut in the Jerome and finished third after racing keenly and running up on the heels of a foe down the backstretch.
“He was a little on the muscle last time,” said Ferraro. “I don't know if he would have won, but he would have been closer if he hadn't been [so keen].”
Ferraro said General Banker has been nominated to the nine-furlong $250,000 Withers (G3) Feb. 4 at the Big A, which offers 20-8-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.
“We're going to take a good look at that,” said Ferraro. “They've got the [state-bred] Gander on Feb. 25 going a mile, too.”
General Banker boasts a 9-1-3-1 record with total earnings of $363,600.
Also breezing Sunday over the Belmont training track was Chester and Mary Broman's graded stakes-placed New York-homebred Arctic Arrogance breezed six furlongs in 1:15 flat. The Frosted colt, trained by Linda Rice, finished a game second last time out in the Jerome. He also is one of 20 horses nominated to the nine-furlong Withers.
Owner/breeder Keith Abrahams was quietly confident in Kirstenbosch ahead of last weekend's Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita. The filly, named for a famous botanical garden in Abrahams' native South Africa, proved his confidence was not misplaced when she won by a nose.
Kirstenbosch became the second homebred graded stakes winner to race in Abrahams' colors, quite a feat for a small-scale breeder who keeps only three to five mares at any given time.
Though the 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute was the third choice on the board behind a pair of Bob Baffert trainees, Abrahams believed the extra distance of 1 1/16 miles would be perfect for his filly after her third-place finish in the seven-furlong La Brea (G1).
“I thought she had a very good chance,” Abrahams said. “She's quite talented, we think, but she's one of those horses that we still think she's not quite putting out 100 percent of her effort.”
Juan Leyva, longtime assistant to trainer John Sadler, readily agreed after watching Kirstenbosch win by a nose at the wire.
“When she started running, I thought she was going to win by at least half a length, but then it looked like when she got to (runner-up) Ganadora, she kind of just hung with her and this filly just tends to do that,” Leyva explained. ”She does just enough to win, she's never been one to just pull away, so that's the only thing I was afraid of. … But she got the job done, so that's the main thing. I'm really happy for Keith because they have been longtime clients of John and they are just good people.”
Keith Abraham, second from left, bookended by Sadler assistants Juan Leyva (right) and Enrique Miranda, along with jockey Kazushi Kimura and stakes coordinator James Kasparoff
Loyalty in his business relationships is one of Abrahams' key tools to success, both in his real estate work as co-founder of the Brentwood Real Estate Group, and in the racing industry. Originally a CPA by trade, Abrahams figured out early on in the business realm that having the right people around him was paramount to success.
Abrahams' relationship with Sadler dates back 20 years, while his work with bloodstock agent Kathy Berkey traces back more than 30 years. He's kept his small band of broodmares at the same Kentucky farm (Columbiana) for nearly 20 years as well.
“I learned in business that you should always try to surround yourself with good people,” Abrahams said. “You hire them to do a job, and then that's their expertise so you let them do it. John Sadler and I always sit down and discuss the race options, but ultimately it's what he thinks we should do.
“I'm very involved in the breeding, where I like to make decisions; my agent Kathy provides me with information, then I do my own research as well and we come to a decision.”
Abrahams' passion for the bloodstock side of the business, albeit on a small scale, has led to strong results on the racing side of the industry.
“I love the breeding, the challenge,” he said. “That's pretty much 95 percent of all the horses I've ever run are all horses I've bred. That whole challenge of finding the right crosses, making those decisions, and seeing them come to the track and do something with it, whether it be a low-level race, or we've been fortunate to have some good runners at the higher level.”
One of his earliest breeding successes came in the form of Taste of Paradise, a horse on whom he is listed as co-breeder with his father-in-law. Berkey helped him select that horse's dam, Tastetheteardrops, at the 1997 Keeneland November sale, for $60,000. Taste of Paradise was foaled in 1999 on a breeding to Conquistador Cielo, and won the G2 San Diego Handicap for Abrahams in 2003 before selling for $425,000 at the 2004 Barretts January sale. Taste of Paradise would go on to win the G1 Vosburgh in 2005, retiring with earnings over $1 million.
The next major success came with Get Funky, a colt Abrahams acquired via a $62,500 claim from a maiden race in 2006. The colt would go on to win 11 of his 45 career starts, including the G2 Del Mar Derby, before retiring with earnings of $781,675.
Also in 2006, Abrahams and Berkey bought a mare named Azure Spring for $32,000 at the Keeneland November sale. Her most successful offspring was Selcourt, named for the small town in South Africa in which Abrahams was raised. The 2014 filly by Tiz Wonderful won the G2 Santa Monica Stakes in 2018, and retired a multiple graded stakes winner with earnings of $393,160.
Selcourt and jockey Tyler Baze winning the 2018 Santa Monica Stakes
Kirstenbosch, the latest in a stream of homebreds named for South African landmarks, is actually a second-generation homebred for Abrahams. Berkey helped select the filly's granddam, And Guess What (Kris S.) at the 2001 Keeneland January sale for $24,000. A 2010 cross with Belong to Me led to Llandudno, a graded stakes-placed mare, who in turn would foal Kirstenbosch in 2019 on a cross to Midnight Lute.
“I love the game, and it's so fun to have the highs because we all know how tough this game can be,” Abrahams said.
In fact, his first foray into U.S. racing could hardly be described as a profitable one.
Though Abrahams had some exposure to horse racing while growing up in South Africa, courtesy of his grandfather, a rural hometown meant the young Abrahams was more involved with riding horses and working with farm animals.
Following a mandatory two-year stint in the South African army, Abrahams had a last-gasp chance to follow his family to the United States; he could get a green card if he arrived before his 21st birthday, which was just 10 days away when he learned of the opportunity. Taking the risk, Abrahams fell in love with California and decided to stay, eventually graduating from USC and beginning his journey as a CPA.
“I was just out of college and working for a big accounting firm when a friend's family, who was involved in a very small way in breeding a mare of two, had one foal they needed to find a home for,” Abrahams recalled. “Two of us decided that we'd take the foal and try to race it.”
It would have been a perfect Hollywood ending had that filly had any success. Instead, she never made it to the race and became Abrahams' personal riding horse before passing away at the ripe age of 35 just a couple years ago. Despite the perceived failure, Abrahams had been fatally bitten by the racing bug.
“I ended up taking over a layup facility in Bradbury, Calif, right near Santa Anita,” Abrahams said. “I was working in the office during the day and trying to run a boarding facility at night, so that I could pay my way to get into the business. I made a lot of bad breeding decisions on my own early on, until I met Kathy and started breeding more seriously in Kentucky a few years later.
“The industry is a fun one to be in, but I also love being around the horses. I pretty much go out to the track every week to see them work, and I try to be in Kentucky as much as I can to see the mares and babies.”
