Month: April 2023

Michael Dubb's Bramble Bay has been named the 2022 New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year, champion turf runner, and champion older female by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey.

Bramble Bay won the first of her two stakes victories in the $85,000 Jersey Girl Handicap at one mile on the turf against New Jersey-breds on July 9. The 7-year-old mare won the Jersey Girl for the second time in three years and finished in second during the 2021 renewal for breeder/owner Ballybrit Stable, LLC and trainer Mike Dini.

Mike Maker claimed Bramble Bay for $62,500 on Aug. 3 at Saratoga for new owner Michael Dubb in a race in which she crossed the wire in sixth place. The new connections chose the $88,000 Pino Grigio Handicap going five furlongs over the Monmouth Park turf course and were rewarded when Bramble Bay won the stake for her third victory in 2022.

The daughter of Bullet Train (GB) out of Regal Rose, by Empire Maker, finished 2022 with $160,170 in earnings. She won eight of 34 career starts with earnings of $474,623.

Holly Crest Farms homebred Speaking is the champion 3-year-old and champion sprinter after hitting the board in four of his seven starts with earnings of $141,425.  The son of Mr. Speaker followed up on his champion 2-year-old campaign by winning the $100,000 New Jersey Breeders Handicap by 1 ½ lengths and finishing second in the Sunny Ridge Stakes going one mile.  Speaking also finished third in the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Speaking has career earnings of $288,100 and is trained by Eddie Owens, Jr.

John Bowers, Jr's He'spuregold was honored as champion older male after showing his versatility to win stakes races on dirt and turf. The 4-year-old son of Vancouver out of the Smart Strike mare, Smart N Classy, won the $90,000 Irish War Cry Handicap at one mile on the turf on July 10 in the second start of his championship campaign.  He'spuregold made his first start on the dirt a winning one defeating fellow New Jersey-breds in the $130,000 Charles J. Hesse III Handicap at a distance of one mile and one-sixteenth. He'spuregold is trained by Kelly J. Breen.

His dam, Smart N Classy, was a graded stakes-winning New Jersey-bred for John Bowers, Jr. who earned $466,209.  As a broodmare, Smart N Classy also produced the multiple stakes winner Valedictorian ($761,115) and stakes winner Stay Smart ($266.080).

LC Racing LLC and Swilcan Stable LLC's Girl Trouble was named champion two-year-old filly after her stakes-winning campaign that saw her cross the wire first in three of her six starts. Girl Trouble won in her second start on July 16 against open company fillies and was unsuccessful in her next two starts including a third-place finish in the $100,000 White Clay Creek Stakes before finishing her year with two victories. The daughter of Fast Anna out of Adorabella, by Ghostzapper, won an allowance race by eight lengths before running away from her competition in a similar fashion winning the Future Stars Filly Division Stakes at Parx.

The champion 2-year-old filly was bred in New Jersey by Gregory J. Kilka and Bright View Farm and raced under the tutelage of her trainer, Butch Reid.

Holly Crest Farm homebred Great Navigator is the New Jersey-bred champion 2-year-old on the strength of his graded placing in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes. The son of first-crop New Jersey sire Sea Wizard (Uncle Mo) out of the Stephen Got Even mare, All Even, won his first start June 4 by 5 ¾  lengths against open maiden special weight company. Great Navigator traveled to Saratoga to run in the Sanford Stakes and finished an excellent second to Mo Strike defeating Breeders Cup Juvenile winner and Eclipse Champion, Forte, and graded stakes winner, Curly Jack.

The 2-year-old champion, trained by Eddie Owens, Jr., has earnings of $83,300.

I Can Run's stakes win against older fillies and mares earned her the honor of New Jersey-bred champion 3-year-old filly.  The daughter of Tourist out of the Peaks and Valleys mare, Hana J, was campaigned by Robert D. Bone and Magic Stable, LLC and is trained by Claudio Gonzalez.  I Can Run broke her maiden in February 2022 and later won a New Jersey-bred allowance race by 12 ¼ lengths in her first start going two turns.  Showing her versatility, I Can Run turned back to the six-furlong distance in the $104,000 Eleven North Stakes winning by 1 ¾ lengths against New Jersey-breds.

I Can Run was bred in New Jersey by Bright View Farm and is the third stakes winner out of Hana J following Exit Stage Left ($157,750) and Silent Appeal ($325,541).

Adorabella was honored as Broodmare of the Year in 2022. Tracy Farmer bred the 7-year-old mare by Ghostzapper out of Alydorable, by Arch. She was purchased by Gregory Kilka out of the 2020 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale in foal to Fast Anna. The resulting foal is the 2022 New Jersey-bred champion 2-year-old filly, Girl Trouble. Girl Trouble continued her racing success in 2023 with a win in the Parx Futurity Stakes and a second in the Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct. Adorabella produced a 2021 colt by Bucchero named Book'em Danno and a 2022 colt by Classic Empire.

Hey Chub is the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey's Stallion of the Year for the seventh time in his career. The 23-year-old son of Carson City out of Donna Doo by Spend A Buck was a multiple stakes-winning New Jersey-bred who hit the board in 30 of his 36 starts and earned $441,755.

Hey Chub has sired stakes winners Chublicious ($653,393), winner of the 2017 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes, 2018 New Jersey-bred champion sprinter Brother Chub ($674,611), multiple stakes winner Chub Wagon ($669,400), and stakes-placed Chubbiana ($119,872).

The post Bramble Bay Named New Jersey’s 2022 Horse Of The Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A good month can do a lot to swing the number of mares a stallion sees during the breeding season, his future stud fee, and plenty more – especially if that big month actually happens in the midst of the breeding season when broodmare owners might still be making last-minute mating decisions.

By that metric, there may be no stallion that did more to improve his stock in the month of March than Ashford Stud's Practical Joke, who picked up a trio of graded stakes winners.

The big month vaulted the son of Into Mischief to the top of the graded winner standings among stallions standing for an advertised fee between $20,000 and $49,000.

In the following charts, we'll take a look at the active stallions with the most North American graded stakes winners in 2023 through the end of March, organized into four stud fee tiers, to chart who is providing the most bang for their buck.

To be considered for this list, stallions must be active in North America for the 2023 breeding season, with an advertised fee. With runners being conceived at different stud fees in different years, this was the simplest way to keep a horse to one line. Plus, it provides a window to the stallion's current market standing, and not where it was a few years ago.

Important to note: These stats go through the end of the month for March. Results from last weekend's graded stakes races on April 1-2 will be included in next month's standings.

To view last month's “Price of Success” rankings, click here.

Let's get to it.

Leading Sires Of 2023 Graded Stakes Winners, $100k Stud Fee and Up

Very little change in this price tier from February to March, with the record-setting Into Mischief adding another graded winner to his lead on March 11 when Frank's Rockette won the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Ashford Stud powerhouse Uncle Mo had the most active month among the penthouse sires, adding one new graded stakes winner and two graded wins. Kentucky Derby hopeful Kingsbarns added himself to the list with a convincing victory in the G2 Louisiana Derby on March 25 at the Fair Grounds.

On the West Coast, A Mo Reay tallied her second graded win of the season, and her first career Grade 1 victory, when she got up just in time to take the Beholder Mile Stakes on March 11 at Santa Anita Park.

Leading Sires Of 2023 Graded Stakes Winners, $99k to $50k Stud Fee

Hill 'n' Dale Farms' Violence vaulted to the top of his division in March on the strength of two new graded stakes winners.

That group was led by prohibitive Kentucky Derby favorite Forte, who started the month with a successful seasonal debut in the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 4 at Gulfstream Park. Forte topped Andrew Champagne's Derby Bubble rankings last week, and that doesn't look to change anytime soon.

On the same day that Forte reaffirmed his spot at the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, Raise Cain staked his own bid for the classic race with an upset victory in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes. Trainer Ben Colebrook spoke about that victory, and the colt's plans and chances in the later stages of the Derby trail on a recent episode of The Friday Show.

Frank Mitchell recently dove into the pedigrees and sales histories for both Derby-bound sons of Violence in a recent edition of Bloodlines.

Leading Sires Of 2023 Graded Stakes Winners, $49k to $20k Stud Fee

Practical Joke started the month of March with no graded stakes winners on his ledger for 2023, but now he's tied for the second-most graded winners in the country after racking up a trio of graded stakes triumphs.

Two of those wins came on March 4, including Practical Move throwing his hat in the ring for classic contention with a seasonal debut score in the G2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. Earlier that day, Little Vic picked up his first graded stakes win of his career in the G3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.

On March 18, Tejano Twist added a third win to Practical Joke's tally, going five-wide to win the G3 Whitmore Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Tejano Twist and Little Vic both hail from Practical Joke's first crop, which are 4-year-olds of 2023.

Oscar Performance, a member of the 2022-23 All-Value Sire Team, is on the list with Red Carpet Ready, who took the G3 Forward Gal Stakes on Feb. 4 at Gulfstream Park.

Leading Sires Of 2023 Graded Stakes Winners, $19k and Below Stud Fee

Classic Empire remains at the top of this division, which has gained several new members since last month.

Two members of the 2022-23 All-Value Sire Team have racked up a graded stakes victory this year from this price division.

Classic Empire finished as the First Team in the “All-Weather Sire” position, but his two graded winners through the end of March both came over the dirt. Angel of Empire left his mark on the Derby trail with a score in the G2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 18, while Classy Edition took the G3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park on the same day.

Runhappy, who was named to the First Team in the “Future Star” position for stallions with two to four crops of racing age in 2023, saw first-cropper Happy American take the G3 Louisiana Stakes back in January at the Fair Grounds.

The post The Price Of Success: Practical Joke’s March To The Top Of His Division appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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