In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses:
Saturday, August 26, 2023
5th-SAP, ¥13,720,000 ($94k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1700m
CLARIFY (c, 2, Justify–Quote {GB}, by Galileo {Ire}) is the first foal from his dam, an €400,000 Arqana October yearling purchase by M.V. Magnier in 2017 who was stakes-placed in Ireland before heading to the U.S. to be part of this Triple Crown winner's second book. Quote, a half-sister to German Group 3 winner Samba Brazil (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}), produced this colt Jan. 14, was bred to Maximum Security shortly thereafter and was exported to Japan. She produced a filly last April and a Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) filly this season. Christophe Lemaire rides from the rail. English Group 2 winner City of Troy and listed winner Unless are bred on this exact cross. B-Shadai Corporation (KY)
Sunday, August 27, 2023
9th-NII, ¥29,450,000 ($201k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1600mT
T O GRANVILLE (c, 3, Lea–All In Fun, by Tapit) defied long odds to open his account at first asking over this course and distance May 20 (video, SC 10) and made it two straight with a last-out success at Hanshin June 18. The stakes-placed All In Fun, a full-sister to MGSP Tight Ten, was acquired with this colt in utero for $125,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. T O Granville's third dam was dual Grade I winner Fleet Renee (Seattle Slew). B-Mishima Stud Ltd (KY)
11th-NII, Niigata Nisai S.-G3, ¥59.2m ($404k), 2yo, 1600mT
ROUGE STUNNING (f, 2, Into Mischief–Boyne Beauty, by Giant's Causeway) opened her account at first asking with a comfortable victory going a mile at Chukyo July 2 (video, SC 7). The bay filly's unraced dam, a $700,000 purchase by Nobutaka Tada at Fasig-Tipton November in 2020, is a daughter of MSW/GSP Bubbler (Distorted Humor), the dam of champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) and SW Osare (Medaglia d'Oro).
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With the 76th renewal of Friday's GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga billed as a clash between division heavyweights Nest (Curlin) and Clairiere (Curlin), it was the other daughter in the field by Hill 'n' Dale's super sire Curlin who would prevail in a pillar-to-post mild upset. IDIOMATIC (f, 4, Curlin–Lockdown, by First Defence), a Juddmonte homebred trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, threw her name into the figurative hat, winning her third consecutive graded race and first Grade I. Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate) outbattled Nest for second, while Clairiere never got involved over the sloppy track and finished fifth.
Idiomatic broke from the rail and quickly skipped to the lead, ears pricked while under a hold as 45-1 longshot and Midwest shipper Malloy (Outwork) tracked her through a :24.53 first quarter and a :48.84 half. Nest was third early while Secret Oath followed and the pair of Sixtythreecaliber (Gun Runner), a July 19 Spa allowance winner, and Clairiere trailed. The tempo quickened with a half-mile to go; Idiomatic still traveled easily. Approaching the eighth pole, Geroux started riding as Nest attacked from Idiomatic's outside and Secret Oath countered from the inside. Despite drifting late, Idiomatic put both away to win by a healthy four-length margin as runner-up Secret Oath outpunched Nest by just a neck. Final time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.12.
Eclipse champion Nest suffered her first defeat at the Spa, while four-time GISW Clairiere was off the board for the first time since an uncharacteristic poor effort in last year's Personal Ensign.
“Based off the paper, I felt pretty confident [my filly] could establish a pretty solid lead,” said Cox. “I liked her [on a wet track], just the way she's made, she's big but she's not real heavy. I thought she could bounce through it, I really did.”
Cox continued when asked about his thoughts on defeating Nest and Clairiere: “It's huge. They're champions. They've accomplished so much and they're still in good form. I'm very proud of her to win by a few lengths there. Big race and I'm very proud of her.”
Fresh off back-to-back wins in the July 8 GII Delaware H., despite an ugly stumble at the break, and the June 3 GIII Shawnee S. with corresponding dual triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, Idiomatic has done her best running when loose on the lead. She's taken an interesting path to this level, debuting with a win in April of her sophomore year at Turfway Park. Five of her first six starts–sandwiched around a seven-month, mid-year break–were on the all-weather surface at Turfway. After posting three consecutive wins there to kick off her 4-year-old campaign, which included a first stakes try in the Latonia S. Mar. 25, Cox shipped her to Belmont, where she made her graded debut May 6 with a distant second behind Pass the Champagne (Flatter) in the GII Ruffian S. Idiomatic hasn't lost since.
“I want to congratulate Juddmonte, Prince Khalid, and his family for keeping the legacy going,” said Cox. “They have a tremendous operation worldwide and this is a huge update for the farm and their operation. This filly is a homebred, so it means a lot.
“The week before I ran her in the Ruffian, I told [Juddmonte's] Garrett [O'Rourke] this filly will run on the dirt. It was an unbelievable breeze. She was second that day to Pass the Champagne, but her works on the dirt have been great all spring and into the summer. She gave us a lot of confidence this spring and summer. I've been confident in her for a while.”
An upset in the slop, as IDIOMATIC (Curlin) wins the GI Personal Ensign S. ahead of Secret Oath and Nest! pic.twitter.com/NpiygKtw0j
— TDN (@theTDN) August 25, 2023
Pedigree Notes:
Not too many significant racing weekends in recent memory don't involve a son or daughter of Curlin as a major player. It's impossible to overstate the chestnut's prowess as a sire of racehorses. The Hill 'n' Dale stallion is indisputably one of the best stallions of this generation and, with the Personal Ensign result, currently ranks second on the leading sire list behind only Into Mischief. Those two, along with Tapit, harken back to the days of Mr. Prospector, Danzig, and Seattle Slew, a trio who also interchangeably dominated just a few decades ago. Idiomatic is one of 54 graded winners and 96 black-type winners for Curlin, and his 21st at the Grade I level.
Idiomatic is a fourth-generation Juddmonte-bred and hails from the direct female line of Broodmare of the Year Best in Show (Traffic Judge), whose daughters have been brilliant producers and are responsible for a plethora of top horses over the last 50 or so years. One of those top horses was Juddmonte homebred, 'TDN Rising Star', and champion Close Hatches (First Defence), a full-sister to Idiomatic's stakes-winning and multiple Grade I-placed dam, Lockdown. Close Hatches is the dam of Tacitus (Tapit), whose big wins included the 2019 GII Wood Memorial S. and whose placings included the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont S.
Broodmare sire First Defence, another Juddmonte homebred descending from the operation's wonderful Broodmare of the Year Toussuad (El Gran Senor), has 14 stakes winners out of his daughters. He now stands in Saudi Arabia.
Lockdown died in 2022 after producing just three foals. She has an unraced 3-year-old filly named Abditory (Medaglia d'Oro) and a yearling filly by Into Mischief.
Friday, Saratoga
PERSONAL ENSIGN S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-25, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.12, sy.
1–IDIOMATIC, 120, f, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Lockdown (SW & MGISP, $445,900), by First Defence
2nd Dam: Rising Tornado, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 10-7-1-2, $1,049,490. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Secret Oath, 122, f, 4, by Arrogate
1st Dam: Absinthe Minded (MSW & MGISP, $607,747), by Quiet American
2nd Dam: Rockford Peach, by Great Above
3rd Dam: Strawberry Skyline, by Hatchet Man
O-Briland Farm; B-Briland Farm, Robert & Stacy Mitchell (KY); T-D. Wayne Lukas. $100,000.
3–Nest, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Marion Ravenwood (SW, $112,598), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Andujar, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: Nureyev's Best, by Nureyev
($350,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House; B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $60,000.
Margins: 4, NK, 12. Odds: 4.00, 7.20, 0.75.
Also Ran: Malloy, Clairiere, Sixtythreecaliber.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
The post The ‘Other’ Curlin, Idiomatic, Plunders the Personal Ensign appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has released its proposed budget for 2024, totaling $80.96 million, including $38.7 million earmarked for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), the drug testing arm of the federal program.
The total fee assessments for the states and racetracks come out to $78.5 million, but available credits potentially bring that number down to $59.8 million.
HISA's 2023 total budget was initially set at $72.5 million. That number was subsequently revised down to $66.4 million earlier this year.
The proposed 2024 budget was issued on Aug. 17, but the opportunity to publicly comment on it ended on Thursday, Aug. 24.
While the proposed budget is listed as a press release on the HISA website, it was not sent out in wide circulation via email like other HISA press releases. On Aug. 9, however, the Authority included in an email on 2022 tax filings a warning that the budget would be released “in the coming days.”
The proposed budget is broken down among the following HISA-related departments: the racetrack safety program, the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, technology, and administration costs.
Among the big-ticket items, $21.2 million has been allocated for lab testing and $9.5 million for “professional services.”
The latter is a broad category denoting things like “external support for critical functions ranging from arbitration fees to companies that support our IT infrastructure and man our help desk,” explained HISA spokesperson Mandy Minger.
Some $3.6 million is set aside for legal fees, including the cost of lawsuits.
Total revenues from fines related to the racetrack safety and ADMC programs, along with other sources of income like those from lab testing, come to $3.6 million.
According to Minger, these revenues will be used to reduce the net expenses, “and therefore reduce the 2024 assessments.”
Nearly $23 million of HIWU's $38.7 million operating budget goes toward “collection costs,” with $6.7 million going toward salaries.
The total price tag of operating the entire ADMC program–which includes that for HIWU, as well as drug testing and adjudication cost—comes to $59.5 million.
The Authority's loan repayments total $1.25 million.
In a May Q&A, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus told the TDN that The Jockey Club, the Breeders' Cup and the NTRA had all provided loans to the program, and that they were “pretty much no interest” loans designed to cover short-term operational costs.
While the proposed budget for next year is more detailed than previous iterations, it is still lacking in granular line-item details explaining exactly how the money is being used, said National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) CEO Eric Hamelback.
“We are not surprised by the increase [from 2022 totals], but here we are once again not able to truly assess the budget due to the lack of transparency in the breakdown of the figures,” said Hamelback.
Individual racing commissions can choose to cover the assessed fee for the state–broadly speaking, a figure calculated on a formula based on total starts and purses.
Where commissions enter into a voluntary agreement with the Authority for existing personnel to conduct tasks like sample collection, conducting investigations, and adjudicating violations, the state is privy to a credit on its total assessment.
According to the proposed budget for next year, the total to be assessed comes to $78.5 million, with $18.7 million available in industry credits.
The states that decline to cover these financial assessments pass the burden of responsibility onto the racetracks in the state.
Yet to be issued, the 2024 fee assessments for the states and racetracks must be made public by Nov. 1 this year.
“We anticipate that the assessment will be released in October,” said Minger, who added that the same formula to assess these fees will be used again.
The current state and racetrack assessments are a bone of contention among various racing jurisdictions, however.
According to Hamelback, several states are “looking at the possibilities” for next year “of not sending their signal out in order to maintain racing” because of the financial burden posed by these fees.
Such a move would mirror the state of Texas, which has maintained since the advent of HISA a blackout on sending its simulcasting signal out of state in order to operate outside of the federal program's jurisdiction.
Hamelback added, however, he was not positioned to publicly name the states considering this option.
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