September, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Brightwork Keeps Record Perfect With Top-Level Triumph In Spinaway

Bill Simon's WSS Racing saw Brightwork put in a sparkling performance in Sunday's $300,000 Spinaway (G1) to remain undefeated through four career starts, pouncing from off the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr. to turn back post-time favorite Ways and Means in the seven-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Brightwork, who entered from a successful graded stakes debut in the Adirondack (G3) on August 6 here, provided trainer John Ortiz with the first Grade 1 victory of his career that began in 2016. In addition to her two graded scores, the talented daughter of Outwork was a winner on debut in April at Keeneland and followed with a strong half-length victory in the Debutante on July 2 at Ellis Park.

“Tears, happiness, joy. I'm ecstatic and proud,” said Ortiz. “These are all the emotions I can think of right now. I thank my Dad and thank God. My family has supported me. My uncles are here, my cousins are here. Jared [Hughes, bloodstock agent] is like my older brother, Bill Simon and his family. This is such a big deal. We're like one big, giant family and I couldn't be more blessed right now.”

Simon, who also won his first Grade 1 as an owner, echoed Ortiz's sentiments.

“There are really no words to describe it,” said Simon. “I'm so proud of Johnny and what he's done with the horse; Jared, who picked him out; Daniel Ortiz, Johnny's brother, has been living up here with Brightwork for the summer and they deserve all the credit. It's just a phenomenal feeling.”

Brightwork emerged from post 8 with 2-5 mutuel favorite Ways and Means to her inside and Lemorian – a gate-to-wire winner last out at Horseshoe Indianapolis – to her outside. Lemorian broke sharpest of all, but relinquished the advantage to the Junior Alvarado-piloted Sugar Hi as she rushed up to lead with Lemorian and Lady Moscato close to her early foot.

“The horse beside me, last time she broke from the one-hole at Indiana but she outbreak everybody and I know she's going to be quick,” Irad Ortiz said. “So, I say, maybe I let her go and stalk there and maybe I can bide my time and I know the horse I have to beat is the horse inside of me. That's what I tried to do and it worked out perfect.”

Ways and Means, with Flavien Prat up, tracked just behind Brightwork down the backstretch, but had to steady slightly as she attempted to maneuver to the outside, clipped heels with that rival and lost a touch of ground with the first quarter-mile in :22.40 over the fast main track.

“She was getting out bad and as soon as that horse outside of me [Brightwork] cleared, I mean as soon as he went in front of me, she just ducked out and I clipped heels,” said Prat. “It's just she was trying to get away from the inside.”

Irad Ortiz kept Brightwork widest of all approaching the turn with Ways and Means following her run before Prat angled his charge to the outside of Brightwork to loom large midway through the turn through a half-mile in 45.09. Sugar Hi maintained her rail-skimming position and attempted to hold her advantage as Lemorian backpedaled between foes, but Brightwork ranged up to stick her head in front at the top of the lane.

Brightwork, under left-handed encouragement from Ortiz drew clear of Sugar Hi and the advancing Wonder Ride approaching the eighth pole, leaving her with just Ways and Means to deal with after three-quarters in 1:09.80. A determined Ways and Means gave chase through the stretch and inched closer with every stride as the pair drew clear of Wonder Ride, but Brightwork would not let Ways and Means tarnish her perfect record and reached the wire first by a half-length in a final time of 1:23.17.

Ways and Means finished 6 1/4 lengths ahead of Wonder Ride with Alys Beach rallying from well off the pace to complete the superfecta another 1 3/4 lengths back. Closing Act, Sugar Hi, Lady Moscato and Lemorian completed the order of finish. Becky's Joker was scratched.

Miz Sense unseated jockey Manny Franco at the gate and was declared a non-starter by the board of stewards. Both Franco and Miz Sense walked off under their own power.

John Ortiz said he left race tactics in the capable hands of Irad Ortiz, the leading rider at the Spa meet.

“Irad came out and looked at me. We had one second to give instructions,” the trainer said. “He looked at me and said, 'What's up?' and I said, 'Just win!' He said, 'The filly on the outside has speed, I think I'll let her break and go and we'll sit off.' He was going to dictate when the race was going to start and he did. She got the job done.”

With a bonus towards the Breeders' Cup now in his pocket as part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series, John Ortiz said he will consider options for a bridge race for Brightwork ahead of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on November 3 at Santa Anita Park. Potential stepping stones towards that goal could come in the Alcibiades (G1) on October 6 at Keeneland, or the Chandelier (G2) the following day at Santa Anita.

“We could either go to the Alcibiades, the race in California, or just go straight to the Breeders' Cup,” said John Ortiz. “We'll let her dictate where she wants to go. You have to think about shipping to California and she has to acclimate to it. It's a difficult trip to California but it's been done before and this is where we're going.”

Bred in Kentucky by Wynnstay, Inc. and H. Allen Poindexter, Brightwork was produced by the Malibu Moon mare Clarendon Fancy. She banked $165,000 in victory, improving her lifetime earnings to $444,051. She returned $8 for a $2 win ticket.

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With Anticipation Victress Filly Gala Brand ‘Pride And Joy’ Of Arnmore Thoroughbreds

Megan Jones, managing partner of Arnmore Thoroughbreds, cannot help but speak blessings of newly minted graded stakes winner Gala Brand, who defeated males in Thursday's With Anticipation (G3) for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and owned by Arnmore Thoroughbreds in partnership with Even Keel Thoroughbreds, Gala Brand was a sharp debut winner on August 3 going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf. The Violence filly was cross-entered in both the With Anticipation as well as the previous day's $150,000 P.G. Johnson against fellow fillies, opting for the former when the latter race was taken off the turf.

In the With Anticipation, Gala Brand took to the rear of the field with Market Street setting a moderate tempo on the front end. She advanced to a close fourth in the stretch call and outbattled a game Carson's Run to her inside to win by a half-length and produce a 71 Beyer Speed Figure.

Gala Brand is a fan favorite in the making with her eye-catching color pattern that features white splotches on her underside and tall white markings on all four legs.

“She's very special to me just as a horse because of the way that she is. She's the type of horse that you want to be around every single day,” Jones said. “She kind of pulls you in and draws you to her. She's my pride and joy. She has a lot of leg to her. She's a tall, stretchy horse. She has that internal quality that all the good fillies seem to have. We go buy fillies that we hope will be good broodmare prospects down the line to build our broodmare band.

“As long as you like the horse as an individual, you're in a good spot and anything they do on the track is just icing on the cake,” Jones continued. “To come here and win first out on debut and then come back and do what she did against the boys in the Grade 3 was everything we needed.”

Gala Brand, who was bred by Desmond Ryan and Martin Schwartz, was acquired by Jones for $30,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where St. George Sales consigned her. She is out of the graded/group stakes-winning Lord of England mare Olorda, who captured the The Very One going 1 3/16 miles at Gulfstream Park and Bewitch going 1 1/2 miles at Keeneland in 2016 – both Grade 3 events.

Jones said she expected Gala Brand to be an eventual two-turn horse given her pedigree.

“She's always shown a great deal of talent in the morning,” Jones said. “I know it was kind of a softer group in the maiden race going 5 1/2 furlongs but the way she's built, that should have been her toughest task and I think she'll enjoy stretching out. I would have thought that 5 1/2 [furlongs] would have been her only impediment, but obviously she did that easily enough.”

Earlier this summer, Arnmore Thoroughbreds Poppy Flower, bred by Jones and Brenda Harding, secured graded stakes honors in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 9 at Belmont Park for Mott.

“As far as how special it was, it ranks right up there with anything,” Jones said. “When Poppy Flower won the graded stake in June, we bred her and raced the mother and she was an RNA that nobody wanted at the sale, that was pretty gratifying too. She's also pretty special to me. I would say Gala's right up there with her. That meant the world to us because I bought [Gala Brand] on my own account.”

Jones said she and Mott will let the dust settle before deciding on a next target for Gala Brand. Other graded stakes events for 2-year-old fillies on turf include the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo on October 2 at Belmont at the Big A and the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 6 at Keeneland. Both races boast “Win And You're In” status for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 3 at Santa Anita.

“We'll basically nominate around and wait until she tells us she's ready,” Jones said.

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It’s A Davis Family Superfecta At Saratoga

The Davis clan dominated Sunday's second race at Saratoga as members of the family swept the first four spots under the wire for a “Davis superfecta.”

Katie Davis rode the winner of thee $30,000 maiden claimer, Danny Gargan-trainee Bon Adieu (Ghostzapper), finishing seven lengths ahead of Mim (Practical Joke), ridden by her brother Dylan. Embraceable Gal (Midnight Lute) was next and was ridden by Trevor McCarthy, who is Katie Davis's husband. Sweet Liberty (Bellamy Road) was fourth and was ridden by Jackie Davis, the sister of Katie and Dylan. The all Davis superfecta paid $26.35 for a 10-cent wager.

Katie, Dylan and Jackie are the offspring of retired jockey Robbie Davis.

“I looked at the screen because Danny (Gargan) said look at the superfecta, it was all four of you,” Katie said. “I was waiting for this moment. We made history again and it was really nice to beat Dylan this time. I looked back and thought here he comes, I've got to ride harder.”

“I was really happy for all of us,” said Jackie Davis. “I thought it was really cool. During the race we were all trying to beat one another. Afterward, we were laughing. When my horse started getting tired, I was watching Dylan and Katie's horses go forward and I didn't know who to root for. Everybody was really excited after it was over. This was amazing.”

Katie Davis has had seven winners at the meet.

“It all comes down to having a lot of support,” she said. “I'm lucky enough that I'm doing well and I keep it going. I never thought it would be like this. It's a great surprise and I am running with it. It's very special.”

This is the first Saratoga meet where all four members of the family have been regular members of the jockey colony. Still another Davis, Eddie, works for Bill Mott and is the regular exercise rider of Cody's Wish (Curlin).

There could be some more Davis magic Monday. In the eleventh race, Katie will ride Mugsy Fury (Big Brown) for her father, who is now a trainer.

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Trainer, Co-Breeder Brinkman Savoring Prioress Victory With Alva Starr

P. Dale Ladner's Alva Starr, bred by Ladner and trainer Brett Brinkman, became the second winner of the Prioress (G2) produced from the Brinkman-trained and Ladner-owned Sittin At the Bar when she romped to an 8 3/4-length score under Jose Lezcano in Saturday's six-furlong test for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

“She's a little tired. We took her back to Delaware last night and got there about 11 o'clock, but other than just being a little tired, she looks great,” said Brinkman. “I was tickled to death with her performance. She's a temperamental filly to some extent, but she's really professional once she hits the racetrack usually. She hasn't missed a beat training and we thought she'd run a good race.”

The daughter of Lord Nelson followed her older half-sister Cilla [2021] in winning the historic sprint, but delivered the first graded stakes win of Brinkman's career after Cilla was saddled by conditioner Charlton Baker when he did not take out a training license in New York that year.

“Cilla was a much rangier, scopier mare than this filly, and she was a lot more accommodating,” said Brinkman. “This filly here is kind of one of those that's in your face and is just bold about stuff. They're two different kind of types.”

Alva Starr's wire-to-wire Prioress score came on the heels of a successful stakes debut in the six-furlong Dashing Beauty on July 8 at Delaware Park, where she posted a similar score against elders by 6 3/4 lengths over Cheetara. Alva Starr has never finished worse than second in five lifetime outings, which included a victory on debut going the Prioress distance last September at Delaware.

“I felt like her last race at Delaware got dismissed in the handicapping a little bit,” said Brinkman. “I thought it was an impressive race because she beat some solid, older mares who have won numerous stakes. That means something to have beat older mares who have won seven or eight races and then you go back to facing 3-year-olds who didn't even have seven or eight races.”

Brinkman said breeding two winners of the same graded event at the Spa from his own mare is something he could have never imagined. Sittin At the Bar, who finished third in the 2012 Delta Downs Princess (G3), had a modest beginning to her broodmare career in 2014 when she was bred to graded stakes-winning Quarter Horse Heza Fast Dash, producing the twice-winning appendix mare Standing At the Bar.

“From a breeder's standpoint, for Mr. Ladner and I to have two horses come from our mare win the Prioress is such a higher level than what we ever expected when we dove into this,” said Brinkman. “It's just phenomenal and a dream come true. Her first foal was actually a Quarter Horse that was born to a surrogate mare. I wanted to get a foal out of her and see what the foal looked like and plan a career off of that. That's what we did and wanted to get a line on her.”

The unconventional start to Sittin At the Bar's broodmare career has paid handsome dividends, as the mare has now produced three graded stakes-placed or -winning foals. Alva Starr will look to add to her dam's accolades and become her first multiple graded stakes-winner in the Raven Run (G2) sprinting seven furlongs on October 21 at Keeneland.

“That's what we're thinking and the timing is right,” said Brinkman. “I want to space her races out this year a little bit. We don't have any grand idea of the Breeders' Cup. We'll try and run her once for sure, possibly twice before the end of the year.”

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