Month: October 2023

Gina Romantica Leads Home Brant, Brown 1-2 in First Lady

Easily the least-preferred of a Chad Brown-trained threesome in Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland and the lesser-fancied of two runners in the race for owner Peter Brant, Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) came with a stinging final-furlong flurry and ran down her commonly owned stablemate and heavily favored defending champion 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to post an 11-1 upset.

Hammered into 2-5 favoritism, In Italian made the lead and while the early fractions of :23.40 and :46.80 weren't overly taxing, the 5-year-old was allowed no breathers, as her GI Diana S.-winning stable companion Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio) led a host of pursuers that followed closely behind. In Italian still held the call after six furlongs in 1:10.32–having gone the third quarter-mile in :23.32–and looked like she would be tough to reel in, but Gina Romantica, who'd sat a rail-skimming journey and was quietly ridden by Tyler Gaffalione from just behind midfield, advanced inside on the turn and was steered off heels into the stretch. In Italian was still going great guns up front and was anything but stopping, but Gina Romantica flashed home to prevail in a driving finish. Former claimer Evvie Jets (Twirling Candy) picked up some valuable Grade I black-type in third.

“She broke good. She traveled so great throughout,” Gaffalione said. “I didn't have to take too much of a hold. She was very comfortable where she was. Coming into the stretch, once I found room toward the outside, she really exploded–finished her job really well.”

A $1.05-million Keeneland September yearling purchase, Gina Romantica was joining Vacare (Lear Fan) as winners of Keeneland's signature race for 3-year-old fillies–the GI QE II Challenge Cup–and the First Lady in consecutive seasons. Dayatthespa (City Zip), the first of Brown's now seven First Lady winners, won the QE II in 2012 and the First Lady two years later. Brown has trained the First Lady winner each year since 2018. Gina Romantica was having her third start this season, having finished fourth to stablemate Consumer Spending (More Than Ready) in the GIII Eatontown S. June 17 ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI Beverly D. S. at Colonial Aug. 12.

Pedigree Notes:

Just $6,000 was required for Machmer Hall to acquire the newly turned 3-year-old filly Special Me at the 2009 Keeneland January Sale and it has been almost nothing but blue skies since.

Stonetastic was the mare's second foal and initial success story, winning a pair of Grade IIs while finishing runner-up in the GI Humana Distaff S. and earning north of $856,000. Stonetastic's Gun Runner filly of 2021, now named Gifted Runner, fetched $925,000 at Keeneland September in 2022, while the Brogdens acquired her 4-year-old daughter Stonetonic (Candy Ride {Arg}) for $400,000 in foal to Yaupon at KEENOV last fall.

Special Me's foal of 2013, 'TDN Rising Star' Gift Box, became the first Grade I winner out of Special Me when annexing the Santa Anita H. as a 6-year-old in 2019. She is also the dam of Special Forces, a multiple graded winner on the Woodbine synthetic track. The yearling full-brother to Gina Romantica sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.2 million at Keeneland September last month and Special Me produced a full-sister to Gift Box this past Mar. 27 before helping to comprise the first book of mares bred to Flightline.

 

Saturday, Keeneland
FIRST LADY S. PRESENTED BY UK HEALTHCARE-GI, $729,500, Keeneland, 10-7, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:33.70, fm.
1–GINA ROMANTICA, 124, f, 4, by Into Mischief
          1st Dam: Special Me, by Unbridled's Song
          2nd Dam: Delta Danielle, by Lord Avie
          3rd Dam: Domasco Danielle, by Same Direction
($1,025,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Machmer Hall, Carrie Brogden & Craig Brogden (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $447,563. Lifetime Record: 10-5-2-0, $1,108,603. *1/2 to Special Forces (Candy Ride {Arg}), MGSW-Can, SP-USA, $452,383; 1/2 to Gift Box (Twirling Candy), GISW, $1,127,060; 1/2 to Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), MGSW & GISP, $856,062. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
          1st Dam: Florentina (Aus) (GSW-Aus, $250,958), by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
          2nd Dam: Celebria (Aus), by Peintre Celebre
          3rd Dam: Twyla (Aus), by Danehill
'TDN Rising Star'. (475,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $125,125.
3–Evvie Jets, 124, m, 5, by Twirling Candy
          1st Dam: Natchez Trace, by Consolidator
          2nd Dam: Crystal Cream, by Secretariat
          3rd Dam: Clear Copy, by Copy Chief
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($75,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-The Estate of Robert J. Amendola; B-Farfellow Farms Ltd. (KY); T-Mertkan Kantarmaci. $72,188.
Margins: HD, 3 3/4, HF. Odds: 11.51, 0.45, 20.34.
Also Ran: Whitebeam (GB), Gam's Mission, Jumbly (GB), New Year's Eve, Thisnameisokay.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Today’s Flavor Wires Off-The-Turf Belmont Turf Sprint

Reddam Racing's New York-bred Today's Flavor was undeterred by changes in circumstances and weather conditions, wiring a nine-horse field by a half-length in winning the $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint, which was moved off the turf to the sloppy and sealed main track on Saturday at Belmont at the Big A.

Driving rain forced the six-furlong contest from the outer turf to the Aqueduct Racetrack dirt and the race downgraded from Grade 3  status to a listed event . But the George Weaver trainee was unfazed by the surface change, going to the front under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano in leading the field with the opening quarter mile in :22.33 and the half in :45.41.

Kept to the inside, Today's Flavor, bred by Joseph Calvo, continued his march to the wire with fellow New York-bred Thin White Duke making a bid from the outside. But Today's Flavor maintained the advantage and completed the course in a final time of 1:09.74, winning for the second consecutive time and notching his first stakes win since the state-bred Affirmed Success in April at Aqueduct. He entered from a narrow optional-claiming score on September 22 over the Big A turf.

“That type of horse in the dirt, he likes to be put on the lead,” Castellano said. “He was going to the lead and he encourages himself and gets very confident in himself and that was my goal today and it worked out great. It was supposed to be on the turf, but it rained and the conditions worked out in my case for this particular race, especially the way he did it. I'm very fortunate enough I rode him last time on the turf here and covered up a little bit to save all the ground. Today was a different ballgame with the way the track played. I tried to use his speed on the lead and run wire-to-wire.”

Thin White Duke, trained by David Donk and ridden by Jose Lezcano, bested Wit by a half-length for second, with Alogon finishing fourth. Dancing Buck, Pirate Rick, Alexis S, Eamonn and Yes and Yes completed the order of finish. Big Invasion, Fauci and Nothing Better scratched.

“On the turf, he has a different kick,” said Blair Golen, assistant to Weaver. “On here…when he gets the lead, he's confident. As soon as he gets away from the horses, he settles. You'll see in his demeanor out of the gate, he runs hard and once he gets on the lead, he just lengthens out his stride and covers a lot of ground. As soon as he feels them or hears them [the competition], he just kicks on.”

Today's Flavor, the 7-5 favorite, paid $4.80 on a $2 win wager. The 5-year-old son of Laoban out of the Speightstown mare Evangelicial improved his career earnings to $474,080.

“His win last time was just an experiment [on turf] because he is a Laoban and he's a very versatile horse,” Golen said. “They were a little frustrated with him and the way he was going, and they tried to freshen him up over the summer. He breezed excellent, so what's the worst that would happen? He wouldn't win? So, now we have a lot of options.”

Thin White Duke, bred in the Empire State by his co-owner and former conditioner Phil Gleaves, finished in the money for the third time in his last four starts, including a last-out win in the Harvey Pack on September 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

“He had good 2-year-old form on the dirt with Phil and by the time I ran him on dirt it was longer,” Donk said. “So today, we could run him with a little confidence and I thought he would run well. He just needed someone to go with the winner [Today's Flavor] a little bit and soften him up. The winner ran huge, but I thought our horse ran really big. He's still a better grass horse, but this gives us a little confidence if a race comes off the grass now.

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Yuugiri Outduels Wicked Halo To Win Thoroughbred Club Of America Stakes, Earn Breeders’ Cup Berth

It took every step of the Keeneland stretch for Yuugiri and Wicked Halo to decide the winner of the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes, and at the end of it, a fortuitous head bob at the finish line gave Yuugiri the win by a nose.

Saturday's victory also secured the 4-year-old Shackleford filly a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Yuugiri broke quickly from the gate, and was placed on the lead several paths wide by jockey Flavien Prat, just outside of Happy Soul, while post time favorite Wicked Halo took command of the rail from the inside post. Happy Soul and Yuugiri put a couple lengths of distance on Wicked Halo, setting an opening quarter-mile in :22.12 seconds.

As the two leaders dueled through the turn, jockey Tyler Gaffalione moved up behind them aboard Wicked Halo and swung his mount three-wide to find an open lane. Those three were on practically even terms as they turned for home, going a half-mile in :45.48 seconds.

Happy Soul began fading as the three went around the quarter pole, leaving Yuugiri suddenly with the inside advantage after racing a couple paths off the rail, where Wicked Halo had begun the race. Wicked Halo appeared to have the momentum over her rival, as she gained a half-length after the three-sixteenths pole, but Yuugiri refused to relent, and began regaining ground in the final sixteenth of a mile.

The two horses drew even as the wire approached, but it still appeared as though Wicked Halo would hold Yuugiri off in the end. In the final stride, Yuugiri had just enough to get a nose in front in a head-bob battle. They were five lengths ahead of third-place Last Leaf.

“She was really game today,” Prat said. “When Wicked Halo went by us and took the lead, it felt like (Yuugiri) wasn't done yet and was just getting going. So I just kept pedaling and she was very game and brave.”

Yuugiri completed the six-furlong race in 1:10.44 over a fast main track. She paid $5.67 to win as the betting public's second choice.

Rodolphe Brisset saddled Yuugiri for owners/breeders Tsunebumi and Sekie Yoshihara. She is out of the stakes-winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Yuzuru, who was also campaigned by the Yoshiharas.

“I don't have to describe much (about the grit this filly has); I mean, she just showed it,” Brisset said. “She has a big heart and followed it to the wire and got her nose down. This one is sweet, you know? It's my first stakes (win) at Keeneland. It feels good. We're home here; we love Keeneland. To be able to win one like this here, it means the world.”

Saturday's victory improved Yuugiri's record to seven wins in 14 starts, with earnings of $1,191,670. It was her third win in her last four stakes, coming into the Thoroughbred Club of America off a victory in the listed Open Mind Stakes on Sept. 16 at Churchill Downs. Two starts prior to that, she won hte Saylorville Stakes at Prairie Meadows.

Yuugiri's modus operandi has been to focus on one turn during her 4-year-old campaign, but she had seen plenty of success at the route distance last year. She won the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park ahead of a start in the Kentucky Oaks, where she set the early pace before fading to 13th.

If Yuugiri is successful in her bid for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, she would be the first horse to parlay the TCA into a win in that race since champion Groupie Doll in 2012.

“We've been in the game long enough,” Brisset said. “We know how to act ourselves – I mean, there's a little pressure – but we'll take care of her first, make a plan and see what happens. It's a big one for sure and we may be coming.”

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Blinkers Off: Timberlake Cruises Clear In ‘Win and You’re In’ Champagne

Timberlake rallied from off the pace, engaged pacesetter General Partner on the outside in early stretch, then easily shook off that rival to score a convincing victory in the $500,000 Champagne (G1) for 2-year-olds Saturday at Belmont at the Big A.

Rebounding from a runner-up finish in the Hopeful (G1) Sept. 4 at Saratoga, Timberlake earned his first win at the top level and second overall from four career starts when covering the Champagne's one-turn mile in 1: 35.90 on a sloppy (sealed) track.

Ridden by Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox, the Into Mischief colt returned $11.80.

General Partner hung on for second, and Dancing Groom was third. Favorite Fierceness finished seventh in the eight-horse field after he lunged at the start, then was bumped and jostled.

Timberlake relaxed in fifth along the inside in the early running, then was deftly angled to the outside entering the lane. He was ready to roll when Geroux gave the cue and proved best with a sustained rally, scoring by 4 1/4 lengths.

Owned by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, Timberlake scored a 9 1/4-length win going seven furlongs on July 21 at Ellis Park to break his maiden in his second start. In his subsequent outing and sporting blinkers, the Hopeful, he appeared en route to victory but could not repel 54-1 longshot Nutella Fella, who won by 1 1/2 lengths. The blinkers came off for Saturday's race and the equipment change helped him settle.

The Champagne is a “Win And You're In” qualifying event for the $2-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Timberlake received an automatic, fees-paid berth while stamping himself a horse to watch for the 1 1/16-mile event Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

The fixture is also a points race for the 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4 at Churchill Downs, and Timberlake earned 10 points toward a potential start in the first jewel of the Triple Crown.

Timberlake improved his lifetime earnings to $375,600 with the Champagne's $275,000 winner's share of the purse. He was bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stables. Produced by the Lookin At Lucky mare Pin Up (IRE), he was purchased by Maverick Racing and Siena Farm for $350,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale, where Gainesway consigned him.

Champagne Quotes

Brad Cox, winning trainer of Timberlake (No. 3, $11.80): “He ran good. I was very proud of him. He got a good, clean trip today. Florent [Geroux] did a great job. He got away well. We had a bit of a rough trip in the Hopeful. I thought with a little bit of a cleaner run he maybe would have got to the wire first, but that's the way it goes. I'm very proud of the effort today. It was a huge win.”

On if removing blinkers was to help the horse relax on the stretch out: “Totally. He's a young horse. We used blinkers early on just to keep him focused and we felt like he needed them early. He trained very well leading up to the Hopeful and looking back it would have been great to take them off, but he was also coming off a victory, too. He's a young horse continuing to learn and I think he put it all together today. I want to congratulate WinStar for the opportunity — it's a big win for them as well.”

On garnering a “Win and You're In” and Kentucky Derby points: “You obviously turn your attention to the Breeders' Cup as it comes up first. We'll get him back to Kentucky and see how he comes out of it and let him tell us if we take a march towards Santa Anita. We'll enjoy this victory and go from there.”

Dustin Dugas, assistant to winning trainer Brad Cox of Timberlake (No. 3): “They went pretty quick up front and Florent [Geroux] did a very good job just sitting chilly and it unfolded the way it did. He just broke OK – he wasn't the fastest to get in stride, but he handled it really well. Florent rode a great race and was very patient with him.

“He's excellent [in the barn]. He's really, really cool and trains great. The guys down in Kentucky have always loved him.”

Elliott Walden, CEO of winning co-owner WinStar Farm of Timberlake (No. 3): “We talked about it and thought this was a good spot. The Champagne is a great race, a stallion-making race. We're excited to win it, it's the first time we've ever won it.

“Brad [Cox] did a great job taking the blinkers off. I think that helped settle him a little bit. We saw what happened last time and you learn from each race. He learns from each race and he was just great-minded today. He was very rank last time when he didn't break well and was up behind heels. Brad worked him twice without blinkers and made the decision not to have them today and it all worked out well.

“He's accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I think [two turns] will be good, but we'll see. He's a big strong horse with a beautiful pedigree, a two-turn type pf pedigree.”

Florent Geroux, winning jockey aboard Timberlake (No. 3): “They did [pick the right race]. I thought I was going to California at first, then Keeneland I was named on there and I had to take off my horses to come here but it was just the best spot today with the one-turn mile and a good setup in front of him. I think it set him up perfect for the Breeders' Cup and hopefully the horse comes back healthy and we can move forward. He's not the quickest horse out of the gate, but he always puts himself in a good position. We knew what we had. Last time he was the favorite in the Hopeful and had a little bit of trouble and was very rank. Today, we took the blinkers off and he was way more relaxed and [I'm] hoping he is going to improve again.”

Manny Franco, jockey of runner-up General Partner (No. 4): “He ran great. He did what he knows to do and went to the lead and was second best today and ran a really good race. He's going to keep improving, which I like.”

Trevor McCarthy, jockey of third-place Dancing Groom (No. 2): “We really liked him coming into the race and he had been training really good. He was the only horse that had gone a mile and won at a mile. We knew that the distance would be really good and there were a lot of sprinters today, so we thought there's going to be a pretty hot pace and just break well and get into a good rhythm and let him come home running. He ran an awesome race today, he's still two, he's going to mature over time and there's a bright future for the horse.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., jockey of seventh-place finisher and beaten favorite Fierceness (No. 6): “He hopped at the start. He moved right when they opened the gate. After that, I just tried to give him a good trip. I sat in the clear from third or fourth trying to bide my time. I made a little run and that was it. After the break, it was hard to catch up.”

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