'TDN Rising Star' Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), dismissed at 85-10 off a third-place run in Saratoga's GI Hopeful S. Sept. 5 over similarly sloppy conditions, splashed past his foes in the lane to become the first highest-level winner for his freshman sire (by Curlin). In the process, he earned an automatic spot in the starting gate for the Nov. 4 GI Fanduel Breeders' Cup Juvenile–a race his sire won handily in 2017 while still a maiden and coming off a close second in the Champagne. Well-regarded and well-bred Verifying (Justify) settled for the runner-up spot in his second career outing, 3 1/4 lengths behind the winner.
Blazing Sevens was a 6 1/4-length debut scorer at the Spa July 24, and was further flattered when the winner of that event came back to graduate by eight lengths. He was beaten 12 lengths in the Hopeful by 'Rising Star' Forte (Violence), and nine by re-opposing favorite Gulfport (Uncle Mo).
As one of very few signed on Saturday with a proven off-the-pace style, Blazing Sevens was reined in to sit last early while kept well off the fence as speedy New York-bred stakes winner Andiamo a Firenze (Speightstown) showed the way. He snuck inside and inched closer after a :47.09 half, and sliced back out into the clear pointing for home as Verifying and Gulfport tag-teamed the pacesetter. Blazing Sevens responded willingly when set down in earnest by Flavien Prat, and he scampered past the favorites with ease in the late stages.
“He had a good trip,” said Prat, who was riding Blazing Sevens for the first time after Manny Franco had piloted him in his first two tries. “He broke well and he got himself into the race. I was traveling really well on the backside and decided to drop myself in and try to save some ground a bit. He was traveling really well all the way around and when I tipped him out and he changed leads, he really changed gears as well.
“We really felt the horse would like the distance. We were hoping for some solid pace and hopefully it would come back for him today to make a run, and that's what happened. The pace was pretty fair. I think he jumped well getting himself into the race without me rushing him, so I think that was key today.”
Trainer Chad Brown, who also took last year's Champagne with 'Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) and now owns four titles in the prestigious event overall, said, “It's such a reward because [Good Magic] was unlucky in the Champagne himself. I thought he was very unlucky, actually. It was some good karma for us today that his son was able to get his head in front in the Champagne and win like he did. He's been a wonderful horse to get along with. He's all class. I want to thank Pete Bradley for picking him out and John and Carla Capek, the owners. This is their second year in owning horses and they're lovely people, very deserving. If he comes out healthy, it's on to the Breeders' Cup.”
Brown did admit that he had some concerns with the track conditions: “I was worried. After the Hopeful, I told the owners I was planning on going to the Breeders' Futurity [at Keeneland one week later] and I called an audible last week after his work. I felt like he was doing so well and a legit Breeders' Cup candidate. I was dying to get him around two turns, but I would rather have the five weeks' rest and not four. So I decided to ship him here and, sure enough, the hurricane came north and I was sick over it the last two days. I was already committed here, so I stuck with it and, thankfully, he handled the mud here today. Maybe it was a Saratoga thing last time, I'm not really sure. He didn't run bad last time, he just wasn't himself. Today, he was moving through perfectly.”
Saturday, Belmont The Big A
CHAMPAGNE S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 2yo, 1m, 1:37.07, sy.
1–BLAZING SEVENS, 122, c, 2, by Good Magic
               1st Dam: Trophy Girl, by Warrior's Reward
               2nd Dam: Storm West, by Gone West
               3rd Dam: Storm Attack, by Storm Bird
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($140,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $225,000
Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-Rodeo Creek Racing, LLC; B-Tracy Farmer
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-2-0-1, $368,750. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Verifying, 122, c, 2, Justify–Diva Delite, by Repent.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. ($775,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Jonathan Poulin,
Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith & Michael B.
Tabor; B-Hunter Valley & Mountmellick Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad
Cox. $100,000.
3–Gulfport, 122, c, 2, Uncle Mo–Fame and Fortune, by
Unbridled's Song. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($275,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL).
O-L. William & Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, Whispering
Oaks Farm LLC & Coolmore Stud; B-Diamond Creek Farm (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen. $60,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, 1HF, 7 3/4. Odds: 8.50, 2.25, 1.55.
Also Ran: Andiamo a Firenze, Champions Dream, Top Recruit.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
Pedigree Notes:
The graded racing deities have smiled upon Hill 'n' Dale's freshman sire Good Magic, liberally endowing him with three graded winners to kickstart his stallion career. In addition to the success of Blazing Sevens, Good Magic's Vegas Magic won the GII Sorrento S. and Curly Jack captured the GIII Iroquois S., all since mid-August. This first crop for 2017's champion 2-year-old also includes at least 14 winners. He is the first American freshman of the year with a Grade I winner to his credit and only fellow first-crop stallion Justify matches him with three individual graded winners of 2022 thus far.
Trophy Girl, unraced at two and a dual winner at four, has a yearling filly by Constitution and an Apr. 15 filly by Goldencents. She was bred back to Essential Quality for next term. The daughter of Warrior's Reward–who now has seven stakes winners out of his daughters–is a half-sister to 2012 GI Jamaica H. winner King David (Hat Trick {Jpn}), who is now a sire in Turkey. Tracy Farmer bought Trophy Girl for $62,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall weanling. While Trophy Girl's dam and granddam were unraced, her third dam was Hortensia (Fr) (Luthier {Fr}), a MGSW in France and producer of Glacial Storm (Arctic Tern), a MGSW in England and France, as well as runner-up in the 1988 G1 Epsom Derby and third in that year's G1 Irish Derby.
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