Hidden Stash Takes Oliver, BBN Racing to First Derby

Vicki Oliver has dreamed of making it to the starting gate on the first weekend of the Churchill Downs spring meet for her entire career, but the Kentucky Derby was never the race she had in mind.

Vicki and Phil Oliver established their stable in 1999 and have since had several top graded winners go through their program including Grade I winners Personal Diary (City Zip) and Last Full Measure (Empire Maker).

The majority of their stable's top performers have been fillies, and many of those pupils were supplied by Oliver's father, prominent owner and breeder G. Watts Humphrey Jr.

“I've been training for my father for over 22 years,” Oliver said. “He's been my biggest supporter and I always thought if I was going to be running this weekend in a big race, it would be for him in the Oaks.”

But this year, Oliver finds herself journeying to Louisville on one of the biggest weekends in racing alongside a colt readying for his bid in the Kentucky Derby.

Hidden Stash has yet to find the winner's circle this year, but strong performances in a trio of graded starts against top company have his connections convinced that they still have yet to see the best of what the son of Constitution has to offer.

Since his last start, the colt has had two strong works at Keeneland that have added to Oliver's confidence. He fired a bullet :47.8 four-furlong breeze (1/23) on April 14 and then went five furlongs in 1:00.60 last Friday (6/26).

“His works have been fantastic,” she said. “In his work [on April 14] he got his workmates just past the wire, which was good for him. He's actually a pretty laid-back guy. He doesn't worry about much, which is a nice thing for a horse going into the Derby with the crowd, the post parade and everything.”

In addition to being Oliver's first-ever Derby entry, Hidden Stash will take his owners to their first Run for the Roses.

BBN Racing was founded in 2017 by Brendan O'Brien and Brian Klatsky, both partners in the New York-based Gold Coast Wealth Management, as well as Royal Oak Farm's Braxton Lynch.

“We were trying to figure out a model in racing where we could bring sports fans, friends and family into the game and have some financial structure around it where it just wasn't bills after bills,” said Klatsky, who also founded and oversees an AAU basketball program in New Jersey called Team Rio.

BBN enjoyed success early on when a filly they had bought in on named Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy) broke her maiden on debut at Saratoga.

After Concrete Rose became a four-time graded stakes winner, including a victory in the 2019 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S., the BBN Racing team returned to the sales in search of their second group of runners.

“The whole purpose of BBN surrounds around the idea of having as many opportunities within one crop,” Klatsky explained. “We want to diversify the portfolio with six or seven horses that will develop and this way, someone that is new to the game doesn't lose interest if their first horse doesn't work out.”

The BBN team, along with trainers Rusty Arnold, Vicki and Phil Oliver, plus consultant Bo Bromagen, took on the 2019 Keeneland September Sale.

The group landed on a colt by Constitution out of the Pennsylvania-bred Making Mark Money (Smart Strike).

“Everyone saw something in him,” Klatsky recalled. “They all had a different opinion, but everyone liked something about him. This was right before Constitution was really starting to heat up. I think it was about a week before he had a couple of big 2-year-old winners. When he went through the ring, we got him for $50,000.”

When Hidden Stash eventually arrived at the Olivers' stable as a juvenile, they knew they had their work cut out for themselves.

“He was a really big baby when we first got him,” Oliver said. “He was all over the place and really immature. He didn't want to switch leads in the afternoons and just didn't know what was going on.”

It took a few tries for the youngster to figure out his job, first running fourth at Ellis Park and then getting up for third in his next start at Churchill Downs.

By the end of the Keeneland October meet, the pieces started falling into place and, despite hanging onto his left lead going down the stretch, he broke his maiden by three lengths. In his final start at two, he charged home to claim a victory over allowance company going a mile and a sixteenth under the Twin Spires.

“After he won at Churchill Downs, we thought we might have a really nice 3-year-old on our hands,” Klatsky said. “We wanted to be patient. We really felt that the mile and a quarter was something that he would really like a few months down the road, so we gave him some time and came back to the races in February.”

Hidden Stash ran third in the GIII Sam F. Davis in his sophomore debut before crossing the wire second less than a length behind Helium (Ironicus) in the GII Tampa Bay Derby.

“In that race, I think he just got a bit lackadaisical,” Oliver admitted. “I thought he was going to go past the winner and he didn't, so I think he just lacked experience. But that was probably his biggest race so far this year.”

Up against champion Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GII Blue Grass, the colt ran towards the back of the pack through most of the race and was moving up coming into the stretch, but couldn't do better than fourth.

“Essential Quality and Highly Motivated (Into Mischief) pretty much dictated the pace that day and had their way,” Klatsky said. “He was passing horses and didn't get his chance to show his best. But he continues to develop, so stretching out now into a mile and a quarter, we think he has his best race still ahead of him.”

On Tuesday, Hidden Stash drew the 13th post position for the 147th edition of the Kentucky Derby, breaking alongside Eclipse Champion and Mike Battaglia's morning line favorite Essential Quality. Hidden Stash was given 50-1 odds.

“Everyone wants a Derby horse, whether you're 50 to one, 10 to one or two to one,” Oliver said.

Despite the long odds, Derby Day will be particularly special for Klatsky because of his close association with the horse's various connections.

“I've been a guest of the Humphrey family at the Kentucky Derby over 15 times and I've always been in awe and never realistically thought we would be here with a runner,” he said. “Watts has played an integral role in mentoring me and teaching me the game. The lessons I've learned from him over the years were a big part of how we built the foundation for BBN.”

He continued, “I've known Vicki and Phil for close to 22 years now. I met them when they started training at Monmouth Park and we were all in our late 20's and early 30's. That's what makes this really special for me is to have been through 20 plus years of racehorse ownership and to be at the Kentucky Derby is something you dream about, but it's never a realistic goal. It's so hard to get here and there's so much more to the sport of racing than just the Kentucky Derby, but to be in this situation with the people that I learned the game with really makes it special.”

While BBN Racing has already reached the big stage with GISW Concrete Rose, Klatsky said there's an unquestionable reverence to Saturday's race.

“The Kentucky Derby is the pinnacle,” he said. “It's really exciting to have people that are friends and don't follow racing actually draw interest now because it's the Kentucky Derby. You really can't put words around it. I haven't been able to sleep well for weeks now. But whatever happens on Derby Day, to me, is just a blessing. Just being a part of this whole journey is just as exciting as race day.”

Oliver said she still has the dream of getting a G. Watts Humphrey Jr. homebred in the Kentucky Oaks winner's circle, but for now she's taking in the Derby journey one day at a time.

“I never actually dreamed that we would be able to get into the Derby because most of the horses in our barn are fillies,” she said. “I can't believe that in our first few years with BBN Racing that we got one in the Derby. It's a bit surreal. But all the hard work is done now. We've just got to keep him on the ground safe until Derby Day.”

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‘Always Bet the Gray:’ The History Behind Derby Favorite Essential Quality’s Silver Coat

A gray Thoroughbred is often a head-turner, not only for its sterling coat but for its relative rarity. Comprising only a small percentage of the breed, they are outnumbered by their bay, brown and chestnut stablemates.

This year, though, you might just see a garland of roses placed around a gray colt's neck.

Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality has passed every test given to him so far, from winning the championship race for 2-year-old colts to securing victories in both his prep races for the Derby this spring. He stands above all the rest, and though anything might happen in the Run for the Roses, he looks to have the best chance of anyone to win.

But of 146 victors of the Kentucky Derby, only eight have been gray, and it's been some years since a gray was even favored in the race. Could Essential Quality become winner number nine?

Gray horses are so infrequent in fields that the superstition “Always bet the gray” has been whispered for decades, and those following this wisdom on the first Saturday in May may just reap the rewards.

What's in a gray?

Different breeds of horses have different varieties and proportions of coat colors. There are some breeds, like the famous Lipizzaners of Austria, that are dominated by gray horses.

In order to breed a gray horse, however, you need at least one gray parent. A gray horse won't just pop up seemingly out of nowhere, even if a grandparent or great-grandparent was that color.

There's a lot more science to it — a matter of dominant and recessive genes — but suffice it to say that every gray Thoroughbred has an unbroken gray lineage that can be traced back through their pedigree through one or both parents.

The Thoroughbred was created in England in the late 17th Century as a cross between imported stallions from the Middle East and North Africa and local broodmare stock. The endurance of these desert stallions, combined with the speed of the mares, created a horse that could carry its speed over a distance.

There are three “foundation sires” of the breed often cited – the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk. But these are merely the three whose direct male lines still live on. There were other stallions, too, that shaped the breed – and some of them were gray.

The Alcock Arabian is chief among these early silver horses. He got his color from his mother, who in turn received the gray gene from her father, Hautboy, and his father, an imported stallion from Turkey. The famous breeder Federico Tesio called him the “fourth foundation sire” due to his immense influence on the Thoroughbred.

Of course, Tesio also compared the inheritance of the gray coat in Thoroughbreds to a “disease.” And thanks to Alcock's Arabian, that disease keeps on spreading.

His son, Crab, is responsible for much of that success. Crab was a nice racehorse who won a pair of prestigious races and then took his prowess to stud. He went on to sire daughters that produced the gray lines which lead us to the present day.

We're not quite there yet, though. Before Essential Quality, there were other gray superstars, and many of them owe their gray coat to perhaps the greatest of them all – The Tetrarch.

The Tetrarch, King for a Gray 

Bred in Ireland and raced there and in England, The Tetrarch was a phenom on the track, winning all seven of his races and claiming the title of champion 2-year-old colt. His racing career was cut short due to leg problems, but luckily for his legacy, there was the breeding shed.

The colt was nicknamed “The Spotted Wonder,” for the black and white dapples that peppered his silver coat. The black spots were inherited from Bend Or, grandsire of his dam. The emergence of white dapples, though, was somewhat of a surprise. Even today, gray horses exhibiting these white dapples are said to have “Tetrarch spots.”

The Tetrarch was the product of a line of gray stallions from France, son of Roi Herode, who in turn was son of Le Samaritain, son of Le Sancy. They are the preeminent gray Thoroughbreds found in pedigrees at the turn of the century. If a silver horse isn't descended from The Tetrarch, they are, in all likelihood, descended from Roi Herode.

Keeping in mind Thoroughbred coat color dynamics, these horses were always products of at least one gray parent. And if you trace The Tetrarch's pedigree back through the generations, you'll wind up at Crab – and more than once, at that.

So the Tetrarch went to stud, and just as he was brilliant as a racehorse, he was brilliant as a sire, too. His sons and daughters won many stakes races, but the most influential in the long run was the “Flying Filly,” Mumtaz Mahal. Like her father, she, too, was a champion 2-year-old — and she, too, was gray.

She's the tail-female ancestor of several of the breed's most influential horses, including Nasrullah and Mahmoud, and it's because of the latter that we can finally turn our attention to the United States and the Kentucky Derby.

Star-Spangled grays – from revolution to Roses

Thoroughbred horses first came to America in the colonial era, and the breed began to take shape after the American Revolution and throughout the 19th Century. One of the first leading sires in the United States was Medley, a son of silver stallion Gimcrack, with the blood of Crab and Hautboy in his veins.

Medley was a successful racehorse in England, and in 1784, he was sent to Virginia to stand at stud. There, he produced many winners — some gray, some not — and left a considerable mark on early American bloodlines.

But that influence waned in the wake of bay and chestnut stallions to come. Diomed soon became preeminent sire in America, followed by horses like Leviathan, Glencoe, and the dominant Lexington, whose bay portrait still graces the cover of the Blood-Horse's Stallion Register. Medley's blood lived on, but his silver coat did not.

In fact, it wasn't until 1946 that a gray horse was again top sire in the United States. That just happened to be Mahmoud, grandson of Mumtaz Mahal and great-grandson of The Tetrarch. Ten years earlier, he had won the Derby at Epsom Downs, and was purchased to stand at stud in America in 1940.

He went on to sire numerous stakes winners, and his daughter Almahmoud is the direct female ancestor of Derby winners Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. (They're not gray, but they're still quite important.)

Even considering Mahmoud's success at stud, a gray horse had still never won the Kentucky Derby. That would change soon enough, when Determine won the race in 1954. It nearly came a year sooner, when the legendary Native Dancer went to post.

Native Dancer

Native Dancer had raced eleven times prior to the Derby and had never been defeated. In a sea of bays and chestnuts, he stood mostly alone. He was one of those that didn't get his gray gene from The Tetrarch; his female line consisted of silver mares all the way back to his great-great-grandmother La Grisette, a daughter of Roi Herode.

While Mahmoud was making a name for himself as a sire, Native Dancer was leaving it all on the track. He broke from the gate as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, and nearing the finish line, he was making up considerable ground on 25-1 shot Dark Star. Surely he'd get up in time?

It was not to be. Native Dancer lost the roses by a head. He went on to add the Preakness and Belmont, among other prestigious races, to his list of victories; the Derby was the only race he ever lost.

The next year, Determine won the Kentucky Derby. This gray colt's mother was a daughter of Mahmoud. In 1962, his son Decidedly became a Derby winner, too, and they remain one of the few father-son pairs to both win the race.

Despite the Derby loss, Native Dancer achieved racing immortality through not only his track record but his sons and daughters as well. You'd be hard-pressed not to find him in a modern racehorse's pedigree — gray or not.

Caro, Tapit, and the gray-volution 

Mahmoud's influence lived on in subsequent gray Kentucky Derby winners Spectacular Bid (1979) and Gato Del Sol (1982). The former even came close to winning the Triple Crown, coming up short in the final race, the Belmont Stakes. Lady's Secret, a daughter of Secretariat, was a gray champion who traced her bloodlines back to Native Dancer.

But Mahmoud and Native Dancer were only two stallions. Even with their great influence, along with other descendants of The Tetrarch and Mumtaz Mahal, gray horses were still vastly outnumbered in the United States.

The color received a boost in the form of Caro, an Irish-bred, French-raced stallion who was sent to stand at stud in America in 1979. The move paid off nearly immediately. His first American crop boasted the gray Cozzene, Breeders' Cup Mile winner and breed-shaper in his own right. Other stakes winners soon followed.

His greatest claim to fame, though, came perhaps in 1988, when Winning Colors won the Kentucky Derby. Winning Colors was not only a gray horse, but a female horse – only the third filly to win the Derby in its storied history. A gray filly winning the Run for the Roses was the statistical equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack, and yet, she beat the odds.

Holy Bull won the FSS In Reality as a 2-year-old, shown here with Mike Smith and his trainer Warren A. Croll, Jr.

From there, more and more grays shone on the national racing stage. Holy Bull, who was descended from Mahmoud not once but twice, didn't win the Derby but won pretty much everything else. Silver Charm, another descendant of Mahmoud, nearly claimed the Triple Crown.

Monarchos, with Caro in his pedigree, took the roses in 2001, and Holy Bull's gray son Giacomo won the race at gargantuan odds of 50-1 in 2005.

That was the last time a gray horse won the Derby, but in the years since, the tide has turned even further in favor of the color. A year before, the silver Tapit finished a distant ninth on the first Saturday in May, but he's been nearly unbeatable as a stallion.

Since Mahmoud in 1946, just a few gray horses have been named leading sires in the United States – the aforementioned Cozzene in 1996, and El Prado in 2002. Tapit, meanwhile, was leading sire in 2014 … and 2015 … and 2016, too. Unbridled's Song, another gray, followed him up in 2017.

Like Native Dancer, Tapit's female line is all gray. In fact, you have to go back nine generations of silver mares before you get to Silver Beauty, a granddaughter of The Tetrarch. Back from The Tetrarch, you get to the French gray stallions. And from them, you get back to Crab, and the Alcock Arabian.

And that's where this story comes full circle, because Tapit is the father of 2021 Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality.

The historic odds may be stacked against the silver colt, but the betting odds sure won't be. And it's not as if gray horses have been completely absent from contention in the Run for the Roses in recent years. Since Giacomo, they have finished second, third or fourth on several occasions.

The genetic legacy that Essential Quality brings to his Derby favoritism is beyond compelling. When he enters the starting gate, the blood of Mahmoud and Mumtaz Mahal and Roi Herode will course through his veins, and perhaps the ghosts of Native Dancer and Winning Colors will be at his side, too.

But maybe that's getting too philosophical.

Maybe we should keep it simple, follow track superstition, and just bet the gray.

Emily White is a writer and photographer in the Philadelphia area with racing and breeding interests in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The post ‘Always Bet the Gray:’ The History Behind Derby Favorite Essential Quality’s Silver Coat appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Churchill Open To The Public For Derby/Oaks Works And Will Livestream Training

Between Saturday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 28, Churchill Downs will be open free-of-charge daily from 7-10 a.m. so guests can watch the nation's top 3-year-old Thoroughbreds train toward their engagements in this year's Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

“For the past 146 years, the Kentucky Derby has created memories and traditions for so many families and friends in our community,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson. “There's no better way to start the day than to watch our majestic Thoroughbreds train up-close and personal. We're thrilled to deliver this new experience free of charge and open it up to the general public for everyone to enjoy.”

Horses train on Churchill Downs' main track daily from 5:15-10 a.m. Beginning Saturday, April 17, there will be an exclusive training window only for Derby and Oaks participants from 7:30-7:45 a.m. following the 7-7:30 a.m. renovation break. Those horses will be identified by special saddle towels which include their names:  yellow saddle towels for Derby horses and pink saddle towels for Oaks contenders.

Churchill Downs will livestream the Kentucky Derby Morning Works presented by TwinSpires.com across its social media channels starting on Monday, April 19. Video also will be broadcast on Churchill Downs' Big Board.

Guests can enter Churchill Downs through the Paddock Gate and should park for free in the nearby White Lot for convenient entry. Guests will be directed to Sections 115-117 to watch the morning workouts.

Face coverings are required and guests must practice social distancing. Churchill Downs will continue to rely on proven health and safety protocols and operate within the guidance of local and state health officials as well as the CDC.

Between Saturday, April 17 and Friday, April 23, guests may bring in their own food and beverage during the morning workouts. Food and beverage may not be brought into the facility between Saturday, April 24 and Wednesday, April 28 because of Kentucky Derby Week security protocols but Churchill Downs' new Paddock Grill will be open during that period to offer breakfast items for purchase.

The 147th runnings of the $1.25 Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) and $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) will be held Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1, respectively. Opening Night of Derby Week and the 38-day Spring Meet is Saturday, April 24. For Derby Week and Spring Meet tickets, visit www.KentuckyDerby.com/Tickets.

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Champion Essential Quality, 4-1, Slight Favorite In Kentucky Derby Future Wager’s Final Pool

Five weeks in advance of the 147th running of the $3-million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1), bettors made unbeaten Essential Quality the 4-1 favorite over “All Other 3-Year-Olds” and Concert Tour, who both closed at 5-1 in the fifth and final pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW), which concluded a three-day run Sunday.

The Brad Cox-trained 2-year-old champion Essential Quality, perfect in four starts with wins in the Breeders' Futurity (G1), Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Southwest (G3), is expected to headline Saturday's $800,000 Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland.

Unbeaten San Vicente (G2) and Rebel (G2) winner Concert Tour will run next in the $1-million Arkansas Derby (GI) at Oaklawn Park for six-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert.

Horses in order of the public's betting choice (with trainer, Pool 5 odds and $2 Win will pays): #7 Essential Quality (Brad Cox, 4-1, $10.20); #24 “All Other 3-Year-Olds” (5-1, $12.80); #4 Concert Tour (Bob Baffert, 5-1, $13); #8 Greatest Honour (Shug McGaughey, 9-1, $20.80); #12 Hot Rod Charlie (Doug O'Neill, 12-1, $26.20); #15 Medina Spirit (Bob Baffert, 13-1, $28.80); #18 Prevalence (Brendan Walsh, 21-1, $45.40); #11 Highly Motivated (Chad Brown, 25-1, $53.80); #16 Midnight Bourbon (Steve Asmussen, 27-1, $56.80); #9 Helium (Mark Casse, 28-1, $59.80); #20 Risk Taking (Chad Brown, 30-1, $62.80); #21 Rock Your World (John Sadler, 31-1, $65); #2 Caddo River (Brad Cox, 33-1, $69.40); #23 Weyburn (Jimmy Jerkens, 35-1, $72.80); #3 Collaborate (Saffie Joseph Jr., 36-1, $74.40); #14 Mandaloun (Brad Cox, 36-1, $75.40); #5 Crowded Trade (Chad Brown, 38-1, $78.40); #13 Hozier (Bob Baffert, 44-1, $91.40); #6 Dream Shake (Peter Eurton, 45-1, $92); #22 Spielberg (Bob Baffert, 46-1, $95); #17 O Besos (Greg Foley, 50-1, $102.20); #19 Proxy (Mike Stidham, 51-1, $105.60); #10 Hidden Stash (Vicki Oliver, 53-1, $109.60); and #1 Big Lake (Steve Asmussen, SCRATCHED).

Total handle for the March 26-28 KDFW pool – the final future wager pool in advance of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 – was $369,695 ($242.140 in the Win pool and $127,555 in Exactas). Since last November, a total of $1,780,403 has been bet on future wagers for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

Visit www.KentuckyDerby.com/FutureWager for more information.

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