Air Force Blue | Horse Racing Free Tips

Annapolis Returns A Winner In Opening Verse

Barring his disastrous start in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile last fall, Annapolis has been the picture of consistency throughout his career–never placing worse than second in seven prior starts dating back to Sept. 2021. The 'TDN Rising Star' earned success at the highest level with his win in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile S. leading into that Breeders' Cup, where a missed break derailed his race. Despite an awkward beginning to Thursday's feature race at Churchill, Annapolis was able to establish good stalking position in sixth, content to sit behind horses as Get Smokin (Get Stormy) paced the field through easy opening fractions of :24.29 and :49.33. As space opened up for his move, Annapolis swung out and swept into contention with an eye-catching rally exiting the far turn. Still hung on the outside down the lane, he took aim on late leader Churchtown and just had the time to drive by, nailing his rival in the final jumps to post the narrow victory.

“He got the job done today,” said winning jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. “Luis [Saez] was riding, and I was riding, and coming to the wire, he got his head in front. In the Breeders' Cup Mile (GI), he stumbled at the break, but I kept asking, and he kept trying. And he was facing some very good horses. It's nice to see him back and in great condition. Hopefully, he'll have another great year.”

Out of GSW/MGISP My Miss Sophia, Annapolis has a 2-year-old full-brother, Eisenhower, and a newborn half-sister by Gun Runner. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

OPENING VERSE S., $297,500, Churchill Downs, 5-4, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:35.73, fm.
1–ANNAPOLIS, 124, c, 4, War Front–My Miss Sophia (GSW &
MGISP, $605,040), by Unbridled's Song. 'TDN Rising Star'.
O/B-Bass Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$175,270. Lifetime Record: GISW, 9-6-2-0, $1,341,370. *Full to
Nevisian Sunrise, SP, $196,180.
2–Churchtown, 120, g, 4, Air Force Blue–Complicated, by
Blame. ($65,000 RNA Wlg '19 KEENOV; $40,000 RNA Ylg '20
KEESEP). O/B-William Harrigan & Mike Pietrangelo (KY);
T-Roger L. Attfield. $56,700.
3–Set Piece (GB), 120, g, 7, Dansili (GB)–Portodora, by
Kingmambo. O/B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Brad H.
Cox. $25,850.
Margins: HD, 2, HD. Odds: 0.83, 7.88, 3.70.
Also Ran: English Bee, Stitched, Get Smokin, Kentucky Ghost, Time to Party, Gray's Fable, Camp Hope, Native Thunder. Scratched: Sky and Sand.

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Full to Air Force Blue Breaks Maiden and Track Record

4th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 2-13, 3yo, f, 1m 70y (AWT) (off turf), 1:45.10, ft, head.

AMERICAN HEROINE (f, 3, War Front–Chatham {MSP, $156,431}, by Maria's Mon) debuted on the turf at this venue Jan. 2 without Lasix, producing a closing kick which carried her five wide into the lane but also to third place within a length of winning. With this race coming off the turf, she broke well and secured a forward position as the 8-5 chalk. The $1.05 million KEESEP score glued herself to the early lead from second on the outside until the far turn, where she tugged her way to the front. Leading a cavalry charge home, Tyler Gaffalione kept his filly's mind on running and despite a huge closing move from Mitigation (Into Mischief), American Heroine had just enough left to hold on by a head in a photo finish. The final time of 1:45.10 is a new track record on the all-weather.

One of six full-siblings, including Air Force Blue, Hwt. Colt-Ire, Hwt. Colt-Eur, MG1SW-Ire, G1SW-Eng, $844,919, the victress is her dam's sixth overall winner from nine to start. Chatham's offspring have always brought interest at Keeneland September: Schon Meer (Arch) bringing $475,000 in 2011; Bugle (War Front) for $400,000; Air Force Blue hammering for $490,000 to M V Magnier; Soleil de Paris (Lemon Drop Kid) for $535,000; and the 2-year-old Sir Blue Eyes (War Front) going for a cool $1 million last year to Lynnhaven Racing. The dam was a shrewd $190,000 purchase by Arthur Hancock for Stone Farm in 2009 at Keeneland November and is expecting a foal this year by a perennial top-sire in Curlin. Sales history: $1,050,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $37,100. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

O-Stone Farm and Augustin Stable; B-Stone Farm (KY); T-Christophe Clement.

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‘Patience Was Worth It’: Mashnee Girl Provides Thrill To Boutique New York Operation

Mashnee Stable's homebred filly Mashnee Girl was a convincing winner on Thursday at Aqueduct Racetrack, taking a one-mile state-bred allowance for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up by five lengths.

Trained by Mark Hennig, the daughter of Air Force Blue provided her connections with the second win of her career, defeating winners for the first time after breaking her maiden at second asking going wire-to-wire in an off-the-turf maiden special weight at Saratoga Race Course in 2020.

The 4-year-old Mashnee Girl returned from a year-long layoff this September after fracturing a sesamoid and needing surgery to place a screw. Her win Thursday garnered an 85 Beyer Speed Figure and came in her fourth start since returning to the races. It was the first time Mashnee Girl had raced at one mile since October 2020 and the first time she set the pace since her maiden score.

“We were very excited with the figure because she came back from that long layoff,” said Steve Schuster, owner and operator of Mashnee Stables. “She went back into training in July and her first few races in the fall got her back into shape a little bit. The patience was worth it. Going back to a mile and going to the front definitely helped.”

Mashnee Stables, which boards 4-to-6 mares at a time at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, was founded by Schuster, a lifelong racing fan and longtime owner in the thoroughbred industry. Mashnee Stables has raced three of their homebreds to date, winning their first race as owners and breeders with Cape Cod Girl at Belmont in 2019.

The farm's name stems from Schuster's home of Mashnee Island in Massachusetts, a small peninsula on Buzzards Bay that is home to around 140 houses. New York's proximity to Massachusetts, combined with the incentives the New York-bred program offers, led Schuster to set up his operations in the Empire State seven years ago.

“Mashnee Island is a part of Cape Cod and that's where we live. I was involved in horse racing for a long time,” Schuster said. “I was a partner in some partnerships and wanted to branch off into breeding and be involved in a bigger way. We just love the New York program. It's a great opportunity for breeders and owners.”

Schuster says the biggest accomplishment for his operation so far was visiting the winner's circle at Saratoga with Mashnee Girl.

“It was so exciting to breed a horse that won at Saratoga,” Schuster said. “Unfortunately, it was during the pandemic, but we were all there.”

Schuster said he usually retains one horse to race from his foal crop each year and sends the rest to the sales.

“We've been having success at the auctions and on the racetrack, too,” Schuster said. “We have another horse that we bred named Ruvies in Time that won an allowance last week at Aqueduct and won a starter stakes [Videogenic] last year. We had sold her [for $95,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale in 2018] too.”

Schuster said he is hopeful about the prospects of future siblings of Mashnee Girl.

“We have a horse who just turned three named Cape Cod Causeway. She's a half-sister to Mashnee Girl,” said Schuster. “She's raced a few times and has been showing a lot of promise.”

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Air Force Blue to South Korea

European champion 2-year-old Air Force Blue (War Front–Chatham, by Maria's Mon) has been acquired by Pegasus Farm in South Korea, according to a report in the Blood-Horse.

From two crops of racing age, Air Force Blue is responsible for five black-type winners, including Astronomer, who won Del Mar's Qatar Golden Mile S. on the Breeders' Cup Friday undercard; and Canadian Classic winner Haddassah, who captured Fort Erie's Prince of Wales S.

Air Force Blue, bred in Kentucky by Stone Farm, brought $490,000 from Magnier, Tabor and Smith at the 2014 KEESEP yearling sale. The G1 Dubai Dewhurst S., G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. hero previously stood at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

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