Creative Cause Relocated To Texas

GISW Creative Cause (Giant's Causeway) has relocated from Kentucky's Airdrie Stud to Marjorie Farms in Texas where he will stand the 2024 season for $6,000. The move was announced Thursday by the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

“He has meant a lot to us over the years and I am very thankful that he will be able to continue his career where he will get the mare support he deserves,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones.

“Texas and generally the Southwest is ready to take a big step forward and the addition of such an incredible stallion does just that,” added Marjorie Farm owners John and Elisabeth Hay.

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Classic Bases Loaded for Sire On The Up

Nobody has missed the explosive impact of Not This Time's second crop of sophomores on the Classic trail this year. But the fact remains that it's actually another stallion in his own intake that we find flirting most plausibly with an elusive distinction, with a chance of joining King Alfonso (1885), McGee (1918), Bull Lea (1952) and Native Dancer (1966) in siring the winners of both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks.

Okay, so we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. With nearly two months to go, it would be quite something just to get Zandon and Kathleen O into the gate with as feasible a chance as they appear to have right now. But whatever happens from here, I think we need to salute the work of their sire in getting that pair even this far, while standing at just $10,000.

His name, of course, is Upstart–and a clever name it is, too, for a son of Flatter out of the Touch Gold mare Party Silks. And now it's proving a very apt one, as well, with Upstart showing a real flair for upward mobility.

His third crop of juveniles, now on the launchpad, graduate from a book of just 38 covers. We all know how childish is the attention span of commercial breeders, but this was still a pretty ridiculous drop after he had opened with 146 mares–which, on a farm as exemplary as Airdrie, absolutely represented full subscription.

From the moment he could be judged on his own merits, however, Upstart has decisively reversed that customary drift. His first yearlings averaged more than six times his fee, promptly renewing traffic to 90 mares the following spring. And then, sure enough, they went out and showed that they can run: initially as a knockout pinhook medium, his first two crops averaging $107,791 and $113,250 at the 2-year-old sales; and after that–as could be anticipated from his own record, dual Grade I-placed in three consecutive campaigns–when permitted to stretch their capacity for a bullet breeze to a more meaningful span.

Kathleen O. herself is a perfect example. She was discarded to Shooting Star Thoroughbreds for just $8,000 as a weanling, having been acquired in utero with a mare whose principal appeal to her purchasers, Gainesway and Bridlewood, was evidently to assist the launch of Tapwrit. The following fall Kathleen O. was back under the hammer, advancing her value to $50,000, sold by Stuart Morris to Aurora Bloodstock at the OBS October Sale. Returning to the same ring last April, however, she had blossomed so athletically (blasted a quarter in 21-and-change) that Shug McGaughey gave $275,000.

“Niall Brennan had told us a month or two before how much he loved his Upstart filly,” recalls Bret Jones of Airdrie. “And then when I saw that Shug had signed the ticket on her–as we know, Shug doesn't sign too many auction tickets–I took that as another very encouraging sign. It's been a lot of fun watching it play out the way we sure hoped.”

Yes, it has. Racing in the silks of debut owner Pat Kearney's Winngate Stables, Kathleen O. retains an immaculate record: pouncing late for an Aqueduct maiden on debut; then romping by over eight in the Cash Run S. at Gulfstream; and now, off a lay-off, wrecking the unbeaten record of Classy Edition (Classic Empire) in the GII Davona Dale S. over the same track last weekend.

Young stallions are under enormous pressure to deliver, in the narrowest of windows, and Upstart has unequivocally seized his chance. From the outset, he has achieved terrific yields at ringside and then shown why on the track. He was admittedly unlucky with his flagship Reinvestment Risk, who made good money for investors twice over as a $140,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling and then a $280,000 OBS March 2-year-old, duly romping on debut at Saratoga before then finishing second in consecutive Grade Is. After disappointing at the Breeders' Cup, he made a single sophomore start and it was only last month that he resumed with a 103 Beyer on his comeback at Gulfstream–a performance that clearly sets him up for a return to elite company this summer.

“As a 2-year-old Reinvestment Risk had the bad luck to chase Jackie's Warrior through two very fast Grade Is,” Jones remarks. “I think his numbers would have won just about every other early graded 2-year-old race that year. So, while he didn't get that level of win, I think just about everybody shared the opinion that he had that level of talent.”

In his absence, Upstart's debut crop found a new focus in Masqueparade. Having raised $100,000 as a weanling and $180,000 as a yearling, he won the GIII Ohio Derby before finishing a good third to Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GII Jim Dandy S.

“Masquerade is also on the comeback trail,” Jones notes. “I spoke with Al Stall when I was down at the Fair Grounds and they're very bullish on what kind of 4-year-old he could be. He's big, beautiful and always seemed destined to be a good older horse. If you go back to his race on Kentucky Derby day [won optional allowance by a dozen lengths], he ran a very similar if not slightly faster Ragozin number than the best horses in the Derby.”

That renowned judge Mike Ryan had found Reinvestment Risk for the Chad Brown barn and the same pair returned to Upstart's second crop for Zandon, homebred from an unraced Creative Cause mare by Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie, as a $170,000 Keeneland September yearling. Zandon won a Belmont sprint on debut before losing out by a nose in the GII Remsen S., many being perplexed that he was not awarded the prize after being baulked late by Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo). On his return, he shaped really well against the flow of the GII Risen S., rank in the rear after a clumsy start but retaining enough energy to circle the field for third.

So anyone can see that we're already looking at a pretty impressive body of work for a horse standing for this kind of money. But there's something else I want to highlight that really sets Upstart apart. We've seen that he can look after breeders commercially; and we've seen that he can reward investors in the next cycle with real quality on the racetrack. But what I really like is that he's such a cast-iron source of “run”.

By the end of 2021, with a second crop of juveniles up and running, Upstart had managed to put no fewer than 114 of 149 named foals onto the track, including 65 winners. Those respectively represented 77% and 44% of his output. Compare those ratios with the handful who banked more prizemoney last year. Not This Time had 66% starters to named foals, and 35% winners; Nyquist, 61 and 26 %, respectively; Frosted 71 and 30%; Runhappy, 55 and 28%; and the lamented Speightster, 66 and 33%.

Those stats speak for themselves. Yet all bar one of these rivals, Runhappy, were working from books so much bigger than those assembled by Upstart that even their markedly inferior conversion rate–in terms of racetrack action–left them more starters. So his five stakes winners in 2021 stacked up admirably against all bar the freakish 13 assembled by Not This Time: Speightster had three, while Runhappy, Frosted and Nyquist had six apiece. We have meanwhile lost poor Speightster, but the fact remains that Upstart remains a lower fee than all the others.

This evolving trademark makes a lot of sense in a horse that showed up so reliably through three campaigns in the best company. Forward enough for a 102 Beyer at two, surely unique in a son of Flatter, Upstart started out winning a maiden and then a stake at Saratoga before placing in the GI Champagne and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile; he then beat Frosted by five in the GII Holy Bull S.; and matured to a supporting role in races like the GI Haskell, GI Met Mile and GI Whitney.

Jones is duly unsurprised by Upstart's excellence in literally getting you a runner. “He was a very sound horse himself,” he stresses. “He was an early-developing 2-year-old of Grade I caliber, even though his pedigree may not have screamed that. Then as a 3-year-old, he was one of the best Derby hopes on the East Coast before training on to be right there in very big races at four. With that stout Flatter-A.P. Indy blood behind him, there were a lot of reasons to hope that he could get sound horses that would keep getting better with age. And that does seem to be the case.”

This profile is underpinned by a pedigree that has plainly imparted both precocity and refinement to the kind of rangy, two-turn physique associated with the sire-line. Touch Gold is indeed gold as a broodmare sire, combining Deputy Minister and another legendary distaff brand in Buckpasser; and Upstart's third dam is by another copper-bottomed such influence in Drone. Beyond that, the family was cultivated through four generations by Federico Tesio himself, rooted in his foundation mare Tofanella (GB) (to whom Upstart's fifth dam is inbred 3 x 3).

Though Upstart's dam was unraced, her half-sister won the

GII Raven Run S. during an 8-for-27 career spread seamlessly across four campaigns. And his third dam, herself a graded stakes-placed half-sister to a multiple Grade I performer, also produced a graded stakes winner plus the mother of a top-class Japanese sprinter in Nobo Jack (French Deputy).

Despite his name, then, it seems as though Upstart has been an aristocrat all along. Both Zandon and Kathleen O., remember, are the very first foals out of their respective dams to make the racetrack–and Upstart, straight off the bat, is moving them right up in the world.

“We love that these Upstarts can make money for their breeders, then can handle the 2-year-old sales and go on to be early horses that train on,” Jones observes. “That's not an easy combination to pull off, but he's giving us a lot of reasons to believe that he can. He has a chance to be that great blend: the stallion that can get you a runner, as well as an expensive sales horse. Hopefully, he will now keep developing that commercial profile, as these horses continue to run fast.”

Certainly Jones expects Upstart to be back to a full book this year, a vivid measure of the way he has seized the fleeting chances he was given. Those who can get aboard this spring, then, will surely be ahead of the game by the time they come to sell the resulting foals. After all, he has come up with Zandon and Kathleen O. from a phase when he was, relatively speaking, marking time. And pending the next cycle we can expect his stock, thriving with maturity, to keep his name in lights.

“We got 86 mares to him the second year,” Jones says. “And from those 86 mares bred, he has these two really outstanding 3-year-olds. So, he's shown that he doesn't need the big numbers to have success. And now that he's finally going to have that opportunity again, now that you can add the kind of quality and numbers we think are in his future, then there's a real pipeline taking shape behind him. To us, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about Upstart.”

 

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Global Views: Foaling Outside A New Norm?

Foaling inside has been the go-to method across many equine industries around the world. For decades this practice has been the norm, while the natural act of foaling outside is often something farms work to avoid; often the weather doesn't make foaling outside practical, and as managers we try to do what's best for these new foals by aiding in delivery and getting them a good start in life. However, when a new strain of Rotavirus ravaged farms across central Kentucky in the spring of 2021, foaling outside became a tool that a few farms used with great success.

In early 2021, several farms found their hands full with foals experiencing extreme bouts of diarrhea. Foals became lethargic and suffered from dehydration due to the severe diarrhea. What made this new strain so dangerous was that the vaccine for Rotavirus A didn't protect against the new Rotavirus B strain,

which prior to March 2021 was undiscovered. This viral disease had the contagiousness of Rotavirus A, which made biosecurity protocols very difficult to implement at farms due to labor shortages and the ease of carrying viral particles from place to place. Due to this, standard foaling protocols, including disinfecting stalls, isolating horses, and even moving barns, were sometimes not enough to stop the virus. Thus, the virus spread quickly, and infected foals failed to respond to treatments other than intravenously administered fluids and electrolytes. Veterinary clinics became overwhelmed by the number of foals and lacked the space to safely quarantine them within their facilities. Farms found their workforce spread thin as they tried to manage the rising number of sick foals.

Gerry Duffy, the Stud Manager at Godolphin's Stonerside Farm in Paris, KY explained how dire the situation became at his farm.

“The foals were getting diarrhea within 36 hours of birth,” he explained.

As more foals fell ill, horses were quarantined and fluids were run into sick foals, but the numbers kept increasing. As with many farms, staff became weary and disheartened. After trying new barns, using PPE, and increasing biosecurity, the only thing left to try was foaling outside. The idea came from the advisement of veterinarians and from conversations with other farms that were having similar experiences.

“We found that going outside broke the chain,” Duffy said. “It all comes down to biosecurity. You don't get the concentration of bacteria and viruses outside like you do inside a stall.”

When Stonerside made the switch to foaling outside, the spread of the virus stopped almost overnight. If it was dry and the temperature was greater than 35 degrees, every foal would be born outside. Ultimately, about 70% of foals born at Stonerside in 2021 were foaled in this manner.

Ben Henley, Airdrie Farm's general manager, went on to highlight some of the unforeseen consequences of the change.

Henley said they saw a difference in foals regarding mental and physical health. “You're often keeping the foal inside for a few days for up to a week due to leg issues, including stuff like contracted tendons or relaxed tendons,” he said. “We found that having them out the whole time that those things kind of rectified themselves a bit quicker.

“Additionally, there was an improvement in mares. The mares were a lot more relaxed being out the entire time. There wasn't that anxious moment of letting the mares and foals go and

watching them run around.”

But perhaps the most notable improvement was that of their health and recovery. When they were allowed to move freely about a paddock after foaling, the mare's uterus cleaned out more quickly, resulting in less management of the mare and veterinary intervention.

Given Henley's background in working on studs in Australia and Europe, the transition to foaling outside was not foreign to him. Furthermore, it's something Airdrie was already accustomed to.

“We have foaled outside in the past on several occasions, whenever we had an outbreak and you needed that separation,”

he added.

Ultraviolet light may kill the virus, so foaling in a natural environment seemed to be the logical next step.

Infrastructure is critical for safe mare monitoring and foaling. Airdrie boldly invested in infrastructure to make the transition to outdoor foaling more permanent. Flood lights were installed to illuminate the outside space, paddocks were put up, and an even larger paddock was split to provide a space for foals less than a week old. Beyond UV light, the elements of nature helped break down and clean foaling sites. As an added precaution, paddocks are rested for several days to prevent viral and bacterial loading of the foaling paddocks.

Duffy commented on the cleanliness of nature, and said, “There's less clean up required. In about two days there's no trace of where the foaling occurred in the paddock. The foals also seem to stand better, they can get traction on the ground and they're not swimming or tripping up in the straw.”

Duffy stressed biosecurity, saying that paddocks are rested and sparingly used to ensure the sites are clean and the mares are foaling on fresh ground to prevent a buildup of bacteria and viruses. In addition, foals are checked by a veterinarian on day one; and the handling is kept to a minimum during the first seven days while the foals' immune systems are the most naive.

Foaling and rearing outside has already resulted in a few positive outcomes, including a lighter workload on staff, improved health in mares, and some farms have even noted better attitudes in their horses. I challenge you to open your mind to what may happen in years to come with these young horses and future foals born and raised outside. Research has suggested that concussive forces play a critical role in developing bone thickness and density, so it could be theorized that something similar may happen when foals are kept outside for longer periods of time. Going forward, more research will be required to assess bone density and thickness in foals and their different stages of life.

Foaling inside will likely remain part of the way farms do things. It allows us to closely monitor mares and foals, intervene quickly as necessary, but most importantly, provide adequate shelter for those mares foaling early in the year when the weather is typically inclement. The shift to foaling outside was a reaction in response to a critical situation that many farms in central Kentucky faced. For some, this was the only way they were able to stop and eliminate Rotavirus B at their farm. However, given the many benefits this change has brought about, it would appear the positive outcome and its consequences are the new norm for some farms in Kentucky. Perhaps one day, foaling outside may become the go-to method for equine industries-racing and non-racing-across the world.

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