Tag: Albany stakes

McStay Makes Hay In America – And Anisette Looks Another Stateside Star

In running out an impressive winner of the G2 San Clemente S. at Del Mar last weekend, Anisette (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}) capped a memorable few months for bloodstock agent Mark McStay, who helped source the filly privately on behalf of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. 

McStay had already been provided with one of his biggest kicks in racing this summer when Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), who he purchased on behalf of a host of American owners, landed the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot. 

Porta Fortuna could well be aimed at the Breeders' Cup later in the year while Anisette has Grade I targets more immediately. America has been a happy hunting ground for McStay, whose fingerprints are also all over high class Stateside performers Selenaia (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Papillo (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), and he's keen to soak in the strong run of form.

On his latest big-race winner, McStay commented, “I signed for Anisette as a yearling and she is a filly whose career I watched closely in Britain. When she won at Wolverhampton in December, I thought she was very eye-catching and it was myself and one other agent who were on her straight away. I sent her to Aron Wellman, who is a guy who makes his mind up pretty quickly, and he is very experienced and successful at what he does. 

“Thankfully, we were on the same page with her and managed to get a deal done. From the moment she has gone out there, I have heard nothing but good reports and thankfully they have proved to be correct.”

McStay's good record across the Atlantic stems much further back than Anisette. Dubawi Heights, who was part-owned by his mother Clodagh, won twice at the highest level in California in 2011 and McStay has continued to make hay in the jurisdiction through his private purchases on behalf of various different clients.   

“Historically, I have had plenty of luck in America and that goes all the way back to Dubawi Heights (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was sent out there with Simon Callaghan, his father Neville, my mother [Clodagh] and MV Magnier,” McStay said. 

“She won two Grade Is out there in 2011 and Miss Keller (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who I bought as a yearling, was another filly who did very well out there and won the EP Taylor. I have had a lot of luck in America and I think finding a filly with the right outlook and attitude is key.”

On what he looks for in form horses when trying to fill orders for America, he continued, “Anisette is very genuine and is clearly very talented. Dubawi Heights had that same attitude and outlook and you need to find horses who are on an upward curve and look like they will progress. We don't have a crystal ball and it can be very hard to predict what will happen but, if you think there is more in the tank when you are buying them, that is always the question you need to be asking yourself when you are buying a form horse. 

“With Anisette, looking at her physically, there was always going to be plenty of progression. She's a beautiful-looking filly and was still quite unfurnished when we bought her. Leonard Powell has done a great job with her and has taken his time and Kevin was a star to deal with in brokering the deal as well. He's a great guy and is one of those young trainers who is very much on the up.”

Another handler who fits into that category is Donnacha O'Brien, trainer of the unbeaten Royal Ascot heroine Porta Fortuna. McStay acted quickly to snap up the filly on behalf of Medallion Racing, Dean Reeves, Barry Fowler and Steve Weston after she won her Curragh maiden and it has proved one of his shrewdest acquisitions. 

“That was huge,” McStay reflected. “Ascot is where all the big owners want to have winners and Porta Fortuna delivering for Medallion Racing, Dean Reeves, Barry Fowler and Steve Weston was massive. On a personal level, I have been going to Royal Ascot since I have been living in England and when I was working with Godolphin-which is 20 years ago-so, to have one that you have purchased on behalf of clients go and deliver on the big stage, it's huge. As an agent, it's the type of result you need to be getting. When people are spending good money you need to be getting those results.”

On future plans for the filly, McStay said, “She has loads of options which Donnacha will discuss with her owners. The Phoenix Stakes might be one and the Cheveley Park Stakes could be another. The owners are American and I think they would like to stretch her out in trip in time so maybe that might happen at the Breeders' Cup. She was so professional in the Albany and is a beautiful individual. She's got the size and scope and won't just be a two-year-old, with a bit of luck. Hopefully she has a big career in front of her.”

Papilo, bought privately on behalf of D J Stable LLC, Medallion Racing Et Al from Irish trainer Fozzy Stack to continue her career with Mark Casse, has already delivered the goods with a Grade 2 win at Keeneland back in April. The Saratoga Oaks could be next for the three-year-old, for which McStay plans to be in attendance prior to hot-footing it to Arqana for the August Sale. 

It was at that sale where Deauville Legend (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), on course to contest one of the hottest King Georges in recent history at Ascot on Saturday, was sourced on behalf of the agent's major supporter Bon Ho back in 2020 for €200,000. McStay says he will be out to find the next classy performer in France next month but wouldn't be able to enjoy the run of success he is enjoying with the support of his family.

He explained, “Deauville Legend is a huge price [40-1] for the King George. I don't think it's a reflection on him but more the quality of the race. Mr Ho is based in Hong Kong and that is where this horse will finish his season. Deauville Legend had a long hard season last year and, with the Hong Kong International race meeting taking place in December, we weren't in any hurry to get him out this season. I think the lack of a run counted against him at Royal Ascot [when fourth in the Hardwicke] and I expect him to run a big race in the King George. Mr Ho has been a huge supporter of mine in recent years and is such an enthusiastic owner. I really appreciate the faith he's placed in me and he's got some very nice horses both in Europe and Australia-I hope he'll be rewarded by landing another one of these big International Group 1 races soon.

“The sale season is upon us and I'm looking forward to Arqana next month. It has been a lucky spot for us over the past few years so hopefully we might be able to unearth another nice horse or two from there. I go over there nice and early and provide my clients with an overview of the sale. With a smaller catalogue like Aqrana, it affords you the time to do that.”

He added, “A number of my clients are overseas, be it Hong Kong, Australia, America or Dubai, and with time differences etc, being able to send out lists and giving people the time to digest the information, that's a big plus. At the end of the day, most of these people are well-informed and want to be involved in the buying process so a sale like Arqana, where you have the extra bit of time, it's huge. 

“I can't wait for Arqana and am actually going to Saratoga beforehand. I did my diary with my wife Eva the other day for the next six months and, on a serious note, this job would not be possible without her support. I couldn't do the job that I do without Eva being behind me one hundred and ten per cent. Being an agent, or working in any capacity in this industry, the hours and the time that we give to it is far from nine to five. Having a family behind you that allows you to do your job well is crucial.” 

 

 

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Porta Fortuna Is Medallion Racing’s Lucky Charm at Ascot

Ever since Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio)'s win in the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S. at Naas last month, bloodstock agent Mark McStay had been pestering Taylor Made's Mark Taylor to make his plans to come to Royal Ascot. But the Taylor family is more known for probity and hard work than they are flights of fancy, and Taylor demurred, citing preparations for upcoming sales in America.

But when Porta Fortuna launched a determined bid and got up for the win in Friday's G3 Albany S. at Ascot to give Taylor Made's Medallion Racing partnership a win at the royal meeting, Taylor couldn't be blamed for maybe having thought twice about his decision.

“It's been two and a half hours, and I think my blood pressure has just come down to the point where I can have a conversation with you that you can understand,” said Taylor, reached after the race. “I'm a very superstitious person, so the agent who helped us find this filly, Mark McStay, he has been texting me literally three times a week since she won her last race, saying, `you've got to come, you've got to come, you've got to come.' And historically, any time I go to great lengths to see a race, things never go well. So, I've got a lot going on here, I've got to get ready for sales season, I'm not going. When I was watching the race, there were 18 horses, some of the best two-year-olds that have come out in Europe so far are in this race, and I thought if we could crack the top four it would be a great accomplishment. I was trying to temper everybody's expectations, and then when she put on that move and put everybody away. It was just surreal. I was watching it, saying, `is this really happening?' It was fantastic.”

Medallion and its partners-Barry Fowler, Steve Weston and Dean Reeves-bought the filly after the win at Naas, telling the TDN at the time that the partnership tries to buy one or two horses a year in Europe.

“I was very happy for our partners, both our partners in Medallion Racing that enable our team to go build the stable and also the people that come in alongside us like Barry Fowler, Steve Weston, and Dean Reeves because they put their confidence in us. With Steve Weston and with Barry, we've bought into some horses that have gotten hurt, didn't pan out, but they've stuck with us, and to see Steve Weston's silks cross the finish line at Ascot and to see him get to lead that filly in, it just really made me so happy because he's such a loyal guy, he's such a just great human being. I was crying for him, I was just so happy for Steve.”

Mark Taylor | Fasig-Tipton photo

Taylor said that Medallion has around 25 partners, each of which invests $50,000 or more in the partnership. The group raises from $1.2 million to $1.7 million every two years, only buys proven horses, and every partner is in on every horse.

“Our model is we buy all female horses and we buy horses that have already run who we believe have graded stakes talent off of what they've done so far. A lot of times, we have to pay; we're not stealing these horses. Everybody would like to go in and buy them, but we're also willing to let the existing partners stay in. A lot of times, we can leave them with the same trainer.”

In Porta Fortuna's case, they left her with her trainer, Donnacha O'Brien, son of the original owner, Annemarie O'Brien. Taylor said he felt that it was accommodations like that which help them to get a leg up on others who might be offering more.

“We try to be very accommodating partners, which allows us to get a crack,” he said. “Even though somebody else might offer more money, they're going to take the whole horse and do their own thing. So we try to be more flexible and just allow our people to participate on stages like Royal Ascot or the Kentucky Oaks or the Breeders' Cup or Grade Ones at big racetracks. Our theory is that once people get a taste of that, they might want to play on their own and take it to a larger level, or they might want to stay with this model. We have had some people that have gone outside and tried to do it themselves, which is great. It drives investment in the game.”

Porta Fortuna was well-represented by her American owners at Ascot this week, with Medallion's Philip Shelton as well as Reeves, Fowler and Weston, and at least six additional Medallion members on hand for the win. Ironically enough, it wasn't Taylor Made's only connections to succeed at Ascot this week. Other Taylor Made customers, Black Ridge Stable, won the Queen Mary with Crimson Advocate (Nyquist).

“We were going crazy for her when they won the other day, and then in my superstitious mind, I was like, `Well, there's no way two horses are going to win at Ascot with Taylor Made connections.' For it to happen twice, it was beyond words.”

In addition to creating and nurturing new owners, Medallion also has a goal of showing off the sport at its best.

“In Medallion, we want to educate the people who come into the sport about all aspects of racing, including international racing, and to showcase to them how well these horses are taken care of. So many people look at our sport and say negative comments like, `These horses are just pawns in this big game,' but they're really not. We partner with people and we employ trainers that really care about these horses. And we try to shed light on that anytime we can so that our partners can see these horses are really loved, they're cared about, and we cheer for them and love them whether they win or lose.”

And even if he wasn't on hand, Taylor said he'd celebrate the win in typical Ascot-and typical Taylor–fashion. “I will drink some champagne,” he said. “But I'll wait until 5:00 tonight.”

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American Owners Dreaming Of Royal Ascot With O’Brien’s Do It With Style

Royal Ascot is calling for American owner Leonard Green and his son Jonathan after Do It With Style (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}), named after the family's first Grade I winner from over 30 years ago, marked herself down as a top-notch prospect on debut for Donnacha O'Brien at the Curragh on Monday.

This is becoming a familiar success story for the Green family in Ireland who, frustrated with competing with the big guns in the sales ring back home in the States, decided to come up with a plan to concentrate on sourcing their talent elsewhere.

The link-up with O'Brien has been a natural fit and Jonathan Green is now planning a trip to the royal meeting with his family to see Do It With Style tackle the G3 Albany S. after Monday's stylish victory.

Green said, “This filly is actually named after our first Grade I winner in the States. We'd a Grade I winner called Do It With Style back in 1991 and we had been saving this name for the right kind of filly.

“When we bought this Ten Sovereigns filly, there was no discussion whatsoever, we knew she was the next one to have the Do It With Style moniker. I'm glad that she won but, internally, I'm really pleased that it looks as though she can carry the name on and hopefully be as successful as her previous namesake. That's the confidence that we had with her. If we're going to run this filly in the Albany, which I think is the plan, you will see us there in top hat and tails.”

Leonard and Jonathan Green | Fasig Tipton

The Green family need no introduction to international racing fans. Their colours were carried to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Dirt at Keeneland last November by Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and the hope is that Do It With Style will eventually continue her career in America. However, Jonathan is eyeing some big-race riches in Europe along with O'Brien before that happens.

He said, “It looks like she can go on to bigger and better things. We'd like to think that she has the scope and the physical ability to cope with running here [in America] but Donnacha is going to map out a campaign for her in Europe until she shows us when it's time to possibly bring her over. We've had some success over the past few years with three-year-old fillies and won last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on dirt with Wonder Wheel. Hopefully Do It With Style will come over here for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf later in the year but a lot of things have to happen between now and then. The next big step will probably be Royal Ascot. That is what we are communicating about right now.”

He added, “The most important thing for us was to buy a filly who we thought had some substance and athleticism and certainly, when Donnacha came to us with his shortlist of yearlings from the Orby Sale last year, she was at the top of our list. We stretched a little bit for her, spending over $200,000, but we really felt like she had the substance and the pedigree that we look for in a filly.”

Do It With Style was picked up for €235,000 to be precise. She was sourced from Coulonces at the Goffs Orby last September when the dollar was trading particularly strong compared to the euro, which helped Green in his decision to stick his neck out for the filly.

“We're businessmen by practice. My Dad [Leonard] was a CPA for over 50 years and I am a financial planner for 30 years. The dollar to euro ratio was certainly in our favour at the time. We look to spend somewhere between $150,000 to $175,000 for well-bred fillies. That's the lane that we feel comfortable in. We stretched a little bit for this filly but she really ticked all the boxes for us, both physically and on breeding.”

The Greens had a multitude of different trainers to choose from when setting out to source fillies from Ireland. So, why Donnacha O'Brien?

“Donnacha is easy,” comes the reply. “He is a young trainer who has been groomed by his Dad [Aidan] to be one of the best trainers in the country if not the world. When I interviewed him a few years ago, we just really hit it off. He's a hard-working guy and I love the fact that he has such great knowledge, not only from being around horses all of his life, but from being a top-class rider himself. I think that gives a trainer a tremendous amount of insight into how a horse is going and how it's doing.”

He added, “It was a few years ago that we decided to look for other opportunities because the American market was extremely difficult to find a top horse. Unless you were willing to partner with some of the big farms, it really wasn't financially viable so we looked elsewhere. We sat down with Kim Valerio, who is our primary agent, and put together a game plan to try and buy some fillies overseas with the plan of bringing them over here. We've had some success. “Diabolic (Ire) was a Dark Angel (Ire) filly we bought in our first year and she did well. We also purchased Papillio (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) who just won a Grade 2 at Keeneland. And now with this filly, we feel like we have a pretty good game plan with picking out young fillies who can compete overseas and here in America.”

Green admits that there is now heightened competition at the Goffs Orby Sale compared to when his family first dipped their toe in the Irish market but, through forging relationships with Coolmore and the O'Brien family, says he is hoping to continue to pick up a select amount of yearlings every year.

He said, “We felt like we were ahead of the curve three years ago by coming to Goffs and looking for our yearlings at the Orby Sale but, the last time we came over, there were 50 of us on the plane.

“People are recognising that there is tremendous value in Ireland and we love the fact that we have the opportunity to buy these fillies at Goffs or privately from the Magnier family and working with the O'Briens. Especially at Goffs, they look after us so well and roll out the red carpet every time we arrive. Charles O'Neill [CEO of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing] certainly makes us feel very comfortable there and we always love coming over to Goffs.”

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Two-Day Pick 4 At Saratoga Pays $156.50 To Winners

A special two-day Pick 4 featuring exciting stakes action Friday and Saturday from historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., during Runhappy Travers weekend paid $156.50 on a $2 base for selecting 4-of-4 winners. The total pool was $169,386.

The wager, which featured a mandatory payout, ran its first two legs on Friday's card and concluded on Saturday during Runhappy Travers Day.

Friday saw New York breds earn the spotlight at the Spa, with six stakes worth a combined $1.15 million for horses bred in the Empire State on the card. The two-day Pick 4 started with the $250,000 Albany for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main track in Race 9, with Americanrevolution posting a five-length win as the heavy favorite. Meet-leading rider Luis Saez stayed off the pace before coaxing a strong closing surge from Americanrevolution, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. He completed the course in 1:49.94 and paid $3.40 on a $2 win bet.

Saez earned a personal double by leading Giacosa to victory in the following race, rallying from ninth to best Myhartblongstodady by three-quarters of a length to win the $150,000 Yaddo for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Trained by H. James Bond, Giacosa went off at 9-1 but hit the wire in 1:42.54, paying $20.80.

Saturday closed the Pick 4 with a pair of prestigious Grade 1 contests, starting when favorite Letruska topped Bonny South by a half-length in an exciting finish to the $600,000 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti. Conditioned by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile main track contest, registering a final time of 1:49.15 under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Letruska returned $3.50.

The 152nd running of the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers for sophomores contesting the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles closed out the wager when favorite Essential Quality held off Midnight Bourbon by a neck to bolster his case as the top 3-year-old.

Essential Quality, the winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy in his previous start at the Spa, gave trainer Brad Cox his first career Runhappy Travers win, while Saez earned his second and first since 2013 when he rode Will Take Charge. Essential Quality posted a final time of 2:01.96 and paid $2.90.

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