Tag: Aron Wellman

‘A Special Filly In Every Sense Of The Word’: Breeders’ Cup Winner Sharing Retired Due To Injury

Sharing, the winner of the 2019 edition of the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita, has been retired from racing after suffering an injury in a paddock mishap during a spell in the wake of her 3-year-old season.

Bred by Sagamore Farm, the daughter of Speightstown, out of the 2010 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Shared Account, was purchased as a yearling by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $350,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Select Sale in Saratoga and campaigned by Eclipse and Gainesway Farm. She was trained by Graham Motion throughout her career.

At age two, Sharing was dubbed a TDN “Rising Star” when breaking her maiden going seven furlongs on the dirt at Saratoga and used a win in the Selima Stakes to propel her to Breeders' Cup glory. She was an Eclipse Award finalist and named Maryland-Bred Horse of the Year.

At age three, Sharing opened her sophomore account by capturing the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs. She then enterprisingly ventured to Royal Ascot where she was a gallant second on taxing ground in the G1 Coronation. Upon return from her transatlantic quest, Sharing was victorious in the G2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs, a narrow fourth versus older fillies and mares in the G1 Matriarch at Del Mar and in her final start, she was third in the G1 American Oaks at Santa Anita, the site of her Breeders' Cup triumph a year prior.

In nine career races, Sharing won five times, placed second once and was third twice, amassing just shy of $1.1 million.

Eclipse president, Aron Wellman, remarked, “Sharing was a special filly in every sense of the word. She was bred to be special being by a Breeders' Cup winner and out of a Breeders' Cup winner. Even her dam's sire was a Breeders' Cup winner. She was special when we bought her as a yearling and she trained like she was special from the moment she had a saddle put on her at Stonestreet Farm. When Graham (Motion) got her, she exhibited special ability and she proved it with a championship win as a 2 year-old.

Wellman added, “Sharing battled through foot issues all throughout her 3-year-old season, but still managed to win major races, travel the country and represent our partnership at Royal Ascot with a brilliant second in a Group 1. We had designs on a blockbuster campaign this coming season. We're devastated we won't be able to enjoy her racing any more, but she is destined to produce special foals for many years to come. In less than 10 years, Eclipse has won 16 Grade 1s, but Sharing is unequivocally our best to date. She is as classy as they come.”

Motion provided, “Sharing is a special filly who will go down as one of the best I trained. Breeders' Cup wins don't come too easily.”

The post ‘A Special Filly In Every Sense Of The Word’: Breeders’ Cup Winner Sharing Retired Due To Injury appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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GISW Sharing Retired

Sharing (Speightstown–Shared Account, by Pleasantly Perfect), winner of the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has been retired from racing after suffering an injury in a paddock mishap, according to an Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners release. Bred by Sagamore Farm, 4-year-old is out of the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine, Shared Account, and was purchased as a yearling by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $350,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Select Sale in Saratoga. Campaigned by Eclipse and Gainesway Farm, she was trained by Graham Motion throughout her career.

Eclipse President, Aron Wellman, said, “Sharing was a special filly in every sense of the word. She was bred to be special being by a Breeders' Cup winner and out of a Breeders' Cup winner. Even her dam's sire was a Breeders' Cup winner. She was special when we bought her as a yearling and she trained like she was special from the moment she had a saddle put on her at Stonestreet Farm. When Graham [Motion] got her, she exhibited special ability and she proved it with a Championship win as a 2 year-old.”

At age 2, Sharing earned TDN “Rising Star” status when breaking her maiden going seven furlongs on the Saratoga dirt before using a win in the grassy Selima S. to propel her to a Breeders' Cup victory.

Motion said, “Sharing is a special filly who will go down as one of the best I trained. Breeders' Cup wins don't come to easily.”

An Eclipse Award finalist, she was named Maryland-Bred Horse of the Year. The following season, Sharing captured Churchill's Tepin S. before finishing second in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot. Later that summer, she took the GII Edgewood S., came home a narrow fourth against older rivals in the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar and in her final career start, she was third in Santa Anita's GI American Oaks.

In nine career starts, the chestnut won five times, placed second once and was third twice, amassing just shy of $1.1 million.

“Sharing battled through foot issues all throughout her 3 year-old season, but still managed to win major races, travel the country and represent our partnership at Royal Ascot with a brilliant second in a Group 1,” added Wellman. “We had designs on a blockbuster campaign this coming season. We're devastated we won't be able to enjoy her racing any more, but she is destined to produce special foals for many years to come. She is as classy as they come.”

The post GISW Sharing Retired appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Eclipse Buys Into ‘Rising Star’ Annex

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners has acquired a part-interest in recent 'TDN Rising Star' Annex (Constitution) from LNJ Foxwoods, Aron Wellman, Eclipse's managing partner tweeted and then later confirmed via phone Thursday afternoon.

“We're in a fortunate position where we've got a good relationship with the Roth family, with Jaime, and I go way, way back with Alex Solis [III] and Jason Litt, their advisors,” said Wellman. “That existing relationship certainly helped to be able to open the door for the opportunity to buy into the colt.”

Sent off at debut odds of 5-1 in a one-mile Gulfstream maiden Jan. 16, Annex was given a patient ride by Junior Alvarado and hit top gear at the eighth pole, streaking home to graduate in extremely impressive fashion (video). The flashy chestnut earned a very strong 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It was really an eye-catching performance,” Wellman said. “I don't think it took any sort of profound opinion to get on the horn and try to see if a horse of his caliber could be added to our stable. I thought it was a very good group of colts that he ran against and the style and manner in which he was able to win the race and show such an electric turn of foot–he came home wicked fast that day, and looked like potentially he had more gears to call upon if Junior Alvarado had asked him to do so.”

He continued, “He comes from a Hall of Fame operation in Bill Mott and you know he is thinking long-term with a colt like Annex. He certainly didn't have him cranked up first time, so we'd like to think there is plenty more there. When a horse flashes that type of natural ability in a debut and especially around two turns at a major venue, those are certainly the kind of horses we want to have as part of our stable and take us to the big races on the big days. Hopefully he is capable of building on what was a very impressive unveiling.”


Eclipse is set to be represented by a pair of runners in both of this weekend's Pegasus races–Largent (Into Mischief) in the Turf and Constitution's son Independence Hall in the main event. Like many judges, Wellman is bullish on the WinStar inmate and that made Annex that much more attractive.

“He's quickly stamped himself as a blue-chip stallion with his first few crops and certainly being associated with Independence Hall helped our cause and it allows us to have some intimate appreciation for Constitution,” he said. “He's shown that he can throw elite performers. This colt is out of a mare by Unbridled's Song and out of a half-sister to the dam of [MGISW] You (You and I), so there is plenty of quality there on the bottom side as well. We hope he continues to go from strength to strength.”

With the first stage of Triple Crown nominations set to close Saturday, Wellman said that the partnership is all but assured to pay up for the series. But he added that neither would it trouble them in any small way to remain on the grass.

“Frankly we bought him with the perspective that he's proven the ability to be a superior turf horse,” he said. “If that's what he turns out to be and can race in the upper echelon of turf races in America, of which there are incredible options with the Turf Triple, et cetera, we are not afraid at all to have a good turf horse.

He added, “We just want a good horse, but obviously the temptation to try a horse with this kind of ability that's already proved he can get two turns is there. But we're not going to be in any rush. He's in phenomenal hands, the LNJ crew has managed him beautifully to posture him for future success and have taken their time with him. If the time comes when Annex earns his opportunity to test the dirt, we're not going to be afraid to do that and we'll certainly be enterprising in that regard. But we just bought him to be a good horse, if that's turf or dirt, it doesn't matter.”

Wellman also provided an update on the stable's Valiance (Tapit). A stakes winner on turf as a 3-year-old, the gray filly broke through with a 6-1 upset of the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. on the main track ahead of a gallant runner-up effort behind likely champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 7.

“After the Distaff, we decided we were going to give her some time to recover from her campaign at WinStar Farm,” Wellman explained. “She's been there since the Breeders' Cup, it's been about 70 days now, and we're just about ready to put the tack back on her and gradually get her back into a training pattern. We'll probably give her 30 or 45 days to leg up at WinStar and then she'll join [trainer] Todd [Pletcher] in Florida before heading back up to New York. We're very enthused about her trajectory. Everything about her in terms of versatility is exciting and she's really thrived, even since the Breeders' Cup. She's really turning into a physical specimen and an imposing mare. We've conservatively managed her with the belief that she could turn into an elite filly and thankfully that came to fruition and we're certainly looking forward to another high-class campaign beginning in late spring or early second part of the year.”

The post Eclipse Buys Into ‘Rising Star’ Annex appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Like His Namesake, Gretzky The Great Taking On Big Challenge In Breeders’ Cup

Mark Casse and his wife had just arrived in Lexington, KY on Tuesday when they got the good news they needed. They'd both tested negative for Covid-19 and would be able to attend the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf presented by Coolmore America at Keeneland.

That allows them to see if Gretzky the Great can continue to win like his namesake.

A name that boomed over the speakers at Woodbine this summer, Gretzky the Great was bred by Anderson Farms in St. Thomas, Ont. Anderson was impressed with the colt and Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred paired with L.A. film producer Gary Barber to buy the horse. They handed him off to Casse, the trainer.

“I can remember when we first started training him in Ocala,” Casse said.

“When he started breezing I told Gary Barber and Aron Wellman both, I said, 'I think this horse is pretty good.' He's just done everything right, right from the beginning. I was surprised when he got beat his first time. I didn't think he'd get beat, but of course he got beat by a good horse that had a race over him.”

He lost that first race to Ready to Repeat on July 12 at Woodbine, placing second. He shook off the early loss to mount three wins in a row, on Aug. 2, then taking the Soaring Free Stakes on Aug. 23 and the Grade-1 Summer Stakes — a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race — on Sept. 20.

“Since then, he keeps winning,” Casse said. “He's a beautiful-moving horse…and he's an extremely smart horse.”

While the horse was trained in Canada, the hockey-inspired name actually came from Barber, whose work in the film industry spans the last three decades and coincides with Wayne Gretzky's time as an L.A. King.

“I think Gary Barber named him. Gary is a huge, huge sports fan,” Casse said, pointing out that Gretzky the Great's sire is Nyquist, who is named after Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist. His owner, J. Paul Reddam is a big Wings and (obviously) a Nyquist fan. So hockey, or at least hockey fandom, is in the family's blood.

“Nyquist is just turning out to be a phenomenal sire. This is his first crop,” Casse said.

Like Wayne Gretzky, Gretzky the Great is following a similar path in his field: Ontario-bred, success in Canada early in his career and now getting into the spotlight of his sport in the U.S. Of course, just four races into his young career, Gretzky the Great's future is in front of him and even with the promise he's shown to this point, nothing is guaranteed.

“It's tough to know,” Casse said. “He's going where he was a star in a regional area. Now he's going to compete against the world and you just never know how you fit in until you try. We've been fortunate, we've won the Breeders' Cup five times.

“Even at that point, with some of your horses you never know. It's truly hard to gauge. You go in with as much confidence as you can, but knowing that you never know until it's over.”

That's also part of the fun for Casse, who started down a path that his wife has heard him take by his estimation a million times in their years together.

“Training horses is like putting a puzzle together,” he said. “You're always trying different pieces and seeing what works. So far with him, the puzzle pieces have gone in very nicely.”

He looks at Gretzky the Great and wonders just how great he could be. He could see the Canadian-bred horse competing for the Queen's Plate, or maybe even at the Kentucky Derby. For now, it's step-by-step, race-by-race.

On Friday, Gretzky the Great will have some challenges. Casse said he could have gotten a better post, noting how hard it is to win from the 11-hole. He'll also be going from a one-turn mile at Woodbine to a two-turn mile in Lexington.

There are old stories about a young Wayne Gretzky playing above his head when he was young, a scrawny boy playing against kids a few years older than him. He scored his 1,000th minor hockey goal when he was 13; he scored 378 goals in his final season of peewee.

On Friday, a 2-year-old horse that's named after hockey's greatest player will try to make its mark against stiff competition. This is his opportunity.

“I'm hoping that one day he's good enough that maybe Wayne comes to see him,” Casse said. A lot has to happen first but if Gretzky the Great stays in the winner's circle enough, he might get his full circle moment.

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