as time goes by | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sunday Insights: Well-Bred Son Of Tapit And Lady Take Charge Debuts At Oaklawn

5th-OP, $115K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 3:22 p.m. ET.
A $700,000 Keeneland September purchase by Willis Horton Racing and trained by Eddie Milligan Jr., WILL TAKE IT (Tapit) is the first to the post out of unraced Lady Take Charge (War Front).

The latter was the top-priced foal at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale when she was hammered down to Whisper Hill Farm for $3.2 million. Eclipse Award winner Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), a daughter of Lady Take Charge's half-sister Charming (Seeking the Gold), was the overall topper when sold to John Sikura and Hill 'n' Dale Equine for $6 million.

Last year, Lady Take Charge produced a full-sister to Will Take It, who went to Sinandigan Stable at the Keeneland September Sale for $1.3 million.

The extended female family runs through influential second dam MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), who is responsible for GI Florida Derby champ Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), Horton's champion 3-year-old colt Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), GI Beholder Mile winner As Time Goes By (American Pharoah), and Take Charge Brandi's half-brother and top-five first-crop sire Omaha Beach (War Front). TJCIS PPS

5th-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 2:14 p.m. ET
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Don Alberto and Bridlewood Farm homebred Carolo Rapido (Curlin) is out of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss). She was a Blandford Bloodstock buy last year during Fasig-Tipton's Fall Mixed Sale for $1.2 million while in-foal to Gun Runner. TJCIS PPS

6th-OP, $115K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:50 p.m. ET.
SF Bloodstock bred Guarani (Speightstown), who will be making his first start for Three Chimneys Farm after they purchased him for $425,000 at Keeneland September. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of MGSP Czechers (Indian Charlie), who also produced his full-brother, G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen S. hero Switzerland. TJCIS PPS

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TDN Snippets: Week of Mar. 21 – Mar. 27

Triple Crown season might be heating up but the well-bred handicap divisions are keen on having a say in how the big stage shapes up. Here's who's been shouting the loudest this week.

Stonestreet Gold Again a Rising Star…
The famous silks have done it once more, this time with Marsalis (Curlin) adding another 'TDN Rising Star' accolade to GISW Hot Dixie Chick's already impressive tally as a broodmare. Full-brother and New York's Leading Second Crop sire Union Jackson also claimed Rising Stardom in his racing days; while half-sister Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) added a victory in the GIII Houston Ladies Classic S. and a second in the GII Azeri S. to her million-dollar resume. Considering the dam also earned the TDN seal of approval, this female family really seems to enamor us in all the best ways and what's better than a Rising Star producing more Rising Stars?

A Titan Among Us…
With freaky-fast Olympiad (Speightstown) either breaking track-records or just missing them two races in a row en route to graded stakes victories, LNJ Foxwood's 'breeding stars' momentum doesn't look to be going away any time soon. The brilliant colt is one of his sire's 63 graded winners, and 128 black-type earners. The $700,000 KEESEP grad is bred on the same cross as MGISW Rock Fall (Speightstown), who tore through five victories in a row in 2015 including the GI Vosburgh and Alfred G. Vanderbilt S. in the Empire State.

It's Not This Time all the time…
The 2022 racing season is still young, but Not This Time has already begun to stake his claim as one of the most exciting young sires in the States. Counting GII Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter, Melody of Colors S. winner Last Leaf, and Midnight Stroll waltzing home in the Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies S. this past weekend, the stallion has 18 black-type winners. Taking into account his 144 lifetime starters as of calculation Mar. 28, he's hitting 17.36% stakes horses (25), 12.5% stakes winners (18), and 4.17% graded winners (6).

Where does the time go?
American Pharoah is about to enter a new stage of his breeding career…being a broodmare sire. And so, the ever elusive construct thus continues to move ever forward. With the retirements of As Time Goes By and Merneith, the ranks of blue-blooded broodmare prospects with him in the pedigree grow: the former in particular bred for success being out of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady (Dehere) and a half to sires Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Indy (A. P. Indy). As Time Goes By is expected to visit Into Mischief. Merneith ends her career Grade I placed and a multiple graded-stakes winner with no immediate stallion plans announced.

Japan takes over the world one race at a time…
Anyone who has tracked November auctions the past several years was not surprised when Japanese horses either won or hit the board in five of six open stakes on the Saudi Cup card bar one…the main event. We were even less surprised when they parlayed those incredible results into an even bigger Dubai World Cup night: winning, dead-heating, or placing in every single race minus the G1 Al Quoz Sprint and the Dubai Kahayla Classic, the latter they had no entries. Japanese connections have been scooping up quality American bloodlines for decades including, perhaps most famously, Sunday Silence, who went on to be 10-time Champion Sire in the country. Now the Land of the Rising Sun could set their eyes once again on the GI Kentucky Derby with Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}), a great-grandson of the aforementioned legend through his sire. His trainer already willing after his G2 UAE Derby victory secured a spot in the gate, should the ownership group agree, a Japanese-bred descendant of Seattle Slew and Kingmambo will be in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. As an added note on the American influence here, Crown Pride's dam was recently bred to Nadal (Blame).

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As Time Goes By, Merneith Retired

Leading Southern California dirt mares As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) and Merneith (American Pharoah) have been retired from racing, trainer Bob Baffert told Daily Racing Form.

Twice a Grade II winner last year as a 4-year-old, Coolmore's As Time Goes By retires on a three-race winning streak and picked up the first Grade I victory of her career last out in the Beholder Mile S. Mar. 5 at Santa Anita. A half-sister to Grade I winners Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) out of MGISW and champion broodmare Take Charge Lady (Dehere), she retires with a record of 14-7-3-1 and earnings of $955,600 and is slated to be bred to Into Mischief.

“Mares like that, from such a powerful family, they're so valuable,” Baffert told DRF regarding As Time Goes By. “I could have kept her [to race], but after she won the Grade I, they retired her to breed her.”

Merneith, a $600,000 OBS March purchase in 2019, was a stakes winner at three and earned successes in back-to-back renewals of the GII Santa Monica S. in 2021 and earlier this year. She retires with a record of 12-5-4-2 and earnings of $493,620. Breeding plans for the HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud-owned bay are yet to be determined.

Baffert also told DRF that GI La Brea S. heroine Kalypso (Brody's Cause) has been transferred out of his barn to a trainer at Oaklawn.

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As Time Goes By Wires the Beholder

As Time Goes By (American Pharoah), second behind Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in last year's GI Beholder Mile, got the job done in the 2022 renewal of the race with an authoritative victory at Santa Anita Saturday. Sent off the 1-5 favorite while facing just three rivals, the dark bay mare was away half a step slowly, but was hustled out to the early lead. She was clear down the backstretch as the quarter went up in :22.76 and the half in :46.22. In front by three lengths at the top of the lane, As Time Goes By held off Miss Bigly, who gave valiant chase to the wire.

“She broke a little flat footed,” said winning jockey Flavien Prat. “We kind of brushed each other and after that I had to hustle her a little bit to get in the race, but after that I was travelling well and I felt like I was in control. It felt like when she felt that filly coming at her, she kind of regrouped and went on again so, it was nice.”

As Time Goes By, winner of last year's GII Santa Margarita S. and GII Santa Maria S., was eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff before ending the year with a win in the GIII Bayakoa S. at Los Alamitos. She opened 2022 with a 13 1/2-length romp in the Jan. 1 GIII La Canada S.

“She gets better with age,” said winning trainer Bob Baffert. “She is such an exciting and classy mare. She never breaks a sweat. I think the longer the better with her.”

Pedigree Notes:

As Time Goes By became American Phaorah's fourth Group/Grade I winner and gave him his second graded winner of the afternoon at Santa Anita, following Forbidden Kingdom's win in the GII San Felipe S. The Triple Crown winner was also represented Saturday by Disco Pharoah, a 19 1/2-length maiden winner in the first race at Aqueduct.

“These Pharoah horses are fast,” Baffert said. “It's a great day for Pharoah horses. American Pharoah has meant so much to racing.”

Take Charge Lady produced Charming (Seeking the Gold), dam of champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) and Grade I winner Omaha Beach (War Front). The blue hen mare is also the dam of Grade I winner Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) and champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song).

Saturday, Santa Anita
BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $490,000, Santa Anita, 3-5, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:37.55, ft.
1–AS TIME GOES BY, 122, m, 5, by American Pharoah
1st Dam: Take Charge Lady (Broodmare Of The Year, MGISW, $2,480,377), by Dehere
                2nd Dam: Felicita, by Rubiano
                3rd Dam: Grand Bonheur, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
   1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Tabor, Michael B., Magnier, Mrs. John,
and Smith, Derrick; B-Orpendale & Chelston (KY); T-Bob
Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $300,000. Lifetime Record: 14-7-3-1,
$955,600. *1/2 to Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), GISW,
$1,103,496; and Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), Ch.
3-year-old Colt, MGISW, $3,924,648. Werk Nick Rating: B.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Miss Bigly, 122, m, 6, by Gemologist
1st Dam: Miss Puzzle (Aus) (SP-NZ), by Citidancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Miss Tree (Nz), by Oregon
3rd Dam: Miss Kiwitea, by Truly Vain (Aus)
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($120,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $20,000 Ylg
'17 KEESEP). O-Agave Racing Stable, Living The Dream Stables,
LLC and Rockin Robin Racing Stables; B-SF Bloodstock LLC (KY);
T-Philip D'Amato. $100,000.
3–Varda, 120, f, 4, by Distorted Humor
1st Dam: She'll Be Right, by Sky Mesa
2nd Dam: Boogie Beach Blues, by Cure the Blues
3rd Dam: Lonely Beach, by Kennedy Road
($100,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG; $700,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR).
O-Baoma Corporation; B-Masters 2013 LLC & Distorted Humor
Syndicate (NY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 7, 7HF. Odds: 0.30, 8.30, 9.10.
Also Ran: Envoutante. Scratched: Founder's Day, Moonlight d'Oro. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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