Authentic | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert Breezes Derby Candidates Uncle Chuck, Authentic

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was a keen observer of workouts by Uncle Chuck and Authentic, two of his many Kentucky Derby prospects, putting in timed breezes at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Uncle Chuck, who'll depart Tuesday for Saratoga and the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes next Saturday, covered five furlongs in 1:00.20, co-best of 71 officially timed at the distance.

Clocker Toby Turrell had the son of Uncle Mo going the first half-mile in :49.20 with gallop-outs of 1:12.80 for six furlongs and 1:39.60 for a mile that carried around to the backstretch of the track.

“I'm very happy with the work,” Baffert said. “He's all set now for next week and the big challenge there.”

Authentic went 4 furlongs in :50.20. The Kentucky Derby-bound son of Into Mischief's only loss in five starts came to Honor A.P. in the Santa Anita Derby and he most recently was a wire-to-wire narrow winner of the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

Juan Ochoa, in the irons for both Uncle Chuck and Authentic, had a hold on Authentic throughout.

“Just a little maintenance work,” said Baffert.

Another promising 3-year-old to work was Anneau d'Or, who went five furlongs from the gate in 1:01.60. Anneau d'Or was scratched from today's Shared Belief. Trainer Blaine Wright has expressed intentions to ship east for the Ellis Park Derby.

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Bloodlines: Authentic’s Haskell Win Brings Latest Success For Into Mischief, MyRacehorse

Into Mischief picked up his sixth Grade 1 winner on July 18 with Authentic's victory in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. Two days earlier, the bay son of the deceased sire Harlan's Holiday (by the Storm Cat stallion Harlan) had the one-two in the G3 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga when Dayoutoftheoffice won by six lengths from Make Mischief, who was a length ahead of second-choice Hopeful Princess (Not This Time). The fourth horse was 10 lengths farther back, and the odds-on favorite, Beautiful Memories (Hard Spun), stumbled at the start, was pulled up after a half-mile, then walked off.

In contrast to the victory of heavily favored Authentic, Dayoutoftheoffice and Make Mischief were two of the four longest shots in the field of seven, and the winner was 19.8-to-1.

Quick, precocious, and willing racers, Dayoutoftheoffice and Make Mischief are typical of the progeny of leading sire Into Mischief, who has stood his entire stud career at Spendthrift Farm for owner B. Wayne Hughes, and the stallion has risen from the modest heights of an entering stud fee of $12,500 to a position in the hierarchy of stallions where his fee for 2020 was $175,000 live foal, and for 2021, it would not be surprising to see a further increase.

The quantity and quality of his offspring are responsible for that steady upward progression in stud fee.

As evidence of that, Into Mischief was the leading sire of 2019 by progeny earnings, with $18.9 million, and he ranks second in 2020. In addition, Into Mischief is a promising sire of stallions, with such well-regarded young horses as Audible (G1 Florida Derby), who entered stud at WinStar in 2020, and Practical Joke (G1 Champagne, Hopeful, Allen Jerkens), who entered stud at Ashford in 2018 and has first-crop yearlings this year.

When he goes to stud, Authentic will go to Spendthrift to stand alongside Into Mischief, like the stallion's other sons Goldencents (sire of seven stakes winners and the earners of more than $10 million) and Maximus Mischief, who entered stud in 2020.

Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker said, “We're so lucky to have Into Mischief, because he's a generational sort of sire, and we'd love to stand all his sons, too. We already have a couple, and we're thrilled to have Authentic coming to Spendthrift. He's a taller, stretchier sort of Into Mischief, and we're seeing more of that type as breeders are coming to breed more mares to him with size and scope.”

Before Authentic goes on to a second career, however, trainer Bob Baffert will point the long-legged bay for the Kentucky Derby, and “hopefully Authentic runs on next year at four; that's the deal with him now,” Toothaker said, “and that was part of the plan for bringing in MyRacehorse.com as part of the ownership of the horse.”

Purchased at the 2018 Keeneland September sale by SF Bloodstock and Starlight West, Authentic started his career so impressively that Madaket Stables LLC, Spendthrift Farms LLC, and MyRaceHorse Stable subsequently have bought into the horse.

The first four entities are well-known for involvement in high-profile racing stock, but MyRaceHorse Stable is a different proposition. Toothaker noted that when “we met Michael Behrens, who owned MyRacehorse.com at the time, we loved it so much that Spendthrift bought a significant interest in the company,” and now Spendthrift is putting MyRaceHorse Stable in partnerships with some of its high-class racers.

Brian Lyle, who is the liaison for Spendthrift with MyRaceHorse Stable, said that “Mr. Hughes is concerned with the number of people involved in racing and wants to help attract more people to the sport. Our concept of MyRaceHorse Stable is purely to get more fans to the racetrack. It brings in more owners, it builds greater enthusiasm, and it builds up education so that some owners can move to the next level with their involvement in the sport.”

In Toothaker's analogy of the approach, he said, “It's a sort of farm league or development league to allow people to have individual involvement in the game through the purchase of micro-shares, and Mr. Hughes believes it could save the game. Normally, we are looking at young horses where Spendthrift would buy breeding rights, but now with MyRacehorse, we are also looking to buy racing rights.”

As testament to the widespread appeal that this could have with the general public, Toothaker recounted that the assistant pastor at the church where Toothaker and his family attend came up to him on Sunday to let him know that the clergyman had bought a share in Authentic.

Maybe those prayers made a difference in the stretch run of the Haskell. Either way, involvement of people not otherwise experienced in Thoroughbred ownership is a boon for the sport, and Authentic may prove an important educational and promotional marker for the popularity of the sport with this success and with anything else he accomplishes in the future.

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Ny Traffic’s Haskell Second Leads To Jump In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Authentic's victory in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes allowed him to hold his ground on the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Poll, but it was race runner-up Ny Traffic who gained heightened regard among voters.

In earning his first career top-level triumph on July 18, Authentic kept himself among the leading Kentucky Derby contenders and remained in the third position on the poll with 280 points. The son of Into Mischief improved his record to four wins from five career starts as he trails only Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law (38 first-place votes, 389 points) and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby victor Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 345 points) in the rankings.

Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector (248 points) and Los Alamitos Derby victor Uncle Chuck (135) sit fourth and fifth, respectively, on the poll with the only newcomer to the top 10 being the aforementioned Ny Traffic, who jumps from 18th up to sixth with 124 points. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Ny Traffic rallied late and was beaten just a nose by Authentic in the Haskell, his third consecutive runner-up outing. Ny Traffic had previously finished second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and was also third in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.

King Guillermo, winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, ranks seventh with 113 points followed by Dr Post (103 points), the third-place finisher in the Haskell. Leading sophomore fillies Gamine (101 points) and Swiss Skydiver (96) complete the top 10.

There was little change in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with champion distaffer Midnight Bisou racking up 23 first-place votes and 359 points to maintain the No. 1 spot for another week. Stephen Foster Stakes winner Tom's d'Etat (7 first-place votes, 323 points) is second with multiple Grade 1-winner Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 293 points) holding in third.

Zulu Alpha (156 points) moves up to fourth just ahead of Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, in fifth with 1 first-place vote and 146 points. By My Standards (135 points) and Mucho Gusto (131) rank sixth and seventh followed by Tiz the Law (2 first-place votes, 112 points), who continues his run as the lone sophomore in the Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 90 points) and Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 88 points) round out the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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Baffert: Haskell Winner Authentic ‘Still Has A Lot Of Improving To Do’

With the win secured in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., Authentic will train into the Kentucky Derby, which has been rescheduled to Sept. 5. The Into Mischief colt has some lessons to learn over the next seven weeks, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said.

After racing to what appeared to be a comfortable lead in the stretch on the way to an easy victory, Authentic and Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith had to hold off a determined and fast-closing Ny Traffic. The margin of victory, confirmed via photo finish, was a nose – the fourth time in the Haskell's 53-year history it has produced that margin of victory at the finish.

The 14-race card also produced a record non-Breeders' Cup day handle of $20,479,392 for Monmouth Park.

“We're going to work on him a little until then (the Derby),” Baffert said by phone from his Southern California base Sunday morning. “I was pretty proud of him. He ran well. I might have to put a little blinker on him because he went to idling on me.

“Turning for home, I kept waiting for him to turn it on, but he was doing some looking around and idling there. Mike saw that other horse (Ny Traffic) coming at the last minute.”

The victory extended Baffert's record for Haskell wins to nine.

Authentic, meanwhile, achieved millionaire status with the winner's share of the Haskell purse and has four wins and one second in five career, including three graded stakes victories. That is even more notable considering he was foaled May 5, 2017, making biologically younger than many of his sophomore classmates.

“He's a late foal. He's maturing but he's a quirky little guy,” Baffert said. “I think that it's impressive that he shipped, he got on a plane, he went all the way over there, and he handled it well. He didn't get hot in the paddock. He handled it all well and that's what you want to see.

“I'm happy with him. But he still has a lot of improving to do.”

Baffert, who said that had Authentic not won it would have been what he termed a horrible beat, was in an upbeat mood the day after and shared some of the conversation he and Smith had immediately after the race.

“It was funny,” Baffert said. “I told Mike, 'You know, you've got to stay busy on him.' And Mike said, 'Well, we turned for home and he cut, and I thought he was okay, and I was smooching to him. I said, 'Um, Mike, he had ear plugs in.' It was pretty funny. But it worked out right. It worked out good. But Mike said when that horse came to him, he could feel it. He wasn't going to let him get by him. He just took off. I'm proud of him.”

As happy as he was with Authentic, who with the win also guaranteed his spot in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Classic through the “Win and You're In” Challenge Series, Baffert was quick to praise the effort by the Saffie Joseph, Jr.–trained Ny Traffic.

“I have to credit to the horse who ran second. The track wasn't that fast yesterday,” said Baffert. “That Ny Traffic is a nice horse. He's right there. He gets beat by the good horses, so you have to give him credit, too.”

Ny Traffic has yet to win a stakes race, but he's been second in graded stakes in his last three starts so he's been banging on the door and signaling he's poised to knock it down.

“I hope when he does it's not my door that he knocks down,” said Baffert.

Authentic came out of the Haskell in terrific shape and on Sunday was headed by van to Lexington, Ky., where he will remain for a week before catching a flight back to rejoin Baffert's Southern California stable.

Joseph, who earned his first and only Grade1 victory last year with Math Wizard in the Pennsylvania Derby, was philosophical the morning after the race.

“That was a tough beat, but to be honest, it really didn't hurt that much because I am just so proud of this horse,” he said. “He ran an amazing race. At the quarter-pole it looked like he was all done and the other horse (Authentic) was going to win easily. But he got going again and I'm very proud of him.”

Joseph was excited about the New York-bred son of Cross Traffic going into the Haskell and he is even more so afterward.

“He showed he's got a lot of guts, a lot of heart, and a lot of fight in him. Most definitely,” he said.

Next up it's the Kentucky Derby, and a rematch with Authentic.

“I thought we already had enough Derby points going in, so the important thing was to just get a good race into him,” he said. “Now it's about who is moving forward, not who has peaked or is going backward. Going forward is the most important thing right now and that's why that tough beat can't really hurt me.

“I was just really happy to see him take that major step forward. That's the most important thing. Most definitely, there is a lot to be excited about with him. I just want him to stay sound and healthy and then we're on to the Derby.”

Ny Traffic, who would be Joseph's first Kentucky Derby starter, was reported to have come out of his race in excellent shape. He left Monmouth Park on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. by van for upstate New York to rejoin Joseph's Saratoga string.

ht that was a good race. He was beaten less than two lengths. So it looked like he was getting back to where we think he can be. He's a classy, sound horse who makes it easy.”

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