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Classical Cat Another Good Omen for Mendelssohn

It's not a too common occurrence for sales-topping purchases to make it on the track despite the world of promise their pedigree, physical, and connections might imply. Further out still is the extraordinary feat of reproducing themselves or–at the very least–producing several runners of equitable talent between them, though stallions have the task on significantly easier asking than do the fillies and mares. Mendelssohn is patiently inching closer to changing that outlook and his Del Mar winner from last Saturday proves the stallion can get a promising runner at any budget; one of the most potent qualities a sire could have, especially early in their career.

Classical Cat (Mendelssohn–Conquest Strate Up, by Not Bourbon) streaked home on debut a gutsy 2 1/2-length winner for Michael House and conditioner Philip D'Amato, in a race under keen observation admittedly more for who finished behind him–this year's $3.55 million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in Training topper, Hejazi (Bernardini).

Himself a modest $65,000 purchase at Keeneland September last year by a friend of House, the Mendelssohn colt needed some early correction after the break, but once he was given a target and his cue to strike the lead, Classical Cat would not be stopped. For House, it was quite the thrill to see his horse put his best foot forward right at first asking.

“It sure was fun…we were telling [Classical Cat] all week that he cost $5 million so he wouldn't feel bad,” House joked, on his way to the barn when the call went through Monday. “[Philip D'Amato] was very positive and confident in him. He'd been doing everything right. He wasn't too worried about the other competition, probably not as much as we were.”

Classical Cat wasn't the only runner House had that day, either. Across the country at Saratoga, his co-owned filly Nest (Curlin) put on a masterclass in the GI Alabama S. and all but began the process of etching her name onto the plaque for the divisional title. House admitted that, while they'd wanted to go, the lure of seeing their horses at Del Mar–where they were conveniently close for himself and his wife–proved too strong, and they'd stayed home to see their local runners on the card.

“We'd flown out before to see her run, but we had so many entries that day. So, we saw her on tv before our horses ran here.”

On the end of the call, and clearly ready to head out with his bag of carrots, House quickly included that, while his colt wasn't displaying his sire's liking of loudly announcing his presence at every opportunity, there was a strong trait he liked.

“He's the sweetest guy in the barn. He's got the sweetest disposition. We've been babying him,” House said. “[Classical Cat] is a big, good looking colt…Mendelssohn was a great racehorse himself and now he's starting to show it as a sire.”

Said sire (by Scat Daddy) bucked the trend of multi-million dollar auction horses never quite reaching their full potential. The $3 million KEESEP topper in 2016–the same sale which yielded Triple Crown hero Justify (Scat Daddy) and MGISW Good Magic (Curlin), to name a couple–earned over $2.5 million in his career, crowned by victories in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and G2 U. A. E. Derby. The latter was an 18 1/2-length romp as his final prep for the GI Kentucky Derby, where he was eased to last after being banged around. He went on to hit the board in the GII Dwyer, GI Runhappy Travers, and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes before calling it a career after placing fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and fourth in the GI Cigar Mile.

Retired to stud for 2019, Mendelssohn came armed with one of the best female families in the Stud Book as a son of the venerable Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek), making him a half-sibling to Hall of Famer Beholder (Henny Hughes) and now three-time reigning champion general sire, Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday).

Well-received in the ring, his offspring got off to a quiet initial start with several hitting the board over every surface–from the all-weather at Woodbine to French turf courses and the Saratoga main track–but none were getting their picture taken. Then, once the parade of debut winners began, the performances got better and flashier with a 'TDN Rising Star' among them.

Pink Hue | Sarah Andrew

Pink Hue showed grit and heart in her unveiling over a route of ground on the grass, becoming Mendelssohn's seventh individual winner at that point, but his first and for now only, to receive the nod from the TDN. A $310,000 KEESEP grad, purchased by Mike Ryan as agent for e Five Racing, the filly has an Into Mischief-sired, winning older sibling named Man of Promise, who annexed the G3 Emirates Skycargo Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint as well as placing third in the G1 Azizi Developments Al Quoz Sprint. Her dam, a Speightstown mare named Involved, is a half-sister to GIII Bay Shore victor Skip to the Stone (Skip Trial) and the stakes-placed stakes producer My Heavenly Sign (Forest Camp).

As of this running, Mendelssohn tallies nine individual winners and will have two chances Aug. 26 at Saratoga to become the sire of black-type horses. The powerful partnership of WinStar and Siena Farm will send New York-bred Miracle to post in the state-restricted Seeking the Ante S. from the barn of Rudolphe Brisset. The $360,000 OBSMAR speedster was a six-length debut winner July 27 at the venue. Prior to the training sale, she'd passed through the ring as a yearling at SARAUG 2021 for $250,000 to Bay Hill Stables, and as a weanling at FTKNOV 2020 for $110,000 to American Equistock.

The second opportunity will come later in the card when owner/trainer Uriah St. Lewis sends out his New York-bred Belt Parkway in the Funny Cide S. A $160,000 SARAUG purchase by Christophe Clement, acting as agent, the colt resurfaced in the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 'Timonium' sale in May and went to Trin Brook Stables for only $30,000. Belt Parkway comes in off a nose unveiling victory in a dirt dash at Parx.

With many juveniles filling maiden special entries in the coming days in addition to the stakes action, the slow start looks to be in Mendelssohn's rear view mirror. If his siblings are used as an auspicious indicator of things to come, further successes will arrive in due time and on their own time.

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Week in Review: Is Classic Best Fit for Life Is Good?

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) got the job done Saturday in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, which probably means that a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic is on his schedule. The Whitney was a “Win and You're In” race for the Classic and has traditionally been one of the most important preps for the season-ending $6-million race. If trainer Todd Pletcher and owners WinStar Farm and the China Horse Club play this one by the book, the Classic is where they will end up.

But is that the best Breeders' Cup race for him?

After his performance in the nine-furlong Whitney, where he didn't quite deliver the type of spectacular performance he is capable of, it's a fair question to ask. The Classic is run at a mile-and-a-quarter and it's pretty clear than 10 furlongs is not Life Is Good's best distance. He'll have a lot easier time winning the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the race he won last year, than the Classic.

Life Is Good has tried a 1 1/4 miles only once, in the G1 Dubai World Cup, and the result was, perhaps, the most disappointing race of his career. He had the lead until about 100 yards before the wire only to be passed by three horses. Pletcher has pointed out that the racing surface at Meydan was deep and tiring and said that worked against Life Is Good. That may be true, but with a horse with this much talent, he should have found a way to pull off the win. More so than the condition of the racetrack, the distance got him.

His first start after Dubai came in the GII John A. Nerud S. at seven furlongs and he thrashed a good horse in Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) to win easily. That seemed to set him up perfectly for the Whitney, where the competition included Olympiad (Speightstown) and three others. It's not that Life Is Good ran a bad race, or anything close to it. He won by two lengths and got a 107 Beyer. It was a good effort, some have said it was gutsy and that he showed heart. After getting loose on the lead, he had to fight off stablemate Happy Saver (Super Saver) to grind out the win. But, as brilliant as Life Is Good had been in some of his earlier starts, we expected something more than gutsy.

It also matters that Olympiad, who had been so consistent, winning five straight, picked this day not to show up. That meant the competition Life Is Good faced wasn't as strong as had been expected.

Winning a $1-million, Grade I race in Saratoga is no easy feat, but this didn't look like Life Is Good at his best, and the distance probably had something to do with that.

In some years, maybe Life Is Good could overcome distance limitations and win the Classic. But this year's field will be loaded. At a mile-and-a-quarter, can he beat Flightline (Tapit) or Epicenter (Not This Time)? Then there's Country Grammer (Tonalist), who finished ahead of him in the Dubai World Cup and is partially owned by WinStar.

Passing on the Classic isn't exactly a no-brainer. It's worth $4 million more than the $1-million Dirt Mile and if they don't run there they may cost themselves any chance at being named Horse of the Year. It's a race everyone wants to win and looks great on the record of a future stallion. But if you want to pick the race that is the best fit for Life Is Good and the one where he has the best chance of winning, that's an easy call. It's the Dirt Mile.

The Future of Belmont Park

On this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland, NYRA CEO and President Dave O'Rourke said that NYRA's long-range plan is likely to include shutting down Aqueduct and running at Belmont in the winter. That's one of the reasons NYRA is planning on installing a synthetic Tapeta surface at Belmont. It also looks like stands will be torn down and replaced with a smaller facility.

O'Rourke also said there are no plans to change the current circumferences of the tracks, meaning the main track at Belmont will remain the massive mile-and-a-half oval that it is. Buy why? The 12-furlong track works for one race, the GI Belmont S. For every other race, it's simply too big, it's impractical and the sight lines are not good. It also means that any 1 1/4-mile dirt races, like the Breeders' Cup Classic, have to start on the clubhouse turn. A nine-furlong main track, which they have at Aqueduct ands Saratoga, makes more sense.

Fillies Dominate the Hall of Fame

Two horses from the modern era were inducted this week into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and, in Tepin (Bernstein) and Beholder (Henny Hughes), both were fillies. That's no coincidence. Since 2015, six fillies have made the Hall of Fame and only three male horses: American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), Lava Man (Slew City Slew) and Wise Dan (Wiseman's Ferry). The latter two are geldings.

In an era where star males horses who are not geldings will almost always call it quits after their 3-year-old seasons and maybe run nine or 10 times in their careers, you're not going to get many who have Hall of Fame credentials. Justify (Scat Daddy), who raced just six times, is one of the few exceptions, but only because it would be awful hard to keep a Triple Crown winner out of the Hall of Fame. Otherwise, the voters will be hard pressed to put a horse into the Hall of Fame who raced just two years and made a limited number of starts.

Fillies are a different matter. With a top broodmare being worth considerably less than a top sire, it makes economic sense to continue to race them. Beholder ran 26 times and raced at six. Tepin retired after her 5-year-old campaign and made 23 starts.

Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) ran 20 times and was still out there at age six. Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) raced 19 times and stuck around through her 4-year-old year. With top male horses, those are numbers you don't see anymore.

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Leading Ladies Inducted Into Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – By far, the most enthusiastic applause during the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday morning was for a video clip of race that everyone in the audience likely had seen many times.

Beholder's (Henny Hughes) career-capping victory by a nose over the previously unbeaten champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) in the 2016 GI Breeder's Cup Distaff was nearly as gripping on the big screen at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion as it was live at Santa Anita Park. For sheer drama it ranks with the finish of the 1988 Distaff when Personal Ensign (Private Account) rallied to overtake Goodbye Halo (Halo) and GI Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors (Caro) to complete her career unbeaten.

With a slew of impressive statistics, Beholder and the seven other members of the Class of 2022 joined Personal Ensign in the Hall of Fame, which fittingly is located across Union Ave. from historic Saratoga Race Course. Beholder and Tepin (Bernstein) were elected by Hall of Fame voters in the contemporary division; Hillsdale (Take Away), Royal Heroine (Ire) (Lypheor {GB}) and trainer Oscar White were selected by the Historic Review Committee; three were honored in the Pillar of the Turf category: James Cox Brady, Marshall Cassidy and James Ben Ali Haggin.

This year's event had a smaller crowd than usual, possibly because there were no contemporary trainers or jockeys inducted. All four of the people who received racing's highest honor for their distinguished careers, have been dead for decades. Haggin, a remarkable owner and breeder, who at one time owned 1,500 broodmares, was born 200 years ago.

Beholder, owned by the late B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm and trained by Richard Mandella, completed her brilliant career with a record of 18-6-0 from 26 starts and earnings of $6,156,600. She was a four-time champion, won three Breeders' Cup races and a total of 11 Grade I races. She won at least one Grade I in each of her five seasons on the track.

“It's an amazing and humbling honor for us to see our greatest race-mare, our once-in-a-lifetime horse enshrined next to the many others that came before her,” said Eric Gustavson, Hughes's son-in-law and the president of Spendthrift. “Beholder is already in the Hall of Fame now, so what you're getting feels like I'm lobbying for her to get in.”

Gustavson cited some of the high points of Beholder's career and acknowledged by name the people who worked with her, starting with the breeders, Fred and Nancy Mitchell of Clarkland Farm. He said Mandella, who had to miss the ceremony because he had tested positive for Covid-19, deserved credit for Beholder's success, “for his masterful horsemanship, patience and judgment, and managing Beholder's incredible career. Thank you, Richard.”

“I once heard Richard say, 'I can't get out of the horses what God didn't put in,'” Gustavson said. “Well, thank you God for giving Beholder so much talent. And thank you Richard for getting it all out of her.”

As he began to talk about Hughes, who died in August 2021, Gustavson paused for nine seconds to regain his composure.

“You should be standing here right now instead of me,” Gustavson said. “And while we're sorry, he didn't get to see Beholder win her final honor. We take solace in remembering how much Beholder meant to Wayne. You see, Wayne never got too attached to his race horses. They meant a lot to him, but he just wasn't the type to allow his emotions to come along for the ride. Until Beholder that is. She changed him in that regard. Following Beholder's impressive win against the boys in the 2015 [GI] Pacific Classic, Wayne said 'I've had a few good horses in the past, but she's the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I've never had that feeling before. I think it's called pride.'”

Owner Robert Masterson saluted Tepin's Hall of Fame induction at the venue where he purchased her for $140,000 just over a decade ago. She emerged as a champion turf horse as a 4-year-old, winning 11 of her last 15 races, including the G1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, the second of her three victories over males, and won two division titles.

“The one thing about Tepin that I really admired was the more she raced and the more success she had, the greater the following she seemed to get from the people,” Masterson said. “The fans seemed to start to really love her. The first time I recognized it was when she overcame a 13-length deficit to win a Grade II [Hillsborough S.] at Tampa Bay Downs. When she crossed the finish line, there was just as an eruption of applause. It was like a crescendo at the end of a concert that was so good. And when she won up in Woodbine in Canada when she beat the boys in the Grade I [Woodbine Mile S.], we're having the trophy presentation, and we stopped the trophy presentation to recognize the fans who shouted loudly, 'Tepin. Tepin. Tepin.' It was such an appreciation from the Canadian fans.”

He continued, “Then again when she finished second in the Grade I at Santa Anita at the Breeders Cup [2016 Mile], when she was leaving, to go back to the barn, the grandstand started going, 'Tepin. Tepin. Tepin.' I think that was because she finished the last quarter of that Breeders Cup, the fastest quarter ever recorded on the grass at Santa Anita. And the fans really appreciated that even though she came up half a length short.”

Masterson told a story about seeing a family at Saratoga wearing homemade Tepin shirts and said she had a bar named for her at the track after her score at Royal Ascot.

“On behalf of Tepin and myself, I want to thank all the fans who came out and reacted positively to her and loved to watch her race,” Masterson said. “I want to thank Mark Casse and his son Norm for the excellent training job they did on her. I want to thank Julien Leparoux for the rides. I want to thank [David] Greathouse for helping me find her right here at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale. And I want to thank the Hall of Fame committee for recognizing her accomplishments and voting her into the Hall of Fame. It's such an honor.”

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Beholder, Tepin Go Into Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-Just like Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) and Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) in 2016, Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Tepin (Bernstein) are entering the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame together Friday in their first year of eligibility.

Six years after the no-brainer election package, Hall of Fame voters selected two brilliant race mares of the second decade of the 21st century to join the best-of-the-best club on Union Avenue. Though they excelled on different surfaces, there are plenty of similarities. Both were well-beaten in their career debuts. Both earned multiple division titles. Both won at the Breeders' Cup. Both beat males in Grade I races. Both are the first Hall of Fame horses handled by their Hall of Fame trainers. Neither was an especially expensive yearling purchase: Spendthrift Farm acquired Beholder for $180,000; Robert Masterson snagged Tepin for $140,000.

Together, Beholder and Tepin won 31 of 49 career starts, 63.2%, and finished in the top three 43 times, 87.7%. Their combined purse earnings were $10,594,518.

What does it say to their trainers that they are first-ballot Hall of Famers?

Mark Casse on Tepin: “It Just shows what I already knew, that she's great.”

Richard Mandella on Beholder: “I'm not surprised. I think she made that impression on people with her record. She has done things that either not many or no horses have done. Fillies and mares running 1 1/4 miles under two minutes? I'm not saying none have, but I don't know that many have. And to win a Grade 1 at 2-3-4-5 and 6, I think, speaks for itself.”

Beholder and Tepin, the only two selections in the contemporary division this year, are part of a class of eight that will be inducted at a ceremony that begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. The Historic Review Committee elected trainer Oscar White and the horses Hillsdale (Take Away) and Royal Heroine (Ire) (Lypheor {GB}). The Pillars of the Turf selections are James Cox Brady, Marshall Cassidy and James Ben Ali Haggin.

During her five seasons of competition with Mandella, Beholder won 18 of 26 starts. Thirteen of those victories were in graded stakes and 11 were at the highest level, Grade I. She won all three of her Breeders' Cup starts, the 2012 GI Juvenile Fillies, and the GI Distaff in 2013 and 2016. Sickness kept her out of the 2014 and 2015 events. In 2015, she was scratched two days before a scheduled showdown with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Classic. In her career finale the following year, she triumphed in the Distaff by a nose over Rick Porter's champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) following an epic battle in the stretch. The thrilling score against Songbird helped her clinch her fourth Eclipse Award to go with the 2-year-old filly title in 2012, the 3-year-old filly crown in 2013, and older dirt female honors of 2015.

At Del Mar in 2015, she beat males the GI Pacific Classic by a 8 1/4 lengths in 1:59.77, a fast time while Mandella said she was being pulled up by jockey Gary Stevens.

“”Every trainer should get to train a horse like that,” Mandella said. “You can come up with all the fancy training ideas you want and most of them you're just throwing it in the wind. But this one I don't think it mattered who trained her, she was just great every year.”

Beholder finished second in her three starts before the 2016 Distaff–including a five-length loss to California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in the GI Pacific Classic–and was 3-1 in the wagering against Songbird.

“She was in heat a lot that summer,” Mandella said. “It was the first year she ever started doing that, that it was so obvious. And I think her mindset just wasn't quite the same. But she came out of it a couple of weeks before the Breeders' Cup and somebody interviewed me and I said, 'She's back. She'll run her race this time.'”

Mandella was not involved in the purchase of Beholder by the Spendthrift team. However, when Spendthrift's owner, B. Wayne Hughes, asked him to select some of the farm's young horses to train, he chose her. He said it was clear early on that she was a special horse.

“She was just a fat little 2-year-old that just didn't take the training serious,” he said. “But she showed she could run.”

After ending up fourth, beaten 8 1/2 lengths in her debut at Hollywood Park in June 2012, she broke her maiden easily and was beaten a nose by Executiveprivilege (First Samurai) in the GI Del Mar Debutante. Two races later, she beat Executiveprivilege by a length in the Juvenile Fillies.

All of Beholder's victories came on California tracks. Her second and last off-the-board finish was a fourth in the 2014 GI Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. Mandella said she probably cost herself a victory in the GI Kentucky Oaks when, he said “she picked a fight with the pony and rider going to the gate” in front of the huge crowd at Churchill Downs. She was second by a half-length to Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior).

“She had some behavioral problems, all along,” Mandella said. “She was 5% dynamite and the other 95% a sweetheart. But when she was bad, she was real bad.”

Mandella pointed to a pair of starts as being at the top of the list of his favorite Beholder moments.

“Well, the Pacific Classic is just breathtaking,” he said. “And then the last race, to beat that great mare that ran second of Mr. Porter's, Songbird.”

Mandella was looking forward to attending the induction ceremony, but had to cancel his trip from California because he tested positive for Covid-19.

Tepin took a little longer to emerge as a star for Casse. He described her as a good 2-year-old in a four-race season that included a victory in the GIII Delta Downs Debutante. Casse moved her to grass in the second race of her winless 3-year-old season.

“The last time we ran her as a 3-year-old, she didn't run well,” Casse said. “She actually was very distressed after the race and [Masterson] and I kind of looked at each other and he said to me, 'Why don't we send her home?' We sent her back to Ocala and gave her a little break, just gave her a couple months off.”

Casse said he prefers that newly turned 4-year-olds have a little extra time before they start facing older horses. She was away from the races from August until March.

“We did that, and then when she came back as a 4-year-old, she was a monster,” Casse said. “It was like a different horse. The rest is history.”

Tepin promptly reeled off three straight wins, topped by a half-length victory over Filimbi (Mizzen Mast) in the GI Just a Game S. at Belmont Park. That flurry of success between March 21 and June 6 was a precursor of what was ahead. By the time she completed her career with a second in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, she had prevailed in 11 of 15 starts and finished second the four times she did not win. Two of those setbacks, one by a nose in the GI Diana H. and the other by a head in the GII Ballston Spa S., came at Saratoga after the Just a Game.

A seven-length triumph in the GI First Lady S. at Keeneland encouraged Casse to try her against males over the same course four weeks later in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Sent off at $4.90-1, she used her speed to win by 2 1/4 lengths. With her 5-2-0 record in seven races, she was voted the female turf Eclipse Award.

Tepin extended her unbeaten streak with four more wins to open 2016 and then was presented with another challenge, running at Royal Ascot in the G1 Queen Anne S.

“To be honest with you,” Casse said, “I wasn't overjoyed about going to Royal Ascot simply because I thought we had maybe the best turf horse in the country, maybe in the world and I just felt like it was a big ask of her.”

Tepin was up to the task and finished first in the 13-horse field by a half-length under her regular rider Julien Leparoux.

“If I knew what I know now, I don't know if I would have taken her because it's so tough, Casse said. “It just shows you really how great she was.”

Tepin resumed her career in in September with a victory over males in the GI Woodbine Mile at Woodbine. She was second to Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the First Lady and came up just short in her finale, losing by a half-length to Tourist as she tried to repeat in the Mile. Her 6-2-0 record in eight starts produced another Eclipse.

“Crazy thing about her was that probably the best race she ever ran in her life was her last start,” Casse said. “She should probably should have won the Breeders' Cup again. She kind of got shuffled back which was not what where she liked to be. The normal Tepin turning for home would have been right there on the lead. She was back and she was coming wide and Tourist, Joel [Rosario] rode Tourist that day. He snuck up the rail and kind of got in front of her and she still almost ran him down. I always looked at that, even though she didn't win it, as maybe one of her greatest races.

“The race of her life was Royal Ascot and she gave us an experience that I'll probably never experience again.”

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