The holiday season is a time of hope, and this year is especially so, as governments and people around the world look forward to a time without a pandemic. Racing is no different.
The sport was one of the bright points of a year that grated on the patience and optimism of millions because the organization and nature of horse racing allowed it to operate with few fans present but with hundreds of millions watching from afar thanks to technology.
Racecourse winners from the past several days have showcased some of the stories and horses that loom as likely pleasures for the coming year. One of the best potential stories is a follow-up to one the sharpest disappointments in two seasons of racing, with the return of the high-quality performer Maxfield (by Street Sense). In 2019, an ankle chip kept Grade 1 winner Maxfield from racing in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile; this year, a condylar fracture kept the dark-coated colt with star potential on the sidelines through the classics.
On Dec. 19, Maxfield returned for his second start of the season, here at the end of the year, in the Tenacious Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Trained by Brendan Walsh for Godolphin, Maxfield showed the class and early pace to overcome his lack of recent activity and won the Tenacious by 2 1/2 lengths from the promising Curlin colt Sonneman.
In addition to the star quality of Maxfield, owner-breeder Godolphin had a handful of results to cheer about. Highly anticipated among those was the second victory in three starts for the 2-year-old Tapit colt Proxy, who is a son of Grade 1 winner Panty Raid (Include). Proxy had won a maiden on Nov. 26, then returned on Saturday as the odds-on favorite to win his first-level allowance by 2 1/2 lengths.
The colt's dam, Panty Raid, was a high-class performer in 2007, when she won the G1 Spinster Stakes and American Oaks at 3, then was sold for $2.5 million as a broodmare prospect the following year at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Now 16, Panty Raid is the dam of stakes winner Micheline (Bernardini), who won the Sorority Stakes at 2, then the Dueling Grounds Oaks this year at 3, when the filly was also second in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Keeneland.
In addition, Darley had an impressive maiden winner in the juvenile filly Divine Comedy (Into Mischief), who won her second start, going a mile and 70 yards at the Fair Grounds in 1:44.37 to defeat her closest rival by 5 1/4 lengths. Out of the Street Cry mare Via Strata, Divine Comedy is from the same female family as Maxfield that traces to the Storm Cat mare Caress.
One of four stakes winners out of the Affirmed mare La Affirmed, Caress won seven stakes, including three at the Grade 3 level, and is a full sister to the important sire Bernstein, the sire of champion Tepin and the promising young stallion Karakontie, who won the French classic Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile. Caress is the second dam of Maxfield and the third dam of Divine Comedy.
Another story of note is the continuing success of leading sire Into Mischief; in 2020, he is the sire of Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic, who has since been retired to stud at Spendthrift Farm, where he will stand alongside his famous sire.
In addition to Divine Comedy, Into Mischief had the maiden special winners By George and Prate. Both won on their debut. At Aqueduct racetrack in New York, By George won a six-furlong maiden by 5 1/4 lengths for owners Adele Dilschneider, Claiborne Farm, and Jump Sucker Stable. The owners had purchased the progressive colt out of the Keeneland September sale for $190,000.
Prate, on the other hand, is a home-grown gray colt racing for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms. Making his debut at the Fair Grounds on Saturday, Prate won by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:09.81, faster than the two six-furlong stakes on the same card.
The Juddmonte colt is out of the gray Exchange Rate mare Vaunting, who was unbeaten in two starts. A full sister to Grade 2 stakes winner Bragging, Vaunting produced Prate as her first foal; the dam has a yearling full brother named Visualize and a weanling half-sister by Kantharos. Prate is the fourth generation of this family bred and raced by Juddmonte.
In addition to Prate, Juddmonte also had an allowance winner at the Fair Grounds on Dec. 18 when the Munnings filly Sun Path won her second race from three starts. Even more important was how the pretty chestnut won. She came to the fore after about three-quarters of a mile and blew the competition into the infield to win by 12 3/4 lengths in 1:42.95 for the mile and 70 yards.
Sun Path is a full sister to Grade 2 winner Bonny South, who also ran second in the G1 Alabama, and they are the third generation of the family bred and raced by Juddmonte.
Judging by the form and the connections, racing fans have a lot to look forward to in 2021.
The post Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Hope For The Holidays appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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