Tag: Bloodlines

Lord Miles closed on the outside for victory in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and as a result, another son of Horse of the Year Curlin (by Smart Strike) has become a “talking horse” for the classics.

From his first crop of racers, which included Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, Curlin showed that classic performance was his strong suit, and he has been a consistent source of elite, largely classic, performers ever since. His third-crop son Keen Ice won the 2015 Travers (and sired last year's Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike); his fourth-crop son Exaggerator won the Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, and Haskell; his sixth-crop son Good Magic was champion juvenile, ran second in the Kentucky Derby, and won the Blue Grass and Haskell. Other sons, such as Vino Rosso and Irish War Cry, won the Wood Memorial like Lord Miles, and the chestnut champion sired three Breeders' Cup winners in 2022: Malathaat (Distaff), Cody's Wish (Dirt Mile), and Elite Power (Sprint).

In other news of Curlin's classic colts, Skinner was a contentious third in the G1 Santa Anita Derby, beaten a nose and half-length by Practical Move (Practical Joke) and Mandarin Hero (Shanghai Bobby).

Bred in Kentucky by Vegso Racing Stable and racing for the breeder, Lord Miles is out of the unraced Lady Esme, a half-sister to three Vegso-bred stakes winners, including champion juvenile filly Caledonia Road (Quality Road) and three-time Grade 3 winner Officiating (Blame). Lady Esme is out of the winner Come a Callin (Dixie Union), and both the dam and grandam also were bred by Vegso Racing Stable.

Peter Vegso bought into this distinguished family with the purchase of third dam Twilight Service (Horse Chestnut) at the 2004 OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training. Twilight Service, bred in Kentucky by Stuart S. Janney III, had sold to Eisaman Equine for $35,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, then resold to Vegso out of the Eisaman consignment at the March sale for $105,000.

Janney had bought the fourth dam, Sunset Service (Deputy Minister), through Seth Hancock at the 1994 Keeneland July select yearling sale for $260,000 and then resold her 10 years later at the Keeneland January sale for $60,000.

In the meantime, however, Sunset Service had contributed a pair of stakes winners to the Janney broodmare band in Vespers and Database (both by Known Fact). In addition to winning stakes, each also produced a G1 winner. Vespers is the dam of Donn Handicap winner Hymn Book (Arch), and Database is the dam of Data Link (War Front).

In fact, every dam in the family, generation after generation, has produced at least one stakes winner, but none of these dams was a stakes winner herself until we reach the fifth dam, Songlines (Diesis). She was one of two stakes winners out of sixth dam Begum (Alydar). A big, stretchy, lovely mare and a half-sister to three stakes winners, Begum was not raced and for a very good reason.

She had no eyes.

Headley Bell recalled the situation: “You occasionally have blind mares, but rarely do you have a foal born like that and kept alive. When she was born, she was normal but had only these little, dark things that looked like pencil erasers for eyes.

“To make this a challenge in every sense, this filly was from the first crop by Alydar, who stood for $50,000 live foal initially, and that was a big sum in 1981 for an operation that made a living from breeding and raising horses. This one could never race, could never go to sale, and we didn't know if she could breed. Did she have ovaries, would she cycle properly without sight to respond to the changes in light? It was a leap of faith to consider keeping the newborn filly.

“At the time, Melvin Cinnamon was still the manager at Calumet, and Mom (Alice Chandler), John Chandler, and farm manager Duncan MacDonald were inclined to give it a go. Because she was a filly. She was from an old Bwamazon family, and the combination of things were such that Mom couldn't put this baby down. But still, you didn't know how this would work.”

To try to give the foal every chance, Alice Chandler and her staff at Mill Ridge set to work to teach this filly how to survive in a world without a horse's primary sense: sight.

“We plowed inside the perimeter of the paddock so that the ground was rough near the fence,” Bell continued. “We were trying to teach her not to run into the fence by making the ground different, and then we put a bell on the mare.

“She was a foal of 1981, and we didn't breed her until she was a 4-year-old. Then we bred her to our home stallion, Diesis, and the result was Songlines. Then we were able to train Begum to load on a van and sent her to a nearby stallion, the Juddmonte horse Known Fact, and got Binalong.”

The mare's first three foals were all stakes horses, and four of her five daughters produced stakes winners.

“All because Mom was a great horsewoman and a great lover of the horse.”

What more could anyone want to be?

The post Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: How Alice Chandler’s Faith In A Blind Filly Swung The Wood Memorial appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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When Classic Empire won the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a neck from Not This Time (by Giant's Causeway) in 2016, it seemed that Kentucky Derby second Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker) was fashioning his own branch of the most classic line of Mr. Prospector.

The latter's son Fappiano sired Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, who in his first crop sired leading stallion Unbridled's Song, as well as Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone (sire of Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, sire of two classic winners himself). From later crops came Preakness winner Red Bullet, as well as Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker.

Empire Maker proved the most successful of these three at stud, getting a pair of Kentucky Derby seconds, Pioneerof the Nile and Bodemeister, who have a signal distinction. Each has sired a Kentucky Derby winner himself. Bodemeister sired Always Dreaming, winner of the classic in 2017, and Pioneerof the Nile sired American Pharoah, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years with his victories in 2015.

So when Classic Empire came along to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile the following year and was acclaimed champion of his age and sex, it appeared that the bay colt with the classic bloodlines had the premium events at his mercy. That is not how it worked out, however.

Classic Empire had a troubled preparation for the Triple Crown, then stepped up and won the G1 Arkansas Derby as his prep for the Kentucky classic, where he finished fourth in the 2017 Derby won by Always Dreaming. As rough as his Derby trip had been, Classic Empire had a lovely race in the Preakness two weeks later, sitting second most of the way behind Always Dreaming, then taking the lead after the three-quarters when the Derby winner “weakened,” as the chart phrases it.

Classic Empire had a three-length lead at the stretch call and appeared to be home free in the second classic, but the handsome colt tired somewhat and was caught near the sixteenth pole by Cloud Computing, who won by a head after a contentious battle. Classic Empire never ran again but entered stud in 2018 at Coolmore's Ashford Stud outside of Versailles, Ky.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Forgotten Land Investment Inc. and Black Diamond Equine Corp., Angel of Empire is from the second crop by Classic Empire and out of Armony's Angel, by Honor and Serve (Bernardini). Black Diamond had purchased the mare in foal to Classic Empire for $67,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November sale and took her to Pennsylvania to foal.

There she was under the management of Christian Black at Blackstone Farm, which is an operation that Black has with partners. The two entities that bred Angel of Empire are both Black himself.

“Armony's Angel is a good-sized mare,” Black said, “and this colt has always been a good mover. He was immature as a weanling, less so as a yearling. By the time that he sold with Warrendale at the September yearling sale, he had the movement and size, but he wouldn't have been one for the 2-year-old sales.”

A $32,000 RNA as a weanling, the colt came back in the 2021 September sale and sold for $70,000 to Albaugh Family Stable, which races him. Angel of Empire has won four of his six starts, earning slightly more than $1 million.

The mare has a 2-year-old by Collected and a yearling full brother to the Arkansas Derby winner. Black said that “Armony's Angel foaled the yearling in late May and was not bred back. She was bred to Gun Runner in February and is 45 days in foal.”

Black said that “by myself, I breed 10 to 15 a year. All are raised on our Blackstone Farm property and are on the same program as the Blackstone Farm yearlings. But having a 7-year-old mare who's the dam of a G1 winner (and in foal to a very hot commercial sire) is the kind of thing we all dream of. You have to allow yourself to enjoy it.”

The owner is likely to consign the mare to the November sale, depending on how things develop in the next few months. Especially if a big, improving colt were to win or place in a classic.

“That would be the natural thing to consider,” Black said. And what would classic performance mean for the sire?

The racing successes of Classic Empire indicated that Pioneerof the Nile might found an important classic dynasty. Although the juvenile champion just missed getting there in his own racing career, perhaps Angel of Empire will find the talent to succeed and make Classic Empire a classic sire.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Angel Of Empire’s Ascent, And Classic Empire’s Unfinished Business appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Not many racehorses peak at age eight, but in the case of Spooky Channel (by English Channel), he won his first Grade 2 stakes over the weekend at the Fair Grounds in the Muniz Memorial. A winner three times at the Grade 3 level before this, Spooky Channel didn't win his first stakes until he was four, and not only that, there's quite a lot about him, in addition, that isn't the usual thing.

For instance, the chestnut gelding, like many another talented racer, has a sidekick, but in this case, that alter ego is a unicorn.

Trainer Jason Barkley said, “I wouldn't call him 'nervous,' but Spooky is intense. My wife Shelbi gallops him, and she says that, even at his age, he's just about the strongest galloping horse in the barn. Giving him a stuffed unicorn came from something that I had seen Roger Attfield do, giving a horse with some nerves something to nuzzle up to and give him something to think about and relax with.”

Spooky Channel is on his third unicorn at present, and it isn't the little, fit in your hand kind of plush toy one might buy at the grocery. This is a horse-size plushy, and Spooky Channel is pretty fond of his.

Certainly, the results from the racehorse are immensely positive since his acquisition by NBS Stables. After being claimed for $80,000 on Oaks Day 2021, Spooky Channel has earned a bit more than half of his lifetime earnings of $862,842, with four victories from eight starts, plus a second and a third, and yet only one of those starts came in 2022.

Entrepreneur and owner John Ballantyne recalled that “about three weeks after he won the (Grade 3) Sycamore at Keeneland (Oct. 22, 2021), Jason called me, and you know it's not good news when a trainer calls from out of the blue.

“Spooky had a 15 percent tear in a tendon. There was treatment available, and plenty of time. Even if the treatment didn't work, I wanted to give it a go to give him the best opportunity for a good quality of life thereafter. It's a credit to how good veterinary science has become and to this animal. He's a real tough horse.”

Trainer Barkley said, “At the end of December in 2021, we sent Spooky to Lori Hendrickson's farm in Shelbyville, Ky., where I send all my layups, and she puts a lot of personal attention into the work. We got him back in the shed row in late May or early June. We took plenty of time with him here, and we kept scanning the tendon. Finally, it got to the point that we were confident he was sound to go, and everything has come along smoothly in his conditioning since.

“It's an injury that a lot of horses don't come back from,” Barkley said, “and yet if you base it strictly off speed figures, he's a better horse now than he was before. He's doing so well now that it's a matter of managing him for the best results.

“It's really refreshing to work with clients like John and Art, who recognize the value of a long-term vision. They like action, but they are patient and easy to work with. Willing to let you do your job, put the trust in you to do it right. I can't say enough about the chances they've given us to show what we can do with nice horses.”

Spooky Channel is plenty nice and has won four of his last five races: two stakes before his injury, then two of the three stakes since, as well as a third in the G3 Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston.

The chestnut was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, which sold Spooky Channel for $10,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale to Terry Hamilton, who owned him when the horse won his second start, going 7 ½ furlongs on turf at Turf Paradise in December of his 3-year-old season.

The next year, Spooky Channel won a trio of handicaps at Turf Paradise that were non-black-type events, and as a 5-year-old in 2020, he won his first recognized stakes in the G3 W.L. McKnight Handicap at Gulfstream, going 12 furlongs on turf in 2:26.16 and paying $36.30 as one of the longer shots in the race.

As a 6-year-old, Spooky Channel began his year with a victory in the G3 Connally Turf Cup, then was ninth in the 2021 Muniz Memorial, behind Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and all but one other runner. The gelding's next start was for the $80,000 tag at Churchill.

Art Neuhedel, racing manager for NBS Stables, noted that “Spooky Channel was such a nice horse that, even at $80,000, we thought 'What's wrong here?' and almost backed out on claiming him. But John's preference is going long and on the turf, and he liked the upside with Spooky.”

“Honestly, the age didn't bother me,” the New Zealand-born Ballantyne said. “I'm used to following runners who are up there. So I thought, 'Let's take a shot!'

“He's done so well it's almost scary. Sometimes you see a horse change barns and a light comes on … or goes off. With Spooky, he'd never won a Grade 2 before, and now he's doing it at eight. He's getting good care, training really well, and racing better than ever. He's loving it.”

Neuhedel commented: “In bringing him back from injury, the thought was to keep him strong, keep him sound, and have some fun. Now he's earned the right to go anyway, try anything.”

Among the anything that Spooky Channel may try is the G1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, and there are other important races at nine to 12 furlongs on turf that come to mind also. One might even be at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Nov. 3-4.

To find out how that works out, we'll have to stay tuned. Same Spooky time, same Spooky Channel.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: At Age Eight, The Best Might Be To Come For Spooky Channel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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When Ballet Dancing came home first in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita, it was a very good result for the owners – Westerberg, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith – but it was an even better result for the breeders, Ashview Farm and Old Oak Farm.

Wayne Lyster and his family are Ashview Farm, and Kelly and George Davis are Old Oak Farm. The Davises own one broodmare, the Unbridled's Song producer Fully Living, who's the dam of Ballet Dancing.

Lyster said that “Fully Living is a big, good-looking mare, and she gets great-looking foals. We've been very lucky with her and have had a great time.” He chuckled and continued, “It's easy to have a good time when you're making money.”

The co-owners and co-breeders have grossed nearly $3.5 million from the foals of Fully Living, including a Justify filly they sold last year at the Keeneland September sale for $1.05 million. That filly ranked third among the highest prices for a yearling by Justify in 2022.

Ballet Dancing, in contrast, was “only” the fifth-highest price among the yearlings of 2020 by Medaglia d'Oro, but she is the most accomplished of that elite quintet to date. Fully Living's foal preceding Ballet Dancing, the Nyquist colt Untreated, sold for $550,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, and he was the top-priced yearling by the sire. Untreated was third in the G3 Suburban and the Pimlico Special in 2022.

The decision that first set all this in motion came more than three decades ago with the purchase of an older broodmare, the multiple stakes winner Knitted Gloves (White Gloves). Knitted Gloves was bred in Kentucky by Robert E. Lehmann and was sold by Golden Chance Farm and Lehmann family for $9,000 at the Keeneland November sale in 1989.

The buyer was Wayne G. Lyster.

On the racetrack, Knitted Gloves had been the most notable racer for the stallion White Gloves, who was a good winner (Irish St. Leger, Desmond Stakes, Ballymoss Stakes) while racing in Ireland, and was by the Hyperion stallion High Hat out of a daughter of the great American champion mare Gallorette.

Racing from age two through five, Knitted Gloves had been a graded stakes winner in the first year of the program's operation in the States, winning the Grade 3 Magnolia Stakes at Oaklawn in 1973, as well as other stakes, including the Fantasy and Fair Grounds Oaks, that were subsequently graded.

In all, Knitted Gloves won 22 of 79 starts, was 15 times second, 10 times third, and earned $231,376. What a hardy, admirable racemare she proved; nor was Knitted Gloves done.

As a broodmare, Knitted Gloves produced Spruce Needles (Big Spruce), winner of the G1 Arlington Handicap; Dusty Gloves (Run Dusty Run), winner of the Cumberland Handicap; Big E.Z. (Slew o' Gold), who was second in the G3 Lousiana Derby; and At the Half (Seeking the Gold), winner of the G3 Golden Rod Stakes, as well as the Bassinet, Colleen, and Pocahontas.

At the time that Lyster bought Knitted Gloves, the mare's first two stakes winners were already on the catalog page, and Big E.Z. was a 2-year-old.

“I bought Knitted Gloves because I knew that Golden Chance had bred some really nice horses, especially tough horses, and I loved her sturdiness,” Lyster said. “She had some age on her (19), she was barren, and the market just walked away from her.”

And Lyster profited.

He said, “I'd just bought a share in Seeking the Gold, and I bred her to him.” The result was At the Half, a classy filly and one of the early stakes winners by Seeking the Gold.

At the Half was a talented filly who won five of her eight starts while racing for Robert Crabtree and Lyster. She produced Lu Ravi from a mating with Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, and that dark bay athlete began a racing career that featured stakes victories at three, four, five, and six. In the meantime, Lyster sent At the Half to the November sale in foal to Storm Cat, and she brought $950,000 from Will Farish. At the same sale, Lyster sold the mare's foal, a filly by leading sire Deputy Minister for $325,000 to Wertheimer et Frere. Named Half Queen, that filly won a maiden special at Santa Anita in her second start, trained by Dick Mandella for the Wertheimers.

That happened when Lu Ravi was a yearling, and subsequently Lu Ravi won 11 of 26 starts, with eight seconds and three thirds, for earnings of $1,819,781. She twice won at the G2 level (Molly Pitcher and Cotillion), was three times second in a G1 (Apple Blossom twice and the Alabama), among other stakes victories and placings.

Half Queen retired to stud in 2000, and her first foal was a dark daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled. Named Halfbridled was unbeaten in four starts at two, including three stakes: G1 Del Mar Debutante, G2 Oak Leaf, and G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She won the Eclipse as the best filly of her age, and more than a few thought she was the best 2-year-old, period.

When Halfbridled's half-sister came to the sales as a broodmare prospect, Lyster bought back into this family for the second time, acquiring Half A.P. (Pulpit) for $825,000 at the 2007 Keeneland November sale. The broodmare prospect was consigned by Hagyard Farm, agent for the Wertheimers, and for her breeders, Half A.P. had made a single start, finishing third at Keeneland as a 3-year-old.

Ashview sold the foals out of Half A.P., including Fully Living, who brought $425,000 from Spendthrift Farm as a yearling at Keeneland September. The following year, this daughter of Unbridled's Song won on debut at Belmont in May, then proceeded to finish fourth in the G3 Schuylerville, third in the G2 Adirondack, second in the listed Meadow Star.

Fully Living appeared to train off at the end of her juvenile season and was off racing for more than six months. In the interim, “Fully Living became available to purchase, and we bought her privately from Spendthrift and continued to race her,” Lyster said. Racing for Ashview and Old Oak Farm, Fully Living never won a stakes but finished second in the Miss Woodford at three, then in the Pippin Stakes at four.

Back home at Ashview, Fully Living has continued the amazing history of her family with that of the Lysters, and there is more to come.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Ballet Dancing’s Success Is A Homecoming For Her Family appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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