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Brennan: Essential Quality ‘The Total Package’ From Day One

Niall Brennan has prepared young horses for their racing careers long enough to know a potential star when he sees one. When he broke Grade 1 Runhappy Travers winner Essential Quality at his training center in Ocala, Fla., he said he saw a bright future ahead of the sensational Tapit colt.

Trained by Eclipse Award winning conditioner Brad Cox, Godolphin's Essential Quality added a fourth Grade 1 triumph to his stellar ledger on Saturday by winning the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers.

Essential Quality earned Champion 2-Year-Old honors last season with victories in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland.

Following his lone defeat when fourth in the Kentucky Derby, Essential Quality racked up meaningful wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5 and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 30 at Saratoga. In doing so, he became the first horse since Arts and Letters in 1969 to take down all three races.

“We had a few Godolphin colts and he was one that you could really see the light going on,” Brennan recalled. “Especially for a Tapit colt, many of them can be unfocused. They can be a little tough, but this lad wasn't. He was a good feeling colt but always very professional and smart.”

Brennan said that progeny of multiple champion producing sire Tapit can be tough to handle, but Essential Quality carried himself in a professional manner.

“Tapits are tough. They're hardy,” Brennan said. “The ones that are good are very good. He was never a bad actor, and was always a smart horse. He played around like all colts do. They get turned out every day in the paddock. He always showed that he would go to the racetrack, love his job and train well. Every day he would catch your eye.”

Brennan described Essential Quality as the “total package” because he had many attributes that great horses display early on in their development.

“You know they have talent when they have a good frame of mind, demeanor and conformation. He was the total package,” Brennan said. “When he went on to Brad, he just kept going and stepping forward. He was easy to be around. He was one of those colts. You can't ever say for sure how good a horse will be until they go out there on the track and do it, but he had done everything right.”

Brennan said Essential Quality really started flaunting his excellence early on in his 2-year-old year.

“You could tell he had that ability and had taken better shape physically and putting it all together,” Brennan said. “It was a nice progression from February to March and March to April, The good ones keep progressing and focus on their work. He did show talent and that he really loved his job.”

Brennan's sentiments were echoed by Godolphin USA president Jimmy Bell.

“I remember the comments from him early on. Niall said, 'You can go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do with him',” Bell recalled. “He was very, very forward. All you had to do was ask him and he would deliver whatever it is you might be wanting. When he came in to Brad as a 2-year-old, in his second or third breeze he had Brad scratching his head because he was doing things a little differently than the rest of them. The talent isn't a surprise, the surprise is how much he's done with it in the afternoon.”

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Practical Joke Filly Tops CTHS Ontario Canadian Premier Yearling Sale

The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Ontario Division) Canadian Premier Yearling Sale posted gains in gross and average sale price on Wednesday, led by a $180,000 filly by Practical Joke.

Wednesday's auction saw 158 horses change hands for revenues of $3,144,400 (Canadian), up 12 percent from last year's sale, when 142 horses brought $2,795,300. The average sale price rose one percent to $19,901 from $19,685, while the median dipped 31 percent to $10,000 after finishing at $14,500 in 2020.

The ticket read “J. Nelson” on the buyer line for the sale-topper, Hip 75, a Practical Joke filly who hammered for $180,000.

The bay filly is the second foal out of the multiple stakes-winning Silent Name mare Silent Treat, hailing from the family of Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue.

Bred in Ontario by Stablemates, the filly was consigned by Shannondoe Farm.

The auction's most expensive colt was a son of Silent Name who sold to William and Anne Scott for $160,000.

Offered as Hip 94, the bay colt is out of the stakes-placed City Zip mare Sweet Bama Breeze, whose five foals to race are all winners, including stakes winner Will She, and stakes-placed Sweet Grass Creek and Sweet Crimson. Graded stakes-placed runners Bushetta Buck and Railroad are in the Ontario-bred's extended family.

Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consigned the colt, as agent.

To view the auction's full results, click here.

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Fabilis Sets Record Price At Tattersalls August Sale

Fabilis set a new record for the Tattersalls August Sale when selling for 350,000 guineas during the second and final session.

Whilst the sale is only in its second year, the price eclipsed the 220,000 guineas set at last year's inaugural sale. The clearance rate on the second day was an extraordinary 94 percent whilst the turnover was more than double yesterday's opening session, taking the sale proceeds to more than 5 million guineas. The combined turnover for the Tattersalls July Sale and August Sale was almost 18 million guineas, well above last year's July and August combined turnover of 14,371,300 guineas.

The Juddmonte Farms consigned and Ralph Beckett trained Fabilis set a new record at the Tattersalls August Sale when knocked down to Peter Doyle for 350,000 guineas on behalf of Prince Najd. The triple winning son of Frankel was victorious on his most recent start at Newmarket just five days ago and was offered with a Timeform rating of 104.

“He is for Prince Najd, a very long established client,” said Doyle. “I bought for his family many years ago. He is a lovely horse, I didn't think he'd make that much, but lots of people liked him. He comes from a very good operation, it is always nice to buy a horse from Juddmonte. The horse passed all the vets very well.
“The immediate plan will be to go and race in Saudi Arabia and aim for the Crown Prince Cup. We have had some success in the race before.”

Competition for the 3-year-old colt was fierce and included buyers from Australia and throughout the Gulf region.

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls August Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“Last year's inaugural Tattersalls August Sale, which was born out of COVID-related disruption to the racing calendar, was a huge success and the second renewal has returned figures which suggest that the fixture very much has a long-term future.

“With the recent July Sale returning to its customary numbers the August catalog was significantly smaller than last year, but the vibrance and extraordinary level of international participation which are the hallmarks of sales of this nature at Tattersalls have been in evidence from start to finish. Buyers from throughout Europe, the Gulf region, Australia and the U.S. have added to the strong domestic participation and we have yet again hosted a sale which has achieved a clearance rate in excess of 90 percent and generated sustained demand in all sectors of the market.

“Equally pleasing has been the fact that the August Sale has seen a return almost to normality after more than a year of staging sales which have been hampered by COVID-related protocols. It has been a real pleasure to have welcomed so many people back to Park Paddocks as we turn our attention to the Tattersalls yearling sales season starting with the Somerville Yearling Sale next week.”

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Bloodlines Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Saratoga Sprint Stars Trace Back To Seattle Slew

In addition to exceptional speed, Gamine (by Into Mischief) and Yaupon (Uncle Mo) share some other factors. In pedigree most notably, both are male-line representatives of Lord Derby's famed stallion Phalaris through his grandson Nearco, thence through Nearco's sons Nasrullah (Yaupon) and Nearctic (Gamine).

The winners of the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap and Forego Stakes at Saratoga descend from the epochal 20th century sire Phalaris not only in the male line but also through numerous collateral lines in their pedigrees.

And in the bottom halves of their pedigrees, their dam's half of the pedigree tree, is the name of a Phalaris-line horse who became one of the hottest “secrets” of the 1976 racing season with his morning works at Saratoga. The dark brown, nearly black, son of the first-season sire Bold Reasoning had an unfamiliar name and was trained by a relatively unknown conditioner named Bill Turner.

Seattle Slew, his trainer, and the members of the Slew Crew did not stay unfamiliar.

The burly, dark-coated colt was delighting clockers at Saratoga with works that allegedly included at least one three-furlong move in :33 and change that was reported as a time more expected from an unraced 2-year-old.

Clockers, who are paid something less than brain surgeons, were as reluctant as anyone to let a good thing go by without making the most of it, but Seattle Slew was one of the worst-kept secrets of the Saratoga backside that summer of 1976.

A knock in a stall kept the colt from starting at the Spa, but when he was unveiled at Belmont Park on Sept. 20, Seattle Slew was the favorite at 5-to-2. He won by five lengths.

The colt's next race was a solid allowance victory on Oct. 5, but Seattle Slew's third start came only 11 days later in the Champagne Stakes at a mile. Favored at slightly more than even money, Seattle Slew was quickly away from the gate, made every pole a winning one, and cruised home the victor by 9 3/4 lengths.

That race elevated 'Slew' to a sports celebrity, and even among fans relatively removed from the racetrack, the colt became a focus of great interest to professionals and novices alike.

A champion at two after those three dominating performances, Seattle Slew returned at three to win his prep races and the Triple Crown without defeat, then lost the Swaps Stakes to J.O. Tobin (Never Bend) and did not race again until four.

Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old in 1977, Seattle Slew returned to racing from a 10-month layoff in May 1978 with a new trainer, Doug Peterson. The dashing colt had lost none of his ability but managed to lose the Paterson Handicap to Dr. Patches (Dr. Fager), who was in receipt of 14 pounds, and as a result, Seattle Slew was not favored in his next start, the Marlboro Cup, where he met 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed (Exclusive Native) for the first time.

Although not favorite for the only time in his career, Seattle Slew raced to victory in the Marlboro Cup over nine furlongs in patented style, going to the front and setting quick, steady fractions and maintaining them throughout. The half-mile was :47, the six furlongs in 1:10 1/5, the mile in 1:33 3/5, and the finish at nine furlongs in 1:45 4/5. Affirmed was second by three lengths and simply could not gain on his competitor.

So Harbor View Farm sat out the Woodward Stakes, where Seattle Slew performed the same sort of summary execution, racing in front the whole way and winning by four lengths in 2:00 for the 10 furlongs. The very high-class multi-surface performer Exceller (Vaguely Noble) was second, 6 3/4 lengths ahead of the third horse.

When the champions reconvened in two weeks for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 12 furlongs, Seattle Slew set off to do the same thing again, but Affirmed's saddle slipped, and Harbor View Farm's chestnut champion raced to the fore (along with stablemate Life's Hope) and challenged Seattle Slew head to head through the first three-quarters of the Gold Cup with fractions of :22 3/5, :45 1/5, and 1:09 2/5.

Those fractions finished both Affirmed and Life's Hope, but Seattle Slew kept on as Exceller closed the gap between, then raced ahead by at least a half-length at one point in the stretch. Seattle Slew, under Angel Cordero, came back and missed winning the race by a nose.

A winner in 14 of 17 starts, Seattle Slew had proved his speed and gameness to fans, historians, and notably to breeders, many of whom supported him well when he went to stud the following spring at Spendthrift Farm.

From the champion's first crop came champions Landaluce and Slew o' Gold, from his second crop came champion and classic winner Swale. A success from the start, Seattle Slew has become an important factor for strong bodies, solid bone, and high speed in the racehorse.

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