Tag: Bloodstock

Grade 1 Winner Bodexpress Retired; Stud Plans Pending

Just over a week after the biggest victory of his career, Grade 1 winner Bodexpress has been retired from racing due to an injury.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado made the announcement Sunday night on his Twitter account. In the announcement, he also noted that Bodexpress is currently in Ocala, Fla., while stud plans are being finalized.

The retirement of the 4-year-old Bodemeister colt brings to a close one of the more unusual careers in recent memory.

Bodexpress caught the public's eye when he entered last year's Triple Crown races as a maiden; winless in his first five starts in South Florida. However, he earned his place in the national conversation following a surprising runner-up finish behind Maximum Security in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

The colt was one of the horses impeded by Maximum Security's erratic trip in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished 13th. Then, he gained cult hero status in the Preakness Stakes after tossing rider John Velazquez at the gate and going around the track in the race riderless, with additional antics after the field had crossed the wire.

After taking the summer off, Bodexpress returned in October of his 3-year-old season to break his maiden in a Gulfstream Park West maiden special weight. He followed up that effort with a 6 3/4-length score in a Gulfstream Park allowance race.

Those two wins returned Bodexpress to stakes competition, where he finished third in the G3 Harlan's Holiday Stakes, and fifth in this year's G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes.

Bodexpress remained winless in 2020 heading into October, but a class drop into the allowance optional claiming ranks at Gulfstream Park West yielded a 11 1/4-length confidence boost. Ten days ago, he finished his on-track career with an 11-1 upset victory by a length in the G1 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs.

In total, Bodexpress finished his racing career with four wins in 17 starts for earnings of $694,600.

Bred in Kentucky by Martha Jane Mulholland, Bodexpress is out of the unraced City Zip mare Pied a Terre. The dam is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Stormy Lord.

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Sharp Starr Among Trio Of New York-Breds Scoring Weekend Graded Stakes Wins

Barry K. Schwartz's homebred Sharp Starr, a neck winner of the Grade 3 Go for Wand Handicap, was one of three New York-breds to pick up graded-stakes wins on Saturday joining Brooklyn Strong [Grade 2 Remsen] and Varda [Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos]. The Go for Wand and Remsen were run at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The victory in the one-turn mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up provided 35-year-old trainer Horacio DePaz with his first graded stakes win.

“I'm very happy for the filly. She's really developed,” said DePaz. “The owner was thrilled. We've always thought highly of the filly and she's really coming around. Obviously, he bred her and owns the mare, so he was really happy.”

With Jose Ortiz up, Sharp Starr tracked in second position, a length back of older eight-time winner Portal Creek, piloted by Kendrick Carmouche, before engaging in a stirring stretch duel over the sloppy and sealed main track.

“I was happy with the position she got,” said DePaz. “She broke clean and was able to get into the race and then Jose did a really good job of judging the pace. We were really concerned about Kendrick's filly getting loose on the lead. She was the only one that showed speed like that and the way the track was playing, we didn't want her to get too far away and leave us with too much to do. Jose rode her really well and judged it really well. It was a thriller down the stretch.”

Sharp Starr, a 3-year-old daughter of Munnings who has overcome a tendency to start slowly, graduated in July at Belmont Park and hit the board in a pair of nine-furlong events going two turns over the summer at Saratoga Race Course, including a closing third in the restricted Fleet Indian.

The dark bay was off-the-board in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan in October at Pimlico Race Course before finding winning form in a 15 3/4-length score in a one-turn mile against state-breds on November 7 at the Big A that garnered a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

DePaz said the extended sprint distance suits Sharp Starr with a pair of one-mile events at the Big A – the open $125,000 Heavenly Prize on March 6 and $100,000 Biogio's Rose for state-breds on March 7 – under consideration.

“I'd like to keep her at the one-turn mile. I'll have to talk to the owner and see,” said DePaz. “She's great this morning. She's bright, alert. She ate up was sound on the road and no worse for wear.”

Sharp Starr's 2-year-old half-brother V Pattern, by Street Sense and out of the A.P. Indy mare Mindy Gold, continues to develop for DePaz. He earned a 46 Beyer in his lone start when sixth in a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred maiden special weight on October 18 at Belmont.

“He started once and it was too short for him but he got a good experience out of it,” said DePaz. “He also didn't break the sharpest in that race but made a run at the end. He can hopefully move forward from that.”

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Princess Noor Retired After Suffering Soft-Tissue Injury In Starlet

Grade 1 winner Princess Noor, the beaten favorite in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, has been retired after suffering a soft-tissue injury in her left foreleg during the running of Saturday's G1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif.

Zedan Racing Stables, Inc., which campaigned the 2-year-old filly by freshman sire Not This Time after paying a sale-topping $1.35 million to purchase her at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training, made the announcement on Sunday morning via Twitter.

“She's a star and a very talented filly,” Zedan Racing owner Amr Zedan said in a statement posted on the stable's website.

Princess Noor, produced from the graded stakes-winning Wilko mare Sheza Smoke Show, was bred in Kentucky by Oussama Aboughazale's International Equities Holding Inc., and originally purchased by Mark Marino, agent, for $135,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Selected by Zedan's racing and bloodstock manager, Gary Young, at the OBS Sale the following spring  from the Top Line Sales consignment of James and Torie Gladwell, Princess Noor was turned over to trainer Bob Baffert.

After a strong series of workouts, Princess Noor debuted Aug. 22 with a 2 1/2-length victory at Del Mar as the 7-10 favorite, then won the G1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes on Sept. 6 by 6 1/2 lengths.

Princess Noor stretched out around two turns for her next start on Sept. 26, the G2 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita, where she took command on the far turn and drew off to win by 8 1/4 lengths. Favored at 19-10 in the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland on Nov. 6, Princess Noor tasted defeat for the first time, tiring to be fifth after prompting the pacesetter, Dayoutoftheoffice, who finished second to winner Vequist.

One of three Baffert runners in the Starlet, Princess Noor was favored at 3-5 in the 1 1/16-mile contest. Under Victor Espinoza, who had ridden the filly in all five of her career starts, Princess Noor tracked stablemate Kalypso through the opening five furlongs, moved to the lead on the far turn, then was pulled up and eased to the outside fence by Espinoza at the top of the stretch.

Kalypso and Abel Cedillo inherited the lead after Princess Noor was pulled up but was overtaken in deep stretch by the third Baffert entry, Varda, who scored by 1 1/2 lengths under Drayden Van Dyke.

Princess Noor was not in distress and walked onto the equine ambulance, then taken back to the stable area for examination. X-rays of the left foreleg were clean, according to trainer Bob Baffert, but the filly began to show swelling above her ankle that Baffert said would require four to six months time off to heal.

“She's seems fine this morning,” Baffert said on Sunday. “We think she hit herself, but we don't know what the damage is. We'll ultrasound it on Monday or Tuesday and know more then.”

Princess Noor retires withy three wins from five starts, with earnings of $363,500.

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California January Mixed Sale Catalog Now Online

The catalog for the 2021 California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association January Mixed Sale is now online, featuring 161 entries.

The auction will take place Wednesday, Jan. 6 at Fairplex Park in Pomona, Calif., beginning at noon, Pacific. The location is subject to change due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year's catalog features 70 broodmares, 52 juveniles, 22 yearlings, and 17 racing prospects.

Stallions represented in the catalog by their first crops of 2-year-olds include Cat Burglar, Danzing Candy, and Stanford. First-crop sires of yearlings include Bolt d'Oro, Cloud Computing, and Greyvitos. A pregnant mare from the first crop of stallion Om is also entered in the sale.

To view the online catalog, click here.

To view the supplemental entries, click here. 

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