Street Sense Headlines Stars of Tomorrow Card

The GIII Street Sense S.–graded for the first time in 2022–is one of 11 races for juveniles on Sunday's “Stars of Tomorrow I” card to kick off the Churchill Downs fall meeting. Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Red Route One (Gun Runner) gets the tepid morning-line nod at 3-1. The chestnut broke through by daylight second out at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5, then switched to dirt to finish third from out of the clouds at almost 60-1 in the Oct. 8 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. Jace's Road (Quality Road), a $510,000 KEESEP acquisition by Albaugh Family Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds, aired at first asking for Brad Cox sprinting at Ellis Aug. 6, good for 'TDN Rising Star' honors. He was a stalking third last time in the track-and-trip GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 17. Mark Case won the first two runnings of this race back in 2013 and 2014, and will be represented this time around by Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro). The Breeze Easy and John Oxley representative broke his maiden first out in a dirt sprint, but scored a career high when upsetting Saratoga's turfy, two-turn GIII With Anticipation S. Aug. 31. Boppy O was most recently sixth behind With Anticipation third Andthewinneris (Oscar Performance) in the Oct. 9 GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. in Lexington. Boppy O will wear blinkers for the first time Sunday.

Among the contenders in the Rags to Riches S. for fillies are GIII Pocahontas S. scorer Fun and Feisty (Midshipman) and recent local scorers Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), Peacock Lass (American Pharoah) and T Max (Connect).

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Distaffers and Juveniles in the Spotlight Sunday

With two graded events for distaffers and four for juveniles, including including four Breeders' Cup qualifiers, Sunday is basically Saturday part two from coast-to-coast.

The day's main event is the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, A “Win and You're In” event, where champions Malathaat (Curlin) and Letruska (Super Saver) face off yet again. Malathaat looks to make amends for a solid third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and she enters off a win in Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 27.

Letruska, who won last year's Juddmonte, finished third in that prestigious Saratoga event and was off the board in her prior start in the GI Ogden Phipps S. Tyler Gaffalione takes over the controls for the first time from the Ortiz brothers, who both stayed home to ride in New York.

The other four members of this six-horse field will be likely be running for third and that group is topped by GIII Locust Grove S. winner Played Hard (Into Mischief).

Distaffers take center stage at Belmont as well with 3-year-old filly leader Nest (Curlin) taking on her elders for the first time in the GII Beldame S. at Aqueduct. Heavily favored against four severely overmatched competitors, the bay should be able to secure a very easy victory here ahead of a likely next start in the Breeders' Cup. Runner-up in the GI Belmont S., Nest romped by 12 1/4 lengths in the GI CCA Oaks at Saratoga July 23 and dominated that venue's GI Alabama S. next out Aug. 20.

“She's run well against the boys and all the best fillies of her generation, but first time against elders is always a challenge,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “She showed a lot of talent and class in her races against 3-year-olds and we would expect her to handle the step up.”

MGSW Travel Column (Frosted) stretches back out after a failed effort in the GI Ballerina H. Aug. 28 and First to Act (Curlin) enters off a good second in the Summer Colony S. Aug. 19.

Juveniles Compete for Breeders' Cup Berth

Aqueduct hosts a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Sunday in the GIII Futurity S. Several competitors enter off strong maiden wins, including Nagirroc (Lea), who graduated over this course and distance Sept. 24 in his first start for Graham Motion.

“He's been pretty classy in the morning since I've got him,” said Motion. “I haven't had him for that long and I was impressed with what he had done, but I certainly would not have expected him to run the way he did. I thought it was a very good effort. He won very comfortably.”

Inflation Nation (Ire) (Speightstown) missed by a head on debut at Saratoga, but got it done next out there Sept. 1 for Christophe Clement.

Mike Maker sends out Gaslight Dancer (City of Light), who did no running on dirt in his Churchill unveiling in August, but graduated by five lengths when switched to turf at Kentucky Downs Sept. 3.

Determined Jester (Practical Joke) takes on the boys in this event after breaking her maiden in Colonial's Rosies S. in her third career start Sept. 6.

Meanwhile at Keeneland, 2-year-old turf routers get their chance to earn a spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf starting gate in the GII Castle and Key Bourbon S. GIII With Anticipation S. winner Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro) leads this large and competitive field. He has already proven this distance is right up his alley.

Steve Asmussen has a live on here in Gigante (Not This Time), who ran away to a 6 3/4-length score over Rarified Air (Honor Code) in the Kitten's Joy S. going 1 1/16 miles at that venue Sept. 6.

Kentucky Downs Juvenile S. winner Reckoning Force (Air Force Blue) makes his first start for Brendan Walsh here after a quartet of races for Joseph O'Brien. Third-place Really Good (Hard Spun) adds blinkers this time.

Keeneland also plays host to a qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in the Indian Summer S. Wesley Ward sends out the favorite there in the filly Love Reigns (Ire) (U S Navy Flag). The 'TDN Rising Star' captured Saratoga's Bolton Landing S. last out Aug. 21.

While they may not be “Win and You're Ins,” Santa Anita also hosts a pair of juvenile turf events in the GIII Surfer Girl S. and GIII Zuma Beach S., which will likely contain potential Breeders' Cup competitors.

The fillies are up first in the Surfer Girl, which is being run at graded status for the first time this year. European import Comanche Country (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) is two-for-two since coming to America, most recently taking the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf S. Sept. 10. Sell the Dream (Munnings) and Excelia (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) were second and third in that event.

Packs a Wahlop (Creative Cause) tops the Zuma Beach after a decisive score in the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf S. and is two-for-two on grass. Dandy Man Shines (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) was fourth in that event and is still a maiden. Also of interest here is undefeated Cal-bred Giver Not a Taker (Danzing Candy), who took the state-bred I'm Smokin S. last out Sept. 9 at Del Mar.

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“She’s a Special One,” George and Karen Russell on Superstar Broodmare Pappascat

Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro) was greeted by an ecstatic winner's circle as he circled back to the Saratoga grandstand after his 23-1 upset in the GIII With Anticipation S., but he had another cheering squad celebrating from his birthplace in Reddick, Florida. His breeders George and Karen Russell of Rustlewood Farm were out with friends as the juvenile colt made his turf debut, but they didn't hesitate to huddle around their phone at the dinner table so they could watch the race live.

“We were thinking it would sure be good if he hit the board,” George Russell said the day after the big win. “Then when he won we were obviously really excited. He's still young and a little green, but hopefully he'll do good in his next start and go on to the Breeders' Cup. If he does, we'll be there.”

If Boppy O does make an appearance on Future Stars Friday, it would not be the Russells' first representation at the championship meet. Boppy O is the half-brother to last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pappacap (Gun Runner). While both colts are trained by Mark Casse, Grade II winner and three-time Grade I-placed Pappacap was retained by his breeder and is campaigned by Rustlewood Farm.

The Russells purchased Pappascat (Scat Daddy), the dam of these two impressive performers, in 2015 after she RNA'd for $110,000 at the Keeneland November Sale. Pappascat is one of just over a dozen mares at Rustlewood Farm.

“She's a lovely mare, a big pretty mare,” Karen explained. “She's easy to be around. She doesn't crib, she doesn't have to wear shoes and she's not a drama queen.”

“She seems to be consistent with what she is producing,” George added. “They all have a lot of desire and they're good on themselves.”

While Karen was the one who suggested sending Pappascat to Gun Runner after watching the future red-hot sire capture the 2018 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., George enlisted the help of friend and advisor Francis Vanlangendonck of Summerfield Sales to plan the mating to Bolt d'Oro that produced Boppy O.

Boppy  O as a youngster at Rustlewood Farm | Shelley Bunning

Shelley Bunning, the farm manager at Rustlewood, offered insight on the Florida-bred colt's early days and explained that Boppy O had a much different personality than his older brother.

“Pappacap was more settled with the concept of working than Boppy O was,” she said with a chuckle. “Everything you asked, Pappacap did with enthusiasm and he wanted to do it right whereas Boppy O was more along the lines of, 'I can do it but I just might not want to do it today.'  He was very capable, but sometimes stubborn.”

Bunning noted that as the colt matured, he grew a bit more laid-back.

“Once we started yearling prep with him, he grasped the situation and what we wanted him to do, but whether he was going to do it that day was up to him,” she said. “He did work hard and apply himself, and he grew up and filled out nicely.”

Pappacap was retained by the Russells when he was unable to sell at what they believed was his true worth as a yearling in 2020, but Boppy O followed the farm's usual protocol of going through a sale as a yearling. The colt sold for $190,000 to John Oxley and Breeze Easy LLC. He went on to break his maiden at first asking at Gulfstream in May and then finished a disappointing 10th in the GIII Sandford S. before bouncing back impressively in his With Anticipation score, where he was the first graded stakes winner for his freshman sire.

Bunning was quick to credit her employers for their positive outlook in the face of selling a future graded winner.

“A lot of times in the industry people gripe about how, 'Oh we shouldn't have sold that horse,'” Bunning said. “But they're not mad about it; they think it's brilliant. They're just happy that everyone's enjoying it.”

“We always wish the best for the people that buy them,” George said. “It's exciting and it makes it worthwhile. We've learned that you generally have the one or the two that pay for the others. To get something like this and have a mare like Pappascat, it makes it so much more enjoyable to have something to look forward to.”

While the Russells have experienced the highs of the game with Pappascat and her offspring, they've also endured the lowest of lows. Just three weeks ago, Pappascat's yearling by Omaha Beach died tragically. It's a loss that could never be replaced for the couple no matter the success of the mare's other offspring.

Grade II winner Pappacap | Sarah Andrew

“He was a special individual,” George said. “We were really devastated and it's still hard to believe. We've never had an experience like that where we lost a horse that was doing fine and then was gone within hours. He had a fever in the morning and he was immediately loaded up and headed to the clinic. We were never worried about what eventually happened.”

“The lows are the lows, but this week we have Boppy O lifting us back up,” Karen said.

While the loss still weighs heavy, the Russells were grateful to find cause for celebration in Boppy O's victory and they have also found solace in two other sons of Pappascat thriving at their farm.

Following a fourth-place finish in the GII Amsterdam S. in July, Pappacap has returned to Rustlewood this month for a bit of 'R and R' and a diet that includes plenty of peppermints.

“He's in one of the paddocks right by our house,” George shared. “Karen goes out there and takes care of him. He's been pretty consistent for us and he's sound as could be, so we figured it was a well-deserved break and he will tell us when he's ready to go back.”

This year, Pappascat produced a colt by War of Will. The Russells reported that the May-foaled youngster could be something special.

“He's just about the nicest thing we've seen,” Karen said. “We think he's the best one so far. Plus, Pappascat is back in foal to Candy Ride.”

Asked if Pappacap–or maybe even Boppy O–would go down as an all-time favorite bred at Rustlewood, the Russells could not give a definitive answer as they listed off additional stars in Grade II victor Mach Ride (Pentelicus), Grade III winner Prudhoe Bay (Songandaprayer) and SW Consider Thesource (Notebook).

“They mean the world to us,” Karen said “I can't talk about them without crying. They're all really special.”

“They're all treated the same and my wife loves them all,” said George. “How Pappascat has produced for us, mares like her are few and far between. It just adds a little something extra to it. She's a special one.”

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Boppy O a First Graded Winner for Bolt d’Oro in With Anticipation

Just four days after his son Mounsieur Coco took the Proud Man S. over the Gulfstream all-weather, Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro) became the first graded-stakes winner for his freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro) and led home a top-three sweep for first-crop stallions when causing a 23-1 upset in Wednesday's GIII With Anticipation S. at Saratoga.

Ridden for some speed by Dylan Davis while making his first venture on the grass and over a distance of ground, the $190,000 Keeneland September yearling–a half-brother to last year's GII Best Pal S. hero and this season's GI Woody Stephens S. third, stablemate Pappacap (Gun Runner)–sat up right on the moderate pace set by fellow longshot El Conejito (Palace) through a half-mile in :50.09 over a turf course officially rated good, but tossing up times that suggested a fair bit more ease than that. Andthewinneris (Oscar Performance), a debut winner sprinting over the Keeneland turf course in April and favored by just less than $4,000 over the rail-drawn Battle of Normandy (City of Light) clocked the pacesetters from a close-up third and was first to come after them with every conceivable chance to run by. But he could not seal the deal when one-paced into the final eighth of a mile, and Boppy O kept on well enough to hit the line about a neck better than Battle of Normandy, who might have had his momentum stalled ever so slightly in upper stretch, but kicked on strongly to just miss.

“I was training Pappacap and Mr. Oxley called me at the sale and he said, 'Mark, have you looked at Pappacap's half-brother?' recollected rainer Mark Casse, who sent out Coinage (Tapit) to win last year's With Anticipation. “I said, 'I have and I really like him.' Then [Breeze Easy's] Mike Hall came up to me..and he said, 'Have you seen Pappacap's half-brother?' I said, 'I have, and Mr. Oxley's going to try to buy him. This is not going to be good.' So they said, 'Why don't we go together?' I called Mr. Oxley up and said, 'They're going to go after him, what do you think?' He said, 'Let's go partners.' And that's how it worked out.”

Just as Pappacap had done 371 days prior, Boppy O graduated at first asking in a five-furlong Gulfstream maiden May 20, but the bay never fired in this track's GII Sanford S., finishing a distant 10th behind Mo Strike (Uncle Mo).

“I kept telling the Oxleys and Mike Hall and Sam Ross after the race [the Sanford], 'Look, he's better than what you saw. I promise you, he's better than that,” Casse explained.

Pedigree Notes:

Boppy O is one of four winners from four to the races for Pappascat, who earned Grade III black-type with a longshot second in the 2014 GIII Cardinal H. over the turf course at Churchill Downs. The colt's stakes-placed second dam is also responsible for Fate Factor (The Factor), who has done her best work to date over synthetic tracks, with a pair of stakes placings at Turfway Park and a third on the Tapeta at Presque Isle Downs. The further female family includes four-time Peruvian champion Al Qasr (Aptitude), who won the Colonial Downs's Kitten's Joy S. while under the care of Ken McPeek in 2013.

Pappascap is the dam of a yearling colt by Omaha Beach, a colt foal by War Front's Classic-winning son War of Will and was bred to Candy Ride (Arg) this past breeding season.

Wednesday, Saratoga
WITH ANTICIPATION S.-GIII, $175,000, Saratoga, 8-31, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:46.93, gd.
1–BOPPY O, 120, c, 2, by Bolt d'Oro
                1st Dam: Pappascat (GSP, $165,762), by Scat Daddy
                2nd Dam: Redmeansgo, by Red Ransom
                3rd Dam: Majestic Dy, by Dynaformer
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($190,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-John C. Oxley & Breeze Easy, LLC;
B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Dylan Davis.
$96,250. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $140,000. *1/2 to
Pappacap (Gun Runner), GSW & MGISP, $833,000.
Werk Nick Rating: C.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Battle of Normandy, 122, c, 2, City of Light–Adorable Miss,
by Kitten's Joy. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($500,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-West Point Thoroughbreds &
Woodford Racing, LLC; B-Gage Hill Stables, LLC & W. S. Farish
(KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $35,000.
3–Andthewinneris, 122, c, 2, Oscar Performance–Run Like the
Boss, by Scat Daddy. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($67,000 RNA
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O/B-Susan Moulton (KY); T-Wayne M.
Catalano. $21,000.
Margins: NK, 1HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 23.10, 2.40, 2.25.
Also Ran: Determinedly, Noble Huntsman, Our Dream Rye'd, El Conejito. Scratched: Bourbon Therapy, Bramble Blaze, Lachaise, Quincy Cafe.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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