Tag: brad cox

MGSW Fulsome To Stand At Walmac Farm

MGSW Fulsome (Into Mischief) has been retired and will stand the 2024 breeding season at Gary Broad's Walmac Farm in partnership with Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, the farm announced Monday.

A Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Brad Cox, Fulsome broke his maiden in his first start at three in January and proceeded to win three of his next four outings–and five overall as a sophomore–including the GIII Smarty Jones S. and the GIII Matt Winn S.

He also finished third to Proxy (Tapit) and West Will Power (Bernardini) in the GI Clark S. at Churchill Downs. Fulsome retired with a record of 17-8-2-2 and earnings of $1,244,553.

A stud fee will be announced at a later date.

The post MGSW Fulsome To Stand At Walmac Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Caravel on Track for Troy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On the Whitney Day card with three Grade I races, the GIII Troy S. is pretty easy to overlook.

Last year, though, two-time Breeders' Cup race winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) drew attention to the 5 1/2-furlong turf test, which he won by a head. On Aug. 5, Caravel (Mizzen Mast) will be the headliner in the 20th running of the Troy and, if the 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint upsetter prevails, will be its first female winner.

Caravel prepped for the race Saturday on the Oklahoma turf training track with a half-mile in :48.88 under Kelvin Perez. It was the sixth-fastest of the 20 at the distance.

Trainer Brad Cox gave the breeze a solid review.

“Very good. She's always a great workhorse,” he said. “Great work this morning, so very pleased with what we saw out there.”

The gray 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred mare brings a five-race unbeaten streak into the Troy. Starting with her victory at 42-1 in the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, three of those wins have come against males.

While she was a very accomplished runner for breeder-owner-trainer Elizabeth Merryman winning seven of nine starts–topped by the GIII Caress S. in 2021 at Saratoga–and finishing third in the other two, she has really blossomed since last summer. Merryman sold a 75% stake to Bobby Flay in 2021 and they sold her for $500,000 to Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale. Madaket Stables subsequently became a partner. The 5-year-old was turned over to Cox, who tried her once against males without success in the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint on the Kentucky Derby program.

Cox said he had no idea that Caravel was capable of what she has accomplished.

“She got really good starting last fall,” he said. “She's always been good, but she became dominant maybe.”

After Caravel won the GIII Franklin S. at Keeneland on Oct. 16, Cox and the owners decided to try her in the Breeders' Cup over the same course. She handled pace pressure throughout, won by a half-length and paid $87.78. This year she is three-for-three and has beaten males in the GII Shakertown S. at Keeneland and the GI Jaipur S. at Belmont Park.

“She stepped up. She's been able to defeat them three times now within the last nine months,” Cox said. “She's really good. She's happy. She likes Saratoga. I'm looking forward to getting a run into her here the first part of August.”

Cox said entering Caravel in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint was a gamble.

“We were taking a shot,” he said. “She had just come off a win at Keeneland in a Grade III. It was a big run. We were asking her to run back in three weeks. We were taking a shot. She was 40-something to 1 or whatever she was. When you run horses in races and when you're that price there's really no pressure.  There was no pressure and obviously the favorite that day [Golden Pal] missed the break. I don't know how things would have played out, but she's gone on to capture another Grade I since that against the boys and is undefeated since. She's got a nice win streak going and she gives us a lot of confidence throughout the entire year, really.”

The post Caravel on Track for Troy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Wet Paint Surges Late to Claim the CCA Oaks

Favored to earn her first taste of Classic glory in the GI Kentucky Oaks in May, Godolphin's Wet Paint (Blame) could only manage a fourth-place finish behind stablemate Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief). Fast forward through a runner-up effort in Ellis's Monomoy Girl S. last month followed by a trek to upstate New York, the bay finally bagged her own Grade I, taking Saturday's Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

“She's a super consistent filly who always comes running,” said trainer Brad Cox, who won the 2018 renewal of the Oaks with subsequent champion Monomoy Girl. “Her run in the [Kentucky] Oaks was good and her last race at Ellis was probably better than it looked on paper running against a huge bias with no pace. I'm glad she stepped up and finally got that Grade I–that was big for her.”

GSW Southlawn (Pioneerof the Nile) stumbled dramatically leaving the innermost stall, spotting the field several lengths while 14-1 chance She's Lookin Lucky (Lookin At Lucky) and Sacred Wish (Not This Time) enjoyed cleaner starts and proceeded directly to the head of affairs. In the meantime, Wet Paint was unhurried in last, about four lengths off of She's Lookin Lucky, who registered a comfortable opening quarter in :24.67 as Sacred Wish and the awkward starting Southlawn pursued in second and third, respectively. Still content to linger out back through an equally modest half in :48.81, Wet Paint launched her bid heading to the quarter pole as Sacred Wish forged to the front and appeared to be en route to victory. Wet Paint, however, had other ideas. Fanned out several paths wide straightening for home, the 7-5 second choice slowly reeled in game leader in the final jumps and nailed her rival by a neck at the wire. Favored Gambling Girl was a long way back in third, finishing ahead of She's Lookin Lucky and Southlawn.

“She closes into soft paces like she did today, she closes into a fast pace,” said Cox. “This is her thing in regards to just kind of flopping out of the gate and finding her way and finishing up. I told Flavien [Prat] today, 'Just ride her like a turf horse.' He knows what to do and you don't have to tell him anything. That's really what it comes down to–just let her break and kind of find her way around there, and when she starts picking up, just keep her out of trouble.”

Added Prat, “Turning for home I thought I was going to win, at the eighth pole I was questioning it, and then she finally found another gear to get by that filly. We went slow and we really picked it up and the filly of George Weaver's kept on going, but she was able to get the win.”

Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) was scratched the morning of the race after sustaining a minor foot issue, via a Tweet posted by trainer Tom Amoss Saturday morning.

“Hoosier Philly was not herself this morning with a minor foot issue. Out of an abundance of caution, agreement with the state vets, & doing the right thing by her, she will be withdrawn from the CCAO. We look forward to getting back to the track in the future.”

On the board in two of three starts last season, Wet Paint kicked off the season with a win in Oaklawn's Martha Washington S. before adding wins in a sloppy renewal of the GIII Honeybee S. and GIII Fantasy S. ahead of her Classic bid.

Cox said Wet Paint will likely target the 10-furlong GI Alabama S. Aug. 19 at the Spa.

“That's the logical spot moving forward,” Cox said. “We'll talk it over with the Godolphin team, but I think a mile and a quarter is definitely something she's going to be able to handle based off her running style and showing today that she likes Saratoga.”

 

Pedigree Notes:
Wet Paint is one of 21 graded winners and 45 black-type winners for Claiborne's Blame, who also has six winners at the highest level. Three of those six Grade I winners are out of Mr. Prospector-line broodmare sires, making them inbred to that prolific Claiborne stalwart. Wet Paint herself is 4×4 to Mr. Prospector and her damsire, Darley's late Street Cry (Ire), is responsible for 140 stakes winners out of his daughters. The CCA Oaks winner is Blame's second Grade I winner at the Spa following Marley's Freedom, who won the 2018 Ballerina S.

A second-generation Godolphin homebred after Darley acquired the family from Stonerside, Wet Paint has a yearling half-sister by Medaglia d'Oro. Dam Sky Painter, who hails from the same family as 2020 GII Del Mar Derby winner Pixelate (City Zip) and whose third dam is four-time GISW Nastique (Naskra), most recently produced a filly by Not This Time Apr. 26.

 

Saturday, Saratoga
COACHING CLUB AMERICAN OAKS-GI, $485,000, Saratoga,
7-22, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:50.68, ft.
1–WET PAINT, 121, f, 3, by Blame
                1st Dam: Sky Painter (GSP, $169,755), by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Skylighter, by Sky Mesa
                3rd Dam: Painted Lady, by Broad Brush
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 9-5-2-0, $1,057,175. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Sacred Wish, 121, f, 3, by Not This Time– Indian Wish, by Indian Charlie. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $70,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $50,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Steve Adkisson, Christopher T. Dunn and Anthony Spinazzola; B-John Penn (KY); T-George Weaver. $100,000.
3–Gambling Girl, 121, f, 3, by Dialed In–Tulipmania, by Empire Maker. ($200,000 Ylg '21 SARAUG). O-Repole Stable; B-Gallagher's Stud (NY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $60,000.
Margins: NK, 8HF, HF. Odds: 1.45, 10.80, 1.20.
Also Ran: She's Lookin Lucky, Southlawn. Scratched: Hoosier Philly.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Wet Paint Surges Late to Claim the CCA Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Saratoga Notebook: Hit Show, Angel of Empire Work Ahead of Jim Dandy

GSWs Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) breezed five furlongs in company over Saratoga's Oklahoma dirt training track Saturday as both horses prepare for the July 29 GII Jim Dandy S. at the Spa.

Under clear skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, the Brad Cox-trained pair stepped onto the fast track right at 5:30 a.m. with Flavien Prat aboard Angel of Empire and Luis Saez on Hit Show. The two walked in tandem midway up the stretch before turning back around to assume their starting position. Angel of Empire was positioned to the inside of Hit Show with the two completing their exercise on nearly even terms.

Cox said this week's work was almost identical to their July 14 work when the two covered five-eighths in 1:00.90.

“I had them in a minute and four [fifths] this weekend and last,” he said. “It was really good and very similar to what we saw last week. I loved that work and I loved this work. They work well together and it went so well last week, I didn't want to change much. I was very happy with what we saw.”

Gary and Mary West's Hit Show and Albaugh Family Stables' Angel of Empire were last seen dead-heating for fourth in the GI Belmont S. Hit Show won the GIII Withers S. in February before a runner-up effort in the Apr. 8 GII Wood Memorial, while Angel of Empire took the Feb. 18 GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds followed by the Apr. 1 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. He subsequently finished third in the GI Kentucky Derby.

Also Working at Saratoga Saturday..
Saturday morning's work tab also featured MGISW Caravel (Mizzen Mast), who went a half-mile solo over the Oklahoma turf training track ahead of an anticipated start against males in the GIII Troy S. Aug. 5. The 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint champion worked just after 10 a.m. under regular exercise rider Kelvin Perez.

The 6-year-old previously posted a half-mile breeze in :48.88 on July 15.

“It was really good and again, it was similar to last week,” affirmed trainer Brad Cox. “I was super happy this morning. Kelvin [Perez] was on her and does a great job with her. He was on her last year. She's very professional.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher also sent out Stonestreet Stables' homebred Julia Shining (Curlin) to a half-mile move in :50.22 over the main track Saturday morning. The full-sister to dual Champion Malathaat was last seen finishing third in the GI Ashland S. in April at Keeneland.

According to Pletcher, the GII Demoiselle S. winner may make her next start in 10-furlong GI Alabama S. Aug. 19 at Saratoga.

“She's really starting to come around. She's just getting going but looking good so far,” Pletcher said. “You never know, the Alabama might be in play if things were to go perfectly. The one thing is I know she wants the mile and a quarter. If she wants it under that scenario having not run since the Ashland is the question.”

The post Saratoga Notebook: Hit Show, Angel of Empire Work Ahead of Jim Dandy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights