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Breeders’ Cup Contenders Arrive at WinStar Farm

LEXINGTON,KY– Just over 12 hours after the trio’s contention for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Improbable (City Zip), Global Campaign (Curlin) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) made the short trip from Keeneland to WinStar Farm, where they will soon take up stud duty for the 2021 breeding season.

“We’re really excited with Improbable, Global Campaign and Tom’s d’Etat coming to the stallion barn,” said WinStar’s Elliott Walden. “They all look good-their color was good, they didn’t look too drawn up and they got off the van and acted like they’d been here their whole life.”

One member of the trio-Global Campaign-may not yet be done with his racetrack career, as Walden hinted he could be pointed for the January 23 $3 million GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

“We’re considering running him back in the Pegasus,” he said. “We’re going to leave him here for 10 days and evaluate him. I felt like he ran well enough in the Classic to merit that and add a bit more to his resume. So we’re going to watch for 10 days and we might send him back to [trainer] Stanley [Hough] and run him in the Pegasus.”

Global Campaign is a homebred for WinStar Farm out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. He’s been campaigned by WinStar in partnership with Sagamore Farm over his two-year career, and scored graded stakes wins in the GIII Monmouth Cup S. and the GI Woodward H.

“He’s a horse that we raised out of a great mare that is also the dam of Grade I winner Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) and stakes winner Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor),” Walden said. “His race record has a high winning percentage, and to win the Woodward this year is really exciting as well.”

Global Campaign ran third in the Breeders’ Cup grand finale, while Improbable ran second behind his Bob Baffert stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief). Tom’s d’Etat could not overcome a troubled start and finished ninth.

“It didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted, but we’re very proud of Improbable and Global Campaign’s efforts,” Walden said. “I think Tom’s d’Etat may have been just a little bit over the top at age seven, but we’re excited about the next chapter for all of them.”

The seven-year-old Tom’s d’Etat has been a winner each year of his five-year career for trainer Al Stall, and this season the veteran won the Oaklawn Mile S. and the GII Stephen Foster S.

“Tom’s d’Etat is a very high-class horse by Smart Strike out of the family of Candy Ride (Arg). His numbers over the last three years, every time we looked at stallion prospects, his numbers would stand out. He is a phenomenal specimen, good length and great movement. I loved the way he moved on the racetrack, loved the way he is so level and could change gears and get there in a hurry. When we made the offer to buy him, [current WinStar stallions] Distorted Humor and Speightstown came to mind. Distorted Humor came to stud at age six and Speightstown was seven. So if he can turn out to be half of what they are, we’ll be in great shape.”

Improbable had a stand-out four-year-old season in 2020, collecting three consecutive Grade I races in the Hollywood Gold Cup S., Whitney S., and Awesome Again S.

“We’re really excited about Improbable,” Walden said. “The balance and size that he has is going to make him a really great fit for a lot of mares. He’s full of quality and he has great motion. All of those things that I think are important as we think about soundness and consistency, Improbable had all of that.”

Improbable’s stud fee is currently set at $40,000, although subject to change, while Tom’s d’Etat and Global Campaign’s stud fees have not yet been announced.

The trio will join Grade I-winning millionaire Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) as WinStar’s freshman sires for the upcoming season.

“We’re really excited with all three of them,” Walden said. “To add them to Promises Fulfilled, who we retired earlier in the year, we couldn’t be more excited by our stallions we’re bringing to WinStar this year.”

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Authentic Earns $1M BetMakers Bonus With Classic Win

With his victory in Saturday’s GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Authentic (Into Mischief) earned a $1-million bonus for his connections from Australian-based racing technology group BetMakers. In conjunction with Monmouth Park’s Dennis Drazin, BetMakers created the ‘BetMakers Bonanza’ for any horse that could win the 2020 renewals of the GI Haskell Invitational, the GI Kentucky Derby and then finish it off with the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Authentic went wire to wire to score in the 10-furlong test by 2 1/4 lengths.

“With all the winners of the majors competing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Authentic proving he is an absolute superstar was very exciting,” BetMakers CEO Todd Buckingham said. “Initiatives like the BetMakers Bonanza are a great way to get the best horses competing against each other and what a great way to finish off with a race like we had.”

BetMakers and Darby Development LLC, owner and operator of Monmouth Park, signed an agreement earlier in the year with the aim to facilitate fixed-odds betting on horse racing in the state of New Jersey, with legislation recently introduced to do so in the New Jersey state legislature.

The ‘BetMakers Bonanza’ will continue for at least the next two years but with a different pathway. This year’s COVID-19 adjusted racing schedule saw the middle leg being the Derby and with the expected return to a regular calendar next year, the Haskell and Breeders’ Cup Classic will again ‘book-end’ the Bonanza with the middle leg to be determined.

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Baffert: ‘Down Deep, I Knew I Was Going To Win It With One Of Them’

As he did five years earlier with American Pharoah following his Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic triumph at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert brought his newest winner, Authentic, out of the barn Sunday morning for an impromptu photo session.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions there were only about a dozen people on hand to see Baffert's fourth Classic winner. Baffert was every bit as upbeat, though, as he talked about his chestnut Kentucky Derby winner, who broke American Pharoah's track record with a time of 1:59.19.

In front from gate to wire under jockey John Velazquez, Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing's Authentic led the alphabetical finish of Baffert's three Classic runners. Improbable, the 4-year-old co-owned by WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and SF Racing, was second, 2 1/4 lengths behind his stablemate, while Gary and Mary West, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's 4-year-old Maximum Security checked in fifth in the 10-horse field.

It was the first time that a trainer had saddled the first two finishers in the Classic. Authentic was 4-1 in the wagering and paid $10.40 for the win.

Baffert said he is not sure whether Authentic will be retired to stud for 2021 at Spendthrift. He declined an opportunity to lobby for the colt, a lock to be the 3-year-old champion male, as the Horse of the Year, but said he belongs in the conversation.

“I think the way he ran in the Derby he vindicated himself after his beat – but he still ran a great race – in the Preakness,” Baffert said. “He's just getting better, he's maturing. I could just tell with the way he was training that he has caught up with these older horses. He's just so quick. He's fast. Johnny said he felt better than he ever has and he had trouble pulling him up. He came back like it was nothing. He's a great horse. He's filling out.”

Improbable and Maximum Security made their final starts Saturday and headed into retirement: Improbable to WinStar Farm and Maximum Security to Ashford Stud.

Baffert said Maximum Security – previously trained by Jason Servis, who has been indicted in a federal probe into doping of racehorses – had been unable to regain the top form that made him a five-time Grade 1 winner but said that Improbable had turned in a terrific performance.

“I was proud of the way they ran,” he said. “They were training well. Down deep I knew I was going to win it with one of them. I wasn't sure (which one), when you come in loaded like that. It would have been nice to run 1-2-3 and it would have been horrible not to win with the three. I was thinking about that all the time.”

Authentic delivered for Baffert, just as he had in the Derby and was able to grab an unpressured early lead. Chastened by the runner-up finish to Swiss Skydiver in the Preakness on Oct. 3, Velazquez rode more aggressively and kept the quirky colt busy on the front end.

“That Authentic is serious. He's a great horse,” Baffert said. “What he did yesterday – that was a great field – and he just ran away from that field. Improbable is a really good horse. Turning for home, I thought that Improbable was going to kick in there and that Authentic caught another gear and he was gone.”

Overall, Baffert has won the Breeders' Cup Classic four times, all with 3-year-olds. In addition to Authentic and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, he won the race with Bayern in 2014 and Arrogate in 2016.

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Classic: ‘Disappointed,’ ‘Shocked’ Knowlton Sets Pegasus As Early-Season Goal For Tiz The Law

Sackatoga Stable's 3-year-old Constitution colt Tiz the Law, a well-beaten sixth in Saturday's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., was fine Sunday morning trainer Barclay Tagg said.

Sent off as the 3-1 favorite from post two, Tiz the Law was stuck on the inside under jockey Manny Franco and never mounted a serious challenge to Authentic, who had beaten him by 1 ¼ lengths in the Kentucky Derby.

“(Franco) said he was rank on him,” Tagg said, before leaving for Florida early Sunday morning. “The winner was rank and he should have just followed him around. I had him ready to run, but I can't ride for them.”

Tiz the Law's connections had recognized that having to start close to the rail might present a problem for the New York-bred. The Classic was the worst performance of Tiz the Law's career and the first time he did not finish in the top three.

“Obviously, we were disappointed and kind of shocked that he didn't end up better than he did,” Sackatoga's operating manager Jack Knowlton said. “An inside trip was a concern. There were a lot of people when they saw the draw automatically said, 'that's a problem for this horse.' When you are in the two-hole it's awful hard to put yourself in a place where you can get outside of horses. Maybe that's the story. I don't think being on the rail was the ideal place.

“You're not going to get what you want every time if they are in enough races. I guess it was our turn to not get the good trip. We won three Grade 1s and were second in the biggest race for 3-year-olds and he had the trip every time.”

Knowlton said Tiz the Law will be shipped to Tagg's barn at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida on Wednesday. The goal is to have him ready for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.

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