Tag: breeders’ cup juvenile fillies

Jody’s Pride Inspires Dreams of Lilies with Busher Win

Jody's Pride (f, 3, American Pharoah–Jody's Song, by Scat Daddy) opened her 2024 with style here as she outgamed Carmelina (Maximus Mischief) to claim her first stakes win of the season in the Busher S.

A dirt horse by accident after her maiden turf dash debut Aug. 9 at Saratoga was brought off the grass and she dominated by 10 1/2 lengths, it was a similar story for the Matron S. in her second start Oct. 8 when that six-panel sprint also came off the turf and again sending Jody's Pride to the winner's enclosure. Intentionally entered in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies going long on the main track at Santa Anita Park, she continued her improvement to come a neck short of catching champion MGISW Just F Y I (Justify) at 17-1 odds.

Returning at a one-turn mile, and greeting a rainy New York day, the 4-5 favorite stalked Carmelina as she rolled through :23.62 and :46.81 early splits. Making a bid entering the bend, Jody's Pride had come on even terms with that leader from the six path as they swung into the upper stretch. The fillies locked horns to the final sixteenth before the eventual winner finally managed to move clear by 2 1/4 lengths. Gin Gin (Hightail) came on from the back to close the trifecta. With the score here, Jody's Pride secured 50 Kentucky Oaks points in addition to the 15 she earned from the runner-up effort at the Breeders' Cup.

 

“We gave her 30 days [after the Breeders' Cup] and then we brought her back to Palm Meadows; she was doing everything great,” said trainer Jorge Abreu. “She was working pretty good and we had her pointed for the Davonna Dale, and at the last minute, [co-owner] Mr. Weston decided to run her over here. So I said, 'OK, let's go.'”

When asked whether his stable star might next be seen in the GIII Gazelle S., a 100-point qualifier to the Kentucky Oaks Apr. 6, Abreu said, “I'm going to see how she comes out of it and probably [come back] here in the Gazelle, and then the Kentucky Oaks. She ran two turns already and my concern was if she was going to perform as well as she did as a 2-year-old. She did, and I think she wants to go longer than that even.”

Co-owner Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds, too, is looking ahead to Kentucky. “We made it [to the Kentucky Oaks] once before with Venti Valentine and we actually won this race for the third time today. We won it twice with Final Furlong, with Venti Valentine and Espesso Shot. I'm not saying we have the best horse for the Oaks of the 14, but at least we have a chance.”

The second foal for Jody's Song, a half-sister to MSW & GISP Make Mischief (Into Mischief), Jody's Pride is the most accomplished for her dam. She has a 2-year-old full-brother Moreperfectunion as well as a yearling full-brother already named Jody's Legacy. The mare is due to Epicenter for 2024. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

BUSHER S., $200,000, Aqueduct, 3-2, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:38.49, sy.
1–JODY'S PRIDE, 120, f, 3, by American Pharoah
           1st Dam: Jody's Song, by Scat Daddy
           2nd Dam: Speightful Lady, by Speightstown
           3rd Dam: England's Rose, by Nureyev
O-Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable; B-Mr. Steve Weston (KY); T-Jorge R. Abreu; J-Jose Lezcano. $110,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 4-3-1-0, $590,250.
2–Carmelina, 120, f, 3, Maximus Mischief–Complete St., by St Averil. ($44,000 Wlg '21 FTIDEC). O-Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC; B-Lillith E. Boucher (PA); T-Robert E. Reid, Jr.. $40,000.
3–Gin Gin, 120, f, 3, Hightail–Before You Know It, by Hard Spun. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $24,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2HF, 3/4. Odds: 0.95, 8.80, 3.20.
Also Ran: Aoife's Magic, Regulatory Risk, Sicilian Princess, Princess Mayfair.

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Champion Echo Zulu Euthanized Following Stall Accident

L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Eclipse Award-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner–Letgomyecho, by Menifee), was euthanized Sunday at the Chino Valley Equine Hospital in Southern California. Daily Racing Form was first to report the news. Trainer Steve Asmussen told the Form's Steve Andersen that the filly became cast in her stall and injured herself when trying to get back on her feet.

“She was beyond special. My condolences to all who loved her,” Asmussen told the Form.

David Fiske, who has served as the racing and farm manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds for 44 years, told TDN via phone on Monday what he knew about the Feb. 18 accident, his voice at times cracking with emotion.

“What I was told–since I wasn't there, I don't have firsthand knowledge–is that she got cast in her stall [Sunday] evening and broke her leg above the plate that had been inserted, and [worsened the injury] trying to get up. There was no real option other than euthanasia.”

Bred in Kentucky by Betz/J. Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby, Echo Zulu was hammered down to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $300,000 from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Sale. A highly impressive debut winner at Saratoga in July 2021, Echo Zulu took the GI Spinaway S. and GI Frizette S. by open lengths and locked up the Eclipse Award with a dominating 5 1/4-length success in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.

 

 

Kept around two turns for the first half of her sophomore season, the bay wired the GII Fair Grounds Oaks, but didn't see out the nine-furlong trip of the GI Kentucky Oaks and finished a close third. Returned to sprint trips for the rest of the season–and her career–she posted a towering victory in the GIII Dogwood S. that September and ran Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) to 2 1/2 lengths when runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

Kept in training at four, Echo Zulu took out the GIII Winning Colors S. with a then career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure, but she upped her game further still, romping by 7 1/4 lengths in Saratoga's GII Honorable Miss H. in July before overpowering Goodnight Olive in the GI Ballerina H. She earned 112 Beyers for both efforts. She was training towards a start in the Breeders' Cup when she suffered fractured sesamoids in an October workout, underwent surgery and had remained at the clinic since.

In the estimation of 70 voters, Echo Zulu was the top filly and mare sprinter of 2023, but Goodnight Olive secured 142 first-place votes after defending her Filly & Mare Sprint title at Santa Anita and took home the statuette for the second straight year.

Up until the stall accident, Fiske said Echo Zulu's post-surgery recovery had been progressing on an optimistic arc.

“It had been going really well,” he said. “Steve [Asmussen] and I had been talking about her on Saturday morning, how she was getting very close to being able to travel. We kind of saw on the horizon her getting to a point where she could walk onto an airplane and come back to Lexington. So she was very close.”

Fiske added that the reality of Echo Zulu's passing still hasn't sunk in for him or those directly involved in her care.

“Even though I knew about the situation [Sunday] evening, and had anticipated having to deal with these questions and text messages and whatever else today, even with the lead time, I still don't have the vocabulary to adequately express what she meant to us and what she meant to our program,” he said.

In a social media posting on the X platform, Michael Levinson, the racing manager and a partner of L & N Racing, wrote: “Extremely sad and upset about the passing of Echo Zulu, she was a true champion and will forever be in our hearts at L & N Racing. Rest in peace champ.”

Added Ron Winchell: “It's devastating and beyond sad for our team. This happened at a point when we were just starting to feel good about her recovery. She is absolutely irreplaceable.”

A half-sister to fellow 'Rising Star' Echo Town (Speightstown) and GSW J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), Echo Zulu posted a record of 9-1-0 from 11 starts and amassed earnings of $2,640,375.

–Additional reporting by T.D. Thornton

 

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Just F Y I a First BC Winner for Justify In the Juvenile Fillies; Tamara Seventh

One of five Grade I/Group 1 winners for Triple Crown winner Justify in what has been a sensational 2023 season both at home and abroad, George Krirkorian's JUST F Y I (–Star Act, by Street Cry {Ire}) had the widest post position in the field to deal with, but took the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies right to odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), surged past that spent rival at the head of the lane and found the wire first to all but secure a first American championship for Justify. Sent off at generous odds of 7-1 to add the Juvenile Fillies to her latest success through the Aqueduct slop in the GI Frizette S. early last month, the homebred was ridden positively and aggressively by Junior Alvarado and forced Tamara into a testing opening quarter mile in :22.47. Mike Smith was able to give the front-runner a little bit of a chance to catch her breath down the backstretch, as they were able to go the next couple of furlongs in over :24 seconds, but Just F Y I shadowed her every move, and Mike Smith began to get urgent aboard the favorite with better than two furlongs to travel. Meanwhile, Alvarado was riding high on Just F Y I, went by with relative ease and then was fully extended to the wire as 17-1 Jody's Pride (American Pharoah) made things interesting to complete a Coolmore-sired 1-2. Second favorite Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) plugged home into third. It was a 13th victory overall for Bill Mott, but first in the Juvenile Fillies. Alvarado rode Cody's Wish to his first Breeders' Cup win in last year's GI Dirt Mile. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0. O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-Bill Mott.

 

Friday, Santa Anita Park
NETJETS BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES-GI, $1,840,000, Santa Anita, 11-3, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.58, ft.
1–JUST F Y I, 122, f, 2, by Justify
         1st Dam: Star Act (SP, $147,605), by Street Cry (Ire)
         2nd Dam: Starrer, by Dynaformer
         3rd Dam: To the Hunt, by Relaunch
O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $1,317,750. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Jody's Pride, 122, f, 2, by American Pharoah
         1st Dam: Jody's Song, by Scat Daddy
         2nd Dam: Speightful Lady, by Speightstown
         3rd Dam: England's Rose, by Nureyev
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable; B-Mr. Steve Weston (KY); T-Jorge R. Abreu. $340,000.
3–Candied, 122, f, 2, by Candy Ride (Arg)
         1st Dam: Toni Tools (SW, $193,339), by Roaring Fever
         2nd Dam: Patine, by Smart Strike
         3rd Dam: Burnish, by Menifee
($165,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Buck Pond Farm, Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $180,000.
Margins: NK, HF, 2 3/4. Odds: 7.00, 17.80, 2.80.
Also Ran: Life Talk, Scalable, Brightwork, Tamara, Where's My Ring, Chatalas, Accommodate Eva, Esprit Enchante, Omaha Girl. Scratched: Alys Beach.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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A Pair of Queens for King’s Equine

ARCADIA, CA – As the unbeaten Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) looks to emulate her legendary dam Beholder (Henny Hughes) with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, the duo have something else in common that you won't be able to find in Friday's program at Santa Anita.

Before heading out to join Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella in Southern California, they were both broken and trained on behalf of Spendthrift Farm at Raul and Martha Reyes's King's Equine in Ocala, Florida.

Like mother, like daughter?

“Actually, Tamara was a little different as a yearling than Beholder was,” Raul Reyes said. “Tamara was a little bit more of a rebel. She was a little harder to break for a couple of weeks–she had her own mind. Then, she changed and became a regular filly. On the other side, Beholder was very pleasant all the time. She never gave you any trouble.”

Reyes continued, “Beholder was a little more stocky and had more muscle. Tamara has really filled out since Mandella has had her.”

Tamara is the fourth foal produced by the four-time champion and three-time Breeders' Cup winner. Beholder's first two offspring–Q B One (g, 5, by Uncle Mo) and Karin With an I (f, 4, by Curlin)–failed to find the winner's circle and were a combined 0-for-6 at the races. Tamara's 3-year-old half-sister Teena Ella (War Front), winner of this spring's grassy GIII Senorita S. at Santa Anita, became Beholder's first winner as a broodmare in February.

Beholder's yearling colt by Curlin, meanwhile, brought a sale-topping $4 million from Zedan Racing at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale this summer. Barren for 2023, Beholder was covered by Jackie's Warrior for next season.

Tamara, ears up, toying with the competition in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. | Benoit

Reyes and Mandella would often chat about and compare notes on Beholder's offspring during Mandella's visits to King's Equine, Reyes said. Mandella has trained all of Beholder's progeny to date.

“I told him that I didn't know how good this filly (Tamara) was going to be, but she sure was better than her siblings,” Reyes said. “I broke all of Beholder's (offspring) and Tamara looked more racey. She breezed way better than all of them–way way better. She used to outrun the company when I used to breeze her here. The filly before her (Teena Ella) won a Grade III and she was O.K. But Tamara was exceptional. We didn't know that she'd go on and win these races like that. But she was the best one of the siblings by far.”

Carrying the namesake of B. Wayne Hughes's daughter–sounds like the folks at Spendthrift concurred with Reyes's assessment–Tamara overcame a stumble at the start from her rail draw to launch her career in style with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance at Del Mar Aug. 19.

Tamara ran to the billing as the 6-5 favorite and then some with a 6 3/4-length tour de force over 11 rivals in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S. Sept. 9, good for a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. Tamara will be heavily favored as she tries two turns for the first time in the Juvenile Fillies. She has been installed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite.

“The way she runs, she makes you think that she's gonna be alright,” Reyes said.

Beholder seeks to become the fifth Breeders' Cup winner to also produce a winner at the two-day Championships.

Living the American Dream…

Growing up a mile from the racetrack in his native Tijuana, Mexico, Reyes wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, a quarter horse jockey in Texas. Reyes began working on the backstretch at the tender age of 10 back in 1975–yes, you read that correctly–and just six years later, began to pursue his career in the saddle in California.

“I came to the United States and worked for a couple of good trainers, but I was too big to be a jockey,” Reyes said. “I had to quit riding when I was like 20. It was hard for me because I couldn't speak English very well. Can you imagine? It's hard enough for an American kid to make it here.”

King's Equine's Raul Reyes | Fasig-Tipton

Reyes subsequently relocated to Florida to begin training and caught his big break while working the yearling sales for Taylor Made in Kentucky. Everything began to fall into place from there.

“They gave me the opportunity of a lifetime,” Reyes said. “That opened my eyes. I learned how to sell horses and how to deal with people. I must say, my friend (Taylor Made's Vice President of Sales) Frank Taylor, he's the one who really made it happen for me. He introduced me to all these good people–the biggest clients in the world all come to Taylor Made. And then I met Wayne. That's really how I got started.”

Wayne, of course, is B. Wayne Hughes, the late founder of Spendthrift Farm who passed away in 2021.

“We became pretty good friends,” Reyes said. “And we've had pretty good success together. They are great people to work with.”

Reyes typically trains approximately 100 head at his 84-acre training center and is also a leading consignor at the 2-year-old-in-training sales. Spendthrift Farm has been a client of his for nearly two decades now.

“We try to keep it simple,” Reyes said. “It can get very complicated if you start looking for ways to do it differently. People have been doing this for a 100 years. They say the good things don't change.”

In addition to Beholder and Tamara, other King's Equine training graduates include: champion Letruska (Super Saver); MGISW Miss Temple City (Temple City); GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Silver Train (Old Trieste); and GISWs Jimmy Creed (Distorted Humor) and Hit the Road (More Than Ready).

King's Equine's 2-year-old sale alumni include: GISW Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy) ($200,000 2yo '20 EASMAY); MGSW millionaire Stanford (Malibu Moon) ($550,000 2yo '14 BARMAR); MGSW Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) ($140,000 2yo '17 BARMAR); and GSW and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) ($245,000 2yo '18 OBSMAR).

“I've been in Ocala for 25 years already,” Reyes said. “This is a place that's been very good to me. That's a lot of good seasons that I've had here now.”

Reyes's 2023 season is about to get even better at 2:40 p.m. PT on Friday afternoon.

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