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‘Everything Has Been Positive’ With Juvenile Champ, Jim Dandy Favorite Essential Quality

Godolphin's Essential Quality has gone off as the favorite in six of his seven career starts. The reigning Champion 2-Year-Old has rewarded that confidence almost every time, notching six wins along with a competitive fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs. This Saturday, Essential Quality will likely be the top mutuel choice again, with the 1-2 morning-line favorite headlining a six-horse field in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course.

Essential Quality's appearance in the 58th running of the Jim Dandy will mark his first race since besting Hot Rod Charlie by 1 1/4 lengths in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5, which gave conditioner Brad Cox – who won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 2020 – his first career win in a Triple Crown race. The Tapit colt has breezed three times this month at Saratoga since shipping from Churchill, including a five-furlong work in 1:00.90 on Saturday over the main track, with Cox saying he's adapted well to his new surroundings.

“I think he looks like he put on weight. He looks great,” Cox said. “I feel like he's grown just in the short time he's been here at Saratoga, from his muscle-tone to his weight. Everything has been positive since he's moved here. I think he really likes it here.”

Essential Quality surged on the scene with a 3-for-3 juvenile campaign in which he won his debut by four lengths in September before capturing the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity in October at Keeneland and winning the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile by three-quarters of a length over Hot Rod Charlie in November over the same Kentucky track to secure the Eclipse Award.

As a sophomore, Essential Quality sustained those winning ways with scores in the Grade 3 Southwest and Grade 2 Blue Grass on the Kentucky Derby trail. In the “Run for the Roses,” the Kentucky homebred overcame a bump at the start to still finish a competitive fourth, just one length back to winner Medina Spirit and behind runner-up and stablemate Mandaloun and third-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie. Essential Quality cracked triple digits for Beyer Speed Figures for the first time in the Kentucky Derby, earning an even 100, which he then surpassed by garnering a 109 for winning the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes a month later.

“I thought the Kentucky Derby was one of his best races. He's a horse who acts like he's getting better as the year goes on,” Cox said. “He doesn't over-do it in training. You can tell this week, that's he's just a little more antsy, biting at the grooms, but feeling really well. He's showing us he has plenty of energy.”

Essential Quality, with regular rider Luis Saez in the irons, drew post 5 in the Jim Dandy field which also includes Keepmeinmind, Weyburn, Dr Jack, Masqueparade and Risk Taking. The Jim Dandy also serves as a prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers for sophomores going 1 1/4 miles on August 28.

Expectations are high when a three-time Grade 1 winner is loaded in the starting gate, but Cox said he welcomes the challenge since it means he has a talented contender to send out in another prestigious race.

“I'm assuming he'll be a short price on Saturday and when you're a short price, there's always pressure,” Cox said. “It's one of those things where you are excited about it, but you almost want to have things go your way and get it over it from a trainer's view of it. I'm excited. There is pressure, but it's good to be in position to have that pressure on you. It means you're in a good spot.”

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Another potential starter for the Travers is Juddmonte's Grade 1 Haskell-winner Mandaloun, who could also target the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on September 25 at Parx.

Mandaloun ran second in the Kentucky Derby, a half-length back to Medina Spirit, before winning the Pegasus on June 13 at Monmouth. Running back a month later, the Into Mischief colt crossed the wire second to Hot Rod Charlie in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell but was elevated to first when Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified for interference.

“We'll probably make a decision next week but I can tell you, the horse really came out of the Haskell in good order,” Cox said. “He's been training over here on the Oklahoma [training track] and I'm really happy with the way he's moving. He looks tremendous and has really put on weight since the Haskell. He's recovered well and very sound and we're in a good spot. We're happy with him.”

Mandaloun has posted a 2-2-1 record in six starts this year.

“The horse has run six times this year and I think we'd be five weeks between the Haskell and Travers,” Cox said. “We'd like to get to the Breeders' Cup somehow, and that doesn't mean we can't get there through the Travers, but he's a horse that we want to try to map out the schedule that makes the most sense for him. Essential Quality has already run the four times and he doesn't have as many miles on him this year, and that'll play a big role in what we do.”

Juddmonte homebred Snow House stepped up to stakes company for the first time with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Dwyer going a one-turn mile last out on July 5 at Belmont and will now contest a stakes going two turns as part of a seven-horse field in Friday's nine-furlong $120,000 Curlin for 3-year-olds at the Spa.

The Twirling Candy colt made his debut with a fourth-place finish on the Fair Grounds turf in March before breaking his maiden in April at Keeneland in a one-mile off-the-turf contest. Following another main track win over the Churchill main track in May, Cox elevated Snow House to stakes company in the Dwyer, where he tied a personal-high 86 Beyer in a race won by First Captain.

“He wasn't the sharpest gate horse early on. He's not a real big horse, but once we ran him at Keeneland, it came off the turf, and he performed well and had plenty of time to recover from the maiden victory,” Cox said. “I thought he ran a really good race in the Dwyer. This will be his second start around two turns, so I feel it could be an advantage getting him around two turns. I think he can handle it.

“He didn't get started until March, so he's been pretty straightforward,” he added.

Arklow is also a possibility to run on Travers Day, with the Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on the turf a possibility for the 7-year-old son of Arch. Arklow ran sixth in the Grade 1 United Nations on July 17 at Monmouth going 1 3/8 miles after clipping heels.
Cox said Arklow is also acclimating well to Saratoga as he readies for his next start.

“He's great. He's here; he stumbled enough to cost him a placing at Monmouth but he recovered well and the Sword Dancer is a possibility for him later in the meet,” Cox said. “He's doing really well.”

Owned by Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and the Estate of Peter Coneway, Arklow ended his 2020 campaign with a victory in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup in November at Del Mar. Following a six-month freshening, he made a triumphant seasonal debut with a win in the Grade 3 Louisville going 1 1/2 miles on the Churchill turf in May before the United Nations effort. Arklow is 9-7-2 in 33 lifetime starts with earnings of more than $2.75 million.

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Vequist ‘A Little Ahead Of Schedule’ For 2021 Debut; Cotillion The Goal For Champion Filly

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist breezed a half-mile in 47.77 Friday on the Saratoga main track under Jose Lezcano in preparation for a potential seasonal debut at the end of the Saratoga meet.

Trainer Butch Reid, Jr. said the sophomore daughter of Nyquist is working towards a long-term goal of the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion, a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies on September 25 at Parx. It was just the second work back for Vequist, who captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile fillies last out in November at Keeneland.

“She did very well this morning,” said Reid, Jr. “I had her galloping out in 1:01 and 2 and on out in about 1:15. She's fitter than I thought she was. She's actually a little ahead of schedule. I wanted her ready to go five-eighths on the first of August and she's a little ahead of that. I'm very happy with her progress. She's coming along nicely. If everything works out, she could run here before the end of the meet.”

The talented dark bay, out of the Mineshaft mare Vero Amore, graduated by 9 1/2-lengths in the Grade 1 Spinaway last summer at Saratoga.

St. Omer's Farm and Christopher J. Feifarek's Beren posted a sharp 46.60 half-mile bullet work Friday on the main track. The Weigelia sophomore has won his last three starts, capturing the Gold Fever and off-the-turf Paradise Creek at Belmont ahead of a last-out score in the Crowd Pleaser on June 22 at Parx.

Initially under consideration for the nine-furlong $120,000 Curlin on July 30, Reid Jr. said the fast work has him considering the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam on August 1.

“It looks like he came out of it well, but it's made me rethink my strategy a little bit,” Reid, Jr. said. “It's hard to think about coming back at a mile and an eighth for the Curlin, when there's the Amsterdam there. Plus, two more days might be very helpful for him.”

Reid, Jr. said Swilcan Stable and LC Racing's Mainstay, a 2-year-old half-sister to stablemate Vequist, has come out of her runner-up effort to Pretty Birdie in the Grade 3 Schuylerville on Opening Day July 15 in good order and will now point to the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on August 8.

A 7 3/4-length maiden winner on June 4 over sloppy going at Monmouth, Mainstay bobbled at the start of her graded stakes debut and was unable to reel in a runaway Pretty Birdie.

“She lost concentration coming down the lane. I don't know if it was the crowd, but she ducked in when I thought she had dead aim on the other horse [Pretty Birdie],” Reid Jr. said. “I really think she'll learn from the experience. She came out of it so well, we're thinking about taking a shot at the Adirondack. She hasn't missed an oat since the race and has been training very well.”

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Bloodlines: Arazi Leaves Behind A Globetrotting Legacy

In general, American dirt racing is dominated by horses with a high turn of early speed. Relatively few winners come from far back, especially in the most prestigious races. As a result, those who do make a greater impression. Few would forget Secretariat's run from last in the first quarter of the 1973 Kentucky Derby to winning in record time.

Likewise, those of us who were there at the Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs in 1991 won't forget the Grade 1 Juvenile victory by Arazi (by Blushing Groom). The first trans-Atlantic juvenile champion, Arazi had come into the race with a grand reputation.

Second on his debut at Chantilly on May 30, Arazi had won all six of his subsequent starts, all stakes, including the G1 Prix Morny, Prix de la Salamandre, and Grand Criterium. The acknowledged juvenile champion of Europe, Arazi was untested and untried on dirt, but he was the favorite for the race at slightly more than 2-to-1 over the quick California colt Bertrando (Skywalker).

The latter sped the first two quarters in :23 and change for a half in :46.63, and he ran a remarkably brave race to finish second, beaten five lengths. All the other horses who had attended the early pace were more than 10 lengths behind Arazi, and the colts who were 12th (Snappy Landing) 13th (Arazi), and 14th (Offbeat) at the first quarter-mile finished 1st (Arazi), 3rd (Snappy Landing), and 4th (Offbeat).

Even allowing that the pace took a serious toll, the move that Arazi made had to be seen to be believed, and one of the joys of the internet is that the race is available for all to see. The dashing chestnut in the red, white, and blue silks of co-owner Allen Paulson captured the imagination of the racing public, including thousands who watched racing only occasionally, and for the next several months, anything that Arazi did was news.

The first bit of news about the lovely colt wasn't good, however. He came out of the race with a chip in a knee. That was operated on, and the winner of seven races from eight starts wintered uneventfully with trainer Francois Boutin in France and made his 1992 debut a winning one in the Prix Omnium.

If Arazi fever had been simmering over the winter, it went to a heady boil immediately. With only a single start since the 1991 Juvenile, Arazi was made the odds-on favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.

In the race, Snappy Landing led the field down the stretch the first time, with an opening quarter in :24; at that point, the Irish-bred Dr. Devious (Ahonoora) and Arazi were 15th and 17th in a field of 18. Going into the far turn, Arazi was moving rapidly outside, his diminutive form visible between horses as he picked off one after another. The chart credits the colt with reaching second, but as the field passed into the stretch, the writing was on the wall. This would not be a coronation. Instead, it was a realization that a miler with an exceptional turn of foot was at a great disadvantage in the American classics.

From the quarter pole home, the big classic colts, Lil E. Tee (At the Threshold) and Casual Lies (Lear Fan) took control of the race, and Arazi faded just a bit to finish eighth, a head behind Dr. Devious. A month later, Dr. Devious finished really well up the rising ground at Epsom Downs to claim the Derby after his good prep in Kentucky.

Arazi likewise went back across the Atlantic, where he was unplaced in the G1 St. James's Palace Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot, then was third in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange at Longchamp on Sept. 20. The colt returned to win the G2 Prix du Rond-Point and crossed the Atlantic again to compete for the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Gulfstream.

Sent off as the favorite against some of the top milers in the world, Arazi was inexplicably close up early as Lure (Danzig) set fire to the track, made every pole a winning one, and took the Mile by three lengths in 1:32.90, a new track record. Arazi must have been wondering what they were smoking after three-quarters in 1:09.09, and he backed up to 11th, the worst finish of his career.

That was the end of Arazi's racing, but his long breeding career began in 1993. Sold to Allen Paulson as a foal at the 1989 Keeneland November sale, Arazi had a world-class pedigree to go with his distinguished racing class. As a top-class juvenile who hadn't quite trained on at three, Arazi nonetheless had shown good form, and he was an attractive stallion prospect.

Sheikh Mohammed had purchased a half-interest in the chestnut colt for $9 million prior to the 1991 Grand Criterium and sent the colt to stud in England at his Dalham Hall in 1993. Arazi was a son of the top 2-year-old Blushing Groom, who stood at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. Bernie Sams recalled the chestnut champion and leading sire, saying, “Blushing Groom had the best temperament you could find in a stallion. You could work with him, and he'd never get aggressive. His favorite treat was watermelon rind.”

Arazi apparently got much of the generous disposition of his sire and was characterized as a gentleman during his term at stud in Kentucky at Three Chimneys Farm. While there he sired his very best racer, the big chestnut Congaree, who was third in the 2001 Kentucky Derby behind Monarchos. In addition, Congaree won Grade 1 races at seven, eight, nine, and 10 furlongs, showing the versatility and durability that is possible with the Thoroughbred.

Out of a daughter of Northern Dancer, Arazi was pedigreed to be an outstanding sire, but the chestnut champion did not consistently sire racers with his own type and talent. His best in Europe was probably America, a filly who won the G2 Prix de Malleret and G3 Prix Vanteaux. At stud, she is best known for producing Americain (Dynaformer), who won the 2010 Melbourne Cup and entered stud at Calumet Farm in Kentucky.

In 1997, Arazi was sold to stand at the Breeders Stallion Station in Japan. From there, the stallion was sent to stand in Australia at Independent Stallion Station in 2003 in Victoria, spent a single covering season in Switzerland, then returned to the Land of the Koala to spend the rest of his life.

At the time of his death on July 1, age 32, Arazi was a pensioner at Stockwell Stud.

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Arazi Dies Age 32

Arazi (Blushing Groom {Fr}-Danseur Fabuleux, by Northern Dancer), whose five-length victory in the 1991 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs is regarded as one of the greatest performances ever at the Breeders' Cup, has died at 32 at Stockwell Thoroughbreds in Victoria, Australia.

In a feat rarely seen nowadays, Arazi traveled to the Breeders' Cup in 1991 to take on the best American colts on the dirt. The chestnut was favoured even though he had never run on the surface and despite the presence of leading American 2-year-old Bertrando, so dominant had his campaign been in France. Second on debut at Chantilly, Arazi-bred by Buffalo Bills football team owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. and bought by aviation magnate and racehorse owner Allen Paulson as a foal for $350,000 at Keeneland November-subsequently rolled through five consecutive victories for trainer Francois Boutin, all in stakes company including the G1 Prix Morny, G1 Prix Salamandre and G1 Grand Criterium under Gerald Mosse by a combined 11 lengths. So tall was Arazi's reputation that by the time he lined up in the starting gate at the Breeders' Cup, Sheikh Mohammed had purchased a 50% share in the horse for a reported $9-million.

Breaking from the extreme outside gate 14 under the Twin Spires and partnered by leading American rider Pat Valenzuela for the first time, Arazi was soon among the back markers in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on the short run into the first turn. Meanwhile, Bertrando had broken like a rocket and grabbed the early advantage, allowing him to control the race uncontested through moderate fractions while Arazi languished a dozen lengths in behind with just one horse beaten. Suddenly, however, Arazi was languishing no more. Kicking into a scarcely believable gear with about a half mile to run, Arazi and Valenzuela weaved their way through the field, suddenly arriving alongside Bertrando at the quarter pole. And just as quickly as he got there, Arazi buried his rival, effectively bolting off the turn as he left Bertrando in his wake and charged down the middle of the track on the wrong lead. Arazi pulled further clear with each stride, building up an advantage of as much as 10 lengths by the time Valenzuela eased him approaching the wire, with the official margin coming in at five lengths-a record for the race at the time. Arazi became the second European-trained winner of a Breeders' Cup dirt race, the first having come just hours earlier when Sheikh Albadou (GB) (Green Desert) won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Bertrando was a further 3 1/2 lengths clear of any other rival in the Juvenile. In a cruel twist of fate, Bertrando would again be second at the Breeders' Cup two years later, once again stunned by the freak performance of a French-trained horse on the dirt, on that occasion the 133-1 Andre Fabre-trained Arcangues (Sagace {Fr}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

Arazi's feat in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile was masterfully immortalized by legendary American race caller Tom Durkin, who exclaimed as Arazi made his move: “there goes the European star Arazi, he's coming with a menacing rush to Bertrando, and now the stage is set as they move toward the top of the stretch…and Arazi runs right by him! Bertrando stunned at the inside with the move of Arazi and he's pouring it on.”

Arazi was named Europe's Horse of the Year-the only horse still to have achieved that honour as a juvenile–and America's champion 2-year-old. He is also the only horse ever to have been a finalist for Horse of the Year in America off a single North American start as a 2-year-old.

Arazi began his 3-year-old campaign with a facile five-length win in the Listed Prix Omnium going a mile on the grass at Saint-Cloud under Steve Cauthen three weeks out from the GI Kentucky Derby, prompting a press frenzy in the lead-up to America's greatest race. Another victory at Churchill Downs seemed a foregone conclusion, leaving reporters and racing fans to speculate as to what might come next. Would the French-trained colt stay in America for a crack at the Triple Crown, or would he head to England and attempt to become the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the Epsom Derby? Words like “mythical”, “mystical” and “extraordinary” were tossed around in the media.

In the end, however, racing displayed its uncanny ability to humble. After making a move on the turn at Churchill Downs eerily similar to what he had done six months earlier, Arazi came up empty at the top of the stretch, struggling home eighth behind longshot Lil E. Tee (At The Threshold). Arazi had had bone chips operated on between his 2- and 3-year-old campaigns, something Boutin had reportedly been against, but of course whether that was a culprit in his below-par 3-year-old campaign cannot be known. Arazi ran four more times, returning to Europe to finish fifth in the G1 St James's Palace S., third behind Arcangues in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange and winning the G2 Prix du Rond Point before returning to America for one more shot at recapturing the glory at the Breeders' Cup in the 1992 GI Mile. Arazi was sent off the favourite but could manage no better than 11th of 14. He was retired to stand at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket with nine wins from 14 starts and earnings of $1,212,351.

Arazi later embarked on a globetrotting stud career. Following his stint at Dalham Hall, the chestnut relocated to Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky and later stood in Japan, Switzerland and Victoria, Australia. His stud career was not nearly as storied as his racing one, but he can lay claim to Congaree, winner of the GI Hollywood Gold Cup, GI Swaps S., GI Carter H. and two renewals of the GI Cigar Mile. Arazi also sired the French Group 2 winners First Magnitude (Ire) and America (Ire), and his legacy will also be felt as a broodmare sire; his daughters have produced six Group 1 winners including the G1 Dubai World Cup scorer Electrocutionist, GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf victress Lahudood (GB) and G1 Melbourne Cup winner Americain.

Arazi had lived out his final years at Stockwell Thoroughbreds in Victoria, which said in a statement, “It is with immense sadness that Stockwell Thoroughbreds announce the passing of one of the racing world's most revered champions, Arazi, at the grand age of 32 years. The little chestnut with a crooked blaze that made him almost instantly recognisable captured the minds of racing people around the globe when in 1991 he produced one of the most memorable performances seen on a racetrack in coming from last to take out the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by an easing five-length margin. Farewell to our mate–you were indeed a superstar.”

Stockwell's Mike Becker said, “It has been an honour never lost on us to have been guardians to such a beloved horse. He had major bowel surgery as a 4-year-old and has lived with a major heart murmur for the past 16 years, but in the end it was his body that gave out, not his big heart. He will be very missed around here.”

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