Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint | Horse Racing Free Tips

Caravel All Heart in Shakertown

In Keeneland's second consecutive race Saturday with a Breeders' Cup-winning mare from last November returning to the scene of her greatest triumph for her 2023 debut, CARAVEL (m, 6, Mizzen Mast-Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats) won the Lexington oval's GII Shakertown S. She was last seen taking the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over this course and distance Nov. 5. It was deja vu, as just like last November, when Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) won the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in the race immediately preceding the Turf Sprint on that card, Goodnight Olive won the GI Madison S. in the race immediately preceding the Shakertown on Saturday's card.

Caravel earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in the Breeders' Cup, her first time beating the boys. She was 42-1 that day, but 2-1 Saturday in her return to the races, again against males, after working well at Turfway Park on the all-weather surface since February and securing a bullet in her lone Keeneland work: a :48 1/5 (1/4) over the all-weather training track Apr. 1.

The gray went straight to the front and looked strong throughout despite Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton) hounding her two furlongs in. Caravel hit that mark in :21.86 while Bad Beat Brian increased the pressure. The two rounded the turn with Caravel just in front at the :44.77 half, then battled down the lane. It was around the :56.45 marker for the five furlongs that Bad Beat Brian poked his head in front, but Caravel absolutely would not be denied. She gamely fought back, all heart, and got her head down on the wire in 1:02.58. MGSW & GISP Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile) finished third.

“I loved it [when she came back after being headed],” said winning rider Tyler Gaffalione, who was also aboard for the Breeders' Cup. “She showed so much heart there. She's a tremendous filly. I'm just lucky enough to be able to guide her around there. [Whether she wants the lead) depends on her break. She's a very alert filly. She jumped well today, so I didn't want to take anything away from her.”

Picked up by her current connections for $500,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale as a GIII winner, she was turned over to Brad Cox for 2022 and had a stellar year, winning five of eight, all black-type events. She is actually on her third straight course and distance victory, as she took Keeneland's GIII Franklin S. at the fall meet. Her ownership group originally had her entered in last fall's Keeneland November sale to follow her Breeders' Cup win, but withdrew her and opted to race her this year.

Pedigree Notes:

Caravel has put an exclamation mark on the final crops of Juddmonte's pensioned Mizzen Mast, whose 13 current 2-year-olds are his final foals. The Cozzene stallion has 26 graded winners and 63 black-type winners with Caravel marking his third Breeders' Cup winner following 2012 Juvenile Fillies Turf winner and French champion Flotilla (Fr) and 2012-13 Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection. Caravel is also one of 19 winners out of a daughter of Congrats, although surely none have such a fun name as Caravel's dam, Zeezee Zoomzoom.

The first foal for Zeezee Zoomzoom, Caravel has a younger dual black-type winning half-brother, as well as a 2-year-old half-brother named Enzo (Great Notion) and a 2022 half-sister by Street Boss. The workmanlike family has not been generous with black-type; until Zeezee Zoomzoom's feat of producing Caravel, one has to go back to the Shakertown winner's seventh dam to find a graded producer, making Caravel's as a five-time graded winner all the more impressive.

Saturday, Keeneland
SHAKERTOWN S.-GII, $319,094, Keeneland, 4-8, 3yo/up,
5 1/2fT, 1:02.58, gd.
1–CARAVEL, 121, m, 6, by Mizzen Mast
               1st Dam: Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats
               2nd Dam: Zee Zee, by Exchange Rate
               3rd Dam: Emblem of Hope, by Dynaformer
($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT; $500,000 4yo '21 FTKNOV).
O-Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel & Madaket Stables LLC;
B-Elizabeth M. Merryman (PA); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Tyler
Gaffalione. $169,725. Lifetime Record: GISW, 21-13-0-3,
$1,500,877. *1/2 to Witty (Great Notion), MSW, $308,900.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Bad Beat Brian, 122, g, 6, Jack Milton–Ultimate Class, by
During. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($22,000 RNA Wlg '17
KEENOV; $16,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $115,000 2yo '19
EASMAY). O-Marsico Brothers Racing LLC; B-Pope McLean,
Pope McLean Jr., Marc McLean & Phil Hager (KY); T-Brittany A.
Vanden Berg. $63,875.
3–Arrest Me Red, 122, h, 5, Pioneerof the Nile–Maraschino
Red, by Medaglia d'Oro. O-Lael Stables; B-M. Roy Jackson (KY);
T-Wesley A. Ward. $31,938.
Margins: HD, HF, NO. Odds: 2.15, 40.93, 3.80.
Also Ran: Oceanic, Mark of the Z, Bakers Bay, Stitched, Noble Emotion, Mister Mmmmm, All in Sync, Artemus Citylimits, Johnny Unleashed. Scratched: Nobody Listens. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Caravel Named Top Midlantic-bred of 2022

In the final Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz poll of 2022, GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine Caravel (Mizzen Mast) was named 2022's top Midlantic-bred. The honor marks the fifth straight year the Top Midlantic-bred was also a Breeders' Cup winner.

In addition to her Breeders' Cup triumph, the Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Zeezee Zoomzoom (Congrats) racked up a record of 8-5-0-0 for earnings of $930,983, which included wins in the GIII Franklin County S. and GIII Intercontinental S. She is the sixth Pennsylvania-bred to win a Breeders' Cup race, joining Go For Wand, Tikkanen, Alphabet Soup, Finest City, and Shamrock Rose.

“Breeders all over the region are breeding outstanding horses,” Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, said. “It's important to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate those achievements.”

Caravel, who is owned by Sheik Fahad's Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables and trained by Brad Cox, was scheduled to be sold at Keeneland in November, but was withdrawn with plans for a 6-year-old campaign, which includes a trip to Royal Ascot and a defense of her title in the Breeders' Cup.

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Merryman Wins John Deere Award

Edited Press Release

Elizabeth M. Merryman, who bred Caravel (Mizzen Mast), winner of the $1-million GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Keeneland Race Course, has been named the 2022 recipient of the John Deere Award, in recognition of the breeders who participated this year in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In and in the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

The John Deere Award, presented by Breeders' Cup Limited and NTRA Advantage, emphasizes the contributions of breeders to the Breeders' Cup program. The industry's breeders and nominators provide funding for the purses of the World Championships through the annual nominations of foals and stallions.

NTRA Advantage and John Deere will award a John Deere TS Gator Utility Vehicle to Ms. Merryman.

This year's John Deere Award winner was determined by a drawing from all breeders who won either a Breeders' Cup World Championships race or a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race.

“We congratulate Ms. Merryman on being this year's recipient of the John Deere Award in recognition of Caravel's outstanding victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint,” said Dora Delgado, Breeders' Cup Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer. “The John Deere Award is a tribute to the importance of the breeders in our sport and whose annual contributions have been the backbone of our funding for the Breeders' Cup racing programs and the World Championships. We also thank John Deere and NTRA Advantage for their sponsorship of this award and their salute to the breeding industry.”

“I am very happy to accept the John Deere Award on behalf of Caravel in honor of her thrilling win in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and in recognition of all breeders who participated in the World Championships,” said Merryman.

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Caravel Wires the Turf Sprint

LEXINGTON, KY – Gutsy Pennsylvania-bred mare Caravel (Mizzen Mast) took the field wire-to-wire and just held off Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) with Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) closing powerfully late to give Godolphin the two-three in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Saturday at Keeneland. The gray mare, dismissed at 42-1, shot out to the early lead as favored Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who had been expected to set the pace, was off to a slow start after jumping at the break. The favorite was rushing up through the field, while Caravel set the tempo through an opening quarter in :21.91. Caravel turned for home a length in front and was still clear as the half went up in :44.25. Emaraaty Ana, a 21-1 outsider himself, was tracking the pacesetter from the rail and when Caravel drifted ever so slightly off the rail, Ryan Moore sent the the 6-year-old through the narrow opening. Caravel refused to let that rival get by her, finishing a determined half-length victory.

“She broke alertly. No one really went, so I decided to take control of things,” said winning jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who captured his first Breeders' Cup race just Friday. “Coming into the stretch, she just kept finding more. She's a very solid filly. She shows up every time. She's trained by one of the best in the country, Brad Cox. He brings them over ready to fire.”

Golden Pal, looking for his third Breeders' Cup win, faded in the stretch to finish 10th. Trainer Wesley Ward also saddled Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who was stymied by a traffic-plagued trip before checking in seventh.

Caravel trailed the field home in last year's Turf Sprint for trainer Graham Motion and owner/breeder Elizabeth Merryman and co-owner Bobby Flay. She went through the sales ring just days later and was purchased for $500,000 by the partnership of Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Transferred to Brad Cox, the gray mare added wins in the Queen S. at Turfway in March, the GIII Intercontinental S. in June at Belmont and the Smart N Fancy S. at Saratoga in August. She tuned up for her second Breeders' Cup engagement with a victory over the Turf Sprint's course and trip in the Oct. 16 GIII Franklin S.

“She was running back in 20 days, but had a race over the course,” said Cox. “She was doing extremely, extremely well. She's a filly that has had a hard time keeping on weight and since the end of the summer, she's really blossomed. We decided to take a swing and it worked out.”

The mare could make another appearance in the sales ring this coming week. She is entered as hip 224 in Monday's session of the Keeneland November sale.

“She's in the sale; we'll have to discuss with the partnership and [Hunter Valley Farm's] Fergus [Galvin] and Marc and Brad and we'll see what's going on,” said Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing. “She's improving, which is going to make it very tough trying to sell her or keep her. But we'll see.”

Pedigree Notes:
Mizzen Mast became the second straight stallion to have been trained by the late Bobby Frankel to have a winner on the Breeders' Cup card, following Ghostzapper's triumph with Goodnight Olive in the Filly and Mare Sprint. The Juddmonte stallion is also the sire of two-time Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection.

Zeezee Zoomzoom, who is also the dam of 3-year-old stakes winner Witty (Great Notion), produced a colt by Great Notion in 2021 and a filly by Street Boss this year.

Saturday, Keeneland
BREEDERS' CUP TURF SPRINT-GI, $920,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 1:01.79, fm.
1–CARAVEL, 123, m, 5, by Mizzen Mast
1st Dam: Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats
2nd Dam: Zee Zee, by Exchange Rate
3rd Dam: Emblem of Hope, by Dynaformer
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT; $500,000
4yo '21 FTKNOV). O-Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel & Madaket
Stables LLC; B-Elizabeth M. Merryman (PA); T-Brad H. Cox;
J-Tyler Gaffalione. $520,000. Lifetime Record: 20-12-0-3,
$1,331,152. *1/2 to Witty (Great Notion), MSW, $275,900.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Emaraaty Ana (GB), 126, g, 6, Shamardal–Spirit of Dubai
(Ire), by Cape Cross (Ire). O-Godolphin, LLC Lessee; B-Rabbah
Bloodstock Limited (GB); T-Kevin A. Ryan. $170,000.
3–Creative Force (Ire), 126, g, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Choose Me (Ire),
by Choisir (Aus). (€400,000 Ylg '19 GOFOR). O-Godolphin, LLC
Lessee; B-Owenstown Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Charles Appleby.
$90,000.
Margins: HF, NK, 1. Odds: 42.89, 21.05, 7.50.
Also Ran: Highfield Princess (Fr), Artemus Citylimits, Flotus (Ire), Campanelle (Ire), Arrest Me Red, Casa Creed, Golden Pal, Cazadero, Go Bears Go (Ire), Oceanic, Naval Crown (GB). Scratched: Bran (Fr), Dancing Buck.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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