Bret Jones | Horse Racing Free Tips

Multiple Track-Record Setter Highly Motivated to Airdrie

Klaravich Stables's multiple track-record setter Highly Motivated (Into Mischief–Strong Incentive, by Warrior's Reward) will join the Airdrie Stud stallion roster for the upcoming 2023 breeding season, the farm announced Tuesday. He will stand for a fee of $7,500 LFSN.

A son of perennial leading sire Into Mischief, Highly Motivated was purchased by Mike Ryan as a weanling on behalf of his owner for $240,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale. Entrusted to trainer Chad Brown, Highly Motivated broke his maiden as the 3-5 favorite in September of his 2-year-old year at 6 1/2 furlongs at Belmont over future Grade I winner Known Agenda (Curlin). He followed that up with a win in the Nyquist S. on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Keeneland, winning easily by 4 1/4 lengths. His time of 1:14 4 for the 6 1/2 furlongs set the Keeneland track record, and his 96 Beyer Speed Figure represented the highest number of any 2-year-old that competed on the Breeders' Cup Championship weekend–a lineup that included multiple Eclipse Award champion Essential Quality (Tapit) and the multiple Breeders' Cup champion Golden Pal (Uncle Mo). By year's end, only Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) could boast of a higher juvenile figure.

Returning to Keeneland in the spring of his 3-year-old year, Highly Motivated was second to Essential Quality in a memorable edition of the GII Toyota Blue Grass S., where the latter prevailed by a short neck after a long stretch duel. It was a further 5 1/2 lengths back to third-place finisher Rombauer (Twirling Candy), who would return to take the GI Preakness S. Sent off as the 10-1 fifth choice in the GI Kentucky Derby in his next start, Highly Motivated's disappointing 10th-place finish would prove to be the final start of his sophomore season.

Following a nearly year-long layoff, Highly Motivated was brought back to win a mile feature at Belmont Park before making his next start in the GIII Monmouth Cup S, where he posted an easy victory, breaking the nine-furlong track record in 1:46.53 set 37 years prior by Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year Spend a Buck. Subsequently injured while training toward the GI Cigar Mile, Highly Motivated retires with a record of 10-4-3-1 and earnings of more than $667,000.

“Highly Motivated was the best colt in our barn at two and three and ran Grade I-winning numbers at both ages,” said trainer Chad Brown. “He's a two-time track-record setter by one of the best stallions in the world. In my opinion, there's not a ceiling on his potential at stud.”

“He's an undeniable talent by a brilliant sire,” added Airdrie's Bret Jones. “He's an absolutely gorgeous Mike Ryan purchase that we believe will be on anyone's short list of the best-looking horses retired this year. Highly Motivated fits the description of so many important sires: a horse with Grade I speed that goes to stud without the benefit of a Grade I on his resume. He deserves the opportunity and we will see that he gets it. Having given us the chance two years ago to stand Complexity, we are again grateful to Seth Klarman for entrusting our Airdrie team with the future of his talented horse.”

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Grade I Winner Happy Saver to Stand at Airdrie

Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver–Happy Week, by Distorted Humor) will retire to Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky following this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Airdrie Stud announced Friday. He will stand for an initial fee of $12,500 LFSN.

Undefeated in his first five starts, Happy Saver's signature victory came in the historic GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he won the race as a 3-year-old in his fourth career start. Most recently, Happy Saver has finished second in each of the last four Grade I races he has contested. Those efforts include runner-up finishes to Flightline (Tapit) in the GI Metropolitan H. and Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Whitney S., races in which he finished in front of GISWs Olympiad (Speightstown), Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and Aloha West (Hard Spun), among others.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher throughout his career, Happy Saver will take a lifetime record of five wins and six graded stakes placings from his 12 lifetime races and earnings of nearly $1.2 million into an expected start in the $6,000,000 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 5.

A regally bred son of the multiple Eclipse Award-winning sire Super Saver, Happy Saver's female family stands as one of the breed's most important. Out of the sprinting black-type Distorted Humor mare Happy Week, Happy Saver's third dam is Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, dam of the champion racehorse and leading sire A.P. Indy, as well as Classic winner Summer Squall.

(Watch Happy Saver's Keeneland work Friday morning)

“Happy Saver has been a priority for our farm since the day we watched him break his maiden in his debut at Belmont,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “He won by five lengths that day and ran the same 1:21 and two-fifths as the seven-furlong Grade I Woody Stephens run on the same card at the same distance. It was a `wow' performance and he has validated that early impression by becoming one of the best racehorses in America. He's a direct descendent of Weekend Surprise and when you combine his female family with that of Super Saver's, it's as rich a genetic bank as any horse that will ever retire to stud. He exemplifies the Wertheimer family's best-in-class breeding program and we are so grateful that they have allowed us to partner with them on a stallion that has the speed, class and charisma to be a really special sire.”

“Winning the Jockey Club as an undefeated 3-year-old takes a very special horse, and that's exactly what we've always believed Happy Saver to be,” added Pletcher. “He's a tremendous talent and runs with as much heart as any horse we lead over. He has all the characteristics I think any breeder would look for in a young stallion.”

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Racing Industry Participants Shine in Common Wealth of Kentucky Project

What do an award-winning chef, a rising young country music star and a reigning champion trainer have in common?

All three are featured in the Common Wealth of Kentucky Project, an exhibit going on now through Oct. 1 at LexArts Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with chef Ouita Michel and singer Walker Montgomery, trainer Brad Cox is one of 70 Kentuckians who shared their life story for the collection, which is the culmination of a year-long project for impressionist painter Kelly Brewer and partner Beth Pride, a writer and digital storyteller.

Visitors can explore the gallery and connect with each Kentuckian on a multi-sensory level as they observe the portrait of the participants, read a short summary of their lives, and even scan a QR code with a smart-phone camera to listen to the participant's voice as they share portions of their own story.

The project was inspired by Brewer's mother, Jo B. Robertson, who passed away in 2020. Brewer decided that she wanted to paint portraits to honor her mother and raise money for the Jo B. Robertson Charitable Foundation, which was established to continue Robertson's legacy of helping to educate, house, clothe and feed the less fortunate. Brewer turned to Pride, the wife of Godolphin's Dan Pride, for assistance.

“We decided that we would call it the Common Wealth of Kentucky and that it would reveal the richness that the people who comprise this state are made of and the commonalities that we all have,” said Pride. “We hoped to do our best to break down these artificial barriers that really, at the end of the day, are not real.”

Together Pride and Brewer, along with advocate Jill Johnson, spent the next year traveling throughout the Commonwealth as Brewer painted Kentuckians from all walks of life while Pride collected their stories.

They met with Jeff Broadwater, a United States Army major general who served in Kuwait during Desert Storm and was deployed to Iraq twice, and Lou Anna Red Corn, the first Native American Commonwealth Attorney in Kentucky. They talked to Pedo Mann, a coal foreman in Eastern Kentucky, and Gentille Ntakarutimana, who was a Burundian refugee as a child and is now a legal assistant for Morgan and Morgan.

Louisville native Brad Cox is not the only racing industry member to appear in the collection. The sport is a common theme throughout the exhibit. Keeneland is represented by President and CEO Shannon Arvin along with well-known ringman Cordell Anderson. Other members of the sport who are featured include Lane End Farm's Bill Farish, Airdrie Stud's Bret Jones, Phipps Family Stable racing manager Daisy Phipps Pulito and Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen.

“What we really tried to do is build a unique impression of who these people are and find something that maybe everyone doesn't know about them,” explained Pride. “Daisy was in the sports television industry for years and Bill was a personal aide to President George H.W. Bush. Everyone has something unique that really differentiates them, but we also found that we have so many things in common as human beings and we're all connected through our humanity no matter our background or where we're going.”

Participants also included political figures like Lexington mayor Linda Gorton as well as Kelly Craft, the former United Nations Ambassador who recently launched her campaign for Kentucky governor. Lexington locals will recognize names like Kentucky Sports Radio's Matt Jones and Bluegrass Hospitality Group founders Brian McCarty and Bruce Drake.

Each of the portraits on display are available for purchase through a super silent auction format where the bid amount is hidden from the public and managed confidentially. The auction will continue through Friday, Oct. 1.

“We're very grateful for the response,” Pride said. “We had about 400 people there on opening night and LexArts has told us that the traffic for the exhibit has been triple what they are accustomed to.”

The exhibit has also been encapsulated in the form of a book, which was written and sound-produced by Pride and features the original artwork by Brewer (the book is available in the gallery, at the Keeneland Mercantile in Lexington or can be purchased here).

As Pride reflected on the project, she said that in many ways, Kentucky horse racing represents a microcosm of the Commonwealth as a whole.

“The horse business is one of those industries where there is a lot of competition within the industry, but it's also an industry that has external criticism,” Pride said. “It's the same with bourbon, parimutual betting and coal mining. What happens is that the people in the industry are friendly competitors because they know they need to be bonded in a singular purpose of promoting and advocating for the horse and for the industry. That spirit where everyone is in it together is reflected all throughout Kentucky.”

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Girvin Relocates to Airdrie Stud

Fast-starting freshman sire Girvin (Tale of Ekati–Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon) will relocate to Airdrie Stud for the 2023 breeding season. The 8-year-old stallion, who began his stud career at the O'Farrell family's Ocala Stud, is already the sire of 12 winners from 23 starters, including the GII Saratoga Special S. winner Damon's Mound and Astoria S. winner Devious Dame.

Girvin, who raced in the silks of Brad Grady for trainer Joe Sharp, won the 2017 GI Betfair.com Haskell Invitational, as well as that year's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby and GII Risen Star S.

He retired to Ocala Stud following his 4-year-old season and stood as a partnership between Brad and Misty Grady's Grand Oaks Farm and Airdrie Stud in a deal brokered by West Bloodstock.

Airdrie's Bret Jones said the opportunity to partner with the Grady and O'Farrell families was a major draw for the farm's investment in Girvin.

“We had great belief in Girvin's potential as a stallion, but just as importantly, we knew that every partner was going to be pulling in the same direction to give the him the greatest possible chance,” said Jones. “Ocala Stud have done a fantastic job both supporting and promoting the horse and the commitment that Brad has made has been extraordinary. He deserves every bit of good luck that comes his way. As for Girvin, he's been tipping his hand since his first foals hit the ground. He throws beautiful babies, had a monster juvenile sales season and I think his 2-year-olds have been as impressive on the track as any first-season stallion in America. He's giving every indication that he can be a big-time Kentucky stallion and we couldn't be more excited about him.”

Grady, and bloodstock agent Bobby Dodd, purchased Girvin for $130,000 at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“When Bobby Dodd and I first bought Girvin he was a beautiful, strong colt, that looked fast,” said Grady. “As a yearling, Mr. Beau Lane told Bobby and I that we had a serious horse and explained his depth of pedigree in a way that two rednecks could understand. Bobby was always high on Girvin and gave him the accolades of a freak. He had a minor setback as a 2-year-old that kept us from pinhooking him. We had the chance to race him, and he took us on the ride of a lifetime that we will never forget. It was a very easy decision to support him for both Misty and I, and when we got a glimpse of his first foals, we knew we did the right thing for him and us. He has more than blessed our family. We are grateful to Airdrie Stud and Ocala Stud for supporting Girvin, and giving him the best possible chance for success.”

Girvin has arrived at Airdrie and is available for viewing.

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