Tag: Calumet Farm

Jack Sisterson Has Become A Kentucky Downs Regular With Calumet

Calumet Farm's trainer Jack Sisterson is looking forward to the distinctive all-turf FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, which opens this Sunday.

The six-day season continues on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 8, 9, 11 and 12. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central.

Since he was hired as Calumet's private trainer in May 2018, Sisterson has increased his involvement at Kentucky Downs. He had two starters that first year, seven in 2019 and 10 last year. As this meet approached, Sisterson said Calumet would be well-represented in stakes – including G1 Man o' War winner Channel Cat in the $1 million, Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup – and overnight races. He has four horses entered for the opening-day 11-race program and another two in Monday. That includes In Effect in Sunday's $750,000 Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby.

Sisterson, who is still looking for his first win at the track, said that Kentucky Downs is a refreshing change of pace from typical American racing and fits the Calumet program. As an aside, Calumet Farm owner Brad Kelley, who grew up in Simpson County, also owned Kentucky Downs in partnership and then outright from 1997-2007. Among Calumet Farm's stallions is 2007 male turf champion English Channel.

“Well, it's obviously intriguing because we have a lot of horses that are bred to run on the grass,” Sisterson said. “We have a lot of English Channels because he stands at Calumet and they really seem to take to that configuration. It is quite refreshing to go down there for a week of racing, just because it is different. It's not the flat oval track. You've got the mile and five-sixteenth, 6 1/2. It's just a great, fun week.”

However, Sisterson said that the undulating kidney-shaped course can be a bit of an adventure for horsemen.

“You've no idea what horse is going to take to it,” he said. “Which horse won't. Which horse will. Full fields. Just a lot of excitement going on down there.”

Sisterson had Channel Cat with him at Saratoga all summer. After Channel Cat finished fourth in the G2 Bowling Green on July 31, Sisterson opted to skip Saratoga's G1 Sword Dancer on Aug. 28 and wait for the race sponsored by Calumet. He thought that the Calumet Turf Cup was a better fit for the speedy horse. Plus there was no need to guess whether the 6-year-old son of English Channel can handle Kentucky Downs: he won the 2018 Dueling Grounds Derby while being trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

Trainer Kenny McPeek will go after his third victory in the $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks Sunday with Susan Moulton's Oliviaofthedesert. The Bernardini filly was fourth in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks on Aug. 7 at Ellis Park. Last year at Kentucky Downs, Oliviaofthedesert finished third in the $500,000 Mint Juvenile Fillies.

McPeek, a stalwart at the track, ranks fourth in career wins with 26 from 153 starts. He said he expects to have at least 20 starters during the meet.

Four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown, perennially the champion turf trainer in America, was the leading money winner at last year's meet with $980,375. A good chunk of that came from Juddmonte Farms' Flavius winning the $750,000 Tourist Mile, which this year was elevated to Grade 3 status, received a purse hike to $1 million and was renamed the WinStar Mint Million.

Flavius will seek to become the first two-time winner of the stakes, drawing post 11 in the field of 11 for Monday's race. In his most recent start, Flavius won the restricted Lure Stakes on Aug. 7 at Saratoga.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has plenty of experience at Kentucky Downs. He has five wins from 13 career starts. He started running more at the track a few year ago on the advice of his son Reeve, then an assistant and now with his own stable. Reeve McGaughey encouraged his dad to re-establish more of a presence in their native Kentucky. The elder McGaughey was a mainstay in Kentucky until relocating to New York in the mid-1980s.

McGaughey entered Joseph Allen's homebred 3-year-old filly Flying Fortress in Sunday's seventh race, a $145,000 first-level allowance. Flying Fortress, a daughter of Uncle Mo out of Dakota Queen by War Front, broke her maiden first-out on Aug. 4 at Colonial Downs. She is a full sister to Allen's Enola Gay, who broken her maiden at Kentucky Downs in 2019 and won the G2 Appalachian during Keeneland's 2020 summer meet. (Enola Gay also won an allowance race Tuesday at Colonial Downs.)

McGaughey said the timing of the Kentucky Downs meet is ideal for New York-based horsemen who face a gap between the end of the Saratoga season and the start of the Belmont fall meet on Sept. 16.

“I think it's a good alternative,” he said. “We leave here on Labor Day and don't run again until the following Thursday. It fits right in there, so why not take advantage of it and take advantage of the purses?”

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Classic-Placed Everfast Sold To Race In Dubai

Everfast, who finished second to War of Will in the 2019 Preakness Stakes, has been sold to continue his racing career in Dubai, Michael Adolphson of Dubai Racing Club reported on Aug. 19.

The 5-year-old Take Charge Indy gelding joined the yard of trainer Doug Watson for owner Kildare Stud.

Everfast previously raced for Calumet Farm, trained by Dale Romans and Jack Sisterson, after the operation purchased the horse as a short yearling for $47,000 at the 2017 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.

He started in the Romans barn, winning on debut as a 2-year-old at Ellis Park. At three, he finished second to Harvey Wallbanger in the G2 Holy Bull Stakes at odds of 128-1, then finished out of the money in the G1 Florida Derby and G3 Pat Day Mile Stakes.

That brief spike in form had become rather distant when he was announced as a candidate for that year's Preakness Stakes, and the betting public was just as confounded, sending him off with the field's second-longest odds at 29-1. Under jockey Joel Rosario, Everfast closed from the back of the field to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind War of Will.

That effort led to Everfast becoming a regular in the biggest 3-year-old races of the summer, where he finished off the board in the Belmont Stakes, Haskell Invitational Stakes, and Travers Stakes.

Everfast was moved to the Sisterson barn for his 4-year-old season, which started with runner-up efforts in an Oaklawn Park allowance and the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, before he was moved to the turf and finished ninth in the G1 Maker's Mark Stakes, which was won by familiar rival War of Will.

The horse returned to the dirt and scaled back to one turn after the Maker's Mark, and won a seven-furlong Saratoga allowance in his comeback start. He was then returned to stakes competition, where he ran off the board in the G1 Forego Stakes, G3 Ack Ack Stakes, and black type Lafayette Stakes. His most recent starts came in December 2020, when he finished third in a pair of allowance optional claiming races at Gulfstream Park.

Frankie O'Connor's Kildare Stud is based in central Kentucky, but the owner regularly sends runners to Watson in the U.A.E.

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Lexitonian Will Try To Carry Momentum Into Forego

Calumet Farm homebred Lexitonian, a racing enigma who broke through with his biggest performance to date last month, goes after a second consecutive win for the first time in his career in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Forego at Saratoga Race Course.

The 42nd running of the Forego, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, is one of seven graded-stakes, six of them Grade 1, worth $4.6 million in purses on a blockbuster program highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers.

Five of the eight horses entered in the Forego are Grade 1 winners, including Firenze Fire, Mind Control, Mischevious Alex and Whitmore, the champion sprinter of 2020. Lexitonian joined the group with a half-length victory in the six-furlong Alfred G. Vanderbilt July 31, his 19th career start and first since being eased to the wire in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap June 5 at Belmont Park.

“He's probably not a fan favorite horse because he's a tough horse to handicap. No one knows what to expect,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “We've always had the confidence to put him in races like that. He does from time to time throw a clunker in. He got beat [45 ¼] lengths in the Met Mile. A lot of people probably would have dropped him down a grade to get him a confidence win and get him back on track, but he showed signs that he was still capable of winning a type of race like the Vanderbilt. We stuck him in there and he proved to everybody that he's got the capability of jumping up with a big performance.”

Sisterson approached the Vanderbilt with a different strategy, asking jockey Jose Lezcano to get the 5-year-old son of champion sprinter Speightstown involved early. Breaking from the rail, they dueled first with Strike Power and then with Special Reserve on the lead before prevailing at odds of 34-1, the longest shot in a field of nine that also included Whitmore [third], Firenze Fire [fifth] and Mischevious Alex [eighth].

“We sort of changed the tactics with him,” Sisterson said. “He'd been breezing down on the inside of horses, and he's very workmanlike. It was just by chance we drew the one hole. I suppose when you draw the one, you have to jump and go forward. Going three-quarters, you're not going to take back and make one run. I'd never be someone to tell a jockey what to do, but I just chatted to Jose about the race. I said, 'Let's be real aggressive early and see if you can put him on the lead.' Credit to Jose, it was a brilliant ride. Lexitonian really responded to that.”

Lexitonian became a graded-stakes winner in the Grade 3 Chick Lang in 2019 at Pimlico Race Course, later that summer returning to Maryland to take the Concern at Laurel Park. He won one of his next 11 starts prior to the Vanderbilt, coming up a nose short in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby last August and a head shy in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs May 21. He also ran fifth in last year's Forego, beaten 2 ½ lengths by Win Win Win.

“He'd probably been a bit unfortunate not to already have been a Grade 1 winner. Obviously I'm biased. He's had some near misses but he put it all together in the Vanderbilt,” Sisterson said. “He's shown us signs that he's going to run the same sort of race he did in the Vanderbilt. We haven't changed anything up with him. We've just kept it simple. With him, less is more. We found that out pretty quickly. We're excited about Saturday. It would be great to see him duplicate a performance like that. I think he's well capable of doing it. He couldn't be doing any better.”

Lezcano returns to ride from post position 3.

Robert LaPenta, trainer Ron Moquett and Head of Plains Partners' Whitmore rallied to be third after some early trouble in the Vanderbilt, beaten less than two lengths. According to Equibase, the 8-year-old gelding – a winner of 15 races including the 2018 Forego and nearly $4.5 million in purse earnings from 42 career starts – can become the second-oldest horse to win a Grade 1 event at Saratoga behind John's Call, who was 9 when he won the Sword Dancer in 2009.

The Vanderbilt was Whitmore's first race since running third by a head in the Churchill Downs, a nose behind Lexitonian. Winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint last fall to clinch his first year-end championship, he will have the services of Joel Rosario from post position 2.

Another multi-millionaire in the Forego is Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, a 14-time winner with nine graded victories who earned Grade 1 credentials in the 2017 Champagne at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old Poseidon's Warrior horse has enjoyed great success downstate, including wins in the Grade 2 True North and Grade 3 Runhappy this spring, but his lone win in eight Saratoga starts came in the Grade 3 Sanford in 2017, his second career race.

Making his third straight appearance in the Forego, having run second to champion Mitole in 2019 and 11th behind Win Win Win last year, Firenze Fire will have Jose Ortiz in the irons from post position 8.

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control [post 4, John Velazquez] snapped an eight-race losing streak last out in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud July 4 at Belmont Park, his first start for newly inducted Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. His two career Grade 1 victories have come at Saratoga in the 2018 Hopeful and 2019 H. Allen Jerkens, both at the Forego distance, for previous trainer Gregg Sacco.

“He's good at the distance. He's won over the track and seems to be maintaining form,” Pletcher said. “We expect a tough race, but he's doing good.”

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex won back-to-back Grade 3 stakes last year in the Swale at Gulfstream Park and Gotham at Aqueduct for trainer John Servis. Moved to South Florida-based Saffie Joseph, Jr. for 2021, the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt put together a three-race win streak that included the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint and Aqueduct's Grade 1 Carter. Third in the Met Mile, he regressed with an eighth-place finish in the Vanderbilt that left Joseph scratching his head.

“Last race, he didn't show up. Hopefully, we can correct it this time and he can come back and run his usual race for us,” Joseph said. “If he runs his race, he's a horse who goes in there with a good chance.”

Mischevious Alex's stablemate, Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It, has run second two starts this year, both at Gulfstream. He was beaten less than a length each time after returning from more than a year layoff, first by Double Crown in a May 23 optional claimer and then by Miles Ahead in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint July 3.

“Chance It is making his third start off a layoff and seems to be training really well. He always had a lot of potential. He'll have to step it up against these types of horses, but he's entitled to have a chance,” Joseph said. “He's come back and in his both his races, he's been just as good as before the layoff. The added distance will work to his advantage. This will be his test to see if he belongs against these types of horses. We feel like he does, so fingers crossed.”

Tyler Gaffalione has the call on Chance It from post position 6, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides Mischevious Alex from post position 1.

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon won each of his first four career starts last year, two of them coming at Saratoga – an open allowance triumph over older horses and the Grade 2 Amsterdam – as well as the Chick Lang. Following a troubled eighth in both the Breeders' Cup Sprint to end 2020 and the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen to open 2021, Yaupon returned to capture Pimlico's Lite the Fuse July 4 in his most recent outing.

“[The Breeders' Cup] was too much too soon,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He had run well at Pimlico previously and thought it was a very fast race. He came out of it in good shape. Obviously, I think he deserves the chance in the Forego. He's run very well at Saratoga, as well.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides Yaupon from post position 7.

Three Diamonds Farm's Doubly Blessed [post 5, Luis Saez] is set to make his graded-stakes debut in the Forego. Fourth in the 1 3/8-mile Stud Muffin March 27 at Aqueduct, the 4-year-old Empire Maker gelding will be cutting back to a sprint for the first time in a 13-race career that began last spring on the turf. Last out, he won a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer in the Belmont Park slop May 29.

The Forego is slated as Race 8 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Bloodlines: Lexitonian The Latest Long-Term Dividend For Speightstown

When leading sire Tapit doesn't have a major performer in a graded stakes, he is figuring as the broodmare sire of a major performer in a graded stakes. Or, the great gray son of Pulpit sometimes has both.

On July 31 at Saratoga, for instance, last year's champion juvenile colt and this year's Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality (by Tapit) won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy as his prep for the G1 Travers, and on the same card, Lexitonian (Speightstown) won the G1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and is out of the Tapit mare Riviera Romper.

A winner at two, Riviera Romper was bred and raced by My Meadowview Farm, then sold to Calumet Farm for $310,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale when carrying Lexitonian.

The Vanderbilt winner is the mare's first foal and only winner from three other named foals of racing age, including the 2-year-old Miss Raison (Raison d'Etat). The latter split the field of nine at Arlington Park on her debut in a maiden special on July 17. Riviera Romper has a yearling colt by 2015 Travers Stakes winner Keen Ice (Curlin) and a foal of 2021 who is a full sister to Lexitonian.

Their sire Speightstown is the last remaining important son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Gone West still at stud, and among all the good sons of Gone West, only Juddmonte's classic-winning Zafonic would be a competitor with Speightstown to rank as the very best of them.

It has not always been this way.

As a yearling, Speightstown was a beauty, and well I remember his presence and charisma from the 1999 Keeneland July sale, when Speightstown was such a sensation that the gleaming chestnut brought $2 million from Eugene Melnyk out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment.

The great-looking yearling developed into one of the quickest juveniles for trainer Todd Pletcher, then started as the favorite for his debut at Saratoga in August 2000. And Speightstown finished dead last of 13, having “raced greenly and tired.”

The horse returned almost six months later and won a maiden special at Gulfstream, then lost an allowance but jumped into graded stakes for the G3 Gotham and finished seventh. For trainer Phil England, Speightstown won three straight allowances at Woodbine, then went to Saratoga for the G2 Amsterdam. There, Speightstown and favored City Zip flamed broiled each other, with Speightstown getting the calls for the quarter in :21.69 and the half in :44.86. City Zip had his head in front at the stretch call and pulled away slightly to win by a length, but it had taken the two front runners :26.17 to finish the final quarter-mile.

Speightstown didn't race again in 2001. Nor did he race in 2002. Twenty-one months and six days after the Amsterdam, Speightstown returned to racing at Belmont Park and won a seven-furlong allowance by a neck. The second horse was Volponi, whose previous start had been a victory in the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic at Arlington.

The colt's next start was the Jaipur Stakes at Belmont and resulted in another head and head battle, this time with the very fast Holy Bull son Garnered, who won by 1 ¼ lengths. It was nearly a replay of the Amsterdam, and after a quarter in :21.64 and a half in :43.91, the two leaders took :39.58 to cover the final three furlongs.

After the Jaipur, Speightstown didn't race for 10 months and a day. For many an owner, this would have been too much. A $2 million-dollar colt who had made 10 starts in four seasons of racing and who had shown a very high level of speed but had trouble staying healthy seems like a proposition that many would have bailed on.

When Pletcher brought the striking chestnut back to the races in 2004 at age six, however, Speightstown showed that he was worth the wait. The horse swept victoriously through his first four starts – the Artax, G2 Churchill Downs Handicap, G2 True North Handicap, and G2 Vanderbilt Handicap – and in the latter was the odds-on favorite and set a new track record of 1:08.04.

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Upset as the odds-on favorite in the G1 Vosburgh, Speightstown came back in the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Lone Star Park in Texas on Oct. 30, 2004. The horse rated in fourth as Abbondanza and Cuvee slugged out the early furlongs, then came on in the stretch to win by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:08.11.

That G1 victory put the seal on a championship season for Speightstown, who entered stud the following year, and with the combined might of WinStar and Taylor Made farms behind him, Speightstown has risen to uncommon heights. The stallion's first crop contained 15 stakes winners, including Reynaldothewizard (G1 Golden Shaheen), Haynesfield (G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup), Lord Shanakill (G1 Prix Jean Prat), Jersey Town (G1 Cigar Mile), and Mona de Momma (G1 Distaff Stakes).

Despite being a horse of high speed, Speightstown prospered with maturity, and many of his best offspring likewise have shown improved form as they matured. That has not always made him the most popular commercial horse, but his stock have the speed if owners have the time. To date, Speightstown has 121 stakes winners (10 percent to foals of racing age).

The stallion's most successful son at stud to date is Munnings, a G2 winner from that illustrious first crop, and Calumet's latest G1 winner will doubtless be given opportunities at stud, both by his breeder and by commercial breeders who appreciate speed and pedigree.

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