Tag: Carmel Road

White Abarrio Draws Rail, National Treasure Booked In Seven For The 2024 Saudi Cup

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero White Abarrio (Race Day), who leads Team USA in Saturday's 1800-meter $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, drew the rail in a field of 14 during the Saudi Cup draw ceremony in Saudi Arabia Wednesday.

Trained by Richard Dutrow, Jr., the gray defeated Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) (stall 13) in the Classic, and will face the starter for the first time since in Saturday's contest at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh in just a handful of days.

After the draw, Dutrow said, “He had the two-hole last time, this can't be a problem. We've got the best rider, one of the best horses. It'll be fun. We'll be ready. He really takes my breath away every time I see him.”

“I'm shaking right now, I mean this is exciting stuff man–a $20-million race, my mum's going crazy! I mean my dad used to run for $10,000… we were so happy, now a $20-million race, she just can't believe it.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has yet to win the Saudi Cup, but his runners have performed well at the meeting, which will celebrate its fifth edition in 2024. In fact, Baffert runners have finished second each of the past three years–Charlatan (Speightstown) (2021) and Country Grammer (Tonalist) (2022/2023). This term, Baffert will saddle GI Preakness S. hero National Treasure (Quality Road), who will leave from gate seven. The bay defeated Grade II winner Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) (stall four) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. at the end of January.

Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer to Bob Baffert said, “He's got better and better, he's beginning to put races together, he's really matured and loves it here. Flavien Prat [jockey] will give him a good trip and that's all you can ask for.”

Other American Saudi Cup starters will leave from gates eight and five, respectively, in Grade II winner Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft), fourth in the Pegasus; and GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming). The latter triumphed in the GIII Louisiana S. at Fair Grounds on Jan. 20.

Dallas Stewart, trainer of Hoist The Gold, said, “That's the same number that Winning Colors [who he rode as an exercise rider] had when she won the GI Kentucky Derby [in 1988]. He travels well, he's been to California three times, he went to New York, he looks terrific and is handling the track good.”

The aforementioned Derma Sotogake, a winner of the G2 UAE Derby last year, sustained a minor injury to his eye on the flight over, but connections have opted to run the colt, as he appears healed, the Racing Post reported on Wednesday.

“We didn't see how it happened on the plane,” said trainer Hidetaka Otonashi to the publication. “He's recovered from the injury and was galloping very well, so we've decided to go ahead.”

Japan fields another four runners in the Saudi Cup, as fellow Breeders' Cup Classic competitor Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) (stall 11) has also returned for another crack at his Santa Anita foes. Already the winner of the 2023 G1 Dubai World Cup, the 7-year-old entire won his second G1 Tokyo Daishoten at Oi on Dec. 29 and has been pleasing connections in his training.

Japan's attempt to take home the hardware for the second consecutive year is supported by the trio of Japanese Champion Dirt Horse Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) (gate three) and MGSWs Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach The Crown {Jpn}) (gate six) and Meisho Hario (Jpn) (Pyro) from stall 12.

Harry Sweeney, of Lemon Pop who is owned by Godolphin, “We've enormous confidence in our jockey, in our last race we drew the very outside and a horse had never won from that position before. Lemon Pop overcame those odds. He's going to have to do it again but we'll see how it goes. It's a big ask for Lemon Pop, we're respectful of all.”

GI Awesome Again S. and GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. victor Defunded (Dialed In), formerly raced in America from the Baffert barn. Campaigned by new connections beginning on Saturday, he exits stall nine. The other Saudi contenders are Power in Numbers (Girvin), who sports a 4-0 record at Riyadh to date, and the winning Carmel Road (Quality Road) (stall 14). Quality Road's Emblem Road won the 2022 edition of the Saudi Cup. They leave from stalls 10 and 14, respectively.

Khalid bin Mishref, racing manager for the gelding's owner Dr. Muhaideb Abdullah Almuhaideb, said, “It was a good move from us to bring him early to Saudi Arabia, he's acclimatized very well. We're hoping that he's capable to compete against those great horses.”

The UAE's Isolate (Mark Valeski), booked in stall two, is riding a two-race winning streak, and was last seen winning the G2 Al Maktoum Mile in December.

The full field in post position order is as follows:

 

The Saudi Cup-G1, $20,000,000, 4yo/up, 1800m
1-White Abarrio (Race Day)
2-Isolate (Mark Valeski)
3-Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid)
4-Senor Buscador (Mineshaft)
5-Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming)
6-Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach The Crown {Jpn})
7-National Treasure (Quality Road)
8-Hoist The Gold (Mineshaft)
9-Defunded (Dialed In)
10-Power In Numbers (Girvin)
11-Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn})
12-Meisho Hario (Jpn) (Pyro)
13-Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits)
14-Carmel Road (Quality Road)

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Baffert’s Gotham Noms Switched to New Trainers

The nominees for the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct include four horses that have been under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, but were nominated under the names of new trainers.

Baffert is banned from running in this year's GI Kentucky Derby and any horse under the care of a trainer suspended by Churchill Downs must be moved to a new barn by Feb. 28 in order to earn Derby qualifying points. On Friday, a U.S. District Judge ruled against Baffert as he sought a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to enter the Derby. Baffert was also banned by the New York Racing Association, but its one-year suspension ended Jan. 26.

The news that Baffert-trainees are switching stables for a possible run in the Gotham was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's David Grening.

The Baffert Gotham nominees are the Amr Zedan-owned pair of Arabian Lion (Justify) and Hejazi (Bernardini) and Carmel Road (Quality Road) and Fort Warren (Curlin). The latter two are owned by partnerships consisting of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable LLC and others. Arabian Lion, Hejazi and Carmel Road were nominated under the name of Tim Yakteen. Fort Warren was nominated under the name of Brittany Russell. It was not clear who, if any of the Baffert/Yakteen/Russell horses, will start in the Gotham.

With Baffert also suspended from running in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, the two starters in the race from his barn, Taiba (Gun Runner) and Messier (Empire Maker), competed for Yatkeen, a former assistant to Baffert.

Several other Baffert trained 3-year-old colts will also likely be on the move within the next few days. Nominations for the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita, also to be run Mar. 4, close Thursday and any horse from the Baffert stable with eyes on a possible Kentucky Derby start will need to find a new home.

The GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream will also be run Mar. 4. Baffert nominated Hard to Figure (Hard Spun), the runner-up in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. According to Grening's report, Baffert was listed as the trainer on the nomination.

Plans for Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) and Cave Rock (Arrogate), generally considered the top two 3-year-olds in the Baffert stable, have yet to be announced.

Baffert is expected to have starters in Saturday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn. All of his nominees to that race are listed under his own name. But the Rebel takes place before the Feb. 28 deadline.

The Gotham starters were not the first 3-year-olds from the Baffert barn to find a new home. After breaking his maiden for Baffert Jan. 22 at Santa Anita, Harlocap (Justify) ran for Steve Asmussen in Saturday's GII Risen Star S. He finished sixth.

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At Los Alamitos, Kumin the Breeder Beats Kumin the Owner

As the field crossed the wire in Saturday's GII Los Alamitos Futurity, Sol Kumin experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all at once. Kumin is the co-owner of second-place finisher Carmel Road (Quality Road) and third-place finisher Fort Bragg (Tapit). They ran well but couldn't outrun Practical Move (Practical Joke). Along with Chad Brown, Kumin bred, but does not own, the race winner.

“It was cool because I always loved the winner's dam, Ack Naughty (Afleet Alex),” he said. “Would I have loved to see one of the two horses we had in there with Baffert win and run off the screen? I probably would have been happier had that happened. But to look up and be able to say you bred the winner and owned the horses that ran second and third is fun. But I still enjoy the racing part of it more. I sometimes wish I still owned the horse than won.”

Kumin, one of the most prominent owners in the sport, is known for being a partner on dozens of top horses every year. He says he has no intention of becoming a breeder on a large scale, but will keep the occasional mare for breeding purposes.

“I don't think I'll ever have a commercial breeding business,” he said. “I'm too emotional and I know myself well enough to know what my limitations are.”

He did, however, keep Ack Naughty. Trained by Brown and a New York-bred, she debuted in 2014 and won four times from 15 starts. She finished second in the Chelsea Flower S. and the Mount Vernon S. and was third in the John Hettinger S.

“We raced the horse and loved her,” Kumin said. “She was among one of the first crops of horses that we owned. When it came time to sell her, I didn't want to. We put a value on her and bought out our partners. Chad loved her, too. She ran a bunch and always tried really hard. We had a little crooked yearling who turned into this big, pretty horse.”

When Brown was told of Kumin's plans he asked if he could stay involved and the two went in as partners on the mare. In her first year, she was bred to Violence and produced a colt who has yet to race. Her second foal is Practical Move. She was bred to Practical Joke because Brown trained the sire and owns a share in him.

Normally, with Kumin, the plan is to race the horses he bred. But he explained that Brown prefers that the foals are sold at auction. Practical Move RNA'd for $90,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale and then sold for $230,000 as a 2-year-old at the OBS April sale. His owners are Pierre Jean Amestoy Jr., Leslie A. Amestoy and Rogers Beasley. He is trained by Baffert's former assistant, Tim Yakteen.

Coming into the Los Alamitos Futurity, Practical Move had yet to cross the wire first but was placed first through disqualification in an Oct. 10 maiden at Santa Anita in which Kumin's Fort Bragg was taken down. After that, he ran third in the GIII Bob Hope S.

“I knew this horse really well,” Kumin said. “Not only did I breed him but every time he ran we had horses in there against him. I had watched all of his races.”

Kumin started out with five to seven mares which he boards with Des Ryan at Dell Ridge Farm. But from such small numbers he has enjoyed considerable success. He bred and owns Fluffy Socks (Slumber {GB}), the winner of the GII Sands Point S., the GIII Jimmy Durante S. and the Selima S. He also bred and owns Grade III winner Sy Dog (Slumber {GB}).

“We have had three graded stakes winners out of something like ten horses that we bred,” he said. “It's been pretty outrageous so far.”

His collection of home breds is about to grow. Brown was the co-owner of Slumber (Cacique {Ire}), who won the GI Manhattan S. in 2015. Slumber began his stallion career at Calumet Farm but, Kumin said, the farm considered retiring him and sending him to Old Friends because he was breeding to only a small number of mares. When told of that, Kumin said he bought the stallion for $1 and sent him to Rockridge Stud in New York, where he stands for $7,500. Kumin is optimistic that Slumber can be a success and is supporting him at stud.

“We bred 20 mares to Slumber last year and 16 or so the year before so we're really starting to pump things up,” he said. “We have him in New York and will keep breeding 15 to 20 mares to him every year. Let's see if they will be as good as we think they can be. This has been my first real effort as a breeder. We're not going to sell many. We are breeding them to race. They will go to top trainers and, hopefully, we'll get some good horses out of this.”

Whether it's with Carmel Road, Fort Bragg or National Treasure (Quality Road), who was third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Kumin has an excellent shot of having a horse in next year's Kentucky Derby, where they might meet Practical Move. He'll root first for the horses he owns. But if he has to lose, it might as well be to the horse he bred.

“I look at it like this, we have a mom that I loved the whole time we had her and now she's turned out to be a producer,” he said. “There's nothing wrong with that.”

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Practical Joke Colt Upsets Los Al Futurity

In each of his four previous trips to the post, Practical Move (Practical Joke) had finished behind Bob Baffert-trained runners, but the bay colt–conditioned by former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen–exacted his revenge in a big spot Saturday afternoon, outfinishing pacesetting Carmel Road (Quality Road) to upset the GII Los Alamitos Futurity as the 10-1 second-longest price on the board. Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was demoted from an apparent victory over Practical Move two starts back, completed the trifecta, while hot favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify) was a spent force three furlongs from home and trailed in.

Carmel Road hit the ground running and led them along early as Arabian Lion was no better than three wide rounding the first turn before rolling forward to prompt from second. Ramon Vasquez had Practical Move in the early vanguard, but was only too happy to see Arabian Lion go on and took the sit from third. Positions were unchanged through the middle fractions, but when Practical Move went for a run underneath the odds-on pick at the three-eighths, there was no response from Arabian Lion, and Carmel Road became the target. Sent inside of that one in upper stretch, Practical Move struck to the lead about a furlong and a half from the wire and was pushed out to a comfortable score.

A debut second to the Baffert-conditioned 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) on Del Mar debut Aug. 13, Practical Move was third at the seaside oval the following month to National Treasure (Quality Road), who would go on to be second to Cave Rock in the GI American Pharoah S. and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Put up to the victory after Fort Bragg hampered him badly in the final stages of a one-mile Santa Anita maiden Oct. 10, Practical Move was a latest third to Baffert stablemates Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) and 'Rising Star' Newgate (Into Mischief) in the GIII Bob Hope S. down in San Diego County Nov. 20.

Baffert had won the Futurity 13 times going back to the Hollywood Park days and had unsaddled the winners in seven of the eight renewals at this Orange County facility.

“I'm surprised because we were going up against the king, but I'm not surprised because my horse was doing really well,” Yakteen admitted. “That it all worked out is just fantastic. We had a great trip and I'm just thrilled to death with the horse and his effort today. This one's really special because Bob is a good friend and we have a great relationship. I hate to take him down, but it ended up that I got the better of him today and he usually gets the better of me.”

Pedigree Notes:

Practical Move is the 18th worldwide black-type winner (11th in the U.S.) and 10th graded/group winner worldwide (fourth in the U.S.) for his young sire and was bred by Practical Joke's trainer in partnership with Head of Plains Partners.

Produced by a three-times stakes-placed half-sister to the multiple black-type winners So Lonesome (Awesome Again) and No Spin (Johannesburg) and from the family of Commissioner and Laugh Track, Practical Move has a weanling half-brother by Complexity and his dam most recently visited Upstart.

Saturday, Los Alamitos
LOS ALAMITOS FUTURITY-GII, $200,000, Los Alamitos, 12-17, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.65, ft.
1–PRACTICAL MOVE, 120, c, 2, by Practical Joke
                1st Dam: Ack Naughty (MSP, $310,450), by Afleet Alex
                2nd Dam: Dash for Money, by General Meeting
                3rd Dam: Hot Lear, by Lear Fan
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($90,000
RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Pierre Jean
Amestoy, Jr., Leslie A. Amestoy & Roger K. Beasley; B-Chad
Brown & Head of Plains Partners (KY); T-Tim Yakteen; J-Ramon
Vazquez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-2, $194,200.
Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Carmel Road, 120, c, 2, Quality Road–Inspired, by Unbridled's
Song. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($650,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay
Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine
Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $40,000.
3–Fort Bragg, 120, c, 2, Tapit–March X Press, by Shanghai
Bobby. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($700,000
Ylg '21 FTKOCT). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay
Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine
Donovan; B-SF Bloodstock LLC & Henry Field Bloodstock (KY);
T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, 4 1/4, 2. Odds: 10.60, 4.60, 4.20.
Also Ran: Tall Boy, Arabian Lion. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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