No secret on the board as the betting public poured into him to the tune of $1.65-1 favoritism, I'm Very Busy (c, 2, Cloud Computing–Two Kisses, by Kissin Kris) was given the most confident of confident steers by Flavien Prat and finished like a freight train to garner the 'TDN Rising Star' badge on career debut in the Saturday opener from Saratoga.
Taken hold of soon after the start, the $50,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling turned $135,000 OBS March breezer (:10 2/5) lagged back with just two rivals behind him for the opening couple of furlongs as longshot Lord of the Navy (Lord Nelson) showed the way through a half in :49.17. Creeping closer while being nursed along three-eighths of a mile from home, I'm Very Busy was finally cut loose by the Frenchman in upper stretch, and the Pennsylvania-bred had so much wind in his sails that he could have gone outside or in and the outcome would likely have been the same. When the daylight appeared one off the fence in upper stretch, I'm Very Busy leveled out beautifully, raced up to 11-1 Baie Longue (American Pharoah) and raced clear for a decisive 3 3/4-length victory. He covered his final 2 1/2 furlongs in a very slick :28.80, his final sixteenth of a mile in a spectacular :5.60 while never asked for his very best, then galloped out powerfully around the turn.
I'm Very Busy is the third winner for his freshman sire (by Maclean's Music), who gave trainer Chad Brown his first Classic in the 2017 GI Preakness S. A half-brother to Grand Kisses (Grand Reward), SW, $157,286, I'm Very Busy is out of a full-sister to SW Kiss Me Twice and a half to Answer Lively (Lively One), winner of the 1998 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile en route to champion 2-year-old male honors.
1st-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-13, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.10, fm, 3 3/4 lengths. I'M VERY BUSY, c, 2, by Cloud Computing 1st Dam: Two Kisses, by Kissin Kris 2nd Dam: Twosies Answer, by Two's a Plenty 3rd Dam: Lady's Answer, by Northern Answer
Sales history: $50,000 Ylg '21 EASOCT; $135,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-Team Hanley, Richard Schermerhorn & Paul Braverman; B-Glenn E Brok LLC (PA); T-Chad C Brown.
Ed & Susie Orr picked up Impressor (Classic Empire), bred by Chester & Mary Broman, for $335,000 out of April's OBS Sale following a breeze in :10 flat. Out of the GISP mare Misty Rosette (Stormin Fever), Impressor is a half-brother to six winners including Mr. Beer Goggles (Unbridled's Song) who earned nearly $300K. Misty Rosette is a full-sister to GSW Storm Wolf and a half-sister to none other than Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), who produced Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) as well as GISW Chasing Yesterday (Tapit) and GISP American Cleopatra (Pioneerof the Nile).
Breaking one post further out is Mama's Gold (Bolt d'Oro), who is a half-brother to a pair of stakes horses in MSW Rotknee (Runhappy) and MSP Lookin for Trouble (Into Mischief). The former was a sharp second-out winner here a year ago and has since taken three state-bred stakes, most recently annexing the Ontario County S. at Finger Lakes June 29 by double digits. The dam is a half-sister to GSP A Freud of Mama (Freud) and this is also the family of GISW Haynesfield (Speightstown). Mama's Gold recently posted a bullet from the gate over Belmont's training track, going three furlongs in :35 2/5 (1/4) Aug. 8.
Danny Gargan's Ramblin' Wreck (Redesdale) is a $140,000 SARAUG yearling and half-brother to co-owner Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Dakota Gold (Freud), who debuted a sharp winner on the dirt here last year before annexing the lucrative Nownownow S. on the turf at Monmouth. He is out of a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Dakota Phone (Zavata). TJCIS PPs
2nd-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, 5:32 p.m. ET
From the first crop of Cloud Computing, Storming Machine debuts Thursday for trainer John Sadler. West Point Thoroughbredsand & Talla Racing purchased the bay colt for $560,000 out of the OBS March sale following a monster breeze completed in :9.4. He was previously a $50,000 FTKJUL yearling.
Further to the outside for Jerry Hollendorfer is Colonel Vargo (Distorted Humor), the first foal out of GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint runner-up Ami's Mesa (Sky Mesa). His dam is a half-sister to GSW Ami's Holiday (Harlan's Holiday) from the family of champion 3-year-old colt in Canada Amis Gizmo (Giant Gizmo) and GSW Ami's Flatter (Flatter). Colonel Vargo was purchased by Dennis January for the relatively modest sum of $100,000 at Keeneland September.
Rexford (Tapiture) sold for $160,000 at OBS April after working in :10.1. He is a half-brother to GSP Proverb (Flatter) and his multiple stakes-winning dam is a half-sister to GISP Concave (Colonel John).
Wound Up (Mendelssohn) represents the interesting owner/trainer combination of Reddam Racing and Michael McCarthy. The $120,000 KEESEP yearling blossomed into a $280,000 OBSAPR pick-up after a powerful :20.3 move. Wound Up's dam Banker's Buy (Distorted Humor) was a New York-bred stakes horse, mostly routing, and her half-siblings included precocious Astoria S. winner Glacken's Gal (Smoke Glacken), who in turn produced ill-fated Grade II winner Live Lively (Medaglia d'Oro). TJCIS PPs
The story is a familiar one. Seth Klarman, Chad Brown and Jose Ortiz teaming up for a win with a lightly-raced colt in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. In 2016, the duo entered the Classic with a fresh horse, and played the spoiler when Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) upended Classic Empire to take the GI Preakness S. Fast forward to 2022, history repeated itself with the same connections snagging Pimlico's marquee race with Early Voting (Gun Runner). The colt's victory also provided a well-deserved birthday gift for his owner, who grew up three blocks from Pimlico.
“I just wanted to say how happy I am to deliver a Classic victory to one of my best friends, Seth Klarman, on his birthday,” said Brown. “It's really memorable for me.”
Klarman was also cognizant, and appreciative, of the forces propelling him back into the winner's circle on Preakness day.
“Cloud Computing was a once in a lifetime horse and now I have it twice in a lifetime which is really hard to believe it could happen again,” he said. “Only with Chad.”
Armagnac (Quality Road), a front-running winner in his most recent start at Santa Anita, didn't alter the script and went straight to the front as Ortiz opted to ease Early Voting back to second, rather than contending for supremacy, about two lengths behind. Meanwhile, favored Epicenter (Not This Time) broke cleanly but was soon pinched back by the converging duo of Happy Jack (Oxbow) and Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator), costing the favorite valuable ground. Also encountering issues early, Secret Oath (Arrogate) was also affected by the errant Happy Jack, forcing her to take up position at the back of the field going into the first turn. With the frontrunner gifted a soft :24.32 opening quarter, Ortiz opted to keep the 5-1 chance in close contact as they carved out a slightly faster half in :47.44. A motionless Ortiz, who peeked under his shoulder to see who might be coming along, finally nudging the colt into action, taking over from the fading leader turning for home. In control from there, the colt had plenty left in the tank despite drifting outward, and while Epicenter mounted a gallant run up along the inside late, he was unable to get closer than 1 1/4 lengths to the winner at the wire. Creative Minister (Creative Cause), who was supplemented to the race for $150,000, closed to be 2 1/4 lengths back in third. The filly, sent off at 5-1 facing the boys, crossed the wire in fourth.
It was the second win on the afternoon for triumvirate after Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) won the GIII Gallorette S.
“Yeah, he is a very good horse out of the gate,” explained Ortiz. “He always has been. He broke well, and that was the main thing. Break good and go forward. We knew that Armagnac had speed, and he never has passed a horse on his right, and we knew he was probably going to go into the lead, and he did, but we were ready for it. We executed the plan perfectly.”
“On the back side, it just felt like we had been drilling in the morning. We had been working him just next to a horse, and he was very relaxed. I was very confident passing the 5/8 pole. I knew I was in a good spot. I took a peek back. Nobody was there. I knew my horse was ready.
He added, “I had the trip I wanted. We planned it out, we executed it with perfection, and we came out top.”
Recipe for Success
In front for most of the way, Early Voting came home a 1 1/2-length winner in his Dec. 18 debut before returning to the South Ozone Park oval with a front-running score in the GIII Withers S. going nine furlongs in the mud Feb. 5. Well supported for the Apr. 9 GII Wood Memorial, the bay had to settle for second behind Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who got up in the nick of time to catch him at the wire.
“When we've been working the horse We give him a target, and he rates nice. He catches them and finishes them off well,” said Brown, explaining the colt's latest defeat. “I was convinced in the Wood that he was waiting on horses which is why he got beat. He got beat by a good horse, don't get me wrong, with a good trip, but when you are doing this long enough, you can tell a tired horse from a horse that's waiting on horses. And I can see it in his work sometimes as well.”
Explaining the decision to bypass the Kentucky Derby with both of his Preakness winners, Brown explained, “With both horses it's important to know that they were coming out of the Wood, so [we gave] them time. But they're lightly-raced horses. It's not like a horse that we gave time out of the Wood that also had three starts at two and it's their sixth or seventh [lifetime] start. This a lightly-raced horse. In both cases, the Wood was only their third start.”
He continued, “So when you start participating in the Kentucky Derby enough now, you realize what a tough race it is with 20 horses. As the trainer, you have to deal with the aftermath when it doesn't work out. And sometimes, it's not pretty. Those horses need time physically or mentally, and it can really cost a good part of your 3-year-old year if you swing and miss. You could ship all the way over there or draw terrible weather. You name it..I haven't won the [Derby], but we've had a couple of close calls, and I'm a student of it. I feel like you have to have a horse with some experience, and you have to be prepared for a bad post or a bump here or there or a wet track or something.
This horse just didn't have the experience. He is out there on loose leads. He didn't have dirt in his face really. A nice horse, but to throw him in a 20-horse field would not have worked out well for him, I don't believe. It really wasn't that hard of a decision.”
Looking down the road, Brown hopes to have the colt ready to add another Classic later this summer, this time in his neck of the woods.
“[We'll aim for] a race like the [GI] Travers S. [at Saratoga],” said Brown. “I know it's a tick farther, but I don't believe he will have any trouble getting the mile and a quarter. Growing up just 20 minutes from Saratoga, Baltimore native, that was his race today, the Travers would be for me, so that would be really at the top of the list. But there will be some racing before that. We'll get him back to Belmont, assess him, train him a bit, and then start to map out a campaign that, hopefully, leads us to the Midsummer Derby.”
New York, New York
While repeating a Preakness victory for his connections, Early Voting also mirrored the feat accomplished by Cloud Computing in the 2016 renewal of the Classic race. And both colts employed a similar road to victory. While Early Voting took his first two starts, including his initial graded appearance in the Withers, Cloud Computing won his Big A debut, but was runner-up in that season's GIII Gotham S. before finishing third in the Wood. However, despite the subtle differences, both colts sought a Preakness win through the Empire State.
“Cloud Computing was another horse that wintered up [in New York],” he said. “Not only did both of them run in the Wood, but they didn't even go to Florida. It can be done, and I think it just depends on the horse and always just being aware of your environment where you are training these horses, and New York is a good environment.”
Underscoring why remaining in New York over the winter was the right move for his colt, Brown was pragmatic.
“He stayed in New York because he is that kind of make-up,” he said. “He was lightly raced. I didn't want to interrupt his schedule. Sometimes you ship horses down to Florida that are just getting started, and then you have to adjust to ironically the humidity and heat and such when he is just getting going. The weather looked good, so I left him there.”
No 'I' in Team
The relationship between Ortiz and Brown goes far back, and is laden with victory. However, according to Brown, it is the work ethic between professionals that makes the partnership special.
“He rode Zandon [Upstart] in New Orleans [third in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 19], and he had ridden Early Voting, in the Withers. [They were both scheduled to run on the same day in the [GI Toyota] Blue Grass [S.] and the Wood Memorial [both Apr. 9], I just chose he is going to go ride Early Voting, and I made a change on Zandon [to Flavien Prat]. So I called him to tell him, and he never complained about it. He said, 'Boss, I'll go where you tell me to go.' That's it. He was happy to ride Early Voting. It's hard to be taken off Zandon when they're on the same day because we knew that horse was probably going to go win the Blue Grass and go to the [Kentucky] Derby as one of the favorites. That's how he is. He said, 'I'll go where you tell me to go.'”
Brown continued, “He didn't win the Wood, but it was our feeling that's his horse. He went there for us that day, and I felt that's going to remain his horse. It was never even a thought after the horse got beat to make a change. He went up there and rode him for us, and he rode him brilliantly. Talk about being a team player.”
“I saw the relationship developing with those two. I wasn't sure he was a Derby horse, but I was sure he was a good horse and a Grade I horse. I just know that's a partnership that I want to continue growing, developing that horse, and then I could figure out where I am with Zandon. That's really what it came down to.”
Pedigree Notes: Gun Runner, the runaway leading first-crop sire based at Three Chimneys, continued the same trend in 2022, leading his U.S.-based contemporaries in worldwide earnings. With Early Voting's Classic win at Pimlico Saturday, the colt became the fifth Grade I winner for the Three Chimneys stallion.
His unraced dam–a $1.75-million KEESEP yearling in 2013–is a full-sister to 2017 GII Blue Grass S. winner and MGISP Irap (Tiznow), as well as a half-sister to champion and leading sire Speightstown (Gone West). They all stem from Canadian champion Silken Cat, tracing back to 1950 Broodmare of the Year Hildene (Bubbling Over), Silken Cat's fifth dam. Amour d'Ete has a 2-year-old full-sister to Early Voting, a yearling filly by Constitution, and was bred back to Volatile. Amour d'Ete's pensioned sire, Tiznow, is the broodmare sire of 52 black-type winners, including 2020 Classic winner Tiz the Law (Constitution).
Saturday, Pimlico PREAKNESS S.-GI, $1,650,000, Pimlico, 5-21, 3yo, 1 3/16m, 1:54.54, ft.
1–EARLY VOTING, 126, c, 3, by Gun Runner 1st Dam: Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow 2nd Dam: Silken Cat, by Storm Cat 3rd Dam: Silken Doll, by Chieftain 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Klaravich
Stables, Inc.; B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $990,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0,
$1,311,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Epicenter, 126, c, 3, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy
Ride (Arg). ($260,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Winchell
Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $330,000.
3–Creative Minister, 126, c, 3, Creative Cause–Tamboz, by Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($180,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Fern Circle
Stables, Back Racing, LLC and Magdalena Racing; B-Dell
Ridge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $181,500.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 1/4, 2 3/4. Odds: 5.70, 1.20, 10.00.
Also Ran: Secret Oath, Skippylongstocking, Simplification, Armagnac, Happy Jack, Fenwick. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Klaravich Stables' Early Voting (Gun Runner) is possible to make his next start in the May 21 GI Preakness S. at Pimlico, although trainer Chad Brown may opt to enter the GIII Withers S. winner Monday in the GI Kentucky Derby if there is a strategic defection. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer will be represented by Keeneland's GI Blue Grass S. winner Zandon (Upstart) at Churchill Downs for the Derby.
“Right now the horse is still in New York preparing for the Preakness,” Brown said of Early Voting. “If the complexion of the Derby field changes a certain way before the race, it's not out of the question that I go ahead and ship him over to Churchill and enter him in the Derby. But right now we're planning on running in the Preakness.”
He continued, “We have the points [to get in the Derby]. The horse is doing well. We have the flexibility to keep it as an option. No one is forcing us to make a decision earlier than we want. I don't want to make a 'final' decision and then change your mind. That's worse than delaying. Things happen. Horses drop out, the pace scenario could change, things like that. Seth [Klarman] and I want to handle it intelligently. We want the flexibility. But if everything stays the way it is right now with the field, I plan on running the horse in the Preakness.”
Early Voting has raced only three times: winning a one-mile maiden race at Aqueduct Dec. 18, followed by a 4 1/2-length victory over Un Ojo (Laoban) in the Withers Feb. 5 before finishing second to Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in the GII Wood Memorial Apr.9. Un Ojo subsequently won the GII Rebel S. at odds of 75-1 at Oaklawn Feb. 26.
“With only three starts under his belt, putting him in a 20-horse field not even knowing what post you're going to draw and bringing him all the way over here [to Churchill], I didn't feel was a good gamble for the future of the horse. Seth feels the same way. However, if the field changes in such a way where it looks like he's moving up to be one of the main contenders and maybe one of the only pace horses in the race, then I would change my mind.”
Early Voting's path to the Preakness is similar to that of former Brown charge, Cloud Computing, who captured the Classic in 2017. Also owned by Klaravich, Cloud Computing also ran three times, winning his debut at Aqueduct in February, finishing second in the GIII Gotham S. before coming home third in the Wood. He also skipped the Derby before winning the Preakness.
“We've won the Preakness before, obviously,” Brown said. “With Seth being a Baltimore native, it's a very important race to him and he'd be honored to win it a second time, he tells me. So it's not a disappointing goal to shoot for. We hold the race in high regard, and we want to do the right thing for the horse for the future, too, beyond the Derby and the Preakness.”
He added, “This horse has a big career ahead of him. Right now he's a beautiful, sound, improving horse. We want to continue to develop him.”
1st Dam: Two Kisses, by Kissin Kris#UpgradeToTheCloud https://t.co/x7yNYpuBUh
