Coolmore America | Horse Racing Free Tips

Coolmore’s Helen Otero Named Finalist for Dedication to Breeding Award

Congratulations to Helen Otero, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Breeding Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. The Ireland native started with Coolmore in 1993 working in the barns and became a veterinary nurse before moving to the office. She has truly shined in the role of stallion administrator in one of the busiest breeding sheds in America.

“When the breeding season starts,” said Coolmore America’s manager, Dermot Ryan, “we basically hand the keys and the driver’s seat to Helen and she runs the whole thing.”

Click for the video feature on Otero done by TIEA.

Other finalists for the Dedication to Breeding Award are Steve Avery of Taylor Made Farm and David Kyle of Fasig-Tipton. The Dedication to Breeding Award is presented annually to an individual who has been in the Thoroughbred breeding industry for at least 10 years and is a pivotal part of his or her employer’s success.

A total of seven award categories will be honored by TIEA for 2020. Maria Cristina Silva of New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) has already been announced as the winner of the Community Award, while the winners in the other categories will be announced live in a virtual ceremony hosted by Jill Bryne and streamed at the TDN homepage Thursday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 p.m. ET. All finalists will be spotlighted in TDN in the days leading up to the ceremony.

The post Coolmore’s Helen Otero Named Finalist for Dedication to Breeding Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Practical Joke Yearlings Hit Market at Opportune Moment

Champion sire Into Mischief has had a lot of good weekends. But this year’s Kentucky Derby weekend had to be near the top of the list.

On Friday, his son Owendale ran second in the GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs only to be defeated by By My Standards, sired by none other than Into Mischief’s leading son Goldencents.

Then the next day at Saratoga, Into Mischief’s daughter Frank’s Rockette became a Grade II winner in the Prioress S. while at Gulfstream, Cool Arrow won the GIII Smile Sprint S. To wrap up the day, the speedy Baffert-trained Authentic became Into Mischief’s first Kentucky Derby winner in a historic Run for the Roses.

On the same day four years ago, another son of Into Mischief made headlines when Practical Joke took the second of five wins in New York in the GI Hopeful S.

“The professionalism that he showed in only his second start, to make a start like that so quickly and go to the lead to win with authority, really impressed me,” recalled Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace. “He stamped his class and his speed, and also the fact that he could take that speed around a turn and go seven furlongs.”

Campaigned by Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence, the Chad Brown trainee was undefeated in his first three starts as a juvenile, taking his division in New York by storm.

“He was, without a doubt, the top New York 2-year-old of his division,” Wallace said. “Anytime you have a horse that wins GI Hopeful S. and then the GI Champagne S., you have a serious sire prospect on your hands.”

Practical Joke continued his domination of New York in his second season, winning the GIII Dwyer S. followed by the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. He retired with close to two million dollars in earnings and took up stud duty at Ashford Stud in 2018.

Coming off a big weekend from Into Mischief and his son Goldencents, the first yearlings from Practical Joke are hitting the market at a highly opportune time.

The young sire averaged $102,028 at the weanling and short yearling sales with 35 of 46 sold and a top price of $320,000.

McMahon and Hill Bloodstock’s Mike McMahon said he knew from the start that he wanted to get his hands on a Practical Joke weanling.

“You had to use Practical Joke in your pinhook strategy,” he said. “He was a successful 2-year-old, he was fast and he’s by Into Mischief. You had to be thinking about him. We went after a couple early, but Larry Best got them.”

Best’s OXO Equine purchased a colt out of Promisedyouheaven (Unbridled’s Song) for $240,000 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and then a second colt out of Bailzee (Grand Slam) days later at Keeneland for $260,000.

After missing out on a few other Practical Joke offspring, McMahon said he remembers meandering the sales ground and stopping by the Bedouin Bloodstock consignment. There he stumbled upon a colt by Practical Joke out of four-time stakes producer Miss Mary Pat (Service Stripe).

“That colt came out and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I missed this horse.’ He was the best Practical Joke I had seen,” he recalled.

Practical Joke colt out of Miss Mary Pat | Mike McMahon

The colt is now slated for the first day of the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase as Hip 252 with the Gainesway consignment.

“This colt has a lot of quality,” McMahon said. “He’s a beautiful horse- a big hip, lovely top and he’s correct. He’s been very straightforward. I wish they were all so easy.”

Another 19 Practical Joke yearlings are catalogued for the Fasig-Tipton sale, and an additional 76 will go through the ring at the Keeneland September Sale.

“The thing that impresses me most about the Practical Jokes are their physiques,” said Wallace. “They’re big, very masculine-type horses. They cover a lot of ground and are good movers. They’ve got good shoulders and hips on them.”

One yearling that Wallace will have an eye on at Keeneland is Hip 1539, a colt out of the stakes-winning Rock Hard Ten mare Rock and Glory.

“He’s a very masculine, powerful horse,” he said. “He’s going to tick a lot of boxes and should be very popular at the sale.”

Wallace said he believes Practical Joke’s yearlings will attract a wide range of buyers in the coming weeks.

“Certainly people will remember him as a precocious 2-year-old, and that will encourage the 2-year-old [pinhookers] to take a chance on him. But I also think people will remember his longevity as a racehorse. I think people will remember his brilliance at Saratoga, remember the fact that he conquered Belmont and want to be a part of Practical Joke’s legacy.”

He also added that he thinks Practical Joke’s racing achievements are an indication of the success the horse will soon have at stud.

“There’s always exceptions, but horses that show brilliance at two and then can carry that on at three, they’re the ones that make the best sires,” he said. “They’re the ones breeders want to breed to and the ones the sales market wants. Practical Joke embodies that, and the fact that he’s a son of Into Mischief is a huge feather in any horses cap.”

The post Practical Joke Yearlings Hit Market at Opportune Moment appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Adrian Wallace on First-Crop Yearling Sires Classic Empire and Cupid

Three of Ashford Stud’s Grade I-winning stallions will be in the limelight in the coming weeks as they are represented by their first crop of yearlings in the sales ring.

Three-time GIW Practical Joke (Into Mischief), the regally-bred Cupid (Tapit) and juvenile champion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) all ranked amongst the top of their class with the sale of their weanlings, and now look to continue the streak with their yearlings.

We sat down with Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace and discussed two of the young sires.

Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile):

Classic Empire headlined Ashford’s trio of freshman sires in 2018 with a $35,000 stud fee. He covered a book of 185 mares in his first year and averaged $108,925 with his weanlings and short yearlings with 27 of 36 sold. Now in the coming weeks, 22 of his yearlings are cataloged at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, and an additional 61 are slated for the Keeneland September Sale.

KR: What were some of the big moments in Classic Empire’s juvenile season that led to his Eclipse Award for Champion 2-year-old?

AW: While Practical Joke may have done his best racing in New York, it’s safe to say that Classic Empire did his best racing in Kentucky. He broke his maiden in May at Churchill Downs, followed by the GIII Bashford Manor S. and the GI Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. To win in front of the breeders at Keeneland is very important for any stallion prospect, but then to go on and win at Santa Anita in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile really cemented his future as a stallion.

Classic Empire colt out of Victory Party | Thorostride

KR: What qualities do you believe defined his racing career?

AW: His longevity and determination as a 2-year-old, and the fact that he then came back as a 3-year-old and won the GI Arkansas Derby and finished second in the GI Preakness S, really showed what a tough horse he was not only to stay on the track for so long, but to be as brilliant as he was in all of those races.

KR: What have you seen in Classic Empire’s first crop? Are there any yearlings you’re excited to watch sell?

AW: The thing that struck me most about the Classic Empires is that they sold very well as weanlings. As a group, they were a very nice bunch. I think breeders were happy with what they saw.

The highest-priced Classic Empire colt to go through the sale at Keeneland was bought by Empire Bloodstock for $285,000 last November. He now sells at Keeneland as Hip 8. He’s out of Victory Party (Yankee Victor) and is from the same family as Into Mischief, Mendelssohn, and Beholder. He’s a wonderfully-moving horse with lots of quality and a great walk to him. He’s a horse that looks the complete package.

Hip 667 at Keeneland, a colt out of GSW Le Mi Geaux (First Samurai), is another one that I think is going to be very popular. He brought $250,000 as a weanling. He oozes quality and is very athletic.

Cupid (Tapit):

With a $12,500 initial stud fee, Cupid covered 223 mares in his first book before averaging $44,987 with 39 of 45 weanlings and short yearlings sold. This year, he will be represented by 13 yearlings cataloged at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase and 50 more at the Keeneland September Sale.

KR: Could you tell us about Cupid’s racing career that was campaigned by Coolmore?

AW: He’s from a family that we’ve had a long association with and Cupid was the one that really stood out for us. We paid $900,000 for him at the Keeneland September Sale.

Early on, he showed us that he was a horse that was going to win a lot of races. He famously won the GII Rebel S. early on in his career. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the Kentucky Derby, but he did come back later in the year to win the GII Indiana Derby and the GII West Virginia Derby, and then he got his Grade I in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita S. as a 4-year-old.

KR: What have been Cupid’s biggest selling points as a sire?

I think everyone wants a Tapit. We see it happening now with Constitution. Tapit is well on his way to becoming a sires of sires, and Cupid is our Tapit. He was a tough horse. I think what we remember most about his racing style was his ability to get into a rhythm quickly and maintain that high cruising speed.

He covered a lot of mares in his first book and he was very popular with the breeders. His stock ooze quality. They sold very well, with top prices last year including two selling for $130,000 and a third for $127,000.

KR: How have the yearlings reflected their sire? Are there any that come to mind as strong representations of Cupid himself?

AW: The thing about the Cupids is that they all have a lot of quality. You look at him- he’s a very attractive horse and stands over a lot of ground. With his progeny, I think they’re horses that are going to get better as they go farther. They’re very good looking, very correct and good movers.

One I really like is a colt out of Lisdoonvarna (Bodemeister), selling as Hip 209 at the Fasig-Tipton sale. He’s very well conformed, very strong and has lovely quality to him. He’s got a lovely head. He was one of the highest-priced Cupids that sold last year when selling for $127,000, and I think he will be very popular in the sales ring.

Another one I’m really looking forward to seeing is Hip 296 at Fasig-Tipton, a colt out of the mare Perdy (Tale of the Cat). I think the mating looks really good on paper. He is a lovely horse, picked up by Renne Dailey for $95,000 in January. I think he’ll do very well also.

The post Adrian Wallace on First-Crop Yearling Sires Classic Empire and Cupid appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A Tale of Ashford Stud’s Elder Statesman

It will be exactly 23 years ago on Sunday- August 23, 1997. Julie Krone vividly, and affectionately, recalls the day that she and Tale of the Cat took the GII King’s Bishop S.

“We had an inside post that day, and there were some great sprinters,” Krone recounted. “It was a really tough field, but Tale of the Cat literally had wings. He just came out of there and it was like the faster we went, the more his ears came up and his stride got longer and more relaxed. To feel him grab the ground and be as fast as he was with the wind blowing by you, and then to be able to put your hands on his neck and push and have him go even faster yet, it was an amazing feeling.”

Krone rode the nimble son of Storm Cat to a five and-a-half length victory that day at Saratoga, as was she aboard in his eight other career starts. Together, they ran in the money in all but one of those races, including three Grade I’s.

“Tale of the Cat was one of the most beautiful, put-together sprinters I’ve ever ridden in my life,” Krone said. “He was such a great horse and was so capable of that high cruising speed.”

She uses the term ‘mentally-strong’ to describe his personality.

“Everything he did had to do with how his brain worked a little faster,” the Hall of Famer said. “He was aggressive and so you just had to plan ahead and know what you were going to do.”

She remembers working the colt through his first relaxed breezes before his winning debut, insisting to trainer John Forbes that the youngster was going to be something special.

“From the very first time he breezed to when he matured as an older horse, he was always together,” she recalled. “He always got his lead changes and was quick to learn how to break out of the starting gate. All the things that make a sprinter a great sprinter, he just came with those things.”

Now over two decades later as the elder statesman of Ashford Stud, Tale of the Cat has greatly contributed to building the fortress that is the American arm of Coolmore. With 19 crops on the ground, he’s produced 1,146 winners to date, a figure surpassed only slightly by fellow Coolmore sire Galileo (Ire), and ranks him as the leading active sire in North American by cumulative winners.

“Tale of the Cat was one of the most impressive early stallions that we ever had here,” said Coolmore America’s Adrian Wallace. “He’s stood the test of time and has been a wonderful servant to Ashford Stud. Horses like Tale of the Cat, he’s responsible for this farm. He has built countless barns. He’s furnished and bought countless mares. He’s a small enterprise in himself.”

Tale of the Cat’s pedigree is infused with Coolmore-affiliated blood, both old and new, with his grandsire Storm Bird the founding stallion at Ashford Stud.

His dam Yarn (Mr. Prospector), part of a prominent breed-shaping broodmare duo with her full sister Preach, also produced Minardi (Boundary), who was bred like Tale of the Cat at Indian Creek and was named a European juvenile champion for Coolmore in 2000. Additionally, through her daughter Myth (Ogygian), Yarn is the granddam of Johannesburg (Hennessy), a juvenile champion in Europe and the U.S. for Coolmore before he retired to Ashford and sired the late leading stallion Scat Daddy, whose sons Justify and Mendelssohn now stand alongside Tale of the Cat at Ashford.

“He has a very illustrious family behind him,” Wallace said of his damside.”It’s a really current pedigree and it’s one of the best, most iconic American pedigrees.”

Tale of the Cat’s best son Gio Ponti takes the GI Woodford Reserve Manhattan H. | Sarah Andrew

Of the sire line, he added, “The Storm Cat sire line is responsible for a lot of our success over here, and it’s one that we will keep looking to go back to. Tale of the Cat is very emblematic of that.”

Since entering stud in 1999, he has sired seven Grade I winners, headlined by Gio Ponti, who collected seven Grade I’s in his own right, plus three Eclipse Awards, and is now a Grade I-producing sire. Tale of the Cat’s leading daughter, Stopcharingmaria, made waves on the New York circuit, taking the GI Coaching Club American Oaks- GI Alabama S. double at Saratoga before winning the 2015 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Two of his sons, Lion Heart and Tale of Ekati, were dual Grade I winners and are now showing their hand as sires.

Both progeny come from mares from the Hail to Reason line, with Lion Heart out of a Mr. Leader mare and Tale of Ekati out of a mare by Halo’s best son Sunday Silence. Stopchargingmaria also has a second dam by Kris S (Roberto) who hails from the same line.

Despite the achievements with this family, Wallace said that Tale of the Cat has found success with a wide variety of mares.

“One of the great things about him was that he was very versatile,” he said. “Being by Storm Cat and out of a Mr. Prospector mare meant he suited a wide range of American families. He had a huge amount of success when inbred to Mr. Prospector. He worked very well with Unbridled’s Song, as well as the Seattle Slew line.”

Tale of the Cat produced six stakes winners with mares by Unbridled’s Song, including three Grade II winners in A Shin Top, Appealing Tale and Alpha Kitten, as well as the Grade I-placed Luminance. His Grade I winner Cat Moves is out of a mare by Capote (Seattle Slew) and he sired two additional graded/group winners out of Seattle Slew mares with Tale of a Champion and Ilusora.

“He got very good 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and older horses,” Wallace said. “He got runners on dirt, turf and synthetic surfaces. So he’s a horse that really suited a wide range of breeders.”

The 26-year-old stallion is still active at stud, although in his twilight years of his career having bred 32 mares last year, and a combined 138 in the three years prior.

“We’re delighted to be talking about Tale of the Cat because he’s one of the unsung heroes at this farm,” Wallace said. “He’s a horse that’s been here longer than I’ve been here, having arrived in 1999. He’s our elder statesman and we’re very proud of him. His contribution to the Thoroughbred breed and to Ashford Stud is immeasurable.”

The post A Tale of Ashford Stud’s Elder Statesman appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post