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There's a genuine possibility, this weekend, that a German colt could elevate himself to the top of the global sophomore crop by winning the G1 Japan Cup. Yet Tünnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ire}) was a wholly inadvertent acquisition at the Baden-Baden yearling sales, his purchaser having dropped out at €20,000 only to discover that he had persevered, unwittingly, to the fall of the hammer at €38,000, by the gesticulations accompanying his cell phone conversation.

You could seek no better example of the way horses confound our best-laid calculations, whether for good or ill. In this game, your bad luck will frequently turn out to be good luck; and vice versa. And that defining mystery will always abide, no matter how (or with what motives) we manipulate the nobility of the equine spirit.

Now, as it happens, this same colt also offers to substantiate the mirage of coherence so teasingly within reach of those of us who owe our livelihoods to this business. While his breeder owns but a single mare, she has famously also produced an Arc winner; while Tünnes is inbred as close as 3×3 to a half-sister to Urban Sea (Miswaki) herself.

On one level, then, here's a horse that can make sense of the great puzzle. We can be like the fellow who notoriously telegraphed from the casino at Monte Carlo: “System working well, send more money.”

Yet while this particular family belongs to perhaps the most precious seam of the entire European gene pool, still the market persists not only in undervaluing the kind of ore preserved by the strictures on German breeding, but in prizing its shallow opposites.

The German guarantee of soundness and stamina, through stallions that stand consecutive seasons of training without medication, has a moral equivalence with the Derby as a historic platform for the kind of sires we should be using. This week, the most inspired a commercial breeder of all reiterated his faith in Epsom as “the complete test of the horse”. John Magnier affirmed that “a horse has to have everything to win” there: speed, stamina, soundness, courage and temperament.

Persian Force training at Keeneland earlier this month | Coady

Yet this was also the week when a relative novice to the game showed that he has quickly grasped the contrasting criteria of the commercial market, in Britain and Ireland at any rate, by retiring Persian Force (Ire) to stud as a 2-year-old. This colt, last seen finishing fourth at the Breeders' Cup, duly emulates his own sire Mehmas (Ire), who was similarly deemed to have proved everything necessary as a fast and precocious juvenile.

As I've often stressed, the Classic Thoroughbred actually retains far more commercial respect in the United States, where the ultimate objective is not speed alone but the robustness (and indeed stamina) to carry it through a second turn on the first Saturday in May.

This has never adequately penetrated the ignorance of today's European horsemen. But then why should Americans expect one prejudice to be renounced, while some of them remain so stubborn in reinforcing others? Their resistance to HISA, for instance, seems to have been brazenly coupled in the courtroom “wagering”, so to speak, with a quite extraneous ideological agenda.

Another way in which American horsemen seem determined to substantiate prejudice against their own product is in the commercial market's disdain for turf. For all the signs of progress here–in the purses at Kentucky Downs, for example, and growing investment at European auctions–the disrepair of some premier American tracks feels thoroughly discouraging. Evidently we can expect zero grass racing at Fair Grounds before Christmas, while the “weeds” at Churchill are equal to just one of the dozen races scheduled Saturday.

It's a fascinating card, all the same, exclusively contested by juveniles. After revisiting the legacy of Leslie's Lady in this space last week, it's poignant to see her final foal (by Kantharos: some distinction, dude!) make her debut in the fourth, while the final race features a seven-figure sibling to Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) by her sire's son Bolt d'Oro.

Instant Coffee on debut Sept. 3 at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew

That lad, of course, will treasure every available cent in what remains a remarkable race for the freshman sires' championship. The GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. could prove decisive, with two of the three protagonists prominently represented: Good Magic by Curly Jack, and Bolt d'Oro by Instant Coffee.

The road to the Kentucky Derby makes few other detours through its host track, and we saw with Rich Strike (Keen Ice) how important a proven relish for the surface can be. The first horse to win both this race and the Derby (1927-28) was Reigh Count, who was sent over the water as a 4-year-old to win the Coronation Cup over the Derby course, and run second in the Ascot Gold Cup over 2 1/2 miles. (What was I was just saying about how the Europeans could use some dirt stamina?!)

With Count Fleet as his principal heir, Reigh Count proved a precious source of toughness and durability in the breed. However, the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby after a reconnaissance in this race at two, when finishing third, had been Behave Yourself seven years previously. It is said that Colonel Bradley eventually donated him as a cavalry sire, because he did not wish to contaminate the breed by replicating such an inferior specimen.

So there you have it. Even if horses will always remain agents of chaos, they will also tell us plenty about the kind of people who utilize their generosity–either for the good of the breed, as was contrastingly the case with both Reigh Count and Behave Yourself, or as a vehicle for their own cynicism or self-interest.

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“Sometimes when you come up to a big event like the Breeders' Cup, you can get a little nervous and try to overdo things,” said trainer Wesley Ward. “But we are just sticking with the plan.”

Also working Friday for Ward was Stonestreet Stables's 'TDN Rising Star' Love Reigns (U S Navy Flag), who breezed five furlongs in 1:08 in anticipation of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Joining that pair on the work tab Friday morning was the D.J. Stable's owned and Marke Casse-trained duo of GI Darley Alcibiades S. winner Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf pre-entrant Webslinger (Constitution). Each worked a half-mile, with Wonder Wheel going in :48.40 on the dirt and Webslinger covering the same distance on the grass in :50.40.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) and Lost Ark (Violence), both pre-entered in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile S., to work in company–the pair went a half-mile in :48.80. Shortly after, Pletcher's two GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies entries, Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke) and Atomically (Girvin), also went a half together in :49.80.

Manny Wah (Will Take Charge), trainer Wayne Catalano's GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint pre-entry, covered the same half-mile distance in :47.40.

Last seen taking down the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs Sept. 17, Curly Jack (Good Magic) had his first timed workout over the Keeneland track Friday, going a half-mile in :49.80.

“This is his last work going into the race,” said trainer Tom Amoss. “I know the big question on everyone's mind is the time between races and how he will respond to that. I am very comfortable with that. Today's work was designed to be an easy half-mile with a good gallop out. We got just that.”

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“I thought going into this race it was a really good field,” winning trainer Tom Amoss said. “I was able to watch Echo Again this summer at Saratoga and he was very impressive when he won up there. I have a ton of respect for Michelle Lovell's horse [Damon's Mound]. I thought maybe going two turns is going to help our chances.”

“It's very special to win my first graded stakes race for Tom,” winning rider Edgar Morales said. “He's done a great job with this horse and I can't be more thankful to him, his entire staff and the owners for allowing me to ride these really nice horses.”

Curly Jack cruised home a four-length winner in his career bow at Churchill Downs June 2. Fading to fifth in Saratoga's GIII Sanford S. July 16, he missed by a head next out in the Ellis Park Juvenile S. Aug. 14.

Pedigree Notes:

Curly Jack is the second graded winner for freshman sire and champion juvenile Good Magic, following GII Sorrento S. victress Vegas Magic. He is out of GI Mother Goose S. runner-up Connie and Michael, who is a half-sister to graded winners High Ridge Road (Quality Road) and Senor Rojo (Out of Place). Already the dam of SP Fannie and Freddie (Malibu Moon), Connie and Michael's most recent produce includes a yearling colt by Gun Runner, who summoned $525,000 from the BSW/Crow colts group on day one of the Keeneland September Sale. She did not have a foal in 2022, but was bred back to Yaupon.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
IROQUOIS S.-GIII, $299,250, Churchill Downs, 9-17, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.62, ft.
1–CURLY JACK, 122, c, 2, by Good Magic
                1st Dam: Connie and Michael (GISP, $136,860), by Roman Ruler
                2nd Dam: Detect, by Devil's Bag
                3rd Dam: Find, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($180,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Michael McLoughlin;
B-Betz/J.Betz/Burns/Camaquiki/C.Kidder/et al (KY); T-Thomas
Amoss; J-Edgar Morales. $178,920. Lifetime Record:
4-2-1-0, $280,180. Werk Nick Rating: F.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Honed, 122, c, 2, Sharp Azteca–All About Allison, by City Zip.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($32,000 RNA Ylg
'21 FTKJUL; $50,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT). O-Three Chimneys Farm
& Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek); B-Duncan Lloyd (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $58,200.
3–Jace's Road, 122, c, 2, Quality Road–Out Post, by
Silver Deputy. 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE,
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($510,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP).
O-West Point Thoroughbreds & Albaugh Family Stables LLC;
B-Colts Neck Stables LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $29,100.
Margins: 1, HF, 4. Odds: 10.83, 54.18, 4.85.
Also Ran: Hayes Strike, Confidence Game, Damon's Mound, Echo Again, Jin Tong, Zaici.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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GISP Connie and Michael is also responsible for the SP 3-year-old filly Fannie and Freddie (Malibu Moon). Her most recent produce is a yearling colt by Gun Runner. Connie and Michael is a half to graded winners High Ridge Road (Quality Road) and Senor Rojo (Out of Place).

Good Magic broke his maiden in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, resulting in an Eclipse Award. The GI Haskell Invitational S. winner stands alongside his sire Curlin at Hill 'n' Dale for $30,000.

2nd-Churchill Downs, $118,095, Msw, 6-2, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.28, ft, 4 lengths.
CURLY JACK (c, 2, Good Magic–Connie and Michael {GISP, $136,860}, by Roman Ruler) Sales history: $180,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,460. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Michael McLoughlin; B-Betz/J.Betz/Burns/Camaquiki/C.Kidder/et al (KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss.

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