‘He Could Be Anything’ – Unbeaten Doncho Targeting Keeneland’s Lafayette

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Doncho (g, 3, Mo Town–Sassy Redhead, by Henny Hughes), an eye-catching winner in a pair of attempts going six furlongs at Fair Grounds this winter, is aiming to make his next start in the $400,000 Lafayette S. at Keeneland Apr. 5.

“We've got the Lafayette circled as his next spot opening day at Keeneland,” trainer Michelle Lovell said. “We'll see if he'll stretch out to seven furlongs. I think that he will.”

Gelded as a juvenile last September, Doncho lit up the tote board with a powerful, five-length tally in front-running fashion at 21-1 on debut Dec. 30. He earned his 'Rising Star' badge by 4 1/2 lengths–this time as the even-money favorite–with a press-and-pounce victory in an optional claimer Feb. 13. Both performances netted matching 94 Beyer Speed Figures.

“I think he could be anything,” Lovell said. “We've never really asked him for anything yet. Everything that he's done has been on his own.”

She continued, “He hasn't been a surprise because he's been a good horse, but it was a surprise that he went so fast, so easily, in his first race. To come back, I thought that he could win, but you never know, they're babies and they could make mistakes. But he's so professional. So far, everything has gone so well.”

As for the decision to geld Doncho as an unraced 2-year-old last year, Lovell added, “We just thought it was best for him physically and mentally at the time.”

Doncho brought $72,000 from Jose A. Lopez's JAL Racing following a :9 4/5 bullet breeze out of the GOP Racing Stable consignment at last year's OBS June sale. Bred in Kentucky by Susan Young, he was previously a $32,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by GGS Legal Racing. He RNA'd for $12,000 as a short yearling at Keeneland January.

The first 'Rising Star' for young Coolmore sire Mo Town, Doncho was produced by the unraced mare Sassy Redhead. This is the extended female family of GISWs Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), Mi Sueno (Pulpit) and Dubai Escapade (Awesome Again).

Members of the press haven't been the only ones ringing Lovell's phone to chat about Doncho.

“After his first race we got a ton of interest,” Lovell said. “Mr. Lopez thought about it. He definitely had some offers that would make you sit back and think for a bit. It took him a few days and he said, 'Nope, I'm keeping him.'”

Damon's Mound & Michelle Lovell following the 2022 Saratoga Special | Susie Raisher

She continued, “We're super excited about him. He's a young horse and is still developing and we're really proud of the way he behaves. He's a big bodied and very muscular horse and he's letting his front end catch up to his hind end the last couple of months. He's a lot of fun.”

Fellow Lovell-trained 'Rising Star' Damon's Mound (Girvin), meanwhile, is currently enjoying some “deserved downtime” at Apple Ridge Farm in Kentucky. The 2022 GII Saratoga Special S. winner and 2023 GII Gallant Bob S. winner was last seen finishing fourth in the GI Malibu S. at Santa Anita Dec. 26.

“We'll have him back at Churchill before too long,” Lovell said.

 

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Good Magic’s Curly Jack Takes the Iroquois

Curly Jack became the second graded winner for his freshman sire (by Curlin) with an upset score in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs Saturday. Away alertly, the bay raced off the fence in sixth in a tightly bunched pack as 'TDN Rising Star' and second choice in the betting Damon's Mound (Girvin) clocked a :23.53 opening quarter. Favored fellow 'Rising Star' Echo Again (Gun Runner) charged up to confront Damon's Mound as the half went in :47.48. Curly Jack bided his time as the top two knocked heads on the lead with Echo Again slightly in front. Curly Jack ranged up four wide turning for home alongside Jace's Road. Curly Jack hit the front in mid-stretch and kicked clear with Honed overtaking Jace's Road for second.

“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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Trio of Woodbine Grade I’s Headline Saturday Stakes Action

Three Grade I events, all of which are Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifiers, north of the border at Woodbine will take the spotlight among nine graded stakes this Saturday as the racing calendar transitions to fall with all of the major summer meets now wrapped up.

The $1-million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile serves, along with the Queen's Plate, as the centerpiece of the Woodbine meet, and this year's renewal features an 11-horse field that includes last year's winner Town Cruise (Town Prize), who will be looking to bounce back from three off-the-board finishes following his wire-to-wire score in this race last September. The likely favorite, however, will be Godolphin's Modern Games (Dubawi {Ire}), who returns to America for the first time after his controversial purse-money-only win in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Trained by Charlie Appleby, who swept the three Grade I's on this card last year, Modern Games started his 3-year-old campaign off with a score in the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains before running third in the G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club, fifth in the G1 Haras d'Etreham Prix Jean Prat and second when last seen in the G1 Qatar Sussex S. July 27 at Goodwood.

Appleby doesn't have an entry in this year's GI Natalma S. for juvenile turf fillies, but will be represented by last-out G3 Circus Maximus Prix Francois Boutin hero Mysterious Night (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the GI Summer S. Other contenders in that one-mile test for juvenile turf males include Klaravich Stables' Appraise (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) for Chad Brown and Philip My Dear (Silent Name {Jpn}), who overcame stretch traffic to take the local Soaring Free S. Aug. 20.

Stakes action over the flat at 'Belmont at the Big A' will get underway with the GIII Caesars Jockey Club Derby Invitational and GIII Jockey Club Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old turf males and fillies, respectively. The former features a rubber match between Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), who upset the July 9 GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S. and Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who was second that day and exacted revenge when taking the GI Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational S. Aug. 6 at the Spa. Adding intrigue is progressive German invader Ardakan (GB) (Reliable Man {GB}). Trained by Markus Klug, the gray scored a victory in the G2 Premio Derby Italiano May 22 and was eighth in the G1 German Derby before running third last out with a 111 Timeform Rating against elders in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin Aug. 14 at Hoppegarten.

The Jockey Club Oaks also features a hopeful for Germany, Toskana Belle (Fr) (Shamalgan {Fr}), who ships in for legendary German trainer Andreas Wohler. The chestnut, who captured the G1 German Oaks Aug. 7 at Dusseldorf, looks like the only realistic alternative to Klaravich Stables' McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who annexed the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. July 9 before running second in the G3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational S. Aug. 7.

Churchill Downs will host five stakes Saturday, including Kentucky's first two graded events for 2-year-olds in the GIII Iroquois S. and GIII Pocahontas S., which are also the first two-turn graded dirt races for juveniles on the calendar in the U.S. The clear horse to beat in the Pocahontas for fillies is Three Chimneys Farm's Grand Love (Gun Runner), who was an impressive 4 3/4-length debut victress Aug. 21 at Saratoga with an 84 Beyer, nine points higher than the closest figure run by any rival.

The Iroquois looks much more competitive on paper, with undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Damon's Mound (Girvin), who followed up a 12 1/2-length debut romp with a 3 1/4-length score in the GII Saratoga Special S., clashing with fellow 'Rising Stars' Jace's Road (Quality Road) and Echo Again (Gun Runner), each of whom steps into stakes company after dominant first-out scores last month. Echo Again ran the fastest Beyer of any 2-year-old this summer at Saratoga, receiving a 94 for his 6 3/4-length rout when bet down to 3-5 Aug. 20.

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Lovell Riding High After a Special Saratoga Win

In 1993, Michelle Lovell rode five races at Saratoga. Then known as jockey Michelle Hanley, she came home with three second-place finishes, but never got that win at the Spa. Twenty-nine years later, she finally made it to the winner's circle. This time it was with the brilliant GII Saratoga Special S. winner Damon's Mound (Girvin), her first Saratoga starter as a trainer.

How do the two experiences compare?

“Riding here back in the day, I was just super in awe of the place,” Lovell explained. “Obviously who wouldn't want to come here and have a go at it? But honestly, bringing Damon's Mound as my first Saratoga starter, I mean that's what dreams are made of, right?”

Damon's Mound is a sixth-generation homebred for Cliff and Michele Love and the first horse Lovell has trained for the Texas-based owners. The horsewoman said her connection with the couple started early this year with a cold call from Cliff.

“Thank goodness I answered the phone,” she said with a laugh. “I knew his name because I used to race in Texas. It was just a really nice person on the other end of the line who said they had a 2-year-old training in Ocala that they thought a lot of. He said he had done a lot of research and decided he wanted me as a trainer if I had a stall. We get these calls as trainers every so often and sometimes the horse doesn't pan out or the owners don't call back, but they kept in touch and when Damon's Mound was ready, he showed up at my barn–this big, beautiful 2-year-old.”

Lovell took an immediate liking to the striking bay colt, who is named after a 146 foot-tall limestone formation outside of the town of Damon, Texas.

Lovell, Damon's Mound and Gabriel Saez celebrate the GII Saratoga Special victory | Susie Raisher

“He was obviously raised right,” she said. “He was broke by Ocala Stud's David O'Farrell and I had lots of contact with him after I got him in. He told me that he was always professional and that he really liked him. We got him in the spring and he never missed a day. He was obviously well-broke. He was actually fit for a half-mile as they said, which sometimes doesn't happen.”

When Damon's Mound was named a 'TDN Rising Star' after his stunning 12 1/2-length obliteration of maidens at Churchill Downs on July 2, Lovell and the Loves were inundated with inquiries about purchasing the promising juvenile. All were turned down.

“We had dozens of calls and text messages,” Lovell shared. “We had some really nice offers from good people that have been in the business for a long time who said they would be happy to be a silent partner along for the ride, but Cliff just said he was going to share this with his wife.”

Despite Love's initial words, Lovell said she couldn't help harboring a few thoughts that the owner's mind might change if Damon's Mound was just as brilliant in his second start as he was in his debut.

“It was always in the back of my mind,” she admitted. “I just thought that I would have to wish them well and understand that it's a business and it happens. I was just grateful to have him to begin with.”

Before leaving for Saratoga, Lovell had the conversation with the Loves of what would happen if they came back with a win in the Saratoga Special.

“We really didn't think we would be worse than second,” Lovell said. “With Gulfport (Uncle Mo) in there we knew we had our work cut out for us, but we thought we could be in the winner's circle. Cliff just told me, 'If he wins they're going to be calling again, but he's still not for sale. You're my spokesperson and he's not for sale.'”

A caravan that included Lovell, Damon's Mound, Elwood (Lovell's speckled pony with a following of his own) and Roy Seales (Lovell's groom with a background working in New York racing) made the journey from their summer base at Colonial Downs Racetrack in Virginia to Saratoga. They shipped in to Mike Maker's barn, which overlooks the main track's far turn.

Change of Control settling into the same stall Damon's Mound occupied in Saratoga last week | Michelle Lovell

“The first day we were here, he could see the racing and it kind of got him excited,” Lovell said. “He watched really intensely, but then the next day, he slept all day.”

Two days before the big day, Damon's Mound had a similar laid-back attitude as he schooled in the paddock alongside his highly regarded competitor Gulfport.

“He walked in through the crowd with such confidence and poise,” Lovell said. “Especially for a young horse in his second time out, he just owns it. I couldn't have been more proud of him.”

Damon's Mound got another look at 2-5 favorite Gulfport as he trailed the rest of a four-horse field through the opening stages of the Saratoga Special, but after being asked by jockey Gabriel Saez, Damon's Mound made his move at the far turn and accelerated to a 3 1/4-length victory.

“We were confident going in, but you get a little nervous,” Lovell admitted as she reflected on the race.  “He gives you all the confidence because his demeanor is great. He's humble, too. He's proud of himself, but he's a humble horse. It was an awesome day. It couldn't have been more perfect.”

Of course, more offers came in for the new Grade II victor, but Lovell said word has spread that for now, the colt is in her barn to stay.

“It's a great thing that people are interested because obviously he's a very talented 2-year-old with a great future in front of him, but it's refreshing not to have to field those calls and text messages,” Lovell admitted. “I'm truly grateful to Cliff and Michele that they want to be on this journey. They've been waiting for it for a long time, so kudos to them for sticking to their guns. It's a great story for them.”

The Loves were not present for the victory in Saratoga, opting to enjoy the race together at home and plan to attend their stable star's next start.

Damon's Mound returned to Colonial Downs late on Sunday and Lovell reported that he has come out of the race in perfect form. She is still weighing her options for where the Florida-bred could make his next start, considering either the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill on Sept. 17 or the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 8.

While Damon's Mound has already resumed light jogging at Colonial Downs, Lovell is back in New York this weekend with her second Saratoga starter. On Saturday, Change of Control (Fed Biz) will race from post one in the Smart N Fancy S. The 6-year-old mare finished fourth by three lengths to eventual GI Fourstardave H. winner Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) in the GI Jaipur S. and followed that effort with a stakes win at Colonial Downs on July 18.

“She's coming into this race really well off her win at Colonial,” Lovell reported. “It was nice to get a little class relief there and that will set her up well for this race. There are some good mares in there, so there's no doubt it will be a nice race. Hopefully we get a nice trip.”

It certainly can't hurt that while in Saratoga, Change of Control is staying in the same stall that Damon's Mound occupied last weekend.

“It would be awesome to be two-for-two up here,” Lovell said. “That would be the cherry on top.”

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