Danzing Candy’s Yo Yo Candy Upsets Sanford At 46-1

Yo Yo Candy (Danzing Candy), a distant third behind Gold Sweep (Speightstown) in the Tremont S. downstate June 11, pulled off a 46-1 shocker with blinkers added in Saturday's GIII Sanford S. at the 'Graveyard of Favorites.'

With the complexion of the race completely upside down after the aforementioned 1-5 favorite stumbled badly at the start, Yo Yo Candy found a good spot in a stalking third through fractions of :22.15 and :45.83. He was tipped out at the top of the stretch by Angel Castillo and kicked home nicely to score by 2 1/4 lengths. Gold Sweep, the recipient of a gaudy 91 Beyer for his nine-length Tremont romp, ran a remarkable race to close from second-to-last to complete the exacta.

Yo Yo Candy debuted with a three-length victory going 4 1/2 furlongs at Parx May 23 prior to his effort at 26-1 in the Tremont.

“I jumped from the balcony over here,” winning trainer Danny Velazquez said after winning his second career graded stakes race. “I don't even know how I got here. This is a dream come true. As a kid you dream of winning races here and here I am.”

He continued, “The blinkers adjustment was huge. In his last race, we didn't have the blinkers because he won first time out and we were happy with that. I watched him break last time and he broke a little sluggish. He has more speed than that tactically. I added the blinkers and took him back to the gate a couple of times after the race. I told Angel [Castillo], 'If he's as good as we think he is, we're going to be competitive.' No respect on the board, but we knew coming in that we did everything right coming into this race. I was very, very satisfied watching him out there warm up.”

Velazquez added that the GI Hopeful S. Sept. 4 at Saratoga could be next.

Pedigree Notes:

The California-bred Yo Yo Candy, a $35,000 OBS March breezer (:10 1/5), becomes the first graded and second stakes winner for young sire Danzing Candy. His SW & GISP dam Yolanda B. Too (Two Punch), just a $14,000 purchase by breeder Checkmate Thoroughbreds at the 2015 KEENOV sale, is also responsible for a Danzing Candy colt of 2022 and a Sir Prancealot (Ire) colt of this year. She was bred to Eight Rings for 2024.

Saturday, Saratoga
SANFORD S.-GIII, $175,000, Saratoga, 7-15, 2yo, 6f, 1:11.83, ft.
1–YO YO CANDY, 120, c, 2, by Danzing Candy
                1st Dam: Yolanda B. Too (SW & GISP, $340,335), by Two Punch
                2nd Dam: Avie's Lady, by Lord Avie
                3rd Dam: Exotic Dancer, by Sovereign Dancer
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($6,000 Ylg '22 NCAAU; $35,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Happy Tenth Stable; B-Checkmate Thoroughbreds LLC (CA); T-Daniel Velazquez; J-Angel Castillo. $96,250. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, $141,250. *1/2 to Treble (Macho Uno), GSP, $306,169. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gold Sweep, 122, c, 2, Speightstown–Wonder Brew, by Giant's Causeway. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($285,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-Mike McCarty; B-Joe Anzalone (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $35,000.
3–Dickens, 120, c, 2, Adios Charlie–Malibu Melody, by Malibu Moon. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($20,000 Ylg '22 OBSWIN). O-BC Racing LLC; B-John B. Penn (FL); T-Juan Alvarado. $21,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 3/4, NK. Odds: 46.00, 0.35, 11.70.
Also Ran: Triple Trea, Call the Cavalry, Market Street, Jive,
His Rights, Ramming Speed. Scratched: Factor U and Me In.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Mo Forza Goes from Strength to Strength

Taylor Made has occasionally partnered with other farms in stallion ventures, most notably with WinStar on Speightstown and Tiznow. However, they are dipping their toes into the California stallion market for the first time with Grade I winner Mo Forza (Uncle Mo–Inflamed, by Unusual Heat) in partnership with Tom and Nancy Clark's Rancho San Miguel. The millionaire turf star–whose name roughly means “strength” in Italian–was retired for 2022 to the 210-acre farm in San Miguel, a sleepy and small Spanish mission town in the famed Paso Robles wine region of Central California.

The picturesque Rancho San Miguel is well known in California racing, with a current roster of nine stallions including Sir Prancealot (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) and Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy).

“We're really trying to focus on quality over quantity,” said Tom Clark, “and that's really been our strategy from day one. Just to try to have the best stallions we can afford and buy specifically for this market and hope and pray that other people who have mares will bring better and better mares to the state of California to breed to us. And we really learned from a very early stage that you want to try to achieve the highest quality possible.”

With a grandfather who was a trainer and a father who owned racehorses, Clark is the third generation of his family in the racing business. Growing up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, he got his own start as a hotwalker at Timonium while in high school. His love of and involvement in racing was wrapped around a finance career for many years until he bought the property that would become Rancho San Miguel just over two decades ago.

“I've really been involved in the game for a long, long time, but I did go off to school and got involved in finance,” said Clark. “I always said the reason I did that was so I could buy a good horse some day. I was fortunate enough to do well in the investment business and was able to transfer that to Rancho San Miguel and into being involved in the racing game in a big way.”

Clark has owned a number of racehorses, including 2007 GI Humana Distaff winner and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff runner-up by a neck Hystericalady (Distorted Humor) in partnership, has had a number of big sales scores, and has bred a number of horses in the commonwealth of Kentucky. The purchase and growth of Rancho San Miguel has reshaped his concentration.

“I've really focused my resources here on the on the farm over the last few years,” said Clark. “I'm so immersed in what we're trying to do here that it's this is just as rewarding–and sometimes even more rewarding– than ever being involved in a racehorse. The breeding business brings a whole different level of reward to it as a sport.”

Clark has been associated with the Taylor family of Taylor Made for “25-30 years,” so it was an easy transition to partner on the stallion career of Mo Forza, who was foaled and raised at Taylor Made.

“We've done a lot of deals together over the years and they've always represented me in selling my horses at the September or the November sales, so I have a great affinity for the entire organization. Great respect. I called Ben Taylor and said, 'What do you think of [Mo Forza]? Do you think this is the kind of horse that could stay in California?'”

Taylor Made has two new young stallions in their own stallion barn this year–Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) and MGSW & MGISP Tacitus (Tapit)–and Clark thought perhaps Mo Forza, in spite of his wins in the 2019 GI Hollywood Derby and six Grade II stakes, might get overshadowed.

“And, you know, we just don't have enough commercial horses here in California,” said Clark. “So there's a lot of things that we talked about and we still think that down the road, this is a horse that could end up in Kentucky.

“It was really great [for us] that he broke poorly in the [2021 GI] Breeders' Cup [Mile] and got beat five or so lengths for first. That allowed him to be here. Otherwise, had he won the Breeders' Cup, I know he'd be in Kentucky. I think this is a big coup for the state of California, having one of the leading stallion farms and breeders of the state of Kentucky putting their name on a horse here. They've never had a venture in California before. They are tremendous, great partners and incredibly knowledgeable and very, very easy to work with. They're supporting the stallion in an important way. And I'm going to give him every chance to succeed here in California.”

Mo Forza stands for $9,000, an unusual amount for a stud fee. Clark had a reason behind the unique number.

“Californians are always looking for a bargain,” he said with a laugh. “And at $10,000, we thought it was just mentally hard for people to pay for, but $9,000 shows that we were very serious about delivering high value for a horse like this. We're offering a Grade I winner by Uncle Mo for just $9,000 here in California. And I just think that's just outstanding value. We also really wanted to try to attract the best mares we could in the state of California, and this was one way to do that.”

Tom Clark | Jill Williams

Clark also said there have been more than a dozen mares shipped from Kentucky to breed to Mo Forza, who has proved to have great libido. Earlier this week, at least 15 mares had already been pronounced in foal to the bay, who checks all the boxes Clark looks for in a sire.

“I think you really have to look at all aspects when you think about a good stallion,” said Clark. “He has to have a great race record. He has to have great conformation and he has to have a good pedigree. And in California, historically, we have had to give up on at least one of those. So you'd have a great pedigree and good looks, but a horse who didn't race very well. What's unique about Mo Forza is he's got all three [attributes]. He really has the entire package. And I think that's what people need to understand and realize that we don't only have a Grade I winner, but a horse that really is good looking and he's by Uncle Mo. What else can you ask for?”

Six of Mo Forza's eight career wins came at a mile and Clark was quick to point out the adage that milers often make the best sires. The 6-year-old was a fierce competitor, with two four-race win streaks interrupted only by an off-the-board stint in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf that sent him to the bench for seven months. He raced exclusively on the turf.

“It wasn't because they thought he was necessarily a grass horse,” commented Clark. “But once you have something going for you, why change it? The reality is that he was doing so well on the grass, so they really didn't want to risk or change up what was working. Don't fix something that's not broke, as they say. He worked great on the dirt. There was no reason why he couldn't run on the dirt. We think this is a horse that can throw both a dirt horse as well as a grass horse here in California.”

As seen in the entire North American breeding industry, the number of mares bred have contracted over the last few years in California. Clark is an optimist.

“I think this is a challenging time for everybody, and this is the most challenging time I've ever seen in the industry here in California. But, you know, we're always hoping. We always think about the glass half full. We think that the only way to approach that is to try to bring quality horses, quality stallions, and quality measures to this marketplace and look to try to attract people from outside the state and bring new, fresh blood into the state and do what we can to support the industry. So that's our approach. And we may be crazy, but we are going to stick to it.”

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First Winner for Danzing Candy at Golden Gate

Love Candy became the first winner for his freshman sire Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) with a decisive debut score at Golden Gate. Dispatched at 6-1, the gray broke sharply and settled in a tracking third early, tugging his way between rivals through a :22.733 first quarter. Breaking free of his foes in the lane, Love Candy extended clear to graduate by 2 3/4 lengths over Highland Ghost (Shaman Ghost).

Danzing Candy won a trio of graded stakes for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert before his career was cut short by an injury. He stands at Rancho San Miguel in California. Love Candy is the first foal out Love Winning, who is also responsible for the yearling colt Winning Lover (Slew's Tiznow) and a 2021 filly by Curlin to Mischief.

 

3rd-Golden Gate Fields, $40,350, Msw, 5-28, 2yo, 5f (AWT), 1:00.87, ft, 2 3/4 lengths.

LOVE CANDY (c, 2, Danzing Candy–Love Winning, by Tapizar) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $23,400. O/B-Stuart Tsujimoto (CA); T-Ed Moger, Jr. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Sir Prancealot Tops 2021 Stud Roster At Rancho San Miguel

Rancho San Miguel has set 2021 stud fees for its roster of seven stallions, led by the globetrotting Sir Prancealot (IRE) whose fee will remain a California-leading $15,000 for his second season at stud in California.

Sir Prancealot, who sired progeny which won stakes in at least 6 countries in 2020, will return from Cornerstone Stud in Australia after breeding 105 mares in California in 2020.  His offspring have shown a propensity for high quality racing in North America with 17% Graded Stakes winners and 53% Stakes Horses earning an average earning per starters of over $210,000 from his only 17 starters.  They performed very well in the Breeders Cup last weekend when Miss Amulet ran a good third in the BC Juvenile Turf S-G1 in her U.S. debut and Lady Prancealot ran a very close fourth in the BC Filly & Mares Turf-G1. They have also starred in the sales ring at Keeneland this week when the all 3 race mares by Sir Prancealot offered sold for an average over $766,000 led by Grade I winner Lady Prancealot, who sold for $1,600,000.

Danzing Candy, a brilliantly fast multiple Grade 2 winning son of Twirling Candy who bred 331 mares in his first 3 crop and whose first crop will be two-year-olds next year, will have his fee remain at $5,000.  His yearlings have been well received in California, Washington and Florida sales, topped by a $115,000 colt at the 2020 OBS October Yearling Sale.

Curlin to Mischief, perhaps the best bred stallion in California being a ½ brother to Into Mischief, Beholder and Mendelssohn, will have his fee remain at $3,500. His two-year-old son, Good With People, is a multiple stakes winner of $199,000 and is the current favorite to win California-bred Champion Two-Year-Old colt in 2020.  In the sales ring, another colt was sold for $85,000, which was among the highest prices at the recent 2020 Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling Sale.  His fee remains at $3,500.

Rancho San Miguel 2021 Stud Fees (all LFSN)

Stallion                         2021 Fee       2020 Fee

Curlin to Mischief           $3,500           $3,500

Danzing Candy                $5,000           $5,000

Northern Causeway       $2,000           $2,500

Richard's Kid                    $2,500           $2,500

Sir Prancealot                $15,000         $15,000

Slew's Tiznow                  $3,000            $3,000

Tom's Tribute                  $2,000             $2,000

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