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Kalypso a Revelation in Santa Ynez

David Bernsen, Rockingham Ranch and Chad Littlefield’s Kalypso (Brody’s Cause), the 4-5 favorite, strode home an easy winner of the GII Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita Sunday, becoming the second graded winner from the first crop of her Grade I-winning sire. Cutting back to seven furlongs following a runner-up effort behind her Santa Ynez-scratched stablemate Varda (Distorted Humor) in the 1 1/16-mile GI Starlet S. last month, the chestnut filly broke sharply and had the advantage in the early strides. But she was soon joined by Brilliant Cut (Speightstown) and those two rivals battled through fractions of :22.53 and :45.13. Kalypso took charge nearing the stretch and, once she found her best stride, powered away in the final furlong to finish 1 3/4 lengths in front under a hand ride as stablemate Frosteria (Frosted)–still a maiden–made late progress to be second for the fourth time in four lifetime starts. Brilliant Cut was third.

“She broke good and put me right into the race, in a good position,” said winning jockey Joel Rosario, who was riding Kalypso for the first time in the Santa Ynez. “I’m just happy to be on her. She was the best horse and she’ll be better going longer distances.”

Kalypso provided trainer Bob Baffert with his record sixth win in the Santa Ynez a day after he got back on the Triple Crown trail with the one-two finishers–Life is Good (Into Mischief) and Medina Spirit (Protonico)–in Saturday’s GIII Sham S.

“She has natural speed and she’s a really fast filly,” Baffert said of Kalypso, who was one of three fillies he saddled in the Santa Ynez. “She had the lead for a long time in the [Starlet], backing up, it’s a big difference to go seven-eighths. The way she broke today, she was in a good spot and she was really training well coming into this race, so it’s pretty exciting that she got a win.”

Kalypso opened her career with a third-place effort going 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Aug. 15 and was second at that track and trip Sept. 5 before breaking her maiden going six furlongs in the Oct. 18 Anoakia S. She had a 2 1/2-length advantage in upper stretch before being overtaken by Varda in the 1 1/16-mile GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos last time out Dec. 5 and was shedding the blinkers for this second graded stakes attempt.

“I would try her long again, as they get older they are maturing,” Baffert said of future plans for Kalypso. “You can slow her down a little bit, like today she was pretty relaxed. She wasn’t too rank where she went real fast, but we’ll just see how they come out of it. The other filly [Frosteria], I think I’ll just run her in a maiden race.”

Pedigree Notes:

Brody’s Cause, winner of the 2016 GI Toyota Blue Grass S., was represented by 2020 GIII Iroquois S. winner Sittin on Go, as well as GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. runner-up Smiley Sobotka and GII Best Pal S. runner-up Girther.

Malibu Cove, a full-sister to multiple graded winner Prospective, produced a filly by Hit It a Bomb in 2019 and a colt by Mor Spirit in 2020. She was bred back to Jimmy Creed. The mare is also a full to Enhanced, who produced last year’s GIII Bashford Manor S. third-place finisher Herd Immunity (Union Rags).

Sunday, Santa Anita
SANTA YNEZ S.-GII, $200,500, Santa Anita, 1-3, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.42, ft.
1–KALYPSO, 122, f, 3, by Brody’s Cause
              1st Dam: Malibu Cove, by Malibu Moon
                2nd Dam: Spirited Away, by Awesome Again
                3rd Dam: Cape North, by Capote
   1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($240,000 Ylg ’19 FTKJUL). O-David
A Bernsen, LLC, Rockingham Ranch & Chad Littlefield;
B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Joel Rosario.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-2-2-1, $245,600. Werk Nick
   Rating: B. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Frosteria, 120, f, 3, Frosted–Hystericalady, by Distorted
Humor. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $40,000.
3–Brilliant Cut, 120, f, 3, Speightstown–Polish a Diamond, by
The Factor. ($160,000 Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $160,000 Ylg ’19
KEESEP). O-ERJ Racing LLC, David Kenney, William Strauss,
Dennis and Doug O’Neill; B-McCauley Farm & Speightstown
Syndicate (KY); T-Doug F. O’Neill. $24,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1HF, 3HF. Odds: 0.90, 3.60, 30.90.
Also Ran: Queengol, Nasreddine, Exotic West. Scratched: Varda.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Tapit Son Heartwood To Stand First Season At California’s Rancho San Miguel

Heartwood, a multiple graded stakes-placed multiple stakes winner by leading sire Tapit, will initiate his stallion career at Rancho San Miguel in California at the conclusion of his racing career in early 2021. The $486,891-earner will stand for a fee of $2,500, live foal guarantee.

The 6-year-old horse, who races for the partnership of Stuart Tsujimoto and David Bernsen, has won or placed in six black-type races at six different racetracks to date, and is scheduled to make two final starts in graded stakes company at Santa Anita Park in January before retiring to stallion duties.

Bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, Heartwood sold for $500,000 as the highest-priced weanling at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November Sale, and went on to win three stakes races from the ages of 3 to 5: the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley Race Course in 2017, the $75,000 Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial Stakes at Mountaineer in 2018 and the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes at Oaklawn Park in 2019. The well-traveled sprint specialist also placed in three stakes races in 2018: Aqueduct's $206,100 Fall Highweight Handicap (G3), Gulfstream Park's $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) and the $101,800 Bet on Sunshine Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Heartwood is the first foal out of Forestry's Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Maple Forest, a daughter of the Grade 2-placed stakes winner Maple Syrple and half-sister to French Group 3 winner Golden Century who has also produced the multiple stakes-placed winner Luzmimi Princess. His ninth dam is 1946 Broodmare of the Year Bloodroot.

“We are excited to offer West Coast breeders a stallion prospect of this magnitude by North America's most successful sire of the modern era,” said Rancho San Miguel Owner / Manager Tom Clark. “Not only does Heartwood hold distinction as Tapit's only dirt stakes winner available in California, he boasts the same broodmare sire as North America's Leading Freshman Sire of 2020, Nyquist.”

“As a direct male descendant of the breed-shaping stallion A.P. Indy, he also complements our existing stallion roster, which includes sires from the Mr. Prospector, Relaunch and Storm Cat lines.”

In addition to newcomer Heartwood, Rancho San Miguel stands the Grade 1-siring shuttle stallion Sir Prancealot (Ire), 2020 California Leading Second-Crop Sire Curlin to Mischief, multiple Grade 2 winner Danzing Candy, graded stakes winner Northern Causeway, two-time Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) winner Richard's Kid, Grade 1-placed multiple stakes winner Slew's Tiznow and Grade 1 winner Tom's Tribute. Inspections of all stallions are available by appointment.

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Heartwood to Rancho San Miguel

Multiple stakes winner and graded placed Heartwood (Tapit–Maple Forest, by Forestry) will take up stud duties next year at Rancho San Miguel in California. He will stand the 2021 season for $2,500, live foal guarantee. The 6-year-old, who races for the partnership of Stuart Tsuimoto and David Bernsen, won the 2019 King Cotton S., as well as two other stakes races. He was second in the 2018 GIII Fall Highweight H. and third in that year’s GIII Mr. Prospector S.

Heartwood is expected to make two additional starts in graded company at Santa Anita in January before retiring to stud. He currently has eight wins from 33 starts and earnings of $486,891.

“We are excited to offer West Coast breeders a stallion prospect of this magnitude by North America’s most successful sire of the modern era,” said Rancho San Miguel owner and manager Tom Clark. “Not only does Heartwood hold distinction as Tapit’s only dirt stakes winner available in California, he boasts the same broodmare sire as North America’s leading freshman sire of 2020, Nyquist.”

Clark continued, “As a direct male descendant of the breed-shaping stallion A.P. Indy, he also complements our existing stallion roster, which includes sires from the Mr. Prospector, Relaunch and Storm Cat lines.”

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MGSW Giant Expectations Retired

Dual graded stakes winner Giant Expectations (Frost Giant–Sarahisittrue, by Is It True) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at a location still to be determined pending sale of the horse either privately or at auction.

Giant Expectations was trained by Eurton for Exline-Border Racing, David Bernsen, Gatto Racing, and partners, who issued a release: “The current ownership group and management unanimously elected to retire Giant Expectations in the best interests of the horse, and are excited to follow his next career as a stallion.”

In a career that spanned five seasons and 25 starts, the earner of $1,343,600 hit the board in 13 starts, including wins in the 2017 seven-panel GII Pat O’Brien S. and 2017 8 1/2-furlong

GII San Antonio S., the latter victory a gate-to-wire effort defeating Eclipse Award 2018 champion Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) and Grade I winners Collected (City Zip) and Hopportunity (Any Given Saturday).

“Giant Expectations was one of the best horses I had the pleasure to ride over my career,” said Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who was in the irons for some of Giant’s biggest races including both the Pat O’Brien and San Antonio wins. “He was a great looking horse, with the stride and the movement to go

with it, long and fluid..a beautiful stride and a powerful stretch run.”

Added trainer Peter Eurton, “He’s always had tremendous speed, stamina, and resilience. He’s a perfectly built horse. Very sound and a gorgeous individual.”

“This is the type of horse you miss the most when they leave,” said Eurton. “Anybody who breeds to him is going to be very happy.”

Giant Expectations is from the Storm Cat male line and has been relocated to Kentucky as a stallion prospect and will be available for viewing near Keeneland beginning next week. To arrange a viewing please call 805-712-1395.

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