Desert Dawn | Horse Racing Free Tips

OBS October Sale Kicks Off Tuesday

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's October Yearling Sale kicks off Tuesday with a selected yearlings session, which will be followed by an open yearlings session Wednesday.

Tuesday's session gets underway at noon with Hips 1-185 and is followed by the supplements, which are Hips 186-209. Wednesday's session begins at 10 a.m. with Hips 251-660 and followed by a section of supplements, which are Hips 661-684.

“We are certainly excited seeing what has transpired in the yearling market so far this year,” said OBS's Tod Wojciechowski. “The graduates of this sale have been doing very well lately both at the racetrack and at the next level of the market.”

During last year's selected yearlings portion, 104 head sold for $4,539,000 with an average of $43,644 and a median of $32,000. That session was topped by a $170,000 colt by Midnight Storm.

A total of 281 yearlings sold during the open session in 2021 for a gross of $5,224,500 with an average of $18,593 and median of $15,000. The topper during that session was a $170,000 Ransom the Moon colt.

In total, 385 yearlings summoned $9,763,500 at last year's October Sale with an average of $25,360 and median of $19,000. Both of the aforementioned session/co-sale toppers were sold by Lisa McGreevy's Abbie Road Farm.

Recent noteworthy graduates of the OBS October Sale include Friday's GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. winner Delight (Mendelssohn), GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Desert Dawn (Cupid) and MSW Outfoxed (Valiant Minister).

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Oaks Finishers All Well on Saturday; Preakness Next for Oath?

More than 12 hours after winning his fifth GI Kentucky Oaks with Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate), Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was back on his pony leading his horses out to train Saturday morning at 5:15 a.m. He reported that his star filly came out of the race well and now has several options ahead of her, including the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. and the GI Preakness Stakes May 20 and 21, respectively at Pimlico.

“She bounced back very quickly last night and she's very sharp here this morning,” Lukas said. “Looks very good. We're tickled to see her come out of that tough race and to be bouncing around here this morning. She's excellent.

“I'm going to let a few days go by and then I'll get with (owner) Rob Mitchell. I'll let him have an opinion. The Preakness is an option, but so is the Black-Eyed Susan. The big difference is a million dollars and a Grade I. Would be nice to get her a second Grade I.

“She ran a picture-perfect race, a beautiful trip. It kind of went the way we had mapped it out. When Luis moved into position down the backstretch, I told (my wife) Laurie that we were going to be okay.”

Lukas scratched his Kentucky Derby entry Ethereal Road (Quality Road) on Friday and said the Preakness might also be a possibility for him.

“I thought if I ran him today (in the Derby), I'd have no shot of going on with him,” Lukas said. “I have run him a lot between Oaklawn and Keeneland. I didn't think he'd win, so I took him out and now we have the option of the Preakness.”

Pletcher Trio In Good Form

The Todd Pletcher trio of second-placed Nest (Curlin), sixth-placed 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings) and the 11th-placed Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft) all came back in good form, Pletcher said Saturday morning, and will most likely all head to his Belmont Park base.

“They're all likely to be headed up to New York,” said Pletcher. “We've got to do some checking on flight schedules, but they'll be headed out in the next little while.”

Third-Place Desert Dawn Eats Up

Exercise rider Roman Cecher was overseeing business at 5:15 Saturday morning at Barn 43 where H and E Ranch's Arizona-bred Desert Dawn (Cupid) had set up shop this past week in anticipation of her start in the Oaks.

Trainer Phil D'Amato said he was exhilarated after his filly's third-place finish, worth $113,750 to her connections. She finished 2 1/2 lengths behind winner Secret Oath and just a half-length back of second-place Nest.

“She came back from the race really well,” Cecher said. “She ate everything up last night. The filly ran huge for us and we thought she was going to get second. Everybody was very pleased.” He said that plans for Desert Dawn were still to be decided.

The connections of all of the other Oaks runners reported no problems with their fillies Saturday morning.

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TDN Snippets: Weeks of Apr. 4 – Apr. 10

Karma, football, a wild longshot in the Santa Anita Oaks, and one of the industry's oldest farms striving to break new ground in new areas. Let's also not forget the big Twin Spired shadow looming over us. Here's how the controlled chaos went down this week.

Defying the odds…again
Taiba will be up against all sorts of historical norms by forging ahead to the Kentucky Derby off just two lifetime starts. Since 1937 (the advent of detailed start statistics), only four horses have ever even attempted the Derby in career start number three: China Visit (sixth in 2000), Disposal (18th in 1992), Senecas Coin (DNF in 1949) and Perfect Bahram (ninth in 1946).

It's a dry heat…
Arizona will get a chance to bring that lovely weather with them to the Kentucky Oaks after Desert Dawn's shocking upset of the GII Santa Anita Oaks. Her AZ-based owners Hollis and Elena Crim (racing under the farm name of H & E Ranch) kept the faith in their homebred through a three deep string of off-the-board finishes against graded company in California, and were rewarded with a gutsy breakthrough win. A lifetime of dreams are now poised for a run on the first Friday in May.

Pioneerof the Nile's enduring legacy…
The passing of any horse is difficult, doubly so when they're poised for a future like what WinStar experienced with Pioneerof the Nile even if he hadn't sired a Triple Crown winner. As his final crops start racing, the loss becomes more noticeable. Which makes the arch of the universe all the more curious when one considers that his GIII Beaumont S. winning daughter Matareya was born two days before her sire died in 2019: the filly hitting the ground March 16, and Pioneerof the Nile passing away March 18. And so, the world turns and the karmic arc bends more in his favor every day.

Football and the ponies…how very Kentucky
War of Will's syndicate announced a N.I.L. (Name, Image and Likeness) deal with the University of Kentucky's starting quarterback Will Levis. Both Wills love a good race, so the opportunity poses an interesting approach to marketing the sport to a younger, more diverse audience and the stallion to the hardcore UK fans in the breeder ranks. Claiborne Farm is the first such operation to partner with a Division I athlete, and it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out for horse and man.

Through Prevalence, Enrichment is prevalent…
It's a remarkable feat for a broodmare to get two winners on the same card. In Enrichment's case, they came during the incredibly competitive opening weekend at Keeneland. Emirates Road, the youngest of racing age, charged home in the second race on Saturday to win in his second lifetime start. Three races later, Prevalence outran fellow 'Rising Star' Nashville and eight others to capture his first graded stakes, the GIII Commonwealth, for their shared connections of Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh. With a blue hen, a two-time leading Ecuadorian sire, and a variable assortment of graded stakes winners beneath her in the pedigree, Enrichment is set to reap ever more bountiful rewards.

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Cupid Filly Plays Santa Anita Oaks Spoiler

While Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks seemed all but a procession for 13-length GIII Las Virgenes S. romper Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) in her first start since being transferred from Bob Baffert to Tim Yakteen, Desert Dawn (Cupid)–the longest shot in the field of five at higher than 14-1 odds–had other ideas. Desert Dawn broke well from the fence before tucking in to sit third as her seemingly much more formidable stablemate Ain't Easy (Into Mischief) set off to show the way with the imposing presence of Adare Manor looming to her outside. The leading duo opened several lengths on their competition down the backside through splits of :23.05 and :46.46. Adare Manor quickly went from looking like a sure thing to in deep water as pilot John Velazquez hit the gas but seemed to not quite find the response he was looking for. Desert Dawn then ranged up to join the others three deep, and kicked clear in upper stretch. Adare Manor found more to battle back through the stretch, but she could never quite regain her momentum and Desert Dawn crossed the wire a neck to the good. Ain't Easy checked in a distant third.

“I have been working this horse. I knew this filly was better than that last year,” said winning pilot Umberto Rispoli. “I knew we needed that last race and I felt the last work (6f, 1:13.40, 1/4) was better than shown. I just wanted to keep her outside and I knew the pace would set up really well for her. We started to move at the 3/8 pole and she fought every step of the way. She gave me the Santa Anita Oaks and now it is on to Kentucky!”

A second-out graduate going a mile at Del Mar last August, Desert Dawn was third in October's GII Chandelier S. behind Ain't Easy over track and trip before checking in last of sixth behind Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 5. She was fourth to the Baffert-trained Eda (Munnings) in both the GI Starlet S. at Los Al Dec. 4 and again in the local GIII Santa Ysabel S. Mar. 5.

“She's an honest filly,” conditioner Phil D'Amato said of the winner, who earned 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. “I always thought once she'd get her scenario it'd work out for her, and I think the longer the better. Umberto's been breezing her and her last drill was probably her best drill to date, so it all worked out.”

Saturday, Santa Anita
SANTA ANITA OAKS-GII, $400,000, Santa Anita, 4-9, 3yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:43.50, ft.
1–DESERT DAWN, 124, f, 3, by Cupid
                1st Dam: Ashley's Glory, by Honour and Glory
                2nd Dam: Ashley Secret, by Dr. Carter
                3rd Dam: Whatever It Takes, by Hatchet Man
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($32,000
RNA Ylg '20 OBSOCT). O/B-H and E Ranch, Inc.; T-Philip
D'Amato; J-Umberto Rispoli. $240,000. Lifetime Record:
7-2-0-2, $378,400. *2nd graded winner, fourth black-type
winner for sire (by Tapit). Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Adare Manor, 124, f, 3, Uncle Mo–Brooklynsway, by Giant
Gizmo. ($180,000 Ylg '20 FTKFEB; $190,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL;
$375,000 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Town
& Country Horse Farms, LLC & Gary Broad (KY); T-Tim Yakteen.
$80,000.
3–Ain't Easy, 124, f, 3, Into Mischief–Ameristralia (Aus), by
Fastnet Rock (Aus). 'TDN Rising Star' ($400,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP). O-Old Bones Racing Stable, LLC, Michael V. Lombardi
and Joey Platts; B-Spendthrift Farm, LLC (KY); T-Philip D'Amato.
$48,000.
Margins: NK, 7HF, 3HF. Odds: 14.60, 0.70, 3.70.
Also Ran: Under the Stars, Micro Share. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Desert Dawn is the second graded stakes winner, and one of four black-type scorers, from her sire (by Tapit)'s first crop. Honour and Glory is the broodmare sire of 35 graded/group winners, including MGISW West Coast (Flatter) and blue hen Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union).

A rare Arizona-bred to compete at the graded level, Desert Dawn is out of a mare who was a five-time winner at Finger Lakes. Ashley's Glory's last listed foal is a yearling filly by Mineshaft.

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