A Heater In the Turf Classic

Six months ago, Klaravich Stables' Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was the leader of a very strong group of turf sophomores, having won the valuable Saratoga Derby over the summer before a year-ending defeat of Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) in the GI Hollywood Derby.

But while that one was given his winter's rest, Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), a progressive sort who finished within three-quarters of a length of Domestic Spending at the Spa last summer, had assumed 'King of the Hill' status, courtesy of a three-race skein that included the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf in January and the GII Muniz Memorial S. Mar. 20. Saturday's renewal of acquaintances in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs lived up to expectations, as they hit the wire together and the judges could not split them.

Colonel Liam, a touch keen passing under the wire for the first time, found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Smooth Like Strait enjoyed a cheap time of things on the engine, doling out fractions of :24.40 for the opening couple of furlongs and an easy :49.17 beneath Umberto Rispoli. The second that pace-pressing Cross Border (English Channel) came under a Ricardo Santana, Jr. ride leaving the three-eighths pole, Colonel Liam was asked for a bit of acceleration from Irad Ortiz, Jr. and was pulled out into the two path to deliver his challenge. Colonel Liam was roused to the front a furlong from home, but Domestic Spending, given a quiet time of it towards the back of the field for the opening six furlongs, followed his stablemate and defending champion Digital Age (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) into the lane, shot the gap between the latter and a weakening Cross Border, was steered out and around Colonel Liam as Smooth Like Strait hung to his right and hit the line on even terms.

Pedigree Notes:

Colonel Liam is the one of six graded winners and three Grade I winners for Liam's Map and is bred on the same cross as 'TDN Rising Star' Wicked Whisper. Colonel Liam is one of two winners from four to race for his dam, an unraced daughter of the Phillipses MGISW turf distaffer Wonder Again, whose full-brother Grass Wonder was the champion 2-year-old of his generation in Japan and later won the Takarazuka Kinen over 2200 meters (11 furlongs) and the 2500-meter (12.5-furlong) Arima Kinen on two occasions before embarking on a stud career. This is also the same female family responsible for GSW Hopeful Growth (Tapiture). Amazement is the dam of Colonel Liam's 3-year-old half-sister Lovely Dee (Shackleford), a juvenile colt by Tapiture and a yearling colt by the late Arrogate, like Liam's Map a son of Unbridled's Song. She most recently visited Copper Bullet (More Than Ready).

Domestic Spending is the lone produce for his stakes-winning dam (died 2017), a daughter of G3 Nell Gywn S. winner and MG1SP Cloud Castle (GB) (In the Wings {GB}), whose GSW Queen's Best (GB) (King's Best) produced GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Domestic Spending's third dam includes a plethora of high-class gallopers, including MG1SWs Warrsan (Ire) (Caerleon) and Luso (GB) (Salse) and MGSW & MG1SP Needle Gun (Ire) (Sure Blade).

Saturday, Churchill Downs
OLD FORESTER BOURBON TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $1,000,000, Churchill Downs, 5-1, 4yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:47.99, fm.
(DH)-1–COLONEL LIAM, 124, c, 4, by Liam's Map
                1st Dam: Amazement, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Wonder Again, by Silver Hawk
                3rd Dam: Ameriflora, by Danzig
($50,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; $1,200,000 2yo '19 OBSAPR).
O-Lawana L. & Robert E. Low; B-Phillips Racing Partnership
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $393,600. Lifetime
Record: 8-6-0-1, $1,264,565. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple
Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
(DH)-1–DOMESTIC SPENDING (GB), 124, g, 4, by Kingman (GB)
                1st Dam: Urban Castle (SW-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Cloud Castle (GB), by In the Wings (GB)
                3rd Dam: Lucayan Princess (Ire), by High Line (GB)
(300,000gns Ylg '18 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (GB); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien
Prat. $393,600. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-1, $914,500. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
3–Smooth Like Strait, 120, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC;
B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy.
$96,000.
Margins: NK, NK, 1HF. Odds: 1.40, 5.90, 7.10.
Also Ran: Count Again, Digital Age (Ire), Ivar (Brz), Cross Border, Masteroffoxhounds, Ride a Comet.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. Click for Colonel Liam's free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Click for Domestic Spending's free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Brown-Ortiz Juggernaut Continues With Domestic Spending’s Hollywood Derby Victory

For the third time this weekend at Del Mar, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Chad Brown teamed up to snare a stakes race. This time it was the Grade 1, $303,000 Hollywood Derby with the colt Domestic Spending in a furious blanket finish at the conclusion of the nine-furlong grass test that was the headliner on a sparkling three-stakes card at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.

Domestic Spending, owned by Klaravich Stables and a British-bred son of Kingman, was up in the final jump to score by a head over Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait, who had a neck on Otter Bend Stables' fast-closing Gufo. Another half-length back was Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin, who had cut out all the pace in the race. Final time for the mile and one-eighth was 1:47.15 after fractions of :23.87, :48.23, 1:12.38 and 1:35.79.

“I thought I was going to be closer with him but he came out of there a little slow and we were in the back,” said Ortiz Jr. “I worked my way up on the backside and he was running perfect. When I asked him for his run at the three eighths (pole), he was ready. He really put in a nice kick. He's been a little green in his earlier races but he's getting better all the time.”

Domestic Spending, the third choice in the wagering, returned $10.40, $5.00 and $3.20 across the board. Smooth Like Strait, who went off as the $2.80-to-1 favorite, paid $4.20 and $3.00, while Gufo paid $3.40.

Earlier in the day Ortiz, Jr. and Brown captured the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes with Fluffy Socks. On Thanksgiving Day they teamed up to take down the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap. Brown had shipped in eight runners from the East Coast for the big weekend of turf stakes at Del Mar. He has three horses entered in Sunday's Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes for older fillies and mares.

“Three down, one more to go,” said assistant Jose Hernandez, deputized by Brown to handle the invading runners. “I talked to Chad coming over to the paddock and he just said stay with the plan. He broke a little slow but he was in good position and at about the half-mile point he started picking it up and by then I knew he was going to be there at the end. He's a really good horse.”

Domestic Spending picked up a check for $180,000 for his efforts and improved his bankroll to $520,900. He now has four wins in five starts, the last three in stakes.

The Saturday card also saw the 5-year-old gelding Count Again make his West Coast debut a winner as he captured the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap.

Del Mar had a husky handle of $15,855,052 on the day's nine races. Its wagering numbers for the Bing Crosby Season are currently up more than 25% over last season's marks.

The final day of the season unfolds Sunday with a 10-race card featuring the Matriarch and the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for 2-year-olds. First post moves up a half hour to noon for the finale.

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Domestic Spending Flies Home to Hollywood Derby Score

Saturday’s GI Hollywood Derby at Del Mar was a tiebreaker of sorts. Since the closure of Hollywood Park in 2013 and with the race transferred to the seaside venue, the locals (California Chrome, Chiropractor and Mo Forza) and ship-ins (Annals of Time, Mo Town and Raging Bull {Fr}) had split the six runnings. Following a pair of scratches, seven California-based sophomores took on a formidable foursome from the East Coast, and when the dust had settled after nine very entertaining furlongs, Klaravich Stables’ Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) had tilted the scales in that direction with a narrow defeat of Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). Gufo (Declaration of War) was third.

The fourth of the right-coast representatives, last-out GII Hill Prince S. upsetter Get Smokin (Got Stormy), pinged the gates and took the Derby field out of the chute and onto the main track, as Smooth Like Strait made full use of his low draw to race handy at the fence before being steered out into the two path with a little less than seven-eighths to travel. Domestic Spending raced with just one rival behind-the late-running Gufo. Get Smokin controlled the pace through an opening half-mile in a modest :48.23, a tempo that gave him and Smooth Like Strait a tremendous tactical advantage over the back markers, each of whom raced with the benefit of some cover.

Positions were more or less unchanged until the three-eighths marker, when Irad Ortiz, Jr. began to get after Domestic Spending three and four wide around the bend and Flavien Prat set Gufo into motion, following the move of Domestic Spending five wide into the lane. On the business end, Get Smokin was still full of run given the pace and he raced as a team inside of Smooth Like Strait into the final furlong. The latter finally edged past the stubborn front-runner, but Domestic Spending was in full flight and was up in the final two jumps. Gufo also flashed home, but the wire came first.

“I thought I was going to be closer with him, but he came out of there a little slow and we were in the back,” the winning rider commented. “I worked my way up on the backside and he was running perfect. When I asked him for his run at the three- eighths (pole), he was ready. He really put in a nice kick. He’s been a little green in his earlier races, but he’s getting better all the time.”

A debut winner at Tampa in February, Domestic Spending returned from a four-month absence to best subsequent SW & GSP Don Juan Kitten (Kitten’s Joy) in a June 7 Belmont allowance ahead of a third to Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) and Get Smokin in the GII Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga July 18. The gelding was last seen getting the better of Gufo by a head in the Saratoga Derby Aug. 15.

Pedigree Notes:

Domestic Spending is the 13th graded/group winner for his terrific young sire and becomes his third to strike at the top level, joining Persian King (Ire) and Palace Pier (GB). The 300,000gns Tattersalls October yearling is out of a stakes-winning daughter of GSW & MG1SP Cloud Castle (GB), the dam of GSW Queen’s Best (GB) (King’s Best), whose daughter Queen’s Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}) won the 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita. This is also the female family of MG1SW Warrsan (Ire), MG1SW Luso (GB) and MGSW & MG1SP Needle Gun (Ire). Domestic Spending is his dam’s lone listed produce.

Saturday, Del Mar
HOLLYWOOD DERBY-GI, $303,000, Del Mar, 11-28, 3yo,
1 1/8mT, 1:47.15, fm.
1–DOMESTIC SPENDING (GB), 122, g, 3, by Kingman (GB)
                1st Dam: Urban Castle, by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Cloud Castle (GB), by In the Wings (GB)
                3rd Dam: Lucayan Princess (Ire), by High Line (GB)
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. (300,000gns Ylg
’18 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Rabbah Bloodstock
Limited (GB); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $180,000.
Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-1, $520,900. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smooth Like Strait, 122, c, 3, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $60,000.
3–Gufo, 122, c, 3, Declaration of War–Floy, by Petionville.
O-Otter Bend Stables; B-John Little & Stephen Cainelli (KY);
T-Christophe Clement. $36,000.
Margins: HD, NK, HF. Odds: 4.20, 2.80, 3.20.
Also Ran: Get Smokin, Decorated Invader, Scarto, Storm the Court, Lane Way, Taishan, Kanderel, Strongconstitution. Scratched: California Kook, Ever Dangerous. 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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East Coasters Done No Favors In Hollywood Derby Draw

Five horses based with powerhouse outfits on the East Coast have shipped into Southern California for Saturday’s GI Hollywood Derby and in a cruel twist, they have been allocated the ‘visitors’ draw’ in five of the six widest gates in what will be a field of 12.

Trainer Christophe Clement has never won the Derby, but he is double-fisted with a pair of high-quality turf sophomores. Gufo (Declaration of War) has won five of his seven trips to the post, having earned a maiden graded success in the GIII Kent S. at Delaware July 4 ahead of a narrow defeat at the hooves of Chad Brown’s charge Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Saratoga Derby Aug. 15. In his most recent appearance, he sprinted his final two furlongs in a wicked :22.60 off a slow tempo and he’ll be the one they’re gunning for, assuming Flavien Prat can work out a trip from the 12 hole. For his part, Brown has won two of this race’s last four runnings.

Stablemate Decorated Invader, also a son of Declaration of War, has developed a fair bit of versatility this season, sitting relatively handy to the pace when winning the GIII Pennine Ridge S. and using a strong late kick to just miss catching front-running Get Smokin (Get Stormy) in the GII Hill Prince S. at Belmont Oct. 18. Mike Smith rides from stall eight.

Ever Dangerous (Kitten’s Joy), whose sire accounted for 2015 Derby hero Chiropractor, is no stranger to an awkward gate, having overcome the 14 to cause a 74-1 upset in the Nov. 6 Bryan Station S. at Keeneland. Well held by the aforementioned trio earlier in the season, the dark bay colt has the 10 hole Saturday.

Meanwhile, the chief local hope, Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) should enjoy the run of the race from his low draw. Winner of the GIII LaJolla H. going a mile over this course Aug. 9, the homebred was an alibi-free fourth as the 6-5 choice in the GIII American Turf S. at Churchill Sept. 5, but bounced back with a 1 1/2-length defeat of a troubled Scarto (Paynter) in the GII Twilight Derby at Santa Anita Oct. 18.

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