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Horses Of Racing Age Star At Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Sale

Enthusiastic bidding marked the 2021 renewal of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic December Mixed and Horses of Racing Age sale Tuesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.

Bolstered by a well-received horses of racing age addendum, the sale saw significant gains in overall gross and a 100 percent increase in median over last year's edition.

Two-year-old racing prospect Safalow's Mission sold for $130,000 to Linda Rice, agent for Thelma & Louise Stable, to top the sale as a part of the increasingly popular horses of racing age addendum. The gelded son of Mission Impazible was consigned as Hip 267 by Northview Stallion Station, agent for Joseph Besecker.

New York-bred Safalow's Mission is twice placed on the NYRA circuit in two starts this year at two with earnings of $22,400 to date. The gelding is a half-brother to stakes placed My Roxy Girl out of a full sister to multiple stakes winner Citizen.

Money Fromheaven, a 5-year-old stakes winning daughter of Munnings, sold for $120,000 to Stoneriggs Farm to become the second highest-price offering of the sale and the addendum. Consigned as Hip 238 by Greenmount Farm, agent, Money Fromheaven won the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship Stakes at two and won or placed 13 times in her career to date on her way to earnings of $249,311. The Maryland-bred mare is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Rocky Policy from the immediate family of champions Sweet Mint and Invincible Ash.

This year's Maryland Million Nursery Stakes winner Buff Hello sold for $95,000 to Euro Stable as the third most-expensive horse in the addendum. Northview Stallion Station, agent for Joseph Besecker, consigned the 2-year-old son of Buffum as Hip 333.

Besecker originally purchased the Pennsylvania-bred colt at last year's Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale for $26,000, also from the consignment of Northview Stallion Station. To date, Buff Hello has won two of five career starts and earned $96,675. The colt is a full-brother to stakes placed winner Latin Spice and hails from the immediate family of champion and successful sire Langfuhr.

Dad's Princess, carrying a foal from the second crop of Omaha Beach, sold for $100,000 to Bonita Farm, agent, to top the main catalog offerings. Becky Davis, agent, consigned the 9-year-old graded stakes placed daughter of Mineshaft as Hip 83.

Dad's Princess is already the dam of a current 2-year-old winner in her first foal I Am Yours (Quality Road). The mare is a half-sister to stakes winner Prince Rooney out of a winning daughter of champion and millionaire Princess Rooney.

The sale's top weanling came in the form of Ella Speed, a filly from the first crop of champion Vino Rosso, which sold for $50,000 to Brookstone Farm. Offered as Hip 189 by Sally Thomas, agent, Ella Speed is the first foal out of the winning Candy Ride mare Dearest Ella, a daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Ellafitz. From the immediate family of champion Lord Avie and Grade 1 winner Stephen Got Even, Ella Speed was bred in New York by Classic Bloodstock, Mike Reilly Jr., & Colleen Smith.

Overall, 261 horses sold for $3,905,100, a 66.5 percent increase over last year's gross sales of $2,345,000 for 182 head. The average rose 16.1 percent to $14,962 from $12,888 in 2020. The median doubled to $10,000, and the RNA rate fell slightly to 21.4 percent.

Full results are available online.

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Claudio Gonzalez Living The ‘Dream’ With Haskell Contender Lebda

The first time Claudio Gonzalez showed up on the Monmouth Park backstretch, he was a recent Chilean immigrant and a teenager who barely spoke English and was in dire need of any job.

Now he'll roll through the stable gate with a horse he'll saddle on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes, a race that offers the opportunity to qualify for spots in both the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic.

“This is a big race for me. It's my first Haskell,” said Gonzalez, 45, who last year was honored as Maryland's leading trainer for the third straight year. “Everybody dreams of that, to run in the biggest races. As soon as I was starting to learn to be a trainer, that was my dream. It is for any trainer.

“But to have a horse in the Haskell, especially, is very important to me. I worked there on the backside for about 15 years and that is the most important race there. This will be my first time back at Monmouth in two years so it's going to be really exciting for me to come back and have my horse run in the biggest race.”

Gonzalez, who started at the bottom in the barn of fellow Chilean Juan Serey in 1995 and had a short stint with Gary Contessa before joining the operation of Monmouth Park mainstay Ben Perkins, Jr., will send out Euro Stable's Lebda in the Haskell.

The two-time stakes winner in Maryland this year finished sixth last time out in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby.

“In his race in Ohio he went the first quarter in :22 and he got tired,” said Gonzalez, who could have a banner day as he will also run Harper's First Ride in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup at a mile and an eighth on the main track, one of five stakes races on the undercard. “But he came back good. He's been learning all the time and he keeps moving forward. The horse is doing great and has been training very well and that's why we decided to come to the Haskell. He's a classy horse.”

Even if he doesn't visit the Monmouth Park winner's circle after either race Gonzalez is already a proven winner. He beat testicular cancer in 2008.

Through his surgery, treatment protocol and recovery, he was unable to work for six months. He was terrified he wouldn't be able to support his wife and family, but Perkins, his wife, Susan, and those who owned horses in the barn treated him just like family. Their compassion, emotional support and financial support were lifesavers.

“Benny told me right away that no matter what, they would take care of me,” said Gonzalez, who is married with three children. “They said right away that they wanted to help me. They never said no. They always said yes, even before I had symptoms. They paid me every single week. There are not too many people who would do that for someone. All the time, they brought the check to me. They never missed even one week. Every week they brought a check to me.

“For all the rest of my life I have to say thank you to Benny and the owners who helped me. They are special.

“Every time I see Benny, his wife, and every one of the owners I go over and say thank you again. They are the nicest people and they are very good people.”

Perkins, a multiple graded stakes trainer, told the Laurel Park press office at the time, “A lot of my owners are hands-on guys and they're around the barn. A lot of them are people that had been with us for a while. They knew what Claudio was putting into the operation and they were all willing to help out when he needed help. It was a full group thing.

“Everybody pitched in. The guys knew him and they knew the kind of person he was. He's a good family man. He's got a great wife and kids, and everybody was glad to help.”

When Gonzalez recovered and went back to work for Perkins, he decided to try going out on his own with five horses he would take care of early in the mornings before and late in the evenings after his regular job. His second starter was a winner on Nov. 14, 2012 at Laurel, and he got his first his first stakes win in September of 2013 in Monmouth Park's Jersey Girl Handicap.

Now in his ninth year as a trainer, he heads into the Haskell with 793 career victories and almost $22 million in earnings through July 15.

“This is very exciting,” said Gonzalez, whose sole graded stakes score came in the 2017 Frank DeFrancis Memorial Dash with former two-time New Jersey-bred champion Chublicious.

Adding to the incentive of the Haskell is the race's designation of “Win and You're In” reward for the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7. Because of the reshuffled and reconfigured Triple Crown this year, the Haskell Stakes for the first time will also offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 100-40-20-10 to the first four finishers.

“I know, I know. There is a lot at stake on Saturday,” said Gonzalez, who will give regular rider Alex Cintron a leg up in the Haskell. “It would be very nice to qualify for those races and run in my first Kentucky Derby and maybe then in my first Breeders' Cup. But first we have to run in the Haskell. Then we'll see. It all depends on how he runs, and then (if he gets points) how he comes back from the race, how he trains going forward, and all that. Then we can decide what we can do. But, yes, it would be very nice to pick up 100 Derby points.”

Lebda, who was purchased for $100,000 by Euro Stable's Valter Ramos and is one of seven horses he has with Gonzalez, is a longshot in the Haskell, having been installed at 20-1 on the morning line.

But don't count Gonzalez out. After all, the once-jobless immigrant teenager who showed up on the backside and the cancer survivor has already beaten the odds. Twice.

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Multiple Stakes Winner Lebda ‘Had A Lot Of Vacation,’ To Run Back In Three Weeks In Haskell

Euro Stable's sophomore sensation Lebda, a two-time stakes winner this winter over his home course of Laurel Park, will make the jump to Grade 1 company for his next start in Saturday's $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park.

Also heading to the Jersey shore for Maryland's leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez will be MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride, set to make his stakes debut in the Monmouth Cup (G3) on the Haskell undercard. Harpers First Ride has won five of seven starts since being claimed last fall, including an impressive allowance triumph July 3 at Laurel.

Lebda, by Raison d'Etat, suffered the first loss of his 3-year-old season in the June 27 Ohio Derby (G3), where he was part of a wicked early pace under regular Laurel-based rider Alex Cintron before tiring to be sixth behind 14-1 upset winner Dean Martini.

It was the first race for Lebda since his two-turn victory in the Private Terms at about 1 1/16 miles March 14 at Laurel. Live racing was paused in Maryland for 2 ½ months amid the coronavirus pandemic, resuming May 30, and soon after Euro's Valter Ramos spent $3,000 to make Lebda a late nomination to the Triple Crown.

“He was off for a long time. He had a lot of vacation, and that's why we're going to run back in the three weeks,” Gonzalez said. “The owner is very excited for this. This is why he does it, to be part of big days. You don't want to say no when you have a horse like this.”

Lebda helped convince his connections to take a shot at the 1 1/8-mile Haskell when he returned to the work tab for the first time following the Ohio Derby with a half-mile breeze in 47.80 seconds July 10 at Laurel, the fastest of 31 horses.

“Alex breezed him that day and when we talked he said he was feeling good and did everything right, and he had a lot of horse,” Gonzalez said. “The next couple of days he looked good, and that's why we decided to run.”

Cintron will retain the mount for the Haskell, which will be the fourth graded-stakes attempt for Lebda. His best finish came when third in the Iroquois (G3) last fall at Churchill Downs. He ended his juvenile campaign running ninth in the Nashua (G3) at Aqueduct and third in the Heft at Laurel, where he opened 2020 with a victory in the one-mile Miracle Wood.

“For me, to run in the big races is different. I'm not crazy about running if they don't have a chance. This horse, I believe he's a very good horse. He can run,” Gonzalez said. “I know the race is going to be tough. If we don't run over there, we'll never know how much he can run. No matter what, one day he was going to have to run with the good horses.”

Lebda broke from Post 4 in the Ohio Derby, also at 1 1/8 miles, and Gonzalez is hoping for a better starting position over what is regarded as a speed-favoring racetrack in the Haskell.

“I believe there will be a lot of speed in the race. It all depends on the position. I think the seven or eight is a good position for me,” Gonzalez said. “If he's inside, we have to rush him too much to take a good position. If we're outside it's much better.”

Gonzalez said the ultimate goal for Lebda has been the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1), rescheduled from May 16 to Oct. 3 as the final leg of the Triple Crown, four weeks after the Kentucky Derby (G1). Tiz the Law captured the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 20.

“That was the plan before all this happened, to wait for the Preakness no matter what. The plan was not, if we had the points and everything like that, to go to the Derby,” Gonzalez said. “We wait for the Preakness because we're local, we're going to be at home. Now, if he's doing good and everything is good by then, I believe we still try for the Preakness.”

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Speedy Lebda Under Consideration For July 18 Haskell

Having exited the first loss of his 3-year-old season in good shape, Euro Stable's multiple stakes winner Lebda is under consideration for the $1 million Haskell (G1) July 18 at Monmouth Park.

Based at Laurel Park with summer meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez, Lebda is among 34 horses nominated to the 1 1/8-mile Haskell, which this year will serve as a points qualifier to the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Gonzalez said he expects to make a decision this week after speaking with Euro's Valter Ramos, who paid $3,000 by the June 4 deadline to make Lebda a late nominee to the Triple Crown.

“I have to talk to the owner, and we want to see who's going to come for the Haskell. We might take a look at that race,” Gonzalez said. “You never know. We're going to see how he continues to do, and then we'll decide.”

Lebda won the one-mile Miracle Wood and the two-turn Private Terms, contested at about 1 1/16 miles, on his home track over the winter. The latter came March 14, one day before Maryland racing was put on pause for 2 ½ months amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Live racing resumed in Maryland May 30 but with stakes races on hold, Gonzalez targeted the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby (G3) June 27 for Lebda's return. Sent off as the fourth choice in a field of 13 at odds of 6-1, Lebda pressed an opening quarter in 22.80 seconds and then led after a half in 47.22 before tiring to sixth.

“He came back good,” Gonzalez said. “He went really fast the first quarter; 22 [seconds] for a mile and an eighth is a little too fast.”

Monmouth would be the sixth different track for Lebda, a winner of four of nine career starts with one second and two thirds, both in the stakes – the 1/16-mile Iroquois (G3) last fall in Kentucky and the seven-furlong Heft at Laurel in his juvenile finale.

“I think it would be good because the track over there is always [good] for the speed horses,” Gonzalez said of Monmouth. “You have to be right there. That's why maybe it fits good for him. We'll see.”

Gonzalez may have another horse to bring to New Jersey in MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride, an impressive one-mile allowance winner July 3 at Laurel over a graded-stakes quality field that included Alwaysmining, Cordmaker, Name Changer and Honor the Fleet.

Harpers First Ride is nominated to the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Cup (G3) on the Haskell undercard. The 4-year-old gelding has won five of seven starts since being haltered by Gonzalez out of a maiden claiming triumph last fall in Kentucky.

“We nominated for the Monmouth Cup and I'm 50-50 to run there,” Gonzalez said. “For now, he's doing really good and he came back really good from the race. I'm going to take a couple more days to decide. I think this horse will run better going a little longer.”

Harpers First Ride, yet to make his stakes debut, led nearly all the way in his recent 1 ¾-length victory over a quartet that had a combined 15 stakes wins including Name Changer's 2018 Monmouth Cup score. Last year, Alwaysmining swept Laurel's series for 3-year-olds and competed in the Preakness (G1) while Cordmaker was beaten two necks when third in the historic Pimlico Special (G3).

“That field was really tough. They are really good horses,” Gonzalez said. “You know what happened with this horse? Every race, he came back better and better. He's a really cool horse. He's not crazy. He's all business. I don't have any trouble with him at all. He's doing really good.”

Gonzalez said he was also proud of Magic Stable's Princess Cadey's effort in a troubled third-place finish in the July 4 Delaware Oaks (G3), her first race since taking Laurel's Beyond the Wire March 14.

“I'm very happy with her. She didn't break that great, and I wanted to see her right there in the clear because always she doesn't like dirt in the face,” Gonzalez said. “She didn't break good and she came [from] last and she still finished third. She came back good, and I'm very happy for her and how she ran. She ran big. It wasn't how I wanted the trip, that's why I'm so happy for her.”

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