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Breeder Voss Celebrates BC Sprint Win For Aloha West

Katy Voss watched this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships with great interest. The breeder, owner, and Laurel Park-based trainer was cheering on her younger sister, Elizabeth Merryman, who bred and co-owns Grade 1 Turf Sprint contender Caravel.

Voss also had a rooting interest in seeing Max Player do well in the $6 million G1 Classic, having bred the colt's dam, stakes winner Fools in Love, with her late-life partner, Bob Manfuso, who passed away in March 2020.

But much of Voss' attention was focused on Aloha West, a 4-year-old son of Hard Spun that she and Manfuso bred and who went into the G1 Sprint with relative anonymity.

“Well, I had certainly heard of him,” Voss said. “I had been following him, and praying.”

Purchased privately by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners following two starts for Gary and Mary West, Aloha West rallied for his first career stakes victory with an 11-1 upset in the six-furlong Sprint, beating Dr. Schivel by a nose on the wire.

“That was pretty exciting,” Voss said. “I've watched every one of his races. I don't know what they paid, but when Eclipse bought him they were very excited.”

Aloha West is out of the Speightstown mare Island Bound, a member of the broodmare band at 191-acre Chanceland Farm in West Friendship, Md. that was established by Voss and Manfuso in 1987. Island Bound was owned by Manfuso and made the final three starts of her racing career for Voss at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. , after going 5-for-24 with trainer Ian Wilkes including a win in the 2012 G3 Winning Colors.

Hard Spun, who ran third in the 2007 G1 Preakness Stakes and went on to become a Grade 1-winning sprinter, stands at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. Aloha West was foaled April 16, 2017.

“I give Bob the credit for that. He always had a great relationship with Darley, and we bred several other mares to Hard Spun so we had been a supporter of Hard Spun from the get-go,” Voss said. “They had sent him to Japan and he had just come back when we sent [Island Bound] down there. We'd always liked Hard Spun. In fact, I just bred Parlay to Hard Spun this year.”

Aloha West went unraced at both 2 and 3, making his debut Feb. 7 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., for trainer Wayne Catalano, winning the six-furlong maiden special weight by three-quarters of a length over a muddy track.

“I was wondering what happened to him, because he never showed up until last winter as a 4-year-old,” Voss said. “First time out, he kind of broke slow, trailed the field, and then circled the field and just won going away. That was exciting.”

Aloha West was brought along patiently by the connections, progressing through his conditions that included back-to-back optional claiming allowance victories over the summer at Saratoga. He was beaten a neck in the G2 Phoenix Oct. 8 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in his Sprint prep.

“After Saratoga, they were going in the Ack Ack, which seemed like a natural for him to go a mile off of his two [sprint] races at Saratoga. The Ack Ack was the Saturday before the yearling sale, so I was counting on him getting some black type because I was selling his sister. Then they scratched and went in the Phoenix. It was a 'Win and You're In' and they were going three-quarters instead of a mile. I suspected Life is Good is probably why, and they figured they had a better shot in the Sprint.”

Aloha West got shuffled back at the start and chased the pace racing three-wide behind favored Jackie's Warrior. Tipped out in the stretch by jockey Jose Ortiz, he came with a steady run to catch Dr. Schivel in the final jump.

It was another success story for the Voss-Manfuso partnership, also responsible for breeding such stakes winners as 2016 G1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia, four-time graded-stakes winner International Star, and multiple stakes winners Cordmaker and Las Setas.

“It's awesome,” Voss said. “I'm sorry I wasn't there.”

Max Player, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, ran last in the Classic behind Knicks Go, the likely 2021 Horse of the Year that was bred in Maryland by Angie and Samantha Moore.

“Maryland was very well-represented,” Voss said. “Nobody was going to beat Knicks Go. They kept talking about how Max Player developed a better style of running, and I just felt like they were all chasing. He was wide on the first turn and he was digging and trying. I've got two half-sisters to his dam, so I'm not complaining.”

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Max Player Scores Second BC Classic Spot With Gold Cup Victory

Max Player followed up his last-out neck victory in the Grade 2 Suburban with a dominating win over five others in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., the 4-year-old Honor Code colt earns a second berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The field of six broke cleanly, with Forza Di Oro, seeking his first Grade 1 win, taking a short lead as Max Player and Santana stalked him on the outside. Around the first turn, Forza Di Oro stretched his lead out to a length, but, after fractions of :24.05 for the first quarter and :48.70 for the first half-mile, Max Player began to press the leader, shortening the margin between them to a neck. Into the far turn, Forza Di Oro was still neck to the good, with Max Player and Happy Saver poised to challenge on the outside.

In the stretch, Max Player pulled even with Forza Di Oro, but the former leader began to tire as Santana asked Max Player to go, easily taking over the lead in the race's final furlongs. The margin of victory was six lengths, Happy Saver passing Forza Di Oro in the final yards to take over second. Night Ops was fourth, with Chess Chief and Forewarned rounding out the field.

The final time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:02.49 over a fast track. Find this race's chart here.

Max Player paid $9.60, $4.70, and $2.60. Happy Saver paid $3.80 and $2.20. Forza Di Oro paid $2.10 to show.

The G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, new to Saratoga for 2021, is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The winner gets a fees-paid guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“It was beautiful. Max, in the [Grade 1] Suburban [victory], ran that race under different circumstances on an off track. For him to do this on a fast track in the Jockey Club Gold Cup here at Saratoga, it is very satisfying. This is who he is, and I thought it was a dominating win,” trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race.

“I was happy with him,” Santana told the NYRA Press Office after the Gold Cup. “Today, he broke good, so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the [work].”

Bred in Kentucky by K and G Stables, Max Player is out of the Not For Love mare Fools In Love, a black-type stakes winner. Owned by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old was a $150,000 RNA consigned by Lane's End at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup is Max Player's second win in four starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of four wins in 10 starts.

The post Max Player Scores Second BC Classic Spot With Gold Cup Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Derby Pedigree Corner: Max Player, Enforceable, Major Fed, And Mr. Big News

Each day of Kentucky Derby week, we'll take a look at the pedigrees of some Derby contenders and how those pedigrees might factor into their ability to succeed at 1 1/4 miles.

Max Player
Honor Code x Fools In Love, by Not For Love
Honor Code has strong credentials around two turns, winning the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at age two, then earning champion older male honors at age four with a campaign including a score in the G1 Whitney Stakes, also at 1 1/2 miles. Honor Code's championship season also included wins at 1 mile in the G1 Metropolitan Handicap and G1 Gulfstream Park Handicap. He is a son of A.P. Indy, who is one of the modern breed's bedrocks for distance runners.

Honor Code's runners post an average winning distance of 7.29 furlongs, which is a strong number for a sire with his first crop of 3-year-olds. He'll have two colts pointing toward this year's Kentucky Derby, with Honor A. P. having won the G1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles and Max Player winning the G3 Withers Stakes at the same distance. Max Player is also placed at the Derby distance, having run third in the G1 Travers Stakes in August.

Fools in Love was a stakes-level horse on the East Coast for most of her racing career, but her lone win in stakes competition came in the 7 furlong Orleans Stakes at Delta Downs. A versatile runner, Fools in Love won at distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

Her resume continued to be strong when she transitioned from the racetrack to the foaling barn, consistently producing black type runners. She is the dam of the Scat Daddy colt Seahenge, a British Group 2 winner at 7 furlongs who now stands at stud in France and Argentina.

Other runners of note out of Fools in Love include Urban Bourbon, a City Zip gelding who is Grade 3-placed at 7 1/2 furlongs over the turf and was a multiple winner at 1 1/16 miles on the same surface. Frank's Folly, by Mineshaft, is stakes-placed and a multiple winner at 1 1/16 miles, while the Exchange Rate gelding Exchequer was a multi-surface claiming winner beyond a mile.

Enforceable
Tapit x Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union
Tapit won the G3 Laurel Futurity as a juvenile going 1 1/16 miles, then came back at three to take the G1 Wood Memorial Stakes at 1 1/8 miles before running in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.

After he retired to stud, Tapit ascended to become perennial leader on the North American sire lists, both in on-track earnings and auction returns. He has sired three Belmont Stakes winners – Tonalist, Creator, and Tapwrit – while classic-placed Frosted became a prominent figure in the handicap division. His average progeny winning distance of 7.65 furlongs is among the leaders for this year's class of Derby sires.

Justwhistledixie has been a versatile star, both on the racetrack and in her broodmare career. She won the G2 Bonnie Miss Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Gulfstream Park, preceded by a one-mile score in the G2 Davona Dale Stakes at the same track. She was also a non-graded stakes winner at 6 and 7 furlongs.

Enforceable would be Justwhistledixie's second Derby starter, following in the footsteps of his full-brother Mohaymen. After bringing $2.2 million as a yearling, Mohaymen won his first five starts: a 6 furlong maiden special weight at Belmont Park; the G2 Nashua Stakes (one mile); the G2 Remsen Stakes (1 1/8 miles); the G2 Holy Bull Stakes (1 1/16 miles); and the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes (1 1/16 miles). He went on to finish fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and now stands at Shadwell Farm in Kentucky.

The Tapit/Justwhistledixie cross has also produced Kingly, who won the G3 La Jolla Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and the non-graded California Derby at the same distance over the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface of Golden Gate Fields.

However, the biggest winner to date out of Justwhistledixie is New Year's Day, a son of Street Cry who took the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles and went on to sire champion 3-year-old Maximum Security.

Major Fed
Ghostzapper x Bobby's Babe, by Smart Strike
Ghostzapper was a force of nature on the racetrack, earning a diverse catalog of wins at the highest level, from the G1 Vosburgh Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs to the 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic. Between those two extremes, he won at 1 1/16 miles in the G1 Woodward Stakes and G3 Philip H. Iselin Breeders' Cup Handicap, at 1 mile in the Metropolitan Handicap, and at 7 furlongs in the G2 Tom Fool Handicap.

He's proven able to get high-caliber runners at either the sprint or route distance at stud, with his two-turn stars including Shaman Ghost, who is a Grade 1 winner at 1 1/4 miles, and Moreno, who won the G1 Whitney Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and ran second in the G1 Travers Stakes at the classic distance. On the shorter side of the equation, he has sired champion female sprinter Judy the Beauty; Paulassilverlining, who was a finalist in the same category. Guarana, a finalist for champion 3-year-old filly last year, is a Grade 1 winner at both 1 1/8 miles and 7 furlongs, with another one in between at a mile.

Ghostzapper's Kentucky Derby runners include Stately Victor, who won the G1 Blue Grass Stakes at 1 1/8 miles before running eighth in the 2010 Derby; and McCraken, who also ran eighth in 2017 and was a three-time graded stakes winner at 1 1/16 miles.

Bobby's Babe broke her maiden on debut at age three, going 6 furlongs over the Polytrack at Turfway Park. She never won again in her 11 career starts, but she finished second by a nose in a one-mile turf race at Kentucky Downs.

She has four earners of six figures under her produce record, led by May Lily, a turf sprint specialist by Broken Vow who won the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Sprint Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs. Zapperini, a full-brother to Major Fed, took it in the opposite direction, finishing second in last year's G3 John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes going 1 1/2 miles. Clairenation, by Bernstein, went on a four-race winning streak of turf sprints between five and 5 1/2 furlongs.

Mr. Big News
Giant's Causeway x Unappeased, by Galileo
Giant's Causeway was one of the greatest runners of his generation on a global scale, earning Europe's Horse of the Year honors in 2000.

He was a Group 1 turf winner at distances ranging from 7 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, racking up victories in the French G1 Prix de la Salamandre at seven panels, the English G1 St. James's Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes at 1 mile, and the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. Giant's Causeway stretched out even further to win the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at 10 furlongs and 56 yards.

In his final start, Giant's Causeway showed elite class and distance ability on the dirt, finishing second by a neck to Tiznow in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Giant's Causeway was North America's leading sire in 2009, 2011, and 2012, with a broad cross-section of successful runners across distance, surface, and international borders. One of the few boxes left to check on his stallion resume is siring a U.S. classic winner, but he's gotten classic winners elsewhere with Footstepsinthesand in the English 2,000 Guineas, Shamardal in the French 2,000 Guineas, and Mike Fox Canada's Queen's Plate.

Giant's Causeway has sent eight runners to post in the Kentucky Derby, with his best finish being a fifth by Creative Cause in 2012. Other Giant's Causeway runners to start in the Derby include Destin (6th, 2016); Brody's Cause (7th, 2016); Carpe Diem (10th, 2015); Santiva (6th, 2011); Hold Me Back (12th, 2009); Cowboy Cal (9th, 2008); and Noble Causeway (14th, 2005).

Unappeased, by another all-world sire in Galileo, went winless in six career starts Japan. Her best performance was a runner-up effort going about 7 furlongs over a sloppy main track.

The mare comes from a strong extended family that includes Canadian Horse of the Year Glorious Song, U.S. champion juvenile Devil's Bag, and top global runner Sligo Bay.

Unappeased is the dam of two other runners including Lalibela, a full-sister to Mr. Big News who won on debut in a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight, going a mile and an eighth on the turf. Untouch, by Speightstown, raced just once, finishing out of the money in a Belmont Park maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

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