fountain of youth stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Fun To Watch Him Run’: McGaughey Sees Big Future For Greatest Honour

Powered by ground-devouring strides, Courtlandt Farm's Greatest Honour galloped past pacesetter Drain the Clock nearing the finish to capture Saturday's $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park with speed to spare.

“It's kind of fun to watch him run,” Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday morning after reporting that all was well with Greatest Honour, who was settling back in at his winter home at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla.

Greatest Honour finished the 1 1/16-mile stakes for Triple Crown hopefuls at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track in a manner that hardly told the story of his journey to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle. The dirt that covered the son of Tapit as his pictured was being taken was much more telling of challenges the homebred colt had to overcome in order to come through for the bettors who had made him their even-money favorite.

Although he was getting dirt kicked in his face as he raced in traffic well behind pacesetting Drain the Clock along the length of the backstretch, Greatest Honor was hardly about to play the role of a 90-pound weakling. Once he found running room to his outside on the far turn, the McGaughey trainee flexed his considerable muscle and powered his way to a 1 ½-length victory under Jose Ortiz.

“I knew we were in trouble. I was kind of waiting to see how it unfolded. You know, I'm not one to give up until it's time to give up. I knew things weren't going the way we wanted them to go,” McGaughey said. “They weren't going that fast in front of us. I saw what was happening and I felt like if we could get him to the outside we'd have a chance. That's exactly what happened.”

Greatest Honour's gutsy victory in the Fountain of Youth was considerably more testing that his 5 ¾-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull (G3) Jan. 30 at Gulfstream.

“The Holy Bull – everything went perfect. [Saturday], he didn't get anything perfect and he came back and won,” McGaughey said. “He was doing something he didn't want to do – to run a mile and a sixteenth over this racetrack with the short pole. I'm just glad I don't have to do that anymore.

“I was on the fence whether I wanted to run him back going a mile and a sixteenth here or not,” he added. “I decided that the way he worked last Sunday, it was time to go. Now, we have longer races in front of us. I still think his future is in front of him.”

Greatest Honour is being pointed to the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n Dale Farm at Xalapa March 27 at Gulfstream. McGaughey is hoping that Greatest Honour will follow the example set by Orb, whom he saddled for victories in the 2013 Fountain of Youth, 1 1/8-Florida Derby and the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby (G1).

Greatest Honour virtually earned his way into the Kentucky Derby field with his victory in the Fountain of Youth, which offered 50 qualifying points for the May 1^st Derby. He currently sits atop the standings with 60 points.

McGaughey also reported that Performer exited his third-place finish as the favorite in the $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) in good order.

“I think he was fighting the racetrack a little bit,” said McGaughey, whose trainee had captured the Fred W. Hooper (G3) in his previous start. “I think it's one of those things that it just wasn't his day.

The post ‘Fun To Watch Him Run’: McGaughey Sees Big Future For Greatest Honour appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Off Big Maiden Win, Collaborate In Mix For Florida Derby; Drain The Clock Cutting Back

Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' 3-year-old colt Collaborate, an eye-catching maiden winner on Saturday's Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth day program at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., may have run himself onto the Triple Crown trail.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Sunday morning that the sophomore son of Into Mischief, also bred by Three Chimneys, is likely to make his next start in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa March 27.

The Florida Derby offers 170 qualifying points (100-40-20-10) to the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1), as do the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct and Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland, both run April 3. All three preps are contested at 1 1/8 miles.

“The Florida Derby is at home and he just has to walk out of his stall,” Joseph said. “I talked to the owners briefly yesterday and it will probably be between the Florida Derby, the Wood or the Blue Grass, but the Florida Derby will be the front-runner.

“Off [Saturday's] race, we're probably going to take a chance somewhere,” he added. “We feel like he's a Derby horse. I know we're a little behind schedule, but with the ability he has he can probably overcome it.”

Collaborate broke sharply and set a measured pace under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, going in splits of 23.72 seconds, 46.57 and 1:11.12 before beginning to edge away from his 10 rivals. He hit the stretch six lengths in front and kept rolling to win by 12 ½ at the end in 1:36.35 for one mile over a fast main track.

“We weren't surprised. That's hard to say with a horse winning like that but that's the horse we thought he was,” Joseph said. “The first time out, we got him beat. It hurt to get him beat first time out, because we thought he was that good, but you always have to look at the positive in each scenario and the first time I thought he gained valuable experience.”

Collaborate also went off as the favorite for his debut, a six-furlong maiden special weight Feb. 6, where he endured traffic issues after getting away poorly and wound up sixth though beaten just 1 ¼ lengths.

“He was off a tad slow, took a lot of dirt, had to split horses, had to wait, [but] I thought the experience first time out was priceless,” Joseph said. “It hurt getting him beat, but if you draw the positives from the race it was priceless experience and it carried over to yesterday. He stretched out to a mile for the first time and he got a fairly easy race which, in hindsight, I don't mind because his first race I thought was a pretty hard race on him.”

Joseph made his Triple Crown race debut last fall with John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, Paul Braverman and Team Hanley's Ny Traffic. Runner-up in the Louisiana Derby (G2), Matt Winn (G2) and Haskell (G1), he finished eighth in the Derby and ninth in the Preakness.

“It's very exciting to have the owners that we have providing these horses to us. We're thankful,” Joseph said. “The horses will make good trainers and we've got some really quality horses now and we're thankful for each and every one.”

Fountain of Youth (G2) Runner-Up Drain the Clock Cutting Back
While impressive maiden-winning stablemate Collaboarate earned the chance to stretch out for a shot at the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa, Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Drain the Clock isn't expected to join him.

Joseph said Sunday that Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig's Drain the Clock, himself a sharp winner of the seven-furlong Claiborne Farm Swale (G3) Jan. 30 at Gulfstream in his graded debut, would remain at shorter distances for now.

Drain the Clock set the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Saturday at Gulfstream, his first attempt around two turns, and nearly pulled off the upset before getting reeled in by Holy Bull (G3) winner Greatest Honour.

“Talking to the owners briefly after the race, initially I think we're going to step back and keep him at one turn. We tried it and I think he handled the mile and a sixteenth, but I don't think we're going to try to push it,” Joseph said. “I think we have a really good horse. I feel like we have a Grade 1 horse and he's probably going to be best at one turn, so most likely we're going to stick to one turn.”

The Fountain of Youth was the first loss for Drain the Clock in a race where he finished. He broke his maiden and beat winners in an optional claiming allowance last fall at Gulfstream and Gulfstream Park West, respectively, before losing his rider on the backstretch of the Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs. He returned to South Florida and opened his 3-year-old season with a win in the Jan. 3 Limehouse that set him up for the Swale triumph.

Drain the Clock ran splits of 23.66 seconds, 47.18, 1:11.51 and 1:37.45, taking a 2 ½-length lead into the stretch before Greatest Honour, trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, closed stoutly on the outside to win by 1 ½ lengths. Drain the Clock, second choice in the wagering behind the winner, was two lengths clear of 18-1 long shot Papetu in third.

“He looked like a winner at the quarter pole but he got run down by a horse that has a lot of stamina and excellent ability in Shug's horse. A credit to Shug for the job he's done with that horse. We lost nothing in defeat. You like to win if you can but if any horse runs like that, you walk away thankful and happy,” Joseph said. “He's doing well. He ate pretty good last night and seemed to cool out well.”

The post Off Big Maiden Win, Collaborate In Mix For Florida Derby; Drain The Clock Cutting Back appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Week in Review: Tapit Supplies Favors for 20th Birthday Bash

Birthdays with a zero on the end are supposed to be momentous occasions, and 20-year-old Tapit sure knows how to celebrate in style.

On Saturday, the Gainesway stallion even supplied the party favors for a double-barreled bash in his honor on the GI Kentucky Derby trail.

Exactly two decades after Tapit's Feb. 27, 2001, foaling date, two of his sons delivered sky's-the-limit performances as winning favorites in key 3-year-old prep stakes that firmly established both atop of the current crop of aspirants to wear a blanket of roses on the first Saturday in May.

The near-term debate will now center on which colt–Essential Quality or Greatest Honour–deserves kingpin billing on the sophomore totem pole.

An equally intriguing subplot involves whether either can deliver a first Derby win for the sire who has evolved into the most influential stallion of the 21st Century. Tapit has produced eight divisional champions, six Breeders' Cup winners and three GI Belmont S. victors. But siring a Derby winner has thus far eluded the now-whitened gray, just as the Derby itself did in 2004 when Tapit splashed home ninth as one of the favorites.

Undefeated 'Quality'

Essential Quality had his 3-year-old debut delayed by two weeks because winter weather thrice forced the rescheduling of the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn. Yet Mother Nature still managed to intercede by imposing a sloppy (sealed) racing surface Saturday.

The undefeated juvenile champ and 'TDN Rising Star' broke fluidly and responded to a cue to rate from rider Luis Saez, settling fifth into the clubhouse turn while vacating the rail and opting for a three-wide berth (in the gooey going, every jockey in the race avoided the rail like it was strung with barbed wire).

The big matchup in the Southwest was supposed to be the tear-away speed of 6-5 second favorite Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) versus the high-cruise stalking skills of 9-to-10 choice Essential Quality, and the race unfolded as scripted in the early stages with “Jackie” leading the charge through a :23.52 opening quarter that jockey Joel Rosario then milked to a :48.11 breather of a half mile.

“EQ” took firm hold of the bit and wanted to pull, but Saez harnessed that keenness effectively and got the champ to edge forward incrementally while outside and in the clear for the backstretch run. Against the hazy blur of fog, the gray made headway at a metronomic rate of one position per furlong, attaining and releasing each target in a measured manner before focusing adeptly on the next.

EQ had given up real estate on both turns, but was full of momentum coming over the top at the quarter pole, getting second run on the caving Jackie (whose Derby stock slipped considerably after a second failed try at two turns). But Essential Quality had to brace for a fresh challenge in the form of Spielberg (Union Rags), who was unwinding from last and finishing fast after getting off to a stutter-step start.

The champ was up to the task. Essential Quality switched leads and took off when Saez asked, widening to the wire to win by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:45.48 for 1 1/16 miles, which translated to a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, an improvement of one point over his Juvenile win back in November. (The other same-distance races on the card were the GIII Razorback H., run 90 minutes earlier for older males, which clocked :01.15 faster, and an allowance-optional claimer nightcap for older males one race after the Southwest that went :0.75 slower.)

The Apr. 3 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland (where Essential Quality is 2-for-2) or the Apr. 10 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn are reportedly under consideration as final Derby tune-ups by trainer Brad Cox.

'Greatest' Without Ease

While Essential Quality's Southwest S. win stamped him as a Derby contender who is fluidly polishing his prowess, the even-money favored win by Greatest Honour in Gulfstream's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. (FOY) resonated more like an unleashing of brute force by a deep closer who ate a lot of kickback, totally lost his momentum on the far turn, then stormed home relentlessly despite a short-stretch configuration that does not play to off-the-tailgate tactics.

The raw power demonstrated by Greatest Honour in winning three 1 1/16 miles races this winter at Gulfstream has to be considered within the context that races at that distance at that track start very close to the first turn and end at the sixteenth pole. This often tilts the advantage to speed-centric runners, and the FOY in particular has been a house of horrors for well-backed “headline” horses. Prior to Saturday, FOY faves had lost the last four runnings and 13 of the previous 15 editions.

Jockey Jose Ortiz guided Greatest Honour to his customary spot near the back of the bunch in the FOY. Settling inside, the rugged bay wasn't crazy about being pelted with dirt, but he was hemmed in at the fence until the far turn. When Ortiz tried to edge out, Greatest Honour's back end got bumped by an outside rival, and the favorite appeared for a moment as if he was going to plummet back through the pack.

When a long-striding horse gets stopped like that, it can be difficult to get him back into rhythm. By the three-eighths pole (which is 2 1/2 furlongs from the wire on this configuration), Greatest Honour was still nine lengths adrift. He sparked back into stride when Ortiz switched him outside, but at the top of the lane, one furlong from the short-stretch finish, the colt was still five lengths off the action and under the whip.

Once in the clear on the straightaway though, Greatest Honour fully uncoiled. Granted, he ran down a tiring leader to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:44.02 (89 Beyer). But the visual impression he made carries more weight than any speed number. Watching him gobble up ground so voraciously led to automatic thoughts about what havoc a monster like this might be able to wreak given a longer stretch over extended distances.

Trainer Shug McGuaghey indicated the Mar. 27 GI Florida Derby was likely next. “I'm glad we don't have to run a mile and a sixteenth anymore,” he added. “When they're going farther, I think we might see a little better horse.”

Both Essential Quality (Godolphin) and Greatest Honour (Courtlandt Farms) are homebreds.

But for Courtlandt's Donald Adam, the connection to Tapit is gratifying on a different level.

“I bought the mare [Tiffany's Honour] in foal to a Tapit colt, and that colt hit the ground and was killed in a paddock accident,” Adam said post-race. “So, I bred her back to Tapit and got [Greatest Honour].”

The post The Week in Review: Tapit Supplies Favors for 20th Birthday Bash appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Tapit’s Greatest Honour Rallies to Fountain of Youth Win

Courtlandt Farm homebred Greatest Honour (Tapit) looked all but hopeless rounding the final bend in Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream, but he flew home in the stretch to complete a huge daily double for his sire. The Shug McGaughey trainee's victory came just minutes after returning champion Essential Quality (Tapit) cruised in Oaklawn's GIII Southwest S. Pacesetting Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) held well for second, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, while longshot Papetu (Dialed In), who briefly looked like the winner, checked in third. It was the third Fountain of Youth for Hall of Famer McGaughey, who won in 2019 with Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) and in 2013 with Orb (Malibu Moon). The latter, who employed similar late-running tactics and hails from the same A.P. Indy sire line, would go on to add the GI Florida Derby and GI Kentucky Derby.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FASIG-TIPTON FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH S.-GII, $300,000, Gulfstream, 2-27, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.02, ft.
1–GREATEST HONOUR, 123, c, 3, by Tapit
                1st Dam: Tiffany's Honour, by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister
                3rd Dam: Blush With Pride, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
O/B-Courtlandt Farms (Donald & Donna Adam) (KY); T-Claude
McGaughey III; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $176,700. Lifetime Record:
6-3-1-2, $351,940. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Drain the Clock, 120, c, 3, Maclean's Music–Manki, by Arch.
O-Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Wonder Stables &
Michael Nentwig; B-Nick Cosato (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
$57,000.
3–Papetu, 118, c, 3, Dialed In–Lady Malkin, by Sharp Humor.
($80,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Magic Stables LLC; B-Almar Farm,
LLC (KY); T-Antonio Sano. $28,500.
Margins: 1HF, 2, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.00, 2.80, 18.30.
Also Ran: Tarantino, Jirafales, King's Ovation, Prime Factor, Fire At Will, Tiz Tact Toe, Sososubtle. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Developed with the typical patience McGaughey is renowned for, Greatest Honour was third in seven-furlong events at Saratoga Sept. 5 and Belmont Oct. 11, respectively, to kick off his career. He was beaten a head when stretched out to nine panels at Aqueduct Nov. 8 by well-bred Known Agenda (Curlin), who was subsequently third in the GII Remsen S. and most recently took a local optional claimer by 11 lengths on Friday. Greatest Honour broke through over track and trip Dec. 26, and took his game to a whole different level when annexing the GIII Holy Bull S. Jan. 30 by 5 3/4 lengths.

Immediately out-sprinted, Greatest Honour seemed to resent the kickback early while ultimately settling in third last and saving some ground. He appeared to be going up and down after six furlongs in 1:11.51 and as Papetu blew by him from even farther back midway on the home bend. Drain the Clock turned for home with a three or four-length advantage, but he was going to need a bigger cushion than that. Greatest Honour was switched wide and exploded down the center, bounding by with fluid strides to win with room to spare.

“He broke good, a bit slow like he always does, and I put him in the race,” said winning rider Jose Ortiz. “I tried to be as close as I could going to the backside and I got a good path behind Prime Factor (Quality Road). But, when we hit the turn I bumped the horse outside of me and lost my hind end a little bit and it was very hard to get him back going. He's such a big horse with such a big stride. At the three-eighths pole I'm trying to get him going and I got a space on the inside, but I didn't want to have to stop him again, so I decided to go wide and when he hit the clear, boom. He was there for me. Huge run.”

McGaughey, who said the Mar. 27 GI Florida Derby would be next on the agenda, admitted he wasn't feeling confident for much of Saturday's race.

“I wasn't real comfortable,” he said. “I could see what was going on and I felt like if Jose got him in the clear then we could have a shot to make a run at him. The horse that was second [Drain the Clock], when he did break clear I said, 'Uh, oh.' But, he's a really nice horse.”

He continued, “The pace wasn't that fast today, I don't think, but he was able to overcome it. He's won twice down here now in stakes doing what he doesn't want to do, and that's a mile and a sixteenth. Like Jose said, I'm glad these mile and a sixteenth [races] are behind us. We'll be looking forward to getting him stretched out. Hopefully it's in the near future but, if not, I know what we've got. Hopefully as we keep going longer he'll keep improving. The farther the better for him.”

Owner/breeder Don Adam was also on hand to celebrate.

“It's very exciting,” he said. “Being a horse that I bred and the history by which I came by him is very gratifying. I was a little concerned in this one. It looked like he wasn't in the best position, but this will be the shortest race he runs in a long time. And the longer he goes, the better he will be.”

Adam added, “I bought the mare [Tiffany's Honour] in foal to a Tapit colt and that colt hit the ground and was killed in a paddock accident. So, I bred her back to Tapit and got him. I bought her at a Fasig-Tipton sale.”

Click here for more on Courtlandt and Tiffany's Honour and her Tapit colts.

Pedigree Notes:

Greatest Honour is one of 88 graded stakes winners by Tapit, but is the only one out of a Street Cry mare. Street Cry also sired the dam of Fearless (Ghostzapper), who took the GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. earlier on the card. Courtlandt acquired dam Tiffany's Honour after she RNA'd for $2.3 million at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton November Sale in foal to Tapit. The unplaced daughter of GISW and Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister)–dam of GI Belmont S. and GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and class of 2021 Hall of Fame nominee Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy)–produced a War Front colt in 2017 who would go on to fetch $1.1 million at Keeneland September the following year. After producing Greatest Honour, Tiffany's Honour sold to Japan's Katsumi Yoshida for $2.2 million at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

The post Tapit’s Greatest Honour Rallies to Fountain of Youth Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post