Tag: Frankie Brothers

Champion Caressing, Dam Of Champion West Coast, Dies At Age 23

Champion Caressing passed on Sept. 14 at Hermitage Farm due to laminitic conditions.

She is buried at Hermitage between the paddocks next to the foaling barn, where she devoted so much time to watching future champions grow.

Caressing, a dark bay mare foaled in 1998, was purchased as a yearling for $180,000 on behalf of Carl F. Pollard. Sent into training with veteran trainer David R. Vance, Caressing was a winner in her second start as a 2-year-old and advanced in her third career race to the Bassinet Stakes, winning by seven lengths.

A 47-1 longshot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Caressing's victory solidified her as the recipient of the 2000 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly. She retired in 2002 with earnings of $955,998.

The highlight of Caressing's career as a broodmare came in 2014 with foaling season coming to a close with a bay colt by Flatter born on May 14.

Upon visit from Keeneland prior to the sale, Frankie Brothers remarked, “He's either going to blossom or he's going to go the other way.”

The son of Flatter flourished at the right time and caught the eye of Ben Glass, agent for Gary and Mary West, at the sale, despite his late foaling date.

“But I just loved this colt,” said Glass. “He was so charismatic and carried himself so well. He had such a fluid walk he would slink along like a panther. He had good size and a great big overstep on him.”

The price limit for Glass was set at $350,000, but he stretched to $425,000 to bring home Caressing's eighth foal from Hermitage Farm's consignment.

Appropriately named West Coast, the Flatter colt moved to Santa Anita Park under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. He did not race at two and finally debuted in February of 2017, taking two starts to win.

West Coast skipped the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown races entirely. However, he made a scene at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes day in the Easer Goer Stakes, winning by 3 3/4 lengths. West Coast returned to California for the Los Alamitos Derby to score by 2 3/4 lengths.

The 3-year-old then traversed the U.S. again for the “Midsummer Derby,” the prestigious Grade 1 Travers Stakes, at Saratoga, where he soundly defeated all three classic winners: Always Dreaming (Kentucky Derby), Cloud Computing (Preakness Stakes), and Tapwrit (Belmont Stakes). Now considered one of the top colts in the three-year old division, West Coast made his next start in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby to win by 7 1/4 lengths.

Piloted by Mike Smith in his subsequent stakes victories, Smith admired, “He's just better than they are. As a matter of fact, he was getting bored.”

Closing out his 3-year-old campaign, West Coast faced older horses for the first time in the Breeders' Cup Classic and finished a strong third. He was then voted 2017 Eclipse Award champion 3-year old male.

West Coast's 4-year-old season ended winless in 2018, but his presence was still felt with runner-up finishes in the Grade/Group 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, Dubai World Cup, and Awesome Again Stakes. He retired following the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic to Lane's End Farm. His first foals are yearlings of 2021.

Caressing's first foal, My Goodness by Storm Cat, has since become a prominent broodmare in the Japanese breeding Industry, producing colts Danon Kingly (Earnings: $4,469,755), Danon Legend (Earnings: $3,324,208), and Danon Good (Earnings: $1,231,688). Caressing's other black-type earners include Gold Hawk and Juan and Bina.

She has a 2-year-old son of Honor Code, named Touch Code, in training at Saratoga with Trainer Bill Mott for Carl F. Pollard, and a yearling colt by Horse of the Year Gun Runner who will be retained.

The post Champion Caressing, Dam Of Champion West Coast, Dies At Age 23 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘It Makes You Feel Like You’ve Got A Heartbeat’

Al Stall, Jr. slowly removed his steam-covered glasses and took a moment to compose himself before an interview outside the Fair Grounds winner's circle last Saturday. The veteran Thoroughbred trainer had just saddled the winner of the Albert M. Stall Memorial, a stakes race named for his late father.

“It's funny how things come together,” Stall said, his voice brimming with emotion. “We've given the trophy here for the last few years, patting Billy Mott on the back, Joe Sharp. You know, it was great, both friends of mine…”

The poignant moment overwhelmed Stall, and he dropped his eyes for several moments, wiping away a stray tear before he continued.

“Then we were lucky enough to have a filly to be live in this race, and (the turf) came up soft, which is her thing, and everything went our way,” he said. “We'll take it.”

Reflecting on the interview several days later, Stall said he felt grateful for that unguarded moment.

“It makes you feel like you've got a heartbeat, instead of just going through the motions,” Stall explained. “It was definitely special.”

Stall grew up attending races alongside his father in New Orleans, and the pair traveled all around the country to watch the horses run. As an owner, Stall Sr. won the 1970 Kentucky Oaks with Lady Vi-E, and he served on the Louisiana State Racing Commission for 28 years, including nine years as chairman. 

A member of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association Hall of Fame and the Fair Grounds Race Course Hall of Fame, Stall Sr. passed away in 2017 at the age of 85.

“He's the person that got not only me, but the rest of my family, as well as Tom Amoss and a few others to go the track, because he was always interested in racing from the time he was in high School in NOLA,” Stall said. “There are win photographs and pictures around the barn from when I was seven years old, and you can almost plot the chronological photos of my life from the late 60's to the present.”

In high school, Stall's love of racing grew as he took a job on the backstretch in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, working under his assistant trainer and future Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Frankie Brothers. Stall kept up with Brothers through his time at Louisiana State University, earning a degree in geology just like his father. 

Though Stall briefly followed his father into the oil industry after graduation, it was at the racetrack that he found his true calling. Stall spent five years as an assistant to Brothers, by then training his own string.

“It was basically a Harvard education,” Stall mused. “At that time we had horses at Louisiana Downs, Fair Grounds, everywhere, and they were all kinds of horses: cheap ones, middle ones, stakes horses, so you saw a lot of everything. (Brothers) was a working machine, so you saw what hard work would produce. If you couldn't learn being around that program, you weren't trying very hard.”

Perhaps the most important lesson he learned from Brothers was patience.

“Just to stay the course,” Stall clarified. “If your horses aren't running that well, if things aren't going that well, don't make wholesale changes; just stick with the program that's got you there. Be a little patient with how things are going.”

By 1991, Stall was ready to go out on his own as a trainer. He started with just one horse at Arlington Park, but built up his stable over the past 30 years and has now won nearly 1,700 races. 

That patience he learned from Brothers has more than paid off over the course of Stall's career, leading to highlights like his 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic win with Blame, defeating the great mare Zenyatta.

“He's the best horse I've ever trained,” Stall said. “Blame made it all the way to the mountaintop. That race, we were paying attention to our horse for the most part, so the Zenyatta phenomenon affected us a little more after the race than leading up to. We had our own little pocket of excitement, so we didn't really notice the quiet crowd.”

Trainer Al Stall, Jr. leads Blame into the winner's circle following the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic

More recently, Stall trainee Tom's d'Etat made headlines at the age of six with a Grade 1 win in the 2019 Clark Handicap, and retired to stud after a solid 2020 campaign with two wins and a third from four starts.

“Tom got us really close, and it's quite fulfilling that those types of horses get to go somewhere nice like WinStar,” Stall said. “You know, he may be retired, but I'm an optimistic type of person. With the type of clients that I have, there's always something good around the corner.”

Trainer Al Stall Jr. with Tom's d'Etat at WinStar Farm.

For example, Stall sent out the talented 3-year-old filly named Carribean Caper to win her debut by eight lengths at the Fair Grounds last Saturday, just a few hours before he saddled Dalika to win the Memorial race. 

The daughter of Speightstown will likely appear next in an allowance race at Keeneland, Stall said; he doesn't like to rush his trainees into big races.

“I like to keep horses around as long as I can; it just makes sense to me,” he explained. “I wouldn't feel comfortable gutting one out trying to make a certain goal. I want to give them a chance to be what they can possibly be, whenever that time can be.”

Perhaps some of Stall's most treasured memories, however, are the races he won with cheaper Louisiana-breds owned by his father and grandfather. Following a win in the 1991 Fair Grounds Sales Futurity with the filly Irish Gray, Stall Sr. talked about his son in the winner's circle.

“He's a good horseman, a better one than I am,” Stall Sr. said. “Since they were old enough to walk, we've had them out here, so this is just following through with what he really has always loved. Even though he's got a degree in geology from LSU, and you can't find a lot of oil out here in the infield, but he hit a little pay dirt today.”

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Preakness Favorite Authentic, A Book 3 Yearling, Was Worth The Wait

A connection formed with 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify has yielded 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and Preakness (G1) morning-line favorite Authentic.

Starlight Racing bought into partnerships that were racing Justify, Grade 1 winner Audible and this year's top older horse Improbable before subsequently purchasing yearlings with another partner, SF Bloodstock. During the first year together buying young horses, SF and Starlight picked up Authentic for $350,000 at the Keeneland 2018 September sale.

The patience that was involved with the purchase of Authentic has been rewarded. The colt, now racing for Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Starlight and Madaket Stables, has won five of six starts, earned over $2.8 million and tops the field of 11 entered in the Saturday's 145th Preakness (G1) at Pimlico Race Course. Authentic and Thousand Words, both trained by Bob Baffert, are part of a group of Preakness runners that shipped from Kentucky to Baltimore late Tuesday afternoon.

Given the name Authentic by his breeder, Peter Blum, the son of top sire Into Mischief, was not viewed as one of the potential stars of the Keeneland sale, which front-loads talent in its massive catalogue. Jack Wolf, who manages Starlight with his wife, Laurie, recalled that the bloodstock advisors during the initial year of the buying partnership spotted Authentic and were willing to wait for him to reach the ring.

“We didn't buy him until Book 3,” Wolf said. “At the time, the first group of yearlings that we bought we had Donato Lanni, Frankie Brothers, Henry Field doing the short-list work. All three of them liked the horse, especially Frankie and Donato.”

Audible was the last of the 19 colts purchased by SF/Starlight for a total of $9,315,000. Thirteen of the others cost more than Authentic. The partnership purchased its 18th yearling, Ragtime Blues, in the fifth session of the sale and had to wait three days until Authentic, Hip No. 2,616, came to the ring.

“He is typical of the type of horse that those guys look at and buy,” Wolf said. “It's the conformation, the balance. Secondly, would be the pedigree, although this horse has a wonderful pedigree. They look for athletes. Of course, all the horses go to Bob Baffert and Donato has been working with him for years. I don't think Bob was around for Book 3, but Donato knows what Bob likes.”

SF and Starlight are listed as the buyers, but Madaket, managed by Sol Kumin; Fred Hertrich; John Fielding and Golconda Stables, were aboard when Authentic broke his maiden in his debut at Del Mar last November. After he rolled to two stakes wins during the winter in California, Spendthrift Farm stepped up to buy a controlling interest in the colt. Madaket and Starlight stayed in as racing partners. Spendthrift, which owns the breeding rights, sold a piece of its stake to Myracehorse.com, the company that markets in micro shares of horses.

Authentic ended up second to Honor A.P. in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in his first start for the Spendthrift-led partnership, then won the Haskell (G1) in July and handled Belmont Stakes (G1) winner and heavy favorite Tiz the Law in the Kentucky Derby.

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Out of the Shadows, Drury Could Collect First Graded Win in Blue Grass

There is paying your dues and then there is the story of Tom Drury, Jr.

Thirty-eight years after he started his training career at age 18, Drury will go into Saturday’s GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland with an outstanding chance of winning a prestigious $600,000 race that could be a gateway to the GI Kentucky Derby. His Art Collector (Bernardini) is the co-second choice on the morning line at 5-1 and is coming off a 6 1/2-length win in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. A win would be Drury’s first in a graded stakes.

Through much of the eighties and nineties, Drury wasn’t worried about winning a Blue Grass. He just wanted to make ends meet.

“It took me forever just to win my first race,” he said. “There were a couple of years where I didn’t win a race at all. This was when I had three or four horses and was having to gallop on the side. I was getting by, but just getting by and that was a long time.”

From 1984 through 1988, he won a total of two races. In 1992, he went 0 for 25. He was 0 for 4 in 1994.
Despite his record, Drury had managed to impress the right people. Based at a training center, Skylight Training Center in Goshen, Kentucky, and in need of income, Drury was well positioned to work with other trainers who needed someone to work behind the scenes to get their horses ready for the races. Bill Mott was among the first to use Drury’s services. Al Stall, Jr., Frank Brothers and Neil Howard were among other trainers who trusted some of their better horses to Drury. The horses that Drury had a hand in includes: Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), Lea (First Samurai) and Hansen (Tapit).

Drury tried to do more than just prepare the horses. He made it a priority to take advantage of the opportunity to work with top trainers. He was always watching and learning.

“I have been able to see what the thought process was with these other trainers,” he said. “I followed the way they approached training that kind of horse. l I tell people I got a Harvard education because I have been able to work with those guys. That really helped give me confidence.”

It didn’t happen overnight, but word started to get around that several top trainers were working with Drury and that helped bolster his reputation within the sport. He eventually would have 15 to 20 horses of his own and he started winning races. That led even more owners to give him a chance.

“When people start hearing that you are working for Bill Mott that automatically gives you credibility,” he said. “That led to me getting involved with Frankie Brothers and Bruce Lunsford. I’ve gotten my foot in the door with Claiborne Farm and Spendthrift has given me horses. I feel blessed. We try to do a good job. It’s all snowballed into something special.”

His numbers steadily improved. He won 39 races in 2018, with a winning rate of 28%. He won with 25% of his starters in 2019, going 35 for 140. But what he lacked was the type of horse that could break through and put him in the winner’s circle for an important race. Art Collector represents the type of opportunity that has eluded him for the 38 years he’s been in the business.

Ironically, Art Collector wasn’t supposed to land permanently in Drury’s barn. Through his 2-year-old season, he was trained by Joe Sharp. Entering the year, Lundsford was looking to make some changes and his intent was to send Art Collector to trainer Rusty Arnold. With Arnold in Florida, the plan was to let Drury oversee Art Collector until Arnold made it back to Kentucky. But COVID-19 complicated Arnold’s travel plans, and by the time he got to Kentucky, Drury had already won a May 17 allowance at Churchill with Art Collector. It was decided to just let Drury keep the horse.
His June 13 allowance win at Churchill was the race that put him in the mix for the Blue Grass. It was his first try around two turns on the dirt.

“He certainly answered some questions and really jumped forward,” Drury said. “When Brian [Hernandez, Jr.] called on him, he was full of run. We’re hoping to see that same kind of performance this weekend.”

His opposition Saturday will include Mott, Mark Casse, Steve Asmussen, Dale Romans, etc. For them, running in a $600,000 graded stakes has become routine. For Drury, this is far more than just another race.

“It takes a lot of people to get a horse to any race, let alone the Blue Grass,” he said. “For me and my staff, we have been watching from afar with a lot of really good horses. This is our chance to prove ourselves to the world and we are anxiously looking forward to it. For me to be in a situation like this, words can’t really describe it. It’s a big deal and something I am not taking for granted.”

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