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Goodnight Olive Anything But The ‘Pits’ In Filly and Mare Sprint

Breeders' Cup Saturday was off to a good start for chalk players, as First Row Partners and Team Hanley's Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) gave those that backed her into 9-5 favoritism a few anxious moments when in tight quarters for a few strides, but she launched a well-timed bid three wide into the Keeneland stretch and drew clear as much the best in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Away to an almost too-sharp beginning from her middle gate, the $170,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling purchase raced in the second flight of horses as the rail-drawn Slammed (Marking) argued the early pace inside of 2021 runner-up Edgeway (Competitive Edge) through a solid opening quarter of :22.10, with Lady Rocket (Tale of the Cat) and outposted 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) on the pace three and four deep, respectively. Taken hold of so as not to run up on the heels of Lady Rocket as they hit the turn, Goodnight Olive still traveled well and was given her cue at the five-sixteenths, just as Echo Zulu was launching a simultaneous bid one path to her outside. Goodnight Olive was kicked into the lead by Irad Ortiz, Jr. outside of a tiring Edgeway with a bit more than a furlong and a half to travel and was not in danger from there, as last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine closed gamely for second. Wicked Halo (Gun Runner), winner of the GII Lexus Raven Run S. over the course and distance just two weeks back, carved out an inside trip from a high draw of her own and boxed on well to complete the exacta.

Goodnight Olive is the second Breeders' Cup winner for Ghostzapper, whose daughter Judy the Beauty won this event in 2014. It was a second F/M Sprint for Chad Brown, having saddled Wavell Avenue (Harlington) to an upset when Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup for the first time in 2015 and his 16th championship victory overall. With the win, Ortiz, Jr. overtakes Jerry Bailey and Joel Rosario with his 16th winner at the Breeders' Cup, good for third-most in history behind Mike Smith (27) and John Velazquez (18).

Goodnight Olive was making just her 10th career trip to the races and has been something of a project for Brown. A wide-margin maiden winner at this track a bit more than year ago, Goodnight Olive romped by nine lengths in an Aqueduct allowance last November before hitting the shelf. Highly impressive in winning her second allowance condition in her first try over this distance in June, she cleared her next level at Saratoga Aug. 7 and was exiting a 2 3/4-length success in the GI Ballerina S. at the Spa Aug. 28.

“With all the stoppages and such, we really utilized her allowance conditions and tried to develop her not throw too much too soon at her,” said Brown. “I think that's why she does have this almost flawless record is just taking it step by step with her.”

Steve Laymon heads up First Row Partners, which includes owners from California and Montana, and was part of the group that campaigned the Brown-conditioned 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Dayatthespa (City Zip).

“We're so privileged to have a group of guys that–most of my guys have been in the horse business along the way,” Laymon said. “But about five years ago, one of my partners that sits next to me, in the first row at Saratoga, leaned over and said, 'I want to do horses with you.' So I brought two groups together. There's six of us that make up First Row Partners. And we have a wonderful group of guys. And Chad got to know those guys.”

Pedigree Notes:

Sensational winner of the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star Park, Ghostzapper has 14 top-level winners, six of which–remarkably–have scored at least one of those victories over the specialist distance of seven furlongs (Guarana, Paulassilverlining, Judy the Beauty, Better Lucky and Nucky). Goodnight Olive is the second Breeders' Cup winner out of a daughter of the late Smart Strike, joining GI Filly & Mare Turf upsetter Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect).

Goodnight Olive's dam won the 2011 GIII Dogwood S. and 2012 GIII Gardenia S. for Craig Singer and Ken McPeek and was acquired by Stonestreet for $800,000 in foal to Medaglia d'Oro at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale. Salty Strike is a half-sister to SW Salty Response (Cozzene).

Saturday, Keeneland
BREEDERS' CUP FILLY AND MARE SPRINT-GI, $920,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:21.61, ft.
1–GOODNIGHT OLIVE, 124, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
               1st Dam: Salty Strike (MGSW, $485,266), by Smart Strike
                2nd Dam: Lake Huron, by Salt Lake
                3rd Dam: My Rainbow, by Lyphard
($170,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT). O-First Row Partners & Team
Hanley; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Chad
Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $520,000. Lifetime Record: 7-6-1-0,
$1,019,950. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Echo Zulu, 122, f, 3, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Letgomyecho (GSW, $136,200), by Menifee
                2nd Dam: Echo Echo Echo, by Eastern Echo
                3rd Dam: Kashie West, by Sir Ivor
'TDN Rising Star'. ($300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-L & N Racing
LLC & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Betz/J.
Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen. $170,000.
3–Wicked Halo, 122, f, 3, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Just Wicked (GSW, $208,460), by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Wicked Deed, by Harlan's Holiday
                3rd Dam: Marfa's Squall, by Marfa
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen. $90,000.
Margins: 2HF, 1, 1HF. Odds: 1.85, 3.63, 14.40.
Also Ran: Ce Ce, Obligatory, Chi Town Lady, Edgeway, Lady Rocket, Sterling Silver, Chain of Love (Jpn), Frank's Rockette, Slammed. Scratched: Hot Peppers.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Ghostzapper’s Loggins Sprints To Rising Stardom At Churchill Downs

Loggins (c, 2, Ghostzapper–Beyond Blame, by Blame) had a trio of bullet workouts on display for trainer Brad Cox and ran to the money as the 4-5 favorite with an impressive 'TDN Rising Star' performance on debut Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Away in good order from a middle gate in a field of 11, the bay raced in between rivals in a tightly bunched group. Third and traveling smartly on the far turn, he launched a three-wide bid approaching the five-sixteenths, took control under his own power at the top of the stretch and was long gone from there to graduate by a jaw-dropping 8 1/2 lengths over Easy Action (Speightstown).

The $460,000 FTSAUG yearling purchase is campaigned by the powerhouse partnership of Spendthrift Farm LLC, Steve Landers Racing LLC, Martin S. Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing Stables, Kueber Racing, LLC, Big Easy Racing LLC and Winners Win.

The Ghostzapper/Arch cross is also responsible for MGISW Contested and GSWs Proctor's Ledge and In Good Spirits. Loggins, hailing from the extended female family of GISWs Street Boss and Jack Christopher, is the first foal for his graded stakes-winning dam, a Popatop homebred trained by Cox. She has also produced a Flatter filly of 2021 and a colt by Authentic of this year. She was bred back to Essential Quality.

5th-Churchill Downs, $113,250, Msw, 9-17, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.87, ft, 8 1/2 lengths.
LOGGINS, c, 2, by Ghostzapper
               1st Dam: Beyond Blame (GSW, $238,630), by Blame
                2nd Dam: Quippery, by Forest Wildcat
                3rd Dam: Habiboo, by Unbridled's Song
Sales history: $460,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Spendthrift Farm LLC, Steve Landers Racing LLC, Martin S. Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing Stables, Kueber Racing, LLC, Big Easy Racing LLC & Winners Win; B-Popatop, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.

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Flightline Given Fastest Ever Thoro-Graph Number

Thoro-Graph, which has been computing speed figures for 35 years, gave Flightline (Tapit) a negative 8 1/2 for his win in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, the fastest number it has ever assigned to a horse. The previous record was a negative 8, the figure Frosted (Tapit) ran when winning the 2016 GI Metropolitan H.

Flightline was given a 126 Beyer figure. That is the second fastest Beyer number ever, trailing only the 128 that team gave to Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) when he won the GIII Philip H. Iselin H. at Monmouth Park in 2004.

Even though he gave Flightline the fastest number he has ever given to a horse, Jerry Brown, who owns Thoro-Graph, said he chose to err on the side of caution and that had he not the figure would have been much faster.

“When I first looked at it I could have given this horse a much better number,” he said. “There were only two dirt routes on the card and neither had big fields. When substantial proportions of those fields don't fire you're left to make figures off a very small number of horses. That makes it difficult. If I had the other horses he beat running anywhere near what they usually run he would have gotten a negative 11 1/2.

“As a figure-maker, you have to sometimes decide which scenario is most likely. You're already going to give a horse the best number of all time, even if I did it the way I did it. You have to decide which is more likley, that several other horses he ran against did not fire or they did fire and Flightline ran a figure that would be like breaking the sound barrier or a human running a three-minute mile. If you give a horse a minus 11 1/2 you're talking about Bob Beamon stuff. (Beamon shattered the record for the long jump in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, breaking the old record by nearly two feet). That was my choice, go with a figure that would have been the sort of thing that happens once in a billion or have several horses that ran behind him, ones who are usually pretty consistent, just not run their race. I chose to go the way I did and he still wound up getting the best figure of all time.”

Brown said that if Flightline runs another sensationally fast race in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic he may take another look at the Pacific Classic number.

“If he wins the Breeders' Cup and it looks again like the figure should be a minus 11 1/2, I'll give him a minus 11 1/2,” he said. “That would also make me go back and look at the Pacific Classic again. We do review races.”

While Brown has no problem rating Flightline's Pacific Classic as one of the greatest performances ever in racing, he will be picking against the 4-year-old in the Classic. One of the theories behind the Thoro-Graph numbers is that very fast performances take their toll on a horse.

“If you look historically at the horses that have run almost this fast, a couple of them, Midnight Lute (Real Quiet) and Ghostzapper, held it together,” he said. “But if you look at horses who have run very fast, either relative to what they have done before or relative to the breed, where they have run a figure that is incredible compared to the rest of the horses out there, these horses generally don't hold together. That doesn't always necessarily always manifest itself in the same way, but it usually manifests itself in some way. And you're dealing with a horse here who, apparently, has enough issues that he's only made a few starts. So the question is what happens now? People say there is plenty of time between now and the Breeders' Cup. Yes. But there's also plenty of time for things to go wrong. A lot of training will take place between now and then. A race is not the only place where a horse could get hurt.”

Brown bet against Flightline in the future wager bet for the Classic.

“I spread out a fair amount in the future wager,” he said. “He's odds on and I don't think he's 1-2 to make the race. That's not to say that he's an unsound horse or anything like that. It's just that horses generally don't survive running that fast.”

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Ghostzapper’s Goodnight Olive Upsets the Ballerina

In a field which included three Grade I winners, it was first-time stakes starter Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) who came away with the victory–and an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint–in the GI Ballerina S. at Saratoga Sunday. Sent off at 5-1, the dark bay filly was hustled out of the gate before settling into third as Travel Column (Frosted) assumed command through a quarter in :22.09. Goodnight Olive rushed up to press the pacestter after a half in :44.50 and powered past that rival at midstretch before powering clear to the wire.

“They were going a little fast, but she was going the right way,” said winning jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. “She was relaxed and in a good spot. I bided my time and waited. Turning for home, she was there for me. She's a nice filly, but she had never faced Grade I horses in the afternoon, but she did it today and she showed up.”

Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), the 3-2 favorite, was well back in the early going and was some five wide into the stretch, but never threatened while coming home fifth.

“She's a little bit picky when it comes to the track and today it was not her favorite,” said Victor Espinoza, aboard the beaten favorite. “She bounced out of there and she wasn't doing her thing. I was just trying to encourage her to get her rhythm, but it seemed like she struggled. I tried to get her outside and hoped. I tried everything I can and hopefully she could go forward. But it's one of those things where if she doesn't like the track, she will not run. She will be OK. She will get them next time. The most important thing is that she comes out good and we'll go for the next.”

First Row Partners and Team Hanley's Goodnight Olive, a $170,000 Fasig-Tipton October purchase, returned from seven months on the sidelines to romp to an 8 1/2-length maiden score in her second career start at Keeneland last October. She scored by nine lengths at Aqueduct Nov. 21, resurfaced to win a Belmont optional claimer by 5 1/2 lengths June 23 and kept the win streak going with a 3 3/4-length victory going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 7.

“I want to thank my team and all these beautiful partners that are in the picture here,” trainer Chad Brown said from the Saratoga winner's circle Sunday afternoon. “There's been more not good phone calls about this filly than good phone calls. She hasn't run a lot. A lot of stop and go with her, not unlike her dad who I worked with, Ghostzapper. Maybe not on the track often, but very talented. She's had some soundness issues, but the team of owners always let me do the right thing, take my time with this horse and never push her beyond what she was ready to do. She finally got it all together. She's nice and sound and healthy, and I appreciate their patience.”

The Ballerina served as a 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint. Of a possible Breeders' Cup start, Brown said, “I don't know if I'll run her between now and [the Breeders' Cup]. She just ran back in three weeks, that'd be the reason. We'll see how she's doing. With her, you can't take anything for granted. She's had a lot of stoppages, but now she's good. Knock on wood, she stays that way.”

Pedigree Notes:

Goodnight Olive is a daughter of 2011 GIII Dogwood S. winner Salty Strike, who died in 2019. First Row Partners purchased the winner's half-sister Katie's Keepsake (Medaglia d'Oro), in foal to Tiz the Law, for $65,000 at last year Keeneland November sale, in between Goodnight Olive's romping maiden score and follow-up allowance triumph.

Goodnight Olive is the 49th graded winner for her sire, Ghostzapper, whose daughters Guarana, Paulassilverlining, Judy the Beauty, Better Lucky, Molly Morgan and Starship Truffles have all won at the top level.

Sunday, Saratoga
BALLERINA H.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-28, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:21.40, ft.
1–GOODNIGHT OLIVE, 118, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
          1st Dam: Salty Strike (MGSW, $485,266), by Smart Strike
          2nd Dam: Lake Huron, by Salt Lake
          3rd Dam: My Rainbow, by Lyphard
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. ($170,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT). O-First Row Partners and
Team Hanley; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $275,000. Lifetime Record:
6-5-1-0, $499,950. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
   Werk Nick Rating: B+.
   Click for free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Caramel Swirl, 119, f, 4, by Union Rags
          1st Dam: Caramel Snap, by Smart Strike
          2nd Dam: Fast Cookie, by Deputy Minister
          3rd Dam: Fleet Lady, by Avenue of Flags
   1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott.
$100,000.
3–Obligatory, 123, f, 4, by Curlin
          1st Dam: Uno Duo (SW, $171,300), by Macho Uno
          2nd Dam: Willstar, by Nureyev
          3rd Dam: Nijinsky Star, by Nijinsky II
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-William I. Mott. $60,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, 1HF, 3 3/4. Odds: 5.80, 15.30, 2.75.
Also Ran: Travel Column, Ce Ce, Lady Rocket, Bella Sofia.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPshttp://www.equineline.com/tdn/pedigree.cfm?tk=SAR&cy=USA&rd=09/07/2015&rn=9&de=D &ref=9104432. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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