Got Thunder | Horse Racing Free Tips

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2nd-TAM, $26.5K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m40yds, 1:08 p.m. ET
While their other four competitors are a combined 0-for-37, late-debuting newcomers Aussie Pride (Curlin) and Mint (Bodemeister) sport huge pedigrees and in one case, a massive price tag. The former, who carries the Godolphin blue for trainer Bill Mott, was the second topper at the 2019 Keeneland September sale at a gaudy $4.1 million. He's out of New Zealand champion sprinter Bounding (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who is a half to G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mint's dam Flawless (Mr. Greeley), meanwhile, was a $4.1-million FTKNOV buyback last year one day after her son Authentic (Into Mischief) completed his Horse of the Year campaign with a GI Breeders' Cup Classic score. Arnaud Delacour trains Mint for breeder Peter Blum. TJCIS PPs

7th-GP, $54K, Alw, (S), 2yo, 7f, 3:29 p.m. ET
Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's So Determined (Into Mischief) takes on a couple of stakes-placed runners in his first try against winners. The $875,000 Keeneland September yearling is out of a full-sister to SW Summer House (Tiznow) from the family of MGSW and successful Louisiana-based sire Custom for Carlos (More Than Ready). Second in his local unveiling Oct. 2, he broke through by 4 1/2 lengths going 5 1/2 panels Nov. 14. TJCIS PPs

4th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 5:00 p.m. ET
This first of two divisions of well-bred sprinting maidens features The Avengers' $625,000 Keeneland September buy McLaren Vale (Gun Runner). A $200,000 KEEJAN in utero seller and $325,000 Keeneland November weanling, the Bob Baffert trainee is out of a half-sister to the dam of Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify. Richard Baltas pupil Balladeer (Distorted Humor), who cost $355,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Showcase, is out of a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to GI Belmont S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor). Several in here show solid running lines, including Doug O'Neill-trained last-out Del Mar third-place finishers Godsend (Midshipman, $80,000 OBSAPR {:20 4/5}); and B Dawk (Gormley, $425,000 FTMMAY {:10 1/5}). TJCIS PPs

6th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 6:00 p.m. ET
West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing LLC's Got Thunder (Arrogate) will look to go one better here after finishing second at 19-10 to Newgrange (Violence), whose high-profile connections, nicknamed The Avengers, will be represented this time around by Wharton (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Armagnac (Quality Road). Got Thunder was a $155,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $750,000 OBSAPR grad off a :10 flat bullet breeze. He's half to MGISW turfer Heart to Heart (English Channel) and MGSP Lady Traveler (Quality Road). Click for Steve Sherack's 'Second Chances' feature on Got Thunder after his Nov. 28 unveiling at Del Mar.

Wharton was a $475,000 September buy and is out of GISW sprinter Her Smile (Include), making him half to MGSW Pink Sands (Tapit). Armagnac, who cost $210,000 at the same auction, is out of turf stakes winner Kitty Wine (Lemon Drop Kid), who also set a track record on the Keeneland Polytrack over the Beard Course. TJCIS PPs

8th-OP, $120K, Alw, 2yo, f, 1m, 6:00 p.m. ET
Muddy Waters Stables LLC's Hypersport (Blame) stretches out off a super-sharp and head-turning second-out score here Dec. 3 that earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure and surely some phone calls to her connections. The $100,000 September yearling was previously runner-up at Keeneland Oct . 21. Three other fillies already own black-type: Brad Cox-trained Goldolphin homebred Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) was second in Churchill's Fern Creek S. last time Nov. 27; Benedict Canyon (Midnight Lute) was third in Santa Anita's Anoakia S. Oct. 24 and makes the move from Bob Baffert to Steve Asmussen off a fifth-place run in the GI Starlet S.; and value buy Red Hot Mess (Shackleford), upset winner of the White Clay Creek S. at Delaware Oct. 13, comes in off a far-back finish in Belmont's Tempted S. TJCIS PPs

The post Friday’s Racing Insights: Bevy of Pricey, Well-Bred Runners Squeeze in ’21 Starts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

Backed as the 9-5 favorite in his six-furlong unveiling for John Sadler at Del Mar Nov. 28, Got Thunder (c, 2, Arrogate–Ask the Question, by Silver Deputy) stamped himself as one to watch with a very promising second-place finish.

The gray flashed good early speed from the fence while three of them lined up through an opening quarter in :22. Beginning to give way–or at least appearing to do so as the Bob Baffert-trained firster Newgrange (Violence) powerfully struck the front at the top of the stretch–Got Thunder wasn't done yet, however, and fought on gamely beneath Flavien Prat down the lane to keep the final margin at 1 1/2 lengths. He earned a 77 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Got Thunder brought $750,000 from West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing LLC after breezing an eighth in a bullet :10 flat from the Wavertree Stables, Inc. (Ciaran Dunne), Agent III, consignment at OBS Spring. He was previously a $155,000 Keeneland September yearling. Along with Woodford Racing, West Point and Michael Talla also joined forces on the $1.7-million Keeneland September yearling colt topper by City of Light.

“We were second to a horse that I know was well-meant–they think a lot of him,” West Point's Terry Finley said. “We loved this horse at the 2-year-old sale. Ciaran Dunne sold him and really thought he was a horse that had the potential to be a good one.”

Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Got Thunder is a half-brother to Canadian champion and grassy MGISW Heart to Heart (English Channel) and the MGSP 3-year-old filly Lady Traveler (Quality Road). West Point campaigns the latter, second in this year's GIII Forward Gal S. and third in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S., in partnership. Calumet Farm purchased the winning 18-year-old mare Ask the Question with Got Thunder in utero for $150,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale.

The brilliant Arrogate, the richest North American racehorse in history, was humanely euthanized after suffering from an undetermined illness last June. He is represented thus far by 10 winners from his first crop to race. Got Thunder was Arrogate's most expensive 2-year-old colt sold at auction this year. An Arrogate filly out of Amen Hallelujah, now named Shailene, brought $1 million from Katsumi Yoshida at the same Ocala sale and just missed by a neck on debut late last month in Japan.

“We have his half-sister Lady Traveler, who is trained by Dale Romans, and has plenty of upside to her,” Finley said. “The family is there. Arrogate, unfortunately, we're not gonna see a ton of them, but you are going to start to see this crop establish themselves and come to the fore as we get to the end of the year and they get into their 3-year-old year.”

What's next for Got Thunder?

“We're excited to get him two turns,” Finley said. “He's got to come forward, but he's certainly giving John Sadler the indication that he could be a player in the 3-year-old ranks in 2022. He's generated a lot of excitement.”

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: two-time Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner and Lane's End stallion Honor A. P. (Honor Code), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), GI Frizette S. third-place finisher A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo) and Discovery S. runner-up Speaker's Corner (Street Sense).

The post Second Chances: Arrogate Colt ‘Could be a Player in 3yo Ranks’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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