Grade I Winners Return in Beaugay

Grade I winners Harvey's Lil Goil (American Pharoah) and Civil Union (War Front) kick off their 2021 campaigns in Saturday's GIII Beaugay S. at Belmont Park.

Harvey's Lil Goil followed a win in Keeneland's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. Oct. 10 with a huge third–beaten only a neck at 20-1–in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland last time Nov. 7.

Civil Union, winner of last term's GI Flower Bowl S. over this course, had a four-race winning steak snapped, finishing another two slots back in fifth in the Filly and Mare Turf.

Lemista (Ire) (Raven's Pass), a dual group winner in her native Ireland, including the 2020 G2 Kilboy Estate S., makes her North American debut for Chad Brown after winning four of seven starts for trainer G.M. Lyons. She was last seen finishing 10th in the G2 Blandford S. Sept. 13.

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Versatile Harvey’s Lil Goil Tops Field Of Six In Beaugay

Multiple Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf participants will make their first respective starts of 2021, with Harvey's Lil Goil, Civil Union and Nay Lady Nay comprising a six-horse field in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay at Belmont Park.

The 44th running of the Beaugay, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares, will see Harvey's Lil Goil, the third-place finisher of the Breeders' Cup contest going 1 3/16 miles on the Keeneland turf in November, make her 4-year-old debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Owned by the Estate of Harvey A. Clarke and Paul Braverman, the daughter of 2015 Triple Crown-winning Hall of Famer American Pharoah won a pair of graded stakes in her sophomore campaign, capturing the Grade 3 Regret in June at Churchill Downs going 1 1/8 miles in just her second career turf start.

Next-out, Mott returned her to the main track, where she had run her three previous starts [including a win the Busanda in February 2020 at Aqueduct Racetrack], and she ran third in the Grade 1 Alabama in August at Saratoga Race Course.

The versatile Harvey's Lil Goil was then switched back to grass, where she found a comfort zone in running second in the Dueling Grounds Oaks in September at Kentucky Downs before besting next-out winner Micheline to win the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland. That preceded her Breeders' Cup effort, where she ran just a neck and a head behind the winner Audarya and runner-up Rushing Fall in a blanket finish, registering a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Mott said her success on both surfaces keeps options open, though a strong Beaugay effort could facilitate a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 New York going 1 1/4 miles on the turf on June 4.

“She's been doing fine. We're happy with her,” Mott said. “Interestingly enough, we think she's one that can do both. First things first, if she runs well in the Beaugay we could come back in the New York.”

Junior Alvarado, aboard for the Breeders' Cup effort, will have the return call from the inside post.

Allen Stable's Civil Union is also making her way back to the track after a successful 2020 that saw her win 4-of-6 starts, with all victories coming consecutively. Civil Union posted back-to-back graded scores, with a one-length win in the 1 3/8-mile Grade 2 Glens Falls in September at Saratoga and the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Flower Bowl in October at Belmont.

In nine career starts, Civil Union has never posted a Beyer Figure that was less than her previous start, commencing with a 78 for her first-out win in August 2018 and culminating with a personal-best 99 for a competitive fifth-place effort in Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Civil Union, who had been training at Payson Park in Florida, shipped to Belmont and recorded two works. The 6-year-old War Front mare first worked four furlongs on the main track on April 18 and then posted a half-mile breeze in 47.88 seconds on the inner turf course on Sunday.
“She's been doing real good and we're excited to get her out there,” McGaughey said. “I think she likes Belmont. The distance, going a mile and a sixteenth, might not be the perfect spot, but we just need to get her going.”

Joel Rosario will ride from post 5.

Nay Lady Nay will be making her first start at Belmont since running third in the Flower Bowl in October. After running eighth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Irish-bred 5-year-old will look to record a fourth consecutive Beaugay victory for trainer Chad Brown, who won the 2018-20 editions with A Raving Beauty, Homerique and Rushing Fall. Brown has won this race four times in total, starting with Waterway Run in 2014.

Nay Lady Nay won the Grade 3 Matchmaker going 1 1/8 miles in July at Monmouth Park, adding to her first graded stakes score in the 2019 Grade 2 Mrs. Revere.

“She certainly seems like she's training well,” Brown said of her recent works at Belmont including a five-furlong breeze Sunday in 1:02.54 over the inner turf.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will be in the irons from post 3.

Peter Brant's Lemista a dual group stakes-winner in her native Ireland will be making her North American debut after winning four of seven races for previous trainer G.M. Lyons. Brown has taken over the conditioning responsibilities for the 4-year-old Raven's Pass filly, who spent the winter training at Payson Park before shipping to New York and working twice at Belmont in preparation for her first start since September.

“She wouldn't mind some cut in the ground,” Brown said. “She shows some turn-of-foot during her training in the morning. We're really just excited to get the season underway.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 2.

Bass Stables' Thankful will be trying a surface change after going 3-1-1 in eight main track starts in her career. Trained by newly named Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Thankful started her 4-year-old campaign strong with a win in the Ladies Handicap going 1 1/8 miles over the Aqueduct main track before finishing out of the money in the Heavenly Prize and the Top Flight Invitational.

Luis Saez will have the call in Thankful's turf debut, departing from post 6.

Just In Time Racing's Platinum Paynter, second last out in the one-mile Plenty of Grace over the Aqueduct turf on April 11, will make her first start at Belmont for trainer Juan Vazquez. Luis Rodriguez Castro will ride from post 4.

The Beaugay, listed as Race 6 on the 11-race card, is one of five graded stakes on the Saturday program. The day will be highlighted by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o' War for 4-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the turf; the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles in a prep race for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes; the Grade 3, $150,000 Runhappy for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy for older fillies and mares competing at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Martin Garcia Preparing To Return From Collarbone Fracture At Oaklawn Meet

Jockey Martin Garcia never really left, but his riding resurgence in 2020 abruptly ended when he fractured his collarbone in an Oct. 18 spill at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Garcia got on horses for the first time since the accident Dec. 27 at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., where he made a huge splash last year in his debut as a regular, tying for second in the standings with 53 victories.

“I've had 2 ½ months,” Garcia said. “I'm not 100 percent yet, but I will be. The bone doesn't hurt, so I think that's the main thing.”

Garcia, 36, has been working horses for trainers like Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Brad Cox and Steve Hobby in preparation for the 2021 Oaklawn meeting that is scheduled to begin Jan. 22. Once an A-lister in Southern California, breezing or riding many of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's elite runners, Garcia relocated to the Midwest in late 2019 because of dwindling business on the West Coast.

Garcia finished his abbreviated 2020 season with 73 victories and $4,180,401 in purse earnings, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. The win total was Garcia's highest since 2015. Garcia's purse earnings were his highest since 2016.

“I had a great year,” Garcia said. “I rode a lot of nice horses. Besides riding good horses, I was winning. I was very happy.”

Garcia pushed perennial champion Ricardo Santana Jr. for the Oaklawn riding title, trailing 54-51 entering the final three days of the 57-day season. Garcia finished with 53 victories, after losing two wins via disqualifications, from 285 mounts and purse earnings of $2,472,702.

Joe Talamo, in his first season as an Oaklawn regular after previously being based in Southern California, also rode 53 winners. Santana wound up with 61.

Garcia had opened the 2020 Oaklawn meeting by winning the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds aboard Gold Street for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and added the $125,000 Spring Fever Stakes for older female sprinters about a month later aboard Midnight Fantasy for trainer Joe Sharp.

“I think it would be good if you win the title, but if you're winning the big races like those, that's where it counts,” Garcia said.

Garcia's post-Oaklawn highlight was a three-quarter length victory aboard Harvey's Lil Goil in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Keeneland for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. After running 11th in the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) May 1 at Oaklawn, Harvey's Lil Goil flourished in her return to turf.

In addition to the grassy QE II, Garcia also guided the daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to a head victory in the $100,000 Regret Stakes (G3) on the turf June 27 at Churchill Downs. Harvey's Lil Goil finished third, beaten a neck, in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

After missing the Breeders' Cup because of injury, Garcia will now try to build on his Oaklawn resume, which features 59 victories, including six stakes, since 2010.

“Just keep riding for, I hope, everybody,” Garcia said. “I hope whoever gives me a chance, I'll take advantage of it.”

A native of Mexico, Garcia has amassed 1,632 victories and $91,615,021 in purse earnings since launching his career in the United Stakes in 2005, according to Equibase. He won the 2010 Preakness aboard the Baffert-trained champion Lookin At Lucky and is a four-time Breeders' Cup winner. All four of Garcia's Breeders' Cup victories (Drefong, Bayern, New Year's Day and Secret Circle) have been for Baffert.

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Bloodlines Presented By ThoroughbredAuctions.Com: American Pharoah, Contrail Put Global Triple Crowns In Spotlight

It was a big weekend for Triple Crown winners.

Just weeks after getting his first Grade 1 stakes winner with Harvey's Lil Goil in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, America's Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah (by Pioneerof the Nile), picked up a second Group 1 winner, this time with the juvenile colt Van Gogh, who won the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud racecourse in France.

Van Gogh was winning for the second time in seven starts, after finishing second in the G2 Juvenile Stakes and G3 Tyros Stakes, both at Leopardstown, as well as another second in the G3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket. All along, the bay son of American Pharoah has given the impression of wanting to race farther, and he was moved up to a mile in the Autumn Stakes and the Criterium International.

The latter race, however, was raced over heavy going that placed a further premium on strength and stamina. In a display that earned the colt his highest rating yet, he won by six lengths, and the race commentary indicated that the colt extended his lead well in the last furlong and won comfortably.

In winning the race at Saint-Cloud, Van Gogh became the 11th stakes winner for his sire. Nine have shown their form by winning stakes this year at three, and seven have won stakes on turf.

Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said that “I think it's only a matter of time before American Pharoah's record on dirt matches or excels his record on turf. But, that said, Bob Baffert did tell us that he thought the horse would have thrived on turf and would have loved to have tried him on it.”

Both last year, when the sire's first crop were two, as well as in their racing of 2020, the progeny of American Pharoah have excelled on turf.

“Winning on grass does make him more internationally appealing,” Wallace said, “and the word is pretty good on his young horses in Australia, where his first crop are 2-year-olds.”

And the sire just had his third winner of a barrier trial, an important proving ground for young racehorses in Australia and New Zealand.

The “Pharoahs” have excelled on turf, except in Japan. There, American Pharoah has the two top colts racing on dirt in Café Pharoah and Danon Pharoah.

Café Pharoah has won four of his five starts, including the G3 Sirius Stakes and Unicorn Stakes, and his only loss was the Japan Dirt Derby, which was won by Danon Pharoah.

Worldwide, the American Pharoah racers have shown their form on a variety of surfaces, from conventional dirt to the varieties of turf, mud, and heavy ground. They have shown speed, as well as stamina, as we saw with both Pista and this weekend with Van Gogh.

An emphasis on stamina came into play in the highlight of the Triple Crown in Japan as Contrail (Deep Impact) won the Kikuka Sho (St. Leger equivalent) by a long head (officially a neck) to become the third unbeaten winner of the Japan Triple Crown. The colt's sire, Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), was the second, and the first racer in Japan to have this distinction was Symboli Rudolf.

Contrail had been an impressive, even cozy-looking, winner of the Tokyo Yushun (Derby) over 2,400 meters, and the chief question about the dark brown colt was not his high class but whether he would be suited by the distance, as the Kikuka Sho is raced over 3,000 meters (about 1 mile and 7 furlongs).

Away well, Contrail raced in the first third of the field of 18 until midway of the bend leading into the stretch. At the 400-meter mark at the top of the stretch, Contrail drifted a bit wide for the run to the wire, and he was shadowed by the 23-to-1 Aristoteles (Epiphaneia) all the way to the wire. Contrail held onto the advantage over Aristoteles, with Satono Flag (Deep Impact) another 3 1/2 lengths back in third.

From the results of this race, Contrail is better suited to races at 1,800 to 2,400 meters, where his turn of foot is more decisive, and that may be where his connections choose to campaign him in the future.

Those are important decisions to make in placing horses where they can perform most effectively, and such decisions apply also to the offspring of American Pharoah.

Typically, they are big-framed horses, and several of them appear to have grown into substantial individuals, especially the colts. This is a blessing that cuts both ways. They improve at two, then continue to add muscle and potential strength at three. Mass is important to an athlete because it is an expression of muscle strength, but the extra muscle can be a challenge for trainers to manage because it adds more weight.

And that may be one important reason that the American Pharoah stock have shown their form on turf, which is a more forgiving surface for strongly made horses.

Another consideration is that many sound judges, when evaluating the American Pharoah stock, have seen them as animals that should prosper with time and be better as they got old, as we have seen with the G1 winner at Keeneland and also with Pista, the winner of the G2 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster on Sept. 10.

If the colts' improvement matches those fillies, then we sporting enthusiasts should really have something to anticipate, with American Theorem, who was second in the G1 American Pharoah of 2019, and Monarch of Egypt, second to subsequent classic winner Siskin in the G1 Phoenix Stakes in Ireland last fall, set to continue racing next season at four.

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