LEXINGTON,KY– Just over 12 hours after the trio’s contention for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Improbable (City Zip), Global Campaign (Curlin) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) made the short trip from Keeneland to WinStar Farm, where they will soon take up stud duty for the 2021 breeding season.
“We’re really excited with Improbable, Global Campaign and Tom’s d’Etat coming to the stallion barn,” said WinStar’s Elliott Walden. “They all look good-their color was good, they didn’t look too drawn up and they got off the van and acted like they’d been here their whole life.”
One member of the trio-Global Campaign-may not yet be done with his racetrack career, as Walden hinted he could be pointed for the January 23 $3 million GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.
“We’re considering running him back in the Pegasus,” he said. “We’re going to leave him here for 10 days and evaluate him. I felt like he ran well enough in the Classic to merit that and add a bit more to his resume. So we’re going to watch for 10 days and we might send him back to [trainer] Stanley [Hough] and run him in the Pegasus.”
Global Campaign is a homebred for WinStar Farm out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. He’s been campaigned by WinStar in partnership with Sagamore Farm over his two-year career, and scored graded stakes wins in the GIII Monmouth Cup S. and the GI Woodward H.
“He’s a horse that we raised out of a great mare that is also the dam of Grade I winner Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) and stakes winner Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor),” Walden said. “His race record has a high winning percentage, and to win the Woodward this year is really exciting as well.”
Global Campaign ran third in the Breeders’ Cup grand finale, while Improbable ran second behind his Bob Baffert stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief). Tom’s d’Etat could not overcome a troubled start and finished ninth.
“It didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted, but we’re very proud of Improbable and Global Campaign’s efforts,” Walden said. “I think Tom’s d’Etat may have been just a little bit over the top at age seven, but we’re excited about the next chapter for all of them.”
The seven-year-old Tom’s d’Etat has been a winner each year of his five-year career for trainer Al Stall, and this season the veteran won the Oaklawn Mile S. and the GII Stephen Foster S.
“Tom’s d’Etat is a very high-class horse by Smart Strike out of the family of Candy Ride (Arg). His numbers over the last three years, every time we looked at stallion prospects, his numbers would stand out. He is a phenomenal specimen, good length and great movement. I loved the way he moved on the racetrack, loved the way he is so level and could change gears and get there in a hurry. When we made the offer to buy him, [current WinStar stallions] Distorted Humor and Speightstown came to mind. Distorted Humor came to stud at age six and Speightstown was seven. So if he can turn out to be half of what they are, we’ll be in great shape.”
Improbable had a stand-out four-year-old season in 2020, collecting three consecutive Grade I races in the Hollywood Gold Cup S., Whitney S., and Awesome Again S.
“We’re really excited about Improbable,” Walden said. “The balance and size that he has is going to make him a really great fit for a lot of mares. He’s full of quality and he has great motion. All of those things that I think are important as we think about soundness and consistency, Improbable had all of that.”
Improbable’s stud fee is currently set at $40,000, although subject to change, while Tom’s d’Etat and Global Campaign’s stud fees have not yet been announced.
The trio will join Grade I-winning millionaire Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) as WinStar’s freshman sires for the upcoming season.
“We’re really excited with all three of them,” Walden said. “To add them to Promises Fulfilled, who we retired earlier in the year, we couldn’t be more excited by our stallions we’re bringing to WinStar this year.”
The post Breeders’ Cup Contenders Arrive at WinStar Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Whether it's backed by a diploma or a lifetime of experience, just about anyone in the horse racing industry could profess themselves to be an expert in something.
In this edition of INQUIRY, we ask the folks on the sales grounds to choose how they'd share that expertise with the world by asking the question, “If you taught a college course about horse racing, what would it be called?”
Catherine Parke – Valkyre Stud
“'Training A Racehorse, And Its Care.”
Tommy Eastham – Legacy Bloodstock
“It would be called 'Nonverbal Communication,' or 'Being Sensitive.' Communicating with this beast (the horse) without being able to go up and talk to them. Probably the biggest thing I see people miss with their horse care is it's not a 'to do' list. It's more of an art. Before you make a plan, you need to take a look at that horse, figure out its emotional state, try to figure out what's bothering it. The best way is to communicate with it.”
Conrad Bandoroff – Denali Stud
“'Horse Racing Economics.' You could look at how the market for horses mirrors the stock market. You could do some analytical data into economic trends in the horse business, and just showcase how large of an industry it is, and the size and scope of it.”
Katelyn Jackson – Elite Sales
“'Save Ground: How To Pick Your Spot.”'
Alfred Nuckols, Jr. – Hurstland Farm
“'Risk and Reward.' The class would be about trying to evaluate pedigrees. I like proven horses, but the risk market and reward market seem to be with a lot of these early horses, so I guess what you need to do is teach about these nice horses with pedigrees coming off the racetrack that everyone wants to breed to the first year.”
Bob Feld – Bobfeld Bloodstock
“It would be 'Handicapping 101.' For anyone in this business, it's the gambling and action that really drives the whole machinery.”
The post INQUIRY Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Back To School appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Stakes winners Kenny Had a Notion, Pickin' Time, Singlino, Miss Nondescript and Street Lute, and a total of 28 horses coming off victories are among 56 combined nominations to the $100,000 James F. Lewis and $100,000 Smart Halo set for Saturday, Nov. 14 at Laurel Park in Maryland.
The ninth running of the Lewis for 2-year-olds and 24th renewal of the Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies are each contested at six furlongs.
Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion has won stakes in back-to-back starts and became a stakes winner on two surfaces with his triumph in the six-furlong Maryland Million Nursery Oct. 24 at Laurel. Just 15 days earlier, the Great Notion gelding captured the Jamestown Stakes sprinting 5 ½ furlongs over Laurel's world-class turf course for trainer Dale Capuano.
Roseland Farm Stable's Pickin' Time was a nose winner over fellow Lewis nominee Dalton in the six-furlong Smoke Glacken Stakes Sept. 27 at Monmouth Park, his most recent start. He has been worse than second once in four tries when he finished off the board in the Aug. 7 Saratoga Special (G2).
Maryland-bred Singlino, owned and trained by John Worsley, defeated Lewis nominees Maythehorsebwithu and Latin Spice in the 5 ½-furlong First State Dash Sept. 26 at Delaware Park. Most recently he was third to No Cents and Heir Port, both also nominated to the Lewis, in an open entry-level allowance going six furlongs Oct. 21 at Monmouth.
Also prominent among Lewis nominees is Lugamo Racing Stable's Lugamo, a winner of two straight at Laurel by 10 ¼ lengths whose only career loss came in debut to undefeated Jaxon Traveler; fellow Laurel maiden winners Ain't Da Beer Cold, Arrest Me Red, Depository, Town of Gold and Xtreme Mayhem; Pimlico Race Course maiden special weight winners Plamen and San Antone; and stakes-placed Basso and Newyearsblockparty.
Seventeen of 25 fillies nominated to the Smart Halo are exiting wins led by Barak Farm's undefeated Maryland homebred Miss Nondescript, who rallied to beat Street Lute by a neck with fellow nominee Trip to Freedom third in the six-furlong Maryland Million Lassie Oct. 24. It was the first loss for Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute, winner of the 5 ½-furlong Small Wonder Stakes Sept. 26 at Delaware.
Trainer Kelly Breen, who has won two of the last three editions of the Smart Halo with Take Charge Paula in 2017 and Cofactor last year, nominated Screen Door Stables' Sky Proposal, a neck optional claiming allowance winner going six furlongs Sept. 25 at Pimlico.
Respect the Valleys' Out of Sorts, a $1,000 yearling purchase last fall, was nominated out of her 10 ¾-length maiden special weight romp Nov. 1 at Laurel for trainer Brittany Russell, who also nominated Cash is King and LC Racing's Juror Number Four, a last out fourth to Street Lute in the Small Wonder.
Laurel maiden winners Be Sneaky, Buckey's Charm, Infinite Reward, Kewpie Doll, Supreme Blessing, Swirling Dancer and Targe; Pimlico maiden special weight winner Whiskey and Rye; Small Wonder runner-up Plane Drunk and Moochie, scratched from the Maryland Million Nursery, are also nominated.
The post 56 Juveniles Nominated To Pair Of Juvenile Stakes At Laurel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
