Tag: Horse Racing

Monday Insights: Justify Filly Takes To Turf For First Start At Santa Anita

5th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6fT, 6:00 p.m.
Running on the Monday holiday, Santa Anita cards a maiden grass race which includes JUST FOR FUN (Justify). A $485,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase by Mayberry Farm on behalf of Lee and Susan Searing's CRK Stable, the juvenile sets sail for trainer John Shirreffs.

The bay filly is out fo SP Appeal to the Win (Successful Appeal), who is a half-sib to MSW Cool Cowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) and the dams of GII Bourbon S. hero Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief) and GI Whitney H. champ White Abarrio (Race Day). Under Just for Fun's third dam, we find the dam of MGSW Pee Wee Reese (Tribal Rule).

Also making her debut is Lahar Blockade (Uncle Mo) for trainer Phi D'Amato. The bay filly went for $450,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Joey Platts and Volcanic Racing. TJCIS PPS

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Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Heralds Close To Blockbuster Graded Weekend

With a nod to Chicago motorsport legend Jan Gabriel's famous call of Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!, the blockbuster weekend of horse racing isn't in the books just yet with 11 graded stakes scheduled. Out of those, three guarantee a starting spot in next month's 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships –'Win and You're In'.

In Toronto, Woodbine Racetrack cards the GI E.P. Taylor S. A renewal of the celebrated 1 1/4 grass event, this year's edition includes Godolphin homebred and Dubai multiple group stakes winner With The Moonlight (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). The 4-year-old filly ran second in the GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland back in the spring before finishing out of the money the next month at Newmarket in the G2 Dahlia S.

Receiving Lasix for the first time, the Charlie Appleby trainee will tangle with Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (Ghostzapper), who won for the first time in over a year in the GII Canadian S. Sept. 9.

“She's doing well,” said Moira's trainer, Kevin Attard. “She's coming off a big win, obviously, and she's had some good works since then.”

With The Moonlight's stablemate, GISW Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), also returns to contest the GI Canadian International S. at Woodbine after winning a Group 1 in Germany over the summer. With Lasix too, the 4-year-old colt is up against GISW Adhamo (Ire) (Intello {Ger}) from Chad Brown's shedrow, who sends out Juddmonte homebred GSW Masen (GB) (Kingman {GB}) for the Sunday finale in the GII Nearctic S.

Nations Pride | Sarah Andrew

Elsewhere, the tip-top Sunday racing continues at both the Belmont at the Big A meet and at Keeneland.

First, Aqueduct hosts a trio of Grade III events. The Futurity S., which is an opportunity for 2-year-olds to earn a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, is a chance for second out maiden breaker Apollo Ten (Violence) to strut his grass ability. The Christophe Clement trainee will have to grapple from the outside gate with SW Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who tries turf for the first time. Sticking with the lawn, the Noble Damsel S. features veteran MGSW Fluffy Socks (Slumber {GB}), while the Matron S. could be the stakes coming out party for Ever So Sweet (Ire) (Calyx {GB}).

The action at Keeneland isn't quite on the level of Saturday's, but the Association cards a pair of 'Win and You're In' contests. The GI Spinster S. is always a highlight in October, as older females look to gain entry into the GI Breeders' Cup Longines Distaff. A slugfest is in the offing, as champion 3-year-old Nest (Curlin) looks to avenge her loss in the GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 25 at Saratoga when Idiomatic (Curlin) took home the prize from the first jump. The daughters of multiple leading sire Curlin are in for an epic battle.

“We know she likes this track,” said Nest's Hall of Fame trainer, Todd Pletcher. “We feel good about her that we got two races in her.”

Moving to the Haggin Course where the GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. will fill a position in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, we find a well-matched field of 2-year-olds. Noted (Cairo Prince) recorded his first stakes victory in the Sapling S. at Monmouth Aug. 26 for Repole Stable and should be the favorite come post time. However, don't miss First World War (War Front) who debuted a winner coming from just off the pace at Kentucky Downs last month for trainer Brendan Walsh.

Finally, swinging out to Santa Anita Park, the GIII Zuma Beach S. includes four 2-year-old colts who will be making their first start, while their filly counterpart, the GIII Surfer Girl S. beckons a pair of undefeated runners making their third start in SW Flattery (Flatter) and GSW Dreamfyre (Flameaway).

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Gina Romantica Leads Home Brant, Brown 1-2 in First Lady

Easily the least-preferred of a Chad Brown-trained threesome in Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland and the lesser-fancied of two runners in the race for owner Peter Brant, Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) came with a stinging final-furlong flurry and ran down her commonly owned stablemate and heavily favored defending champion 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to post an 11-1 upset.

Hammered into 2-5 favoritism, In Italian made the lead and while the early fractions of :23.40 and :46.80 weren't overly taxing, the 5-year-old was allowed no breathers, as her GI Diana S.-winning stable companion Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio) led a host of pursuers that followed closely behind. In Italian still held the call after six furlongs in 1:10.32–having gone the third quarter-mile in :23.32–and looked like she would be tough to reel in, but Gina Romantica, who'd sat a rail-skimming journey and was quietly ridden by Tyler Gaffalione from just behind midfield, advanced inside on the turn and was steered off heels into the stretch. In Italian was still going great guns up front and was anything but stopping, but Gina Romantica flashed home to prevail in a driving finish. Former claimer Evvie Jets (Twirling Candy) picked up some valuable Grade I black-type in third.

“She broke good. She traveled so great throughout,” Gaffalione said. “I didn't have to take too much of a hold. She was very comfortable where she was. Coming into the stretch, once I found room toward the outside, she really exploded–finished her job really well.”

A $1.05-million Keeneland September yearling purchase, Gina Romantica was joining Vacare (Lear Fan) as winners of Keeneland's signature race for 3-year-old fillies–the GI QE II Challenge Cup–and the First Lady in consecutive seasons. Dayatthespa (City Zip), the first of Brown's now seven First Lady winners, won the QE II in 2012 and the First Lady two years later. Brown has trained the First Lady winner each year since 2018. Gina Romantica was having her third start this season, having finished fourth to stablemate Consumer Spending (More Than Ready) in the GIII Eatontown S. June 17 ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI Beverly D. S. at Colonial Aug. 12.

Pedigree Notes:

Just $6,000 was required for Machmer Hall to acquire the newly turned 3-year-old filly Special Me at the 2009 Keeneland January Sale and it has been almost nothing but blue skies since.

Stonetastic was the mare's second foal and initial success story, winning a pair of Grade IIs while finishing runner-up in the GI Humana Distaff S. and earning north of $856,000. Stonetastic's Gun Runner filly of 2021, now named Gifted Runner, fetched $925,000 at Keeneland September in 2022, while the Brogdens acquired her 4-year-old daughter Stonetonic (Candy Ride {Arg}) for $400,000 in foal to Yaupon at KEENOV last fall.

Special Me's foal of 2013, 'TDN Rising Star' Gift Box, became the first Grade I winner out of Special Me when annexing the Santa Anita H. as a 6-year-old in 2019. She is also the dam of Special Forces, a multiple graded winner on the Woodbine synthetic track. The yearling full-brother to Gina Romantica sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.2 million at Keeneland September last month and Special Me produced a full-sister to Gift Box this past Mar. 27 before helping to comprise the first book of mares bred to Flightline.

 

Saturday, Keeneland
FIRST LADY S. PRESENTED BY UK HEALTHCARE-GI, $729,500, Keeneland, 10-7, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:33.70, fm.
1–GINA ROMANTICA, 124, f, 4, by Into Mischief
          1st Dam: Special Me, by Unbridled's Song
          2nd Dam: Delta Danielle, by Lord Avie
          3rd Dam: Domasco Danielle, by Same Direction
($1,025,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Machmer Hall, Carrie Brogden & Craig Brogden (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $447,563. Lifetime Record: 10-5-2-0, $1,108,603. *1/2 to Special Forces (Candy Ride {Arg}), MGSW-Can, SP-USA, $452,383; 1/2 to Gift Box (Twirling Candy), GISW, $1,127,060; 1/2 to Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), MGSW & GISP, $856,062. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
          1st Dam: Florentina (Aus) (GSW-Aus, $250,958), by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
          2nd Dam: Celebria (Aus), by Peintre Celebre
          3rd Dam: Twyla (Aus), by Danehill
'TDN Rising Star'. (475,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $125,125.
3–Evvie Jets, 124, m, 5, by Twirling Candy
          1st Dam: Natchez Trace, by Consolidator
          2nd Dam: Crystal Cream, by Secretariat
          3rd Dam: Clear Copy, by Copy Chief
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($75,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-The Estate of Robert J. Amendola; B-Farfellow Farms Ltd. (KY); T-Mertkan Kantarmaci. $72,188.
Margins: HD, 3 3/4, HF. Odds: 11.51, 0.45, 20.34.
Also Ran: Whitebeam (GB), Gam's Mission, Jumbly (GB), New Year's Eve, Thisnameisokay.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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War Like Goddess Goes Back-To-Back in the Joe Hirsch

Her sire won the 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Turf in similarly soft underfoot conditions not far away at Monmouth Park, and George Krikorian's War Like Goddess (English Channel) found the ease in the ground very much to her liking, motoring down the center of the waterlogged course to successfully defend her title in Saturday's GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct.

With Junior Alvarado at the controls for the first time, the $30,000 OBS June bargain lingered towards the back of the pack through the early exchanges, racing in the company of third favorite Stone Age (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), as Naipaul Chatterpaul special So High (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) went pedal to the metal from the fence beneath Romero Maragh. The latter was in a race of his own down the backstretch, opening up by as many as 20 lengths before odds-on Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), prepping for a title defense of his own in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, was first to attempt to make any inroads. So High continued on that long lead into the final three-eighths of a mile and while Rebel's Romance peaked on his run in upper stretch, War Like Goddess was pulled out by Alvarado into the center of the boggy course after rallying inside on the turn and steamed home for the victory. Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) ran on to complete the exacta ahead of So High in third. Rebel's Romance could do no better than fourth.

War Like Goddess would go on to be a low-odds third, with Stone Age, second in last year's Turf at Keeneland and returned to action with a victory in Keeneland's sex-restricted GIII Bewitch S. back in April. Well-beaten at 75 cents on the dollar in a slow-paced renewal of the GI New York S. June 9 at Belmont Park, War Like Goddess was most recently a neck second in the GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga Aug. 3.

The Joe Hirsch was originally carded for last Saturday, Sept. 30, but the entire program was canceled due to pounding rains and was to run in the same order the following afternoon. The card went on as scheduled, but the Hirsch was re-routed to Saturday on what turned out to be another rain-swept afternoon on the south shore of Long Island. Because of the delay, trainer Bill Mott was non-committal about another crack at the Turf.

“It rushes us a little bit. It puts us a little closer, but we still have four weeks,” said the Hall of Famer, winning the race for the sixth time, the last four with the progeny of two-time Hirsch winner English Channel. “If she runs, she'll run against the boys. I won't run her a mile and a quarter. She's a mile-and-a-half filly.”

Of the beaten favorite, William Buick commented: “The ground was too soft. He had a beautiful run through. The leader stole the march, and the other two [War Like Goddess and Solider Rising] picked him off and I couldn't. I was struggling out there.”

Pedigree Notes:

Calumet Farm purchased Misty North for $30,000 in foal to 2011 Hirsch winner Cape Blanco (Ire) at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale and sold five foals out of the mare for a grand total of just over $10,000 before accepting $1,000 for the mare, pregnant to Bal a Bali (Brz), at KEENOV in 2019. Misty North has not produced a foal the last three season and was most recently covered by Burrow, a Candy Ride (Arg) half-brother to champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and fellow Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Town (Speightstown).

 

 

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
JOE HIRSCH TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-7, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:32.86, yl.
1–WAR LIKE GODDESS, 123, m, 6, by English Channel
                1st Dam: Misty North, by North Light (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Misty Gallop, by Victory Gallop
                3rd Dam: Romanette, by Alleged
($1,200 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $1,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $30,000
2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-George Krikorian; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $275,000. Lifetime
Record: 17-11-2-2, $2,495,184.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Soldier Rising (GB), 126, g, 5, Frankel (GB)–Sahrawi (Ger),
by Pivotal (GB). (240,000gns RNA Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Madaket
Stables LLC, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables and
Michael J. Caruso; B-Dayton Investments Ltd. (GB);
T-Christophe Clement. $100,000.
3–So High (GB), 126, g, 7, Nathaniel (Ire)–Fugitive Angel,
by Alphabet Soup. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE,
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/T-Naipaul Chatterpaul; B-George
Strawbridge (GB). $60,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1, NK. Odds: 3.80, 8.70, 90.00.
Also Ran: Rebel's Romance (Ire), Stone Age (Ire), Grand Sonata, Pioneering Spirit, Astronaut.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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