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Notable US-Bred & -Sired Runners in Japan: Aug. 8 & 9, 2020

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses:

Saturday, August 8, 2020
1st-NII, ¥9,680,000 ($92k), Maiden, 2yo, 1600mT
KITTEN’S WALTZ (f, 2, Air Force Blue–Dances With Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy) was bet down to 6-1 for her 1400-meter debut at Hanshin July 18 and raced well off the early pace before finishing with interest to be fourth, beaten six lengths (video, gate 7). Campaigned in the green-and-white hoops of Carrot Farm, the February foal is out of a winning full-sister to MGISW Divisidero and GSP Kitten’s Kid and should appreciate the added real estate for this second trip to the post. B-Shadai Corporation (KY)

2nd-SAP, ¥9,680,000 ($92k), Maiden, 2yo, 1800mT
SHOVELHEAD (c, 2, Curlin–Date to Remember, by Bernardini) made a pair of starts over Tokyo’s metric mile in June, finishing a debut seventh June 6 ahead of an improved fourth-place effort three weeks later (see below, gate 5). The $700K Keeneland September graduate, a half-brother to GSW National Flag (Speightstown) and GISP Bernina Star (Harlan’s Holiday), was produced by a half-sister to GISW Eddington (Unbridled) and G1SP Star Crowned (Kingmambo). Shovelhead is bred on the same cross as recent GI CCA Oaks winner Paris Lights and GSW/MGISP Point of Honor. Owner Yuji Hasegawa was represented by first-time starter winner Vanishing Point (Tapit–Unrivaled Belle) at this venue Aug. 2. B-Siena Farms LLC (KY)

Sunday, August 9, 2020
6th-NII, ¥13,400,000 ($127k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT
MALIBU STAR SONG (JPN) (f, 2, Malibu Moon–Emma’s Song, by Unbridled’s Song), a half-sister to MSP Emerald Pond (More Than Ready), was purchased in utero for $300K at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The filly’s second dam was the versatile Advancing Star (Soviet Star), a dual Grade III winner sprinting on turf, victorious in the GIII Rancho Bernardo H. sprinting on the dirt and twice Grade I-placed, including a runner-up effort to Cara Rafaela (Quiet American) in the 1995 GI Hollywood Starlet S. B-Shadai Farm

7th-NII, ¥14,360,000 ($136k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1200m
PRECIOUS GIRL (f, 3, Speightstown–Pressurizing, by Henrythenavigator), a debut second to the very talented Lecce Baroque (Uncle Mo) in February, was well-beaten in two subsequent tries, but found the winning thread to graduate over this track and distance when last seen July 25. The $375K FTKNOV weanling purchase is out of an unraced daughter of Vertigineux (Kris S.), the dam of the once-beaten Horse of the Year and three-time champion older mare Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), MGISW Balance (Thunder Gulch) and SW Where’s Bailey (Aljabr), dam of GSW She’s Not Here (Street Cry {Ire}). B-Gilgai Farm

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Shadwell Farm’s Tamarkuz Notches First Winner At Colonial Downs

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz of Shadwell Farm was represented by his first winner at stud on Wednesday when Cool Enough won a maiden claiming race at Colonial Downs, BloodHorse reports.

Cool Enough led every step of the way in the 5 1/2-furlong race that was rained out from the turf to the main track, and the gray or roan filly's lead extended to 5 1/4 lengths at the wire under jockey Forest Boyce. They stopped the clock in 1:05.13 over a fast main track for owners Rashid's Thoroughbred Racing and Kingdom Bloodstock, Inc., and trainer Phil Schoenthal.

A Virginia-bred from the program of Morgan's Ford Farm, Cool Enough is out of the unplaced Macho Uno mare Make Waves. The dam ran as a homebred for the Morgan's Ford operation, as did second dam Skipstone. Cool Enough was already a historic horse for Tamarkuz, as the stallion's first starter back in May at Churchill Downs.

Tamarkuz, a 10-year-old son of Speightstown, stands at Shadwell Farm in Lexington, Ky., for an advertised fee of $10,000.

A winner in eight of 20 starts for earnings of $1,840,444, Tamarkuz is best known on the racetrack for his victory in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park. Prior to moving to the U.S., Tamarkuz picked up victories in the U.A.E. in the Grade 2 Godolphin Mile, and the G3 Firebreak Stakes and Burj Nahaar. His U.S. resume also includes runner-up efforts in the G1 Forego Stakes and G2 Kelso Handicap.

Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther, Tamarkuz is out of the unraced Lemon Drop Kid mare Without You Babe, making him a half-brother to Without Parole, a Group 1 winner at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting. His extended family includes Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty and Grade 3 winner Andromeda's Hero.

Nonna Madeline Shows Off Her Two-Turn Chops In Summer Colony

Trainer Todd Pletcher said last week that he was optimistic two turns could continue to suit Nonna Madeline's strengths. The 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride proved her connections prophetic, dueling with Golden Award into the stretch before pulling away to a 1 1/4-length win in Wednesday's $85,000 Summer Colony for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Teresa Viola Racing Stales and St. Elias Stable, Nonna Madeline entered looking for her first win of the campaign after back-to-back runner-up efforts, including at 1 1/16 miles on April 16 at Oaklawn Park. Stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time, Nonna Madeline, the even-money favorite, stayed just off 3-2 Golden Award's early fractions as she led the five-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.31 seconds, the half in 46.22 and three-quarters in 1:09.66 on the fast main track.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. moved Nonna Madeline up from the outside, taking command entering the stretch. At the top of the straightaway, Ortiz, Jr. gave left-handed encouragement to ward off Golden Award's bid to retake the lead near the rail. Nonna Madeline hit the wire in a 1:49.13 final time, earning her first stakes win in seven attempts.

“I had a perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “We didn't know what [Golden Award] was going to do. I just went with my plan to come running out of there and if I can make the lead easy, make it, and if something else changed, Todd let me do whatever I needed to do.

“The other horse [Golden Award] was right there in the first turn,” he continued. “She broke sharp, so I just sat second beside her. We were going a little fast but I didn't have too many options. She was the filly to beat so I had to stay there. She was very comfortable. She wasn't going that keen, and on the backside she relaxed a little bit and she was still in the race. She never backed up, so that was great.”

Pletcher trained three-fifths of the field, with Bellera and Always Shopping running third and fourth, respectively, while the Rob Atras-conditioned Bossy Bride completed the order of finish in fifth.

“I didn't anticipate that they would go that fast. It sort of turned into a match race up front, and I'm proud of her for digging in and finding more the first time going a mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said. “She was coming out of some faster races so we anticipated we'd be close.

“Like I said before the race, you can have a plan but you're not sure what everyone else's plans are,” he added. “We were in a good position for that filly, and I thought [stablemate] Bellera was sitting an ideal trip and just kind of ran evenly. It was a big effort from Nonna Madeline and nice to see her get a stakes win.”

Nonna Madeline made her first Saratoga appearance since running twice as a juvenile in 2018, finishing second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville and fifth in the Grade 1 Spinaway. On Wednesday, she returned $4.30 on a $2 win bet and improved her career earnings to $202,190.

“The more we've done with her and having had the opportunity to run her two turns at Oaklawn, I thought there was a decent chance she'd see out the mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said. “To be honest with you, I looked at this one hoping to get that stake win for her. Now that we've got that, we can be a little more ambitious.”

Golden Award, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, finished 7 ¼ lengths in front of Bellera, placing for the 10th time in 14 career races for the 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro mare.

“I had a great trip,” Alvarado said. “I thought there was going to be a little more competition at the end but my horse and the winner took it from the beginning. We were head-to-head the whole way, and I think today the other horse was best. We were just second-best.”

Bellera, who capped her 2019 with a win in the Grade 3 Comely in November at Aqueduct Racetrack and last out ran third in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap in June, earned blacktype for the fifth time in six starts.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a nine-race card that includes the $100,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Cab Calloway for state-bred 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in Race 8 at 5:14 p.m. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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COVID-19 ‘Just Wiped Out Everything’: Parx Cancels Pennsylvania Derby, Cotillion

Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. will not host the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby or Grade 1 Cotillion in 2020, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. Both $1 million races, originally scheduled for Sept. 26, are victims of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We will not be running any open stakes races this year,” racing secretary David Osojnak told the TDN. “We will be going on hiatus. The virus, the plague, just wiped out everything. We think we will be able to come back stronger in 2021.”

The late September date is an issue this year because Churchill Downs postponed the Kentucky Derby to Sept. 5 and the Preakness was rescheduled for Oct. 3. That left Parx little chance of attracting top 3-year-olds for its premier stakes races.

Instead, Osojnak reallocated the purse money from the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion to overnight purses, allowing him to keep them near levels from 2019 until casino revenue starts flowing again.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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