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Defending Lady Apple Tops Nominees To Houston Ladies Classic

Nominations have closed for the Houston Racing Festival at Sam Houston Race Park. The annual event, featuring six stakes and purses in excess of $1 million will be contested on Sunday, Jan. 31 with a special afternoon post time of 1:45 pm (CT).

The Houston Racing Festival includes two graded stakes, the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf.

The Houston Ladies Classic, to be contested at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, closed with 22 nominations including 2020 champion Lady Apple. The 5-year-old daughter of Curlin out of the Clever Trick mare Miss Mary Apples is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III and KatieRich Farms.

Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen, the Kentucky-bred mare has won six of her 18 starts with earnings of $1,045,984. One year ago, she closed gamely under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., defeating a contentious field which included 2019 Kentucky Oaks champion Serengeti Empress, Mylady Curlin and Street Band. The victory was the second Houston Ladies Classic score for Asmussen, who is nominated for Eclipse Award winning trainer honors. In 2019, he saddled Midnight Bisou, who went on to national prominence winning five Grade 1 stakes, banking $7.4 million and honored as 2019 Eclipse Award winning Older Female.

Jeweled Princess is on target to ship to Houston and represent owners Walking L Thoroughbreds of The Woodlands, Texas. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the 4-year-filly Cairo Prince, out of the Scat Daddy mare Jersey Jules, earned her fourth career win on Dec. 18 at Remington Park when she captured the $75,000 She's All In Stakes. McPeek won the 2004 Great State Challenge Distaff at Sam Houston Race Park with Take Charge Lady as well as two editions of the Maxxam Gold Cup.

Trainer Michael Maker has nominated Ujayji, a 5-year-old mare by Smarty Jones, who would make her Texas debut for her breeder and owner T. L. Wise. The Pennsylvania-bred mare exits a third-place finish in the $100,000 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct on Jan. 17.

Additional nominees include two fillies trained by Tom Amoss who are currently stabled at Fair Grounds. Hoffman Racing Family, LLC and Steve Landry's Beautiful Trauma, a 4-year-old daughter of Tapiture exits a runner-up finish in the $75,000 Spanky Broussard on December 26. Figure It Out, owned by Joe Politi was an eight length winner in New Orleans on Jan. 1. Trainer Scott Gelner is pointing Norman Racing Stables, LLC's Shes Our Fastest to the stakes. The Texas-bred daughter of Oratory won the 2019 Texas Rose Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park and has earned $344,537 in her 29 lifetime starts.

Inaugurated in 2013, the Houston Ladies Classic was awarded its graded status by the American Graded Stakes Committee in 2016.

Nominations were also strong for the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, at the distance of 1 1/2 miles with 43 nominations received by the Sam Houston Race Park racing office. Mike Maker, who has won the Connally a record seven times, has nominated 11 turf specialists. Three Diamonds Farm's Marzo, ran third in last year's edition of the race before running in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga. Sired by Medaglia D' Oro, Marzo has won four races and $310,000 to date.

Ajourneytofreedom closed to complete the superfecta in the $100,000 Gio Ponti at Aqueduct last November for her owners Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher. Maker's third likely starter is Conviction Trade, who was claimed by Staudacher and tested his distance prowess last month in the H. Allen Jerkens, a two-mile turf stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Kentucky-bred son of Exchange Rate closed for second.

Signalman, a 5-year-old son of General Quarters who has earned over $671,000 in his 17 starts, has been nominated by McPeek. He competed in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The John B. Connally Turf was awarded Grade 3 status in 2006 and boasts a solid roster of past winners including Chorwon, Fort Prado, Rod and Staff as well as three-time champions, Candid Glen and Bigger Picture.

The draw for the Houston Racing Festival will take place on Sunday, Jan. 24. The remaining stakes include the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile for three-year-olds, which was added last year and drew a highly competitive field of ten; the $100,000 Pulse Power Turf Sprint, the $75,000 Jersey Lilly Turf Stakes and $75,000 Stonerside Sprint.

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Maryland-Bred Owner Program Launches ‘Developer Bonus’

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Maryland Jockey Club have announced changes to the Maryland-Bred Owner Bonus Program to accommodate a new Developer Bonus Program, beginning in phases with the Jan. 22 racing program at Laurel Park.

A 15 percent bonus will be paid to the developer—the owner or owners of a horse when it makes its first career start—for any Maryland-bred that finishes first, second or third in an open overnight race at a Maryland track. The Developer Bonus only applies to a horse still owned continuously by the original owner of the horse as of Jan. 22, 2021, or the owner of a horse that makes its first career start after Jan. 22, 2021.

The Developer Bonus is not part of the purse and will not be included in a horse's earnings. The bonuses will be paid monthly once the testing of samples is completed and the races are released by the stewards. It will be the responsibility of the developer to provide the Horsemen's Bookkeeper with a W-9 if they do not already have a horsemen's account.

The Maryland-Bred Owner Bonus will continue to be paid to all Maryland-bred horses that finish first, second or third in an open overnight race in Maryland and will continue to be part of the purse. However, in order to provide a grace period for owners who currently own Maryland-breds but are not the developer, and for those who have recently claimed a Maryland-bred with expectation of receiving the full 30 percent bonus, all horses will continue to earn the 30 percent Owner Bonus through May 31, 2021—unless the horse is claimed or sold.

If a horse is claimed prior to May 31, the Owner Bonus for the new owner will drop to 15 percent for the horse's next start. If that horse was owned by a developer at the time of the claim, the 15 percent Developer Bonus will begin for the horse's next start.

The Developer Bonus concept, offered by MJC President Sal Sinatra, has been discussed by the MTHA Board of Directors and MJC racing officials over at least the last six months. It is designed to provide additional incentives for owners to support the Maryland racing program through the development of weanlings, yearlings and 2-year-olds, thus increasing the number of horses available to fill races.

The national Thoroughbred foal crop is about half that of the early 1990s, while the Maryland foal crop began to grow in 2013 and in recent years has held steady for the most part. It costs far more now to develop a horse—either bred or purchased at auction—and get it to the races. On top of that, a Maryland-bred that can't compete at higher levels when it begins its racing career could very well be claimed, leaving the owner with no further return on investment on that particular horse. The idea is to shift the balance to try to compensate individuals who invest heavily to get a horse to the races.

In approving the Developer Bonus Program, the MTHA Board agreed to analyze the program after one year to assess whether the objectives have been met and assess whether changes to the program are necessary.

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Centennial Farms To Sponsor TAA Best Turned Out Awards During Pegasus World Cup Card

Centennial Farms will sponsor the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Best Turned Out Horse Awards during the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Card Jan. 23, 2021 at Gulfstream Park. This is the third year in a row that Centennial has sponsored the awards.

Centennial Farms, an ownership group with more than 30 years of experience operating elite Thoroughbred racing partnerships, will sponsor the cash prize and gift bag to be given to the winning groom of the Best Turned Out Horse for eight races on the card.

TAA and Centennial Farms representatives will select the horse in each race that is deemed to be the best presented, and that horse's groom will receive a gift bag and cash prize. The TAA and Centennial Farms will promote the winners on their social media platforms, and the winning groom will be mentioned on the live simulcast feed.

“We are honored to again partner with and support the great work of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, an outstanding leader in aftercare for our industry,” said Don Little, President of Centennial Farms. “Everyone at Centennial feels very strongly about the lifelong commitment to our horses and ensuring they have a secure home when their racing days are over. This period of unprecedented challenges has affected all aspects of racing and aftercare, from daily life on the backstretch to the ability of organizations like TAA to thrive. We are thrilled to help shine a well-deserved spotlight on just some of the grooms who have continued to work so hard each day to help these magnificent athletes reach their potential.”

Centennial Farms was the sponsor for the TAA Best Turned Out Horse Awards at the Pegasus World Cup in 2019 and 2020, with Little personally selecting the winners.

The TAA is a charity partner for the Pegasus World Cup.

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Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Midnight Bourbon Begins The Last Hurrahs At Stud For Tiznow

From one of the last crops by the now-pensioned Tiznow (by Cee's Tizzy), Midnight Bourbon became his sire's 81st stakes winner with a victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Jan. 16.

Last year, Midnight Bourbon had shown high-class form. The bay had finished second to Sittin On Go (Brody's Cause) in the G3 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5 and had been third to Jackie's Warrior and Reinvestment Risk in the G1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 10 in the last start at two for Midnight Bourbon.

The son of Tiznow made his 3-year-old debut in the Lecomte, rating kindly on the lead and holding the closers at bay to finish the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.41. The Lecomte will put Midnight Bourbon on some lists for the classics, and the handsome bay is expected to race next in the G2 Risen Star at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 13.

A classic victory would make Midnight Bourbon only the second son of Tiznow to win a classic; Da' Tara won the 2008 Belmont Stakes. The same year, Colonel John won the G1 Santa Anita Derby and Travers, then in between had finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby. That was Tiznow's best year with a classic crop of racers.

With the stallion now pensioned from breeding, there won't be too many opportunities for more classic performers. Midnight Bourbon comes from Tiznow's fourth-last crop, and the stallion has 106 2-year-olds, foals of 2019.

For the foals that are yearlings of 2021, the aged stallion bred 113 mares, with 85 reported in foal. Those pregnancies resulted in 63 live foals (56 percent live foals to mares bred). In his last breeding season, Tiznow covered 38 mares in 2020.

As a classic prospect, Midnight Bourbon is a very good-looking and well-proportioned colt with good muscle and speed for going a mile or more. Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet and consigned to the Keeneland September yearling sale by Warrendale, Midnight Bourbon sold to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $525,000, making the second-highest price for a Tiznow yearling in 2019.

Midnight Bourbon is the fourth named foal of his dam, the Malibu Moon mare Catch the Moon, and he is the mare's fourth graded stakes winner. Catch the Moon's first foal and stakes winner was Cocked and Loaded, one of the best racers by the Tiznow stallion Colonel John. At two, Cocked and Loaded won a pair of stakes, including the G3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill.

The mare's second foal was the best racer by Grade 1 winner Tale of Ekati, Girvin. A striking dark bay, Girvin won a pair of Grade 2 stakes, the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby in the first half of his 3-year-old season, then added the G1 Haskell during the summer of his 3-year-old season in 2017. After earning more than $1.6 million, Girvin stands at stud in Florida at Ocala Stud.

The third foal out of Catch the Moon was the gelding Pirate's Punch (Shanghai Bobby), who was one of the best racers by his sire. Pirate's Punch was three times placed at the Grade 3 level, then won the G3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park as a 4-year-old in 2020.

With high-class performers already on the page, Midnight Bourbon was a sales success, and he has added to the mare's succession of stakes performers. There must have been other mares who produced four stakes winners in succession, but the only other I've uncovered with about this level of quality is the great champion racemare Miesque (Nureyev), whose first four foals all won stakes. Her fourth, the Woodman mare Moon is Up, was only a listed winner, but Miesque's first and second foals – Kingmambo and East of the Moon – were both G1 winners.

Catch the Moon has a 2-year-old colt by Curlin who sold for $500,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September sale but is unnamed to date. The mare's yearling is yet another colt, this one by Quality Road.

Catch the Moon is the first foal out of stakes winner Catch My Fancy (Yes It's True), successful in the Barretts Debutante at Fairplex and the Fairfield Stakes at Solano. A $150,000 2-year-old in training, Catch My Fancy had plenty of speed, and she is the dam of stakes winners Dubini (Gio Ponti), winner of the 2019 Laurel Dash, and What a Catch (Justin Phillip), winner of the Rockville Centre Stakes.

There is plenty of speed in this family, and Catch the Moon is inbred 3×2 to Monique Rene (Prince of Ascot), a mare raced by John Franks. A winner of 29 races, including 15 stakes, Monique Rene was a legend in Louisiana racing. In addition to those mentioned above, the best racers to descend from her include Grade 1 winners Yes It's True (De Francis Memorial Dash) and Silver Max (Shadwell Turf Mile), as well as Kiss a Native, champion 3-year-old colt in Canada.

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