Indian Charlie | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cinco Charlie Sold, to Stand in Texas

Grade III winner and promising young sire Cinco Charlie (Indian Charlie–Ten Halos, by Marquetry) has been purchased by Bob & Tyree Wolesensky's Leadem Farm and will relocate there for the 2022 breeding season after spending his first five seasons at Spendthrift Farm. Jay Goodwin orchestrated the deal.

“Texas racing is thriving and the breeding business is coming back,” said Goodwin. “Bob and Tyree approached me about finding a stallion that would fit Texas and I don't think we could have found a better one. Cinco Charlie was a brilliantly fast 2-year-old who won the Bashford Manor, was owned by Bill & Corinne Heiligbrodt and trained by Steve Asmussen, Texas Hall of Famers. This horse is Texas through and through. Cinco Charlie had the speed and precocity that Texas breeders want. Leadem Farm is an absolutely beautiful operation in the heart of Texas horse country and I'm sure that Cinco Charlie will have a long and successful career there. I want to thank Spendthrift Farm, particularly Eric Gustavson, Ned Toffey, Mark Toothaker and Bill Heiligbrodt for helping this transaction take place.”

Cinco Charlie won eight of his 18 career starts, for earnings of $608,920 with seven total stakes wins. He currently sits in the top 30 on the second-crop sire list and his top runners include the stakes-winning colt Huntsinger as well as Five Pics Please, who was second in the GIII Sweet Life S. at Santa Anita earlier this year. Cinco Charlie's second crop includes the stakes-placed Serape and the impressive recent maiden winner Saint Charles.

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Hot Rod Charlie Survives Inquiry To Win Pennsylvania Derby

The last time they met, Midnight Bourbon clipped Hot Rod Charlie's heels and stumbled in the stretch of the Grade 1 Haskell, shedding rider Paco Lopez and costing Hot Rod Charlie his first G1 stakes win. In the Pennsylvania Derby, Hot Rod Charlie once again tangled with Midnight Bourbon, as the Doug O'Neill trainee almost blew the far turn, getting close enough to Midnight Bourbon in the process that the result yet again went to the stewards. This time, though, Hot Rod Charlie got the decision, getting his first Grade 1 victory at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn.

At the break, Hot Rod Charlie with Flavien Prat took the early lead, with Midnight Bourbon and Ricardo Santana, Jr. to his outside, three-quarters of a length back. The two dueled on the front around the first turn and into the backstretch, with Speaker's Corner and Weyburn three lengths back. Hot Rod Charlie kept his advantage throughout, with Midnight Bourbon staying close to him as they rounded the far turn.

With the field still several lengths back, Hot Rod Charlie, running a couple of paths off the rail, went wide out of the far turn, Prat having to take up on him to keep him from blowing the turn altogether. That move took Midnight Bourbon still wider, but Prat was able to straighten his colt out as Midnight Bourbon kept pressuring the leader down the stretch. Hot Rod Charlie was too much for Midnight Bourbon, pulling away to a 2 1/4-length victory.

Immediately after the race, Santana, Jr. lodged a claim of foul for interference against Prat and Hot Rod Charlie. The inquiry sign went up as well, but ultimately the Parx stewards decided to keep the order of finish intact.

The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.63. Find this race's chart here.

Hot Rod Charlie paid $3.80, $2.60, and $2.10. Midnight Bourbon paid $3.60 and $2.40. Americanrevolution paid $3.00.

Bred in Kentucky by Edward A. Cox, Jr., Hot Rod Charlie is by Oxbow out of the Indian Charlie mare Indian Miss. He is owned by Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing, and Gainesway Stable. Hot Rod Charlie was consigned by Small Batch Sales and purchased by Dennis O'Neill at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale for $110,000. With his win in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, the 3-year-old colt has two wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 11-3-2-3 and career earnings of $2,171,200.

The post Hot Rod Charlie Survives Inquiry To Win Pennsylvania Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kateri Proving a ‘Souper’ Purchase for Newtown Anner

In his early days in the Thoroughbred business, Hanzly Albina served the Foustok family's Buckram Oak Farm as assistant farm manager and later managed Four Roses Thoroughbreds for the same operation.

“As a young person in the business, you don't get to do a lot, but you get to study a lot,” Albina recollects.

The horseman is now applying that and other knowledge he's acquired over the years as an advisor to Maurice and Samantha Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, the breeders of 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Rachel Alexandra S. presented by Fasig-Tipton hopeful Souper Sensational (Curlin).

The broodmare band at Newtown Anner numbers around 65, split between their Versailles, Kentucky, farm on a little more than 1000 acres that once belonged to Standardbred operation Brittany Farm on Pisgah Pike. The couple also maintains a farm in Millbrook, New York, as well as a farm in Ireland.

On behalf of Newtown Anner, Albina and partner Nick Sallusto went to $167,000 for then 4-year-old Kateri (Indian Charlie), in foal to Paynter, at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. In signing for the mare, Albina was drawing upon the lessons he gleaned from one of Thoroughbred breeding's legends.

“I am big fan of John Nerud and I try to learn about everything he did and how his thought process worked. This is a family that connects to him–Cozzene is down the page,” Albina explained, referring to the 1985 Eclipse Award-winning turf male that was campaigned by Nerud. “Now, I'm not one of these guys that is going to breed mares based on sixth and seventh generation, but the short answer is, there was a lot going on in the first dam [Sue's Good News] and it was a beautiful first dam. There was a lot of beauty in the family and I thought I could work with that. She was a beautiful Indian Charlie mare. I loved the fact that it was Indian Charlie, because it goes back to Caro (Ire),” sire of the aforementioned Cozzene.

Albina was well-acquainted with the Caro-line, as Buckram Oak raced the sire's son Siberian Express, a $320,000 purchase out of the 1984 Keeneland July Sale by Mahmoud Foustok. Siberian Express was, in turn, the sire of In Excess (Ire), who was bred and raced through part of his career by Mahmoud Foustok's brother, Ahmed.

“It's been proven time and time again that this European influence of Caro coming through, for whatever reasons, has been very good for American racing and keeps on coming up.”

Kateri foaled a colt by Paynter the day after her purchase and Albina was pleased with what he saw.

“I thought the Paynter was a pretty good horse,” he said. “I kind of gave her a pass being her first foal, she wasn't a spectacular sort of specimen. Then we went to Tiznow and that was a magnificent horse. We took it to auction and no one wanted the horse. Nick and I decided we weren't going to let this beautiful horse go, Tiznow was a little cold. So we tried to sell him again and the same thing happened, we didn't get the money we wanted. Nick took the horse down to Florida and started prepping him. He went to the sale and that's when Red Oak bought in and we raced it together.”

Bought back for $275,000 at Keeneland September in 2018, the Tiznow colt was led out unsold on a bid of $175,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Sale. Connections' faith in the colt was rewarded when he fetched $420,000 at the OBS April Sale in early 2019.

“He was a stunning horse and the money we got from the 2-year-old sale kind of validated what we thought about the mare,” Albina said. “Since I held the Tiznow in high regard, I said, 'Now it's time to make a move with this mare' and overbreed her a touch. We made a jump to Curlin, he was a stallion we really liked at the time. He was much cheaper than he is now and physically, we loved him.

He continued, “In [Kateri's] second dam you have Easyfromthegitgo (Dehere), Deputy Minister-line, similar to Curlin on the bottom, and it had worked on the pedigree with Conquest Curlgirl [a daughter of Easyfromthegitgo's GSW half-sister Sue's Good News]. Typically I look for something a little closer, but it was close enough to where I was OK with it and the physical really worked.”

Kateri dropped her Curlin filly Mar. 28, 2018, and she was as straight-forward as could be, Albina remembers, as she grew up and as she was prepped for a date in the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“What stood out about her was how unremarkable the process was,” he said. “She was always a very good-looking horse, always well-balanced, there were never any issues. She got to the sale and looked beautiful, took it all in stride, never any hiccups. It's not always that way. I don't remember her ever being sick, I don't remember any issue with her. She got to Saratoga and we had a very good sale. She was our highest-priced horse that year.”

The Kateri filly caught the eye of the team at Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation, who were extended to $725,000.

“This was the best horse we had for Newtown Anner that year,” he said. “We thought about keeping her, but we set a line on her and if we get more than our number, we'll let her go and if not, we'll race her. That's kind of the exercise we do with all our horses.”

Albina, who consigns yearlings with Ron Blake as Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, also sold Peter Brant a Quality Road filly for $525,000 that year. Now named Boston Post Road, that full-sister to MSW & GSP Top Quality was a maiden winner at first asking at Gulfstream Park Feb. 7.

Albina said that the philosophy of Newtown Anner is to “breed the horses we typically don't go out and buy.”

“Then we test the market and we trade,” he explained. “For [Souper Sensational], our reserve would have been very high and if someone paid it, they could have her and if not, then she comes back and we get to keep a nice horse. We aren't going out there and buying million-dollar horses or consistently paying $500,000 and $600,000 for horses. If we can sell the ones that bring in excess of what they're worth, that's kind of the goal. The stuff we don't like, we put little to no reserve on and move them on. We just try to make good decisions and I think offering all our yearlings at auction is a mechanism by which we can keep ourselves sharp and that we're making good business decisions.”

After graduating and earning her 'Rising Star' at first asking, Souper Sensational added a facile success in the Glorious Song S. at Woodbine last October. The chestnut exits a good second when trying two turns and dirt for the first time in the Jan. 16 Silverbulletday S., and Albina believes she'll continue to improve from here.

“I think she's going to get better and better with distance,” he said. “We'll let her show us. I'm not worried about any surface with her, I think her action tells me she can be very good on the dirt. I think she got a little unlucky in her last start, but she finished well. Some people are disappointed when they finish second, but I think the races she has to win are ahead of her. I'm very pleased with everything she's done so far.”

While Souper Sensational has done her part to enhance her page, the family remains live elsewhere. Kateri's Grade I-winning half-sister Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow) is not only the dam of the Japanese-based, UAE Group 3-placed Serein (Uncle Mo), but also of $2.5-million KEESEP graduate Tatweej (Tapit), a hugely impressive allowance winner at Aqueduct Feb. 4. Another half-sister, Tiz News (Tiznow), is the dam of 2020 Trapeze S. runner-up Tiz Splendid News (Maclean's Music), who has returned to the worktab at Keeneland for trainer Wesley Ward. Tiz News changed hands for $190,000 in foal to Curlin's champion son Good Magic at KEENOV last fall.

Albina reports that Kateri's foal of 2019, a colt by Maclean's Music, was ticketed for last year's Saratoga Sale, but was sadly put down after suffering a freak injury. The agent said that Souper Sensational's yearling full-sister “resembles her sister greatly and we're very excited about her” and will be aimed at one of the major yearling sales later this year. Kateri is currently carrying to American Pharoah on a later cover and is booked back to Curlin for this year.

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Body & Soul: Don’t Look Now… Well, Maybe We’d Better

This business about sire lines has been driving your correspondent a bit nuts for the past 40 years, dating from when he first came to understand the realm, initially through the discourses of the great analyst Dr. Franco Varola and the estimable author Abe Hewitt. In those days we all not only relied on the historical database of a rather limited number of stallions but also on the patience needed to assess the long-term impact of form, function, and pedigree. You had Phalaris and Swynford, then Nearco and Hyperion, then Nasrullah and Prince Bio, then Bold Ruler and Princequillo, then Northern Dancer and Raise a Native, then Storm Cat and Mr. Prospector, then A.P. Indy and…yada, yada, yada.

Those sire lines developed over time, as did most data-driven assessments in those eras. Ironically, it was the infinitely patient Varola who gave rise to the now half-century-long obsession with various programs assessing nicks, crosses, affinities (or, whatever)–a reflection of the instant gratification culture we have developed. As a result, we are faced with a wide variety of macro and mini “sire lines” these days, real or imagined–none of which we are going to explore today.

Rather, we are going to look at what may be developing right under our noses, and why it is a potential ground shifter. That would be the rather remarkable fact (as of this writing) that the Leading Freshman Sire and two others among the top five on that list are sons of one of the top three Leading General Sires. In addition, those three freshmen sires are from the first crop of their sire’s sons with foals of racing age.

We are speaking, of course, about Nyquist, Laoban, and Outwork, plus their big daddy, Uncle Mo.

What sparked our interest was a nagging curiosity about how a stallion like Uncle Mo could come out of the clouds of sire-line pedigree retrogression to put paid to the thought (among some) that he might be something of an outlier and might fade in both form and favor as the years go on. After all, he is by Indian Charlie, the lone nationally prominent member of a sire line that was most successful in Europe and California. Secondly, he is one big fella, which often requires studious examination of the size, if not shape, of the broodmares sent to his court–“like to like,” if you please.

Our research indicates that Uncle Mo is really no accident of genetics. Indeed, he and his better racing sons who have been dispatched to cover upscale broodmare bands are basically denizens of a remarkably consistent cluster of stallions dating back to an almost iconic and very commercial stallion who was not only not their color (he was gray) but also not quite like any of them biomechanically.

That would be Caro (Ire), who sired Siberian Express who begot In Excess (Ire), who stamped out Indian Charlie. By the Grey Sovereign stallion Fortino, Caro won the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) and went on to be an internationally successful stallion. Though probably best remembered in North America as sire of GI Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors, influential sire Cozzene (whose son Mizzen Mast is still going strong), as well as the broodmare sire of Unbridled’s Song and Maria’s Mon, Caro left a genetic trail behind that was as diverse in aptitude as one could possibly have projected for a horse of his racing record and heritage.

Two of his sons, French Derby winner Crystal Palace and German Horse of the Year Nebos, became influential sires in their home countries. But it was another one–ironically, his only son to duplicate his French 2,000 Guineas success–who became an unexpected linchpin of the sire line aside from Cozzene.

That would be Siberian Express, bred in Kentucky but raced in France and retired to stud in England.

A big, strongly made gray, Siberian Express gained some success at stud but left an indelible mark on the North American racing and breeding scene with his son In Excess–and, according to our research, created a distinctive biomechanical branch of the Caro sire line.

Hold that thought.

In Excess was fast at two and three in England and was purchased at the end of his sophomore campaign and sent to California where a career on turf and dirt spookily bore truth to his name. He won turf stakes before testing the dirt. On dirt, he not only set track records in California and New York, but also became the first horse since Kelso, 30 years before, to win the Metropolitan, Suburban, Whitney, and Woodward, stamping himself the best racehorse in North America. Only an uncharacteristically dull effort in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile prevented him from becoming Horse of the Year.

After a modest record the following year, In Excess was retired to stud in California where he not only became the leading sire in the state multiple times but, among his more than 40 stakes winners, begot a charismatic and brilliantly fast colt named Indian Charlie, who was the undefeated favorite in the 1998 Kentucky Derby, finished third, then was retired later that summer after injuring a suspensory in a workout. A strongly made dark bay, Indian Charlie was successful while standing in Kentucky with a less than commercial pedigree. He became well worthy of an eventual $70,000 stud fee in 2011 and sired four champions before he died of cancer at the age of 16 that year. He left behind a number of sons, several of them promising or accomplished, but the one for which he will be remembered is Uncle Mo.

Now, go back to that thought we asked you to hold. In our article last month about Super Saver, we referred to a biomechanical program we utilize which compares various measurements of a stallion to those of several hundred successful sires who were born as early as the 1950s to see which ones are similar in size and scope to that sire. We referred to those that were similar as being in “clusters.” What we were looking for at that point was whether there were instances where the same sires appeared in the clusters of various stallions in the Super Saver sire line because pedigree assessments over six generations of sires were only part of the story.

What prompted us to apply the same program to our current task is when we looked at the generally inheritable biomechanical measurements of the branch of the Caro line that began with Siberian Express, we noticed a sharp difference in the size of those two with the latter not only being larger but also having apparently passed most of those measurement sizes on to In Excess, Indian Charlie, Uncle Mo, and the latter’s first three sons with foals of racing age.

We then took those measurements to the next step to determine if there were similarities in clusters among those eight stallions. What we discovered was–in our experience–quite remarkable: Caro was in a cluster that has him closest in size and scope to Stormy Atlantic, Time for a Change, Grand Slam, Lear Fan, A.P. Indy, and Wild Rush. None of those sires appeared in the clusters of the other eight stallions, but every one of those stallions, except one, was in a cluster that included those closest to Siberian Express: Tiznow, Buckpasser, Unbridled, Quality Road, and Royal Academy. Other duplicates included First Samurai and Capote and two of them are in clusters that include In Excess, Indian Charlie, and/or Uncle Mo.

That these clusters are so similar indicates that members of this tribe descending from Siberian Express are of a distinctive “type.” We have rarely seen this kind of data before and, at this point, even though we are hesitant to name one of them as the progenitor of a line, we do know attention must be paid.

Bob Fierro is a partner with Jay Kilgore and Frank Mitchell in DataTrack International, biomechanical consultants and developers of BreezeFigs. He can be reached at bbfq@earthlink.net.

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