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Mating Plans: Katierich Farms

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Katierich Farms, a boutique breeding farm owned by Larry and Karen Doyle and located in Midway, Kentucky. Katierich president George Barnes said the farm not only boards and breeds for clients, but is also focused on developing their own high-quality broodmare band for the commercial market.

ENHANCING (m, 14, Forestry–Heavenly Prize, by Seeking the Gold), to be bred to Blame

Enhancing is a daughter of champion Heavenly Prize. She is already a proven producer with her son Instilled Regard (Arch) winning the GI Manhattan S. in 2020. She will return to the Arch line in 2022 when she visits Blame at Claiborne Farm. Blame offers great value, and ideally Enhancing could produce a daughter to join the Katierich broodmare band.

HER SMILE (m, 14, Include–Hepburn, by Capote), to be bred to Into Mischief

Her Smile was a Grade I-winning sprinter going six furlongs during her racing career. She produced GSW sprinter Pink Sands (Tapit), who sold for $2.3 million in foal to Into Mischief in November of 2021. This mating essentially just breeds the best to the best and speed to speed. This sire line has proved fruitful with Her Smile's female family already. Her Smile's half-sister, Doolittle (Polish Numbers), produced stakes winner and GSP Tricks to Doo by Into Mischief. We are excited to see Her Smile's production when visiting the champion sire this season.

JOURNEY HOME (m, 8, War Front–Soul Search, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Medaglia d'Oro

Journey Home is an exciting addition to the Katierich broodmare band. She was purchased in 2021 from the Sam-Son Farm dispersal. Journey Home is a large, imposing physical mare, but she was also precocious enough to become a graded stakes winner at two. With her physical, pedigree, and race record, we are continuing to support her at the highest level. At $100,000, Medaglia d'Oro offers amazing value for what he has accomplished. Her 2020 filly by Medaglia d'Oro brought $625,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Select Sale in 2021. We are hoping for a repeat of those results with this mating.

LILY OF THE NILE (m, 9, Pioneerof the Nile–Lil Indy, by Anasheed), to be bred to Street Sense

Lily of the Nile was purchased in 2019 out of the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Her first foal, Gingrich (Mr Speaker), broke his maiden impressively at Keeneland in October and looks to have a bright future. She currently has a Twirling Candy yearling filly which has checked all the boxes so far. Lily is due to have a Flatter in 2022 before visiting Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense. Lily's first winner, and the looks of her 2022 yearling, gave us enough confidence to send her to the elite stallion Street Sense. This is also the sire line that produced her champion half-brother Maximum Security (New Year's Day).

BROWSE (m, 9, Medaglia d'Oro–Daydreaming, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Not This Time

Browse is another exciting new broodmare who joined the Katierich broodmare band in 2021. She is out of MGSW Daydreaming from a very productive Phipps family. Browse's female family crossed successfully to Giant's Causeway already to produce her half-brother, Grade I winner Imagining. Browse will return to this line in 2022 when she visits Not This Time. Not This Time offers the size and pedigree that will hopefully suit Browse in her early career as a broodmare.

PARADE OF ROSES (m, 6, New Year's Day–Rose and Shine, by Mr. Sekiguchi), to be bred to Cairo Prince

Parade of Roses is a young, exciting stakes-winning mare from a very active family. Her half-sister is Grade I winner and champion British Idiom (Flashback). Parade of Roses is expecting a foal by champion Authentic in 2022 before she visits Cairo Prince. Parade of Roses is one of four mares we have going to Cairo Prince in 2022. We believe Cairo Prince offers exceptional value and is set to have a big year after having sired 29 2-year-old winners in 2021. Cairo Prince has also crossed well with this family to produce Parade of Roses's multiple stakes-winning half-brother Royal Prince.

MIDNIGHT SOIREE (m, 7, Include–Casanova Striker, by Smart Strike), to be bred to Twirling Candy

Katierich Farms was thrilled to add another daughter of Include to the broodmare band in 2021. Midnight Soiree was a hard-knocking racehorse from a very productive family of Governor Jones. Midnight Soiree will visit Twirling Candy in 2022. Midnight Soiree is one of three mares we have going to Twirling Candy, one of the Doyles' favorite up-and-coming stallions. We believe he gives this young mare a great chance to start her young broodmare career in the right direction

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

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Pletcher Talks Life Is Good, Colonel Liam, Top 3YOs On Writers’ Room

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday fresh off of a pair of seven-figure wins at Gulfstream and amid one of the hottest streaks of his training life. Sitting down with Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher talked about Life Is Good's dazzling win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and what's next for the superstar son of Into Mischief, a planned Dubai trip for MGISW turfer Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), what he thinks of his ample stable of Triple Crown nominees and more.

Asked about the plan for Life Is Good going into the Pegasus relative to how the race played out, Pletcher said, “When you're coming up with a strategy for a race, you know what you want to do, but you don't always know what your opponent wants to do. I thought when Knicks Go drew the rail, their hands were cuffed and they were going to have to come out running. And we wanted to come out running and play to our horse's strength, which is his speed. It surprised me a little bit that he cleared off as easily as he did. But if you look back to the Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, he's super fast. He was a couple of lengths in front of Jackie's Warrior down the backside. He didn't break great [in the Pegasus], but his second, third and fourth steps were really good, and he got [to the lead] the right way. I was pretty confident turning up the backside, but he still had some running to do. And we were just delighted with his performance. It was everything we hoped for.”

Pletcher added that Life Is Good's first post-Pegasus breeze would likely come this Friday, with his next start expected to come in the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai World Cup, and GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. would likely be on that plane with him.

“If everything stays on course [with Life Is Good] and we go to Dubai, we're going to take him as well for the [G1] Dubai Turf,” he said. “It's the same timing as with Life Is Good, so we feel the timing's good. I feel like he came out of the Pegasus Turf even better than he went into it, so taking a shot at a race like that is worthwhile.”

The conversation turned to a potential third, synthetic surface potentially being installed at Belmont Park as has been done at Gulfstream and whether or not that would help keep some turf horses in New York who would normally ship south during the winter months.

“To be honest with you, I I don't know what the synthetic would do there, and one of the things that we're sort of learning during this [Gulfstream] meet is which horses handle the Tapeta and which ones don't,” Pletcher said. “And I haven't been able to do it without actually running them on it. We've had several horses that have won Tapeta races that were off the turf who were coming off turf wins and they handled it fine. We had a couple other ones that were coming off good turf races that we ran on the Tapeta, and you can tell in the first 100 yards that they hated it. So that was one of the things that was difficult for us before [with synthetic tracks]. I can think of an example at Keeneland. Years ago, we had a filly named Wait A While who was a top class turf mare. She worked at Keeneland on the synthetic, going a ridiculous :46 flat [half-mile], with her neck bowed, in hand the whole way. We were running in the [GI] First Lady. It rained, it came off the turf and I was like, off that breeze, I have no reservation running her at all. But that afternoon, she never tightened the bridle. She hated it. So it's a little bit tricky to get a line on [the track] without running on it. So could it keep some turf horses in New York? Possibly, yeah I think it could, and then it would just be a matter of seeing if they actually took to it.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed the ongoing silence over hearings to adjudicate to the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, Jonathon Kinchen's suspension from the NHC Tour and Thursday night's Eclipse Awards. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Asmussen Believes Midnight Bourbon Will ‘Put It All Together’ In Saudi Cup

American stars Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon will renew their rivalry in the $20 million Saudi Cup.

The pair clashed in last month's Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds when Mandaloun came out on top by three-quarters of a length.

Now they will go head-to-head again in the world's most valuable race, run over nine furlongs on the dirt track at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Saturday, Feb. 26.

The Louisiana Stakes was Mandaloun's first run since he was awarded the G1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in July when Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified for impeding Midnight Bourbon after passing the winning post a nose in front.

A setback prematurely ended the Kentucky Derby runner-up's 3-year-old season, and his trainer Brad Cox believes he is still improving ahead of his trip to Saudi for the world's most valuable fixture.

He said: “Mandaloun ran a really big race at Fair Grounds in the Louisiana Stakes. It was his first run in a while and he appears to have come out of it in great order – he had a good workout on Sunday morning.

“He seems to have moved forward from three to four. If he moves forward again, he's going to be tough in The Saudi Cup.

“I always thought he was a Grade 1 horse, so it was important for us and for Juddmonte to try to win a Grade 1 with him and add him to the stallion roster.

“Obviously, he was awarded the Grade 1 in the Haskell Stakes. Out of the Haskell he just wasn't quite right behind and we just gave him the time he needed.

“He's come back bigger and stronger. Florent (Geroux) rode him and he said as soon as he came back that he was a more polished horse mentally. That gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.

“I think the track will be fine. He's a horse who's capable of being where we need him to be in a race. He's able to adjust to the pace – if it's slow he can be up close, if it's fast he can sit off it.

“A one-turn mile-and-an-eighth (1800m) is not something we get much in America, Belmont is the only place, but I'm confident he'll be able to handle it.

“The Saudi Cup has not been around long but it's definitely grabbed the attention of the entire world. It's becoming a race on everyone's calendar and if we were capable of winning it for Juddmonte it would obviously mean a tremendous amount.”

Despite finishing behind Mandaloun in the Louisiana Stakes and last year's Kentucky Derby, when he endured a troubled passage, Midnight Bourbon's trainer Steve Asmussen has high hopes his stable star will finally claim his big-race victory.

The colt hasn't enjoyed much luck during his career. He unseated Paco Lopez when hampered as he made his challenge in the Haskell Stakes and his trainer believes the ability is there to be a champion.

Asmussen said: “He has an elite level of talent without finishing it off at this stage. He's not had the success his ability would allow but it also leaves a lot for us moving forward.

“He is still in a physical and mental development that I think allows for him to possibly end up being the best horse in training in the world this year.

“The only time he's missed the break in his life was in the Kentucky Derby which was won by a horse (Medina Spirit) he breaks next to in the Preakness and runs into the ground.

“It's one thing after another but it's there, it just needs to come together. I'm hoping beyond hope and expecting that he's waiting for The Saudi Cup stage to put it all together perfectly.”

Jockey Joel Rosario rode Midnight Bourbon in the Louisiana Stakes and he will keep the ride in the Group 1 Saudi Cup. He will need to reverse that form with Mandaloun but Asmussen believes last month's race will put the edge on his big race hope.

He said: “That was his prep for The Saudi Cup, not The Saudi Cup. He came out of it in better shape than he went into it. It was a very good exercise.

“I know from the preparation going into his last race, how he's come out of it and how he's worked since, that we are jumping forward.

“His numbers are very competitive with any horse in the world – the numbers being the speed he has attained. We just have to finish it off.

“He is considerably more mature in his approach to training than he has been in the past. He had a beautiful work on Sunday at Fair Grounds. He came out of it in great shape and he went back to the track very well on Tuesday morning.

“I will look for something a touch better, not significantly better, this coming Sunday. Then he will van from New Orleans to Palm Meadows and fly out from there.”

The American pair will attempt to wrestle The Saudi Cup crown from last year's winner Mishriff. He was reported to be in good shape ahead of the world's most valuable race by joint-trainer Thady Gosden on Tuesday.

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Mating Plans: Marie Jones

In this edition of our ongoing mating plans series, we spoke with Marie Jones with additional notes from Katie Taylor and Doug Cauthen.

Marie Jones is carrying on the successful breeding program that she first started with her late husband Aaron. Their program is responsible for Grade I winners and champions including Ashado, Speightstown, Drosselmeyer and Mrs. McDougal, as well as the dam of Life is Good. Today, her high-end, boutique operation focuses on acquiring accomplished, well-bred mares and maintaining a portfolio of shares and breeding rights in proven commercial sires. Her current stallion portfolio includes Candy Ride (Arg), Violence, Not This Time, Medaglia d'Oro, Tapit and Into Mischief.

ENCHANTED GHOST (m, 7, Ghostzapper – Uniformly Yours, by Grand Slam) to be bred to Tapit

Enchanted Ghost is currently in foal to Into Mischief. She has a fabulous Tapit yearling filly who is one of the best, if not the best, foal of her crop. She will be going back to the same sire.

The Tapit-Ghostzapper direct cross has not been tried many times yet but has already produced GIIISW Bellavais. Tapit is also the sire of GIIISW Bandbox, who is out of a mare bred Grand Slam over Deputy Minister.

GLORY OF THE NILE (m, 3, Pioneerof the Nile – Gloryzapper, by Ghostzapper) to be bred to Violence

Glory of the Nile is a young, homebred mare. She had a fantastic Candy Ride filly this year who was the first foal to arrive at Taylor Made.

She will be booked back to Violence. Physically, we love this mating. Violence and another son of Medaglia d'Oro, Fast Anna, have sired stakes winners out of direct Empire Maker mares. Violence's stakes winner out of an Empire Maker mare is Violent Time, winner of the Ana T. S. at Gulfstream.

MAMMA KIMBO (m, 13, Discreet Cat – Bag Lady Jane, by Devil's Bag) to be bred to Medaglia d'Oro

Mamma Kimbo is currently in foal to Not This Time. She will be bred to Medaglia d'Oro. It is a good mating physically and the El Prado-Forestry cross has produced 9% stakes winners (A Nick).

NOTED AND QUOTED (m, 8, The Factor – Silver Cub, by City Zip) to be bred to Uncle Mo

We love this mating physically because Uncle Mo can lend some size and scope to this mare. This is also a very current and fashionable mating mimicking the cross of current GSW Enola Gay (Uncle Mo). The second dam of Uncle Mo's GISW Mo Town is bred Carson City over Danzig and Uncle Mo is also the sire of GSW Moon Colony, who is out of a Carson City mare.

PRINCESS LA QUINTA (m, 8, Quality Road – Social Scene, by Tabasco Cat) to be bred to Into Mischief

Princess La Quinta is in foal to Tapit and she is booked to Into Mischief this year. Her first foal was an Into Mischief colt who sold well as a yearling, going to SF Bloodstock and into a good program on the track. We are hoping he finds success in his new program to support the 2023 foal out of this mare.

Streak of Luck and her 2022 Authentic colt | Taylor Made/Kelcey Loges

Gone West has been one of the key crosses for Into Mischief. He has produced three Grade I winners from the cross including his Kentucky Derby hero Authentic. The other two are out of mares by Speightstown, who is bred on a similar Gone West-Storm Cat cross to this mare.

STREAK OF LUCK (m, 7, Old Fashioned – Valeria, by Elusive Quality) to be bred to Into Mischief

This mare foaled a feisty colt by Authentic last month. He was actually the first Authentic foal to hit the ground. She will be bred to Into Mischief this season.

SWEET KISSES (m, 5, Carpe Diem – True Kiss, by Is It True) to be bred to Charlatan

Sweet Kisses will be having a foal by Into Mischief this year and will then be bred to Charlatan. Charlatan is by Speighstown, who my husband and I bred years ago.

TAPASSION (m, 4, Tapit – Distorted Passion, by Distorted Humor) to be bred to Candy Ride (Arg)

Tapassion is in foal to Violence and is booked back to Candy Ride. This mare's yearling Candy Ride colt is lovely. He is one of the top foals in the crop, so we are hoping to go back on this cross and get a similar individual.

Candy Ride has two stakes winners from Tapit mares and he has three more stakes-placed runners on this exact cross, including GISP Dolder Grand.

WICKED LICK (m, 8, Maclean's Music – Here Music, by Dehere) to be bred to Not This Time

This mare will foal our second Authentic foal in 2022 and then will be visiting Not This time. This is a really good match physically. Not This Time can pretty this mare up. She has a great hip and hind leg and is good through her knees, but he can refine her head.

The Deputy Minister in her pedigree could be a plus as Not This Time is the sire of GISW Princess Noor and SW Next, who are out of daughters or granddaughters of Deputy Minister's son Awesome Again.

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

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