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Titans Square off in Pegasus World Cup

When a racetrack musters a $3-million purse for a featured event, the hope is that racing's stars will attend the big dance. And this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. certainly succeeded in attracting two of the biggest names–Knicks Go (Paynter) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief)–in the American handicap division.

Knicks Go, a 2 3/4-length winner in last year's Pegasus World Cup, finished fourth in the G1 Saudi Cup and GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. before reeling off four-straight wins, including the GI Whitney S. and in his latest race, the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. Knicks Go was named the 2021 Longines World' Best Racehorse during a virtual ceremony at the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England Tuesday.

“The Breeders' Cup Classic was his biggest race he's had to date,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He's going to go to Taylor Made after the Pegasus to become a stallion. After the Classic, we had decided if he came out of the race in good order, which he did, we would pursue the Pegasus. He has trained as well as he did going into the Classic.”

He continued, “After the [Saudi Cup] last year, he was fresh and came back and didn't run as well as we had hoped in the Met Mile. Personally, I think that had a lot to do with that race being around one turn. He has not had a lot of time off, and that's very similar to what we did with the [2020 GI Breeders' Cup] Dirt Mile and last year's Pegasus. So, we have pretty much kept him on the same routine. He went over to Taylor Made for three to four days to be shown to potential breeders and was shown on a shank. Aside from that, he's been training the whole time. He's been doing well, his weight is great and his attitude is good. And he's been training great and his works have been phenomenal.”

The striking grey was installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine older horses after drawing the one hole Tuesday. Joel Rosario has the call.

“We're not really going to deviate from what we've done in the past,” affirmed Cox. “[Life Is Good] is a very fast, brilliant horse. We're not going to let him have his own way, and I think he's probably not going to let us have our own way. We're going to break running, hopefully, get to the lead. We're going to be very aggressive to get him there.”

He added, “It's the same approach we took in the Breeders' Cup. We'll see how it goes. He's proven at a mile and an eighth and he does like the surface there. He likes the configuration of the racetrack there at Gulfstream–he proved that last year. We're just going to come out of there running and see what happens.”

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm are represented by Life Is Good, who has done very little wrong in his career, winning four of five graded attempts, including a tour-de-force victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar last November. Under the guidance of Bob Baffert, the powerful bay became a 'TDN Rising Star' with a 9 1/2-length score at Del Mar in the fall of 2020 before returning the following spring to annex the GIII Sham S. and GII San Felipe S.–defeating subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protanico) on both of those occasions.

“He came to us with high expectations, and he had a great resume,” said trainer Todd Pletcher of Life Is Good's arrival. “Initially, we were just getting to know him and see how he trains. He trained exceptionally well, so we had high hopes for him.”

After joining the Pletcher string, the $525,000 KEESEP yearling graduate came up a neck short to Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga. With Irad Ortiz Jr. taking over riding duties for the Sept. 25 GII Kelso H. at Belmont, the sophomore drubbed older rivals for the first time to win by 5 1/2 lengths and came back with an even more sparkling performance when winning for fun on Breeders' Cup Day.

“We were unlucky in the Allen Jerkens to be beaten that day, but we mapped out a course at that point and we felt like the Dirt Mile was the correct race for him,” explained Pletcher. “The Kelso seemed like a good race to bridge the gap between the Jerkens and the Dirt Mile and I worked out well for him. Since that, we've been focused on this race. And we're going great.

“Knicks Go is a very fast horse. We know that. But we're not going to alter our style of running. And we're not going to take away his strength, which is his high-cruising speed. I honestly don't know for sure what's going to happen, at least in the first quarter or half, because you are going to have two horses that are looking for the same kind of trip.”

Hoping to pick up the pieces should a speed duel develop up front, 2019 GI Belmont S. victor Sir Winston (Awesome Again) enters the fray off a win in Woodbine's 12-furlong GIII Valedictory S. Dec. 5. Edwin Gonzalez gets the mount for trainer Mark Casse. Also likely to settle just off the pace and hope for a meltdown up front, Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) has hit the board in five of seven stakes races in 2021, including a win in the Iowa Derby and a second in the GI Awesome Again S. He was last seen finishing third in the seven-furlong GI Malibu S. Dec. 26.

The post Titans Square off in Pegasus World Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Broodmare Of The Year Leslie’s Lady Dies At Age 26

Leslie's Lady, the 2016 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and arguably the most influential broodmare of the current North American breeding landscape, died Monday morning at age 26, BloodHorse reports.

The flagship broodmare for Clarkland Farm had been residing as a pensioner at the Lexington, Ky., operation after retiring from production last spring.

The names under Leslie's Lady's produce record comprise some of the most important names in the stakes book, the sale catalog, and the stud book over the past two decades: Grade 1 winner and record-setting sire Into Mischief; four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder; $3-million yearling, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and popular young stallion Mendelssohn; $8.2-million yearling America's Joy; $1.1-million yearling Leslie's Harmony; leading California freshman sire Curlin to Mischief; and black type producers Judy B, Victory Party, and Daisy Mason.

Bred in Kentucky by David E. Hager II, the daughter of Tricky Creek sold as a short yearling for $8,000 at the 1997 Keeneland January sale, then went to James T. Hines Jr. for $27,000 later that year at the Keeneland September sale. She was then placed in the barn of trainer Robert Holthus, with whom she won five of 28 starts, highlighted by a victory in the listed Hoosier Debutante Stakes at Hoosier Park during her 2-year-old season.

Leslie's Lady entered Hines' breeding program after retiring from the racetrack, and she was initially unspectacular. She aborted her first foal after meeting Marquetry, then her first two foals never earned black type.

She was part of the first book for stallion Harlan's Holiday in 2004, and she produced the colt that would become Into Mischief the following March.

Hines died in February 2006, and Leslie's Lady was offered as part of his dispersal at that year's Keeneland November sale, where he sold to Clarkland Farm for $100,000. Into Mischief, meanwhile, took a detour through Indiana on his road to the history books.

Leslie's Lady earned Kentucky Broodmare of the Year honors from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in 2016 after a season where Beholder, by Henny Hughes, won the Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Eclipse Award for champion older female.

While Clarkland Farm bred Leslie's Lady primarily for the commercial market, the operation retained the mare's final two foals, both of them fillies, to preserve her female line in their program.

Marr Time, a 3-year-old by Not This Time, was a debut winner last fall, taking a Keeneland maiden special weight by 2 3/4 lengths. Her final foal is the unraced Kantharos juvenile Love You Irene.

In total, Leslie's Lady has produced seven winners from nine starters to date, with combined on-track earnings of more than $9.5 million. Her foals have brought a combined $14,187,000 at public auction.

Leslie's Lady was buried near the entrance of Clarkland Farm.

Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady Dies

Clarkland Farm's 2016 Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek–Crystal Lady, by Stop the Music), whose produce include leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes), died Jan. 24 at the farm, the Blood-Horse reports. She was 26 years old.

Bred in Kentucky by David Hager II, Leslie's Lady was an $8,000 short yearling purchase from Hager's Idle Hour Farm at Keeneland January in 1997 and was acquired by owner James T. Hines for $27,000 from the Margaux Farm draft at the Keeneland September Sale later that fall. Winner of four of nine juvenile starts for trainer Bob Holthus, including the Hoosier Debutante S., Leslie's Lady was runner-up in the 1999 Martha Washington S. and showed consistent form throughout the balance of her career, winning a total of five races for earnings of $187,014.

Leslie's Lady was acquired by Clarkland as a 10-year-old for $100,000 in foal to Orientate from Hines Estate at Keeneland November in 2006 and the purchase looked a shrewd one just over a year later when the mare's foal of 2005, an $80,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling turned $180,000 OBS March breezer later named Into Mischief, became a Grade I winner for Spendthrift Farm in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.

Leslie's Lady visited Henny Hughes in 2009 and the result of that mating was Beholder, a $180,000 purchase by Spendthrift out of the 2011 Keeneland September Sale, who won no fewer than 11 Grade I races–including three Breeders' Cup events and a breathtaking score against males in the GI TVG Pacific Classic–en route to amassing career earnings of better $6.1 million.

As her produce continued to make waves on the racetrack and as Into Mischief became a sire of considerable importance at Spendthrift, Leslie's Lady's young offspring became increasingly sought-after at public auction. M.V. Magnier paid a Keeneland September sales-topping $3 million for her foal of 2015, a Scat Daddy colt named Mendelssohn, who went on to take the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and the 2018 G2 UAE Derby (by 18 1/2 lengths) and was on the board in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup before heading off to stud at Coolmore.

The latter nursery's American Pharoah was the sire of Leslie's Lady's foal of 2018, a filly, that was purchased by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm for a sale-best $8.2 million at KEESEP in 2019 (click here for more from Chris McGrath), the most expensive filly ever sold at Keeneland. Named America's Joy, she sadly passed away in a training accident last August.

Leslie's Lady's 3-year-old daughter Marr Time (Not This Time) is in training with Brad Cox and was named a 'TDN Rising Star' for a debut victory at Keeneland Oct. 28. The mare's final foal is a 2-year-old Kantharos filly named Love You Irene. The filly that Leslie's Lady was carrying at the time of her purchase by Clarkland, the now 15-year-old mare Daisy Mason, was hammered down to the partnership of Whisper Hill and Gainesway for $475,000 in foal to Not This Time at Keeneland November last fall.

Click here to read a story from Katie Petrunyak, who visited Leslie's Lady in retirement last June.

The post Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Mating Plans: Coteau Grove 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 Andrew Cary, bloodstock agent for Coteau Grove Farms.

MISS HOT LEGS (m, 6, Verrazano–Expo Gold, by Johannesburg), to be bred to Medaglia d'Oro

Miss Hot Legs is one of our top mares. She's a stakes-placed three-quarter sister to the superstar Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil). We purchased her for $500,000 as a broodmare prospect at Keeneland November 2020.

Miss Hot Legs herself was a very fast and talented racemare in her own right and is a stunning physical. She was stakes-placed at Santa Anita and was only beaten a few lengths in a Grade II against the likes of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) and Oleksandra (Aus).

She is currently in foal to Curlin for her first foal and we felt that Medaglia d'Oro offered great value at $100,000 given what he has achieved during his legendary career. We are giving Miss Hot Legs every shot to get her broodmare career off to a good start with those first two covering sires.

ELFIN QUEEN (m, 5, American Pharoah–Pretty 'n Smart, by Beau Genius), to be bred to Into Mischief

Elfin Queen was acquired at the Keeneland November sale last year for $550,000, in foal to Justify. It's special to be able to buy a well-bred daughter of a Triple Crown winner, in foal to a Triple Crown winner. She was a $1.2-million yearling herself and is a half-sister to Grade I winner and promising young sire Cupid (Tapit). She broke her maiden by 6 1/2 lengths in Ireland for Aidan O'Brien and competed in stakes after that. We are giving her every shot by breeding her to Into Mischief. With her exceptional looks and pedigree, we have high hopes for Elfin Queen as a foundation mare for Coteau Grove for the next decade.

GOTTAHAVEAHOLIDAY (m, 8, Harlan's Holiday–Gottahaveadream, by Indian Charlie), to be bred to Constitution

Gottahaveaholiday is a three-quarter sister to Grade I winner Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), who recently sold for $2.85 million to Shadai Farm at Fasig-Tipton November. She herself was an expensive yearling and placed in maiden special weight company several times in New York. We acquired her for $240,000 as a broodmare prospect at Keeneland November 2020. She is a big, great-looking mare and is due any day for her first foal to Quality Road. We are huge fans of Constitution and feel that he is poised to become a perennial top-five sire in the years to come with what he has coming in the pipeline.

PLUS ONE (m, 13, Bluegrass Cat–License Free, by Miswaki), to be bred to Gun Runner

Plus One will always be a special mare to us, as she became our first Grade I producer when her son No Parole (Violence) won the GI Woody Stephens S. at Belmont Park in June of 2020. We acquired her for $67,000 at Keeneland November in 2014. Plus One is currently in foal to Tapit and we are obviously very excited to have her booked to the phenomenal Gun Runner. Gun Runner has already sired Echo Zulu (GI), Gunite (GI) and Pappacap (GII) from Storm Cat-line mares.

CONTRIBUTING (m, 8, Medaglia d'Oro–Taegu, by Halo), to be bred to Curlin

We acquired Contributing for $500,000 at Keeneland November 2020, in foal to Speightstown. She's a gorgeous mare who had a lot of speed, and her pedigree is phenomenal–the first dam fills the whole page. Her sister Classic Elegance (Carson City) was a Grade II winner and multiple stakes producer; she also has three other half-sisters that are stakes producers, including El Fasto (El Prado {Ire}), the dam of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (Proud Citizen).

Contributing has a yearling Speightstown colt we are very excited about and look forward to bringing him to the yearling sales this fall. She is currently in foal to Justify, who we expect to have great success with his early crops both here and around the world. We love the physical match with Curlin and it gives her another great chance at throwing a runner.

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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