“Against the house,” he says. “Had to talk my wife into that. Then I bought an old tanker and, my first trip out, I loaded up with chemicals headed for South Dakota. And all the way up there I'm thinking, 'Hey, this is really a good truck.' It just runs a little better all the way up. I get there, I get out, and it's empty. The seals got eaten up, en route, and I'd dumped the whole load. It happened to be a weed killer, so didn't hurt anything.”

“Except kill all the weeds all the way up to South Dakota,” interjects his son-in-law, Jason Loutsch, with a chuckle.

“So I get home that next day and my wife said, 'How'd your first delivery go?' 'Well, not so good. I just put $7,600 of the $10,000 on the road, and I don't have any invoice out.' So it was a rough start.”

That was 1979. Albaugh was in his late 20s and, within a couple of years, they had two infant daughters to feed as well.

“But you just kept at it,” he says with a shrug. “About '93, I bought out my biggest competitor and put the two companies together. After that we started growing real fast. And today we sell in 44 countries, we're manufacturing in nine, and we're the ninth biggest agricultural chemicals company in the world.”

So if he could achieve that in his business life, after such an unpromising start, then where might Albaugh take a racing program which, as we'll remind ourselves in a moment, could hardly have started more auspiciously? Well, we saw one answer to that last May, when Albaugh Family Stable achieved something quite incredible. From just 12 of the 10,000 eligible colts in the 2020 foal crop, no fewer than three made the gate for the GI Kentucky Derby, including the strong-finishing third. And the next cycle has started pretty well, too, with Catching Freedom (Constitution) laying down an early Derby marker in the Smarty Jones S. at Oaklawn on New Year's Day.

Okay, so Miss Macy Sue was not the very beginning of the family's Turf adventure. First, in 2003, Loutsch put five grand into a gelding with a buddy at Prairie Meadows. They won a few small races, even placed in a stakes for Iowa-breds. It was a lot of fun, and Loutsch's father-in-law became interested.

“So when's he going to run again?” Albaugh asked.

“Oh, these horses only run every three or four weeks.”

“Well, let's get some more.”

And so, yes, after that the first meaningful play was a half-share in a Trippi filly for $42,000 at OBS in June 2005. They named her Miss Macy Sue for Albaugh's granddaughter, put her into training with Kelly Von Hemel, and she won a maiden at Hawthorne a few months later. The next year, she proved one of the quicker young sprinters on the local circuit, picked up some black-type at Prarie Meadows, Mountaineer.

But then, with maturity, she got on a serious roll. She won a listed race at Oaklawn, then a Grade III at Churchill. At the end of the year, they found themselves contesting the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth, and she came through traffic out of the one hole to grab third.

“She just kept going around the country winning,” Albaugh marvels. “Our first big involvement in the horse business. That horse spoiled us! And after a year or two, I was telling Jason, 'Let's get into this more.'”

Albaugh met Jerry Crawford on a plane one day and they talked about putting together a partnership to buy some colts. Under the Donegal Racing umbrella, Albaugh took 30% of one by El Prado (Ire) with Dale Romans. Paddy O'Prado ran third in the 2010 Derby before switching to grass and winning the GI Secretariat S.

On the racetrack, then, Albaugh was getting all the beginner's luck that had eluded him on that first truck ride to South Dakota. He decided to ride the wave, and suggested that Loutsch should manage a stable for the family in its own right. Duncan Taylor came up to Iowa and listened to the business plan, gave them a couple of names. Barry Berkelhammer of AbraCadabra Farm was one, and he has become a key player in selecting stock and then supervising their education in Florida. But Albaugh certainly meant business. Albeit the market was less demanding at that time, he wanted to pitch for 10 to 12 colts annually with a feasible Derby profile.

Yet it would turn out that the keystone had been in place all along. Albaugh had bought out his partner in Miss Macy Sue, so that he could retain her as a broodmare.

“We were up at Toronto, a very cold day,” Albaugh recalls. “And I said to Kelly, 'When will we know that we need to take this horse over to be a mother?' And he said, 'She'll tell us.' I'm like, 'Yeah?' Sure enough, that same day, at the end of the race [third as favorite], Kelly said, 'Look, it's like I said. She told us. It's time to breed her.'”

“She gave us everything,” Loutsch says. “Every race, she ran hard. She won our first graded stakes, won the Presque Isle Masters when it was worth $400,000. Her heart was so big. Every time she'd give full effort. Kelly said she'd run on glass. She was such a sound horse, too. Never an injury, never needed a surgery or any time off. And I think that's really carried over to her offspring.”

Albaugh rewarded Miss Macy Sue with some generosity of his own, sending her first to A.P. Indy and then to Unbridled's Song, at the time standing at $250,000 and $115,000, respectively. Her A.P. Indy filly managed a single start, but her Unbridled's Song colt brought $800,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September sale.

A developing program couldn't turn down seedcorn like that. Only he then turned out to be none-other-than Liam's Map. As they watched him earn a lucrative career at stud, Albaugh and his team vowed that Miss Macy Sue's latest yearling–a colt by Giant's Causeway–would not be sold at any price. And that, of course, is how he got his name.

“At the time, we were very excited to get $800,000,” Loutsch recalls. “We were just starting in the business, and that was a nice check.”

“Oh yeah, we were jumping up and down,” Albaugh agrees. “I was very happy. But after seeing all the success he had, and what he made to go to stud, we said about the next one: Not This Time.”

Unfortunately, the colt by the Iron Horse out of an iron mare derailed with an injury just as he was getting started. He'd won the GIII Iroquois S. by nine lengths and ran Classic Empire to a neck at the Breeders' Cup after giving him a start, the pair miles clear of Practical Joke.

“That was one of the fastest Juveniles ever,” Loutsch says. “And we just went out wide on the last turn. It was so close. We saw what a special talent he was that day.”

“But then we got the call from Dale Romans that he was done racing,” Albaugh remembers. “Today, of course, we're very happy with what he's doing in the stallion barn. But this business is high and lows and that was certainly a low moment.”

Not This Time started out with TaylorMade at just $15,000, but has now soared to 10 times that fee, with five Grade I winners from his first three crops.

“I think what's really great is that they're so versatile,” Loutsch remarks. “They're short, they're long. Dirt, turf. He's had Sibelius win the Group 1 over six on dirt in Dubai; Epicenter caught at the wire when it looked like he had the Derby won; and now Up to the Mark going from a mile to a mile and a half on grass. So I think Not This Time is just like his sire. Giant's Causeway got all types, and I think that's what he's throwing out too.”

Classic Empire nearly redeemed his debt to the Albaugh team in the Derby last year, his son Angel Of Empire closing from 10th to third in the stretch. Simply to have three horses earn the necessary starting points, however, was itself astonishing.

“One of them only got cleared [to run] on the day,” Albaugh recalls. “You hate to see that, for someone to have to pull a horse out of a Kentucky Derby. But we figured the odds, oh, it was in the thousands. We had to go way back to the '30s to find somebody else that had three runners, and then it was a partnership of many people.”

If nothing else, their feat showed the merit of focus. Because this whole program is oriented to precisely those two minutes at Churchill on the first Saturday in May. (And by the way, while they don't wish to dwell on a negativity that disappoints them in the industry, Albaugh and his family are adamant that those two minutes would not hold the same mystique on a synthetic surface).

“The Derby, in my opinion, is the best race in the whole world,” Albaugh declares. “It's the one that we have our targets set on, every year. You come into that March, April timetable and try to figure out which of all these prep races you want to be in, and you move the horses around, New York or Miami, Fair Grounds or Oaklawn.”

“The next Kentucky Derby is going to be No. 150, so there have only been 149 winners that anyone could own,” Loutsch says. “We feel it's such a prestigious event, like the Masters in golf. This is our Super Bowl. So, yes, that's our goal: someday we want to win that thing. And we were so close last time. Going into the gate with the favorite, it was a special feeling. And he gave us a thrill. I've always wanted to know what that must feel like, having a chance to win the Kentucky Derby as they're running down the lane. And 'Angel' gave us that.”

The Pennsylvania-bred had been found for just $70,000 deep in the Keeneland September sale, where the stable had also recruited its two other Derby shots, Jace's Road for $510,000 and Cyclone Mischief for $450,000, both from Book 1.

“September is pretty much the sale we shop at every year,” Loutsch explains. “And since 2015, when Dennis came up with this program to buy colts to get to the Derby, I think we've had 10 horses that have made it across six different years. So our strike-rate has been good, and we have a great team that helps us get to our goal.

“With Angel, we'd left the sale and felt like we were a colt or two short of where we wanted to be. So I asked Dennis if I could just spend $75,000-100,000, looking for something in Book 4 or 5 with the pedigree to get two turns. And from there it's all just luck, obviously. But he was a big, rangy, good-looking colt that just fell through the cracks and it worked out for us.”

The latest to rekindle the dream, Catching Freedom, was a Book 1 find at $575,000.

“That's our sweet spot, the four-to-six range,” Loutsch says. “That's where we gravitate to.”

Catching Freedom started his career at Churchill in the fall, winning on debut before meeting heavy traffic in an allowance race. He evidently learned from that experience, weaving through the field in the Smarty Jones, albeit still green as he organized himself on the outside to kick clear in the stretch.

Angel of Empire won the same race last year and their trainer Brad Cox sounds inclined to stay on the same route with Catching Freedom, with the GII Risen Star S. as a potential springboard to the GI Arkansas Derby.

Whatever that colt can do next, Albaugh Family Stable continues to consolidate. It would have been more typical of our business for Not This Time, retained after his sibling became a star, to have turned out a dud. As it is, he's brought a whole new dimension to the adventure. For a start, there were the 10 mares acquired at the 2017 Keeneland January sale to launch his stud career, including one that was sold on carrying his first Grade I winner, Princess Noor. And now the program that took the risk of keeping Not This Time is finding itself close to self-sufficiency, thanks to his growing stud revenue.

“I'm excited,” Loutsch says. “Dennis has obviously put a lot of money into this business, so it's great that he will finally get to reap the benefits and get a nice check every year instead of just putting more in. We've just been very patient, stayed with the plan, and it's ended up working out.”

When things do go well, it's even better with family. But when you get the inevitable tougher days, well, those are better, too. So even when Angel of Empire flew too late in the Derby last year, they knew to savor even a bittersweet experience.

“It was tough because you always have the 'what ifs'?” Loutsch acknowledges. “What if he'd come inside? All these questions you ask yourself, because how many times do you think you're going to be the favorite for the Kentucky Derby? I mean, that might be our only time ever. So the one thing that we made sure of was that we had a fun week. It was always the same, right back to Miss Macy Sue. Of course we like to win, but it's also about all those fun places she took us, as a family, just hanging out and experiencing the whole atmosphere together.”

“She's still living a good life,” Albaugh stresses of the mare who started it all. “We quit breeding her about three years ago, she'd lost a couple of babies and we weren't going to put her through that anymore. We did think about bringing her to Iowa, so we could see her more often. But we get ice in winter, and she wouldn't want that. But what's neat is that when we come to Kentucky, we can look up the hill and see where Macy's at. And then, right below, in the stallion barn we've got her son.”

Which is just as it should be: a family stable. Few programs are registered that way, and there's no mistaking the genuine, intergenerational bond achieved by this one. The husband of Albaugh's oldest granddaughter, for instance, is not just working for the chemicals company, but also enthusiastically embracing the racing. Likewise Mick, the brother who stayed on at the farm when Albaugh went out into the world.

“The whole family are in it,” Albaugh says. “My brother, my daughters, everyone. The one problem is that when we go to one of these big races, we have more than a plane load. We have to run a plane back and forth two or three times to get them all there. But it's a lot of fun to have them all sat down together–especially when you get down to that winner's circle.”

The post Keeneland Breeder Spotlight: Albaugh Family Back on Derby Trail appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Bred in Kentucky by the Lyster family's Ashview Stud in partnership with Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables–also the breeders of Belmont S. runner-up and leading 3-year-old filly Nest (Curlin)–Mo Donegal was purchased by Jerry Crawford's operation for $250,000 from the Ashview consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September sale and was turned over to trainer Todd Pletcher, for whom he won two of three starts as a juvenile, including a gritty defeat of future GI Toyota Blue Grass S. hero Zandon (Upstart) in a thrilling renewal of the GII Remsen S. last December.

A slow-starting, even third in the GIII Holy Bull S. on seasonal reappearance this past February, Mo Donegal bounced back with a battling tally in the GII Wood Memorial, accounting for next-out GI Preakness S. victor Early Voting (Gun Runner). It was announced by Donegal eight days prior to the running of the GI Kentucky Derby that Mike Repole had acquired a minority interest in the colt, who, sent off at just over 10-1 for the Run for the Roses, lagged well behind after breaking from the rail, was 10 wide into the lane and got home well to finish fifth, beaten just under four lengths. The 5-2 choice for the Belmont, Mo Donegal sat handier to the pace and finished up full of run to score by three lengths. In early July, Donegal reported that Mo Donegal was suffering from bone bruising and would miss 60 days. He retires to the breeding shed with a record of 4-0-2 from seven starts and earnings of $1,511,800.

“The Donegal Racing partners and I could not be more proud of Mo Donegal and the special places he took us the last two seasons,” said Crawford. “The timing of the bone bruising was unfortunate and not going to allow us to make any of our target races for the remainder of the year. We felt the best decision was to retire him, and we are excited that he'll get a wonderful opportunity to make a great stallion at a place like Spendthrift.”

Mo Donegal is one of three winners from three to the races for his dam, whose 2-year-old Pletcher-trained daughter Prank (Into Mischief), a $500,000 KEESEP purchase, was named a 'TDN Rising Star' with a powerful 9 3/4-length debut win at Saratoga July 31. Callingmissbrown is a daughter of 2004 GI Acorn S. heroine Island Sand (Tabasco Cat), herself the dam of dual Grade I-placed juvenile Maya Malibu (Malibu Moon), while the deeper female family includes Queen's Plate winner Niigon (Unbridled). Callingmissbrown is back in foal to Uncle Mo.

“It's always exciting when you can acquire a stallion prospect of the caliber of Mo Donegal, and we are thankful to Jerry Crawford, Mike Repole and the Donegal Racing partners for the opportunity,” said Ned Toffey, general manger of Spendthrift where the Repole part-owned GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso (Curlin) also stands. “It's not often you can offer breeders a Classic winner by an emerging sire of sires, which Uncle Mo appears to be. On top of that, Mo Donegal is very good-looking, comes from a brilliant and active family, was a 2-year-old graded stakes winner and defeated some of the best from a pretty good crop of 3-year-olds this year. We expect him to be extremely popular, and we invite breeders to come out and see him.”

Added Pletcher: “The Classic winners that come through our program will always be special to me, and Mo Donegal showed in his Belmont Stakes win what we have always thought of him,” said Pletcher. “We went into the (Kentucky) Derby this year with a lot of confidence, but the one hole was just too much to overcome. Obviously, having trained Uncle Mo, it was nice for us to be able to campaign one of his best sons. Mo Donegal showed immense talent from the first time we breezed him at two, and he's always been a very classy, good-minded, good-looking colt. I'd have to imagine breeders will love him.”

WATCH: Mo Donegal wins the GI Belmont S.

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Mo Donegal, a $250,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, captured Aqueduct's GII Remsen S. over future GI Toyota Blue Grass winner Zandon (Upstart). Third in the Feb. 5 GIII Holy Bull S. behind White Abarrio (Race Day) and Simplification (Not This Time), he returned to New York Apr. 9 for the Wood Memorial S., rallying over a speed-favoring track to prevail by a head over Early Voting (Gun Runner).

The Todd Pletcher trainee has won three of five starts for earnings of $621,800. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be in the saddle on Derby day.

“I am excited to be part of Mo Donegal with Jerry Crawford and the partners of Donegal Racing,” Repole said. “In my 15 years of racing, this will be the first time I am partners with someone who has a bigger entourage than my own. While having some great conversations with Jerry, this partnership made so much sense for Repole Stable. Being trained by Todd Pletcher, being ridden by Irad Ortiz and most special, being a son of my sire Uncle Mo. As a racing fan, I have been incredibly impressed by Mo Donegal, and I am so excited to watch him and his brilliance as an owner.”

Mike Repole is also a partner on top GI Longines Kentucky Oaks contender, and Mo Donegal's stablemate, Nest (Curlin).

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Despite Derby losses, all three nevertheless became Grade l winners at 10 furlongs, which is what the meticulous Crawford seeks in prospective yearling purchases; simply put, he's not interested in yearlings that could potentially become stakes winners at sprint and mile distances, and he's passed on several that have gone on to do so in order to find ones that can get the Derby trip.

That's the ethos that defines Crawford, and he's back to the Derby this year with another serious contender in Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), the Gll Wood Memorial winner who was purchased for $250,000 at Keeneland September. Like the others noted above, Mo Donegal is bred for the distance and appears to be peaking at the right time for trainer Todd Pletcher.

It just so happens that come-from-behind types, or at least horses that come mid-pack from off the pace, happen to characterize the Donegal runners. You won't find Donegal silks on the front end or attending the pace from the get-go. Mo Donegal runs from off the pace. It's how Paddy O'Prado, Dullahan and Keen Ice ran. It's how Grade l winner Finnegan's Wake (Powerscourt {GB}), a rare Crawford homebred, ran. The same is true for Donegal Grade l winners Arklow (Arch) and Carrick (Giant's Causeway). Donegal's Gll Remsen S. winner O'Prado Again came from off the pace in 2011 to win the same race in the same style that Mo Donegal did last year.

The Remsen at nine furlongs late in the year is as far as 2-year-olds are asked to race in this country, and it's a race suited for horses with stamina. Unfortunately, the winners of this race are asked to come back as early 3-year-olds on the Classics trail in shorter races against faster horses, and this doesn't suit all of them. Frequently some go wrong after cutting back in distance, while others get injured. O'Prado Again, for example, was on the shelf for 10 months after his Remsen.

Coolmore America's young stallion Mo Town (Uncle Mo), who is bred similarly to Mo Donegal (both are out of A.P. Indy-line mares), won the Remsen in 2016 but never got back on track until late at three, when he won the Gl Hollywood Derby at Del Mar in November.

Darby Dan's Modernist, who like Mo Town is from a Bernardini mare, won his first stakes race at three, the Gll Risen Star S. at nine furlongs, and his second, the Glll Excelsior, at four. Current Derby contender Un Ojo, who is by the late Uncle Mo horse Laoban from an A.P. Indy mare, won his first and only stakes race at three this year, the Gll Rebel S.

Recently, Jerry and I had a discussion about Mo Donegal's pedigree and its aptitude for stamina and later development, after he'd read an article that suggested Mo Donegal had more speed in his makeup than what he's shown on the track. With Jerry's permission, I'm reproducing here my unedited email response to him, which came after Mo Donegal's rallying third-place finish in the Glll Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream over 1 1/16 miles.

I wrote: “It's a very positive piece, obviously. Your horse is training well, and if there were ever a year to get the Derby, this is it. However, when Uncle Mo and AP Indy are crossed in pedigrees, what usually results is more of a stamina horse than a speed horse; that means a horse that could win at 2, but late in the year, and this is what Mo Donegal showed. Moreover, winning the Remsen at 2 demonstrated his stamina, because 9F at 2 is as far as horses that age run in the US.

“In my opinion, he actually shows more stamina at this stage of his career than what's optimum for him, and when you cut back to 1 1/6 miles at 3, it was too sharp for him. However, White Abarrio and Simplification have proven to be good horses, and likewise, the two that beat Zandon are the same, which points to a lot of class. The danger, as I pointed out years ago to you after winning the Remsen with O'Prado Again, is keeping these types sound enough to make the Derby.

“Country Grammer is a good example. He, too, won at 9F at 2, but he came back at 3 at 1 1/6 and finished off the board. It took too much from him, and he didn't win his first stakes race until the summer, and at 4 he won his first GI at 10F.

“Mo Town, bred on same cross as Mo Donegal, also was a late 2yo winner at 8F, then won the Remsen at 9F. He was 5th in the Risen Star at 3 in his debut at 3. He didn't win his first GI race until the Hollywood Derby late at 3.

“I think Mo Donegal fits the profile of these types, but if he can get into the Derby, he will have a great chance this year. However, his best should come in the second half of the year and at 4.”

Pedigree

Coolmore America's Uncle Mo is one of the best stallions in the country. Trained by Todd Pletcher, he was a man among boys at two, both physically and by racing performance, winning all three starts impressively. Injury and illness abbreviated his 3-year-old campaign, but he certainly has enough stamina markers in his pedigree–his dam was sired by Arch–to stay 10 furlongs on paper.

Of course, it's not a theoretical exercise anymore; he sired a Derby winner in his first crop in Nyquist, whose dam was by the fast Forestry and came from a family that produced a lot of speedy types, even by sires with stamina, and this underscores the stamina that Uncle Mo frequently imparts.

Mo Donegal's dam is Callingmissbrown, a Pulpit mare who won two of her four starts, both from off the pace at sprint distances.

Combining Uncle Mo and A.P. Indy, in this case through Pulpit, adds a fair bit of stamina to this pedigree, as noted earlier, but the female family itself contains more stamina within it as the pedigree unfolds. Callingmissbrown's dam is Gl Acorn S. winner Island Sand, a daughter of Gl Preakness and Belmont S. winner Tabasco Cat. Island Sand also won the Gll Delaware H. at 10 furlongs and was second in the Gl Kentucky Oaks. The next dam is by Travers winner Forty Niner, and the fourth dam, by Nureyev, produced Niigon, a colt who won the Queen's Plate at 10 furlongs.

This is the type of pedigree that Crawford mines, and it looks like he's hit another mother lode with Mo Donegal, who, true to the Crawford form, will be running late in the Derby. Hopefully for him, it will be in time to win the race he's been seeking.

   Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Out of the winning Henny Hughes mare Henny's Hurricane, the filly is a half-sister to stakes winner Amynta. She was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent.

A total of 325 yearlings sold Wednesday for $12,929,500, for an average of $39,783 and a median of $30,000. With two sessions remaining, Keeneland has sold a total of 2,125 horses through the ring for $339,691,500, for an average of $159,855 and a median of $90,000.

Mark Glatt, agent went to $230,000 for a colt by Arrogate out of Grade 2-placed Wicked Lick, by Maclean's Music to be the day's second highest price. Woods Edge Farm, agent, consigned the colt, who is from the family of Grade 2 winners Noble Moon and Silver Music.

Jerry Crawford for Donegal Racing purchased a colt by Noble Mission (GB) for $155,000. Out of the winning Smart Strike mare Clever Run, he is from the family of Grade 2 winner Chamrousse. Lane's End, agent, consigned the colt.

John Oxley paid $150,000 for a colt by Cross Traffic from the family of Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly. Consigned by Mulholland Farm, agent, he is out of the Super Saver mare Summer Place.

With five purchases for $382,000, Oxley was the session's leading buyer.

A filly by Violence from the family of multiple Grade 1 winner Emollient sold for $140,000 to Gerry O'Meara, agent for Frank Bertolino. Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, consigned the filly, the first foal of the Malibu Moon mare Turning Tide.

Two yearlings sold for $135,000 apiece.

Clear Ridge Stables purchased a colt by Maclean's Music from the family of Grade 1 winner Sweet Talker. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent, he is out of winner Keep the Magic, by Malibu Moon.

Little Hound went to $135,000 to acquire a colt by Malibu Moon from the family of champion Queena. Out of the Empire Maker mare Lost Empire, he was consigned by Denali Stud, agent. His family also includes Grade 2 winner Chief Havoc and Grade 3 winner La Reina.

Leading consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency sold 29 horses for $1,279,000.

The September Sale continues tomorrow and runs through Friday. All sessions begin at 10 a.m. ET.

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“We're very excited about this award for Arklow. It's very cool,” said Jerry Crawford, founder and president of the Des Moines-based Donegal Racing partnership. “This business is so, so hard for owners. When you get a horse that can pay some feed bills, it's gratifying in multiple ways to say nothing of all the excitement it creates.”

Now 7, Arklow was recognized at the Kentucky-bred Champions Awards ceremony, presented by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA), at Keeneland. Frank Penn, co-breeder of the $160,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase in 2015, accepted the trophy on Donegal's behalf.

The Brad Cox-trained Arklow earned $849,734 in his seven-race campaign last year, capped by taking Kentucky Downs' $1 million, Grade 3 Calumet Turf Cup for the second time in three years, sandwiched around a second in 2019. Arklow also finished second by a head in Churchill Downs' $100,000 Louisville Stakes (G3). The son of the late Claiborne Farm stallion Arch concluded 2020 by shipping out to Del Mar — his 12th different racetrack – to capture the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2).

The KTDF award recognizes Kentucky-bred horses racing much of the year in the Commonwealth and is based on earnings at Kentucky tracks. Arklow earned $608,184 racing in graded stakes at Kentucky Downs, Churchill Downs and Keeneland. He made an additional $80,000 while a close sixth in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, though those earnings did not count toward the award.

“Donegal has always loved racing in Kentucky,” Crawford said. “The KTDF purse supplements make you love it even more. Take a horse like Arklow, who only ran in graded stakes in 2020. The Kentucky-bred incentive program rewards excellence, being staged against open company. As purses in Kentucky have increased, in no small measure because of the KTDF, so has the competition. So to be KTDF Earner of the Year becomes even more of a feat in which my partners and I take great pride.”

Cox, the 2020 Eclipse Award winner as North America's outstanding trainer, also was recognized Wednesday as the KTDF Trainer of the Year.

“The KTDF is a great program and makes lucrative opportunities for Kentucky horsemen,” Cox said. “Kentucky-bred horses compete world-wide, but it's obviously nice when you can race right here in our own state. It's an achievement, for sure, for Arklow to be the KTDF Earner of the Year, and I'm extremely proud to be the KTDF Trainer of the Year as well.”

For his career, Arklow is 8-7-2 in 31 starts with earnings of $2,666,116 for Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and the Estate of Peter Coneway. Those victories include New York's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in 2019.

“The KTDF awards have always been reflective of what's running within the circuit,” said Chauncey Morris, the KTA-KTOB's executive director. “To see a horse like Arklow and owner Donegal Racing at the highest level here in Kentucky just shows how we're evolving into the top tier racing jurisdiction in the United States.”

Crawford said Arklow got a couple of months off after running in the Breeders' Cup Turf for the third time.

“There's at least a 50-percent chance of him getting back to the races on May 1 in the Grade 1, Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic on Derby Day,” Crawford said. “And for the fourth straight year, we will be pointing for the Calumet Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs, where Arklow has had two wins and a second out of three tries.”

Arklow has raced on Kentucky Derby Day twice before, earning his first stakes victory in the 2017 American Turf (G2) and finishing fourth in the Old Forester in 2018. The Sept. 11 Calumet Turf Cup will run run as a Grade 2 stakes for the first time for 2021.

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Saying he's different is saying something, given that Donegal Racing's 6-year-old Arklow had earned almost $2 million in 28 races without blinkers, including victory in New York's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic last year.

The Brad Cox-trained Arklow was much more engaged for jockey Florent Geroux early on during their 1 1/4-length Kentucky Turf Cup score over Red Knight, who won Keeneland's Grade 2 Sycamore in his next start. Meanwhile, Arklow has trained up to his third attempt at Saturday's $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, having finished fourth in 2018 at Churchill Downs and a deceptively good eighth — losing by a total of 2 3/4 lengths — last year at Santa Anita.

Arklow is the 5-1 co-third choice with New York-based Channel Maker in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, whose 1 1/2-mile distance is the same as the Kentucky Turf Cup. The 5-2 favorite in the field of 10 is 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf runner-up Magical and the 3-year-old Mogul, with both trained by Irish kingpin Aidan O'Brien.

“A lot of people have forgotten, or never even knew, that he had the best speed figures of anyone in last year's Breeders' Cup, even though he finished eighth,” Donegal president Jerry Crawford said Thursday, referencing the Ragozin handicapping “sheets” that chart form cycles and the comparative speed of horses while taking into account trouble encountered in a race. “That's how wide he was the whole time. He was in great form them, but he's in dramatically better form now.

“All you have to do is talk to Brad Cox,” said Crawford, whose partners with Donegal in Arklow are Joseph Bulger and Peter Coneway. “I, frankly, have never heard Brad so positive and confident in a horse as he is in Arklow on Saturday. Which is not to say that we don't have enormous respect for the Europeans. They're always very, very good – and we've got to beat Channel Maker, too. It's truly a world championship race. We think Arklow belongs and has an excellent chance. In Brad's words, as good a chance as anybody.”

Cox has said he was tempted before to add blinkers but that it was hard to make a change on a horse who was so productive. The opportunity came after Arklow finished fourth in Monmouth Park's Grade 1 United Nations, an audible called after he came in a disappointing sixth in Keeneland's Grade 2 Sycamore. The thought was that Arklow was leaving himself too much to do. Not only did the blinkers encourage the horse to position himself closer to the pace — as he had been in winning the Joe Hirsch last year — but his timed workouts in the morning have been much stronger.

Crawford quips that “a lot of owners would be smarter than to wait until a horse was 6 to try blinkers. That's on me. Brad put them on for a breeze after our ill-fated six-days rest before running at Monmouth Park. He called and said, 'We've got a whole new horse.'

“We saw his ability to get to the front (group) of horses in the Kentucky Turf Cup and was sitting on go the whole way, really, and not only held on but pulled away. I don't know how you could run a more impressive race than that.”

Said Cox: “That's the thing you do with blinkers: trying to get a horse more involved. He ran a great race at Kentucky Downs, really just kicked away from them late. Really pleased with his effort.

“He's doing better now than ever, so (we have) more confidence this year than the past,” he said of the Breeders' Cup Turf. “The Europeans are always tough in that division. We'll have to step up and run a race of a lifetime in order to win it. He's training like he's going to give us a race of a lifetime, so we're optimistic we'll be in the mix.”

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In the Breeders' Cup Buzz, we're asking some notable Thoroughbred industry names about their experiences with the event and a few hypothetical questions tied to the races.

This time around, we asked Breeders' Cup participants to name their preferred destination if the event were ever held outside of North America. For the purposes of the exercise, it would be assumed that the tracks would install whatever surfaces would be needed to card all of the Breeders' Cup's main track and turf races, if necessary.

To view previous editions of the Breeders' Cup Buzz, click here.

Jack Wolf – Starlight Racing

“Meydan Race Course. As much as Sheikh Mohammed has put into the game, and the show he's put on there, at his expense, I think that would be a pretty cool place to have one, once we get back to normal.”

Doug Cauthen – Three Chimneys

“Longchamp. It's such an iconic and historic place. I think everyone wants to see that facility anyway, and it would be a good reason for more Americans to go see it.”

Carlos Martin – Trainer

“Longchamp. I'd love to go there for a Breeders' Cup, especially if I were Chad Brown and had all his turf horses.”

Jerry Crawford – Donegal Racing

“I'm going to say The Curragh. It's just a beautiful place, and it's unique. Kentucky Downs reminds me of it.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Buzz Presented By Del Mar Ship & Win: Taking The Breeders’ Cup Global appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the Breeders' Cup Buzz, we're asking some notable Thoroughbred industry names about their experiences with the event and a few hypothetical questions tied to the races.

This week, we asked participants in the upcoming Breeders' Cup to look back at the last time the card was held at Keeneland and recall what memories have stuck with them in the time between.

To view previous editions of the Breeders' Cup Buzz, click here.

Valorie Lund – Trainer

“American Pharoah winning the Classic was awesome. He was doing something that will probably never done again in many years, if ever.”

Aron Wellman – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

“Selfishly, we had a runner that year in the Distaff, Curalina. She put up a really game effort to be third behind Stopchargingmaria and Stellar Wind. That was my most vivid memory.”

Harlan Malter – Ironhorse Racing Stable

“I had 2 1/2 to get from Lexington, Ky., to Shelbyville, Ind., to make it from the end of American Pharoah's Classic win to Bucchero's first stakes win as a 3-year-old in the To Much Coffee at Indiana Grand. I'm a big planner, and I was sitting next to my partner saying, 'I don't think we can wait until American Pharoah crosses the finish line.' We had to make a beeline to the car because other people would be trying to leave. I had so much excitement for American Pharoah's race, and I thank him for winning it so convincingly, because we legitimately headed into the tunnel when he passed us, and we were able to get to the car. We arrived in Shelbyville as Bucchero was walking into the paddock. It was the first stakes win for Ironhorse.”

Carlos Martin – Trainer

“American Pharoah putting on a show in the final race of his career, and destroying the field. He was just a magical horse. I was a big fan of his, and to watch him go out to Keeneland and dominate the way he did, and the reception he got, it was just a special, special day.”

Jerry Crawford – Donegal Racing

“Donegal Racing had over 125 people at the races that day, and I think that was my biggest memory. It was the year Keen Ice won the Travers, beating American Pharoah, and we, of course, were hoping that he'd repeat that feat in the Classic. That wasn't meant to be, but it was still a very exciting summer and fall of racing.”

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Wearing blinkers for the first time in 29 career races, the 6-year-old Arklow laid up close to the pace under Florent Geroux and took command through the long stretch for a 1 1/4-length victory over Red Knight. Zulu Alpha was another length back in third after coming from near-last.

“We have nothing but respect for Zulu Alpha,” Crawford said of the 2019 Kentucky Turf Cup winner to whom Arklow was second in last year's running of the track's richest race. “He was the best mile-and-a-half turf horse in the world coming into the Kentucky Turf Cup. But if you beat the best, then you're in the conversation.”

“I think he was in the conversation anyway, just because of his trainer,” Hui said of Arklow's trainer, Brad Cox.

The Mike Maker-trained Zulu Alpha started his 7-year-old season with a victory over an international field in Gulfstream Park's Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, in which Arklow was fifth. Saturday marked the 10th time the horses had squared off, the two evenly split 5-5 for number of times finishing in front of the other.

Now the focus for both horses is squarely on the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Arklow won a maiden race at Keeneland and was second in the 2018 Grade 2 Sycamore, won by Zulu Alpha in the gelding's first race for Hui. Zulu Alpha also won Keeneland's July 12 Elkhorn in his last start before Saturday's race.

“Zulu is good, he was bouncing around the barn cooling out, had a lot of energy,” Hui said of the defeat. “You could tell he knew he didn't win. It's onward; we'll move on. We're just going to stick with the playbook we laid out after he won the Pegasus.”

Both horses have been fourth in the Breeders' Cup Turf; Arklow in 2018 at Churchill Downs and Zulu Alpha last year at Santa Anita.

Zulu Alpha will train up to this Breeders' Cup, Hui said. Arklow could run back in New York's Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, which the horse won last year to become a Grade 1 winner.

“Our next decision is: Do we go to the Joe Hirsch in three weeks and then give him five weeks to the Breeders' Cup? Do we just train him up to the Breeders' Cup?” Crawford said. “Brad is very, very pleased with the way he came out of the race. You want him to be fresh going into the Breeders' Cup, but you don't want him to be stale. To figure that out is the next challenge.”

Arklow crashed through the $2 million mark for earnings and now has made $2,446,116, the vast majority in his 24 turf starts spanning seven wins, six seconds and a third.

“I have a lot of confidence going forward with the equipment change that we're going to see more of the old Arklow,” Crawford said.

Crawford said that as much as bragging on Arklow, he wanted to praise stakes-sponsor Calumet Farm, Calumet owner Brad Kelley and Kentucky Downs. Crawford said that they make it possible “so that we can brag on horses like him.

“Kentucky Downs is one of the niftiest racetracks anywhere. What they do to make it so lucrative, the sport would be nowhere without them.”

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