Tag: Juddmonte

The Sun Shines Bright On Weekend Graded Stakes

I don't mean to tease any New York racing connections when I say this, but the real standout when it comes to racing this weekend might be the beautiful Fall weather.

Graded-stakes action is happening at Keeneland and Woodbine on Saturday and both tracks should feature sunny skies and seasonal, if perhaps slightly below-average, temperatures. That leaves the racing to heat things up and Keeneland takes center stage with the GII Lexus Raven Run S. over seven furlongs for the 3-year-old fillies. A field of nine will line up led by the nearly undefeated Alva Starr (Lord Nelson). Her only two losses, if you can call them that, were both narrow second-place efforts when facing tough company at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs back in May. She's stepped up since, posting a 6 3/4-length win in Delaware's Dashing Beauty S. and topping that off with an 8 3/4-length romp in the GII Prioress S. at Saratoga Sept. 2. In her first work at Keeneland, she fired a best-of-18 bullet, going five furlongs in :58 Oct. 8 for trainer Brett Brinkman.

Situated just to the favorite's inside, Dazzling Blue (Into Mischief) went three-for-three to start her career before running second to Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) in Belmont's GIII Victory Ride S. July 8. Third but well beaten behind Alva Starr as the odds-on favorite in the Prioress, the $500,000 KEESEP grad will look to turn the tables on that rival for Juddmonte and trainer Brad Cox.

Charles Town Oaks winner Vahva (Gun Runner) also brings a run of recent good form in for Cherie DeVaux. Third in that Victory Ride at Belmont, she posted a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure in that Charles Town win and her only two major defeats both came at the hands of MGISW winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) at the Fair Grounds earlier in the year. She's also one of only two fillies in the field (the other being Lady Radler {Kantharos}) with experience over the Keeneland oval.

North of the border, Woodbine plays host to the GIII Ontario Derby with thrilling Breeders' S. winner Touch'n Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) coming back off short rest. Fifth after a troubled trip in the King's Plate Aug. 20, the 3-year-old gelding just out-dueled talented filly Elysian Field (Hard Spun) on the grass to nab the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Back on the Tapeta Saturday for his first try at 1 1/8 miles, he keeps leading rider Kazushi Kimura aboard.

Another Canadian Triple Crown race winner lines up just to inside with Prince of Wales S. victor Velocitor (Mor Spirit) turning back to the all-weather off that score in the slop at Fort Erie Sept. 12. And while the field won't have Elysian Field to contend with Saturday, they'll have another pair of fillies to test in GIII Selene S. winner Solo Album (Curlin), who faces the boys for the first time, and last-out Ontario Damsel S. heroine Forever Dixie (Quality Road), a respectable fourth in last year's GIII Grey S. against males, to the outside.

The racing returns to Kentucky Sunday with just a single graded-stakes race on the card: the GIII Rood and Riddle Dowager S. The marathon 1 1/2-mile turf contest for fillies and mares attracted the top two finishers of the GIII Ladies Marathon S. in Vergara (Noble Mission {GB}) and Transient (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). For the 5-year-old Transient, both of her prior starts over Sunday's distance were defeats to fellow entry Personal Best (Tapit) who also exits the Ladies Marathon from fourth. Only two of these fillies (the previously mentioned Vergara and Loved Reiko {Tapit}) have wins over this distance while there are several runners in the field trying the stretch out for the first time.

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Record Good Magic Colt on Top at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale

A colt by Good Magic (hip 251) brought a sales record $230,000 to top a solid–if polarized–renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale in upstate New York Tuesday. During the one-session auction, 156 horses grossed $4,522,200 for an average of $28,988 and a median of $18,000. Both average and median dipped from last year's vibrant market. The sale average–which had jumped 48.5% from 2021 to 2022–declined 13% from a year ago, while the median was down 5%.

From a catalogue of 337 head, 243 went through the ring with 87 failing to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 35.8%. That was up from last year's figure of 25.3%.

“It was very similar to the last few yearling sales,” Derek MacKenzie, whose Vinery Sales consigned four of the auction's nine six-figure horses, including the sale-topping weanling, said of the market in Saratoga Tuesday. “It was very polarized. The ones that the buyers covet and that jump through the hoops bring a lot of money. We are lacking a little bit of depth, obviously. The middle and the bottom is trickier than it has been in the last few years.”

Hip 251 is out of Popstar (Medaglia d'Oro) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Lady d'Oro (Catholic Boy). Vinery consigned the youngster on behalf of his breeder, Richard Nicolai's Fortune Farm.

“He was a very fantastic physical and he had great size,” said Vinery's Derek MacKenzie. “He was a great mover with incredible presence. I thought he would top the sale, honestly.”

Of the sales record price, MacKenzie said, “Once you pass the $200,000 mark at this sale, you just never know. Because that seems to be the ceiling in the past, but [the price] didn't shock me.”

The sale-topping price produced a quick profit for Nicolai, who purchased Popstar with the colt in utero for $29,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year.

“I was not involved with purchasing the mare, but I congratulated [Nicolai] on what was an incredible purchase,” MacKenzie said.

On behalf of Juddmonte, Sequel New York offered three mares in foal to Honest Mischief and the trio were the only broodmares to bring six figures during the auction. Glen Hill Farm purchased the highest-priced of the lot, going to $170,000 to acquire the unraced 4-year-old Bahama Banks (Arrogate) (hip 25).

“We had a busy morning because we sold a horse in the Arqana October sale and he made a nice price,” said Glen Hill's Craig Bernick. “So I was kind of excited and I went a little more on that mare than I was planning to. But we wanted to have her.”

The mare is a half-sister to multiple graded placed Millefeuille (Curlin). Her second dam is Grade I winner Honest Lady (Seattle Slew), who produced Grade I winner First Defence (Unbridled's Song), as well as graded placed Honest Mischief.

“It's a world-class pedigree,” Bernick said. “We've never been able to get something that we thought was good from that Toussaud, Honest Lady family. When they've sold out of that family, those horses usually make a huge price. So we were really excited to buy her. She is in foal to a horse that's in New York, but it's a horse that goes back to the same family. So you'd have to hope for a filly to be inbred to that family. We will bring her to Kentucky and figure out what stallion to go to. She will go to a good stallion.”

Honest Mischief, who stands at Sequel New York for $6,500, was well-represented by his first crop at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale in August with five six-figure yearlings. But the New York stallion's presence as a covering sire might have saved Bernick some money, he said.

“If she was in foal to a $50,000 Kentucky stallion, I think she would have made $400,000 or $500,000,” Bernick said. “So the stallion maybe did us a favor. We like to race horses, so Honest Mischief, I wouldn't go looking for one, but from that family, especially if it's a filly, I would be excited to race her.”

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Juddmonte’s Idiomatic Dominates Spinster

Juddmonte homebred Idiomatic (Curlin) continued her ascent to the top of the distaff division Sunday with a dominant and fitting front-running tally in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for next month's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

This was the second Spinster title for Juddmonte, which began sponsoring the prestigious race in 2005. Emollient (Empire Maker) carried the famed green and pink to victory here in 2013.

Backed at even-money to repeat rival Nest (Curlin)'s 4-5 odds, the Brad Cox trainee took clear command from the outset, doled out splits of :24.49, :48.31 and 1:12.24 and never faced an ounce of pressure all the way to the wire, which she crossed 4 1/4 lengths to the good. Le Da Vida (Chi) (Gemologist) was second, while Bellamore (Empire Maker) rounded out the trifecta. Nest could only muster a mild late bid and settled for fourth. The final time was 1:49.82.

“Actually, it was not easy looking at the race on paper with Nest being in there, a very good filly,” said winning rider Florent Geroux. “But my filly just keeps on improving and we know the distance is not a problem. She just keeps improving, and Brad and his team had her at her prime again today. She's just getting better and better, and I can't wait to ride her again.”

After methodically moving through her allowance conditions at Turfway Park at the start of the year, Idiomatic made her stakes debut a winning one in that venue's Latonia S. in March. She was a well-beaten second in Belmont's GII Ruffian S. in May before putting them back-to-back in the GIII Shawnee S. at Churchill in June and GII Delaware H. the following month. Idiomatic was last seen defeating the accomplished pair of Secret Oath (Arrogate) and Nest in a sloppy renewal of Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 25.

This was Brad Cox's first Spinster victory. Of winning it for the famed operation whose name it carries, he said, “It's very special, and I want to thank [owner Fahad bin] Mr. Khalid and his family and obviously the Juddmonte team here in America. This is a big win for this filly, it's her second Grade I. She's had a fantastic year. [This race is] a 'Win and You're In' [for] the Breeders' Cup so we're excited about that. I've run four or five fillies in the past in [this race] and haven't had much luck, so she was able to break through for us today.”

Cox said of Idiomatic, “She's a tremendous talent, very physical, really. When I was saddling her in the paddock, I was, like, 'Wow, she's the biggest horse I've ever trained.' She's a monster. She has a tremendous stride and covers so much ground. She's really a freak–I mean, she really is a tremendous talent, and we're very fortunate to have her.”

Sunday, Keeneland
JUDDMONTE SPINSTER S.-GI, $580,250, Keeneland, 10-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.82, ft.
1–IDIOMATIC, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
               1st Dam: Lockdown (SW & MGISP, $445,900),
                              by First Defence
               2nd Dam: Rising Tornado, by Storm Cat
               3rd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent
Geroux. $367,350. Lifetime Record: 11-8-1-2, $1,416,840.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Le Da Vida (Chi), 124, m, 6, by Gemologist
               1st Dam: Viene Cantando (Chi) (MG1SW-Chi,
                               $119,875), by Gstaad
               2nd Dam: Cantan Las Flores (Chi), by Dynamix
               3rd Dam: Lanza Flores (Chi), by Gallantsky
O-Masaiva Inc.; B-Haras Santa Olga (CHI); T-Ignacio Correas, IV.
$98,750.
3–Bellamore, 124, m, 5, by Empire Maker
               1st Dam: Smart N Soft, by Smart Strike
               2nd Dam: Softly, by Binalong
               3rd Dam: Coragil, by Metfield
($170,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR).
O-Kaleem Shah, Inc.; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY);
T-Carlos Santamaria. $59,250.
Margins: 4 1/4, 2HF, 4HF. Odds: 1.06, 12.90, 25.51.
Also Ran: Nest, Sixtythreecaliber, Malloy. Scratched: Misty Veil.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

Pedigree Notes:
Idiomatic is the second-straight Spinster winner by super sire Curlin (last year's winner Malathaat took the Distaff next out en route to her second-straight Eclipse), and one of his 22 highest-level winners.

Idiomatic is a fourth-generation Juddmonte-bred and hails from the direct female line of Broodmare of the Year Best in Show (Traffic Judge), whose daughters have been brilliant producers and are responsible for a plethora of top horses over the last 50 or so years. One of those top horses was Juddmonte homebred, 'TDN Rising Star', and champion Close Hatches (First Defence), a full-sister to Idiomatic's stakes-winning and multiple Grade I-placed dam, Lockdown, who was fourth in the 2017 Juddmonte as a sophomore. Close Hatches is the dam of Tacitus (Tapit), whose big wins included the 2019 GII Wood Memorial S. and whose placings included the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont S.

Broodmare sire First Defence, another Juddmonte homebred descending from the operation's wonderful Broodmare of the Year Toussuad (El Gran Senor), has 14 stakes winners out of his daughters. He is also the broodmare sire of 2021 GI Hollywood Derby hero Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy). First Defence now stands in Saudi Arabia.

Lockdown died in 2022 after producing just three foals. She has an unraced 3-year-old filly named Abditory (Medaglia d'Oro) and a yearling filly by Into Mischief.

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Racing’s Unique Claim to Sporting Immortality

Only in racing are the best sent off to stud to produce new – or preferably better – versions of themselves. Roger Federer, say, will have fielded countless offers for his retirement years – but not that one.

To watch magisterial Thoroughbreds race is privilege enough. But we then get to see fresh manifestations of them arrive as foals. Champions retire but their progeny take over and keep the family story going. 

For many of us the end of Frankel's racing career was hard to bear. Yours truly felt a bit better about it after a visit to Juddmonte to give him a pat and write about his new life as a stallion. His change of role was such big news that BBC Radio 5 Live broadcast a 90-minute programme on how it might turn out.

When I made the pilgrimage to Juddmonte, he was showing early promise. Now, he is the big daddy of sires. It's Frankel's world: we all just live in it.

The last week or so has affirmed once more his extraordinary potency. First, his grandson (via Cracksman) Ace Impact won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with an exhilarating burst of power. Chasing him home were two sons of Frankel, Westover and Onesto. A couple of hours later his daughter Kelina won the Group 1 Prix de Fôret. Longchamp's podium on Arc day was the Frankel show. 

Then, four days later, a Frankel colt out of Bizzarria became (at current exchange rates) the most expensive yearling sold this year in Europe, falling to MV Magnier for 2 million guineas from Tattersalls October Book 1. Coolmore were splashing on a son of the fastest sire in history to reach 50 Group winners: a stallion with 10 Group 1 winners already in 2023.

To the bloodstock industry it's a numbers game. Yet each Frankel colt or filly represents him in a way more profound than the income generated or their status on a pedigree chart – important though they are.

On racetracks and in betting shops, most punters won't care who was the sire or dam of the quadruped carrying their bet, except as a piece of data (“will he get the trip?”). Readers of this publication will know that pedigrees are a richly fascinating second dimension for the sport: a realm of hit and miss, serendipitous pairings, and, when it works, eternal life for sire and dam.

There was a problem with sending Frankel to stud. It was virtually impossible for him to sire a superior son or daughter. The same might be said of Sea The Stars, and others. But Frankel had something extra: a perfect record of 14 wins and an exuberant, Hollywood racing style, topped off with a will – or make that a need – to win. And he raced on as a four-year-old, proof of his resilience.

The package felt unsurpassable. Even with the world's best mares to buddy up with, all Frankel could do was fertilise versions of himself that were good but less good than he had been. There were other frontiers for him. His own racing range from three-to-four years old was eight-to-10 furlongs. Perhaps he could spawn a champion mile-and-a-half-horse, or even a stayer? Well, this year he has laid claim to an Ascot Gold Cup winner (Courage Mon Ami) and, as grandsire, the best middle-distance horse in Europe, Ace Impact.

The successful second life bestowed on arguably the greatest horse to have
raced in Britain is immensely pleasing.

By Galileo, 12 times the champion sire in Europe, Frankel is creating a dynasty almost as striking as his 10 Group 1 wins on the track from 2010-2012, that golden age. 

Twelve per cent of his runners have won Group races. In 2023 he has dispatched from his boudoir the 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean and Soul Sister, who won the Oaks. Last year his nine Group 1 winners made him the world's leading stallion by that measure. Westover, Nashwa, Homeless Songs, Alpinista and Inspiral were all his. His sons already at stud include Cracksman, Without Parole, Elarqam and Logician, who stands as a National Hunt stallion, as if to tick yet another box.

The successful second life bestowed on arguably the greatest horse to have raced in Britain is immensely pleasing. So many of his offspring present his urge to race and dominate – and to quicken. So many of them have natural enthusiasm – and gears. Now, he's a mellow soul led to daily dalliances. Never again will we see his sumptuous flowing stride. But he lives on as a racehorse. The entertainment he lavished on us renews itself.

You can't help feeling that racegoers who have no interest in pedigrees and think of breeding as a remote industrial satellite of betting are missing out.

 

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