Taiba, Zandon And Arabian Lion To Stand At Spendthrift In 2024

Grade I winners and 'TDN Rising Stars' Taiba (Gun Runner) and Arabian Lion (Justify) will join Zandon (Upstart) and stand at Spendthrift Farm for the 2024 breeding season. Spendthrift announced the news Saturday.

“We are really excited to be bringing in three new stallion prospects of the caliber of Taiba, Arabian Lion and Zandon for the 2024 breeding season,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. “All three are superior physicals, and all three displayed immense talent in winning some of America's biggest 3-year-old races on dirt. Obviously, the Breeders' Cup is ahead and some of them will be looking to finish strong. These are the kind of stallion prospects we have looked to bring in and will continue to try to bring in at Spendthrift.”

Stud fees for all three horses will be announced at the end of their respective racing careers.

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What’s in a Name? Capulet, Vaux Le Vicomte

The name of brilliant 2yo Dundalk winner (and later G2-second) Capulet (Justify) gets one thinking, with the obvious connection to the famous tale of Romeo and Juliet. It also makes perfect sense that the dam is called Wedding Vow (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}): Shakespeare's play is very much about the tragic conflict between two different matrimonial projects–the arranged marriage of Juliet with older man Count Paris versus the young girl's unlikely and passionate love for her “only hate” Romeo Montague. The play could very well be re-titled “Two Weddings and Five Funerals” (Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris also die). Now Juliet was a Capulet, and this equine Capulet is a colt, which may seem a bit counterintuitive, but “Capulet” is the exact character's name for Juliet's father in Shakespeare's text. In any case, this column has a soft spot for the time-defying story of the two “star-crossed lovers” of Verona, owing its very title “What's In A Name” to it. We will always cheer for this “big, beautiful horse with a good temperament”, so described by rider Seamus Hefferman.

4th-Dundalk, €15,000, Mdn, 8-15, 2yo, 8fT, 1:41.46, st.
CAPULET (c, 2, Justify–Wedding Vow {Ire} {GSW-Ire & G1SP-Eng, $316,572}, by Galileo {Ire}). O-Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Orpendale, Wynatt & Chelston (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien.

There are fascinating stories of grand palaces and chateaux hidden in the name of multiple-winning filly Vaux Le Vicomte (GB) (Lightning Spear {GB}). The Clairefontaine winner is out of Tuileries (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), namesake in real life to what is now known mostly as a wonderful public garden in the center of Paris, but that once was a royal palace with more historical memorable moments than any architectural wonder of the world –destroyed during the Paris Commune revolt of 1871. Vaux-Le-Vicomte, southeast of Paris, on the other hand, is still standing, but only just. This property was the manor marvel that provoked the jealousy of the Sun King Louis XIV towards the owner (and his Minister of Finances) Marquis Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680), with the building of the magnificent Palace of Versailles being the ultimate consequence of it–according to legend and Alexandre Dumas, who placed the masterful climax of his Man In The Iron Mask narrative in the middle of a grand fete at the castle on 17 August 1661 in the novel “The Vicomte De Bragelonne” (1850) (a worthy sequel to “the Three Musketeers”, with aging D'Artagnan at his very best). Quite a lot to live up to for this brave young filly.

3rd-Clairefontaine, €28,000, Cond, 8-14, 3yo, 8fT, 1:37.70, g/s.
VAUX LE VICOMTE (GB) (f, 3, Lightning Spear {GB}–Tuileries {GB}, by Cape Cross {Ire}). O-Rangio Farm SRL; B-Grundy Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Maurizio Guarnieri.

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Observations: Half-Brother to Santiago Starts at Galway

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Tuesday's Insights features a half to G1 Irish Derby winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}).

15.50 Galway, Mdn, €16,000, 2yo, 8f 123yT
GROSVENOR SQUARE (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) starts out in the maiden in which fellow Ballydoyle representative Alexandroupolis (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) earned TDN Rising Star status 12 months ago and which was also taken by the stable's Galileo kingpins Kyprios (Ire) and Sovereign (Ire). A half-brother to the G1 Irish Derby hero Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) and to the G1 Prix Vermeille-placed La Joconde (Ire) by Galileo's son Frankel (GB), the February-foaled G2 Beresford S. and G2 Royal Lodge S. entry is joined by stablemate Brave And Bold (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a full-brother to the listed winner Hidden Dimples (Ire) out of the G1 1000 Guineas fourth Manderley (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}).

15.25 Leicester, Novice, £9,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
CIRO DI MARZIO (Justify) was one of the stand-outs of the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale and made €518,519 as the second-highest-priced lot as a result. Jim and Fitri Hay's half-brother to the GI Summer S. winner Fog Of War (War Front) is a son of the G3 Dance Design S. winner and G1 Matron S. third Say (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and grandson of the starlet Riskaverse (Dynaformer) and hails from the Ralph Beckett stable.

 

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What’s In A Name? Kenwick, Just F Y I, Gordian Knot, Praetorian Guard

The promising 2-eary-old filly Kenwick (Bernardini) may have won in Pennsylvania, but her pedigree shouts Lexington KY from the very rooftops of two local neighborhoods. Kenwick is a central residential area of the city, while Bell Court, as in the dam's name, is an almost adjacent zone, closer to downtown. Both areas have an Old America feel to them: nothing fake, nothing too gentrified, just authentic, with a touch of Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” ambiance. There is in fact a small theatre in the Bell House in Bell Court: the lovely Carriage House Theatre. Lexington visitors! The “Kenwick Table” locale on Owsley Road in Kenwick is the best for the weary traveler: coffee, live music (with an open mike on Monday evenings), beer & wine on the menu, two patios, out-of-this-world elegance – in a word: cool, like its equine namesake, who “got through a razor-thin hole” on the rail to go and win her race.

1st-Presque Isle Downs, $30,600, Msw, 9-5, 2yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:12.44, ft, 2 1/2 lengths.
KENWICK (f, 2, Bernardini–Bell Court, by Street Sense) O/B-Godolphin LLC (KY); T-Eoin G Harty.

The name of Saratoga winning filly Just F Y I (Justify) is a sort of an anagram (rearrangement of letters to form another name) of the moniker of her dad – which is kind of unusual and brave, and therefore worthy of praise. She won on her debut, so novelty and quality are part of her repertoire.

6th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-26, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.06, ft, head.
JUST F Y I (f, 2, Justify–Star Act {SP, $147,605}, by Street Cry {Ire}). O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-William I. Mott.

There was horseracing in antiquity, and there is antiquity in modern horseracing. So much so that a recent sprint stakes race at Parx Racing Aug. 22 produced a very classical exacta, with a close finish. The winner is called Gordian Knot (Social Inclusion), as in the famous head-scratching problem solved by Alexander The Great with a dramatic blow of his sword on his way to conquering Asia. The runner-up is named Praetorian Guard (Speightster), after the dangerous posse of Roman Emperors – made up of veteran bodyguards who on occasion became a mortal danger to the very ruler they were to protect. “No one reigns innocently”, as it has been said.

SALVATORE M. DEBUNDA SPRINT S., $75,000, Parx Racing, 8-22, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:19.83, ft.
1–GORDIAN KNOT, 126, g, 3, Social Inclusion-Mia,
by Put It Back. O-Joseph M. Imbesi. B- Mr. & Mrs. Joe Imbesi.
T-Guadalupe Preciado. $43,200. Lifetime Record: 8-6-0-1,
$386,960.
2–Praetorian Guard, 121, g, 3, Speightster–Super Shopper,
by Super Saver. ($25,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Conway Racing
LLC (Mark Conway), Over The Moon Racing and Innovest BC
LLC; B-Jimmy L. Gladwell, III (KY); T-Louis C. Linder, Jr. $14,400.

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