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Four Graces Wins Beaumont At Keeneland, But Unlikely To Stretch Out For Kentucky Oaks

Whitham Thoroughbreds' homebred Four Graces set a track record by winning the 35th running of the $100,000 Beaumont Stakes (G3) by 4¾ lengths over Sconsin at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Friday. She covered the Beard Course of 7 furlongs, 184 feet over a fast main track in 1:24.90 for a stakes and track record.

Jockey Julien Leparoux put Four Graces on the lead with second choice Wicked Whisper just to her outside as the two raced through early fractions of :22.29 and :44.37.

At the head of the stretch, Four Graces put Wicked Whisper away, opened a daylight margin and cruised to the finish line well clear of Sconsin. For Leparoux, it is his third Beaumont victory with previous wins coming in 2009 with War Kill and 2016 with Lightstream.

“She's a fast filly,” said Leparoux. “The track is pretty quick today too. But she was doing it very nicely for me in a good rhythm. That's the way she likes to run – free – and she makes that big kick at the end.

“I'm surprised we broke the track record, really,” he added. “But she's getting much better right now and she's doing very good.”

Trained by Ian Wilkes, Four Graces picked up 20 points toward the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Sept. 4 and hiked her total to 40, a figure that ranks 12th. The Oaks is limited to the top 14 point earners to pass the entry box.

The victory was worth $60,000 and boosted Four Graces' earnings to $194,450 with a record of 5-4-0-0. It was her third consecutive victory and second Grade 3 having won the Dogwood at Churchill last month.

Wilkes said he was not inclined to stretch out Four Graces around two turns to the Oaks distance.

“I'll talk to (owner) Mrs. (Janis) Whitham and (most likely) we'll point to the Test (G1, going 7 furlongs on Aug. 8 at Saratoga),” he said.

Four Graces is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Majesticperfection out of the Seeking the Gold mare Ivory Empress. She returned $3.40, $2.40 and $2.10. Sconsin, who picked up her initial eight Oaks points, paid $3.20 and $2.40 under James Graham. Turtle Trax, who finished 4¾ lengths back in third under Brian Hernandez Jr. and paid $3 to show. Wilkes also trains Turtle Trax, who picked up four Oaks points to raise her total to six.

Wicked Whisper (12 Oaks points) finished fourth followed by Slam Dunk.

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Out of the Shadows, Drury Could Collect First Graded Win in Blue Grass

There is paying your dues and then there is the story of Tom Drury, Jr.

Thirty-eight years after he started his training career at age 18, Drury will go into Saturday’s GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland with an outstanding chance of winning a prestigious $600,000 race that could be a gateway to the GI Kentucky Derby. His Art Collector (Bernardini) is the co-second choice on the morning line at 5-1 and is coming off a 6 1/2-length win in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. A win would be Drury’s first in a graded stakes.

Through much of the eighties and nineties, Drury wasn’t worried about winning a Blue Grass. He just wanted to make ends meet.

“It took me forever just to win my first race,” he said. “There were a couple of years where I didn’t win a race at all. This was when I had three or four horses and was having to gallop on the side. I was getting by, but just getting by and that was a long time.”

From 1984 through 1988, he won a total of two races. In 1992, he went 0 for 25. He was 0 for 4 in 1994.
Despite his record, Drury had managed to impress the right people. Based at a training center, Skylight Training Center in Goshen, Kentucky, and in need of income, Drury was well positioned to work with other trainers who needed someone to work behind the scenes to get their horses ready for the races. Bill Mott was among the first to use Drury’s services. Al Stall, Jr., Frank Brothers and Neil Howard were among other trainers who trusted some of their better horses to Drury. The horses that Drury had a hand in includes: Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), Lea (First Samurai) and Hansen (Tapit).

Drury tried to do more than just prepare the horses. He made it a priority to take advantage of the opportunity to work with top trainers. He was always watching and learning.

“I have been able to see what the thought process was with these other trainers,” he said. “I followed the way they approached training that kind of horse. l I tell people I got a Harvard education because I have been able to work with those guys. That really helped give me confidence.”

It didn’t happen overnight, but word started to get around that several top trainers were working with Drury and that helped bolster his reputation within the sport. He eventually would have 15 to 20 horses of his own and he started winning races. That led even more owners to give him a chance.

“When people start hearing that you are working for Bill Mott that automatically gives you credibility,” he said. “That led to me getting involved with Frankie Brothers and Bruce Lunsford. I’ve gotten my foot in the door with Claiborne Farm and Spendthrift has given me horses. I feel blessed. We try to do a good job. It’s all snowballed into something special.”

His numbers steadily improved. He won 39 races in 2018, with a winning rate of 28%. He won with 25% of his starters in 2019, going 35 for 140. But what he lacked was the type of horse that could break through and put him in the winner’s circle for an important race. Art Collector represents the type of opportunity that has eluded him for the 38 years he’s been in the business.

Ironically, Art Collector wasn’t supposed to land permanently in Drury’s barn. Through his 2-year-old season, he was trained by Joe Sharp. Entering the year, Lundsford was looking to make some changes and his intent was to send Art Collector to trainer Rusty Arnold. With Arnold in Florida, the plan was to let Drury oversee Art Collector until Arnold made it back to Kentucky. But COVID-19 complicated Arnold’s travel plans, and by the time he got to Kentucky, Drury had already won a May 17 allowance at Churchill with Art Collector. It was decided to just let Drury keep the horse.
His June 13 allowance win at Churchill was the race that put him in the mix for the Blue Grass. It was his first try around two turns on the dirt.

“He certainly answered some questions and really jumped forward,” Drury said. “When Brian [Hernandez, Jr.] called on him, he was full of run. We’re hoping to see that same kind of performance this weekend.”

His opposition Saturday will include Mott, Mark Casse, Steve Asmussen, Dale Romans, etc. For them, running in a $600,000 graded stakes has become routine. For Drury, this is far more than just another race.

“It takes a lot of people to get a horse to any race, let alone the Blue Grass,” he said. “For me and my staff, we have been watching from afar with a lot of really good horses. This is our chance to prove ourselves to the world and we are anxiously looking forward to it. For me to be in a situation like this, words can’t really describe it. It’s a big deal and something I am not taking for granted.”

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War of Will Back to Winning Ways in Maker’s Mark

Looking for his first trip to the winner’s circle since annexing the GI Preakness S. some 14 months ago, Gary Barber’s War of Will (War Front) did it toughest, but called on all his class and determination to scratch out a short-head success in the GI Maker’s Mark Mile as the Keeneland summer meeting reached its mid-point Friday.

Drawn widest in the field of 10, the handsome blaze-faced bay raced three off the fence leaving the stretch for the first time and punched the breeze from up close as High Crime (Violence) set sensible fractions of :23.19 and :46.91 in advance of fellow longshot Parlor (Lonhro {Aus}). High Crime carried a tenuous advantage into the final two furlongs, but Parlor raced under a long Florent Geroux hold as they reached the entrance to the straight and struck to the front an eighth of a mile from the line. Parlor led grimly into the final 50 yards and was looking for the line, but War of Will was kept to his task by Preakness-winning rider Tyler Gaffalione and got home half a head to the good. Favored Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) sat a midfield trip and hit the line with good energy to be third, just in advance of his fast-finishing stablemate Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

War of Will failed to regain the form that saw him score at Old Hilltop in four subsequent appearances last season, his best effort coming when a close third to upstart Math Wizard (Algorithms) in the GI Pennsylvania Derby in September. Ninth after setting the pace in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, he resumed in the GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita May 25, crossing the line fifth before being demoted to sixth behind Raging Bull.

“Coming into this race, if you’d asked me two weeks ago, I was a little bit nervous,” admitted David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “I didn’t think he was training quite as sharp as he could. But his last work was like, ‘OK he’s back.’ I felt a lot more confident. We’re happy to see him back on turf; he’s bred for it. Felt like today with the pace scenario he’d be laying close, and what a ride for Tyler. It was an unbelievable race.”

Pedigree Notes:

War of Will is the fourth of his tremendously successful sire’s offspring to win the Maker’s Mark Mile in the last nine years (Data Link–2012; Gary Barber’s Jack Milton–2015; American Patriot–2017) and was led out unsold at Keeneland September in 2017 before changing hands post-RNA. He fetched €250,000 from Justin Casse at the Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale the following spring.

War of Will is one of 21 top-level scorers for War Front, of which fully six are out of mares by Sadler’s Wells (3) or his prodigious son Galileo (Ire) (3). The stakes-winning Visions of Clarity is a half-sister to Spinning World (Nureyev), who carried the Flaxman silks and Cash Asmussen to a two-length victory in the 1997 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park. Visions of Clarity is also a half-sister to Rangoon Ruby (Kingmambo), the dam of 2007 G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe third Sagara (Sadler’s Wells). War of Will’s third dam includes Eclipse Award-winning sprinter and GI Met Mile hero Aldebaran (Mr. Prospector); GISW Good Journey (Nureyev); and Sea of Showers (Seattle Slew), who won the 2003 Jenny Wiley S. when it was contested as a Grade III.

War of Will has an unraced 3-year-old half-brother named Visionit (Tapit) and a yearling half-brother by American Pharoah. Visions of Clarity was bred back to War Front during the most recent breeding season.

Friday, Keeneland
MAKER’S MARK MILE S.-GI, $300,000, Keeneland, 7-10, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.55, fm.
1–WAR OF WILL, 118, c, 4, by War Front
1st Dam: Visions of Clarity (Ire) (SW-Fr), by Sadler’s Wells
2nd Dam: Imperfect Circle, by Riverman
3rd Dam: Aviance (Ire), by Northfields
($175,000 RNA Ylg ’17 KEESEP; €250,000 2yo ’18 ARQMAY). O-Gary Barber; B-Flaxman Holdings Limited (KY); T-Mark E Casse; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 16-5-1-2, $1,796,069. *1/2 to Pathfork (Distorted Humor), Hwt. 2yo Colt & G1SW-Ire, $237,871; and to Tacticus (A.P. Indy), MSW, $197,571. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Parlor, 118, g, 6, Lonhro (Aus)–My McIntosh, by Pulpit. ($60,000 Ylg ’15 KEESEP). O-Michael M Hui, Hooties Racing LLC & WSS Racing LLC; B-KatieRich Farms (KY); T-Michael J Maker. $60,000.
3–Raging Bull (Fr), 123, h, 5, Dark Angel (Ire)–Rosa Bonheur, by Mr. Greeley. (€90,000 Ylg ’16 GOFORB). O-Peter M Brant; B-Dayton Investments Limited (FR); T-Chad C Brown. $30,000.
Margins: NO, NK, HF. Odds: 5.90, 24.50, 1.20.
Also Ran: Without Parole (GB), Emmaus (Ire), English Bee, Hembree, High Crime, Everfast, Next Shares. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Four Graces Sets Track Record in Beaumont Romp

Hammered into heavy favoritism with a recency edge over the come-backing ‘TDN Rising Star’ Wicked Whisper (Liam’s Map), Whitham Thoroughbreds’s Four Graces proved the easy winner of Friday’s GIII Beaumont S., stopping the clock in a stakes and track-record clocking of 1:24.90 for the extended seven-furlong distance.

Ridden for speed by Julien Leparoux over a track that had been playing kindly to front-end types, the homebred half-sister to McCraken (Ghostzapper) set a pressured pace from last year’s GI Frizette S. winner Wicked Whisper, as they whistled through an opening half-mile in :44.37. Four Graces stiff-armed the challenge of Wicked Whisper, having won the battle, and managed to win the war as well, coming home well clear of Sconsin. Brereton C. Jones’s Turtle Trax completed the trifecta for stallions who stood/stand at Jones’s Airdrie Stud. The aforementioned McCraken also stands at Airdrie.

“She’s a fast filly,” Leparoux said. “The track is pretty quick today too. But she was doing it very nicely for me in a good rhythm. That’s the way she likes to run–free–and she makes that big kick at the end… I’m surprised we broke the track record, really. But she’s getting much better right now and she’s doing very good.”

Four Graces was registering her second straight graded win, having posted a 2 1/2-length victory in the GIII Dogwood S. at Churchill June 6. She was a debut winner at Gulfstream Mar. 1, but settled for fourth attempting a one-turn mile there Apr. 10. She bounced back with a Churchill optional claiming tally over a strong group that included Sconsin, subsequent GIII Iowa Oaks runner-up Aurelia Garland (Constitution), and two other next-out allowance winners.

Trainer Ian Wilkes, who saddled the first and third home, said the winner would likely be aimed for next month’s GI Longines Test S. at Saratoga.

Friday, Keeneland
BEAUMONT S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT-GIII, $98,000, Keeneland, 7-10, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:24.90, ft.
1–FOUR GRACES, 118, f, 3, by Majesticperfection
1st Dam: Ivory Empress (GSP, $189,402), by Seeking the Gold
2nd Dam: Madame Pandit, by Wild Again
3rd Dam: Tuesday Evening, by Nodouble
O/B-Whitham Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes;
J-Julien R. Leparoux. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0,
$194,450. *1/2 to Bondurant (War Front), MGSP, $288,234;
McCraken (Ghostzapper), MGSW & GISP, $869,728. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sconsin, 118, f, 3, Include–Sconnie, by Tiznow.
O/B-Lloyd Madison Farms LLC (KY); T-Gregory D. Foley.
$20,000.
3–Turtle Trax, 118, f, 3, Cairo Prince–Great Family, by Harlan’s
Holiday. O/B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $10,000.
Margins: 4 3/4, 4 3/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 0.70, 4.50, 10.80.
Also Ran: Wicked Whisper, Slam Dunk. Scratched: Speech.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Pedigree Notes:
Majesticperfection, now standing in Uruguay after beginning his career in Kentucky at Airdrie, will be represented Saturday at Keeneland by Bret Jones-bred MGSW Bell’s the One in the GI Madison S. Four Graces is one of five winners from as many foals to race and three graded performers out of Ivory Empress, who was second in the 2010 GIII Endine S. for these same connections. Ivory Empress is out of GSW and GISP Madame Pandit, making her a half to GISW Mea Domina (Dance Brightly). She has a 2-year-old colt named Milliken (Into Mischief) who has five published breezes at Churchill Downs and produced a full-sister to ‘Rising Star’ McCraken Mar. 31.

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