Tag: Keeneland

Gun Runner’s ‘Rising Star’ Locked Overcomes Wide Journey in Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (c, 2, Gun Runner–Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon), a flashy Saratoga maiden winner at second asking Sept. 1, showed his class as the 3-5 favorite while overcoming a wide trip in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland.

Drawn widest of all in post eight, the chestnut didn't get off to the sharpest of beginnings and raced five to three wide around the clubhouse turn. He was out in the clear and one from the back through fractions of :24.47 and :48.23. Under a ride by Jose Ortiz on the far turn, he made a flashy, five-wide sweep to hit the front at the top of the short stretch.

Locked looked well on his way to a runaway win, but the three-for-three The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso) wasn't going out without a fight. The Wine Steward fought on gamely along the rail down the stretch, but Locked proved too much and forged clear late to win by a well-earned half-length. Generous Tipper (Street Sense) was third.

Locked was featured in Steve Sherack's Second Chances series after rallying smartly from last after getting steadied at the start to finish a very promising third sprinting on debut at Saratoga Aug. 5. He romped by 7 1/4 lengths to earn his diploma in 'Rising Star' fashion out of Saratoga's one-mile Wilson Chute Sept. 1. The distant runner-up that day Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun) returned to break his maiden at Aqueduct on Friday.

“He's a colt that we always felt like the further, the better,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who also captured this race with subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte (2022), Carpe Diem (2014) and We Miss Artie (2013). “He kind of got a little bit of two-turn experience in that sort-of two-turn mile race at Saratoga (his maiden win Sept. 1), which is always a difficult race. But I thought he was super-impressive at Saratoga, and he's just been a colt that's done everything right since day one.”

Pletcher added, “You like to think it moves them forward. He was hung out very wide on both turns. He didn't have a real easy trip, but he's talented enough to overcome it.”

Pletcher and winning co-owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners also got the money with Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the female equivalent GI Darley Alcibiades S. on Friday's opening day program at Keeneland.

Pedigree Notes:

Locked, a $425,000 Keeneland September graduate, becomes the seventh Grade I winner for his leading young sire. Gun Runner was also represented by Saturday's GII Chandelier S. heroine Chatalas. Malibu Moon is now the broodmare sire of nine winners at the top level.

Locked was produced by a winning half-sister to MGISW Gabby's Golden Gal (Medaglia d'Oro) and MGSW & GISP Always a Princess (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}). The Gun Runner/Malibu Moon cross is already responsible for GSWs Shotgun Hottie and Runninsonofagun. Locked is also bred similarly to MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Taiba (Gun Runner), who is out of a Flatter mare.

Locked's dam produced a colt by Caravaggio in 2022 and a filly by Tiz the Law this year. She was bred back to Early Voting.

Saturday, Keeneland
CLAIBORNE BREEDERS' FUTURITY-GI, $580,750, Keeneland, 10-7, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.06, ft.
1–LOCKED, 122, c, 2, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon
                2nd Dam: Gabriellina Giof (GB), by Ashkalani (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Paola Quatraro (Ire), by Cure the Blues
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($425,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm; B-Rosa Colasanti (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $358,050. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, $428,400. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–The Wine Steward, 122, c, 2, Vino Rosso–Call to Service, by To Honor and Serve. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($70,000 Ylg '22 SARAUG; $340,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher; B-Sequel Thoroughbreds LLC, Lakland Farm & Mark Toothaker (NY); T-Michael J. Maker. $96,250.
3–Generous Tipper, 122, c, 2, Street Sense–Stopshoppingdebbie, by Curlin. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($130,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Walking L Thoroughbreds, LLC; B-Jeff Prunzik & Melissa Prunzik (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $57,750.
Margins: HF, 3 3/4, NK. Odds: 0.76, 3.96, 17.35.
Also Ran: Northern Flame, West Saratoga, Just Steel, Awesome Road, Baytown Chatterbox. Scratched: Timberlake.

Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners & Walmac Farm; B-Rosa Colasanti (Ky); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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Gina Romantica Leads Home Brant, Brown 1-2 in First Lady

Easily the least-preferred of a Chad Brown-trained threesome in Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland and the lesser-fancied of two runners in the race for owner Peter Brant, Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) came with a stinging final-furlong flurry and ran down her commonly owned stablemate and heavily favored defending champion 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to post an 11-1 upset.

Hammered into 2-5 favoritism, In Italian made the lead and while the early fractions of :23.40 and :46.80 weren't overly taxing, the 5-year-old was allowed no breathers, as her GI Diana S.-winning stable companion Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio) led a host of pursuers that followed closely behind. In Italian still held the call after six furlongs in 1:10.32–having gone the third quarter-mile in :23.32–and looked like she would be tough to reel in, but Gina Romantica, who'd sat a rail-skimming journey and was quietly ridden by Tyler Gaffalione from just behind midfield, advanced inside on the turn and was steered off heels into the stretch. In Italian was still going great guns up front and was anything but stopping, but Gina Romantica flashed home to prevail in a driving finish. Former claimer Evvie Jets (Twirling Candy) picked up some valuable Grade I black-type in third.

“She broke good. She traveled so great throughout,” Gaffalione said. “I didn't have to take too much of a hold. She was very comfortable where she was. Coming into the stretch, once I found room toward the outside, she really exploded–finished her job really well.”

A $1.05-million Keeneland September yearling purchase, Gina Romantica was joining Vacare (Lear Fan) as winners of Keeneland's signature race for 3-year-old fillies–the GI QE II Challenge Cup–and the First Lady in consecutive seasons. Dayatthespa (City Zip), the first of Brown's now seven First Lady winners, won the QE II in 2012 and the First Lady two years later. Brown has trained the First Lady winner each year since 2018. Gina Romantica was having her third start this season, having finished fourth to stablemate Consumer Spending (More Than Ready) in the GIII Eatontown S. June 17 ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI Beverly D. S. at Colonial Aug. 12.

Pedigree Notes:

Just $6,000 was required for Machmer Hall to acquire the newly turned 3-year-old filly Special Me at the 2009 Keeneland January Sale and it has been almost nothing but blue skies since.

Stonetastic was the mare's second foal and initial success story, winning a pair of Grade IIs while finishing runner-up in the GI Humana Distaff S. and earning north of $856,000. Stonetastic's Gun Runner filly of 2021, now named Gifted Runner, fetched $925,000 at Keeneland September in 2022, while the Brogdens acquired her 4-year-old daughter Stonetonic (Candy Ride {Arg}) for $400,000 in foal to Yaupon at KEENOV last fall.

Special Me's foal of 2013, 'TDN Rising Star' Gift Box, became the first Grade I winner out of Special Me when annexing the Santa Anita H. as a 6-year-old in 2019. She is also the dam of Special Forces, a multiple graded winner on the Woodbine synthetic track. The yearling full-brother to Gina Romantica sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.2 million at Keeneland September last month and Special Me produced a full-sister to Gift Box this past Mar. 27 before helping to comprise the first book of mares bred to Flightline.

 

Saturday, Keeneland
FIRST LADY S. PRESENTED BY UK HEALTHCARE-GI, $729,500, Keeneland, 10-7, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:33.70, fm.
1–GINA ROMANTICA, 124, f, 4, by Into Mischief
          1st Dam: Special Me, by Unbridled's Song
          2nd Dam: Delta Danielle, by Lord Avie
          3rd Dam: Domasco Danielle, by Same Direction
($1,025,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Machmer Hall, Carrie Brogden & Craig Brogden (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $447,563. Lifetime Record: 10-5-2-0, $1,108,603. *1/2 to Special Forces (Candy Ride {Arg}), MGSW-Can, SP-USA, $452,383; 1/2 to Gift Box (Twirling Candy), GISW, $1,127,060; 1/2 to Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), MGSW & GISP, $856,062. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
          1st Dam: Florentina (Aus) (GSW-Aus, $250,958), by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
          2nd Dam: Celebria (Aus), by Peintre Celebre
          3rd Dam: Twyla (Aus), by Danehill
'TDN Rising Star'. (475,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $125,125.
3–Evvie Jets, 124, m, 5, by Twirling Candy
          1st Dam: Natchez Trace, by Consolidator
          2nd Dam: Crystal Cream, by Secretariat
          3rd Dam: Clear Copy, by Copy Chief
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($75,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-The Estate of Robert J. Amendola; B-Farfellow Farms Ltd. (KY); T-Mertkan Kantarmaci. $72,188.
Margins: HD, 3 3/4, HF. Odds: 11.51, 0.45, 20.34.
Also Ran: Whitebeam (GB), Gam's Mission, Jumbly (GB), New Year's Eve, Thisnameisokay.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Classic Hopeful Arabian Knight Leads Saturday Work Tab

Clairiere (Curlin) and stablemate Gunite (Gun Runner) each had their first works at Santa Anita Saturday for trainer Steve Asmussen while Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) fired a bullet towards the GI Breeders' Cup Classic for trainer Bob Baffert.

 

Also on Saturday, GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hopefuls Anarchist (Distorted Humor) and The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) each worked and Arcangelo (Arrogate), another contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic, returned to the track after working Thursday. Fellow Classic hopeful White Abarrio (Race Day) galloped for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

Arabian Knight, last-out winner of the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar Sept. 2, blitzed six furlongs in 1:12.60.

Clairiere, bound for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, worked an easy half mile in 51.0 seconds. Gunite, possible for either the Breeders' Cup Sprint or Dirt Mile, went the same distance in 50.2 seconds.

As for Clairiere and Gunite's works, Blasi noted “it was the same thing as we did yesterday. Just giving them a feel for the track. We'll start to pick things up next week.”

The Chosen Vron, winner of the GI Bing Crosby at Del Mar July 29, worked five furlongs on the training track in 1:02.40 for trainer Eric Kruljac.

Anarchist, second to The Chosen Vron in the Bing Crosby, worked five furlongs on the main track in 1:00.00.

Back East, Godolphin's Proxy (Tapit) began the Kentucky phase of his preparation for an expected start in the Classic by working five furlongs in 1:01 for trainer Mike Stidham.

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Twirling Candy’s Pikari Looks To Make Amends at Kyoto

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Monday running at Kyoto and Tokyo Racecourses:

Monday, October 9, 2023
1st-KYO, ¥10,480,000 ($70k), Maiden, 2yo, 1400mT
PIKARI (f, 2, Twirling Candy–Laudation, by Congrats) turned in a sound third-place effort on her Aug. 20 debut going nine furlongs from a terrible draw on the grass at Kokura (video, SC 16) and turns back a bit in distance for this second go. The stakes-winning dam is a daughter of dual Grade II winner Rite Moment (Vicar), also the dam of MSW Moment Is Right (Medaglia d'Oro) and of this year's G3 UAE Oaks winner and GI Kentucky Oaks participant Mimi Kakushi (City of Light). Leading rider Yuga Kawada has the riding assignment. A $265,000 Keeneland September yearling, the Mar. 18 foal fetched $900,000 from trainer Hideyuki Mori at this year's OBS March Sale on behalf of owner Susumu Fujita. B-Woods Edge Farm LLC (KY)

 

 

5th-TOK, ¥13,720,000 ($92k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT
METIERS D'ART (f, 2, American Pharoah–Fiducia, by Medaglia d'Oro) is the third foal to the races for her dam, a listed winner and Group 3-placed in turf sprints whose first foal Gran Aplauso became the first Japanese winner and first winner on turf for Gun Runner on debut back in 2021. Fiducia's MSW & GSP dam Believe (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) was Japan's champion older mare of 2003 and has gone on to distinguish herself in the breeding shed as the dam of 2022 G1 Sprinters S. winner Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) and MSW/G1SP Faridat (Kingmambo) in addition to Fiducia. B-North Hills Co Limited (KY)

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