Keeneland | Horse Racing Free Tips

Battle Brewing in GI Maker’s Mark Mile

A trio of top-rung winners head a field of nine in Friday’s feature at Keeneland, the GI Maker’s Mark Mile S. Leading the fray is Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who most recently marked his seasonal debut with a victory in the GI Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita May 25. A three-time graded winner in 2018, including Del Mar’s GI Hollywood Derby, the French-bred hit the board in three of five starts last term, including a second in the GI Fourstardave H. at Saratoga in August followed by a third-place finish, after being moved up via DQ, in the GI Woodbine Mile in September. Accompanied by Joel Rosario, Raging Bull is trained by Chad Brown, who is also represented by G1 St James’s Palace S. hero Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Winless in eight starts since that career-high performance in 2018, the Gunther family homebred–third to stablemate Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) in last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile–most recently finished third in the Shoemaker Mile. Throwing in an interesting twist is the Classic-winning War of Will (War Front). Trained by Mark Casse, the annexed the GIII Lecomte S. and GII Risen S. at the Fair Grounds last winter before going on to take the GI Preakness S. later that spring. On the board in one of four starts after that effort, recorded in the GI Pennsylvania Derby, the Gary Barber-owned colt returned in 2020 with a fifth-place finish in the Shoemaker Mile.

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‘Speech’-Less Beaumont Leaves Filly Quintet

Early Thursday, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners tweeted that Speech (Mr Speaker), second to GII Toyota Blue Grass favorite Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GII Santa Anita Oaks June 6, would be withdrawn from Friday’s GIII Beaumont S. in favor of Saturday’s GI Ashland S., leaving a competitive field of five 3-year-old fillies for the seven-furlong affair.

‘TDN Rising Star‘ Wicked Whisper (Liam’s Map) kicks off her sophomore campaign Friday afternoon and should vie for favoritism. Impressive in breaking her maiden by 6 1/4 lengths over future SW & GSP Highland Glory (Sky Mesa) on Saratoga debut last August, the $500,000 Keeneland September yearling defeated recent GIII Victory Ride S. heroine and fellow ‘Rising Star’ Frank’s Rockette (Into Mischief) and Slam Dunk (Into Mischief) in the Oct. 6 GI Frizette S. by 2 3/4 front-running lengths. The chestnut faces the starter for the first time since a distant fifth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last November.

Janis Whitham’s Four Graces (Majesticperfection), a homebred half-sister to Airdrie Stud’s McCraken (Ghostzapper), is perfect in three starts at this tricky seven-furlong distance. A first-out winner at Gulfstream Mar. 1, she stubbed her toe when fourth over that track’s one-turn mile Apr. 10, but has since added a May 16 Churchill allowance and the June 6 GIII Dogwood S. Trainer Ian Wilkes also sends out Turtle Trax (Cairo Prince).

Should the two chief protagonists happen to cancel each other out on the front end, Sconsin (Include) could prove the chief beneficiary. A maiden winner at second asking off the turf at the Fair Grounds in February, the Lloyd Madison homebred was fourth in the aforementioned May 16 allowance in Louisville won by Four Graces and most recently belied odds of 19-1 to post a five-length victory from off the pace in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance beneath the Twin Spires June 13.

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Trainer Reed Comes into Keeneland Off Historic Winning Night

On paper, it’s easy to dismiss Silver Maple (Creative Cause) in Friday’s fourth race at Keeneland. The 2-year-old cost just $5,000 at the sales and shows a string of slow workouts at Belterra Park and Mountaineer Park. But trainer Eric Reed says the filly can absolutely win the race, and right now Reed’s opinion is not to be dismissed.

Reed may not be as well known as some of the trainers he will face in the 5 1/2-furlong maiden, but no trainer is hotter. Silver Maple will be his first starter since he made history Wednesday night at Mountaineer Park. He not only won the first four races on the card, but all four of his horses appeared to have won by 10 lengths or more. While calling the fourth race, won by Irish Proud (Proud Citizen), track announcer Peter Berry said it was the first time in the track’s history that any trainer had won four races in a row.

“When you go in, you hope to win them all,” Reed said. “But I never dreamt that something like that could happen. I was especially worried about the fourth one. It was a three-horse field and the fourth one was 1-5. Usually, that’s the one that gets you beat.”

Reed also won races Tuesday at Indiana Grand and Sunday and Tuesday at Mountaineer.

Reed’s run Wednesday at Mountaineer is better than it looks in the charts. It began with Nomiraclesneeded (Union Rags) in the first, a maiden special weight. The filly won by 17 3/4 lengths. Mountain Melodies (Shackleford) won the second and the official chart lists her as winning by 1 3/4 lengths. Reviewing the race, that margin is clearly inaccurate as she was drawing off in the stretch and appeared to win by at least 10 lengths.

Marcie’s Candy (Sidney’s Candy) won the third, making it look easy with a 15-length win. Irish Proud won by 10 1/2 lengths. Jockey Keivan Serrano was aboard all four winners. Before he became a jockey, Serrano exercised horses in the morning at Belmont and then went to work at the Wendy’s across the street from the track.

“I won five races at Ellis Park once years ago, but never five in a row,” Reed said. “I’ve won three in a day here and there, but never thought I’d win the first four races anywhere, especially the way those horses ran.”

If Reed was the recipient of some good luck, he certainly deserved it. He’s not that far removed from a tragic fire in 2016 at his Mercury Equine Training Center in Lexington. The fire, believed to be started by lightning, killed 23 horses. Not only was it devastating emotionally, but Reed didn’t know how he was going to rebuild his business.

“It was by God’s grace that we survived that because I truly didn’t think we would,” he said.

Along with training his own string, Reed works with other trainers getting their babies ready for 2-year-old races. He said that after the fire many in the industry came forward to support him. He is especially grateful to Ken Ramsey, who, after the fire, gave him a number of 2-year-olds to prepare for their upcoming campaigns.

The National HBPA Foundation also stepped forward, setting up a fund for Reed and his wife, Kay. He said he received donations of hay and blankets from people he did not even know.

With income coming in, Reed was able to build a new barn and didn’t stay down long. Within a year he was he was back to training 75 horses. He made 219 starts in 2017 and won 37 races.

Although Reed is based in Kentucky and is running a horse Friday at Keeneland, you’re more likely to find him at lesser tracks, primarily Mountaineer, Mahoning Valley and Belterra. He knows what kind of horses he has and where they belong. Better to be 2-5 at Mountaineer than 25-1 at Keeneland and Churchill.

“It’s the type of horses we have,” he said. “The better horses go to the better tracks. A lot of my owners don’t want their horses to get claimed, so instead of running for $15,000 or $20,000 at Churchill, they will run in allowance races at Mountaineer and Belterra and run through their allowance conditions. We race wherever we think we can win.”

That he is running Silver Maple at Keeneland and not somewhere where the competition is easier is a sure sign that Reed believes the filly has some talent. She is owned by Kay Reed.

“It’s very possible that she will win,” he said. “She’s a pretty nice filly and is training really well going into this race.”

He has the filly Deep Space (Curlin) entered in a maiden race Friday at Belterra, but she will have to draw in off the also-eligible list. He will try to keep his streak at Mountaineer alive Sunday with Bungalow Flash (Flashback), who is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in a maiden special weight race.

When given a talented horse, Reed has known what to do with it. He won the GII Lexus Raven Run S. in 2009 at Keeneland in 2009 with Satan’s Quick Chick (Sky Mesa). In 2010, he finished second behind Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) with Rinterval (Ire) (Desert Prince {Ire}) in the GI Clement Hirsch S., losing by just a neck.

Reed lists those accomplishments as two of the most memorable of his career, but he puts the four-win night at Mountaineer right up there with them. He is so proud of the accomplishment that he has asked the track photographer to put together a special collage of the four races and will hang it in his office.

“We’ve won some big races over the years, but I really think it’s a big deal to win all those races in a row and by so many lengths,” he said. “It was special.”

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The Next Generation with Paige Gilster

The TDN has partnered with Amplify Horse Racing to present “The Next Generation,” an ongoing video series featuring young people who were not born into the Thoroughbred business, but are now excelling within the industry.

Paige Gilster was long on hands-on horse experience but short on connections when she graduated from Iowa State University and moved to Lexington. Since then, she’s developed her skills as a horsewoman and in just a short time, has become the assistant farm manager at Timber Town Stables, where she looks over an elite group of broodmares that include dual Eclipse champions Songbird and Havre de Grace.

While still in college, Paige wrote up a business plan on how she would manage her own broodmare and presented the idea to her father. Together, the duo found Southern Classic (Southern Image) at a rescue facility in North Dakota, and purchased the mare for $500.

In 2016, Paige bred her new broodmare to Dialed In. The result was a colt with a bad eye, who she named Finnick the Fierce. The chestnut the Fierce broke his maiden on debut as a juvenile last June and later placed second in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. behind Silver Prospector (Declaration of War).

This year, he ran third in the GI Arkansas Derby and now looks to gain more points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby this weekend in the GII Blue Grass S. at Keeneland.

KR: How did you get involved in the Thoroughbred industry?

PG: I went to college at Iowa State University, and in their equine program, we would bring about seven or eight Thoroughbred mares to Kentucky to breed, then bring them back and foal them out. We were very involved in the reproductive parts of the year, and I realized that I really loved working with horses every day and the Thoroughbred industry in general. The first time I came down to Kentucky is when I decided I was moving to Lexington as soon as I graduated and I was just going to make it work and try it all.

KR: What was it that drew you to horse racing?

PG: I fell in love with the reproduction and breeding. There isn’t a horse industry quite like this Thoroughbred racing industry we’re in, as they look so closely into the diverse bloodlines and the physical that ties directly to racetrack performance. There’s a lot of equine sports, but in my opinion, racing is the only one that is solely judged on the best horse of the day. It’s the horse that shows up that day in that race, and that’s what I love about it–it’s all about the horse.

KR: What was it like being a total newcomer in the business?

PG: You get a lot of, “Are you sure you want to do this?” or “Well, can you though? You’re not from around here and you really have no experience.” I just felt like I was a little more discredited when I came here because they didn’t know me, they didn’t know my family or the exact environment where I had gotten my horse experience. It was a lot of disproving the doubters and having to prove myself over and over again.

KR: What is your favorite part about the industry?

PG: I think my favorite part is the bloodlines and seeing the foalings after a year of waiting. Trying to match the matings and then hoping they get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy, and then finally seeing a beautiful foal come out. Then when the mating is successful and if they win, that’s the greatest achievement of all for me.

KR: If you could change one thing about our industry, what would it be?

PG: One thing I would change is what the industry demands from each person. This a seven day a week, 24-hour job, and it’s very demanding on any individual that decides to pursue it. A work-life, personal-life balance is difficult. It’s great for me. I love what I do and I’ve accepted it, but it’s kind of tough for my family to understand why I’m not coming home to see them once a month. I think that deters a lot of newcomers. It’s asking a lot for young people to come into this industry and say, “Okay, devote your entire life to this,” when it’s not an easy ladder to climb as an outsider.

KR: Who is your all-time favorite horse?

PG: This is the easiest question in the book–Finnick the Fierce (Dialed In). He is the second horse I’ve ever bred when my dad and I got into the business with our broodmare, Southern Classic (Southern Image). He was her second foal, and he came out with one eye. I was able to sell him privately to Dr. Arnaldo Monge and Rey Hernandez. He has defied all expectations and made a lot of personal dreams come true to be on the Derby trail, even in this weird year. It’s just been fantastic and it’s hard to put into words how exciting it is. So, he’s easily my all-time favorite horse for crossing off a lot of personal checks.

KR: Tell us more about Finnick the Fierce’s story.

PG: Luckily, I was a senior in college in Lexington on a class trip when Southern Classic foaled. I was on the other side of town so I missed it, but I called my professor the next morning and said “I’m going to need a couple hours.” So, I was able to go out and see him. That was in April, and then I graduated in May and moved to Lexington to be a part of the KEMI program. As much as I could, I was with him every weekend handling him, because my goal for him was to go the sales and help with some college debt, and his sire, Dialed In, was on fire that year. I worked with him at least once a week.

I didn’t want someone naming him “One-Eyed Wonder” or something like that. I didn’t want that to be a limitation. I said, “We’ve got to name him something fierce.” And that’s where his name came from. It’s been fun to watch him grow and develop, and I’m very blessed that Dr. Monge and his connections have allowed me to stay involved with him. Dr. Monge is my mare’s vet, so it’s been great. They’re like family to me.

KR: What are your long-term career goals?

PG: My career path is kind of a question mark. I want to try it all. I love what I’m doing right now and I love being at Timber Town. Maybe I could eventually manage the farm, or have my own farm at some point. But I kind of take it month by month, and as long as I feel fulfilled and happy where I’m at, then I’m pretty happy for the future.

All of the bloodstock agents that I have met have been incredible. It’s a lot of time and reading pedigrees and learning. So eventually I may like to try that, whether that means working for an agent someday or if I try my hand at it myself at some point. But for now, I am really enjoying managing here and being Wayne’s [Sweezey] assistant has been awesome. There’s so much to learn every day. As long as I can keep learning, who knows where it can take me?

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