Tag: Keeneland

Cross Traffic Filly Upsets Ashland for McPeek

Defining Purpose (f, 3, Cross Traffic–Defining Hope, by Strong Hope) lit up the tote board at 20-1 to upset Friday's GI Central Bank Ashland S. on opening day at Keeneland.

The gray sat a dream trip in a stalking second behind a longshot leader through fractions of :23.62 and :47.25. She turned up the heat rounding the far turn, gained command at the top of the stretch, and, after enjoying a clear lead down the lane, held the rallying duo of previously unbeaten and favored Punchbowl (Uncle Mo) and 'TDN Rising Star' Julia Shining (Curlin) safe by a diminishing half-length. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine and champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) never factored while sixth.

Defining Purpose posted a six-length maiden win going two turns at Churchill Downs at second asking in an auction-restricted maiden special weight Nov. 17. Fifth at 22-1 in the GII Golden Rod S. Nov. 26, she concluded her juvenile campaign with a strong win with first-time Lasix in Oaklawn's Year's End S. Dec. 31. She made two previous starts at Oaklawn this term–both against potential GI Kentucky Oaks favorite Wet Paint (Blame)–finishing third as the favorite after leading in the stretch in the Martha Washington S. Jan. 28 and a flat sixth in the slop in the GIII Honeybee S. last time Feb. 25.

Defining Purpose's Ashland win was good for 100 Kentucky Oaks points.

“I'm not overly surprised,” said winning trainer Ken McPeek, who also won this race in 2002 with Take Charge Lady and in 2014 with Rosalind. “She had a couple of reasons why–she fell off a little bit of form in her last two. She hooked a couple of muddy racetracks. The last trip she had was really wide and wider.”

Winning rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. added, “[Her early position] was great. When she went around the first turn and got her position so nice and smoothly and settled into a nice rhythm, going down the backside I was just thinking to myself, 'Be patient, just wait and wait and let her travel well.' And that's what she did. When she turned for home she kicked on, and with the short stretch to the sixteenth pole, I was pretty confident in her.”

Pedigree Notes:

Defining Purpose, a $14,000 KEEJAN RNA as a short yearling, becomes the second graded winner, both at the highest level, for Cross Traffic, who is also represented by champion Jaywalk. The 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine was third in this same race the following season. She becomes the third graded winner for broodmare sire Strong Hope.

The Indiana-bred Defining Hope, a three-time stakes-winning homebred for Colette M. Vanmatre, is also represented by the 2-year-old filly Defining Joy (Runhappy) and a Csaba filly of this year.

Friday, Keeneland
CENTRAL BANK ASHLAND S.-GI, $600,000, Keeneland, 4-7, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:43.31, ft.
1–DEFINING PURPOSE, 121, f, 3, by Cross Traffic
                1st Dam: Defining Hope (MSW, $306,238), by Strong Hope
                2nd Dam: On the Point, by Point Given
                3rd Dam: Longingtobeme, by Belong to Me
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($14,000 RNA
Ylg '21 KEEJAN). O-Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), Colette
Marie VanMatre and James Ball; B-Colette Marie VanMatre
(KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
$362,700. Lifetime Record: 7-3-0-1, $543,688. Werk Nick
Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Punchbowl, 121, f, 3, by Uncle Mo
                1st Dam: Devilish Lady (GSW, $400,318), by Sweetsouthernsaint
                2nd Dam: Devilish Brunette, by Diablo
                3rd Dam: Appealing Brunette, by Valid Appeal
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. O/B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.
$117,000.
3–Julia Shining, 121, f, 3, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
                2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
                3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Stonestreet
Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $58,500.
Margins: HF, NK, 3 1/4. Odds: 20.34, 1.26, 5.21.
Also Ran: Guns n' Graces, Effortlesslyelgant, Wonder Wheel, Pride of the Nile.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Mo Stash Goes Gate-To-Wire In Transylvania

In the first graded win for young sire Mo Town (by Uncle Mo), Mo Stash (Mo Town–Making Mark Money, by Smart Strike) hung tough on the lead to win the GIII Kentucky Utilities Transylvania S. on opening day of the always-anticipated spring meet at Keeneland. Nagirroc (Lea), who finished one spot in front of the Transylvania winner in their only previous meeting, the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf over this course, was second with Webslinger (Constitution)–11th in the Juvenile Turf–third.

The complexion of the race changed when Chad Brown scratched Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who sported a field-high 92 Beyer in his last. Mo Stash, away cleanly from stall seven in the Transylvania, shook free of the others and slid down to the rail to mark the first quarter a length clear in :23.69. The field began stringing out, but Mo Stash kept his position, getting the half in :48.41 and the three-quarters in 1:13.84. He was joined by a host of challengers in the stretch only to repel all, including Nagirroc, who briefly looked as though he had the winner measured.

“There was a lot of pacing going on up there and I thought, 'Oh, geez, now we're going to have to set the pace,'” said winning trainer Vicki Oliver, who won the first Keeneland stakes of her career in the Transylvania. “We were kind of getting pushed down the backside, and then [jockey Luis] Saez slipped away and got out on his own, and he could relax a little bit, and when he turned for home prevailed on and ran a really good race.”

Tried for the first time beyond a mile in the Transylvania, Mo Stash spent the majority of his 2-year-old campaign sprinting. A maiden winner at Ellis last August, he's done some of his best work at Keeneland. He finished second in the Lexington oval's Indian Summer S. last October at 5 1/2 furlongs which propelled him to a fourth in the one-mile Breeders' Cup. Freshened until Mar. 11, he reappeared again at a mile in Tampa Bay's Columbia S. and secured a runner-up spot behind a 91 Beyer performance by Talk of the Nation (Quality Road). Mo Stash has run exclusively on the grass.

As for what's next, Oliver added: “It's still going to be a question mark about how far he will go, but today it looked like he just kept going and could go another sixteenth. That might just be his running style. There's a lot of races out there between a mile, mile-and-an-eighth. We'll just have to pick them out as we go.”

Pedigree Notes:

Ashford stallion Mo Town, winner of the GI Hollywood Derby on the lawn and the GII Remsen S. on the dirt, has sired three black-type winners in his first crop with Mo Stash being his first to win or place in a graded event. Mo Stash is out of a mare by the late Smart Strike, whose 159 stakes winners out of his daughters include a number of champions as well as reigning GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice).

Mo Stash is the second stakes performer for his dam, Making Mark Money, whose 2021 GII Tampa Bay Derby runner-up and GIII Sam F. Davis third Hidden Stash (Constitution) also runs for BBN Racing connections and is also trained by Oliver. The 5-year-old's most recent start was a third in an optional allowance at Tampa Feb. 21 after an eight-month layoff. He ran 14th in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby. It was at the 2021 Keeneland September sale that BBN picked up Mo Stash for $130,000. Making Mark Money's only foal since is a yearling colt by Practical Joke. She was bred to McKinzie for 2023.

Making Mark Money's granddam is the wonderful La Affirmed, a half to champion Outstandingly (Exclusive Native) and dam of four graded winners. Among her descendants are GISWs Sky Mesa (Pulpit), Maxfield (Street Sense), and Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile). The female line traces directly to La Troienne through her granddaughter Busanda, who contributed mightily to the breed, not the least through her Horse of the Year son and stellar sire Buckpasser (Tom Fool).

KENTUCKY UTILITIES TRANSYLVANIA S.-GIII, $396,250, Keeneland, 4-7, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.05, gd.
1–MO STASH, 118, c, 3, by Mo Town
                1st Dam: Making Mark Money, by Smart Strike
                2nd Dam: Kapsiki, by Danzig
                3rd Dam: La Affirmed, by Affirmed
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($130,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing, LLC; B-Rhineshire Farm LLC
(KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver; J-Luis Saez. $229,400. Lifetime
Record: 6-2-2-0, $392,275. *1/2 to Hidden Stash
(Constitution), MGSP, $291,382. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Nagirroc, 118, c, 3, Lea–Emma Spencer (Ire), by Zamindar.
O-Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and William
Strauss; B-Chervenell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-H. Graham
Motion. $74,000.
3–Webslinger, 118, g, 3, Constitution–Arana, by Hard Spun.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($45,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP;
$25,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $45,000 RNA 2yo '22 OBSAPR;
$50,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-D. J. Stable LLC; B-Kenneth L. &
Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $37,000.
Margins: 1, 1, 1. Odds: 5.48, 3.63, 4.96.
Also Ran: Mi Hermano Ramon, Andthewinneris, Candidate, Freedom Trail, Dude N Colorado (GB), Wonderful Justice (GB), Movisitor, Rarified Flair. Scratched: Carl Spackler (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Saturday Racing Insights: Second-Crop Sires Continue Their First-Crop Battle At Keeneland

2nd-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 1:05 p.m.
At the end of last year, it was Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) that reigned supreme over Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy) in the first-crop sire race when Spendthrift's own sewed up the title by more than $275,000 in world-wide earnings.

Now second-croppers, they come together in Race 2 at Keeneland for another battle on Saturday. Bred by WinStar Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, LE BAR (Bolt d'Oro) carries the flag for the 2022 first-crop leader and is part of a female family which includes GSW Emotional Kitten (Kitten's Joy). Ridden by Luis Saez, the bay colt was a $350,000 Ylg FTNAUG purchase up at Saratoga in 2021 for Starlight and Harrell Ventures.

He will face-off against Good Magic's EQUIVOQUE, an Ontario bred out of Unreachable (Giant's Causeway) who is responsible for Japanese star Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid), victor in the G1 February S. Second dam Harpia (Danzig) is a full-sister to G1SW Danehill. The chestnut colt, who sold outright to the CHC for $240,000 '22 KEENOV after partnering with Gandharvi when they bought him for $325,000 as a yearling at the FTNAUG sale, is also trained by Pletcher. Irad Ortiz will pilot when he breaks from the extreme outside.

Not to be left out, Justify is represented by Dixiana homebred JUST A PHOTO. The dark bay colt is the first to make the races for his mare Photographer (War Front), whose second dam MGSW Hostess (Chester House) is a half-sister to Pretty 'n Smart (Beau Genius). She is responsible for Santa Anita GI Gold Cup hero, Cupid (Tapit). From post nine, jockey Brian Hernandez has the call for trainer Kenny McPeek. TJCIS PPS

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All Eyes on Final Round of Major Derby Preps

A week after champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) solidified his status as the horse to beat on the first Saturday in May, the final round of major GI Kentucky Derby preps offering 100 points to the winner will share the spotlight on an absolutely stacked Saturday afternoon of racing.

Forte's Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), an impossible come-from-behind winner in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 11, will exit from the rail in a deep renewal of the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. Luis Saez has the mount aboard the Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable colorbearer, who has been tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

“Not exactly the draw we wanted, but he did win the allowance race at Gulfstream Park from post one [going a mile Feb. 4],” Pletcher said.

The Blue Grass field of 11 also includes: runaway GIII Gotham S. winner Raise Cain (Violence); last term's GI Champagne S. one-two 'Rising Star' Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) and Verifying (Justify); and GII Risen Star S. runner-up Sun Thunder (Into Mischief).

Blazing Sevens adds blinkers following a head-scratching eighth in the GII Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 4. Verifying was fourth as the favorite in a sloppy renewal of the GII Rebel S. Feb. 25. Sun Thunder closed into slow fractions to finish fifth in the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 25.

Practical Move (Practical Joke), ranked in the second spot behind Forte on TDN's Derby Top 12 brought to you by Fasig-Tipton, will shoot for his third straight victory for Tim Yakteen in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. Last term's GII Los Alamitos Futurity S. winner kicked off his sophomore campaign with an impressive victory over the re-opposing duo of Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Skinner (Curlin) good for a field-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure in the GII San Felipe S. Practical Move is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the field of nine.

Yakteen will also tighten the girth on former Bob Baffert runner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third-place finisher National Treasure (Quality Road). The last-out GIII Sham S. Jan. 8 third-place finisher was a late scratch from the San Felipe due to a bruised foot.

Yakteen saddled Taiba (Gun Runner) and Messier (Empire Maker) to a one-two finish in last year's Santa Anita Derby. Both were previously trained by Yakteen's aforementioned former boss.

“When you run horses, they are all your horses,” Yakteen said. “It gives you the same feeling.”

A field of 13, led by the Brad Cox-trained impressive GIII Withers S. winner and 5-2 morning-line favorite Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), will look to punch their ticket to Louisville via the Big Apple in the GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct. The Gary and Mary West homebred is drawn widest of all in post 13.

“I think he's a horse that does like a mile and an eighth and beyond,” Cox said. “Since he's already shown success in New York, we decided that would be the best spot for him.”

Cox also trains distant GIII Gotham S. runner-up Slip Mahoney (Arrogate), who makes his two-turn debut in the Wood.

Pletcher and the late Hall of Famer “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons currently share the record of seven Wood Memorial victories.

Pletcher will have three chances to capture the standalone record via last out Gulfstream optional claimer winner Classic Catch (Classic Empire) and highly regarded maidens Dreamlike (Gun Runner) and Crupi (Curlin). The rail-drawn Dreamlike adds blinkers following a pair of runner-up finishes in South Florida. Crupi was seventh while making his sixth career start in the GII Risen Star S. Feb. 18.

“It's an interesting trio,” Pletcher said. “One thing we feel good about is all three horses will appreciate the mile and an eighth.”

Breeders' Cup Winners Return at Keeneland…

A pair of Breeders' Cup winners will return to Lexington to kick off their 2023 campaigns on the Blue Grass undercard.

Champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), last seen putting an exclamation point on a brilliant campaign in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 5, will take on four rivals, including GI Cotillion S. heroine Society (Gun Runner), in the GI Madison S. The 2022 GI Ballerina H. winner is the 2-5 morning-line favorite.

Last term's 42-1 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint upsetter Caravel (Mizzen Mast), meanwhile, will face males once again a race later in the 5 1/2-furlong GII Shakertown S.

Keeneland's 11-race card also includes the GII Appalachian S.  and GIII Commonwealth S., respectively.

Pair of Kentucky Oaks Preps on Tap…

Who will be favored in this year's wide-open GI Kentucky Oaks?

We'll have our answer following Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks and GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct.

A field of six, topped by the imposing Chad Brown-trained duo of unbeaten Busher S. heroine Shidabhuti (Practical Joke) and Busanda S. winner Occult (Into Mischief), could vie for favoritism in South Ozone Park. Brown won the 2021 renewal with Search Results (Flatter), who followed with a painful second in the Kentucky Oaks.

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Faiza (Girvin), winner of Santa Anita's GIII Las Virgenes S. Jan. 28 and GIII Santa Ysabel S. Mar. 5, is the headliner in the Santa Anita Oaks, but remains ineligible for the Kentucky Oaks. Last term's GI Starlet S. heroine is a perfect four-for-four for Baffert, who is currently banned from competition at Churchill Downs.

The Santa Anita Oaks field of nine also includes last term's GI TVG Del Mar Debutante S. winner and Santa Ysabel second-place finisher And Tell Me Nolies (Arrogate); and impressive Santa Anita maiden winners Clearly Unhinged (Into Mischief) and Window Shopping (American Pharoah).

Saturday's graded stakes action is rounded out by Aqueduct's GI Carter H. and GIII Bay Shore S. and Santa Anita's GII Charles Whittingham S. and GIII Monrovia S.

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