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Sole Volante Back On Turf In Saturday’s Tropical Park Derby

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Andie Biancone's Sole Volante will regroup from the rigors of a Triple Crown campaign with a return to turf in Saturday's $75,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park.

The Tropical Park Derby, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds, will be accompanied on Saturday's 11-race program by the $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies, and the $75,000 H. Allen Jerkens, a two-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up.

Patrick Biancone-trained Sole Volante will return from an 11-week freshening since finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and an 11th-place finish following a troubled start in the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. Turf will hardly be foreign territory for the 3-year-old gelded son of Karakontie, who launched his career with back-to-back victories over the Gulfstream Park turf course last year.

“Even at the Kentucky Derby we were debating [about running Sole Volante on turf] because they have that race [Grade 2 American Turf} the same day. We were contemplating it,” said Andie Biancone, assistant trainer to her father, Patrick. “We know he's a turf horse. It's just because he has such a big heart that he takes to the dirt. We're really happy to get him back on turf.”

Sole Volante debuted with a three-length romp in his debut at Gulfstream Park West before coming right back to register a two-length score at Gulfstream in the Pulpit Stakes, in which King Guillermo finished third. Having shown himself to be extremely gifted and bred to run long, Sole Volante was given a chance to show what he could do on dirt with an eye toward the Triple Crown.

“When they're that good that time of year, you have to try them on the dirt,” said Andie Biancone, who was given Sole Volante by her father on her 22nd birthday. “He did really well because he has so much heart, but turf is really his preferred surface.”

Following a solid third in the one-turn mile Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream, Sole Volante stamped himself as a Triple Crown candidate with a 2 ½-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. He earned his way into the Kentucky Derby field with a second-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), won by King Guillermo. Unfortunately, the Kentucky Derby was postponed from the first Saturday in May to Sept. 5 and the Preakness (G1) was postponed from the second Saturday in May to Oct. 3, making the Belmont Stakes the first leg of the 2020 Triple Crown. Sole Volante prepped for the Belmont with a triumph in a June 20 stakes-quality allowance at Gulfstream, defeating Jesus' Team, who would go on to finish second in the Preakness, and Florida Derby runner-up Shivaree.

Although he wasn't at his best in the Belmont and Kentucky Derby, he provided Andie Biancone memories that will last a lifetime. Unable to travel due to an illness, Patrick Biancone entrusted his daughter to oversee Sole Volante's training at Belmont Park and Churchill Downs.

“It was really cool that my dad put that trust in me,” she said. “It was really cool. I still haven't processed it.”

Sole Volante breezed six furlongs on turf in 1:11.40 at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park's satellite training facility in Palm Beach Count, Sunday for his return to turf.

“I think he's training better than ever,” Andie Biancone said.

Luca Panici has the return mount aboard Sole Volante.

Calumet Farm's Dack Janiel's will also make the switch from dirt to turf Saturday to run in the Tropical Park Derby.

“It's not so much as trying the turf as it is taking advantage of the last race for just 3-year-olds,” trainer Jack Sisterson said.

Dack Janiel's is coming off a third-place finish behind a victorious Jesus' Team in the Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Dec. 5. In his prior start, the son of Tonalist showed the way to mid-stretch before finishing third in the Thoroughbred AfterCare Alliance (G2) on the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup program at Keeneland.

Dack Janiel's has run twice on turf, finishing third at Fair Grounds in January before graduating in an off-the-turf maiden special weight race in his next start. The homebred colt didn't run on turf again until June, when he showed the way before weakening to third late at Churchill Downs.

Julien Leparoux has the call.

Trainer Todd Pletcher is scheduled to saddle a pair of Tropical Park Derby starters, Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam, who was beaten by less than a length while finishing fourth in the Aug. 15 Saratoga Derby Invitational; and Waterford Stable LLC's Summer to Remember, who is twice stakes-placed over Gulfstream's turf course. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on Colonel Liam, while Luis Saez has been named to ride Summer to Remember.

Trainer Michael Maker is scheduled to send out four starters in the Tropical Park Derby, which drew 10 entries Sunday. Skychai Racing LLC and Sand Dollar Stable LLC's Fancy Liquor has the highest profile of the Maker quartet, having captured the American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. In his most recent start, the son of Lookin At Lucky finished second in the Bryan Station on the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup undercard at Keeneland. Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Don Juan Kitten and Gelfenstein Farm and Andy Blanco's Angelus Warrior, Maker-trained stablemates of Fancy Liquor, finished eighth and 10th, respectively, in the Bryan Station. Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher's Me and Mr. C., who finished fourth in the Gio Ponti at Aqueduct last time out, rounds out the Maker contingent.

Tyler Gaffalione has the mount aboard Fancy Liquor; Edgard Zayas has the call on Don Juan Kitten; Miguel Vasquez will ride Angelus Warrior; Joe Bravo has the mount aboard Me and Mr. C.

Anderson Stables LLC's By Your Side, a graded-stakes winner at Saratoga on dirt in 2019, and Walking L Thoroughbreds LLC's Fighting Seabee, who captured the With Anticipation (G3) at Saratoga in 2019; round out the field.

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Twice in a Lifetime? Senor Buscador May Give Peacock Family Second Shot at Derby

Most of the racing world was likely asleep or otherwise occupied late Friday night, but the small fraction that was awake and watching the action at Remington Park may have witnessed the breakout of a star 2021 3-year-old as well as the birth of a feel-good story of the year candidate. Senor Buscador (Mineshaft), a homebred with just one 5 1/2-furlong start under his belt, was slow out of the stalls in the $200,000 Springboard Mile S. before rocketing past every rival in the 10-horse field to score a dazzling 5 3/4-length romp. It was the kind of performance that gives owners goosebumps. But if you ask owner/breeder Joe Peacock, Jr. it was no surprise.

“To be honest with you, we expected that, which is almost worse, having expectations like that, it really makes you nervous they’re just not going to show up,” Peacock said of the Todd Fincher trainee. “We were very happy with it. Todd has always been high on the colt. He said, ‘These don’t come around very often, and he’s one of those,’ so we’ve been excited about him for a while.”

It was less than three years ago that the Peacock family, which is based in Texas but races mostly in New Mexico, felt similar excitement for a brilliant colt that could improbably take them to the GI Kentucky Derby, only to end up heartbroken. Runaway Ghost (Ghostzapper), a half-brother to Senor Buscador–more on that later–had just scored a powerful victory in the GIII Sunland Derby and looked like a legitimate hopeful to wear the roses. But just a few weeks later, he suffered a fracture to his shin and had to be taken out of Derby consideration. Reasonably, Peacock assumed his one shot to run in America’s most fabled horse race had disintegrated the way dreams so often do in this game.

“When Runaway Ghost got hurt, we were devastated,” he said. “First for the horse, but also just for missing that opportunity. It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime deal, right?”

One would think. But along comes Senor Buscador, who posted a 93 Beyer, tied for the seventh-highest number among all juveniles in 2020, in his Springboard Mile romp.

“It’s huge for our family,” Peacock said. “Who doesn’t want to run in the Derby? This business has so many highs and so many lows, you have to not get out over your skis on these things, which is what we’re trying to do right now but it’s difficult.”

The fact that the Peacocks are in this position can be traced to their broodmare band, one that contains just a single mare. A small operation, to be sure, but when that one mare is a horse as prolific and consistent as Rose’s Desert (Desert God), who needs more? Bred by Peacock’s father, Joe Sr., Rose’s Desert was a New Mexico terror on the track, winning seven state-bred stakes and earning over $600,000 in her career.

“She was something else,” Peacock said. “She ran 15 times, won 10 and was second the other five. She never got beat more than a length and a quarter in her lifetime.”

But her racing accomplishments are now a side note to Rose’s Desert’s rapidly developing legacy as a star broodmare. When she retired from racing in the fall of 2013, the Peacock family wanted to give her a chance to truly prove her mettle in the breeding shed and secure matings with top stallions, which meant she couldn’t stay home in New Mexico.

“When we stopped running her, we said, ‘She’s special. She’s got to go to Kentucky and we have to see if she can make it as a broodmare,’ because we had the faith in her that she would do that,” Peacock said. “And she’s been remarkable. Everything she’s had can run. She’s had four foals race, three of them are stakes winners and the other one is a filly we own [Our Iris Rose {Ghostzapper}] who’s three and there’s no doubt in my mind she’ll win a stakes race when it’s all said and done. She’s in foal right now to Candy Ride, so we’re excited about that. She’s such a wonderful animal. I really feel like she’s the gift that we’ve been given and that’s the one we want to ride with.”

Back in that spring of 2018, the Peacock family thought they’d be watching the mare’s first breakout progeny run in the Derby. Instead, they (almost) saw her produce her next one.

“Senor Buscador was born Derby weekend in 2018 and we were there in Kentucky,” Peacock said. “We had made all these plans to take the family up there. Then when Runaway Ghost got hurt and wasn’t able to race, we had never been to the Derby so I said, ‘What the heck.’ We just went anyway, took all of the family, and we were hoping we’d get to see the foal when we were up there, but as luck would have it, she had him on Sunday right when we got home. We joked at the time that that might be a good omen, that he was born on Derby weekend.”

Racing is the family business for the Peacocks, and it goes back nearly 50 years to when Joe Sr. was running quarter horses.

“One of the first horses he had ended up running in the All-American Futurity, which is like the holy grail of quarter horse racing, so the hook was set there,” Peacock said of his father.

Eventually Peacock Sr. made the transition to Thoroughbreds full-time and brought along his son, who had been going to the track since he was 10 years old.

“It’s been special, our family’s been doing it for a long, long time,” Peacock said. “I’ve got five adult children, they’re all married and we have six grandchildren and it’s a real good opportunity and excuse to get everybody together, get away from home, go do something and hopefully see a horse win.”

The Peacocks’ half-century racing heritage has culminated by striking gold with Rose’s Desert. And while her first opportunity to produce a Derby starter fell just short, she incredibly has another contender in Senor Buscador, who Fincher is likely to point to Derby preps at Fair Grounds or Oaklawn next. Peacock gets choked up talking about the colt, who was the final horse bred by Joe Sr. and Jr. together. The family patriarch passed away earlier this year.

“I bred that horse with my dad and what he would like to do is get the stud book and go through it, look at all the pedigrees and find horses that all through the pedigree, won money,” Peacock remembered. “He liked to see that they were successful at the racetrack and made money, so he made the decision to breed to Mineshaft. It was the last horse we bred together, and it turned out to be the right one.”

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Mike Anderson Named 14th President Of Churchill Downs Racetrack

Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI” or “Company”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) today announced that Mike Anderson has been named the 14th President of Churchill Downs Racetrack, home of America's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby.

Anderson brings to the role 24 years of proven strategic and operational leadership experience at CDI, having recently served as Vice President of Operations, where he led the planning, construction and opening of over $300 million in capital projects across the Company's properties. He joined CDI in 1996 as Controller and has held a number of roles with the Company, including Vice President of Corporate Finance, Investor Relations, Risk Management and Treasurer. Anderson will report to Bill Mudd, President & Chief Operating Officer of CDI.

“Mike Anderson is a uniquely qualified leader to assume the role of President at Churchill Downs Racetrack having successfully and consistently delivered on Company goals across multiple departments,” said Bill Mudd, President & COO of CDI. “Over its 146-year history, the Racetrack has grown into an incredibly sophisticated and complex business organization, and Anderson is poised to lead it through continued growth and success.”

“The opportunity to serve this Company, the Commonwealth and our community as President of Churchill Downs Racetrack is the privilege of a lifetime,” said Mike Anderson. “As a native of Louisville, it is humbling to consider what this historic place represents to so many people. I am eager to build upon the great traditions of the Kentucky Derby and continue the Company's work to establish a legacy of integrity and inclusivity both at Churchill Downs and within our industry.”

CDI named Mike Ziegler Senior Vice President and General Manager of Churchill Downs Racetrack, a role he will fulfill while retaining his current responsibilities as Executive Director of Racing for the entire Company. CDI will conduct a search to support Ziegler in that function as the Company expands resources dedicated to safety and integrity in horse racing. Prior to joining CDI in 2015, Ziegler served in numerous leadership roles across the industry.

“Mike Ziegler brings to Churchill Downs Racetrack unparalleled knowledge of all aspects of horse racing and racing operations,” said Mudd. “This expertise coupled with Mike Anderson's robust strategic and operational skills positions the Company for success and likewise advances these talented executives into roles from which they can maximize their strengths. I couldn't be more excited for these two individuals or our company.”

CDI also announced that Ryan Jordan has been named Vice President of Operations, Corporate where his responsibilities will include operational support for all business units. Jordan joined CDI in 2009 as Vice President of Operations for Churchill Downs Entertainment Group and was later named Senior Vice President and General Manager of Churchill Downs Racetrack.

“I am excited for Ryan to join us in this key position at Corporate,” said Mudd. “It is a great opportunity for him to expand his experience base and further contribute to the Company.”

These changes are effective immediately.

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The Week in Review: Sparks of Brightness Amid the Winter Solstice

Leave it to one of the darkest days of the year to deliver two glimmering equine efforts that could combust into shining stars for the 2021 racing season.

On the cusp of the winter solstice, breakout races book-ended the Saturday Fair Grounds card. One was a smart, step-wise progression by a juvenile colt in a NW2L allowance who now has credible GI Kentucky Derby aspirations. The other was an admirably impressive comeback by a still-undefeated 3-year-old whose own chance at the 2020 Derby got derailed by injuries and untimely setbacks.

Both horses are campaigned by Godolphin, which is off to a rip-roaring start at the three-week-old New Orleans meet with a 7-1-5 record and $233,740 in earnings from just 17 starts through Saturday’s racing.

Proxy (Tapit) ably made the jump from the maiden-winning ranks to Derby relevancy in the first race Dec. 19. Even though his second lifetime two-turn win came against a short field, don’t hold that against him, as each one of the three rivals gave the Godolphin homebred a serious challenge.

Proxy brushed the gate at the break, recovered well, and emerged confidently from between horses to assume command onto the backstretch. The chart doesn’t show it, but he conceded the top spot between calls, giving up the rail and the lead to an eager pace prompter.

Proxy re-engaged and swatted away that foe at the entrance to the final bend, then braced for a tag-team attack from the two stretch-running colts who had been held in abeyance.

All four horses were within a length of one another three-sixteenths from the wire, and Proxy drifted out three times under left-handed pressure. He appeared to intimidate an outside rival, but being in close quarters only emboldened Proxy, and when asked for another level of torque in deep stretch he dug in and responded, opening up to win by 2 1/4 lengths at 7-10 odds for trainer Michael Stidham and jockey Angel Suarez.

Although Proxy’s final time of 1:45.56 was not stellar (76 Beyer Speed Figure), his effort impressed more from a “how he did it” perspective rather than “how fast.”

Proxy’s pedigree has a tantalizing, distance-centric slant. In 2007, his dam, Panty Raid, won the GI American Oaks Invitational S. at 10 furlongs on the turf, the GI Spinster S. at nine furlongs on a synthetic track, and the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at nine furlongs on dirt.

Godolphin purchased Panty Raid for $2.5 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale, and she most notably produced the Stidham-trained Micheline (Bernardini), who earlier this year was a MSW and GISP Godolphin filly who set a course record for 1 5/16 miles in a $500,000 grass stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Proxy, it should be noted, has raced on Lasix for both of his Fair Grounds wins after running second, beaten a neck, without it in his Monmouth Park debut. He’ll have to ditch the Lasix in order to stamp himself as a top-tier Derby candidate, because this year’s edition (and the major points-earning Derby prep races) will be conducted without that anti-bleeding drug.

‘Max’ is Back

A dozen races and nearly six hours later on Saturday, Maxfield (Street Sense) pranced onto the floodlit Fair Grounds main track for the Tenacious S.

If the passage of nearly seven months since his last start made you forget what a sleek and athletically gifted equine specimen he is, the dark bay’s presence in this relatively modest $75,000 nightcap would soon snap you back to those long, warm days of spring, when “Max” was ranked as high as third on the TDN Derby Top 12 and was last seen professionally dismantling a pretty decent field in the GIII Matt Winn S. even though he was not fully cranked for a prime effort that day.

Depending on which prism you choose to view him through, Maxfield is either the most unlucky four-for-four racehorse on the planet right now or the luckiest.

On the unlucky side, recall that Max unleashed the most visually impressive juvenile stakes effort of 2019 when he ransacked the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity field at Keeneland that October. He loomed as one of the favorites for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but was forced to scratch the week of the race, and underwent ankle chip surgery in November that kept him sidelined until mid-winter.

Godolphin tasked trainer Brendan Walsh with mapping out a slow but steady 2020 comeback for Max. But just when he appeared poised to resurface in the entries, the pandemic hit, halting most racing and knocking the Triple Crown schedule askew.

Yet a few weeks later, this timing change appeared to work in Maxfield’s favor, because that May 23 Winn score would allow the homebred time for a summer prep race or two prior to the rescheduled Sept. 5 Derby.

But on June 10, Maxfield suffered a non-displaced condylar fracture in his right front leg while breezing a half-mile at Keeneland. Godolphin immediately issued a press release saying that it was looking forward to a 2021 campaign after the colt healed. But that prospect was hardly etched in stone.

So the fact that Max persevered through yet another long-haul rehab has to be considered the lucky part. The icing on the cake is that he thrived in Saturday’s comeback, and we still have yet to see his all-out best.

Shadowing the speed, the 1-2 favorite cut an intimidating presence while in stalk mode sitting second for most of an untroubled trip, and watching Max inch forward with metronomic precision down the backstretch gave the impression that he could have inhaled the frontrunner at will.

But jockey Florent Geroux instead waited until five-sixteenths out to cue his colt to quicken, with Max coming over the top at the three-sixteenths pole. He was hand-urged and not overly extended to win by 2 1/2 measured lengths in 1:43.35 (98 Beyer).

“I’m relieved,” Walsh said post-race. “It’s nice to get him back [to racing] and have him run so well. He was working so well going into it, you’re just looking for confirmation. He gave us what we needed to see…. He was a little fresh, so maybe he was a little more aggressive than normal. I don’t think he’s a deep closer by any means. He’s a stronger horse this year and I think we can ride him more prominently.”

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