First Foal Is A Colt For New York Stallion Killybegs Captain

Graded stakes winner Killybegs Captain was represented by his first foal when the winning Cryptoclearance mare Clearly Perfect delivered a colt Jan. 31 at Anne Morgan's and Tim Little's Mill Creek Farm in Stillwater, N.Y.

Killybegs Captain, an 8-year-old son of Mizzen Mast out of the Holy Bull mare Al Maha, stands for $2,500 LFSN at Mill Creek Farm.

Bred by Morgan, the newborn colt is the third foal out of Clearly Perfect. The mare's first foal, the Giant Surprise gelding Clear Surprise, sold for $14,000 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale and won four of 18 starts and $48,651. Clearly Perfect is also the dam of the newly turned 2-year-old Frank Conversation filly Franca who sold for $10,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale.

Campaigned by Curragh Racing and trained by John Terranova, Killybegs Captain won seven of 27 starts with five seconds and three thirds for $572,453 in earnings. A $75,000 purchase at the 2016 OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale, Killybegs Captain was a winner at 3, 4, 5 and 6 and rose from the allowance ranks to become a stakes winner in his last two seasons.

Killybegs Captain scored his biggest victory in the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park in 2019, defeating a field that included He Hate Me and New York Central in 1:08.10 for 6 furlongs.

Third in the G2 John A. Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park and G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in 2019, Killybegs Captain also won back-to-back editions of the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in 2019 and 2020. He defeated multiple Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint in the 2019 edition of the Pelican, winning the six-furlong stakes in 1:09.66.

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Grade 3 Winner Killybegs Captain Retired To Mill Creek Farm In New York

Graded stakes winner Killybegs Captain was retired this month and will enter stud in 2021 at Anne Morgan's and Tim Little's Mill Creek Farm in Stillwater, N.Y. The 7-year-old son of Mizzen Mast out of the Holy Bull mare Al Maha will stand his initial season for $2,500 live foal/stands and nurses.

Campaigned by Curragh Racing and trained by John Terranova, Killybegs Captain won seven of 27 starts with five seconds and three thirds for $572,453 in earnings. A $75,000 purchase at the 2016 OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale, Killybegs Captain was a winner at three, four, five and six and rose from the allowance ranks to become a stakes winner in his last two seasons.

Killybegs Captain scored his biggest victory in the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park in 2019, defeating a field that included He Hate Me and New York Central in 1:08.10 for 6 furlongs.

Third in the G2 John A. Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park and G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in 2019, Killybegs Captain also won back-to-back editions of the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in 2019 and 2020. He defeated multiple Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint in the 2019 edition of the Pelican, winning the six-furlong stakes in 1:09.66.

Bred by H. Allen Poindexter, Killybegs Captain is the sixth foal out of Al Maha, a half-sister to stakes winner Find the Treasure and the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Pontchatrain from the family of Grade 1 winner Past Forgetting and Grade 2 winner and sire Concerto.

Killybegs Captain is one of six winners out of Al Maha, who is also the dam of a now 2-year-old unnamed filly by Cross Traffic purchased for $50,000 by Tonja Terranova, agent for Curragh Racing at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale.

“He was a beautiful horse – sound horse – he retired sound,” Tonja Terranova, assistant to her husband, told Daily Racing Form. “He beat Imperial Hint, he was third to Mitole. He was just a solid racehorse; ran short, ran long.”

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‘Versatile’ Stan The Man Headlines De Francis Dash On Preakness Undercard

Last fall, trainer John Terranova sent an unknown minor stakes winner from New York to Maryland, one that had been competitive graded company without success, in search of a breakthrough race.

Killybegs Captain delivered, springing a mild upset in the $200,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) at Laurel Park. Though the horse and the venue have changed, Terranova is looking to repeat the pattern with Stan the Man Saturday, Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The 29th running of the six-furlong De Francis for 3-year-olds and up is part of an all-stakes Preakness Day program featuring the 145th renewal of the $1 million Preakness (G1), contested this year as the final jewel in a refashioned Triple Crown, and the 96th edition of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), one of the country's premiere events for 3-year-old fillies.

Named for the late president and chairman of both Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, and not run in 2008 or 2010, the De Francis' illustrious roster of past winners includes Hall of Famer Housebuster, fellow sprint champions Cherokee Run, Smoke Glacken, Thor's Echo and Benny the Bull, and Lite the Fuse, the race's only two-time winner (1995-96).

This year marks only the third time the De Francis has been run at Pimlico, where it debuted in 1990 and returned in 2004. A win would allow Terranova to join Rick Dutrow as the lone trainer to win the De Francis in back-to-back years. Dutrow trained Lite the Fuse as well as 2007 winner Benny the Bull.

“Certainly, we're just thankful that we have horses of that caliber that can run in those races and be competitive or have a shot to win them. It looks like right now Stan the Man is in good, good form,” Terranova said. “It would be really neat to come and have a real shot at winning that race a second time. That would be nice.”

Long Lake Stable's Stan the Man is a two-time stakes winner, taking the 1 1/8-mile Queens County last December at Aqueduct and the six-furlong Tale of the Cat last time out Aug. 20 at Saratoga after running second behind Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the True North (G2) June 27 at Belmont Park.

Terranova scratched Stan the Man from the Vosburgh (G2) Sept. 26 at Belmont, won by Firenze Fire, to point for the De Francis. Stan the Man breezed four furlongs in 48.89 seconds Sept. 27, ninth-fastest of 67 horses at Belmont.

“He came out of Saratoga well and has trained on forwardly,” Terranova said. “He's doing fantastic. He's in really good shape. I loved his breeze [Sunday] morning. He looks sharp and good to go.”

Stan the Man has a win and three seconds at six furlongs, but has also had success at seven, eight and nine furlongs. Now 6, he has finished third or better in 16 of 24 lifetime starts and is approaching $500,000 in purses earned.

“He looks to be doing really well sprinting at the moment, even though he's versatile. We've gone long with him in the past and he's done different things,” Terranova said. “He's held his own against some stiff competition right from the very beginning. He's been a pleasure, just a fun horse, a neat horse, and we've taken our time with him over the years. He's had a few off races here and there for one reason or another, but he's certainly come back and looks great as a 6-year-old.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Stan the Man from Post 7 in a field of 8.

Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, a stakes winner each of the past four years, will look to give trainer Damon Dilodovico his second De Francis victory following Immortal Eyes 9-1 upset in 2013, when the race wasn't graded. Laki, 7, won the Oceanport Centennial July 3 to open his 2020 season and has run second three times since, a pair of seven-furlong allowances and most recently in the six-furlong Polynesian Sept. 5 at Laurel.

“We're close to a month between races so I'm comfortable with the timeline. He came out of the Laurel Park race clean,” Dilodovico said. “He got kind of bounced around early on and when that happens it's not uncommon for him to get kind of out of sorts, but we didn't have that issue so we were able to just proceed right along and he gave us a nice breeze last weekend.”

While he has enjoyed success over his home track at Laurel, where he ran second in last year's De Francis, Laki is winless in two tries at Pimlico. He was fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 2017 and 2018 Maryland Sprint (G3), not run this year but previously part of the Preakness program that was postponed from May 16 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We just kind of let him move into the race without being too keyed up. The thing about him is, his first two race attempts here at Pimlico have not been that good, so earlier in the spring I wasn't looking to run him back in the Maryland Sprint Handicap at that time. But, we'll give it a shot,” Dilodovico said. “Maybe the Covid worked out for him because that little bit of extra time probably was a blessing for him. Not that he was doing poorly, but I just think time for most horses is important. He's an older guy and we'll try to keep him around a couple more years and maybe try to do some of the stuff we did with Immortal Eyes.”

Regular rider Horacio Karamanos will be aboard from Post 4.

Robert D. Bone's Eastern Bay, who beat Laki by 1 ¼ lengths in the Polynesian, will be just inside Laki in Post 3 under Angel Cruz. The 6-year-old gelding has won three of four starts since being claimed in February by leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez.

“He's a classy horse, very classy. He likes what I do with him and he shows it when he runs. He's a nice horse for any trainer to have. He breezes well and does everything right,” Gonzalez said. “If you look back at his lifetime races, all the time this horse tries. Those are the kind of horses we like to claim.”

Haltered for $35,000, Eastern Bay was nearly but back in for the same tag until Gonzalez convinced Bone otherwise. He has responded with the best stretch of his life, which includes 10 wins and $419,184 in purse earnings from 33 starts.

“Bob Bone is very happy. He wanted to put him in again for the [$35,000] but I said this horse was showing me he's going to be OK. We decide not to put him in for the claim again and now he's won the stake.”

Eastern Bay's only loss with Gonzalez came in an open allowance Aug. 20 at Laurel going seven furlongs. Eastern Bay has a record of 7-1-1 from 16 tries at the De Francis distance.

“That day when he ran seven it looked like he was going to win the race and then he stopped,” Gonzalez said. “I believe that six furlongs is a better distance for him.”

Rounding out the field are Admiral Lynch, third in last year's Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico and second in the World of Trouble Sprint (G3) in February; 2019 Gallant Bob (G2) runner-up Landeskog; Midtowncharlybrown, whose 11 career wins include four stakes; 2019 Woody Stephens (G1) and Amsterdam (G2) runner-up Nitrous; and 8-year-old 13-time winner Krsto Skye, exiting a second in the Smile Sprint (G2) Sept. 5 at Gulfstream Park.

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No Joke: Funny Guy Gets 101 Beyer Speed Figure With Commentator Win

Trainer John Terranova said he was delighted with the performance of Funny Guy, who captured Friday's one-turn mile Commentator at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., off a nine-month layoff, where he garnered a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Owned by R. A. Hill Stable, Gatsas Stable and Swick Stable, Funny Guy had not raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby on September 29 at Remington Park, which was his lone start against open company. He collected his third career stakes win in the Commentator after taking the Albany at Saratoga and the Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series last April at Aqueduct during his 3-year-old campaign.

Terranova left all options open for the 4-year-old son of Big Brown, including a start against open company.

“We'll see as we go down the road into the summer what the schedule will be like,” Terranova said. “He's a really nice colt that we've liked all along since we've got him. He's progressed beautifully over the course of time. I'm just happy to see him back and happy that people have had the patience to wait things out and just stay the course. I'm grateful that he's a sound and happy horse.”

Terranova said Funny Guy has been ready to run for quite a while, but was not concerned about the long layoff.

“He's pretty smart. He's kind of unique in that way. He's one of those smart colts that just knows what's up, That's just the impression he gives you,” Terranova said. “We loved him all along. We were coming off a bit of a break and we weren't planning on being gone that long, nobody was.

“He had been ready for a while,” added Terranova. “It looked pretty competitive for a New York-bred stake, and he was going up against older horses. It was a great performance, Joel [Rosario] gave a great ride and we were expecting a big performance out of him, how big was the question.

Terranova also said Curragh Stables' Killybegs Captain will be receiving some time off due to an ankle injury. The graded stakes-winning son of Mizzen Mast last raced when taking the Pelican at Tampa Bay Downs on February 15.

“He's getting some time off right now. He had a deal with his ankle. We're just going to see what happens into the summer, into the fall,” Terranova said.

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