Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Newtownanner Stud

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Hanzly Albina of Newtownanner Stud.

“I don't take this lightly at all,” said Albina, who is both general manager of Newtownanner's Kentucky farm and North American bloodstock manager of the operation. “It's a ton of fun when it works out. For me, the physical is what I'm shooting for as I can't predict performance. We want to produce what we would buy in a sales ring, want to produce as nice a horse as we can, whether it's to sell or to race. We raise them all as if we were going to race them all, then if we sell, we're confident we're selling the best product we can.

“Some people are traditionalists and breed to race or breed to sell, but there's not really a difference anymore. At the end of the day, everyone is technically a seller–unless you keep every single foal, you're going to see the marketplace, and that goes for either a filly or a colt. You'll eventually either breed your mare or market your stallion, so you must consider these things. I find there's a lot of commonality among the guys who do the best with this.”

Wamathaat (8, Speightstown–Special Me, by Unbridled's Song), to be bred to Into Mischief

We bought her from Tattersalls (220,000gns) in 2019 and brought her over here. At the time we bought her, I thought it was a family that was on the uptake and it has rewarded us. She's a half to Gina Romantica, Gift Box, Stonetastic, Special Forces. It looked like a family that was exploding. She's a very good-looking mare. She has a 2-year-old Twirling Candy filly we sold to Mike Akers last year (FTSAUG, $385,000) and a Candy Ride (Arg) colt that is very nice.

She went to Into Mischief last year and this year is going to go back to him. It's hard to go wrong with Into Mischief. (MGISW) Gina Romantica obviously has continued to run very well and so we kind of wanted to bring that out of her. We tried the Candy Ride with her and there will probably be more of him in her future, maybe some Gun Runner in there, but for right now we went to Into Mischief and we'll see what happens.

Toni Tools (10, Roaring Fever–Patine, by Smart Strike), to be bred to Gun Runner

We bought her for $330,000 at the (2023) Fasig-Tipton Mixed Sale. She is the dam of Candied, a Grade I winner of the Alcibiades. She's going to Gun Runner. It's a natural inclination from a body perspective, plus we get a little more consistency from Gun Runner than Candy Ride (sire of Candied). She's a young mare and deserves to be bred to the best sire out there; she warrants the money. This is her time.

Toni Tools as a 2-year-old on the track | Sarah Andrew

Flourish (17, Distorted Humor–Viviana, by Nureyev), to be bred to Into Mischief

She's the dam of (MGSW & GISP) Fulsome, an Into Mischief millionaire. She's going back to him for obvious reasons. She has an Into Mischief sister to Fulsome on the ground and basically this is the third year in a row we've gone to him with her.

Kosmo's Buddy (19, Outflanker–Vaulted, by Allen's Prospect), to be bred to Gun Runner

She's the dam of (Horse of the Year) Knicks Go. She recently had a Paynter colt and will be going back to Gun Runner. It was more of a physical match for us. She's not the biggest mare in the world, but she transfers a lot of the stallion through. I think if you breed her to a strong stallion, that is pretty bulletproof for her. Gun Runner is the horse for me and is the hot stallion right now. This mating was more of a physical one than from a pedigree perspective. In the past we'd bred her to Justify and Ghostzapper, trying to follow the Awesome Again, but we think Gun Runner makes a lot of sense as she brings out a lot of the stallion. We all try to figure it out; you develop your theories and see what has validity or not.

Kadira (19, Kafwain–Raw Gold, by Rahy), to be bred to Tapit

This is the dam of Paola Queen, winner of the Test. She is going to Tapit. We loved Flatter (sire of Paola Queen) and he was very generous to us, but he's gone. We sold one Flatter filly out of Kadira and retained another. She's in foal to Tapit and going back to him, because of the Pulpit/A.P. Indy factor. She has very beautiful foals and he will be a good match. When the mare has already proven herself, it makes my job easy.

Malibu Pier (17, Malibu Moon–Blue Moon {Fr}, by Lomitas {GB}), to be bred to Forte

She's the dam of Malibu Stacy, who was Grade II placed, and Coasted, who was Grade-I placed in the Breeders' Cup. She's an older mare, but we bred her to Medaglia d'Oro and got a nice filly. She's in foal to Jackie's Warrior now and is going to be bred back to Forte. I thought the body types matched well. We like the Medaglia d'Oro (yearling) filly very much and with Forte a first-year sire we wanted to breed to and it being a very hard season to get a hold of, we wanted to make sure we used it well.

Meg Fitz (9, Tapit–Meguial {Arg}, by Roy), to be bred to Justify

This is a Tapit mare we bred. She's in foal to Olympiad right now; we'll go back to Justify because she's a half-sister to (GISW) I Want Revenge, more than a half-sister. Her first foal is a Mendelssohn, who was second in the Kentucky Jockey Club (Real Men Violen). We're excited about the Olympiad. She had a Speightstown sell for $600,000 at Saratoga last year and has been very generous to us so far, so we're going to Justify since that's a Scat Daddy line. She brings the best out of every stallion we've bred her to and has beautiful foals.

Kateri (12, Indian Charlie–Sue's Good News, by Woodman), to be bred to Cody's Wish

She's a mare we've had her entire career; again, very generous to us. She's a stunning mare, an Indian Charlie mare. We sold a Tiznow out of her for $420,000 as a 2-year-old, a Curlin for $725,000. Obviously, her best racehorse to date is (GSW & GISP) Souper Sensational (by Curlin). We bred her to Curlin again and are retaining that 2022 colt to race. He's in training with Robbie Medina. She has a yearling filly by Curlin and went back to him again. That would have been four years in a row to Curlin if we went this year, so we're going to Cody's Wish. She puts a great body on a horse and we thought he was a standout physically. If you went to see that horse, you bred to him.

Shopit's 2021 colt in the sales ring | Fasig-Tipton

Shopit (9, Yes It's True–Shop Here, by Dehere), to be bred to Into Mischief

Dam of (SW & MGISP) Shoplifted. It's probably not that interesting, but we just breed her to Into Mischief every year since it already worked. She has amazing foals.

Afleet Maggi (17, Afleet Alex–Mindset, by Coronado's Quest), to be bred to Nyquist

Dam of Grade I winner Dream Tree. We bought her, have an Uncle Mo filly out of her that I was pretty happy with. She went back to Uncle Mo, but aborted. This year, we went to Nyquist. With him taking off last year, we think he's now done enough to warrant being bred to her.

Fancier (13, Bernstein–Princess Pegasus, by Fusaichi Pegasus), to be bred to Flightline

She is the dam of (GISW) Get Her Number by Dialed In, which is the Mineshaft/A.P. Indy line. She has a Tapit colt and is back in foal to Tapit, but this year we'll be breeding her to Flightline. We typically wouldn't breed a mare of this caliber to a second-year sire; we'd go to a proven or a first -year sire, but he's going to defy the odds. He has a lot of buzz, a lot of industry support, and looks exactly what you think a horse of his race record is going to look like. I think he'll defy the trend; I don't think he'll have the usual slump of a second and third year. We're seeing if we can improve the Tapit we have with him. We think he's a good fit for this mare.

Go Go Princess (4, Justify–Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker), to be bred to Mage

She's more than a half to Knicks Go and we're going to breed her to Mage. The reasoning is she's a very typical Justify, she's an even leggier version of him. I think from a body perspective, she is a beautiful mare and we had a little flexibility on who to breed to. We're very excited about Mage at Airdrie. A first-year Derby winner is one of the soundest bets in our sport. We're actually sending two to Mage.

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‘From Little Fluffy Baby To Super Racehorse’: Breeder Moore Recounts Journey With Knicks Go

It was a cold and eventful January evening when Pegasus World Cup Invitational Champion (G1) Knicks Go, rated first in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, came into this world.

Co-breeder Sabrina Moore now recounts that evening as the Maryland-bred prepares for his final start before the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in Saturday's Lukas Classic (G3) at Churchill Downs.

Spending time with Maryland Jockey Club co-host Naomi Tukker at her Maryland farm, Moore also talks about her relationship with Knicks Go's dam, Kosmo's Buddy, and the challenging realities of running a commercial enterprise.

Moore was present at Keeneland when the enigmatic grey recorded his first Grade 1 success in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1). She elaborates on the pride, the emotion, the ride he has taken the Moore family on.

After Knicks Go's Whitney Stakes (G1) victory in August, Sabrina was reunited with her old charge for the first time since he left their care. “Going from little fluffy baby to super racehorse” was her way of summing up the horse she knew.

The story of Knicks Go continues, with two of his siblings living under the watchful eyes of the Moore's at Greenmount farm in Maryland.

The post ‘From Little Fluffy Baby To Super Racehorse’: Breeder Moore Recounts Journey With Knicks Go appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Knicks Go Serves As Rising Tide For His Connections

The Awesome Again stallion Paynter had an unusual result in the 2021 running of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 23. He had two sons starting in the race, and they finished as bookends to the field. Favored Knicks Go won the race by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:47.89, and graded stakes winner Harpers First Ride was essentially eased to finish last of the 12 racers.

The winner is one of four graded stakes winners among the 15 stakes winners to date sired by Paynter, winner of the Grade 1 Haskell in 2012. Also second in the Belmont Stakes to the highly regarded young stallion Union Rags (Dixie Union), Paynter has gotten horses of good speed among his better stock, including the unquestionably fast Knicks Go.

The latter has won his last four races, including the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and he is among the best older horses in training. Following the gray horse's victory at Gulfstream, his sire Paynter catapulted to the top of the leading sires list for 2021 with nearly $2.1 million in earnings this year, with last year's leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) lurking ominously in second. Third place on the leading sires list currently is Tapiture (Tapit), and it is not coincidental that Knicks Go and Tapiture's leading earner, Jesus' Team, were one-two in the Pegasus, just as they were in the Breeders' Cup.

In phenotype, Paynter is quite like his sire, the Deputy Minister stallion Awesome Again. Both are medium-sized horses with quality and refinement, and they clearly take after the physical type of Awesome Again's maternal grandsire, European champion Blushing Groom, more than Eclipse Award winner Deputy Minister, a towering figure of size and scope, allied with uncommon quality.

After surviving laminitis, Paynter came back to race at four but approached his previous form only with a second-place finish to subsequent Breeders' Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) in the G1 Awesome Again Stakes named for Paynter's famous father.

The bay horse went to stud in Kentucky at WinStar for an initial fee of $25,000 live foal, and in Paynter's second book of mares, foals of 2016, was the mare who produced Knicks Go.

Bred in Maryland by Angie Moore, Knicks Go is out of the stakes-winning Outflanker mare Kosmo's Buddy, who won a pair of stakes, the 2008 Maryland Million Turf Sprint and the Crank It Up Stakes, and placed second or third in a dozen more, earning $298,095.

A winner of five races from 37 starts, Kosmo's Buddy was claimed by Moore's Green Mount Farm for $40,000 out of her next-to-last start, when the mare finished third. She came back to race once more, finishing fourth in the 2010 Maryland Million Turf Sprint.

Sabrina Moore was co-breeder of the horses with her mother, recalling that the mare was claimed in her mother's name because “this was all her dream.” As the breeding and racing operation developed, “I was so young that it was simpler for us to use my mom's ID and all for the business.

“And as I grew up and became more involved in working with the horses, we decided to make Green Mount Farm a more commercial business. I became a partner in the breeding, including becoming a partner with breeding Knicks Go,” Sabrina Moore said. The Moores bred the first half-dozen foals out of the mare.

Knicks Go is the mare's fourth foal. Kosmo's Buddy has a gray 3-year-old colt by the good sire Broken Vow (Unbridled) who is unraced, has no 2-year-old, has a gray yearling filly by champion Justify (Scat Daddy), and is in foal for 2021 to Horse of the Year Ghostzapper (Awesome Again). Moore noted that the “Broken Vow is really nice and in training at Pimlico. He has a lot of substance, standing about 16 hands.”

When carrying Knicks Go, Kosmo's Buddy was consigned to the 2015 Keeneland November sale but was bought back at $37,000. After Knicks Go won a maiden, Moore recalled that “agent Jun Park had called about buying her, and as a small breeder, you make money where you can.” So the Moores sold the hefty gray in a private transaction through the same agent who had helped pick out Knicks Go as a yearling for the KRA.

After the gray colt won his first Grade 1, the 2018 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, the new owner decided to send the mare to the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale, where she was bought back for $195,000 when she was listed as “Not Bred” in the catalog.

After that sale, Hanzly Albina said: “Nick Sallusto and I had noticed that she had been bought back. We negotiated and got her for a very good price” on behalf of Newtown Anner Stud LLC, which is the breeder of the Justify filly mentioned above.

Albina continued: “When we bought this mare, we knew we were never going to sell her. So it didn't matter that she isn't the tallest or most attractive individual herself. She's a Grade 1 producer, and Newtown Anner is both a commercial and a racing operation; we try to offer all the yearlings at auction, but if we have one that doesn't bring a reasonable sum at a sale, we're happy to race on with it.”

In selecting a first mate for Newtown Anner's new mare, Albina said, “I had intended to send her to Ghostzapper, but with Justify retiring, you only get one chance at the first year to a Triple Crown winner. The result is that we have a nice filly. From what I've seen of the mare's foals, she translates the stallion through, and the Justify [yearling] has a lot of size, an extended hip, and is a very nice physical.”

In addition to sharing the gray color of her dam, the Justify filly has a gray half-brother who is one of the top horses in training in 2021.

When Knicks Go went through the ring for the first time at the 2016 Keeneland November sale as a weanling, he sold to Northface Bloodstock for $40,000 from the Bill Reightler consignment, as agent for Green Mount. The price for the colt was the seventh-highest for a weanling among the 24 sold by Paynter in 2016.

Ten months later, the gray colt went to the sales again with Woods Edge Sales and brought $87,000 (sixth among 67 yearlings sold by the sire) at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale, selling to the Korea Racing Authority. As I documented in an article about Knicks Go when he won the Breeders' Futurity, the KRA purchased Knicks Go and a handful of other prospects as an experiment in selecting good athletes that might be stallion prospects.

In Knicks Go, there's no question they have a winner.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Knicks Go Serves As Rising Tide For His Connections appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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