GISW Played Hard Retired

Rigney Racing's Played Hard (Into Mischief–Well Lived, by Tiznow), winner of the GI La Troienne S. in May, has been retired from racing, trainer Phil Bauer confirmed the news first reported in Blood-Horse Thursday.

“She had a summer that just nothing bounced her way,” Bauer said. “We took her to Saratoga and missed the Shuvee with illness. We planned on bringing her back to Churchill, but in her last breeze up there, she got an injury in her right hind ankle. So we had the discussion with Mr. [Richard] Rigney that she owed us nothing. It was something she could rehab from, but she's a Grade I-winning millionare, to skip a breeding season and try to bring her back, we didn't think she owed us that much. She's going to join [Rigney's] broodmare band and hopefully produce more like her.”

A $280,000 Keeneland September purchase, Played Hard was second in the 2021 GIII Comely S. and earned her first graded victory in the 2022 GIII Locust Grove S. She was third in last year's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. and ended the campaign with a win in the GIII Falls City S.

Played Hard gave Bauer his first top-level victory when winning the La Troienne at his hometown track in May and made her final start when third in the June 10 GI Ogden Phipps S.

“It is bittersweet,” Bauer said of the 5-year-old mare's retirement. “We had such high hopes for her to finish out the year, but we went to the farm to look at her the other day. They brought her out and it just brought back a lot of emotions and happiness. Hopefully we will find another one to repeat it.”

On the board in 14 of 16 starts, Played Hard won six times and earned $1,480,140.

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Background Check: CCA Oaks

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is the GI Coaching Club American Oaks, a significant 3-year old filly event on the Saratoga calendar.

The CCA Oaks is one of the revered traditions in the sophomore filly ranks. Like so many other races that have a century's worth of history, it has changed both distances and venues multiple times. The race began at nine furlongs in 1917 and was shortened to that distance again in 2010 after spending most of its tenure at 11 and 12 furlongs, in addition to 15 years at 10 furlongs. It's primarily been a fixture at Belmont Park, spent a few years at Aqueduct in the 1960s, and has now been at Saratoga since 2010. August Belmont, Jr.–breeder of Man o' War and a key builder of Belmont Park–was instrumental in molding the event after the Epsom Oaks. Many of the most celebrated fillies of the sport, including the legendary champions Ruffian and Twilight Tear, have won the CCA Oaks. The 106th edition of the storied race will be run Saturday.

Following are the most compelling CCA Oaks winners in reverse chronological order. They haven't been reviewed by their own pedigrees or race records, but simply by what impact they have delivered through their sons and daughters.

Music Note (2005, A.P. Indy–Note Musicale {GB}, by Sadler's Wells): This still-active mare in the Godolphin broodmare band produced last year's wildly impressive G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide, as well as last year's GIII Penn Mile winner Gershwin. She delivered a full-sister to Mystic Guide Apr. 23.

My Flag (1993, Easy Goer–Personal Ensign, by Private Account): This Phipps family mare did her bit to continue the legacy of her Broodmare of the Year dam. She had four stakes performers, including champion Storm Flag Flying, and her daughters and granddaughters have already produced 14 additional black-type horses, including July 9 GII Suburban S. winner Dynamic One.

Sky Beauty (1990, Blushing Groom {Fr}–Maplejinsky, by Nijinsky II): She is another mare who hailed from a wonderful family. Although her only stakes-winning foal was MGSW and Argentinean leading sire Hurricane Cat, she's leaving her mark in North America as well through GISW and sire Violence.

Chris Evert (1971, Swoon's Son–Miss Carmie, by T. V. Lark): This lovely chestnut is probably best remembered today for her grandson, champion and eight-time Grade I winner Chief's Crown, but the long list of other horses descended from her five daughters include MGISWs Classic Crown, Sightseek, and Tates Creek; GISWs Dominican and Etoile Montante; and more recent stars like May 7 GI Derby City Distaff winner Obligatory, as well as MGSW/MGISP Bonny South.

Music Note is the most recent CCA Oaks winner to turn into a notable producer | Sarah Andrew

Lady Pitt (1963, Sword Dancer–Rock Drill, by Whirlaway): It may be a surprise to learn Lady Pitt was never a Broodmare of the Year since she's so prevalent in pedigrees today, but just two of her 10 foals were stakes winners: GISW The Liberal Member and MGSW/MGISP Blitey. The latter launched a Phipps family dynasty all on her own. Among her important descendants are champion Heavenly Prize, MGISWs Dancing Spree, Finder's Fee, Good Reward, and current sensation Flightline, as well as GISWs Furlong, Fantastic Find, Oh What a Windfall, Persistently, and Instilled Regard.

Bramalea (1959, Nashua–Rarelea, by Bull Lea): A number of stakes winners trace to this mare, but it's her son, Irish and English champion Roberto, who put her on the map as a factor in pedigrees and will keep her there. Roberto was a leading sire in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom, as well as a leading broodmare sire. His continued influence through one of his major sons, Lear Fan, was recently detailed in TDN. Roberto has played a major part through both his sons and daughters in pedigrees of several significant stallions, including Giant's Causeway and Kitten's Joy.

Levee (1953, Hill Prince–Bourtai, by Stimulus): Named Broodmare of the Year in 1970, her foals included champion Shuvee (who also won the CCA Oaks in 1969 and has a Grade II event named after her, which will be run Sunday at the Spa) and three other stakes winners. Among the high-class horses produced by her daughters and granddaughters are champion Sacahuista, MGISW Raging Fever, and G1 Irish St. Leger winners Meneval and Strategic Choice.

High Voltage (1952, Ambiorix {Fr}–Dynamo, by Menow): Her three stakes winners included champion Impressive and eventual notable sire Bold Commander. Among the best foals produced by her daughters was MGISW and sire Majestic Light.

Cherokee Rose (1951, Princequillo {GB}–The Squaw II {Fr}, by Sickle {GB}): The brilliant Horse of the Year Ack Ack traces directly to her, as does Venezuelan champion Sweet Candy (Ven) and GISWs Reluctant Guest and Just the Time.

Real Delight (1949, Bull Lea–Blue Delight, by Blue Larkspur): This Calumet mare produced three stakes winners, but tracing to her through her daughters are Broodmare of the Year Sweet Tooth and her foals, including champion Our Mims, MGISW and leading sire Alydar, and GISW Sugar and Spice; plus champion Christmas Past, MGISWs Codex and Grand Slam, and many more high-class runners.

How (1948, Princequillo {GB}–The Squaw II {Fr}, by Sickle {GB}): A full-sister to fellow CCA Oaks winner Cherokee Rose (above), How produced just three foals, but one of them was 1965 Broodmare of the Year Pocahontas, who in turn produced champion and important sire Tom Rolfe, MSW and sire Chieftain, and a number of other accomplished runners.

Scattered (1945, Whirlaway–Imperatrice, by Caruso): The dam of Alabama winner Here and There and Hempstead winner Disperse, this King Ranch mare may not remain a significant force in Thoroughbred pedigrees, but her great-grandson is the breed-shaping Quarter Horse racing stallion Dash for Cash. According to the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), he “defined Quarter Horse racing from the time he stepped onto the track” until his death. His ashes are buried at the foot of his life-sized bronze at the breed's Hall of Fame and Museum. Dash for Cash's trainer nearly 50 years ago was one D. Wayne Lukas.

MGISW and $3.2-million Fasig-Tipton sales mare Hard Not to Love traces to 1921 CCA Oaks winner Flambette | Benoit

Vagrancy (1939, Sir Gallahad III {Fr}–Valkyr, by Man o' War): This Belair Stud champion produced English champion Black Tarquin, as well as Test and Diana winner Vulcania. Her descendants include Broodmares of the Year Banja Luka and Natashka. Among the most notable stakes winners tracing to her are Horse of the Year Ferdinand, multiple European champion Distant Relative (Ire), and champion Questing, who also won the CCA Oaks in 2012.

Black Helen (1932, Black Toney–La Troienne {Fr}, by Teddy {Fr}): Although she didn't produce any stakes winners herself, Black Helen originated her own branch of the immortal La Troienne line through her daughters. Among her descendants were U.S. champions But Why Not, Princess Rooney, and Pleasant Tap; Canadian Horse of the Year Travelling Victor; and GI Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin.

Flambette (Fr) (1918, Durbar II {Fr}–La Flambee {Fr}, by Ajax {Fr}): A Belair Stud foundation mare, Flambette produced Gazelle winner Flambino and two other stakes winners. Her daughters produced champion and Triple Crown winner Omaha, Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Johnstown, and champions Gallorette and Jacola. Among other top horses descended immediately from her were champions Phalanx and Nadir, Kentucky Derby winner Decidedly, and G1 Two Thousand Guineas winner Mark of Esteem (Ire). More recent GISWs tracing to her include Hard Not to Love, Avenge, Union Strike, and Secret Spice, in addition to Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot.

Cleopatra (1917, Corcyra {GB}–Gallice {GB}, by Gallinule {GB}): Three of this mare's foals were black-type winners, including champion Pompey. Her descendants include Broodmare of the Year Gaga, who produced not only Horse of the Year and good sire Tom Fool, but also champion Aunt Jinny.

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Taking Stock: The Phipps Influence

Last Thursday, I received an email out of the blue from someone I didn't know. Evidently Jason Brooks listens to me every Wednesday on Steve Byk's “At the Races” radio show where we discuss pedigrees among other things, and Brooks wanted to inform me that there were “21 graded stakes wins in the first half of 2022 for horses with Phipps pedigrees.”

According to Brooks, he does social media for Phipps Stable and operates the account @PhippsStableFan on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Curious, I took a look at his Twitter account. He'd quoted something I'd said on Byk's show a day earlier: “Flightline is absolutely exceptional. He comes from a great Phipps family. It's really phenomenal. He's a massive talent. He's going to be one of the most desirable stallions when he goes to stud. – Sid Fernando.”

Then on Friday, I took a call from someone I did know very well, Canadian owner-breeder Chuck Fipke, a longtime client of ours at Werk Thoroughbred Consultants. Fipke had two homebreds in graded races Saturday, Canadian champion Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) in the GII Nassau S. at Woodbine and Title Ready (More Than Ready) in the GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill.

Fipke wasn't too concerned about Lady Speightspeare, an attractive chestnut 4-year-old filly who'd already won a Grade I race at two and is destined to join his accomplished broodmare band as a valuable member. She ended up dead-heating for the win after being passed in the stretch, becoming trainer Roger Attfield's 2,000th winner in the process. It was fitting that Attfield attained the milestone with a Fipke runner. The two have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship together, and Attfield also trains Fipke's 5-year-old horse Shirl's Speight (Speightstown), winner of the GI Maker's Mile S. at Keeneland in April.

Fipke wanted to primarily discuss Title Ready, a 7-year-old Grade III winner who is multiple Grade II placed, with earnings of more than $750,000. He'd like to stand the horse at stud next year and wants to bolster his resume and earnings, and as an involved owner he'd had a conference call with trainer Dallas Stewart and jockey Brian Hernandez on how best to ride the horse for maximum effect. The plan, Fipke said, was to drop him back, get him to the rail, save ground, and make a belated run on the inside as Sonny Leon had done with Rich Strike in the Derby. It didn't quite work out this time; Title Ready finished fifth, his closing kick blunted after staying closer to the leaders than anticipated and altering course in the stretch.

Undeterred, Fipke called again after the race to map out a plan for Title Ready for the remainder of the year. Why is he so interested in standing Title Ready? Because Title Ready is out of the unraced Monarchos mare Title Seeker, a Phipps-bred daughter of the great Personal Ensign. Fipke had purchased Title Seeker for $1.7 million in 2006 at Keeneland November, and he'd bred and raced her Seeking the Gold daughter Seeking the Title, a Grade III winner.

Seeking the Title in turn produced Fipke's Grade I winner of $3.4 million, Seeking the Soul, a son of the Fipke homebred Grade I winner and champion Perfect Soul (Ire). Like Title Ready and Seeking the Title, Seeking the Soul was trained by Dallas Stewart, and he raced as a 7-year-old as well. He now stands for Fipke at Ocala Stud.

Also on Saturday, Brooks emailed me again to update his list. There'd been two more graded stakes wins, he said, upping the total to 23: Frosted Over (Frosted) won the GIII Dominion Day S. at Woodbine Friday, and the other race was the aforementioned one that Lady Speightspeare won Saturday.

Fipke had purchased Lady Speightspeare's second dam, Grade I winner Lady Shirl, for $485,000 in 2005 at Keeneland November when the mare was 18 and nearing the end of her breeding career. “You know, I looked at her closely before I bought her, and I noticed that she looked younger than she was–she didn't look her age at all. And, eh, she had a great Phipps family behind her tracing to La Troienne (Fr), and I wanted to get some fillies from her,” Fipke said by phone Monday.

Lady Shirl's third dam was the Phipps-bred (Wheatley Stable) Brilliantly, whose next four dams were Glamour/Striking/Baby League/La Troienne–the last named one of the most influential mares in the Stud Book, if not the most. The Phippses came into this branch of La Troienne by acquiring Baby League from E.R. Bradley's Idle Hour Stock Farm. In fact, they acquired several other Bradley-bred daughters of La Troienne as well.

Fipke got three foals, all fillies, from Lady Shirl. Two of them made it to the track under the guidance of Attfied. The first, Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}), was a Grade II winner of $495,608, and she is the dam of Lady Speightspeare. The second, Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul), won the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and earned $1,390,729. She is the dam of Shirl's Speight, who Fipke will also stand at stud at the end of his career.

It's an understatement to say that Fipke highly values the female families that have been cultivated by four generations of Phippses, starting in the mid-1920s with Gladys Mills Phipps (in the beginning with her brother Ogden Mills) through the famed Wheatley Stable, which bred and raced, among many others, the influential leading sire Bold Ruler, whose tail-male influence continues to this day through leading sire Tapit, the sire of Flightline.

The next generation was Gladys's son Ogden Phipps, who raced icons Personal Ensign, Easy Goer, and Buckpasser; and her daughter, Barbara Phipps Janney, who bred and raced the great filly Ruffian with her husband Stuart Janney Jr. After them came Ogden's son Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, who bred and raced, among many other high class and influential colts and fillies, GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb, in partnership with cousin Stuart Janney lll; and Ogden's daughter Cynthia Phipps, who bred and raced champion Christmas Past. The present generation of Phipps Stable is headed by Dinny's daughter Daisy Phipps Pulito and son Ogden Phipps II.

Back in the 1990s when I was bloodstock editor of Daily Racing Form, I'd occasionally speak to Dinny Phipps about the female lines that he and his family had cultivated through the decades, and he always enjoyed discussing them. Four decades later, many of those families are still highly productive, and I'm sure he'd be especially pleased that one branch through the acquired Lady Pitt's daughter Blitey is responsible for Flightline, who is undefeated in four starts and two Grade I races and has yet to be asked for 100% effort though he's won by open lengths in each start.

Graded wins

Brooks sent me a list of the horses responsible for the 23 graded wins, but he'd included two who were from dams whose sires were bred by the Phippses, and I'm not including them in this tally. Only those horses descending from Phipps families or a dam bred by a Phipps are counted. He'd also mistaken–these things can easily happen with two horses sharing the same name–the pedigree of 2-year-old Adare Manor (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who is from a Phipps family, for U.S. graded winner Adare Manor (Uncle Mo); therefore, she's out as well.

Through Saturday, there were 225 graded races contested in Canada and the United States. According to Brooks's research, the winners of 20, or almost 9%, descend from families developed or bred by the Phippses. That's significant influence. The Phippses emphasized quality over quantity and developed a limited number of deep families from mares they'd acquired, and through the years there have been many beneficiaries of Phipps breeding who got into these families as the principals culled them. These families have given past and present breeders a deep foundation on which to build upon and create their own top-class horses, and that is one of the important legacies of the Phippses.

Below are the 15 horses and their Phipps families that have accounted for the 20 graded races through Saturday. Note that seven of them, like Lady Shakespeare, have won a Grade l race at some point in their career.

Grade I Winners

Flightline (Tapit) [Blitey branch of Lady Pitt]
Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) [Glamour/Striking branch of Baby League/La Troienne]
Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) [Busanda branch of Businesslike/La Troienne]
There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) [No Fiddling branch of Big Hurry/La Troienne]

Grade II Winners

Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) [My Boss Lady/Striking branch of Baby League/La Troienne]
Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) [Clear Ceiling branch of Grey Flight]
Turnerloose (Nyquist) [High Voltage branch of Erin]
Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) [Glamour/Striking branch of Baby League/La Troienne]

Grade III Winners

Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) [Second dam Cabbage Key co-bred by Ogden Phipps ll]
Glass Ceiling (Constitution) [Bases Full/Striking branch of Baby League/La Troienne]
Cellist (Big Blue Kitten) [Blitey branch of Lady Pitt]
Cody's Wish (Curlin) [Baby League/La Troienne]
Frosted Over (Frosted) [Allemande branch of Big Hurry/La Troienne]
Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) [Blitey branch of Lady Pitt]
Becca Taylor (Old Topper) [Glamour/Striking branch of Baby League/La Troienne]

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

The post Taking Stock: The Phipps Influence appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Repole: Longshot Overtook Well-Bred For Belmont’s Distance

Few active Thoroughbred owners are as synonymous with top-level success on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit as Mike Repole, who will be represented by Overtook in Saturday's Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Overtook, a $1 million purchase from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is owned by Repole in partnership with St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith.

As a lifelong New Yorker and racing fan, Repole said he takes pride in having conquered some of the most prestigious races in the Empire State and beyond.

When examining his own list of accomplishments, Repole said it's not his triumphs in prestigious Grade 1 New York classics such as the Travers, Alabama, Champagne or Coaching Club American Oaks, nor is it his two Breeders' Cup victories, that stand out.

“There's a hole in my resume, and it's the Belmont Stakes,” Repole said. “I've probably said it fifteen years ago when I had just entered the game and was winning claiming races that I'd rather win the Belmont than the Kentucky Derby. And now, 15 years later, I'm still looking.”

Repole arrives at this year's Belmont Stakes with the second longest shot in a field of eight in Overtook, who breaks from the outside post at morning line odds of 20-1 under jockey Manny Franco.

Repole came close to finding his first Belmont Stakes victory in his first attempt when Stay Thirsty ran second in 2011. At the top of the stretch, the subsequent Grade 1 Travers victor made a menacing run along the rail, but was ultimately kept at bay by Ruler On Ice.

“That still goes down as the toughest loss in my life,” Repole said. “People congratulated me right after the race knowing that this was a dream and I had come so close. Now, ten years later, I haven't come close to it since. It just makes it more inspiring and motivating to one day win this race.”

Since Stay Thirsty's rallying second in the “Test of the Champion”, Repole has owned a handful of Belmont Stakes contenders, including a trio of unplaced runners in 2013, as well as his most recent Belmont starter Vino Rosso running fourth in 2018.

But like a true sportsman, Repole remains persistent in getting that Belmont Stakes win. A native of Queens, Repole grew up going to Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack and always held the Triple Crown's third jewel in highest regards.

“I've been so blessed. These are the races I went to growing up and these are the races I wanted to win,” Repole said. “I definitely feel blessed and lucky, but there's a hole in that resume and it's the Belmont Stakes. Especially, when I think about being that kid from Queens that grew up going to Aqueduct and Belmont. Now, I've had so many big wins in New York.”

Overtook was certainly bred for the 12-furlong endurance distance, being by 2007-08 Horse of the Year Curlin, sire of 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, and is out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Got Lucky. Additionally, he is a direct descendent of the immensely influential La Troienne.

All it took was one glance at Overtook's pedigree for Repole to have the Belmont Stakes in mind.

“This is one horse that I circled for a mile and a half in the Belmont in two years,” Repole said. “Curlin only lost by a nose in the Belmont and Got Lucky could run all day. We'll be a longshot, but there's no doubt that he can get the distance.”

In five career starts, Overtook's lone victory was a one-turn mile maiden triumph at third asking over the main track at Aqueduct, where he made up 10 lengths from eighth. From there, he maintained his late-closing running style with placings in the Grade 3 Withers and most recently the Grade 3 Peter Pan on May 8 at Belmont Park.

“If we get a good pace upfront, one thing you'll see is that he'll be running really hard at the end,” Repole said. “When he broke his maiden, it wasn't the distance, it was the pace that made all the difference. When he was in the Peter Pan, I thought he had a big shot, but when I saw the fractions, I knew we were in trouble.

“If they go 25 and 50 upfront, I might be walking to get my car from the valet early,” he added, with a laugh. “If I see 24 and 48 or even faster, I'll stand up immediately and watch him the whole way.”

Repole said Overtook is in good hands with his Hall of Fame trainer, a three-time Belmont Stakes-winner, and last year's winning Belmont rider Manny Franco.

“He's a horse that will need the distance and the pace, but Todd has done an amazing with him, and Manny fits this horse really, really well,” said Repole. “He's an aggressive rider and I think Overtook likes aggressive riders. He'll have to get in the game and be aggressive that last quarter of a mile. Hopefully, we'll see those blue and orange silks come flying down the stretch.”

Repole spoke high volumes of Overtook's co-owners, both of whom he has had a longstanding relationship. He owned 2019 Champion Older Horse Vino Rosso in partnership with Viola, who is the standalone owner of Belmont Stakes contender Known Agenda. Coolmore stands Uncle Mo, who was 2010 Champion 2-Year-Old and became an influential sire, producing 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist in his first crop.

“Vinnie and Teresa [Viola] and I have a lot of horses together. Vino Rosso ran fourth a few years ago and went on to do some big things,” said Repole. “If Overtook can't win, there's no one rooting harder for Known Agenda than me.”

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival runs from June 3 through Saturday, June 5, and is headlined by the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

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