Leah Alessandroni | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keeneland Colt A First For Wootton Bassett

Since Wootton Bassett's sale to Coolmore was announced just over a year ago, the son of Iffraaj has continued to go from strength to strength. This Wednesday will mark another milestone for the former French champion 2-year-old when his first yearling at a North American sale goes through the ring at Keeneland September.

Conceived in France and shipped in utero to Kentucky by breeder Bonne Chance Farm, hip 688 was foaled last February at his owner's farm in Versailles. He is the third foal out of Eldacar (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), twice a winner for trainer Mikel Delzangles and a full-sister to the G2 Prix de Pomone and G2 Prix Royallieu runner-up Miss Crissy (Ire) from the family of the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud victor Shaka (GB) and G3 Prix de Psyche scorer Serisia (Fr) and her Australian Group 1-winning son Contributer (Ire).

The transatlantic intentions of Brazilian billionaire Gilberto Sayao Da Silva were rather plainly spelled out when Da Silva purchased the former Regis Farm in Versailles in 2015 and re-named it “Bonne Chance”-good luck in French. Da Silva had established Stud Rio Dois Irmaos (Stud RDI) in 2008 to race horses in Brazil and Argentina, and had begun to collect a few horses in France with the intention to establish a stud there. When the opportunity to purchase Regis Farm came along, however, the focus was turned in that direction and much of the stock acquired in France-including Eldacar–was rerouted to Kentucky, with a few fillies and mares remaining in France.

In the meantime, the folks at Bonne Chance had made a very shrewd decision when taking a share in a Group 1-winning 2-year-old called Wootton Bassett when he was syndicated at Haras d'Etreham.

“When they bought Wootton Bassett they asked us to be part of the syndicate and we were glad to do it,” explained Bonne Chance Chief Executive Officer Alberto Figueiredo. “You have to take a shot and when you jump on a horse you have to support him and keep your fingers crossed because no one knows who will be the next superstar. So we kept sending him mares and supporting him and hoped for the best.”

Among those mares was Eldacar, who produced as her first foal the current 3-year-old filly Sunny Morning (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who was sold for €190,000 at Arqana August and placed in June for Ecurie Jean-Louis Bouchard and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. Eldacar's second foal, the 2-year-old filly Macadamia (Fr) (Wootton Bassett), was retained by Bonne Chance and was exported to the U.S. to race after Eldacar sadly died last year. Macadamia made her first start at Kentucky Downs on Saturday for trainer Paulo Lobo and finished eighth after racing in contention on the rail.

Despite following the sire's results closely, Bonne Chance's Bloodstock and Office Manager Leah Alessandroni said she had never seen a Wootton Bassett in the flesh until Eldacar's colt came along, but she said he gave her a very favourable first impression of what the sire throws.

“I'd seen pictures of the stallion and I'd talked to Alberto about him and some other people that were familiar with the stallion,” she said. “But I didn't know what to expect until this horse was born. He's a big, strong horse. Looking at him and looking at the stallion I think there are a lot of similarities there. We imported his full-sister and she's also a quality horse but a lot smaller and more feminine. But we like her a lot and she's training well. I think anyone who is looking for a big, strong, quality horse is going to have to like this colt. I really can't pick him apart. He's a solid individual, big and strong and he's done everything right since day one.”

While Wootton Bassett has had just 11 runners in the U.S., they have proven adept to the American turf; Audayra is his headline act this side of the Atlantic, having won last year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Tamahere (Fr) won the GII Sands Point S. at Belmont Park last fall after being imported by Madaket Stables and partners, and Qatar Racing's Guildsman (Fr) took the GIII Franklin-Simpson S. at Kentucky Downs last summer, the same race that operation won this past Saturday with The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}). Three-year-old colt Wootton Asset (Fr) was the latest to advertise his sire locally when winning the GIII Virginia Derby on Aug. 31 for Madaket and trainer Graham Motion.

“I'm just excited for people to see him,” said Alessandroni of Bonne Chance's colt. “In following the sire because of our share in him, we've all become such huge fans of him and we're so excited to be able to offer the first North American-bred and sale yearling by him. I think he's a really great representation and I'm really excited for people to see him.”

Bonne Chance's Wootton Bassett colt will be offered on Wednesday during the first session of Book 2 from the Gainesway consignment.

Bonne Chance has 10 homebreds in Keeneland September, and also among those is a Lope De Vega (Ire) colt (hip 337) selling as part of the Hidden Brook consignment during the second session of Book 1 on Tuesday. His dam Diavola (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) was bought as a yearling by Stud RDI for 65,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 1, and won over a mile and a half on the turf for Mikel Delzangles. After producing the unraced Intello (Ger) filly Jessamine (Fr) as her first foal, Diavola was sent to Wootton Bassett in 2017 and produced the filly Rapid Achiever (Fr). Bought by John Foote for €130,000 at Arqana's October yearling sale in 2019, Rapid Achiever has won her first two starts Down Under for trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace since the Keeneland catalogue was published. Rapid Achiever was just the second runner in Australasia for Wootton Bassett after Richard Hannon's Beat Le Bon (Fr), who was sent down for the 2019 Golden Eagle, and an unbeaten debut winner will be welcome news to the breeders signed on to use the sire during his first season at Coolmore Australia.

Bonne Chance's Lope De Vega colt is from the excellent Aga Khan family of Darshaan (GB), Dar Re Mi (GB), etc., and Alessandroni said, “this guy is a really quality horse. He has the plain Lope De Vega head, but that's the only plain thing about him. He has a lot of presence and he's a really great mover. All around he's one of my top choices this year of our group. I can't pick him apart. He's really one of my favourites and has been ever since he was a foal. It's been great to see him continue to improve and step up and he looks like he's showing himself off here.”

From 42 runners in America, Lope De Vega has supplied three stakes winners including Newspaperofrecord (Ire) and Aunt Pearl (Ire), back to back winners of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf, and Grade III winner Capla Temptress (Ire). In addition to being one of Europe's elite sires, Lope De Vega has also been very successful in Australia, where his 15 stakes winners include Group 1-winning sprinters Santa Ana Lane (Aus), Vega Magic (Aus), Gytrash (Aus) and Vega One (Aus). Bonne Chance's colt is one of three by Lope De Vega at Keeneland; Bedouin Bloodstock offers a half-sister to Breeders' Cup winner and sire Bobby's Kitten as hip 303 on Tuesday, and a half-sister to triple Grade I winner Miss Temple City (Temple City) as hip 717 on Wednesday. Both were bred by SF Bloodstock.

“Lope De Vega has done a lot in this country and has been represented by some really nice horses,” Alessandroni said. “There are a handful of them every year that you see in the sale and they sell fine, but I think he's a horse people should feel comfortable with. He's proven himself on an international level as well as a domestic level, so I think he's a horse that anybody that wants to win big races is going to at least want to look at.”

Bonne Chance is certainly riding momentum into Keeneland September, having won stakes races with imported homebreds In Love (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) and Imperador (Arg) (Treasure Beach {GB}) over the past week. Those horses alone show that Bonne Chance is not afraid to roll the dice on international horses in America, and indeed its Keeneland offerings also include a Medaglia d'Oro son of an Argentine Group 1 winner and an Into Mischief colt out of a Galileo (Ire) mare. These are members of Bonne Chance's biggest crop to date of 18 foals.

“We actually celebrate our six year anniversary on Sept. 15,” Alessandroni said. “We had three mares when the owner bought the farm and through a combination of buying horses and bringing horses from his other operations we've built ourselves up to between 20 and 30 broodmares, and that's probably where we're always going to stay. We're selling 10 here at Keeneland, we'll have a few selling in October and we'll keep some nice fillies to race.

“We're really excited about this year's group; we think it's a really great representation of our programme. We have a colt in Book 1 by Medaglia d'Oro and the mare was bred in Argentina. She's by Harlan's Holiday but she also raced in France and South America and the U.S., and now she's here breeding for us. This group of yearlings is a really great representation of our entire programme and the international appeal we have really worked hard to bring together.”

The post Keeneland Colt A First For Wootton Bassett appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Even In What Seems Like Failure, We’ve Still Achieved The Founding Goal’

Humans plan. Horses laugh.

Judge Johnny was bred to be a star racehorse. His dam had already produced a Breeders' Cup winner, he was sired by Empire Maker on the stallion's return from Japan, and he was in the second crop born at the up-and-coming boutique breeding farm, Bonne Chance.

As it turns out, JJ is definitely a star. He just prefers three-day eventing to winning races.

Bonne Chance has been supporting the 4-year-old gelding's career change with the assistance of trainer Carleigh Fedorka, with a short-term goal to compete him in the United States Eventing Association's Young Event Horse series throughout 2021.

“It's brought joy to us as a group, to see him be the superstar that we knew he was, even though we got the sport wrong,” said Leah Alessandroni, Bloodstock and Office Manager at Bonne Chance Farm. “I keep telling the guys, I know that it sucks he wasn't our Derby horse, but I think it says a lot about our program that we still produce this kind of animal.”

Bonne Chance was founded in 2015, and there were just six foals in the farm's first crop born in 2016. Among those first six foals was the future two-time Grade 1 winner Cambier Parc.

“As a small farm, we have to produce quality,” Alessandroni said. “That's why I really love how successful JJ is; even in what seems like failure, we've still achieved the founding goal.”

Judge Johnny made five starts on the track, never finishing better than sixth and earning comments on the carts like “never factored.” It was frustrating because of both his breeding and his good looks, but JJ clearly had other plans.

“It was so obvious that the horse did not want to be a racehorse,” Alessandroni said. “As much as his family was amazing racehorses, he would just sleep flat-out on the ground and was so laid back. He's so beautiful, it kind of breaks your heart because everything was right except he didn't want to do it.”

Alessandroni suggested the gelding be moved on to a second career, and that Bonne Chance support him through his first 90 days or so of re-training. The team enthusiastically agreed to send him to Fedorka's care.

“Thoroughbred aftercare is just something that I've seen take leaps and bounds forward during the last 10 years, but I still think we're missing a little bit of the connection from the racing side of the game,” said Alessadroni. “Some of the criticism I often hear is, 'Oh, those guys have so much money, why can't they pick up some of the cost?' And to be honest, they're right. It costs less to have them in training for a sporthorse career, so what's six months of training at half the cost, and everybody wins? And the mare's no longer embarrassed!”

That moment when CEO Alberto Figueiredo agreed to support Judge Johnny's transition to a new career was a big one for Alessandroni on a personal level.

Without any family or friends in the Thoroughbred racing industry, the Florida-born Alessandroni's introduction to the sport came through aftercare.

“I was one of those kids that was always horse crazy,” she explained. “There were a couple OTTBs at my barn, and I just loved them. My family would watch the Triple Crown races, so I learned how to look up horses on Equibase and learned some very basic handicapping.

“Somehow that snowballed into me being really passionate about the industry despite the fact that I never actually went to a racetrack until college at the University of Kentucky, when I went to Keeneland.”

From an internship at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, Alessandroni eventually transitioned to the bloodstock end of the business with an internship and then a job at WinStar Farm. While she learned a lot at the big-time operation, she didn't want to spend the rest of her career there.

“When I left, so many people told me I was insane,” Alessandroni said, laughing. “I didn't really have a plan, I just knew I hadn't found my niche. I wound up at Regis Farm, which was then sold after 1 ½ years to Bonne Chance. All of us that were there, we sat down with the new owners and listened to them, and I think all of us were all-in, no hesitation.

“It's so rare to be able to be at the ground level of a new program, one that has truly good people behind it. When I look back at my life and how I ended up here, it's just kind of amazing.”

Bonne Chance is also a joint owner in farms in Argentina, Brazil, and France. Stud R.D.I. is the Brazilian operation, which last year sent its dual Group 1 winner Ivar (Agnes Gold) to North America. Campaigned in partnership with Bonne Chance, Ivar won the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland last fall.

Ivar wins the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, earning an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile

“We have been able to piggyback off the success of the South American operation, building on a really strong foundation, which is why we look like we popped up out of nowhere,” Alessandroni explained. “When they sent Ivar up here and he won the Shadwell, that's the moment when the COVID situation really hit me for the first time, because not a single one of them were able to come to those races.”

As for Bonne Chance homebreds, the farm has sent out two other stakes winners so far, Iva and New York Groove. Its largest foal crop yet — 18 — hit the ground in 2020, and Alessandroni said this year's 2-year-olds are particularly exciting, as well.

“We spend so much time just looking at horses,” she said. “That's been the deciding factor. We're here to produce a racehorse; quality, not quantity.”

Since Bonne Chance is so new, Judge Johnny was really the farm management's first taste of aftercare. At first, Figueiredo was asking around to see if any employees wanted the horse, but Alessandroni suggested the alternative route of re-starting him on the farm's tab.

“We just started talking it out,” Alessandroni said. “It was really important to us to set him up for success, and really we were still saving money while giving the horse a chance to succeed.

“The plan was to put him up for sale last fall, but he kept getting better and better. Carleigh kept telling me, 'This is the nicest horse I've ever retrained.' She's not the type to say that if she doesn't mean it. I told the team, 'We will never have one this nice again. Let's see where it goes.'

“We didn't intend for it to be this in-depth of a process, but people are really excited about it. It's really cool to share the process with people who didn't know that side of it.”

Now, the goal is to showcase Judge Johnny's off-the-track skills during 2021, hopefully through the Young Event Horse series, and ultimately to find him his next partner. During the process, Alessandroni hopes to bring more attention to aftercare.

“I hate this idea of 'saving' OTTBs,” she said. “A better idea is that these Thoroughbreds are incredible athletes. There's not a more versatile horse in the world, and we should be continuing to celebrate them. Even the professional riders around the big five-star event in Lexington say there's nothing better than a Thoroughbred on the cross country course.

“To see the joy in JJ on cross country, that just drove it home for me. He's so happy to be out there.”

Alessandroni continued to say that she hopes more breeders will take an interest in their horses' second careers as well.

“You know, breeding for commercialism, it can be a tricky situation,” she said. “But, if the goal is to breed a sound racehorse, you're going to have superstars overall and you may accidentally breed a really nice sporthorse in the process!”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Even In What Seems Like Failure, We’ve Still Achieved The Founding Goal’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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