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Mating Plans: Glencrest Farm

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have John Greathouse III of Glencrest Farm.

INCREDIBLE YOU (m, 4, Uncle Mo–Zoftig, by Cozzene), to be bred to Charlatan

Incredible You is one of my best-bred mares. She is out of Zoftig, who successfully raced under the Glencrest colors before being sold and having an even better career as a broodmare. Incredible You is currently in foal to Authentic due at the end of January. We have chosen to send her to Charlatan this year. He was a special racehorse and he has looks to go with it. I think both horses suit each other nicely.

Incredible You's family has crossed well with the Gone West line in the past, producing Zaftig, winner of the GI Acorn. I thought it made a lot of sense from a physical standpoint as well. She's a bigger two-turn looking mare. I think he will add some hip and shoulder to her foals.

COPPER BAY (m, 4, Fast Anna–Free Spin, by Olympio), to be bred to Maclean's Music

Copper Bay is another mare we are excited about. She is a half-sister to Tapiture and is in foal to Munnings, making the foal a three-quarter to Finite. We wanted to continue to go to proven stallions with her at this point so we chose Maclean's Music. He continues to throw fast horses year after year and he's absolutely gorgeous.

She will hopefully add some leg to the foal while he will put top line and speed into her prospective foal. I think Maclean's Music has a chance to be a special sire with the start he's had so far at stud. He should only get better and better with the quality mares he will be getting the next couple years.

FLAT MEADOW (m, 7, War Chant–Figure of Beauty, by Street Cry {Ire}), to be bred to Mendelssohn

Flat Meadow is a mare we purchased in November in foal to Dialed In. Since her arrival at the farm, she's had two significant updates by two half-sisters. Both won stakes in their last races. We decided to send her to Mendelssohn. I've always felt like he was born to be a sire. He's incredibly well bred and is probably one of the best-looking horses I've ever seen. Flat Meadow has some turf in her family and I think he will add precocity to her foal. I'm excited to see what his foals can do on the track.

DELIA O'HARA (m, 5, Khozan–Starlet O'Hara, by Discreetly Mine) and VICTORIA BARKLEY (m, 4, Uncle Mo–Stanwyck, by Empire Maker), to be bred to Liam's Map

I have two maiden mares going to Liam's Map. Liam's Map was an extremely fast horse and I felt like he was one of the best value plays going into this breeding season based on what he's done so far at stud. He's bred a solid book of mares every year and I think his numbers will only improve going forward.

Delia O'Hara is a maiden half-sister to Winning Map that we bought privately. She's stakes-placed and [a] medium-size mare. We decided on Liam's Map because of her brother and hope he's as good as advertised. It never hurts selling foals that are three-quarters to good horses.

Victoria Barkley is an unraced daughter of Uncle Mo out of Stanwyck, a graded stakes half-sister to Giacomo and Tiago. We loved her physically and I think she suits Liam's Map perfectly. She's a mare we plan to keep long-term at the moment and we wanted to give her a solid start to her broodmare career going to a good proven stallion on the rise like Liam's Map.

FAY NA NA (m, 11, Majestic Warrior–She's Roughin It, by Forest Camp), to be bred to Yaupon

Fay Na Na is one of my favorite mares and I'm sending her to Yaupon. All she's done is throw good foals for me. She throws big strong foals, all of which have been good looking. Yaupon is one of the best-looking sons of Uncle Mo I've ever seen and had the speed to go with it. Couldn't be more excited about this mating.

MISSOURIA (m, 7, Bellamy Road–Nebraska, by Street Cry {Ire}) and BANDED (m, 13, Bandini–Rebalite, by More Than Ready), to be bred to Bolt d'Oro

I'm also breeding two mares to Bolt d'Oro. His foals and yearlings have really impressed me. They all look like runners. One of the best yearlings I have on the farm is by Bolt. I think he's got a real shot at becoming a successful sire long-term. The hip and shoulders that he puts on his foals is incredible.

Missouria is a granddaughter of Honest Lady by Bellamy Road. Her first foal was a nice Nyquist colt that I'm told is pointed toward Miami. She has a solid Kantharos yearling and is in foal to Frosted. She's out thrown herself so far and we thought that Bolt would pretty her foals up since she's a little plain. The family is deep and we think she could be a special mare for us if she can produce a solid runner.

Banded is the other mare going to Bolt. She has a Frosted yearling and is in foal to Practical Joke. The mare herself was stakes- placed and a half-sister to Race Day. She needs a little size bred into her and I think Bolt is perfect for that.

SWEET TALKIN (m, 10, Candy Ride {Arg}–Irene's Talkin, by At the Threshold), to be bred to Essential Quality

I'm sending one of the farm's best mares to Essential Quality. Sweet Talkin had a beautiful Tapit colt sell in Saratoga last year, making this foal a three-quarter to him. She continues to throw herself and we thought Essential Quality had all the qualities she was lacking. He was obviously very talented on the track but he has the looks to go with it. Very excited to see what she produces.

As a commercial breeder, it's not the easiest thing projecting which stallion is going to be popular in two or three years time. I'm really excited about my matings this year, though. I think all are attractive horses that we are breeding to and all were very talented on the track. I think something that gets overlooked when mating mares is how the two horses match up physically. People put a lot of stock in nicks, which is a useful tool to help mate them. But I find the physical part to be maybe even more important. Nicks change, physicals really don't. So I try to focus on starting with the physical and making the nick match it.

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

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Gulfstream: Of A Revolution Aims To Stay Undefeated In Limehouse

Bassett Stables' Of a Revolution, undefeated through two starts, looks to keep his perfect record intact as he steps up to stakes company for the first time in Saturday's $100,000 Limehouse at Gulfstream Park.

The fifth running of the Limehouse and Glitter Woman for fillies, both sprinting six furlongs, are among five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds worth $550,000 in purses on a New Year's Day holiday program headlined by the $150,000 Mucho Macho Man.

Post time for the first of 11 races is noon.

Championship Meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. captured the 2021 Limehouse with Drain the Clock. Drain the Clock would go on to wins in the Claiborne Farm Swale (G3), Bay Shore (G3) and Woody Stephens (G1) and run second in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Amsterdam (G2).

Like Drain the Clock, Of a Revolution has also begun his career with two straight wins before taking on stakes competition.

“This horse, from Day 1, has always showed a lot of talent. We call him Drain the Clock Jr.,” Joseph said. “He obviously has a long way to go to reach that standard but he's a nice horse. The first time out he won. The second time out he came off a layoff and beat a quality field. I thought he did it the right way. He missed the break and was still able to overcome that. We feel like he's very talented and he goes over there with a very big chance.”

Of a Revolution, by Maclean's Music, was favored in his May 29 debut at Gulfstream in a five-furlong maiden special weight, winning by a half-length over Cajun's Magic, who would come back to capture the FTBOA Florida Sire Dr. Fager and run second in the Affirmed and In Reality divisions.

“He was actually supposed to be an early kind of 2-year-old and we were going to take him to Saratoga after he won, and he got sick,” Joseph said. “So, we kind of got backed up on him and that's why it took us longer. We got him back and then we had to just wait around for a race.”

The wait ended Nov. 13, also at Gulfstream in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance where Of a Revolution was bumped and pinched back at the start but managed to work his way to the lead after a half-mile and sprinted clear to a 2 ½-length triumph over Summery, who also returns in the Limehouse. Third-place finisher Simplification is entered in the Mucho Macho Man.

“When he broke, I thought all chance was gone and he was still able to overcome it. He made a good move and he was able to sustain the move. I think he's a quality horse,” Joseph said. “We feel like he's going to become a good sprinter. He's all speed.”

Out of the Salt Lake mare Hot Spell, Of a Revolution is a half-brother to Hopkins, who ran second by a half-length to Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Shaaz in a Dec. 26 maiden special weight at Santa Anita. Hopkins earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104 in defeat.

“The family is getting good, it looks like,” Joseph said. “We feel that he's very talented.”

Tyler Gaffalione has the assignment on Of a Revolution from Post 3 in a field of seven.

Lea Farms' Lightening Larry will be making his seventh career start and third straight in a stakes after finishing second to Make It Big in the seven-furlong Juvenile Sprint against fellow Florida-breds Oct. 30 at Gulfstream and Cattin the six-furlong Inaugural Dec. 4 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Make It Big, Of a Revolution's Joseph-trained stablemate, improved to 3-0 with a win in the Springboard Mile Dec. 17 at Remington Park, while Cattin ran fourth in the Affirmed and third in the In Reality.

“We love him. Last time in the stake at Tampa we just caught a little bit of a bad break there where we let the horse that ended up winning the race come up in between us and we should have moved down to the rail,” trainer Jeff Engler said. “But, live and learn. [Jockey] Romero [Maragh] even said he made a little bit of a mistake there but he still dug in, and [Cattin] is a nice horse, too. We just need a good break and a good trip and I think he's going to be right there again.”

Engler said Lightening Larry, first or second five times with two wins, had an excuse in his lone poor effort when he ran ninth after chasing the pace in the seven-furlong Affirmed Aug. 28. He came back six weeks later to take an optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream over the filly Muted, who returned with an 8 ½-length score against her own kind Nov. 11.

“The one race where he didn't finish on the board honestly wasn't his fault. He had a little stall accident where he had to get some stitches in his hind quarter, so he had missed like three weeks of training,” Engler said. “We kind of ran him in there before he was really ready so that was really a trainer fault. Now that he's back in regular training and on his regular breeze schedule he's always right there. He's just very aggressive and he loves the competition.”

Maragh gets the return call from Post 5.

“He's a nice horse and he loves to train. He's just a nice colt that loves his job. He's doing great. He's on go, and we're looking for good things,” Engler said. “He's grown up a lot and he's getting bigger and taller and I think in his 3-year-old year he'll really blossom.”

Monarch Stables, Inc.'s Last Leaf will take on the boys in her seasonal debut. In her only previous try against males, the Ron Spatz trainee won the five-furlong Hollywood Beach Sept. 25 over the Gulfstream turf. That effort came on the heels of a 10 ¾-length optional claiming allowance triumph 21 days earlier on a sloppy main track.

“I loved her turf sprint. She had a good turf sprint and I think she'll love that if we can get some more opportunities to do that. And, she loved the slop, too,” Spatz said. “She's doing good. She had a good work coming up to this, so all systems go.”

Last Leaf was third, beaten a length as the favorite, in a 5 ½-furlong sprint over Gulfstream's Tapeta surface Oct. 31. She was back on grass and stretched out to a mile for her most recent start, running fifth after being fractious in the gate of the Dec. 3 Wait a While.

“I didn't think she had a big fondness for the Tapeta when she ran, and she ran good. Then it was either go to Tampa to go in a six-furlong race or try her two turns,” Spatz said. “We decided to stay here and try the two turns and it didn't work out. She's a sprinter right now, and that's what we'll do. She's coming up good for it.”

Last Leaf drew the rail under Junior Alvarado and will carry low weight of 117 pounds as the lone filly in the field.

Also entered are Carl Hess Jr.'s Concrete Glory, who had a three-race win streak snapped when eighth in the Inaugural; O Captain, a 9 ¼-length maiden special weight winner in his lone start Aug. 14 at Gulfstream for trainer Gustavo Delgado; and Calumet Farm's Bueno Bueno, a winner of two straight at Ellis Park.

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‘Horses Can Help You Forget A Lot Of Bad Things’: Juan Arriagada Accepts Ups And Downs In Equal Measure

Juan Arriagada experienced personal and professional heartbreak in the days leading to last month's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

On Oct. 26, the trainer's mother, Erna, died at home in Lima, Peru after an extended illness. After wrestling with his options, Arriagada, who had been stabled at Delaware Park, elected to travel to southern California to saddle his 4-year-old Estilo Talentoso for the $1-million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6.

“In life, we have to do what we have to do,” said Arriagada at the time. “The owners trust me with their horse, and I feel like I have to do it. I'm a professional, and I have to do my job.”

Arriagada believed he would feel his mother's presence the day of the race, but his hopes took a cruel turn when he was forced to scratch Estilo Talentoso early in the week because of an issue with her right foreleg. A few days later, she was sold to Japanese interests at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Lexington, Ky.

“I'm not the type of trainer who has 20 stakes horses in his barn,” Arriagada said earlier this week of his Breeders' Cup disappointment. “When something like that happens, it's pretty hard. But everybody in our sport has ups and downs. If you want good things to happen, you have to keep working hard.”

Returning to the embrace of his wife Alison, a former trainer, and their 3-year-old daughter Tezza picked up his spirits. So did the chance to work with his other horses on the Tampa Bay Downs backstretch in preparation for the current Oldsmar meeting.

And, a quick start that resulted in six victories, three seconds and three thirds from his first 18 starters didn't hurt a bit, either.

“It's like the best therapy there is,” said Arriagada, honored as the Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month. “Horses can help you forget a lot of bad things. It's good working with them, and it's much better when you do well.”

Of course, Arriagada will always have a soft spot in his heart for Estilo Talentoso. He purchased the daughter of Maclean's Music-Bazinga Baby, by Afleet Alex, for $15,000 at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Two-Year-Olds & Horses of Racing Age Sale. With Arriagada as her owner and trainer, she finished second in her first four starts – three at Tampa Bay Downs – before breaking her maiden in June of 2020 at Gulfstream Park.

Estilo Talentoso won the one-mile Escena Stakes at Gulfstream on Aug. 30, earning a vacation. She returned last January to finish third here in the Wayward Lass Stakes, launching a year that would change her fortunes while elevating Arriagada's profile.

Back-to-back runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel and the G1 Madison Stakes at Keeneland attracted the attention of representatives of Medallion Racing, a partnership group that looks to purchase horses possessing graded-stakes-level talent and residual value post-racing (Medallion Racing is associated with Taylor Made Sales Agency).

Following a third-place performance in the G1 Derby City Distaff Stakes presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery on May 1 at Churchill Downs, Arriagada agreed to sell Estilo Talentoso to Medallion Racing and its partners for $400,000. Arriagada expected her next start in the G3 Bed o'Roses at Belmont on June 4 to be his last time training the filly, but following her gutsy, come-from-behind neck triumph on a sloppy track, the partners rewarded Arriagada by letting him keep Estilo Talentoso in his barn.

“He's given us no reason to change anything up,” Medallion Racing Manager Phillip Shelton said before the Breeders' Cup. “We want trainers who can give our horses a lot of individual attention, and I can't speak highly enough of what Juan has done.”

That testimonial aside, back in Oldsmar, life goes on as before for the Arriagada family. Juan and Alison work as a team, exercising horses in the mornings and bouncing ideas back and forth about the horses.

“I have to be on a horse. It's my life,” said Arriagada, a former jockey who was unable to ride for a while with a balky knee. “And Alison complains if she only gets on three or four. When she gets on seven or eight, then she's happy.”

They also receive occasional help from son Nicolas, 22, who works as an exercise rider for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Nicolas earned his first career victory last April as a jockey at Tampa Bay Downs on one of his father's horses, but struggles to maintain weight redirected his career path.

Nicolas saw his dad's reaction to his mother's death and the scratch of Estilo Talentoso as lessons he wants to carry forward himself.

“Nobody wants to feel that way, but he knew he had to do what he needed to do. He showed me you have to be strong in this life,” Nicolas said. “Bad things will happen and you're going to hit the ground a lot of times, but you have to stand up and keep going.”

Besides his on-track Oldsmar triumphs, Arriagada had claimed four horses here through Wednesday; he is currently working with 20.

“The most important thing in this business is to have the right horses,” he said. “I don't know if I'm a lucky guy or I know a little about horses, but if you don't have the right ones you can't do anything.”

Arriagada has a solid working relationship with his employees, including grooms Clifford Rhymer, Ian Hughes and Mauricio Madrid. Rhymer, who trained horses in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, says being around the Arriagada barn fits his philosophy of putting the horses first and foremost. Both men continue to hone their horseshoeing techniques in an effort to keep the horses happy and focused on competition.

“Doing the right thing – that's his key,” Rhymer said. “The No. 1 thing is making sure they have good feet. That's the only way they can run. After that, you move to the body and start to work on that. Once you've got all the problems solved, you've got a good horse.

“I feel like we can talk about everything happening with the horses, and from there we know what to do,” Rhymer said.

This time of year, Arriagada feels grateful for his family (including Alison's mother, who cares for Tezza while they are at the track), his employees and the ability to pursue his passion. He knows nothing will be given to him, but is glad to work for his opportunities while enjoying his surroundings.

“Tampa Bay Downs just feels like home,” he said. “A lot of good things happen here, it's a beautiful place and I really like the people.”

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Grade 1 Winner Drain The Clock Returns To Action With Front-Running Allowance Win At Gulfstream

Slam Dunk Racing and Madaket Stable's Drain the Clock made an eye-catching return to action Friday at Gulfstream Park with a sizzling front-running victory in the Race 7 feature, a six-furlong optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up.

The Grade 1 stakes winner, who hadn't seen racing action since finishing fourth in the Aug. 28 H. Allen Jerkens (G1) at Saratoga, set fractions of 22.08, 44.42 and 56.19 seconds while under heavy outside pressure from Gatsby and asserted his class in the stretch to win by a half-length in a quick 1:08.63.

“At the top of the stretch, I said, 'Go on Champ!' Normally, I watch a race and watch it very nervous. With him, I never thought he would get beat,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “I don't think we have him fully cranked, so to see him back like that…”

Tyler Gaffalione rode Drain the Clock for the first time Friday.

“There was speed on the inside and outside of us. Saffie told me to use him going away from there. He broke alertly and put himself in a great spot. He took a lot of pressure the whole way around there but he's a classy horse, very classy individual, and he responded when I asked him,” Gaffalione said.

“He's a racehorse. You can see on his form, he's very consistent. He shows up every time. Coming off the layoff, it's not an ideal situation taking that much pressure, but he handled everything great and Saffie always does a great job getting them ready.”

Sent to post as the 2-5 favorite, the 4-year-old son of Maclean's Music had won three races in four prior starts at Gulfstream, including last season's Swale (G3), before hitting the road to win the Bay Shore (G3) at Aqueduct and the Woody Stephens (G1) at Belmont. His only loss at Gulfstream came in a second-place finish in the two-turn Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2).

“I think he's going to have a big year,” said Joseph, who mentioned the Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) on Feb. 19 as a likely target.

Gatsby held second, 5 ¼ lengths ahead of Where Paradise Lay.

Todd Pletcher-trained Nocturnal, the 2-1 second choice who was out of action since a Feb. 28 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, was never a factor after breaking a step slowly from his rail post position.

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