Tag: michael banahan

Second Chances: Cornishman ‘Could Be a Horse That We Can Be Talking About Through the Season’

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

Cornishman (c, 3, Curlin–Penwith, by Bernardini) came flashing home to finish a bang-up second sprinting on debut on the GIII Lecomte undercard at Fair Grounds Jan. 20.

Off as the 3-1 second choice with his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Exploration (Curlin) receiving the bulk of the action at 3-2, the Godolphin homebred was bumped from both sides after exiting from post nine and trailed the field of 11 through an opening quarter in :22.40.

Cornishman caught the eye as he began to wind up from far back with a four-wide sweep beneath Florent Geroux on the far turn and was tipped out to the seven path as they straightened. He continued to motor powerfully down the center in the stretch and was clocked in a field-best final furlong of :11.97 to cross the line a length behind the Dallas Stewart-trained newcomer Bee Dancer (Bee Jersey). The aforementioned Exploration, a $900,000 Keeneland September graduate, just got tagged on the line by his stablemate for runner-up honors.

The final time for the six-furlong affair was 1:10.92. Cornishman earned a 75 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“He's a horse that we've liked all along,” Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. “Just little juvenile stuff last year and we had to give him some time off. Once Brad (Cox) got him back in there, he was going well for him and he really liked him. We were very much looking forward to his debut and thought that he was a horse that showed plenty of potential in the morning.”

He continued, “He breaks good out of the gate, but that day, Florent (Geroux) said that he couldn't get him settled well enough. He was the last one in the gate, and when they pulled the latches, he wasn't ready for it. Taking all that into consideration–breaking last, having to go wide, etc.–we were extremely happy with the way he ran and how well he finished up with the trip that he had. And that was a race to get him started going three quarters. That's nothing of what he wants to do.”

Cornishman returned to the worktab with a four-furlong move in :49 (23/74) in New Orleans Feb. 2. He could see additional distance in his next start later this month, per Banahan.

“We're very excited about him going forward,” Banahan said. “Hopefully, we get to run maybe in mid-February–maybe Risen Star weekend if they have a one mile and a sixteenth or something (similar) down there. Very much looking forward to stretching him out and seeing what he could do. Very hopeful that he could be a horse that we can be talking about through the season.”

Hailing from a very active and deep female family, Cornishman is out of GSW & MGISP Penwith, a daughter of MGISW and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Composure (Touch Gold). The latter brought $3.6 million from Sheikh Mohammed's operation at the 2003 Keeneland November sale.

Penwith | Kenny Martin

Penwith is a full-sister to the unraced dam of last Friday's GIII Bayakoa S. winner Comparative (Street Sense) and MGSW Shared Sense (Street Sense); a half-sister to MGISP Centring (A.P. Indy), the dam of last term's GI Frizette S. runner-up Central Avenue (Street Sense); and a half-sister to GISP Tranquil Manner (A.P. Indy).

The Curlin x Bernardini cross has produced standouts such as MGISW Clairiere, GISW Paris Lights, MGSW Cezanne and GSW & MGISP Point of Honor. Cornishman is also bred similarly to Curlin-sired champions Stellar Wind, Malathaat and Nest.

Godolphin, of course, also bred and raced Curlin's recently crowned Horse of the Year Cody's Wish, who is set to begin his first season at stud for a fee of $75,000 at Jonabell Farm.

“He has the pedigree that if he goes on and progresses like we think he will, he'll have a shot at hopefully some nice races down the road,” Banahan said. “But let's get him there first. He has to break his maiden first.”

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Champion Pretty Mischievous Back in Training for Four-Year-Old Campaign

Recently crowned champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous (f, 4, Into Mischief–Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit), off since finishing a rallying second in the GI Cotillion S. over a sloppy, sealed track at Parx Sept. 23, has begun to gear up for her 2024 campaign.

The Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' is currently in training with Brendan Walsh at Palm Meadows in South Florida and could potentially return to action over Kentucky Derby weekend.

“She went back to Brendan a couple of weeks ago,” Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. “She had a nice break in the wintertime up here at Jonabell. She's a big, strong filly anyway, but she did very well with her break. He'll probably start doing a couple of little two-minute licks with her in the next couple of weeks and start to step it up.”

Banahan added, “Nothing in stone in yet, but we'll probably look at trying to get her started at Churchill, maybe the (GI) La Troienne S. or something like that.”

Led by a thrilling, neck victory from post 14 with first-time blinkers in last year's GI Kentucky Oaks, Pretty Mischievous was a slam dunk as the nation's champion 3-year-old filly.

She backed up her 10-1 upset on the first Friday in May with another game tally at the top level, this time by a head, in the GI Acorn S. during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Following the tragic breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), Pretty Mischievous crossed the wire first by a head while turning back to seven furlongs in a heart-breaking renewal of the GI Test S. at Saratoga.

After losing little in defeat in the Cotillion, she shipped to Santa Anita to take on older fillies and mares for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but was scratched after showing signs of colic following the flight from Kentucky.

“She had a bit of a belly ache and just wasn't herself,” Banahan said. “I think it was maybe just a little bit with the shipping. She had a long season up to there and she answered every call. She trained O.K. (after shipping), but she just wasn't 100 percent, and you can't be running in a race the quality of the Breeders' Cup Distaff unless you're 100 percent. It wouldn't be fair to her to be taking a chance like that.”

A daughter of the all-conquering Into Mischief, Pretty Mischievous was produced by 2016 GI Spinaway S. winner Pretty City Dancer, who was acquired by Sheikh Mohammed's operation for $3.5 million at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Pretty Mischievous currently sports a record of 10-7-2-1 and career earnings of $1,944,560.

“She's in great shape now,” Banahan concluded. “Couldn't be better. We're very happy to have her back in the barn.”

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Catching Up with 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Winner Essential Quality

As the wide-reaching Godolphin operation has used the names of different arms throughout the years–for example, 2001 Juvenile Fillies winner Tempera (A.P. Indy) was bred by Darley Stud Management, LLC but raced for Godolphin, LLC–it may be a surprise to learn Essential Quality was the first official Godolphin homebred to win the Breeders' Cup. Remarkably, in the two renewals since his win, another seven Godolphin homebreds have added to that number.

Undefeated at two, Essential Quality was a Belmont and Travers winner at three. His first foals were born this year.

“Essential Quality was one of our best yearlings in his crop and he later proved to be the best of his whole crop,” said Michael Banahan, Director of Bloodstock at Godolphin, USA, “winning the Eclipse Award for being Champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old. He also holds a special place in the Godolphin honor roll as a homebred Classic winner. What really distinguished Essential Quality from other horses is that when he left our yearling farm to go into training, he never had a day off until after his last race. He never raced on any medication, was fast, tough, sound and durable. Hopefully, he will pass on those traits to his offspring which will propel him into having a great second career as a stallion.”

Essential Quality (2018 gray or roan horse, Tapit–Delightful Quality, by Elusive Quality)

Lifetime record: Ch. 2yo colt, Ch. 3yo colt, MGISW, 10-8-0-1, $4,755,144

Breeders' Cup connections: B-Godolphin (KY); O-Godolphin, LLC; T-Brad Cox; J-Luis Saez.

Current location: Jonabell Farm, Lexington, Ky.

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Michael Banahan Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

The mighty Godolphin stable leads all Breeders' Cup owners with 16 wins, a testament to both the quality of the horses owned by Godolphin and its commitment to the Breeders' Cup. Godolphin won four Breeders' Cup races last year and is sending a strong contingent of U.S. and foreign-based horses to Santa Anita for this year's event. To find out more about the Godolphin runners for this year's Breeders' Cup and why the event is so important to the stable, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called on Godolphin Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan to give us answers to our questions. Banahan was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“We embrace the Breeders' Cup because it is championship racing,” Banahan said. “That's what we're trying to do. It's the biggest race day at the end of the year for us. And if we can be fortunate enough to get horses to compete at the Breeders' Cup, we know we're competing with the very best horses not only in America, but across the world. That's where we want to compete at, at the very top level. You see only the very best horses at the Breeders' Cup and we know by the Eclipse Award voting that people put a lot of emphasis on those races at the end of the year.”

While Banahan deals primarily with Godolphin's U.S.-based runners, he is well aware of the success trainer Charlie Appleby, Godolphin's head trainer in Europe, has had in North America. Since 2021 in North America, he's had 56 starters, 24 winners, 23 stakes winners and 15 Grade I wins. His winning percentage during that period of time is 43%. For his career, he's had nine Breeders' Cup winners. How does he do it?

“Charlie is an excellent trainer and a very good horseman,” Banahan said. “He had been with Godolphin for a long time before he took the mantle as the head trainer and would have traveled all around the world and would have seen firsthand the type of horse you need to bring to different destinations, whether it's America, Australia, continental Europe, or wherever it might be, or Dubai itself. He understands that very well, understands what his horses like and which ones will perform well in a race in America where there might be a lot of pace and the race is run over a flat track. They're good horses as well. But sometimes they look like they're elevated a little bit when they get to America in the pattern of a race and the style of a race.  Obviously, he's got plenty of them, but he's identified the right horses and you don't really see him just throwing horses in a race and hoping that, you know, some of it'll stick a little bit.”

Godolphin owns Cody's Wish (Curlin), last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner. He was named for Cody Dorman, who was born with a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Banahan said the Dorman family is hoping to be at Santa Anita to see if Cody's Wish can repeat in the Dirt Mile.

“When he ran in the Whitney in Saratoga, when the family was going to the paddock people were giving them a round of applause and cheering them when they went by,” Banahan said. “I think it's even goes further than racing itself. It's hit people outside the industry, just the general public. People who don't have any interest in racing or just a marginal interest have really caught on to this great story. Hopefully, they'll all make it out there and be there to cheer Cody's Wish on in what will be his last race.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, Lane's End, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the story of trainer John Pimental, the 68-year-old trainer who had won just one race this year but is facing a possible suspension of up to three years because a horse he trained tested positive for methamphetamine and because investigators from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) found a container of Levothyroxine on his truck. Finley called for HIWU to begin to employ common sense when it comes to its decisions and, especially in this case, not upend the life and career of a trainer who quite clearly was not trying to dope his horses with performance-enhancing drugs.

Live from Santa Anita, Cadman gave her report card on some of the workouts she had seen during the week from Breeders' Cup horses. She was so impressed with a seven-furlong workout by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) that went in 1:24, she declared: “They're all running for second money behind Arabian Knight in the Classic.”

It's too late for 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) to make the Breeders' Cup, but his 10 1/2-length win in a maiden race at Santa Anita on Saturday was a worthy topic of discussion. And why did trainer Bob Baffert choose to ride Kyle Frey on the colt? Cadman has the answer, and it might surprise you.

Click here to watch the podcast as a video or here to listen to the audio file.

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