michael hui | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mendelssohn Gets First North American Winner at Ellis

Michael Hui homebred Fadethenoise (Mendelssohn), well-beaten, but troubled on Churchill dirt debut June 9, took beautifully to the turf course at Ellis Park Saturday, becoming the first North American winner for his freshman sire (by Scat Daddy) in graduating by a half-dozen lengths.

Sent off at 6-1, the chestnut broke alertly and attended a sharp pace while about four off the inside to the turn. Going better than the rail-skimming Spanish Dubloon (Malibu Moon) as they raced on the bend, Fadethenoise pinched a break in upper stretch and pulled well clear through the final furlong.

Fadethenoise is the first starter for Hey Paige, a daughter of the treble stakes-placed Nina Fever (Borrego), herself the dam of GI Frizette S. heroine Nickname (Scat Daddy). The latter's first foal, Starry Eyed (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), topped last year's Goffs Orby Sale on M.V. Magnier's bid of €1.5 million. Hey Paige is also responsible for a yearling City of Light filly and a filly foal by Outwork.

Fadethenoise is the second winner overall for Mendelssohn, who was represented by the debuting Shaqra'a Sultan (KSA) on the dirt surface at Ta'if in Saudi Arabia June 30. It was Magnier's name on the docket at $3 million when Mendelssohn, the half-brother to boom sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and to four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes), topped the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, and he would go on to upset the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf before demolishing his rivals in the G2 UAE Derby the following season. Mendelssohn was also runner-up in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and was third in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup before retiring to stud. He stood the 2022 breeding season at Ashford for $35,000 and his first crop of 2-year-olds sold for up to $1.3 million this year.

4th-Ellis, $60,000, Msw, 7-16, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.35, gd, 6 lengths.
FADETHENOISE (c, 2, Mendelssohn–Hey Paige, by Stay Thirsty) Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $37,138. Click for the Equibase.com chart.
O/B-Michael Hui (KY); T-Michael J Maker.

The post Mendelssohn Gets First North American Winner at Ellis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘He Took Us On The Ride of A Lifetime’: Zulu Alpha Arrives At Old Friends

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement farm in Georgetown, KY, welcomed new retiree multiple graded stakes winner Zulu Alpha on Monday.

Owner Michael Hui and trainer Mike Maker announced the retirement of the 8-year-old son of Street Cry this weekend, after the gelding was scratched from the Sept. 11 running of the Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

A successful claim by Hui in 2018, Zulu Alpha captured the 2019 Calumet Turf Cup for his new connections by 3 1/4 lengths and went on to win seven graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland, both in 2020.

Zulu Alpha retires with 12 wins from 37 starts, for earnings of $2,269,084.

“Zulu came to us via the claim box, initially placed with John Oritz, then transferred to Mike Maker for a winter campaign in south Florida. The rest is history,” said owner Hui. “He took us on the ride of a lifetime and reached a level of success we could only dream of. Seven graded wins later, he now will call Old Friends home. Thank you Mike Maker and team, thank you Old friends, and Thank you Zulu Alpha, we are forever in your debt.”

“We are very excited to have Zulu Alpha with us,” said Old Friends President Michael Blowen. “We are grateful to Michael Hui for allowing us to care for this great horse, and we know that he will be a fan favorite.”

The post ‘He Took Us On The Ride of A Lifetime’: Zulu Alpha Arrives At Old Friends appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Zulu Alpha Out Of Kentucky Downs’ Turf Cup, Retired To Old Friends

Zulu Alpha, the 2019 winner of Kentucky Downs' $1 million Calumet Turf Cup, will scratch out of Saturday's Grade 2 stakes and has been retired, owner Michael Hui said today. Trainer Mike Maker also confirmed the defection to the Kentucky Downs racing office.

“I'm going to scratch Zulu,” Hui said by phone. “He's going to be retired to Old Friends. There's not a whole lot that's physically wrong with him. After consultation with Mike this weekend, he just believes he will not be competitive at this level.”

Maker, who has won a Calumet Turf Cup a record four times, still has four horses in the 1 1/2-mile stakes in Tide of the Sea, Bluegrass Parkway, Ajourneytofreedom and Glynn County, with a fifth potential starter if Dynadrive draws in from the also-eligible list. Dynadrive needs one more scratch to run after the defections of Zulu Alpha and Fantasioso.

Hui said he long ago worked out an arrangement with Old Friends to send Zulu Alpha to the Thoroughbred retirement home in Georgetown, Ky., when the now 8-year-old gelding's racing career was over. Hui had Hogy, his 2017 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint winner, at Old Friends until his death earlier this year.

Zulu Alpha retires with 12 wins out of 37 starts, along with five seconds and six thirds, for earnings of $2,269,118. Hui claimed the gelding almost exactly three years ago for $80,000 with the 2019 Calumet Turf Cup in mind. That became one of seven graded stakes Zulu Alpha won for Hui, including the 2020 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf.

After coming in third in last year's Calumet Turf Cup, Zulu Alpha raced only twice this year, finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes and seventh in the Grade 1 Mr. D (formerly the Arlington Million). Maker conceded a couple of weeks ago that age might have caught up with the grand gelding, but added that two races was too small a sample to not give Zulu Alpha another shot over a course he loves as long as he was doing well.

“I'm not really a true horseman; I'm more of a racetrack guy,” Hui said. “I was very blessed to have Hogy, and unfortunately he passed. But Zulu, at the racetrack he was at a different level. Very competitive but he also liked attention from humans. His race record speaks for itself. He took me to a level I had never dreamed of. The right thing to do is while he's good, he deserves the utmost in retirement.

“I have all the faith in Mike. He's guided me on this path several times now. But Zulu was a special one. When Mike says he's not competitive at this level, I have to believe it.”

Hui doesn't expect to have another horse like Zulu Alpha, but he's going to keep trying, including via high-priced claims. “We have the mindset that we point toward Kentucky Downs, mark the calendar and work backward,” he said.

The post Zulu Alpha Out Of Kentucky Downs’ Turf Cup, Retired To Old Friends appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Zulu Alpha Retired to Old Friends

Grade I winner Zulu Alpha (Street Cry {Ire}–Zori, by A.P. Indy) has been scratched out of Saturday's GII Calumet Turf Cup and Kentucky Downs and will be retired from racing. The 8-year-old will take up residence at Old Friends.

“I'm going to scratch Zulu,” Hui told the KY Downs notes team. “He's going to be retired to Old Friends. There's not a whole lot that's physically wrong with him. After consultation with Mike this weekend, he just believes he will not be competitive at this level.”

Claimed by Hui and Ortiz for $80,000 out of a winning effort at Churchill Downs in September of 2018, Zulu Alpha won the GIII Sycamore S. in his first start for those connections and was subsequently transferred to Mike Maker. Capturing the GIII W.L. McKnight S.and GII Mac Diarmida S. at the start of 2019, the gelding took the GIII Kentucky Turf Cup S. later that season.

Scoring a career high with a win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. in 2020, Zulu Alpha followed suit with asuccessful title defense in the Mac Diarmida and won the GII TVG Elkhorn S. two starts after that. Shelved after finishing third in the 2020 Kentucky Turf Cup last September, he was off the board in his two starts this year in the July 17 GIII Arlington S. and GI Mr. D. S. Aug. 14. Zulu Alpha retires with 12 wins from 37 starts and hit the board an additional 11 times, earning $2,269,084.

The post Zulu Alpha Retired to Old Friends appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post