Munnings | Horse Racing Free Tips

Finite Back to Her Best in Chilukki

Finite (Munnings), a leading contender for the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks earlier this year after capping a five-race win streak in the GII Rachel Alexandra S., returned to her best form Saturday to annex the GIII Chilukki S. over a one-turn Churchill mile that proved right up her alley. Backed as the even-money choice coming off a close second in the GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland going seven panels Oct. 17, the blaze-faced chestnut settled well off the pace early while drafting behind rivals. Asked for more after a hot half in :45.59, she circled up out wide heading for home and wore down a stubborn Sanenus (Chi) (Scat Daddy) by midstretch en route to a 2 1/2-length tally. Whoa Nellie (Orb) rounded out the trifecta.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
CHILUKKI S.-GIII, $100,000, Churchill Downs, 11-21, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:35.53, ft.
1–FINITE, 120, f, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Remit, by Tapit
2nd Dam: Free Spin, by Olympio
3rd Dam: Spin n Win, by Private Account
($200,000 2yo ’19 EASMAY). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC,
Thomas J. Reiman, William Dickson & Deborah A. Easter;
B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen;
J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $59,520. Lifetime Record: 11-6-3-0,
$757,869. *1/2 to Reride (Candy Ride (ARG)), MSW-USA,
GSP-UAE, $461,010. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sanenus (Chi), 121, f, 4, Scat Daddy–Belgian Chocolate, by
Tale of the Cat. O/B-Haras Matriarca (CHI); T-Michael W.
McCarthy. $19,200.
3–Whoa Nellie, 121, f, 4, Orb–Allegheny Angel, by Medaglia
d’Oro. ($220,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Fox Hill Farms, Inc.;
B-Doug & Felicia Branham (KY); T-J. Larry Jones. $9,600.
Margins: 2HF, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.20, 10.60, 6.00.
Also Ran: Gold Standard, Grand Cru Classe, Risky Mandate, New Roo, Crazy Sexy Munny, Unique Factor.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

“We had a great trip rating behind the pace,” said winning rider Ricardo Santana, Jr. “I think at this stage of her career she is just getting better. She’s only three years old and today was her first time against older horses. We went one-turn today but she’s maturing and going to be really nice at longer distances, too.”

A third-out graduate sprinting at Kentucky Downs last September, Finite returned to the dirt to annex the track-and-trip Rags to Riches S. by six lengths that October before adding the GII Golden Rod S. in the slop at the end of the Churchill meet. She carried her momentum to Fair Grounds for wins in the Silverbulletday S. and over champion 2-year-old filly British Idiom (Flashback) and yet-to-emerge superstar Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the Feb. 15 Rachel Alexandra S., but could only manage fourth at short odds-on in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks Mar. 21 behind Bonny South (Munnings). She hit the sidelines after that, reemerging to finish last of 11 back at Kentucky Downs for the Sept. 15 Music City S. before earning a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure when just missing in the Raven Run to another talented daughter of Munnings in Venetian Harbor.

“She’s a really quality filly,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “We had a really nice win last year at Churchill in the Golden Rod and going one-turn in the Rags to Riches. I think she had five wins in a row at one point last year. It was a disappointing race in the Fair Grounds Oaks and after that is when this year was sort of turned upside down. We gave her some time off after that race and she didn’t really handle the going in her last start at Kentucky Downs. In the Raven Run, she ran really well against some nice fillies that day.”

Pedigree Notes:

Finite is a fourth-generation homebred for the Winchell family, who first got into Finite’s damside when they purchased her fifth dam, Debs Angel (Raise a Cup), through their long-time association with agent David Fiske out of the 1991 Keeneland November sale for $190,000 while she was carrying a filly by Capote. The Winchells resold Debs Angel at the same sale seven years later for just $55,000, but they still own a number of the family members these few decades later and runners have included Tapiture (Tapit), a MGSW and now a second-crop sire at Darby Dan. Tapiture had three stakes-winning full siblings, including Remit, dam of Finite and of a yearling colt and weanling filly, respectively, by another Winchell runner in Gun Runner. The mare has been bred back to that stallion for next term. Finite continues to have Winchell family fingerprints all over her, as her broodmare sire, Tapit, was also a Winchell runner and has, of course, transformed into one of the preeminent sires in the nation. Finite is one of 40 black-type winners out of his daughters to date. Finite is also one of the top runners by Munnings this year, who currently ranks in the top 10 leading sires by earnings in North America for 2020. Munnings, who stands at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, has 10 black-type winners this year amongst his 42 stakes winners in seven crops to race. Finite is one of 17 graded winners for the Speightstown sire.

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Finite Headlines Saturday’s Chilukki Stakes At Churchill Downs

Winchell Thoroughbreds, Thomas Reiman, William Dickson and Deborah Easter's multiple graded stakes winning filly Finite tops Saturday's 35th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Run at one mile, the Chilukki is carded as Race 9 with a post time of 5:06 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post for the 10-race program is 1 p.m.

Finite, a 3-year-old filly by Munnings, was the narrow runner-up finisher behind Venetian Harbor in last month's $200,000 Raven Run (G2) at Keeneland. Previously, the Steve Asmussen-trained Finite was on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail after victories in the $120,000 Rags to Riches, $300,000 Golden Rod (G2), $150,000 Silverbulletday and $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2). Following her fourth-place effort in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), Finite underwent minor ankle surgery but returned to Asmussen's stable a few months later.

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. has the call on Finite who will break from post position No. 2.

Among Finite's rivals entered in the Chilukki is Speedway Stable's Raven Run third-place finisher Grand Cru Classe. Trained by Bill Mott, Grand Cru Classe finished a half-length behind Finite in the seven-furlong Raven Run at odds of 20-1. The daughter of Bernardini has recorded three victories in just four starts including a narrow win in the $100,000 Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel.

Tyler Gaffalione has the call on Grand Crue Classe and will break from post 3.

Also entered in the Chilukki is Fox Hill Farms' stakes winner Whoa Nellie. Trained by Larry Jones, Whoa Nellie is scheduled make her first start in more than nine months following a runner-up finish in the $200,000 Bayakoa (G3). The speedy daughter of Orb was in top form over the winter recording an impressive 2 ¾-length allowance score in December at Turfway and a dominating 4 ½-length victory in the $100,000 Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn in January.

Joe Rocco Jr. has the call on Whoa Nellie who drew post 4.

The other fillies and mares that entered the Chilukki are Scott Herbertson's 11-time winner Crazy Sexy Munny; Stonestreet Stables and LNJ Foxwoods' multiple graded stakes placed Gold Standard; Bluegrass Bred Racing and Breeding Farm's three-time winner New Roo; Ghost Hollow Farm's graded stakes placed Risky Mandate; and Matriarca's Chilean Grade I winner Sanenus; and Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch's stakes winner Unique Factor.

The complete field for the Chilukki from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): New Roo (Brian Hernandez Jr., Tommy Drury); Finite (Santana, Asmussen); Grand Cru Classe (Gaffalione, Mott); Whoa Nellie (Rocco, Jones); Gold Standard (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox); Risky Mandate (Miguel Mena, Tom Amoss); Crazy Sexy Munny (Crystal Conning, Bill Morey); Unique Factor (Corey Lanerie, Peter Miller); and Sanenus (Rafael Bejarano, Michael McCarthy).

The Chilukki is named after the three-time Churchill Downs stakes-winning filly. Trained by Bob Baffert, Chilukki set two track records beneath the Twin Spires – her 1999 4 ¼ furlong debut performance in :51 and a scorching one-mile clocking in 1:33.57, breaking the 31-year track record in this event in 2000.

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Uncle Mo, Justify Top 2021 Ashford Stud Roster

Coolmore America has announced its fees for the 2021 breeding season.

Joining the roster are Grade 1 Allen Jerkens winner Echo Town and multiple G1SW Maximum Security whose fees will be announced upon retirement. Also new is Caravaggio who re-locates to Kentucky from Coolmore's headquarters in Ireland.

“Our established sires have enjoyed great success on the racetrack this year, but in recognition of the challenging times we find ourselves in, we have reduced the fees of all of our sires yet to have runners with the one exception of Mendelssohn who we have probably under-priced all along,” said Ashford's director of sales Charlie O'Connor. “We have three exciting new additions to our roster and we look forward to watching Echo Town and Maximum Security continue to show their brilliance on the racecourse before they retire.”

Following are the advertised fees for Ashford Stud's 2021 stallion roster:

Air Force Blue – $10,000
American Pharoah – $100,000
Caravaggio (NEW) – $25,000
Classic Empire – $17,500
Competitive Edge – $5,000
Cupid – $5,000
Echo Town (NEW) – TBA
Justify – $125,000
Lookin at Lucky – $20,000
Maximum Security (NEW) – TBA
Mendelssohn – $35,000
Mo Town – $7,500
Munnings – $40,000
Practical Joke – $22,500
Tale of the Cat – $12,500
Uncle Mo – $175,000

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Venetian Harbor Holds Off Finite For Munnings Exacta In Raven Run

Second behind Speech in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, Southern California-based Venetian Harbor returned to the Lexington, Ky., track to win Saturday's G2, $200,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in front-running fashion under Manny Franco.

Trained by Richard Baltas and owned by Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Domenic Savides, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Munnings held off a late charge from multiple graded stakes winner Finite – also by Munnings – to win by a neck, with Grand Cru Class third, Reagan's Edge fourth and Tonalist's Shape fifth in the field of eight.

Off as the 3-2 favorite, Venetian Harbor paid $5.20 to win and covered seven furlongs in 1:23.02 on a fast track after setting fractions of :23.06, :46.17 and 1:10.34.

“I was a little bit concerned about the 2 horse (Four Graces), and when I saw she didn't break (in front) I decided to go then,” said Franco. “She's happy when she's in the lead. She showed it today. She's a nice filly.”

It was the third win in seven starts for Venetian Harbor, who was produced from the Street Cry mare Sounds of the City. She was bred by Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables and purchased from the eighth session of the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $110,000, then bought back for $205,000 at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

A winner around two turns earlier this year in the G2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, Venetian Harbor last raced Aug. 8 in the seven-furlong G1 Test Stakes at Saratoga, where she finished seven lengths behind Gamine.

Venetian Harbor is headed to the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at the same seven-furlong distance at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Sprinting is in her blood, as she traces back four generations in her female family to Hall of Fame runner Safely Kept, the 1989 champion sprinter and winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1990 against males.

Finite ran a good race to be second for Steve Asmussen under Ricardo Santana Jr. in her second start since undergoing surgery to remove an ankle chip this spring. A Winchell homebred daughter of Munnings, Finite is a two-time G2 winner who soundly defeated G1 Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver in the G2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in February.

In the Raven Run, Finite raced in mid-pack while well off the rail as Venetian Harbor went unchallenged on the lead, then followed the winner into the stretch. She switched to the rail when Venetian Harbor drifted out slightly and was gaining on her in the final strides.

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