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Second Chances: Uncle Mo Filly Earns Spot in Frizette Off Strong Debut Third

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

After storming home with an eye-catching rally to finish a close third on debut at Saratoga, A Mo Reay (f, 2, Uncle Mo–Margaret Reay, by Pioneerof the Nile) will get her shot at the big leagues in Sunday's 'Win and You're In' GI Frizette S. at Belmont Park.

The My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm LLC colorbearer, off at 6-1 in her six-furlong unveiling for Todd Pletcher Aug. 29 (video), was under a ride and outsprinted in ninth through an opening quarter in :22.46. She finally started to get into the race nearing the quarter pole, but really had her work cut out for her as she was guided eight wide by Luis Saez at the top of the stretch.

The dark bay responded beautifully out in the clear while racing on her left lead down the center of the course, and, after finally switching over in deep stretch, came rocketing home in a field-best :12.60 to finish within a half-length of the highly regarded Gerrymander (Into Mischief). A Mo Reay earned a 71 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“She made a really impressive move,” said Joe Mishak, MyRacehorse's Racing Operations Manager.

“It took her about three quarters of the race to figure out what the heck was going on. She took a lot of dirt. When the light bulb finally went on, it was really exciting to see her fly down the lane and finish up and just miss that score there.”

A Mo Reay has breezed three times since her debut at Pletcher's Saratoga base, including a four-furlong move in :49.51 (14/35) Sept. 26. She will stretch out to a one-turn mile for the Frizette.

“It's definitely a big jump up in class with a heavy and deserving favorite [Echo Zulu] in the race,” Mishak said. “All of us viewed it as a winning effort, considering how that first race unfolded and the way she finished up. Really, though, the determining factor was listening to Todd's confidence in the filly. He's been really complimentary of her progression since the summer and anytime you have Todd in your corner saying, 'I think we should give it a shot,' you certainly have to give it strong consideration.

He continued, “And at the end of the day, she's got more training under her belt now, gets the added distance, and there should be a fair amount of pace in there. With her running style, she can come flying down the lane again and hopefully that's good enough.”

Bred by T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC, A Mo Reay brought $400,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She was produced by grassy GIII Miss Grillo S. runner-up Margaret Reay, a half-sister to SW Lezendary (Zensational). This is also the female family of GISW Wonder Lady Anne L (Real Quiet). A Mo Reay is bred similar to Uncle Mo's GISW and promising young stallion Outwork, who is out of an Empire Maker mare.

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

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Got Stormy Breezes In Anticipation Of Kentucky Downs Start

My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's multiple Grade 1-winner Got Stormy breezed a half-mile in :47.45 on the Oklahoma training turf Sunday under exercise rider Janelle Castonguay.

“On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it an 11,” Casse said. “She went faster than I had planned. She just loves it here. Janelle was saying she just shoots around the turns here.”

Casse said the two-time Grade 1 Fourstardave-winner [2019, 2021] will make her next start on September 11 at Kentucky Downs in either the 6 1/2-furlong $600,000 Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint or against the boys in the six-furlong $1 million Turf Sprint.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief endured a difficult trip in the Fleet Indian in Friday's New York Showcase Day, hitting the gate at the break and racing wide after exiting the outermost most post en route to a neck loss to Byhubbyhellomoney in the nine-furlong route.

“Given the circumstances, she ran very well,” Casse said. “By breaking the way she did, it cost her and she was wide. We had planned on trying to be up near the pace and she gave the winner 48 feet.”

Casse said Make Mischief will point to the $250,000 Empire Distaff, a 1 1/16-mile test for state-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on October 30.

The post Got Stormy Breezes In Anticipation Of Kentucky Downs Start appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Casse ‘All Smiles’ After Get Stormy’s Fourstardave Victory, 104 Beyer Speed Figure

Trainer Mark Casse was all smiles on Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course after securing his first Grade 1 victory as a newly enshrined Hall of Famer when Got Stormy bested males to win the $500,000 Fourstardave for the second time on Saturday.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse Stable, Got Stormy set a course record over the inner turf capturing the 2019 Fourstardave in a time of 1:32 flat with Ricardo Santana, Jr. up.

After finishing second in last year's running to pacesetting Halladay, the 6-year-old chestnut daughter of 2010 Fourstardave victor Get Stormy vindicated herself with a sharp 1 ½-length triumph under Tyler Gaffalione.

The victory registered a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, a tenth lifetime triple-digit number for the talented mare, and included a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile on November 6 at Del Mar.

Despite last week's Hall of Fame induction, the summer campaign had been a frustrating one for Casse, who was winless at the current Saratoga meet before Got Stormy's Fourstardave coup.

“It's been a rough meet, but my wife [Tina] said it best: 'It's been gloomy in Saratoga until the storm blew through,'” Casse said.

Got Stormy arrived at the Fourstardave off two fifth-place finishes at graded stakes level after making her seasonal bow a winning one in the Grade 3 Honey Fox on February 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Sent off at 12-1 odds, Casse said he nevertheless felt confident in his mare because of her demeanor in the paddock.

“It's her. She just gets happy,” Casse said. “She was walking around after I had saddled her and I told Tyler, 'She's got her game face on today, they better be ready,' I could tell she just wanted to go out there and do it.”

Casse said Got Stormy, a seven-time graded stakes winner with graded scores at six different tracks, will appreciate a return to Del Mar, where she captured the Grade 1 Matriarch in her final start of 2019.

“The good news for us is she's 1-for-1 at Del Mar,” Casse said. “We should have hard and fast [turf] there, and the turns aren't quite as tight as they are here but they're sharp. I want to get one race into her, I just haven't figured out where I want to do that yet.

“She just loves training here so much. Most horses do,” Casse added regarding Got Stormy's affinity for Saratoga. “She enjoys the tight turns. She can run around a turn like most horses can't, so that helps.”

Casse mentioned the possibility of attempting a dual conquest in the $600,000 Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint on September 11 at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

“I can go to Kentucky Downs just as a prep, run her at 6 ½ [furlongs] and we don't care about the weather,” Casse said. “If it rains, it's okay. Where the soft ground hurts us is when she's trying to get a mile.”

Previously owned by Gary Barber, Got Stormy was purchased for $2.75 million by Spendthrift Farm at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

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Ned Toffey of Spendthrift Farm said he was delighted to see the superstar mare secure a Grade 1 victory when sporting Spendthrift's orange and purple silks.

“Mark was very confident. He said she was doing so well,” Toffey recalled. “I think clearly, she really likes Saratoga. It was just great to see. This was so gratifying because when Mr. [B. Wayne] Hughes decided to get involved with MyRacehorse, he really believed that this was something that would be successful, but what they need are really good horses.

“She didn't appear to have lost any steps yesterday so that was great to see,” Toffey continued. “She's such a gutsy, hard trying mare. You just love to see that kind do well.”

Toffey said he felt gratified to be able to provide the multiple MyRacehorse partners a prestigious victory at Saratoga.

“To get a Grade 1 and to be able to see a project like this come full circle, work out this way, and have a bunch of enthusiastic MyRacehorse fans to be there and share it with us was a great feeling,” Toffey said.

Casse said that maiden Volcanic, a two-time starting son of Violence owned by Breeze Easy, could race back in the $300,000 Grade 1 Hopeful on September 6. The $230,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase finished third last out in a six-furlong maiden event on July 24 at the Spa.

The Hall of Fame trainer said Live Oak Plantation's graded stakes-winner Souper Sensational, who finished second in the Grade 1 Longines Test here on August 7, could race back in the $250,000 Grade 2 Prioress on September 4 at the Spa.

The post Casse ‘All Smiles’ After Get Stormy’s Fourstardave Victory, 104 Beyer Speed Figure appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lightning Strikes Twice in Fourstardave

MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Got Stormy (Get Stormy), the only female winner of the GI Fourstardave H. when she won the race two years ago in stakes record time, found her best form Saturday to post a 12-1 upset in this year's running of the “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

Purchased off a fifth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint by B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm for $2.75 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale and then offered in microshare pieces via MyRacehorse, the chestnut remained with trainer Mark Casse and scored first out for the new connections in the GIII Honey Fox S. at Gulfstream in February. Her next two outings were not as strong, however–she was fifth in both the GII Distaff Turf Mile S. at Churchill May 1 and GI Jaipur S. on the cutback at Belmont June 5–and was starting to give the impression of one whose best racing days were behind her.

Away well under Tyler Gaffalione, Got Stormy sat comfortably in third as they strung out around the first turn behind fellow female Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The frontrunner doled out splits of :23.45, :46.69 and 1:10.12 with little change in the running order, and they fanned across the track into the lane with Got Stormy continuing to go well and Blowout's favored stablemate Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) trying to rev up from the back. Got Stormy kicked past Blowout with little resistance in midstretch, and kept on going under energetic encouragement to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths. Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}) rallied from last to complete the exacta, while Jaipur winner Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) was third. Blowout held on for fourth, but Raging Bull never fired and checked in sixth.

“She was taking me the whole way,” Gaffalione said. “I was able to tuck in and save ground. She relaxed beautifully down the backside. Going into the turn she started to pick up on her own and she started creeping up. When I put her outside, she unleashed a big run and it was all over from there.”

He added, “Watching the races, the best ground has been inside on the turf, so I figured that was the best place to be. I was able to get there comfortably and it all worked out.”

Carrying the silks of Gary Barber in her previous Fourstardave win, and when second last year, Got Stormy shortened up to take the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint last September and added the GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. at Keeneland in October before running back in the Breeders' Cup over the same course and distance.

She was one of 12 purchases totaling $25,030,000 and also including $9.5-million topper and champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) made by Spendthrift at Fasig-Tipton last November.

“This was maybe even more exciting [than winning the 2019 Fourstardave] because they wrote her off,” said Casse, fresh off his Hall of Fame induction last week. “They did the same to [two-time champion] Tepin (Bernstein), and she came back. I'm really proud. There's been some bumps along the road with her, but she came when it was time.”

While Casse had opted to shorten Got Stormy at times for what he thought were better configurations for her, he believes the sharper turns at Saratoga–and at Del Mar later this year–are to her liking.

“It's what she loves; they'll have some sharp turns at Del Mar [in the Breeders' Cup Mile], so that'll work out just fine,” he said. “You could see how well she was training. She loves it here. She trains great here.”

The hard-knocking mare was a fitting winner of the race named after the ageless “Sultan of Saratoga.”

“I think for Fourstardave, who ran so many times here year-after-year, for her to come and do this three years in a row…maybe we can do another one,” Casse said. “We'll have to talk to the higher ups.”

Saturday, Saratoga
FOURSTARDAVE H.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-14, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.09, fm.
1–GOT STORMY, 116, m, 6, by Get Stormy
                1st Dam: Super Phoebe, by Malabar Gold
                2nd Dam: Air France, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Twin Propeller, by Known Fact
($23,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $45,000 2yo '17 EASMAY; $2,750,000
5yo '20 FTKNOV). O-My Racehorse Stable & Spendthrift Farm
LLC; B-Mt. Joy Stables, Pope, Pope Jr. & Marc McLean (KY);
T-Mark E. Casse; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $275,000. Lifetime Record:
30-12-5-3, $2,398,403. *1/2 to Sir Alfred James (Munnings),
MSP, $210,980; 1/2 to Sky Gold (Successful Appeal), SP,
$151,020. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Set Piece (GB), 119, g, 5, Dansili (GB)–Portodora, by
Kingmambo. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd
(GB); T-Brad H. Cox. $100,000.
3–Casa Creed, 120, h, 5, Jimmy Creed–Achalaya, by Bellamy
Road. ($15,000 Ylg '17 OBSWIN; $105,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP).
O-LRE Racing LLC & JEH Racing Stable LLC; B-Silver Springs
Stud, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott. $60,000.
Margins: 1HF, HF, NK. Odds: 12.50, 4.10, 6.20.
Also Ran: Blowout (GB), Daddy Is a Legend, Raging Bull (Fr), Whisper Not (GB), Field Pass. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

MGISW sire Got Stormy boasted four wins himself at the Spa, including in the 2010 Fourstardave. He is the sire of 10 stakes winners, six graded, with Get Stormy his only highest-level victoress. Dam Super Phoebe, a nine-time winner in Puerto Rico, is half to GSWs Smooth Air (Smooth Jazz) and Overdriven (Tale of the Cat). Her Mohaymen 2-year-old colt now named Mohegan was a $315,000 purchase by Tradewinds Farm at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale. Super Phoebe has a yearling colt by Bolt d'Oro, and was barren to Uncle Mo for 2021 before being bred to Nyquist this past season.

The post Lightning Strikes Twice in Fourstardave appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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