Chasing Ghosts: Swaps

In the unlikeliest of places, far from the rolling hills of Kentucky or any of racing's other hallowed grounds, there's a connection to racing lore. Located in the high desert of California–west of the Mojave Desert, inland from the Pacific Ocean, and due north of Los Angeles–is the sprawling mountain community of Tehachapi. It was here that Hall of Famer Swaps was bred and raised on Rex Ellsworth's ranch.

Swaps, of course, had that glorious rivalry with Nashua in 1955 and was named Horse of the Year in 1956. But while Nashua was a classic blueblood and a Belair Stud homebred trained by the legendary James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, Swaps was more of a blurred contradiction, especially in the media at the time, which frequently portrayed him and his connections as anything but polished. Even his pedigree fell somewhere between the old adages of “breed the best to the best and hope for the best” and “a good horse can come from anywhere.”

By all accounts, both Ellsworth and his trainer, Meshach “Mesh” Tenney, were cowboys with unconventional horse management standards. They had grown up together in Arizona, cattlemen and horsemen to the core. The pair were just 26 in 1933 when Ellsworth and his brother, Heber, drove a rickety trailer to Kentucky and returned $600 poorer but accompanied by six broodmares and two weanlings. It was only the beginning. Ellsworth's bloodstock holdings gradually increased, as did his land. He eventually purchased Khaled, Swaps' sire, from the Aga Khan in Ireland and stood the stallion himself in California after he was unable to seal a deal for the horse he really wanted: Nasrullah, who would, ironically, sire Nashua.

Whatever his methods, there was no arguing with Ellsworth's success, as he won not just the Kentucky Derby with Swaps, but a total of three editions of the Santa Anita Derby, and eventually added both a Preakness and even a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In 1963, he joined Calumet Farm and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney as only the third owner in history to win $1 million in a year. That year Sports Illustrated called him “the world's largest non-market breeder and, with about 500 head at his disposal, he is unquestionably owner of the world's largest active racing stable.” He estimated he also owned about 1,000 square miles of land at the time and about 20,000 head of cattle.

Rex Ellsworth, Mesh Tenney, and regular rider Bill Shoemaker at Hollywood Park's Swaps statue dedication in 1958 | Getty Images

Ellsworth's Southern California farm on 440 acres in the Chino area–where Swaps stood his first season at stud–is the better known of his Thoroughbred properties, but it was on his 24,000 acres in Tehachapi where Swaps took his first breath.

“Ellsworth apparently liked the fact that [the area] in the Tehachapi Mountains was fairly close to racing tracks and all the activity of the greater Los Angeles area, yet was still quite remote and agricultural,” said lifelong Tehachapi resident and local historian Jon Hammond. “Many of his neighbors raised hay that could be purchased to feed the Ellsworth horses, and there were plenty of locals who could be hired to help run the ranch and horse operation. Summertime temperatures were typically in the high 80s during the day and 60s at night, making it a cooler, more comfortable place for the mares and their foals to live. The surrounding areas–San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert, Antelope Valley, etc.–are all considerably hotter.”

Named for a Native American word reportedly meaning “the place where the people of the acorns lived” instead of a word of Spanish origin like so many others in California, Tehachapi includes a series of valleys with both grasslands and rugged terrain that have been claimed by ranchers since California first became a state. It is an isolated oasis at 4,000 feet, subject to all four seasons unlike the desert sands that extend beyond the mountains that entirely encircle it. Mortar holes made by Native Americans in large boulders–where acorns were ground into coarse meal–are still found all over the valley, including on Ellsworth's former property.

Cattle and sheep land since the 1850s, the property that became Ellsworth Ranch changed hands at least four times over nearly a century until Ellsworth acquired it. With some wheeling and dealing and swapping of land, his Tehachapi ranch eventually encompassed approximately 24,000 acres. As had been his preference since childhood, horses and cattle were his livestock of choice on the spread. Hammond theorized Ellsworth bred Thoroughbreds on the ranch to gain a perceived advantage. “Being raised at this elevation, which produced stronger pulmonary systems, was said to have benefitted horses that were racing at tracks that were mostly located at about sea level.”

Typical Tehachapi terrain opening into flat valley land | Jill Williams

Swaps was born somewhere on the property Mar. 1, 1952–reports range from in a stall under Ellsworth's watchful eye to outside in a puddle away from any human intervention. The year he was born, the earth shook. Swaps was a mere four months old when a devastating earthquake measuring somewhere between 7.3 and 7.7 on the Richter Scale flattened much of the tiny town and killed 12. The population at the time was fewer than 2,000.

Ellsworth eventually sent Swaps south to be broken and to race, but he continued to raise Thoroughbreds in Tehachapi. Swaps, of course, was the second of an eventual four California-breds to win the Kentucky Derby and had a storied career that included six world records.

The fellow Hall of Famer Nashua will always be inextricably linked with Swaps, but they actually only met twice and it was a draw. Swaps beat Nashua in the Kentucky Derby. Nashua beat Swaps nearly four months later in a match race at Chicago's Arlington Park. They never met again on the racetrack, but the two would eventually stand side by side at Spendthrift Farm.

Swaps ended his career abruptly in October, 1956, when he seriously fractured a rear leg. Fitzsimmons, Nashua's trainer, sent Tenney a special sling used to raise and lower the horse. The sling was credited with helping to save his life.

A deal was struck with John Galbreath of Darby Dan Farm in Lexington for half of Swaps, with the original agreement calling for Swaps to ship back and forth between California and Kentucky each year. Swaps did stand his first season at Ellsworth's farm in Chino, but Galbreath reportedly visited and was taken aback by the functional yet Spartan and decidedly non-Kentucky-like facilities. The next year, Ellsworth sold the other half of Swaps outright to Galbreath. The horse transferred to Darby Dan and never saw California again.

Ellsworth was derided publicly for selling his stable star. His response would not have won him any sympathy in today's world of social media: “I was criticized by some people for selling Swaps out of the state and all that. They said it was lack of affection for a horse that had won me all that money. They just don't know. I sold Swaps for $2 million to Mr. Galbreath because it was a case of necessity for me. I couldn't afford to keep him. But fondness is not the right word anyway. I had no more fondness for Swaps over the rest of my horses than I have fondness for one of my five children over the other four.”

Swaps at Spendthrift in his later years | Getty Images

Swaps would sire three U.S. champions, all in his initial crops: Chateaugay, who emulated his sire with a Kentucky Derby win and only missed the Triple Crown by a second in the Preakness to Ellsworth and Tenney's Candy Spots; the grand filly Affectionately, whose 18 stakes wins included the Spinaway at two and the Vosburgh against males at four; and Chateaugay's full-sister Primonetta, who was the first foal by Swaps to be born and whose nine black-type wins included such luminous races as the Alabama and Spinster.

Unfortunately, Swaps didn't exactly set the world on fire with his sire sons, but he has made a lasting impact with his daughters. Primonetta was named Broodmare of the Year in 1978, but that was only the beginning. A number of blue hens–including Fall Aspen, Toussaud, Numbered Account, Glorious Song, and Take Charge Lady–have Swaps on their dam side. Through their sons and daughters, Swaps will live on in pedigrees for a very long time. Swaps moved to Spendthrift for the last five years of his career and died in 1972 at age 20.

As for Tehachapi, in late 1969, Ellsworth sold his ranch to Benquet California Corporation for a planned subdivision. A residential community was developed with a golf course and named Stallion Springs. Few concrete reminders remain of Swaps or Ellsworth in Tehachapi, but Stallion Springs is littered with streets named with racing in mind. Names like Tanforan Drive, Tim Tam Place, Man o' War Drive, Bimelech Court, Hialeah Drive, Busher Way, Kelso Court, and more remain. It's a safe bet that most of the people living on Bowie Street don't know Bowie was once a racetrack, nor that those on Shut Out Place know that Shut Out won the 1942 Derby and Belmont Stakes, and still fewer on Stymie Court know that great horse's Hall of Fame credentials. Those of us who do smile when we drive by and let our hearts be warmed by memories of the greats while so far removed from the heart of the Thoroughbred industry.

“Some of Ellsworth's ranch buildings lasted for many years after he was no longer active in the area,” said Hammond. “Some of these were on property later owned for many years by actor Jack Palance. As large agricultural operations of row crops–almost entirely organic greens, carrots, cabbages, etc.–became active in [the valley] in the 2000s, I believe that the last of those buildings were removed.”

Ellsworth himself, of course, had a famously ruinous end to his 40-plus years in racing. In 1975, Ellsworth's Chino ranch was seized by the state of California when over 100 horses were found neglected and severely malnourished on the property. Among the perished was Iron Reward, the 29-year-old dam of Swaps who had been named Broodmare of the Year in 1955.

A descendant of one of Ellsworth's elk | Jill Williams

The Ellsworth name didn't leave a lasting impression in Tehachapi, other than a footnote in history. However, Ellsworth did change the landscape in one crucial way. In the mid-60s, in one of his many ventures, he brought around 400 Rocky Mountain Elk from the Yellowstone area to his ranch, reportedly with the intent of increasing the herd and eventually charging visitors to hunt them.

From the start, the elk project didn't go well. A number died during shipping and the animals originally failed to thrive in their new home. Ellsworth had them housed in a 640-acre enclosure, but the numbers had dwindled to approximately 200 in 1967 when a storm blew down a massive oak tree and damaged the tall fence surrounding them. The majority escaped and today, nearly 55 years later, large bands of elk roam all over Tehachapi mountains. The cows and calves tend to stick together at higher elevations, but bachelor herds are a frequent sight all over the local valleys. They loll in the local ponds during summers. Gardens, lawns, and lawn decorations are no match for their appetites or brute strength, but they remain a magnificent sight in front yards and in open spaces. More than one resident in the area has had been tardy to an appointment as elk are in no hurry when crossing local roads.

Swaps himself? There is no marker in Tehachapi commemorating the great champion. There is no record of exactly where he was born or in exactly which fields he spent his early years before leaving his hometown for a Hall of Fame career. His name is instead relegated to a small street, just off Seabiscuit Way and just over a mile removed from Nashua Court. For the record, the stretch of Swaps Court exceeds Nashua Court by several lengths.

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This Side Up: Using the Full Genetic Orchestra

Though in most respects I only grow older, and no wiser, I do try nowadays not to get so cross about things. If I think people are breeding to the wrong horses, that's their prerogative. It's a difficult game; a still harder business. The Thoroughbred is reliable only as a vehicle of humility. We're all wrong far more often than we're right. And the beauty is that we have a proving ground out there, with a wooden post at the end. If you really are right, and I'm wrong, that's where we can find out.

True, that isn't quite so effective a consolation when so much breeding is predicated on a different proving ground altogether, in the sales ring. But even that unwholesome separation of priorities–by which the most “commercial” sires tend to be the least “proven”–creates an enhanced opportunity. “Don't get mad, get even.” Because some of our most venerable and valuable races are nowadays less competitive, especially in Europe, because the genetic assets required are somehow considered uncommercial.

Even in that unbelievably febrile market at Tattersalls this week, then, it no longer infuriated or depressed me to see significant investment entrusted to some whose principal professional asset is a practised plausibility. I know I have shared with you before how one of these characters once sneered at my polite inquiry whether his extremely wealthy patron might benefit from the invigorations available in American blood. He replied that he had never darkened the doors of Keeneland, and had no intention of doing so. Any fool knew that “over there they are only interested in speed”.

Well, I think we're safe in assuming that this gentleman won't be tuning in to Aqueduct on Saturday, where adolescent horses testing the water for the greatest theater of the American Turf–which, in healthy contrast with his home marketplace, maintains the two-turn pedigree at the forefront of commercial breeding–will be running nine furlongs through a tiring winter surface before they have even reached their third birthdays.

That being so, I wonder how he might account for the transformation achieved in the European Classic Thoroughbred by the winner of the GII Remsen S. in 1963? Northern Dancer clearly founded his transatlantic dynasty on the definitive attribute of the dirt runner: the ability to carry speed. Yet nowadays commercial breeders in Europe reject bloodlines in which the speed-carrying nature of “stamina” is not properly understood, in favor of sires whose mere precocity is, in turn, mistaken for speed.

On the other hand, it's difficult to refute the charge that the American Thoroughbred operates within too narrow a spectrum. While there are extreme tests, from half-mile maidens to the ultimate outlier of the GI Belmont S., those youngsters contesting the Remsen will typically spend the rest of their careers within a very finite range–a furlong or two less, or a furlong more–either side of this test.

Remsen winner Catholic Boy went on to win Grade Is on both dirt and grass | Sarah Andrew

Aficionados of this storied blue-collar circuit rightly cherish To Honor and Serve (Bernardini), who returned the year after his Remsen to win the GI Cigar Mile on the same card. In theory, lasting nine furlongs as a juvenile and then having the speed to win a single-turn mile as a sophomore suggests an impressive range. The Cigar, like its cousin the GI Met Mile, is an optimal speed-carrying test. A more conventional double, as such, would appear to be the one completed in the Cigar by the likes of Congaree (Arazi) and Kodiak Kowboy (Posse), who also won Aqueduct's other (surviving) Grade I prize in the Carter H. Unfortunately neither of that pair, nor To Honor and Serve, proved successful at stud. But the fact is that all their accomplishments were really in the same register.

During the years when Aqueduct hosted the race, the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup was still staged over two miles. When Buckpasser won the 1966 running, it was only 19 days since he had won the Woodward, over 10 furlongs, and in the meantime Eddie Neloy had kept him ticking over with a win over 15. Yet Buckpasser won his next start, the Malibu, over seven! In his juvenile campaign the previous year, moreover, his Hopeful success at Saratoga followed seven starts already between five and six furlongs.

Nashua | Courtesy Keeneland Library

Another Hopeful winner who went on to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup (twice, at Belmont), Nashua, had won over 4.5 furlongs on debut. Yet nowadays I have to get excited by a horse like Omaha Beach (War Front), because he could win Grade Is in the same campaign at six and nine!

Nashua and Buckpasser, of course, both became vital distaff influences: Buckpasser was among the greatest of them all, while daughters of Nashua gave us contrasting influences in Mr. Prospector and Roberto. To me, we simply won't know where to find that kind of bedrock if we no longer measure the full capacity of our elite performers. That doesn't necessarily mean modern horses don't have the same kind of range, though you are entitled to doubt it. But the modern race program and modern trainers together mean that we can only guess.

Performance is the best way we can identify heritable strengths. If breeders are to mix the right shades to achieve some kind of masterpiece on the genetic canvas, they need to see the full palette.

The Remsen would be a wild proposition for any European juvenile expected to operate at similar distances the following spring. (Their closest equivalent, the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud over 10 furlongs of mud, is one for the real sloggers.) Yet whoever wins Saturday will be said to show “versatility” if he someday returns to Aqueduct to add the Cigar or even the Carter.

Breeding a Thoroughbred should be like composing a symphony. You can't just rely on the string section: you need the layers and shades and tones provided by brass, wind, percussion. Yet nowadays we not only compose symphonies without that kind of depth. We don't even use the full string section. Commercial breeders confine themselves to the sharp, vivid speed of the violins. Those trying to win big races with homebreds favor the resonance of the cellos and double bass. But the string section owes its richness and balance to the violas, which link and express the best elements on either side.

Okay, so it's no longer realistic to expect people to use the full range of instrumentation, from the flute to the kettledrum, like Nashua or Buckpasser. But let's not make it too easy for that fabulously obtuse compatriot of mine to justify his prejudices, simply because Group 1 prizes in Europe are contested from five furlongs to 20.

Yes, it's great that Essential Quality (Tapit) could win a maiden over six as well as the Belmont. But we know that the former should be within the compass of any elite prospect against overmatched inferiors; and that the latter is nowadays a unique and exotic assignment, only embraced by the handful to whom it is a sufficiently pressing opportunity, and certainly never to be repeated. The rest of his career took place within a distance span of 300 meters.

Flintshire | Sarah Andrew

It's also gratifying that the 2017 Remsen winner, Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), could go on to win Grade Is on both dirt and grass. But we know that the turf section of the orchestra gets very little use from Bluegrass breeders, whose neglect of a stallion as eligible as Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) this week saw him returned to Europe for a reboot in France.

In the recently published covering stats, Flintshire was revealed to have covered eight mares last spring. EIGHT! This horse retired as the highest earner in the history of the Juddmonte program, and was supplanted only by another from the same family in Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Having maintained top-class acceleration (carrying his speed, turf fashion) to the age of six, he has so far had a single crop of sophomores. These included one that flew into fifth of 19 in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, while he had a juvenile graded stakes winner at Del Mar only last weekend. The reliably far-sighted farm that welcomed Flintshire to Kentucky said that it was trying to make the Bluegrass “relevant to all marketplaces” once again. Well, good luck with that.

It's almost enough to make me angry. But I remind myself that I'm not doing that any more. If I feel so offended on Flintshire's behalf, then it's up to me to find a way of sending him a mare in Normandy. But please, please, don't make it so easy for that clown to dismiss the American Thoroughbred as a one-trick pony.

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McGaughey Hopes Nashua Can Be Stepping Stone To Two Turns For Judge Davis

Courtlandt Farms' Judge Davis will take on five other juveniles in Sunday's 45th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who saddled 1997 Nashua victor Coronado's Quest, Judge Davis arrives off a three-quarter length maiden triumph at second asking. The bay son of Distorted Humor made amends from a distant fourth going 6 ½ furlongs on debut when stretching out to 1 1/16 miles on September 24 over a muddy main track at Belmont Park.

“I think stretching him out in distance and getting that experience helped him,” McGaughey said. “I'd like to see how he does here and then start thinking about two turns.”

Purchased for $280,000 from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale, Judge Davis is the second offspring out of the Sky Mesa mare Mylitta.

Jose Ortiz will ride Judge Davis from post 2.

Cairama will attempt to parlay a first out winning effort into stakes company for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Owned by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Mishal Al Saud, the dark bay or brown son of 2013 Nashua winner Cairo Prince led through every point of call, and held off a late confrontation to win by a head.

Breaking from post 6, Cairama will be ridden by Joel Rosario.

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher will saddle Repole Stable's Midnight Worker who returns to the main track after trying the turf when fourth in the Grade 3 Futurity last out. The son of Outwork was a 10-1 winner of his July 24 debut at Saratoga ahead of a third in the Sapling on September 5 at Monmouth Park.

Pletcher will attempt his fourth Nashua score, previously saddling Bluegrass Cat [2005], Violence [2012], and Blofeld [2014].

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Midnight Worker from post 4.

Rockefeller will take a drop in class and cut back to one turn after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 American Pharoah five weeks ago at Santa Anita for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The blue-blooded son of Medaglia d'Oro is out of the Grade 1-winning Speightstown mare Dance to Bristol, and was bought for $750,000 out of the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He dazzled on debut going wire-to-wire in a six-furlong maiden special weight on August 28 at Del Mar.

Rockefeller is owned by Goldconda Stable, Madaket Stables, SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Siena Farm, Stonestreet Stables, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Robert Masterson, and Jay Schoenfarber. He will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez from post 1.

Completing the field are Holly Crest Farm homebred Speaking [post 3, Gerardo Corrales] and Cheyenne Stables' Cooke Creek [post 5, Manny Franco] who are both stakes-winners that are unbeaten in a pair of lifetime starts.

The Nashua pays homage to Belair Stud's winner of the 1955 Preakness and Belmont Stakes trained by the great Sunny “Jim” Fitzsimmons. Notching two American Classic triumphs in addition to victories in the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and Jockey Club Gold Cup earned him Horse of the Year honors that year and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1965. He parlayed his talent to some of his offspring including Hall of Fame distaffers Shuvee as well as Gold Digger – the dam of prolific sire-of-sires Mr. Prospector.

The Nashua is carded as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race program, which also includes the $150,000 Zagora for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward going 12 furlongs over the turf. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Undefeated Isolate Ships To New York For Sunday’s Nashua Stakes

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Isolate has done no wrong in his first two career starts and puts a perfect record on the line when shipping to New York for Sunday's 44th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Nashua going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The stakes event for juvenile colts pays homage to Belair Stud's winner of the 1955 Preakness and Belmont Stakes trained by Hall of Famer Sunny “Jim” Fitzsimmons. Notching two American classic triumphs in addition to victories in the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and Jockey Club Gold Cup earned Nashua Horse of the Year honors that year and induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1965. He parlayed his talent to some of his offspring including Hall of Fame distaffers Shuvee as well as Gold Digger – the dam of prolific sire-of-sires Mr. Prospector.

Trained by Kathy Ritvo, Isolate did just as his name suggested in his last-out gate-to-wire effort where he defeated winners over a sloppy main track at Gulfstream Park by 10 lengths, while garnering a 79 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Florida-bred son Mark Valeski was a three-quarter length winner against his Sunshine State-bred counterparts in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight on August 6 at Gulfstream, where he defeated next out-winner and subsequent stakes winner Poppy's Pride.

“He had a really tough trip in his first race but he managed to find an opening and won the race,” said Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Dean Reeves. “In the slop he pretty well dominated the field. He hasn't had a nice trip on the dirt where he can really show his talent, but we're hopeful all will go well on Sunday and see how we stack up against some good horses.”

Isolate has been training forwardly into his stakes debut, recording a five-furlong bullet in 1:00.20 on October 24 over a fast main track at Gulfstream Park.

“He's one of those that you have to be careful with because he'll go too fast,” Reeves said. “He put in two really good works and did what he needed to do. It's a long trip, but so far the reports I'm getting is that he's doing fine. He's a tough and mature horse for a 2-year-old.”

Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Isolate is the sixth offspring out of the Unbridled's Song mare Tranquil Song, who has produced four other winners. He was bought for $70,000 from the Keeneland November Sale in 2018.

“Jimmy Gladwell picked him out as a weanling,” Reeves said. “He's got a great eye for a horse and we really liked him ever since we got him. He's developed into a nice horse so far.”

Jockey Cristian Torres will be back aboard from post 5 after piloting the colt to his impressive last out win.

Invading from Pennsylvania is Parx maiden winner Irish Honor who won on debut on October 28 for trainer Joseph Taylor.

Owned by Chuck Zacney's Cash Is King Racing, LC Racing and Ho Dee Boy Stable, the son of second crop sire Honor Code will arrive at the Nashua off just over a week's rest after a 1 ¾-length victory over a wet-fast main track at Parx.

“He's always trained like a real nice horse,” Taylor said. He's calm and he takes everything in stride. First time I entered him, I scratched him because the track came up sloppy. When we ran him last time, he missed the break a tad. When he came around the turn, we saw the length in his stride. I was talking to [Cash Is King owner] Chuck [Zacney] this morning, It's coming back quick but he seems to have a lot of energy. It's a short field so we're giving him a shot.”

Jockey Pablo Morales will ride from post 3.

Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who saddled 1997 Nashua winner and subsequent multiple Grade 1-winner Coronado's Quest, sends out impressive maiden special weight winner Ten for Ten in pursuit of a second Nashua triumph.

Owned by Donald and Donna Adam's Courtlandt Farms, the gray or roan son of first crop sire Frosted led at every point of call en route to an eight-length maiden score at second asking when traveling 1 1/16-miles over a sloppy main track on October 16 at Belmont Park. The maiden win earned a 78 Beyer.

Ten for Ten was off a step slow on debut and raced from four or five lengths off the pace en route to finishing second in a six-furlong maiden special weight on September 7 at Saratoga.

Purchased for $410,000 from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Ten for Ten is out of the Eskendereya mare Summer Vacation – a half-sister to Grade 1-winner and graded stakes producing sire Creative Cause as well as Grade 1-winning distaffers Vexatious and multiple graded stakes winner Destin.

Jockey Eric Cancel will pilot Ten for Ten from the inside post.

Following a debut win, Nova Rags will attempt to make his first start against stakes company a winning one for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Owned and bred by Michael Shanley, the chestnut son of Union Rags bobbled at the start of his debut but arrived in time for a three-quarter-length score in a six-furlong maiden special weight on October 10 over a fast main track at Belmont Park.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche will be aboard from post 2.

Completing the field are Pickin' Time [post 4, Trevor McCarthy], Civil War [post 6, Nik Juarez] and Spectatorless [post 7, Ferrin Peterson].

The Nashua is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:50 a.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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