Nashville | Horse Racing Free Tips

Nashville Retires to WinStar

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's track record-setting Nashville (Speightstown–Veronique, by Mizzen Mast) has been retired from racing and will stand alongside his sire at WinStar, the farm announced Thursday.

Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off his impressive 11 1/2 length debut romp at Saratoga in September of 2020, the $460,000 KEESEP buy followed suit with a dominant Keeneland allowance win a month later, good for a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

Nashville may not have won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but he was the fastest sprint winner on the card. After sizzling through fractions of :21.54 for the opening quarter and :43.87 for the half-mile, Nashville sailed home the easiest of winners. Geared down in the late stages, he crossed the wire 3 1/2 lengths ahead of his nearest pursuer in the new track-record time of 1:07.89, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. Nashville's final clocking proved nearly a second faster than subsequent Eclipse Champion Sprinter Whitmore's time (1:08.61) in winning the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint later that same day.

This season, Nashville continued his winning ways with a 4/34-length, wire-to-wire victory at Fair Grounds in March, covering six furlongs in 1:08.61, the fastest sprint race of the entire Fair Grounds meet and the fastest time at that distance in more than two years.

“Nashville is the fastest horse we have ever had at WinStar,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO and racing manager of WinStar. “He is a freak of nature. Three times he went :43 and change; he led through the first quarter in every start and led after a half in all but one start. The brilliance he showed will give him a big chance at stud. Speightstown is always a plus, already having six sons to sire Grade I winners.”

By champion sprinter Speightstown, Nashville is out Veronique, a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Almond Roca (Speightstown) and graded stakes-placed Calistoga (Speightstown), who was purchased by James Delahooke for $800,000 in foal to Collected at Keeneland November in 2020 just days after Nashville's powerhouse performance in the Perryville. He hails from the direct female family of GI Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, GI Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago, and graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed Stanwyck. Nashville was bred in Kentucky by Breffini Farm and purchased from the Lane's End consignment.

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Hollis Sets Track Record In Upset Win At Oaklawn

It took a track record to topple a track record holder.

Hollis lowered the 5 ½-furlong mark in Friday's eighth race at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark., rolling to a 4 ½-length victory under perennial local riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. Racing over a fast track, Hollis stopped the clock in 1:02.17 to eclipse the previous record of 1:02.60 – a time converted from fifths of a second – set by Sis Pleasure Fager in a Feb. 15, 1984, allowance race for fillies and mares.

Friday's race, a conditioned allowance for 3-year-olds and up, marked the return of 1-5 favorite Nashville, who finished second in his first start in almost a year after setting the six-furlong track record on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in November 2020.

Nashville was no match for Hollis ($11.20), who tracked the front-runner from the start on the outside before seizing control in the upper stretch. Hollis, under 120 pounds, broke the record with a strong southerly breeze pushing temperatures into the mid-70s, unseasonably warm for early December. He received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 109, which equals the fourth-highest figure in the country this year in races up to a mile on the main track, according to Daily Racing Form.

“Hollis is a very special horse in our barn,” John Ortiz, the 6-year-old gelding's trainer, said Friday night. “He's got a personality like no other. We call him, 'The Scrapper.' We call him, 'The Boxer.' He wants to be in a fight. He'll take the fight to his competition. That's what my instructions were to Ricardo. When he's comfortable and you see Nashville take a breather, that's when you go up and join him. I know Ricardo was pumped. He said to me, 'Don't worry Johnny, we still had a lot left in the tank.' Good news.”

Santana, an eight-time Oaklawn riding champion, had ridden Nashville in his previous three starts, including the $125,000 Perryville Stakes for 3-year-olds when he set Keeneland's six-furlong track record (1:07.89) after sailing through a :21.54 opening quarter and :43.87 half-mile. Friday's splits were :21.81, :44.99, and :56.13 for 5 furlongs.

“It was pretty much what I thought would happen – seeing Nashville up in the front and us stalking him from the outside,” Ortiz said. “Just where we were, the fractions were perfect for Hollis. Sitting just off that pace was the best thing. To be honest with you, when you run Hollis, you're always in for an exciting race. You see in his record, he's dead-heated, he's won by a nose, he's lost by a nose and he's missing a nostril. It's always fun to win these races because he's really never disappointed us. We knew we were sending a horse that was 300 percent ready.”

Ortiz trains Hollis for William Simon (WSS Racing) and Brent and Sharilyn Gasaway (4 G Racing). On behalf of the Arkansas owners, Ortiz claimed the son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense for $40,000 May 25, 2020, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Hollis is a half-brother to Grade 1-raced Lady Lilly, a daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist who finished fifth in the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies last season at Oaklawn.

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Hollis has proven to be a home-run claim, bankrolling $334,553 in 15 starts for his new connections and winning stakes races on dirt and turf. He was gelded shortly after being claimed. Hollis had previously sold for $200,000 and $120,000 at public auction.

“The pedigree was part of it,” Ortiz said of the claim. “I was the only one in on the horse. He was a pretty decent sprinter and we like sprinters. He was still intact and once we took the weight off, he really leaned out, literally, and became a much more focused horse to do what he likes to do, which is run really fast.”

Ortiz said Hollis will be considered for upcoming stakes races at Oaklawn, along with Mucho, another hard-knocking older stakes-winning sprinter he trains for Simon and the Gasaways (husband and wife). Owing to a Christmas gathering with family, Ortiz said he watched Friday's race from his Lexington, Ky., home.

Hollis' ninth victory in 22 career starts bumped his earnings to $420,333. He was also an allowance winner at 5 ½ furlongs last April at Oaklawn, covering the distance in 1:03.65 over a fast track.

Nashville was making his first start since being beaten for the first time in the $300,000 G1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds Dec. 26, 2020, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and co-owners WinStar Farm and China Horse Club.

Nashville had a small ankle chip removed following the Malibu and suffered a minor physical setback last summer, said Elliott Walden, who is WinStar's president/CEO and racing manager. Nashville was making his fifth career start Friday. He won his first three starts by a combined 24 ¾ front-running lengths.

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Dec. 10 Insights: Nashville Returns at Oaklawn

8th-OP, $102K, Alw/Opt. Clm ($80K), 3yo/up, 5 1/2f, 4:46 p.m. ET

Nearly a year after suffering his first defeat in last winter's GI Runhappy Malibu S., China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's NASHVILLE (Speightstown) will return to the races as a likely prohibitive favorite in this sprint at Oaklawn. Starting his career with a devastating 11 1/2-length romp as a 3-10 favorite in the Saratoga slop last September–easily good enough for 'TDN Rising Star' honors–the $460,000 Keeneland September proved that was no fluke with an effortless 9 3/4-length allowance score at Keeneland and a facile 3 1/2-length victory in that track's Perryville S. in which he set a track record, clocking 1:07.89 for six furlongs. Favored in a highly-anticipated clash with Charlatan (Speightstown) in the Malibu, Nashville set sizzling early splits before retreating to finish a well-beaten fourth.

“It's just kind of a starting point,” WinStar President/CEO and racing manager Elliott Walden told the Oaklawn notes team Wednesday morning. “We want to get a race in him and see where we are. It looks like a good spot. There's some competitive horses in there and it will give us a good barometer.”

Nashville shows a half-dozen breezes for this return, capped by a maintenance four furlongs in :51 2/5 (14/20) over this track Dec. 6.
“It's been a long road,” added Walden. “Sometimes, horses make you wait. Nothing major, but had a couple of starts and stops this year. You're always concerned about a layoff, but Steve [Asmussen] knows how to handle these horses. He said he's ready. Just looking forward to getting him back.” TJCIS PPs

—@JBiancaTDN

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Track Record-Holder Nashville Returns From Year-Long Layoff This Friday At Oaklawn

Whitmore won the biggest sprint race Nov. 7, 2020, at Keeneland, but Nashville won the fastest.

Now, more than 13 months after setting a 6-furlong track record on that Breeders' Cup undercard, lightly raced Nashville is scheduled to launch his comeback in an allowance sprint Friday afternoon at Oaklawn for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and co-owners WinStar Racing and China Horse Club.

“It's just kind of a starting point,” WinStar President/CEO and racing manager Elliott Walden said Wednesday morning. “We want to get a race in him and see where we are. It looks like a good spot. There's some competitive horses in there and it will give us a good barometer.”

Nashville is among seven horses entered in the 5 ½-furlong eighth race, which has a $102,000 purse. Probable post time is 3:46 p.m. (Central). Nashville, to be ridden for the first time by Florent Geroux, drew the rail and is the 7-5 program favorite.

Nashville hasn't started since suffering his first career loss in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes (G1) for 3-year-olds Dec. 26, 2020, at Santa Anita. Charlatan, who captured the first division of the $500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) earlier that year at Oaklawn, won the 7-furlong Malibu, with Nashville finishing fourth, beaten 8 ¼ lengths.

“It's been a long road,” Walden said. “Sometimes, horses make you wait.”

Walden said Nashville had a small ankle chip removed following the Malibu. After resuming training last May, Walden said the 4-year-old son of Speightstown – Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and champion sprinter in 2004 – came up “a little off behind” and he was sent home.

“Nothing major, but had a couple of starts and stops this year,” Walden said, adding Nashville returned to Asmussen Sept. 10 and “hasn't missed a beat since then.”

Nashville has a long string of workouts at Churchill Downs and a half-mile maintenance breeze Monday morning at Oaklawn in advance of his comeback. Also entered in Friday's race are multiple stakes winner Mr. Jagermeister, the speedy Firecrow and Hollis, an allowance winner at 5 ½ furlongs last April at Oaklawn. Nashville dazzled in his first three career starts, winning by a combined 24 ¾ front-running lengths.

“You're always concerned about a layoff, but Steve knows how to handle these horses,” Walden said. “He said he's ready. Just looking forward to getting him back.”

Nashville posted Beyer Speed Figures of 91 for an 11 ½-length debut victory in September 2020 at Saratoga, 103 for a 9 ¾-length first-level allowance victory in October 2020 at Keeneland and 102 for a 3 ½-length victory in the $125,000 Perryville Stakes for 3-year-olds about a month later at Keeneland.

Under perennial Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr., Nashville won the Perryville in a track-record 1:07.89 after setting fractions of :21.54 for the opening quarter and :43.87 for a half-mile. The surface was fast. Oaklawn-raced A.P. Indian set Keeneland's previous 6-furlong track record (1:08.43) in the $250,000 Phoenix Stakes (G2) in 2016.

Roughly four hours after the Perryville, the first race on the card, seven-time Oaklawn stakes winner Whitmore captured the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) to secure an Eclipse Award as the country's champion male sprinter. Whitmore's winning time over a fast track was 1:08.61.

“We debated whether to go into the Breeders' Cup off of two starts,” Walden said. “Just felt like it was not a fair thing to do, to run a 3-year-old against top sprinters and older horses that had more experience and everything, so we opted for the path of least resistance. But after he ran, and ran so fast, I'd be lying to you if I didn't tell you there was a hint of: 'I wish we had run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint that day.' ”

Nashville has won 3 of 4 lifetime starts and earned $175,200. He was purchased for $460,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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