National Treasure | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jack Wolf Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

As the managing partner of Starlight Racing, Jack Wolf is a part of a team that can always be counted on to have several prospects for the GI Kentucky Derby. That's the case again this year as the trio of Starlight, SF Racing and Madaket Stables will have horses in Saturday's GII San Felipe S., the GIII Gotham S. and the John Battaglia Memorial. To discuss those runners and Starlight's philosophies when it comes to trying to acquire Derby candidates Wolf was the Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

As was the case last year, the Starlight horses have been transferred to trainer Tim Yakteen, who is taking over for Bob Baffert. Baffert, due to a ban imposed by Churchill Downs, is not eligible to run horses in this year's Derby.

“We sort of went down this road last year and it seems to be working,” Wolf said. “The transfer seems to be working a lot more smoothly than last year. Last year, Bob was also serving a suspension (from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission). We're fortunate to have Bob working with us and trying to continue on to have these particular horses be eligible for the Derby points. Bob, (SF Racing Managing Partner) Tom Ryan and Tim have done a great job working together to try pull this off up to this point.”

Among the four Starlight horses that will be running in Derby preps this weekend, Wolf wasn't shy about listing who he believes is the best. It's San Felipe starter National Treasure (Quality Road), who is coming off a third-place finish in the GIII Sham S.

“I got on him as a Derby horse a couple of months before the end of the year,” Wolf said. “I just like how things are setting up for him, hopefully, for the next three races. I just really like the horse. He's not peaking too soon. Bob Baffert always says you get Derby Fever in January and February. But you don't know what you have until April comes around. So even though this horse may have a little case of second-itis, I think from a pedigree standpoint and the way he's been set up for the San Felipe he's our best hope. That's who I have my money on.”

Starlight, SF Racing and Madaket were among the first major owners to pool their resources at the sales, which mas become a growing trend in the sport. That means more competition for the trio when it comes to acquiring expensive horses, but Wolf said he believes his team can outperform their rivals.

“We've got better bloodstock agents and better operation than the other ones,” he said. “But, yes, they're buying a lot of stock. Mike (Repole) and Vinnie (Viola) put a little bit more money into it than we do. Maybe we put a little bit more money into it than the group Brad Cox has assembled. I like those guys. It's fun to compete with them and have at it.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the win by Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GII Rebel S. and trainer Keith Desormeaux's knack for developing modestly priced sales horses into stars and a looked ahead to this week's major races, including the GII Fountain of Youth S., the GII San Felipe S. and the GI Santa Anita H. In other news, the team discussed the reinstatement of controversial trainer Rick Dutrow and a TDN column by Sid Fernando that reasons that SGF-1000, the drug Jason Servis has admitted to using on his horses, is not a performance-enhancing drug.

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Baffert Has 14 Of 16 Nominees In Robert B. Lewis

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will attack next Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita with quality and an awful lot of quantity. The nominees for the $200,000 race were released Saturday and 14 of the 16 nominated for the race hail from the Baffert stable.

This Lewis will be run just six days after the GII San Vicente S. In that race, also for 3-year-olds, Baffert trains four of the five starters. The lone horse to take on Baffert in the San Vicente will be 20-1 shot Man Child (Creative Cause) from the barn of Ryan Hanson.

All four of Baffert's San Vicente starters are nominated for the Robert Lewis, but that still leaves 10 potential starters. Among the top names for the Lewis are the Baffert trio of Reincarnate (Good Magic), Newgate (Into Mischief) and National Treasure (Quality Road), who finished one-two-three in the GIII Sham S.

Baffert will come into the Lewis having won the race four straight years and 10 times overall.

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‘Rising Star’ Rates Big Shot Against Baffert Foursome in Sham

Bob Baffert supplies two-thirds of the field for Sunday's GIII Sham S. at Santa Anita, but he is no slam dunk to walk away with a record-extending ninth renewal of the event, given the imposing presence of 'TDN Rising Star' Spun Intended (Hard Spun).

The chestnut had a bit of buzz about him ahead of his Oct. 30 debut over 6 1/2 furlongs of this main track, and he nearly overcame a slow start and wide trip to run Fort Warren (Curlin) to a half-length, a performance that was also deemed 'Rising Star'-worthy. Pounded down to 4-5 over the same trip at Del Mar Nov. 26, the $100,000 Keeneland September yearling and $125,000 OBS March bargain made light work of eight other rivals, graduating by a widening 6 1/2 lengths. Hall of Famer Mike Smith sticks around for this first two-turn voyage.

The task at hand certainly is not an easy one, as Spun Intended hooks GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third National Treasure (Quality Road) in his sophomore bow. Having defeated future GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner Practical Move (Practical Joke) into third on his Sept. 3 unveiling at Del Mar, the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad found only stablemate and 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) too strong in the GI American Pharoah S. next time out and was beaten under four lengths behind likely champion Forte (Violence) in the Juvenile. The blinkers that went on for that try come off Sunday.

The Baffert shedrow is also set to be represented by the rail-drawn 'Rising Star' and recent GIII Bob Hope S. runner-up Newgate (Into Mischief); Speed Boat Beach (Bayern), who Beyered 104 when debuting on dirt at the seaside oval Sept. 10 and who exits a game victory in the grassy GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. Dec. 4; and Reincarnate (Good Magic), who broke his maiden going two turns at Del Mar Nov. 25.

The Sham field is completed by Packs a Wahlop (Creative Cause), a two-time graded winner on the turf.

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At Los Alamitos, Kumin the Breeder Beats Kumin the Owner

As the field crossed the wire in Saturday's GII Los Alamitos Futurity, Sol Kumin experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all at once. Kumin is the co-owner of second-place finisher Carmel Road (Quality Road) and third-place finisher Fort Bragg (Tapit). They ran well but couldn't outrun Practical Move (Practical Joke). Along with Chad Brown, Kumin bred, but does not own, the race winner.

“It was cool because I always loved the winner's dam, Ack Naughty (Afleet Alex),” he said. “Would I have loved to see one of the two horses we had in there with Baffert win and run off the screen? I probably would have been happier had that happened. But to look up and be able to say you bred the winner and owned the horses that ran second and third is fun. But I still enjoy the racing part of it more. I sometimes wish I still owned the horse than won.”

Kumin, one of the most prominent owners in the sport, is known for being a partner on dozens of top horses every year. He says he has no intention of becoming a breeder on a large scale, but will keep the occasional mare for breeding purposes.

“I don't think I'll ever have a commercial breeding business,” he said. “I'm too emotional and I know myself well enough to know what my limitations are.”

He did, however, keep Ack Naughty. Trained by Brown and a New York-bred, she debuted in 2014 and won four times from 15 starts. She finished second in the Chelsea Flower S. and the Mount Vernon S. and was third in the John Hettinger S.

“We raced the horse and loved her,” Kumin said. “She was among one of the first crops of horses that we owned. When it came time to sell her, I didn't want to. We put a value on her and bought out our partners. Chad loved her, too. She ran a bunch and always tried really hard. We had a little crooked yearling who turned into this big, pretty horse.”

When Brown was told of Kumin's plans he asked if he could stay involved and the two went in as partners on the mare. In her first year, she was bred to Violence and produced a colt who has yet to race. Her second foal is Practical Move. She was bred to Practical Joke because Brown trained the sire and owns a share in him.

Normally, with Kumin, the plan is to race the horses he bred. But he explained that Brown prefers that the foals are sold at auction. Practical Move RNA'd for $90,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale and then sold for $230,000 as a 2-year-old at the OBS April sale. His owners are Pierre Jean Amestoy Jr., Leslie A. Amestoy and Rogers Beasley. He is trained by Baffert's former assistant, Tim Yakteen.

Coming into the Los Alamitos Futurity, Practical Move had yet to cross the wire first but was placed first through disqualification in an Oct. 10 maiden at Santa Anita in which Kumin's Fort Bragg was taken down. After that, he ran third in the GIII Bob Hope S.

“I knew this horse really well,” Kumin said. “Not only did I breed him but every time he ran we had horses in there against him. I had watched all of his races.”

Kumin started out with five to seven mares which he boards with Des Ryan at Dell Ridge Farm. But from such small numbers he has enjoyed considerable success. He bred and owns Fluffy Socks (Slumber {GB}), the winner of the GII Sands Point S., the GIII Jimmy Durante S. and the Selima S. He also bred and owns Grade III winner Sy Dog (Slumber {GB}).

“We have had three graded stakes winners out of something like ten horses that we bred,” he said. “It's been pretty outrageous so far.”

His collection of home breds is about to grow. Brown was the co-owner of Slumber (Cacique {Ire}), who won the GI Manhattan S. in 2015. Slumber began his stallion career at Calumet Farm but, Kumin said, the farm considered retiring him and sending him to Old Friends because he was breeding to only a small number of mares. When told of that, Kumin said he bought the stallion for $1 and sent him to Rockridge Stud in New York, where he stands for $7,500. Kumin is optimistic that Slumber can be a success and is supporting him at stud.

“We bred 20 mares to Slumber last year and 16 or so the year before so we're really starting to pump things up,” he said. “We have him in New York and will keep breeding 15 to 20 mares to him every year. Let's see if they will be as good as we think they can be. This has been my first real effort as a breeder. We're not going to sell many. We are breeding them to race. They will go to top trainers and, hopefully, we'll get some good horses out of this.”

Whether it's with Carmel Road, Fort Bragg or National Treasure (Quality Road), who was third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Kumin has an excellent shot of having a horse in next year's Kentucky Derby, where they might meet Practical Move. He'll root first for the horses he owns. But if he has to lose, it might as well be to the horse he bred.

“I look at it like this, we have a mom that I loved the whole time we had her and now she's turned out to be a producer,” he said. “There's nothing wrong with that.”

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