ned toffey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Spendthrift Acquires interest in Keepmeinmind

B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm has acquired a 50% ownership interest in graded stakes winner Keepmeinmind (Laoban). The 3-year-old colt was second behind Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and third behind that subsequent champion in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile before concluding his 2-year-old campaign with a win in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. He currently sits second on the GI Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 18 points.

“We are delighted to be a part of such an exciting young racehorse as Keepmeinmind, and thankful to Cypress Creek and Arnold Bennewith for the opportunity to join the team,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “We believe Keepmeinmind is poised for a big 3-year-old year. He demonstrated tremendous talent as a 2-year-old, placing twice in Grade Is, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and finishing up the year in style with a convincing win in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill.”

Campaigned by Cypress Creek LLC and Arnold Bennewith, Keepmeinmind is entered in next Saturday's GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds and will make his seasonal debut either there or in the Feb. 15 GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park.

Trained by Robertino Diodoro, the bay colt is expected to work at Oaklawn Monday morning before a decision is made on his next start.

“There's a couple of variables,” Diodoro told the Oaklawn communications department on a decision between the two races. “I think we're going to wait and see the next 72 hours. The short field here is a little bit of a concern with his running style. If you've got a speed horse, like a couple of guys do in the race, perfect having five, six horses. But when you have a come from behinder, that's not the most ideal thing.”

Keepmeinmind recently breezed a bullet five furlongs in :59 flat (1/17) Feb. 2 at Oaklawn.

Autrey Bloodstock brokered the deal for Spendthrift to join the current ownership group.

The post Spendthrift Acquires interest in Keepmeinmind appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Spendthrift Farm Acquires Half Interest In Kentucky Jockey Club Winner Keepmeinmind

B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm has acquired 50% ownership interest in the 3-year-old colt Keepmeinmind, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) last fall at Churchill Downs and currently second on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 18 points.

“We are delighted to be a part of such an exciting young racehorse as Keepmeinmind, and thankful to Cypress Creek and Arnold Bennewith for the opportunity to join the team,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “We believe Keepmeinmind is poised for a big 3-year-old year. He demonstrated tremendous talent as a 2-year-old, placing twice in Grade Ones including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and finishing up the year in style with a convincing win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill.”

Campaigned by Cypress Creek LLC and Arnold Bennewith, Keepmeinmind will either make his seasonal debut in the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) next Saturday at Fair Grounds – where he is entered in post 12 with jockey David Cohen – or the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park two days later on Presidents' Day.

Trained by Robertino Diodoro, the bay colt by Laoban most recently breezed a bullet five furlongs in :59 flat on Feb. 2 at Oaklawn. Autrey Bloodstock brokered the deal for Spendthrift to join the current ownership group.

As a 2-year-old, Keepmeinmind finished runner-up to champion Essential Quality in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland in just his second start. He was also a fast-closing third to that colt in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile a month later, before breaking his maiden against stakes company in the Kentucky Jockey Club to close out a successful juvenile campaign.

An earner of $394,320 to date, Keepmeinmind is out of the Victory Gallop mare Inclination. He was bred in Kentucky by Southern Equine Stables.

Keepmeinmind's final workout for his 3-year-old debut is scheduled for Monday at Oaklawn.

“There's a couple of variables,” Diodoro said concerning whether the colt goes in the Risen Star or Southwest. “I think we're going to wait and see the next 72 hours.”

Diodoro said the potential of bad weather and a compact Southwest field make the Risen Star an option for Keepmeinmind, who has been based at Oaklawn since late December.

“The short field here is a little bit of a concern with his running style,” said Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2020. “If you've got a speed horse, like a couple of guys do in the race, perfect having five, six horses. But when you have a come from behinder, that's not the most ideal thing.”

Diodoro said he plans to breeze Keepmeinmind at 10 a.m. (Central), following Monday's second surface renovation break. Keepmeinmind has had five published works this season at Oaklawn, including a five-furlong bullet move (:59) after the second break last Tuesday under regular rider David Cohen.

“Just a little quieter out there,” Diodoro said, referring to the late time.

Unbeaten Eclipse Award winner Essential Quality is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the Southwest, trainer Brad Cox said. Essential Quality (3 for 3) was the country's champion 2-year-old male after winning the Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Essential Quality has been based this winter at Fair Grounds.

The post Spendthrift Farm Acquires Half Interest In Kentucky Jockey Club Winner Keepmeinmind appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Thousand Words Retired To Spendthrift Farm, Joins ‘Share The Upside’ Program

Thousand Words, the undefeated Grade 2 winner at two and multiple stakes winner at three, has been retired from racing and will stand stud in 2021 at B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky.

The 4-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile will become the newest stallion to participate in Spendthrift's renowned “Share The Upside” program, and he's immediately available for inspection by appointment only.

“Thousand Words is a horse we have been high on since the day we partnered with the Albaugh family to buy him at the Keeneland September sale. We believed he was one of the best combinations of pedigree and physical we saw that year, which is why he commanded a million dollars. He was forward from the day he started training in Ocala, and Bob Baffert told us pretty early on that Thousand Words was a Derby horse,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “He was an undefeated Los Al(amitos) Futurity winner at two and beat Honor A. P. in a final Derby prep race at three. Thousand Words is a terrific package and will greatly complement our stallion roster, especially at his price point. We think breeders are really going to like everything he has to offer as an exciting young stallion prospect.”

The Share The Upside fee for Thousand Words will be $10,000 for one year. Additionally, breeders must breed a mare in 2022 on a complimentary basis. After the breeder has a live foal in 2022, pays the stud fee, and breeds a mare back, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2023. For breeders not interested in the Share The Upside program, Thousand Words will be offered for $7,500 on a standard stands and nurses contract. As always, Share The Upside opportunities are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Campaigned by Spendthrift and the Albaugh Family Stables, Thousand Words broke his maiden on debut as a 2-year-old, running 6 ½ furlongs in 1:16 3/5 at Santa Anita. In his second start, the striking bay colt stretched out around two turns to capture the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), punctuating an undefeated juvenile season.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Thousand Words opened his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the Robert B. Lewis S. (G3) at Santa Anita, remaining perfect in three starts. Prior to the Kentucky Derby, he defeated leading 3-year-old Honor A. P. in the Shared Belief S. at Del Mar in a final major prep for the Run for the Roses, earning a 104 Beyer and becoming a top-five early choice for the Derby.

Thousand Words retires with four wins and a second from nine starts, with earnings of $327,500. He sold for $1,000,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, marking the first ever seven-figure yearling by sire of sires Pioneerof the Nile. He is out of the multiple Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed Pomeroys Pistol, an earner of more than half a million herself on the racetrack.

The post Thousand Words Retired To Spendthrift Farm, Joins ‘Share The Upside’ Program appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Into Mischief Passes Tapit, Sets Single-Season Earnings Record

With another productive weekend, which included a victory by the impressive first-time starter and “TDN Rising Star” Life Is Good at Del Mar, Into Mischief has set a new Northern Hemisphere record for most single-season earnings by a sire. According to TDN sire stats, Into Mischief’s offspring have earned $19,994,815 this year. The record had been held by Tapit, whose progeny earned $19,914,317 in 2016.

A win Saturday at Churchill Downs Saturday by Asar in an $85,000 maiden special weight race, moved Into Mischief into the top spot. He added to his totals with a win Sunday by Valletta in a $40,000 maiden claimer at Aqueduct and then picked up another $34,200 when the Bob Baffert-trained Life Is Good romped to a 9 1/2-length win as the 1-5 favorite in the betting.

With earnings of $11,465,367, Tapit is a distant second behind Into Mischief in 2020.

“He’s a remarkable horse,” said Spendthrift Farm General Manager Ned Toffey. “There’s not a lot left to say about him. He’s shown that he can get any level of horse and at the same time is very consistent. That’s what has allowed him to get to the level he has gotten to. He is so good mentally. Such a high percentage of the mares he breeds result in, first of all, a live foal, and, second of all, a good sound foal. They get to the racetrack and they perform. He’s been prolific at doing that and the offspring have been prolific at doing their job from a consistency standpoint and a brilliancy standpoint. We are proud to be associated with him.”

In addition to the earnings record, Into Mischief leads all stallions in several categories for the year. They include number of winners (178), wins (266), black-type winners (28), and black-type performers (58). With three Grade I winners, he is tied with Speightstown, Violence, War Front and More Than Ready for the top spot in that category.

Into Mischief’s 2020 accomplishments will almost certainly include a Horse of the Year title. With his wins in the GI Haskell S., the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Authentic is a clear favorite for that title. He, alone, accounts for $6,160,000 of the total earned by Into Mischief’s offspring this year.

“Authentic is the horse that checked the last box in terms of his ability to get a Classic horse,” Toffey said. “That was the one question people still had about him, as remarkable as he has been as a sire. He started off at such a low price point, so the mare quality back then was not exactly stellar. But the great stallions seem to be able to overcome that. As he has added quality, you see the results of that. And the quality only continues to improve. As the mares have improved, you are starting to see these Classic-type of results. Authentic has very much demonstrated that.”

Into Mischief’s year also included a win in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, the GI Acorn S. and the GI Test S. by Gamine and a win by Dayoutoftheoffice in the GI Frizette S.

Into Mischief’s stud fee for 2021 has been set at $225,000.

The post Into Mischief Passes Tapit, Sets Single-Season Earnings Record appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post