Tag: Nest

Forte And Tapit Trice Breeze Together Towards Travers; Nest To Personal Ensign

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte (Violence) and Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's Tapit Trice (Tapit), both 'TDN Rising Stars', worked in company over the main track Thursday in preparation for the GI Travers S. August 26 at Saratoga.

Forte, with regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, worked without blinkers to the outside of Tapit Trice, who was guided through the half-mile breeze by exercise rider Fernando Rivera. Both workmates stopped the clock in :48.33.

“I thought both horses worked extremely well–both were moving really well and good gallop outs,” said Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. “They came back and cooled out quickly. We got what we were hoping for.”

It was the first breeze back for both horses after Forte's narrow score in the GII Jim Dandy S. July 29 at the Spa and Tapit Trice's fifth-place effort in the GI Haskell S. July 22 at Monmouth Park.

Pletcher said he would like to see Tapit Trice be more involved early in his races.

“He reacts well to the doors opening, but he just doesn't get away from the gate real quickly and I think that's compromised his chances in a couple of races,” Pletcher said.

 

With Luis Saez committed to ride Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in the Travers, Pletcher said it is likely either Jose Ortiz or Flavien Prat would pick up the mount aboard Tapit Trice.

Meanwhile, Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House's reigning Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Nest (Curlin) worked a half-mile in :49.44 in company with sophomore maiden filly Sister Maha (American Pharoah).

“I thought she was impressive. I had her coming home in 23 and a couple and just galloped out really strongly,” said Pletcher of the work.

Nest made a triumphant return from an eight-month layoff to best MGISW Clairiere (Curlin) in the GII Shuvee S. July 23 at the Spa.

“She seems to thrive on racing,” Pletcher said. “I was little concerned running her a mile and an eighth off the layoff from the Breeders' Cup and it seems like the race moved her forward. Everything does seem to come easily to her and I'm amazed the way she maintains her fitness and comes out of her races,” Pletcher continued. “We noticed it last year in the Belmont. It was a concern running a filly against colts at a mile and a half and is there some risk it could knock her out a little bit, but it did just the opposite. It moved her forward.”

Nest is targeting the GI Personal Ensign S. August 25 at Saratoga Race Course.

Pletcher said Harrel Ventures and Starlight Racing's maiden winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Pirate (Omaha Beach), who earned a 77 Beyer for his debut win July 15, will train up to the GI Hopeful S. Sept. 4 at the Spa.

“I don't know that he needed more time, but I felt with the Grade I status of the Hopeful that we'd be taking our best shot at it by not running in between the maiden race and there,” Pletcher said.

Also targeting the Personal Ensign is Rigney Racing's GISW Played Hard (Into Mischief), who scratched from the Shuevee with a fever days before the race. She logged a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.05 in company with the stakes-placed 4-year-old gelding Warrior Johny [1:01.14] over the Saratoga main track Thursday.

“When I'm looking for a strong work, I like to give a horse a target,” said trainer Phil Bauer. “We knew the horse in front of her is a quality individual, so we were going to get the work we wanted.”

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Nest Targets Personal Ensign For Next Start

Last year's champion 3-year-old filly Nest (Curlin) will make her next start in the GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga Aug. 25. Part-owner Mike Repole of Repole Stables announced the news via social media Friday morning. Not seen since an off-the-board finish as the favorite in last Fall's GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, Nest made a triumphant return to the races with a 2 1/4-length win over MGISW Clairiere (Curlin) in last Sunday's GII Shuvee S.

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Nest Returns with Stylish Victory in Shuvee

Nest (Curlin), off since finishing fourth in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, was second in the betting to Clairiere (Curlin)–who already had a pair of Grade I victories to her credit this termr–but it was the returning champion who sailed under the wire first in the GII Shuvee S. at Saratoga Sunday. Sent off at 4-5, Nest broke on top, but allowed Pistol Liz Ablazen (Daredevil) to take over and spurt to a clear lead on the first turn. That longshot took the field through fractions of :24.82 and :49.87 as Nest tracked from second, just ahead of 3-5 favorite Clairiere. Nest rolled up to challenge the pacesetter midway on the far turn and, getting the jump on Clairiere, scampered clear into the stretch. The favorite tried valiantly to run her down, but Nest was always finding more late for an easy score.

“More than worth the wait,” winning co-owner Mike Repole said of the victory. “At the end of the day, you want a horse like this best for the last four races of the year, not the first four. She had a huge 3-year-old campaign. We wanted to get her back in June on Belmont day [in the GI Ogden Phipps], but Todd [Pletcher] just thought she needed a little bit more time. Going a mile and an eighth after eight, nine months off against a horse like Clairiere, that was real impressive. They could have gone around two more times, she wasn't going to be passed. Todd did an amazing job, give him credit. [Jockey] Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] is just Irad. No one better than him right now.”

Pletcher was more than satisfied with last year's champion 3-year-old filly's return to the races.

'I'm super proud of the filly,” he said. “She's all class and it's nice to see her come back and get back on track. We got a bit of a delayed start, but she showed she's still in top-class form.”

He continued, “I have so much respect for Clairiere, and I know how good she is–she's one of those that the race is never over. You can feel like you have a two-length lead and she just keeps coming at you. I was watching her intently and knowing she was going to make a big run at her. Nest was able to quicken away from her and keep to task. Super effort beating an older mare like that, as accomplished as she is.”

Nest, who won last year's GI Ashland S. and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Belmont S., is now three-for-three at Saratoga. She won last year's GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Alabama S. at the Spa before coasting to a 9 3/4-length victory in the Oct. 2 GII Beldame S. at Belmont Park.

Nest could put her unbeaten Saratoga record on the line in the Aug. 25 GI Personal Ensign S.

“We'd like to run back in the Personal Ensign, if we think that's enough time,” Pletcher said. “The ultimate decision will be what we do for a prep for the Breeders' Cup [Distaff]. Do we go back to New York like we did last year or possibly the Spinster at Keeneland. Obviously, we have to suss out how she comes out of it. My initial assessment is she came back with pretty good energy.”

Aron Wellman, CEO of co-owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, was looking forward to the challenge of doubling up at the Spa two years in a row with Nest.

“The Personal Ensign would be the logical spot,” Wellman said. “She certainly seems to like it here. It's a tough combination. The Shuvee to the Personal Ensign and the CCA Oaks to the Alabama are two tough combinations. Not many fillies have done it. It's hard no matter who you are. We had some good fillies win the CCA Oaks and not be able to win the Alabama, some good fillies win the Shuvee and not win the Personal Ensign. She'll prove herself in a different class if she's able to do it.”

The Shuvee gave Eclipse Thoroughbreds its second graded victory of the weekend, following Anisette (GB) (Awtaad {Ire})'s win in the GII San Clemente S. at Del Mar.

“Pretty special,” Wellman said of the double. “The main thing is keeping our partners happy and delivering the goods to them. They deserve it. If it's not for them to put the money to buy these horses, there's no Eclipse. Two really special fillies in a very short time span on two coasts. I'm just really humbled and in awe. At some point, you just really try to sit back and slow time down a bit so you can appreciate the greatness.”

Pedigree Notes:

Marion Ravenwood, also the dam of Grade I winner Idol (Curlin) and stakes winner Lost Ark (Violence), sold in foal to Curlin for $2.6 million to M.V. Magnier at last year's Keeneland November sale. Barren in 2021 or 2022, she produced a full-brother to Nest this year and was bred back to Into Mischief.

Sunday, Saratoga
SHUVEE S.-GII, $186,000, Saratoga, 7-23, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:50.72, ft.
1–NEST, 122, f, 4, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Marion Ravenwood (SW, $112,598),
                                by A.P. Indy
                2nd Dam: Andujar, by Quiet American
                3rd Dam: Nureyev's Best, by Nureyev
($350,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable, Eclipse
Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House; B-Ashview Farm &
Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$110,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3-year-old filly, MGISW,
12-8-2-1, $2,083,050. *1/2 to Dr Jack (Pioneerof the Nile),
MSP, $156,155; 1/2 to Lost Ark (Violence), SW, $242,600; Full
to Idol, GISW, $426,964. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple
Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Clairiere, 124, m, 5, Curlin–Cavorting, by Bernardini.
O/B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $40,000.
3–Skratch Kat, 118, f, 4, Arrogate–Wave Theory, by Smart
Strike. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($200,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich lll & John D. Fielding
(KY); T-Philip A. Bauer. $24,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 10, 9 3/4. Odds: 0.85, 0.75, 17.50.
Also Ran: Pistol Liz Ablazen.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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Skipping Shuvee, Secret Oath Targets Personal Ensign

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas rarely passes on big stakes opportunities, he is skipping the GII Shuvee S. Sunday with Secret Oath (Arrogate).

After she turned in an uncharacteristic dull performance in the June 10 GI Ogden Phipps S., Lukas and the 4-year-old filly's breeder-owners Robert and Stacy Mitchell are using a little-bit-less-is-more approach at Saratoga Race Course.

“She's really, really doing well,” Lukas said Wednesday morning, “but we have made a decision to run here only once. We're trying to space her program so it leads to the Breeders' Cup. What we've got mapped out is the [Aug. 25 GI] Personal Ensign and then the [GI] Spinster at Keeneland. [The Mitchells] live in Louisville, so the Spinster is like the Kentucky Derby to them, and then the Breeders' Cup. That's the program that they have asked me to follow and that's not bad.”

Lukas, who will turn 88 on Sept. 2, brought 19 horses–10 of them 2-year-olds–to Saratoga this summer. Typically, he has been active at the entry box. Through the first four days of the meet, he has three seconds from five starters.

It's a very safe bet that by the time Secret Oath goes into the gate for the Personal Ensign, the other 18 horses in the stable will have made at least one start. Lukas said that Saratoga is the ideal spot for Secret Oath to get ready for the Personal Ensign, where she is likely to re-engage with standouts Clairiere (Curlin), Nest (Curlin) and Played Hard (Into Mischief), who are headed to the Shuvee.

“She thrives here because we don't have an opportunity to graze for an hour every afternoon like we do here,” he said. “We've got a chance to get her out every afternoon.”

Last year, Secret Oath won the GI Kentucky Oaks and finished fourth in the GI Preakness S. At Saratoga, Nest avenged her loss in the Kentucky Oaks and trounced Secret Oath in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and the GI Alabama S. Secret Oath was third in the GI Cotillion S. and fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Beginning this season at Oaklawn Park, Secret Oath beat Clairiere by 2 3/4 lengths in the GII Azeri S. and was beaten a neck by that foe in the GI Apple Blossom. On Oaks Day, May 5 at Churchill Downs, Secret Oath and Tyler Gaffalione were second by a neck to Played Hard. In the Phipps on June 10 at Belmont Park, she never was able to muster her off-the-pace run. It was just the fourth off-the-board finish in her 17-race career.

“The other day, I definitely think it was the track, and so does Tyler, that she had a sub-par race,” Lukas said. “He said it was rolling underneath her. Every time he gathered her up, she moved. Every time he asked her to run, he said she didn't get a hold of it. What happens here in the Personal Ensign, who knows?”

Lukas saddled his first starters at Saratoga in 1984, launching a run of 36 consecutive years at the track. He skipped 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19 and a downturn in the quality of his stable. With Secret Oath as the centerpiece of the stable, he returned last summer and compiled a 7-6-2 record from 31 starts. He picked up his 61st stakes win at Saratoga with Naughty Gal (Into Mischief) in the GIII Adirondack S.

Secret Oath breezed five furlongs in 1:01 Monday over the Oklahoma training track in the midst of her longest break between races this season.

“I think it helps her,” Lukas said. “She's a better horse this year. If you want to know the truth, she can probably take more, but we're not going to test that. We're just going to space it out and come into the Breeders' Cup. We're skipping the Shuvee. It would be pretty easy to drop into the Shuvee, test the waters and see how she handles the track. We're going to just go for broke in the Personal Ensign.”

The Mitchells had planned to sell Secret Oath last fall, though Lukas urged them to keep her in training as a 4-year-old. He said he told them Secret Oath could earn millions more in purses this season and still bring a multi-million price at auction. They did pull her out of the sale and she has earned $576,350 this year.

“Well, if she never did anything more that would be pretty good,” Lukas said, “but she's going to get more. Three more and they're all big [purses].”

Lukas picked up a pair of seconds with his 2-year-olds on opening day–Lady Moscato (Quality Road) in a maiden special weight and Saratoga Secret (Arrogate) in the GIII Schuylerville S. His third second came Sunday with Just Steel (Justify), a $500,000 yearling purchase, making his second career start.

An easy winner in her debut at Ellis Park, Lukas said that BC Stable's Saratoga Secret showed in the Schuylerville that she is a promising filly.

“I thought her race was good,” he said. “She's another Arrogate and she's very immature, even more so than Secret Oath was. She's small and slight. She will benefit from the time. She's going to go in the [Sept. 3 GI] Spinaway.”

Lukas never lacks enthusiasm for his young horses and he is high on this crop.

“I think it's the best bunch we've had since probably the mid-'80s or '90s when we were a lot stronger than most,” he said.

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