Tag: Northern Flame

Rebel Goes to Timberlake in Classy Effort

Two turns? It turns out there's no problem.

When Timberlake (c, 3, Into Mischief–Pin Up {Ire}, by Lookin At Lucky) finished a somewhat rank, then flat, fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, questions swirled about his ability to get two turns. Trainer Brad Cox brushed the questions aside and let the horse do the talking. A freshened Timberlake, making his first start of the year in Oaklawn's GII Rebel S. Saturday, captured the $1.3-million race by a resounding two lengths over Kenny McPeek trainees Common Defense (Karakontie {Jpn}) and Northern Flame (Flameaway). The Rebel offered points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.

When the Rebel gates flew, Timberlake broke smoothly to tuck in nicely behind the speed in fourth. 'TDN Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole) led the way, with Northern Flame just behind and Woodcourt (Ransom the Moon) pressuring from third. Timberlake held his spot as Common Defense slipped through on the inside and Mena (Hard Spun) ranged up to his outside. Up front, Carbone notched the first quarter in :23.20 and the half in :47.67 as Timberlake sat loaded and patient a few lengths back. The winner swung wide on the turn, took several strides to swap to his correct lead, drifted out under a left-hand stick, and corrected in the lane. Jockey Cristian Torres stayed busy late, keeping Timberlake's mind on business, and the pair edged clear, holding a rail-rallying Common Defense at bay by two lengths.

Timberlake has done very little wrong in his eight-month career. A June debut at Ellis Park saw him break a step slow and finish several spots off the board behind Rhyme Schemes (Ghostzapper), who later won the GII Saratoga Special. A month later, Timberlake made good on the $350,000 WinStar Farm shelled out for him at the previous year's Keeneland September sale as he ran away by 9 1/4 lengths to win at seven furlongs and nab the 'TDN Rising Star' tag reserved for special prospects. A second in the GI Hopeful S. and that fourth in the Breeders' Cup were sandwiched around a daylight victory by the bay in the GI Champagne S.

The Rebel marked Timberlake's first start of the year; he had been ranked ninth on the most recent TDN Sophomore Top 12 going into the Rebel. He was the sole Grade I winner in Oaklawn's Saturday feature and also owned the highest speed figures with a pair of 93 Beyers.

Pedigree Notes:

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias, Timberlake is one of 68 graded winners for Spendthrift's five-time leading sire Into Mischief, who also sports a gaudy 145 black-type winners worldwide. While Timberlake is the only Into Mischief stakes winner out of a Lookin At Lucky mare, he also has GSW Bye Bye out of a mare by Smart Strike, Lookin At Lucky's sire, and a great number of black-type winners hailing from the Mr. Prospector broodmare line. The latter includes 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic, who stands beside his sire at Spendthrift. Lookin At Lucky, who is not standing this Northern Hemisphere season but remained in Chile, has 11 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Pin Up (Ire), dam of Timberlake, won twice at marathon distances in England. Her dam, by Sadler's Wells, is a full-sister to Irish champions and G1SWs Yesterday (Ire) and Quarter Moon (Ire), as well as a half-sister to $5.2-million Fasig-Tipton broodmare Betterbetterbetter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Pin Up produced a 2022 colt by Army Mule, who brought $30,000 from Tate Shaw at last October's Fasig-Tipton yearling sale, and a 2023 colt by Known Agenda.

Timberlake traces tail female to Mumtaz Mahal (GB) (The Tetrarch {GB}), who was known as the “Flying Filly,” and was one of the Aga Khan's foundation mares. Mumtaz Mahal, born in 1921 yet whose influence is still felt today, is Timberlake's 10th dam.

 

Saturday, Oaklawn
REBEL S.-GII, $1,250,000, Oaklawn, 2-24, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.00, ft.
1–TIMBERLAKE, 119, c, 3, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Pin Up (Ire) (SP-Eng), by Lookin At Lucky
                2nd Dam: All My Loving (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
                3rd Dam: Jude (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
($350,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star' O-WinStar Farm
LLC; B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Cristian A.
Torres. $618,750. Lifetime Record: GISW, 6-3-1-0, $1,094,350.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Common Defense, 117, c, 3, Karakontie (Jpn)–Allusion, by
Street Cry (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($9,000 RNA Wlg '21 KEENOV). O-David A. Bernsen, Tony &
Michael Holmes & Norevale Farm; B-Tony Holmes, Norevale
Farm & Union Dale (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $206,250.
3–Northern Flame, 122, c, 3, Flameaway–Darling's Darling, by
Bernardini. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($425,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-Jack Oxley, Harold Lerner LLC,
AWC Stables & Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek); B-Debby
Oxley (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $103,125.
Margins: 2, 3, 1. Odds: 0.80, 27.20, 15.20.
Also Ran: Woodcourt, Dimatic, Carbone, Just Steel, Next Level, Lagynos, Magic Grant, Mena, Tejon Pass. Scratched: Time for Truth. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Derby And Oaks Points Ripe On Graded Sunny Saturday At Oaklawn

The massive deep freeze which crippled the second half of Oaklawn Park's January cards seems like a distant memory, as weekend weather in Hot Springs looks to punch through the upper 60s and into the lower 70s. The sunshine will be a welcome sight with points intended for passage to the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks ripe for the picking.

 

Timberlake Favorite Choice in Rebel

The Arkansas series for the colts features another running of the GII Rebel S., which brings together a field of 13.

The class headliner looking to take home 50 Derby credits to the winner is 'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief). Bred by St. Elias and owned by WinStar, the Brad Cox trainee is coming off the shelf for his 3-year-old debut.

Last summer, the bay powered across the Ellis Park wire by 9 1/4 lengths which earned him a 'Rising Star' blue ribbon at second asking. As the runner-up in the GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga, he returned to New York a month later to capture the GI Champagne S. during the Belmont at the Big A meet. His juvenile campaign came to a close when he finished fourth to 'Rising Stars' Fierceness (City of Light), Muth (Good Magic) and Locked (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

“We gave him a little bit of a break after the Breeders' Cup,” said Cox. “He had a long campaign, and we were very happy with what he was able to accomplish at the age of 2. Just excited about what lies ahead for him. He's really turned it on over the last two weeks with his works. We feel like we've got him about as good as we're going to get him.”

Timberlake is the only entry without an attempt over the local strip in Hot Springs. Out of the other 12, Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, who welcomed as an investor current Oaklawn leading owner Staton Flurry, will look for 'TDN' Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole) to improve. The favorite in the GIII Southwest S. turned in a seventh-place finish.

Others in for a bushel full of points include a pair from Ken McPeek's shedrow. Northern Flame (Flameaway) missed hitting the board last fall in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and in the GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs. However, his gate to wire win against optional claimers at Oaklawn Jan. 28 proves he can be dangerous up front. His stablemate Common Defense (Karakontie {Jpn}) displays the complete opposite running style, as he likes to be heard from late in the game.

“(Northern Flame) has improved from 2 to 3,” said trainer Ken McPeek, who just celebrated his 2,000th victory this week. “He fought on well in that allowance race. He's a good, solid colt. … (Common Defense) didn't like the mud last time. I'm hoping for a dry track this weekend. I started to take him to the (Mar. 2) Battaglia Memorial at Turfway because I think ultimately his future may be on turf. He worked so good this week that I went ahead and put him back in at Oaklawn.”

Making his third start over the Oaklawn dirt is the experienced picker Just Steel (Justify) for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who was the runner-up in the GIII Southwest S. He will break to the inside of an upstart named Time for Truth (Omaha Beach) on the stretch out for conditioner Ron Moquett and principal owner Harry T. Rosenbaum.

 

Honeybee Could Be Sweet For West Omaha

West Omaha | Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges, Jr.

Just as with the boys, the fillies are also looking to harvest a top prize of 50 points. Their haul in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. will be applied towards a spot in the starting gate for the GI Kentucky Oaks.

Leading the charge is another from Cox's stable, who like Timberlake, has been working out at his Fair Grounds base. Gary and Mary West's homebred West Omaha (West Coast) was scratched out of the GII Rachel Alexandra S. after she won the Silverbulletday S. by five lengths in New Orleans Jan. 20.

The filly will tangle the Martha Washington S. winner Band of Gold (Preservationist). The McPeek trainee turned on the jets down the lane in that Feb. 3 stakes race and won by 2 3/4 lengths in what was an impressive display of speed.

Finally, Greg Tramontin, who left racing for 23 years before returning once again as an owner in 2018, enters Alys Beach (Omaha Beach). The chestnut debuted a winner last summer at Saratoga under Tom Amoss, but she was a well-beaten fourth in the GI Spinaway S. upstate before the meet closed and when she faded to third in the GI Alcibiades S. at Keeneland in early October.

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Saturday Insights: $685K OBS Grad Debuts At Ellis

4th-ELP, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 3:16 p.m.
OXO Equine's BALTA (Munnings), a $685,000 '23 OBSMAR purchase who went :9 4/5 during the under tack show, debuts Saturday for Paulo Lobo. The 2-year-old chestnut colt's family tree includes GISW Cupid (Tapit) and is a half-brother to SW Opus Forty Two (Mendelssohn). Opposing him will be fellow firster, trained Kenny McPeek, Northern Flame (Flameaway), who brought $425,000 at the Fasig-Tipton August sale last year. Also entered is D. Wayne Lukas trainee Just Steel (Justify), who went for $500,000 at the '22 Keeneland September sale. TJCIS PPS

1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, T, 1:05 p.m.
A $600,000 '21 FTSAUG purchase, MISCHIEVOUS ANGEL (Into Mischief) exits the gate on debut for Peter Brant and Parkland Thoroughbreds. Trained by Chad Brown, the bay gelding hails from a female family which includes GI Florida Derby hero Audible (Into Mischief), a half-brother to his dam. TJCIS PPS

5th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16th, 3:09 p.m.
DONEGAL FOREVER (Pioneerof the Nile), who sold for $170,000 at the '21 Keeneland September sale, will make his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher. The 3-year-old bay colt's second dam Tenacious Tina (Benchmark) is a half-sister to GISW Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile). TJCIS PPS

7th-MTH, $55K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16th, T, 3:22 p.m.
Homebred ASKARI (Tapit) breaks from the extreme outside for Todd Pletcher in this first maiden try. The dark bay 3-year-old colt is a half-brother to GSW Promise Me Silver (Silver City), but digging a bit deeper, he also counts GISW Try Something New (Hail the Pirates) among his family. TJCIS PPS

6th-WO, $111K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5f, AW, 3:54 p.m.
AIROSA (Uncle Mo) was a $400,000 '22 KEESEP buy for Star Ladies Racing and X-Men Racing. The Ontario-bred is out of Mrs. Hudson, who own dam MGSW Sara Louise (Malibu Moon) is a half-sister to GSW Just Louise (Five Star Day), who is responsible for GISP & MGSW Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah).  TJCIS PPS

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