OBS March | Horse Racing Free Tips

Saturday’s Insights: $500K Into Mischief Juvenile Kicks Off Career in Spa Opener

1st-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:10 p.m. ET

MO MISCHIEF (Into Mischief), purchased by Myracehorse.com and Spendthrift Farm for $500,000 after breezing a quarter in :21 at OBS March, makes his debut for Todd Pletcher. The 9-5 morning-line favorite is out of the multiple stakes-placed Montbrook mare Montessa G.

“He’s a horse that we really liked when we bought him,” said Spendthrift Farms’ General Manager Ned Toffey. “Saratoga is the best of the bests, it’s where people love to unveil their 2-year-olds and you better have your big boy pants on when you go to the starting gate at Saratoga.”

Fellow firster Momos (Distorted Humor), a $180,000 OBS March graduate (:21), was produced by a half-sister to GISWs Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy) and Mongolian Saturday (Any Given Saturday). He is trained by Christophe Clement.

Repo Rocks (Tapiture), just a $70,000 KEESEP yearling, displays a flashy worktab for Hall of Famer Bill Mott for this debut run.

TJCIS PPs

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OBS President Tom Ventura Joins TDN Writers’ Room

As president of the sale company that conducted the final auction before the coronavirus pandemic shut down society as well as the first one after restrictions were lifted, OBS’s Tom Ventura has had to learn on the fly. Wednesday, he joined the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland to offer his advice for the rest of the industry on keeping business going amidst COVID-19 and his impressions of the rebounding sale market.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Ventura said of the lessons gleaned through the pandemic, “One of the things that we learned real quickly, that you had to be pretty flexible and be able to adapt on the fly. There were restrictions coming down the pike, literally, as we were about to hold the March sale … As things were tightening up, it became very hectic, almost on an hourly basis as things were being changed. So we met with the local government officials and we got the advice, at the state level, what things were being required and what we could do. It was still feel your own way, because there wasn’t a lot of dramatic restrictions that were being put in place.”

Ventura noted that while phone bidding was ramped up for the March sale, the key to pulling off the delayed April sale in June was the incorporation of online bidding, something that will likely be a permanent feature in the auction world going forward.

“As we had to ramp back up for June, we put the online bidding into overdrive,” he said. “That was in play in terms of something that we wanted to get done, but it got moved to the head of the class real quick. And I really have to appreciate the work that [Tampa-based software company] Xcira did, because from OBS’s perspective, it’s obviously a super high priority for us. We were able and willing to work 24/7 to get it up and running for the spring sale and fortunately, Xcira jumped in right there with us to get it up. Now, it worked. I thought it was very good. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that it will down the road, but it certainly [did the job].”

Things looked ominous for both the racing and sales worlds at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but tracks resuming operations and positive results from Fasig-Tipton Midlantic this week suggest a rebound is underway. Ventura agreed that the mindset has changed and pointed to the upcoming OBS July sale as another barometer for the industry.

“The [July] sale, we’ll get a real true test of the depth of the market. We have another thousand horses on the market,” he said. “I’m hopeful, and I think based on our sale and the Fasig-Tipton sale, they held up pretty well comparatively, and they had a lot of participation. I think the other thing that’s going to benefit us now is that all the racetracks for the most part are up and running. There’s a positive frame of mind now, compared to March, as we were just in the beginning of this, as things were shutting down.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers recapped Fasig-Tipton Midlantic and expressed concern about the vague safety protocols announced for the GI Kentucky Derby. Later on, in light of the number of top horses who have dropped off the Derby trail, they each picked one supplemental horse for their 3-year-old fantasy stables. Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch it on Vimeo.

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Cafe Pharoah Secures Unicorn Stakes, Japan Road To The Kentucky Derby Invitation

Koichi Nishikawa's unbeaten Cafe Pharoah scored his third win in as many starts, taking Sunday's $630,772 Unicorn Stakes (G3) at Tokyo Race Course by five lengths.

The 3-year-old colt by American Pharoah, the leader of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, moved to the pacesetters on the turn, took the lead after turning for home, then drew away smartly in the final furlong when asked for his best, running the 1600m (about one mile) in a stakes record 1:34.90.

Trained by Noriyuki Hori, the Triple Crown-nominated colt has earned $580,000 to date.

There is one more race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Japan Dirt Derby July 8 at Oi Racecourse, which offers 40 points to the winner. However, none of Cafe Pharoah's competitors can overcome his 70-point total even with a win in that race.

Hori does not discuss future race plans for his trainees, but Cafe Pharoah will be offered a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in September should his connections decide to make the trip to Kentucky.

Bred in Kentucky by Paul Pompa and consigned by Eddie Woods, Agent, to the 2019 OBS March Sale, Cafe Pharoah was sold for $475,000 to Narvick International, Agent, after turning in an Under Tack quarter in :21 1/5.

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Cafe Americana: Pharoah Colt Takes Unicorn S.

The undefeated SW Café Pharoah (American Pharoah), the even-money pick in Tokyo’s 1600-meter G3 Unicorn S., made that price look like a gift on Sunday, as he won that Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier by five easy lengths and set a new stakes record in the process (1:34.90). Dieu du Vin (Jpn) (Declaration of War) was second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Kenshinko (Jpn) (Pyro), as American-bred sires were responsible for the first three home. It was the first winner on dirt at the graded/group level for his Ashford Stud-based sire.

The $475,000 OBSMAR breezer was aggressive from the bell and was a good four paths off the fence in a battling fifth through a first quarter in :23 flat. Still shooting the breeze out in the middle of the course nearing the bend, he was full of run as he tugged his way up to second with the first three furlongs covered in :34.20. Able to sit just off the flank of the pacesetting filly and 2-1 second choice Lecce Baroque (Uncle Mo) on the turn while finally saving a bit of ground, Café Pharoah took dead aim and cruised past in a few strides at the 400-meter pole, pouring it on through the stretch to win with ears pricked. Dieu du Vin and Kenshinko unleashed good closing efforts for place and show honors, but they were never going to touch the winner.

“I had a good start, but I had a fast horse inside and used my mount to get [into] second,” jockey Damian Lane told Yahoo Japan. “Still, after I got second, the pace was slow. I was worried about the reaction when I first used my mount, but I was relaxed even when I entered the straight and [he] responded 300 metres out.”

A 10-length winner at first asking going 1800 meters at Nakayama Dec. 14, the bay earned 30 points on the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the Listed Hyacinth S. cut back to a mile Feb. 23. After Sunday’s score, he now has 80 points and sits atop the point standings in Japan, with just the July 8 Japan Dirt Derby (40-16-8-4) at Ohi remaining in the series.

Pedigree Notes:

One of seven stakes winner for his sire, Horse of the Year and 2015 Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah, Café Pharoah is the fourth group or graded winner, and first in Japan. American Pharoah’s Sweet Melania, who won the GII Jessamine S. at Keeneland at two, added the GIII Wonder Again S. at Belmont Park June 20. He also has GII Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint victor Four Wheel Drive Stateside-also out of a More Than Ready mare–and the G3 Prix du Bois hero Maven at Chantilly in France.

The fifth foal of his dam, who won the GII Mrs. Revere S. and GIII Boiling Springs S. and placed in both the GIII Lake George S. and GIII Athenia S., Café Pharoah is a half-brother to the gelded GIII Dania Beach S. and GIII Transylvania S. hero Night Prowler (Giant’s Causeway), as well as the 4-year-old filly Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom), who saluted the judge in the GII Lake Place S. and GIII Lake George S., both at Saratoga. His year-younger Uncle Mo half-brother died, while Mary’s Follies, a granddaughter of Wavering Monarch MSW Wave to the Queen, has since produced a yearling colt by Candy Ride (Arg) and a colt by Connect Apr. 16.

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
UNICORN S.-G3, ¥67,410,000 (US$630,772/£510,813/€564,321), Tokyo, 6-21, 3yo, 1600m, 1:34.90 (NSR), my.
1–CAFE PHAROAH, 123, c, 3, American Pharoah
                1st Dam: Mary’s Follies (MGSW-US, $338,889),
                                by More Than Ready
                2nd Dam: Catch the Queen, by Miswaki
                3rd Dam: Wave to the Queen, by Wavering Monarch
1ST GROUP WIN. ($475,000 2yo ’19 OBSMAR). O-Koichi
Nishikawa; B-Paul P. Pompa (KY); T-Noryuki Hori; J-Damian
Lane. ¥35,567,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0. *1/2 to Night
Prowler (Giant’s Causeway), MGSW-US, $475,682; and Regal
Glory (Animal Kingdom), MGSW-US, $455,084. Werk Nick
   Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dieu du Vin (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Declaration of War–Jealous Cat,
by Tapit. O-Three H Racing; B-Shimokobe Farm (Jpn);
¥14,162,000.
3–Kenshinko (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Pyro–Matriarca (Jpn), by Cryptic
Rascal. (¥5,832,000 Ylg ’18 JBBAUG). O-Katsuhiko Amano;
B-Shizunai Yamada Farm (Jpn); ¥8,881,000.
Margins: 5, 1 3/4, 1. Odds: 1.00, 5.20, 161.50.
Also Ran: Thunder Blitz (Jpn), Kitano Octopus (Jpn), Full Flat, Kids Agacha (Jpn), Sunrise Hope (Jpn), Lecce Baroque, Meisho Bengal (Jpn), Lovely Angel (Jpn), Aurora Tesoro, Tagano Beauty (Jpn), Machaon Blanc (Jpn), Satono Rafale (Jpn), Apollo Abelia (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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