Tag: owner

“We’re confident he’s going to run,” L & N Racing’s Track Phantom Headlines Louisiana Derby

Track Phantom was one of the last yearlings that the L and N Racing crew looked at ahead of the 2022 Keeneland September Sale. The Quality Road colt from the Taylor Made consignment stayed at the forefront of their minds and they took home the yearling, who was the second foal out of 2017 GII Raven Run S. winner Miss Sunset (Into Mischief), for $500,000.

“We just fell in love with him,” recalled Michael Levinson, the racing manager and one of the four partners that make up L &N Racing. “He was probably an inch or two on the shorter side, but we thought if he grows up a little bit, he had the scope and he looked fast. Obviously all those things kind of worked out, but you didn't know at the time that the Quality Road out of an Into Mischief mare who had won as a sprinter was going to be able to go two turns and do it pretty easily.”

Not only has he done it easily, but he's done it impressively enough to be the 3-1 morning-line favorite going into this weekend's GII Louisiana Derby. Trained by Steve Asmussen, two-time stakes winner Track Phantom is coming in off a narrow runner-up performance to Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the GII Risen Star. The speed-centric sophomore has drawn the widest post in Saturday's contest as 12 colts vie for points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby.

The L and N Racing partnership–which is comprised of Levinson, his father Lee, his brother Andy and their family friend Don Nelson–has made the trip for Track Phantom's last two races at Fair Grounds and the Tulsa-based group will be on hand once again for Saturday's contest.

“Everybody is really excited,” Levinson said. “We think we have a legit Derby contender. Obviously that could change Saturday, but we're confident he's going to run. Steve just sent me a video of him [Thursday] morning and he looks fantastic.”

Track Phantom battles Sierra Leone in the GII Risen Star | Hodges Photography

Levinson said that what has impressed him most about the flashy bay's career thus far is how he seems to improve in each of his starts.

Track Phantom was third in his debut last October at Churchill Downs and then a close second to fellow Louisiana Derby entrant Real Men Violin (Mendelssohn) a few weeks later. He took control early and won going away in his first try going two turns on Nov 25. From there it was on to the Fair Grounds, where he reeled off front-running wins in the Gun Runner S. and GIII Lecomte S.

His biggest competition came over a sloppy track in the GII Risen Star, where he again took the lead early but was nailed in the final strides by Sierra Leone, the $2.3 million Chad Brown trainee owned by the partnership of Coolmore, Brook Smith and Peter Brant.

Levinson didn't mind running second. He knew the track conditions were working against his colt.

“I was at the races all day and was noticing just how sticky the track had gotten,” he recalled. “From even two races before ours until the time of our race, the sun had gone down, it was cold, and I think the track was just really heavy. Everybody is saying the pace was slow, but I just think that track had gotten really, really slow there at the end. I think in the last six races, they all came from the back. But Track Phantom got out in front and he almost held on to win and got run down by the Derby favorite. That's nothing to be upset about. You want to win, but I thought his run was brilliant.”

Levinson added that he believes Track Phantom's front-running style sets him apart from many of the top colts pointing for the first Saturday in May.

“I think he's a special horse this year with the fact that if you look at a lot of the contenders, they all want to run from off the pace,” he explained. “He's really one of the only speed horses. Steve has always really liked this colt and he just seems to get better each race. The plan is to win the Louisiana Derby and then take a shot at the Kentucky Derby.”

L and N Racing has been to the Derby once before. In an instance of what some would call beginner's luck, Lookin at Lee (Lookin at Lucky) was the first horse their operation bought at public auction and he not only got to the Kentucky Derby in 2017, but overcame the dreaded one hole and put in a strong runner-up performance to Always Dreaming.

Seven years later, the partners in L and N Racing are far from amateur owners and they've had their share of bad luck as they now hope to get to their second Kentucky Derby. They understand not only how difficult it can be to find that Grade I-level horse, but also how quickly those dreams can come crashing down.

It was only a month ago that they lost their stable star Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). Campaigned in partnership with Winchell Thoroughbreds, the 2021 champion 2-year-old filly and four-time Grade I winner was training up for the Breeders' Cup last fall at Santa Anita when she suffered two broken left front sesamoids. Three months later, the talented 5-year-old sustained an injury in her stall and was euthanized.

Levinson leads future champion Echo Zulu into the winner's circle after her 2021 GI Spinaway S. victory | Sarah Andrew

“She is everything to us,” Levinson reflected. “I mean, she was a brilliant filly. I have a wall in my office of all of her graded stakes wins and those will be left up for as long as I'm alive. She deserved a better ending. It's just so tough and it's hard to put into words.”

Echo Zulu has left a lasting impact on every aspect of L and N Racing's operation, even when it comes to their buying strategies at the sale.

“We're up to about 50-50 between colts and fillies now,” Levinson reported. “God rest her soul, Echo Zulu made us more comfortable with the fillies and honestly she's probably the reason that we have Track Phantom right now. She was one of those horses that gives you the confidence to go out and make a financial risk on a horse like Track Phantom and some of the other ones we've bought.”

A growing number of partnerships is another aspect of L and N's strategy that has changed in recent years so that they can increase their budget at the sales.

“We'd rather buy quality over quantity at this point, so we're trying to limit what we're buying,” Levinson explained. “We really like to focus on pedigrees at the sale, buying graded stakes-type horses and if we happen to ever get lucky with one of them, hopefully they can make a stallion.”

At last year's Keeneland September Sale, L and N Racing came home with four yearlings, including a $500,000 Into Mischief half-brother to MSW Mr. Buff (Friend Or Foe). The Authentic filly who was the least expensive purchase among the quartet–bought for $300,000–recently received a big pedigree update when her brother Newgate (Into Mischief) won the GI Santa Anita H.

Hot Springs native and successful Oaklawn-based owner Jerry Caroom is a partner on that Authentic filly and is also in on Track Phantom. Track Phantom's ownership group also includes Clark Brewster, another Levinson family friend from Tulsa, and the colt's breeder, Breeze Easy LLC.

“The ownership group is a lot of fun,” said Levinson. “We're very close to all these people and we'd just love to see everybody at the Derby for the first Saturday in May and get to take a shot and see if we could win it.”

Levinson knows a lot can happen in the next six weeks, so for now he plans on enjoying every moment of the weekend and soaking in the highs of the sport as they come.

“We love the animals and we love everything about this sport, but it's a game where if you're not prepared for disappointment, you shouldn't be in it,” he said. “If you win one out of every ten times, you're doing okay. It's that 10 or 15% of the time when you do win that keeps you coming back.”

The post “We’re confident he’s going to run,” L & N Racing’s Track Phantom Headlines Louisiana Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Runner-Up Jody’s Pride Takes Next Step on Oaks Trail

Steve Weston hoped to produce a nice turf horse when he sent his mare Jody's Song (Scat Daddy) to Coolmore's American Pharoah. Jody's Song had been undefeated in two starts on the grass in New York and American Pharoah had already shown his versatility as a sire when he produced several Grade I-winning turfers from his first few crops.

Everyone spoke highly of the resulting filly, whom he named Jody's Pride, throughout her early years, but when it came time for the dark bay to make her debut last August at Saratoga, the race got rained off the turf. Trainer Jorge Abreu opted to keep the filly entered anyways and to her connections' pleasant surprise, she sprinted away to win by over 10 lengths.

Again in her next start in the Matron S., the race was switched to the main track. Again, Jody's Pride won going away.

“So then we tried the grass for a third time in the Breeders' Cup,” recalled Weston. “But they said they didn't have room for us. So we said, 'Okay, we'll try the dirt. We don't know how she'll do. She's never gone two turns, but we'll see.'”

Sent off at 18-1 odds in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Jody's Pride and jockey Flavien Prat trailed heavy favorite Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) along the rail before swinging out to close in on winner Just FYI (Justify) in the final strides and finish second by a neck.

A newborn Jody's Pride with dam Jody's Song | courtesy Ashford Stud

At that point it was a pretty easy decision that Jody's Pride would be sticking to dirt, at least for the time being, as she points toward the GI Kentucky Oaks.

“Believe me, I'm not complaining,” Weston said with a laugh. “It's very hard to be able to get a good dirt horse that can go two turns. I'm blessed right now to have one.”

Steve and Debbie Weston's Parkland Thoroughbreds has excelled at the top level of the sport in recent years by partnering up on the likes of Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), who won the G3 Albany S. at Ascot last year, 2023 GII Appalachian S. victress Papilio (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), and other graded stakes winners like Royal Charlotte (Cairo Prince) and Horologist (Gemologist). But Jody's Pride stands out as a rare homebred for their stable and she's the one that Weston said is “by far” the best he's ever bred.

Weston, who is based in Parkland, Florida but spends his summers in Saratoga, purchased the filly's dam as a yearling for $250,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. The daughter of Scat Daddy was bred by Avanti Stable, whose owners Mario and Dawn Martinez lived just a few doors down from the Westons on Fifth Avenue. Named after Weston's sister who had recently passed away, Jody's Song showed talent early on and won on debut by three lengths, but injuries cut her career short.

Jody's Pride was only the mare's second foal, but sadly Jody's Song passed away from colic a week before Jody's Pride made her debut last year.

“It was a terrible loss,” Weston said. “She had two surgeries and she lived for about a month, but we just couldn't save her.”

Jody's Song produced three other foals including a 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo who broke her maiden last summer at Belmont and retired to Weston's broodmare band this year. She also has a 2-year-old colt by American Pharoah training in Ocala and another American Pharoah yearling colt.

Weston's boutique breeding program is strictly a breed-to-race operation. Along with a handful of mares in New York, he owns Sabrina's Angel (Scat Daddy), a half-sister to WinStar sire Audible.

Weston said that he considers breeding a filly like Jody's Pride to be one of the highlights of his time in the game.

“It's a different feeling,” he explained. “Not that I don't enjoy Porta Fortuna and the others because I do, but it's a different feeling when you breed one and you're racing it, especially at a high level.”

Jody's Pride as a yearling at Ashford | courtesy Ashford Stud

Weston co-owns Jody's Pride with his good friend Joe D'Agostino of Sportsmen Stable. The pair has been counting down the days until their star filly's 3-year-old debut.

Jody's Pride was originally pointing for the GII Davona Dale S., but after she put in two works at Gulfstream, Abreu decided to send her to the Busher S. at Aqueduct, where she has won once before.

“She's up there now and she's ready to go,” Weston reported. “It was different when we went into the Breeders' Cup because we were not expecting much. There wasn't much pressure and we were just happy to be there. Now I'm sorry to say that our hopes are so high that going into New York, sure we hope we win, but we expect to run really well.”

Weston has followed this same path to the Oaks before. In 2022 Venti Valentine (Firing Line), a filly Parkland Thoroughbreds co-owns with NY Final Furling Racing Stable, won the Busher and was second in the GII Gazelle S. before taking her connections to the Oaks. While the Abreu trainee finished well back in 14th that day, she has since proven to be a skilled New York-bred stakes filly for the group, most recently finishing second in the Broadway S. at Aqueduct on Feb. 17.

Weston has a lot to look forward to this spring as many of his top horses are set to return to the racetrack in the coming weeks.

Porta Fortuna, who ran second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has returned to training for the partnership of Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Barry Fowler and will make her 3-year-old debut back in her home country of Ireland in early April.

Papilio, who is co-owned by DJ Stable, Medallion Racing and Barry Fowler, made her 4-year-old debut at Gulfstream this past weekend and finished a close second to MSW Sweet Dani Girl (Jess's Dream).

Mischievous Angel (Into Mischief) is a 4-year-old out of Weston's broodmare Sabrina's Angel. The gelding broke his maiden on debut last June and then finished sixth in the GII Hall of Fame S. While the Chad Brown trainee hasn't seen the starting gate since, Weston said he has been putting in solid works at Palm Meadows this year and is set to make his 4-year-old debut at Keeneland this spring.

“I have had a lot of lean years, but the last couple of years have really improved,” he said, and then grinned. “I think I'm actually almost breaking even.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Runner-Up Jody’s Pride Takes Next Step on Oaks Trail appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Played Hard Carries the Rigney Motto to Ogden Phipps

One short elevator ride from the top of the Churchill Downs grandstand down to the ground floor was all the time it took for Phil Bauer to officially become a Grade I-winning trainer.

On Kentucky Oaks Friday, Bauer was watching from upstairs as his trainee Played Hard (Into Mischief) took the lead going into the stretch of the GI La Troienne S. and, with Johnny Velazquez aboard, fought off last year's Oaks victress Secret Oath (Arrogate) to win by a neck. When Bauer and an elated crew of Rigney Racing supporters raced to the elevator to get their picture taken, they unknowingly avoided the hair-raising anxiety of sitting through an objection raised by Secret Oath's rider Tyler Gaffalione. By the time the group made it to the winner's circle, it had been determined that there would be no change. Richard and Tammy Rigney's Rigney Racing and their trainer Phil Bauer had just earned their first Grade I win.

“It was such a special day, I guess a dream come true,” reflected Bauer, who grew up in Louisville. “You obviously strive to reach that level and to finally do it was just, I don't want to say a relief because relief is almost expecting something. You dream about it and then once it's real, it's something you can reflect on and be proud of. It all boils down to the team and how everybody came together. You think back to when we first bought the  filly and then to get there, it's so satisfying and you're very happy for the Rigneys for what they've put into the game. It's long overdue and hopefully many more to come.”

Much of Played Hard's success, and the rise of Rigney Racing in the past few years, Bauer credits to a change in game plan.

Bauer was working as an assistant for Kenny McPeek when Richard Rigney–owner of the Louisville-based beverage company Clarendon Flavor Engineering–offered him the opportunity to become the private trainer for Rigney Racing. The operation launched in 2013 and, despite winning their very first race, saw very little success in their early years together. After earning only 27 wins from 250 starts in their first five years, they decided to enlist the help of bloodstock agent John Moynihan.

Played Hard, a $280,000 Keeneland September purchase, was part of one of the first Rigney Racing crops put together with Moynihan's assistance.

“John Moynihan was a big piece of the puzzle and made a world of difference in the last five years with bringing in quality racehorses,” explained Bauer. “The proof is in the pudding. You can see in the last five years for us, we've really started to excel and it boils down to the horse. [Richard and I] go to the sales, look at the short list and pick the ones that we like the most, but John is driving the boat and it has helped a lot.”

Bauer had high hopes for Played Hard when they took her home after the Keeneland sale and his faith in the daughter of Into Mischief grew after each trip to Ocala to visit the youngster. The filly didn't make the races at two and was unsuccessful in her first three starts at six furlongs, but once she stretched out, she stepped up to a new level. She ran second in the GIII Comely S. as a sophomore and at four, she bookended a third-place finish in the GI Spinster S. with two Grade III wins at Churchill Downs. Her victory in the La Troienne, where she went off at close to 9-1, was her first start since winning the GIII Falls City S. last November.

“I was a little nervous that she wasn't tight enough, but I think she has matured into a racehorse that knows the game now,” Bauer explained. “Just in daily training, she hates horses in front of her and she'll want to get to them. With her overall demeanor as an athlete, she's a competitor. It's something that some horses lack, but she's got plenty of it.”

Bauer is hoping that the 5-year-old's winning ways will continue on into this weekend, when she'll have another matchup with Secret Oath in the GI Ogden Phipps S. Played Hard will once again team up with John Velazquez to face a six-horse field that also includes last year's Ogden Phipps winner Clairiere (Curlin), plus GISW Search Results (Flatter).

“We originally thought, 'Well, let's just come back in the Fleur de Lis at the end of the Churchill meet,'” said Bauer. “We kept an eye on the Ogden Phipps and while it's not coming up light, it's just coming up with a reduced field. The fact that she's got the grade one, we felt like in the big picture if we can win or be extremely competitive in it, it's only going to help her credentials as the year comes to an end and hopefully keep her name in the conversation for an Eclipse Award or hopefully the Breeders' Cup.”

The Rigney Racing operation comes into Belmont weekend riding a hot streak at Churchill Downs.

GISP Xigera returns a winner in her 3-year-old debut on June 2 at Churchill Downs | Coady

Xigera (Nyquist) got the ball rolling last Friday when she took an allowance contest going a mile on the turf in her 3-year-old debut. A maiden winner last summer in Saratoga, the filly was third in the GI Darley Alcibiades but then finished last in a field of 14 when she took her connections to their first Breeders' Cup for the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“We felt so confident going into the Breeders' Cup and to run as bad as she did was just a hard pill to swallow,” Bauer admitted. “She never grabbed the bit that day and there was no major excuse that we could point at, so we decided to give her the winter and let her develop. She came back much more mature physically and mentally. We were anxious to get a start in her and hoping she would return to form so when she did, it was just like a sigh of relief. We're hopeful that she can continue to climb the ladder and hopefully produce some stakes wins for us this year.”

Bauer said that everything, quite literally, is on the table for the filly's next start. While Xigera has always shown an affinity for turf, she trains well on the main track in the morning and performed well in the Alcibiades on dirt last fall.

Xigera's efforts were followed up with a win on Sunday from Warrior Johny (Cairo Prince). The 4-year-old gelding came in off a seven-month layoff to take an allowance optional claimer by four lengths.

Also last weekend, Bauer had two second-place finishes with Anna's Arabesque (Munnings), who was third last month in an overnight stake at Churchill Downs, and Little Prankster (Practical Joke), a $425,000 yearling purchase who has now finished second in her first two career starts.

“I think she's one to definitely keep an eye on,” reported Bauer. “She actually works in company with a lot of the horses we've already covered, so you know her ability is there.”

Phil Bauer and Richard Rigney | Keeneland

With 27 horses currently stabled at Churchill Downs and more trainees returning off layoffs or joining the barn as 2-year-olds this summer,  Bauer said they have high hopes for Rigney Racing this year. They'll have to work hard to meet last year's achievements, when they were the leading owner at the Churchill Downs spring meet, took home six of their 13 starts at Saratoga and finished the year with a record 21 wins.

“It's something that we felt was coming,” Bauer said as he reflected on their recent achievements. “You don't always anticipate extreme success in this game, but you have a general idea that you can at least be competitive in certain areas based on what horses you have in the barn and how they're training. That has been the case the last couple of years. The whole program has finally gotten legs and taken off. It's what we were striving for and for it to be here, it's been a lot of fun.”

Bauer's connection with the Rigneys runs much deeper than a trainer-owner relationship.

“[Richard] is one of my best friends,” he shared. “We golf together all the time. I'm very fortunate and blessed that [the Rigneys] stuck with me and continued to build around what we started out together. That means a lot to me. They're great people and they care about everybody and want to have a family atmosphere here at the barn. It's a pleasure to train for them and it's even sweeter when we're able to be victorious.”

Played Hard's name originated from what has come to be a meaningful adage for the Rigneys.

“The name came from their motto of life of if you lived well, you played hard,” Bauer explained. “And they enjoy life. I think when their time is gone, people will be able to look back and say, 'Well they did about all you can do.' At the same time, they make everyone's lives around them better.”

While there was a host of over 60 of the Rigneys' closest friends and family present at their home track in Louisville for the La Troienne victory, come this weekend it will be a much different experience as Bauer and Richard Rigney take on Belmont together for Played Hard's bid in the Ogden Phipps.

“I don't know if I'll ever be able to top the feeling of our first grade one being at home with the cast that Richard had present at the races, but obviously winning a grade one at Belmont on Belmont Day would be surreal as well,” Baur said. “Richard and I are the only ones going up Saturday, that was just the way it kind of worked out, so maybe it would be even sweeter if we can celebrate together and focus how we started and where we've gotten to be.”

The post Played Hard Carries the Rigney Motto to Ogden Phipps appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Three Grade I Winners Reflect Godolphin’s Evolving Program

From Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) getting Godolphin their first win in the GI Kentucky Oaks on Friday to Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) and Cody's Wish (Curlin) both coming home with Grade I scores on Saturday, the first weekend in May was one for the books for Godolphin USA.

The global racing powerhouse is coming off back-to-back Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Owner and Breeder, but Godolphin USA's Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said that this year's Derby weekend ranks near the top of the list of great weekends for the American branch of Sheikh Mohammed's international operation.

“We've been lucky enough to hit some highlights, for example when Bernardini won the Preakness, or the Travers with Essential Quality or Cody's Wish last year at the GI Breeders' Cup, but to have a domestic triple Grade I weekend, I don't think we've done that before,” he said. “Obviously we've had a couple of great Breeders' Cups, but that was on the coattails of our English colleagues who helped us out big time. For us to do it here domestically, it was an amazing weekend and it meant so much to the team all across the board. Our expectations were pretty high, but we know the way the game goes. It couldn't have gone any more perfect.”

Each of the three Godolphin homebreds made a Grade I statement on Derby weekend, with Pretty Mischievous getting her first Grade I score in the Oaks, Matareya earning her second at the top level in the Derby City Distaff S., and Cody's Wish with his third in the Churchill Downs S.

Just as each member of the talented trio forged their own path to the winner's circle, the dams of each of the top-level performers had very different journeys into the Godolphin broodmare band. Each mare's story reflects Godolphin USA's evolution as a leading buyer in the sales pavilion to now a leading breeder with an inimitable broodmare band and a star-studded group of homebred performers.

Pretty City Dancer at Stonerside Farm | Sara Gordon

PRETTY CITY DANCER (Tapit – Pretty City, by Carson City). Dam of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief)

While Godolphin has been markedly less active at the fall breeding stock sales in recent years, they came home with two purchases at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale with GSW Champagne Problems (Ghostzapper) and Pretty City Dancer (Tapit).

“We're very fortunate in that we haven't had to dip into the pool very often over the last seven or eight years and so Pretty City Dancer is one of the few mares we've bought over the last half a dozen years or so,” Banahan explained. “We're conscious of wanting to try to get in there and maybe get some mares that complement the broodmare band that we have at the moment.”

Pretty City Dancer was a standout at the auction as the winner of the 2016 GI Spinaway S. and a half-sister to another Grade I winner in Lear's Princess (Lear Fan). The daughter of Tapit was offered carrying her first foal by Medaglia d'Oro and sold to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock on behalf of Godolphin for $3.5 million.

“She's a beautiful-looking mare, great quality to her and well balanced,” Banahan noted. “She's the type of mare that you can breed to a lot of different stallions from a physical standpoint.”

While that first Medaglia d'Oro filly named Ornamental took six tries to break her maiden, Pretty City Dancer's second foal Pretty Mischievous was a standout from the beginning.  A 'TDN Rising Star' on debut, the bay went on to get a first Oaks score not only for Godolphin, but also for trainer Brendan Walsh and jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

Pretty City Dancer, who resides at Godolphin's Stonerside Farm in Paris, Kentucky, does not have a 2-year-old this year, but she has a Medaglia d'Oro yearling filly and a Street Sense filly foaled Mar. 28 this year. The 9-year-old mare has been bred back to Into Mischief.

Dance Card and her Gun Runner filly | Sara Gordon

DANCE CARD (Tapit -Tempting Note, by Editor's Note). Dam of GI Churchill Downs S. winner Cody's Wish (Curlin)

Dance Card was purchased by John Ferguson for Godolphin in 2011 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Old in Training Sale as a $67,000 yearling-turned-$750,000 juvenile.

“At that time, we did buy a few 2-year-olds,” Banahan explained. “Not many, but we bought a few and she was part of a pair that we bought that year. We haven't been very active in the sales pavilion for a while and obviously it was a change from a good few years ago where we were the most active buyer at the Saratoga and the Keeneland September sales, but the majority of those horses ended up racing in Europe. Not many of them really stayed here.”

Dance Card was one of those Godolphin purchases that did stay in the U.S. and she proved to be a talent on American soil for Kiaran McLaughlin. The daughter of Tapit did not make her first start until three, but she claimed the Belle Cherie S. and the GI Gazelle S. as a sophomore and came back at four to run third in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The mare's early offspring performed well. Her first foal Bocephus (Medaglia d'Oro) was stakes placed and her second foal Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) has been competitive at the graded level for years–having just earned his first two graded stakes wins this year at age seven–but it was Dance Card's fourth foal, by Curlin, that was destined to be a star.

“Cody's Wish was by far her best-looking foal that she produced at that stage,” Banahan recalled. “He was probably ranked in the top five yearlings that we had that year and we had high, high expectations for him.”

Dance Card's yearling filly by Street Sense | Sara Gordon

Unquestionably one of the most inspirational stories in racing this year, Cody's Wish validated Godolphin's decision to bring the champion back as a 5-year-old when he came in off a layoff to extend his winning streak to five straight scores in the GI Churchill Downs S.

“I think that on Saturday, Cody's Wish showed that he's probably even a better horse this year than last year,” Banahan said. “To me, it was his most impressive race yet thus far. We knew there was a great lineup this year for him with the Churchill Downs S., then going for the GI Metropolitan H., back to the GI Forego S. and on to the Breeders' Cup. We're hoping that maybe he can have a special campaign this year and hit some of those great races.”

At the age of 14, Dance Card has a quality lineup of progeny in the pipeline. Her 2-year-old Into Mischief colt named Hunt Ball just arrived at Bill Mott's barn and she also has a Street Sense yearling filly that Banahan said their team is particularly high on. She recently foaled a Gun Runner filly and she has been bred back to Curlin.

 

INNOVATIVE IDEA (Bernardini – Golden Velvet, by Seeking the Gold). Dam of GI Derby City Distaff winner Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile)

While Pretty City Dancer and Innovative Idea both wound up under the Godolphin banner later in life, Innovative Idea is a second-generation homebred for the organization and she hails from their prolific producer Caress (Storm Cat).

A three-time graded stakes winner, Caress was purchased by John Ferguson Bloodstock for Godolphin for $3.1 million at the 2000 Keeneland November Sale a few months after she produced future Grade I winner Sky Mesa (Puplit). Her daughters include Velvety (Bernardini), the dam of Grade I winner and Darley sire Maxfield (Street Sense), and MGSW Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold), the dam of Innovative Idea (Bernardini).

Innovative Idea was a productive race filly for Godolphin and Eoin Harty, breaking her maiden on debut at two and later claiming the Iowa Distaff S. and the GIII Groupie Doll S. as a 4-year-old. Her first foal, Business Model (Candy Ride {Arg}), is a winner at three and four and he is in training with Brendan Walsh this season as a 5-year-old for Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel.

Matareya was the mare's second foal and she was one that Banahan said he noticed from the start.

“Matareya was an absolutely beautiful yearling and I think she was my favorite of that year,” he said. “A lot of guys give me a hard time because I'm so hard grading them, but she got one of the highest grades I would give and I was in love with her as a yearling. I was always excited to see what she was going to do on the racetrack.”

To be able to celebrate the achievements of a third-generation homebred like Matareya, Banahan said, is a uniquely rewarding experience.

“It has been a great family for us,” he said. “To get it from a homebred is extra special. We've been very fortunate the last couple of years that all our stakes winners have happened from the broodmare band and that makes it all the more rewarding.”

Innovative Idea, now 11 years old and thriving at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, has added three foals by Uncle Mo to her produce record. Her 3-year-old filly named Methodology is in training with Brad Cox and preparing for her debut in the next few months. She also has a 2-year-old colt and a yearling colt both by Uncle Mo. This year, she produced a filly by Curlin and is being bred back to the Hill 'n' Dale sire.

Innovative Idea's Curlin filly | Sara Gordon

Examining Success and Looking Ahead

What do the three Grade I producers have in common? Banahan said it starts with noting that each of them were graded stakes-winning racehorses.

“That's a quality that we love to have in any broodmare that we have, that they're successful on the racetrack,” he said. “All three are also nice, medium-sized mares. I struggle with big mares to try and make it work properly and I think it gives you a lot more options to stallions that you can breed to when you have those quality, athletic, medium-sized mares.”

Banahan noted that all three mares also hail from A.P. Indy, with two daughters of Tapit and a daughter of Darley's late sire Bernardini.

There is an immeasurable quality too, Banahan said, that he credits for Godolphin USA's growing list of achievements.

“We've been very fortunate that we have some beautiful land–some of the best land, we feel, in Central Kentucky,” he said. “I also think the personnel that we have are second to none. From Gerry Duffy at Stonerside, Danny Mulvihill at Gainsborough and Rafael Hernandez at Jonabell, they have been involved in all our recent success from the foaling end of it. Paul Seitz and Benji Amezcua are our yearling managers and they do a great job raising those horses. We have a really strong team and they all play a big, big role in getting us to the winner's circle.”

Banahan said that one of the next goals he hopes that their organization can achieve is to come up with a broodmare for the record books.

“We're happy with the way it's going and I think the quality is very good,” he said. “We're fortunate that we have a lot of really young broodmares as well that have hit with some good runners at the moment. We're hopeful that maybe we can turn one of those mares into a blue hen.”

Looking ahead to Preakness weekend, Godolphin has the opportunity to make another run and maybe take one step closer to that latest goal. First Mission (Street Sense) will be a leading contender in the GI Preakness S. for Brad Cox coming off a win in the GIII Lexington S. The operation will also be represented by Comparative (Street Sense) in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. and Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GIII Maryland Sprint S.

The post Three Grade I Winners Reflect Godolphin’s Evolving Program appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights