This time round, value feels likely to prove quite elusive. With the middle market increasingly porous, stud fees overall are at a challenging level. If they were driven up by a long bull run in international bloodstock, that appears to be tapering away and there's evidently going to be quite a lag before we see any kind of relief in fees.

Instead of assessing each annual intake, and judging how its members are meeting challenges particular to a phase of their career, this year we're going to tackle them by price bands. Previously a mediocre group has sometimes left us scratching around for a horse for the Value Podium, while much better sires in stronger year groups enjoyed no such elevation. So we're simply going to work to a budget, and the full range of options within it–which, after all, is what every breeder has to do. We'll start with sires below $10,000, and work our way up through the tiers.

The one exception comes today, when we acknowledge that new sires are always a class apart. On the one hand, they are priced to exploit commercial prejudice and seldom turn out to have offered value relative to their eventual competence. Almost all will turn out to be standing at a career-high fee; and many will be packing their bags, whether for overseas or Oklahoma, even before the claims now being made on their behalf are validly tested by mature crops. Nonetheless many breeders will be focusing all their attention on this group.

The defeat of the proposed 140 cap appeared to stimulate some pointedly unfettered books last time round, when a rookie turf sprinter covered 293 mares. Regardless of the merits of that debate, and indeed of that horse, it really can't be healthy for so many mares to be corralled by unproven stallions that will mostly fail. As we've often conceded, however, it's hard to blame either commercial breeders or the stallion farms. The former need to put bread on the table, never easy; the latter, equally, can no longer bank on market interest even into a second year. (In other words, if you want fees to come down, don't just flit from one new sire to the next.)

The situation is really driven by the agents and managers driving the spending at ringside. This series will hope to challenge the refrain that breeders have no choice but to roll the dice on newcomers because proven sires are too expensive. In fact, that's exactly why we're giving the newcomers separate consideration today: few, if any, would have had a prayer of making a Value Podium in a price band shared by stallions who have actually got horses out there winning stakes. The truth about buyers' behavior is evident from the way yearling averages tend to slide markedly in the second crop even for stallions whose first runners make a flying start-as happened this year, for instance, to all four of the sires who have dominated the freshman table! (Champion elect Mitole, for instance, processed his second crop at $48,423, down from $104,638 with his first.)

We'll leave for another day the puzzle why breeding “for the sale ring” should be any different from “breeding for the track.” As I'm always saying, there should be nothing more commercial than putting a winner under your mare. The only real argument for unproven sires is self-fulfilling, in that most will never again repeat the quality and quantity of their debut books. Otherwise, investment is being directed precisely where it is most likely to fail. But each to their own, right? There's a proving ground out there, with a wooden stick at the end, and this is a great environment for anyone mating a mare with the quaint objective of breeding a runner.

So let's immerse ourselves in this perilous whirlpool of new sires, and at least try to make the gamble affordable as we seek the handful that will eventually manage to swim clear and build a viable stud career in the Bluegrass.

As indicated, that won't be easy in the current market. For a sense of where the typical commercial breeder is operating, we can calculate the median fee of the top 10 new sires in each of the past six years. This was $22,500 in 2019; $27,500 in 2020; $25,000 in 2021, as farms made a pandemic gesture; $40,000 in 2022; $35,000 in 2023; and it is again $35,000 for this latest intake.

So the typical cost of using a new sire has gone up by over half (56 percent) in the last six years, during which time the average banked for a Keeneland September yearling has risen only 13 percent. And you still don't want to use a proven horse?

Well, okay, if you insist. Let's take a look at the class of '24. But remember that this whole exercise, while undertaken with every effort at objectivity, is just one guy's opinion. You know what your mare looks like-which should, after all, be the starting point for every mating-and you know what physique would complement her best.

OVERVIEW OF THE CLASS

The retiring cohort is led by two sons of Curlin who have given an extra twist of speed to his established influence. That said, both shared another of his trademarks by thriving with maturity. Both, indeed, required four sophomore starts to win a maiden, Elite Power in September and Cody's Wish in October. So we'll have to see whether or not their brilliance will express itself on a pattern more conventional for sons of Curlin out of Seattle Slew line mares.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Both those mares were elite runners themselves, of course, as a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up and GI Gazelle S. winner respectively. The latter, Dance Card, showed conspicuous speed for a daughter of Tapit when placing in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and had laid the ground for Cody's Wish by producing Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), the throwback talent who has this year won graded races in his sixth season. Elite Power meanwhile underpins his credentials with a half-sister to proven sire Dialed In as second dam, besides champion Eliza (Mt Livermore) as his fourth.

Both will take little finding but rather more funding, CODY'S WISH introduced at $75,000 and ELITE POWER at $50,000. While we all love a Met Mile winner, I'm not sure anyone could sensibly assert that there's a 50 percent difference in their potential at this stage.

GUNITE got a rear view of each, in his respective Breeders' Cup starts, but proved a handful for Elite Power in their two meetings in Saratoga this summer, running him to a head in the first and then beating him in GI Forego. And he has an edge in precocity, having won the GI Hopeful S. by nearly six lengths, enabling him to start at $40,000. His maternal family is seeded by some fairly arcane names, but the first three dams are stakes winners so it's demonstrably all working.

By the way, while we quickly learned to expect the unexpected from Gun Runner, perhaps we should pay more heed to the fact that Cody's Wish, Elite Power and Gunite were all presumably bred with two turns in mind. Quality tells, however it expresses itself. You want a Hopeful/Forego winner? Then you don't necessarily want to join a long line for a “commercial” sprinter.

Gunite | Sara Gordon

As for those who did end up with a Triple Crown agenda this year, we'll see who ends up with Eclipse laurels but the farms have meanwhile sought to anticipate the votes of breeders, with juvenile champion FORTE ($50,000) still ahead of ARCANGELO ($35,000), MAGE ($25,000) and TWO PHIL'S ($12,500).

The world was still at Forte's feet when he added the GI Florida Derby to three elite scores at two, but a couple of his contemporaries rather caught up with him. With hindsight, as the far less experienced horse, Mage's performance that day actually turned out to be the more significant pointer. But obviously commercial breeders will prize Forte's precocity, the Derby and Belmont winners both being later developers.

No newcomer has a better genetic base than Arcangelo, whose third dam is Better Than Honour, yet was found as a yearling for exactly the same price we must now pay for single cover! Hard to argue with that, given the way he followed up his Belmont breakout in the deepest sophomore field of the year at Saratoga.

Mage did not show his true colors there, but let's not lose sight of the historic level of talent required to progress so rapidly from a standing start, unraced until Jan. 28. He's gone to a farm that prices horses fairly without flooding the catalogue, and his brother's GII Remsen performance has meanwhile opened an exciting door.

That's the kind of thing that would help Two Phil's, who has an inescapably plain page. But you had to love the way he followed up a shatteringly game Derby effort on what sadly proved his only subsequent start, and the bottom line is that Danzig's last big star has covered a graded stakes sprinter and come up with something special.

Another star sophomore entering the ranks is ARABIAN LION, at $30,000. He's surely set for pinhooker shortlists as a $600,000 2-year-old who followed through to clock big numbers in the GI Woody Stephens, but those taking a longer view will also be satisfied to find Justify underpinned by Personal Ensign as third dam.

Pappacap | Sarah Andrew

TAIBA was an even more spectacular pinhook ($140,000 to $1.7 million) and paid it all back on the racetrack, winning the GI Santa Anita Derby off a maiden win and flaunting his speed when dropping back for the GI Malibu. Sticking around to run in the desert did not pay off, except maybe for breeders who might conceivably have been asked for a little more than $35,000 a year ago. Like Gunite, Taibia suggests the upgrading powers of their sire: his family owes most of its distinction to Ohio-breds, but his dam's 17 wins would be pretty remarkable in any currency.

PROXY, like Taiba, ran third in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and that was a fitting conclusion to four seasons of set-your-clock Tapit action that left him just a tick below the very best (starts on $25,000) while thoroughly deserving his Grade I in the Clark. That hard-knocking profile befits the combination of his sire-line with a third dam also by Seattle Slew, and his dual Grade I-winning dam Panty Raid (Include) has corroborated her genetic input–sister a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up–with a Grade II-winning daughter.

Among the more affordable newcomers, ZANDON appeals strongly at $12,500 as a horse rather more talented than generally appreciated. That's a curious suggestion of one whose consistency banked over $2 million through three campaigns in the best company, but he seldom found the right scenario to showcase that turn of foot. Even as it stands, he looks a lot of horse for this kind of money. I guess someone who could stretch for his aptly-named sire should still do so, but at this level Zandon is entitled to give Upstart fresh kudos.

DR. SCHIVEL will be in commercial demand at the same fee, as a Grade I winner at two and then also in the GI Bing Crosby S. He was beaten only two heads in his defense of that trophy, and only by a nose in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in between. His family carries a few faded names, but his dam is a half-sister to a Grade I winner and the blood was plainly functioning in a horse so consistently fast.

The Walmac revival meanwhile gains ground with a couple of eligibly priced recruits. PAPPACAP is assured traffic at $12,500 as a precocious son of Gun Runner, while FULSOME gives bargain access to Into Mischief at $7,500 after converting his Juddmonte page to the margin of elite performance.

War Horse Place is also showing ambition, bringing Classic winner Rombauer in from the cold at $6,000, while SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT has every right to sire runners at a bargain $3,500. This teak-tough and classy horse definitely warrants a look, having repeatedly missed adding to his solitary Grade I score only by narrow margins, including a head, a neck (twice), and half a length. He earned $1.8 million across four full campaigns and has a bunch of top runners and producers under his third dam. Do not make the mistake of assuming that his basement fee limits the kind of breeder who should be interested in recycling his merit in an expanding turf program.

VALUE PODIUM
Bronze:
UP TO THE MARK (Not This Time–Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper)
Lane's End $25,000

Up to the Mark | Coady Photography

Here's a horse that taught a couple of valuable lessons for anyone smart enough to heed them. One is that the fearless approach can pay off even if you're beaten: the decision to risk a new distance at the Breeders' Cup, against a vintage group of Euro raiders, was arguably only thwarted by a dream trip for the winner and enabled Up to the Mark to tell us something new about himself–something that made us all think still more highly of him. Meanwhile the GI Mile was won by a horse he had nailed in their previous start, confirming his caliber at that trip.

But a still more important lesson concerned a different type of versatility. Because our horses will only expand their boundaries if we push our own, and Up to the Mark's career confirms what has long been obvious to any student of pedigrees: even when horses might have an obvious surface, on paper, we have to remember that races aren't staged on paper. How many other talents remain unfulfilled, you wonder, because they are campaigned in prescriptive fashion?

As it is, the slavish orthodoxies of our business have created a dividend for more imaginative breeders. Because the discovery that Up to the Mark was an elite performer on grass means that we get a much milder fee than would be the case for a dirt horse so narrowly denied a fourth consecutive Grade I success. And yet the pedigree that made it perfectly logical to start him on dirt–first four dams are by Ghostzapper, Capote, Fappiano and Key To The Mint–could easily filter into his second career.

After all, Not This Time himself in this instance appears to have served as a conduit for the flexibility trademarked by Giant's Causeway. Maybe Up to the Mark can now emulate his grandsire by helping breeders to overcome their prejudices, especially in an era when the American turf program is growing far faster than the available pool of talent among Kentucky stallions.

There's room at the top, after all, after the loss of Kitten's Joy and English Channel. And those who are squeamish about chlorophyll will surely be comforted that Up to the Mark's grandam Capote Bell won elite dirt dashes in the GI Test and GII Prioress. If he can breed a few to start their careers like he did, impressive in a Saratoga dirt sprint, then perhaps they will also emulate the kind of money he made as a $450,000 Book 1 yearling.

Silver:
COUNTRY GRAMMER (Tonalist–Arabian Song, by Forestry)
Winstar $10,000

Country Grammer | Benoit

This horse was one of the great auction steals at just $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. It tells you a lot about our business that he had brought four times as much as a 2-year-old, at OBS April, yet had since won the GIII Peter Pan S.! He was chased home there by Caracaro (Uncle Mo) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), respectively GI Travers runner-up and GII Jim Dandy winner on their next starts. Though it was a poignant dispersal that put him into the ring, only WinStar were wide awake. The rest of us must keep going to work!

Country Grammer now gets the chance to top up his earnings since–enormously inflated in the desert, but also very respectable in the best Californian company–at what could prove another bargain price.

It's unsurprising to be reminded that this tremendously game animal draws on two doses of Pleasant Colony, responsible for the dams of both sire Tonalist and damsire Forestry. Tonalist may be keeping his price down but remember that Country Grammer's sire is himself extremely well-bred, while the second dam is a half-sister to a brilliant dasher in Etoile Montante (Miswaki) and granddaughter of the Juddmonte foundation mare Nijinsky Star (Nijinsky). The continued efficacy of this branch has been confirmed by both his granddam (produced a very fast juvenile in Britain) and his own mother, whose daughter by Runhappy banked over half a million with multiple graded stakes placings.

On pedigree as well as performance, then, Country Grammer is absolutely entitled to sire an elite runner like himself, and you can't say that of many horses standing at this kind of money. Personally, I wouldn't labor the point about his earnings: nobody is going to deceive themselves that this is the third best American Thoroughbred of all time, and the real point of his Dubai win was that he had too much for the likes of Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow). And pinhookers should note the progress he made, admittedly as a May 11 foal, from $60,000 September yearling to his bullet breeze in Ocala.

Gold:
LOGGINS (Ghostzapper–Beyond Blame, by Blame)
Hill 'n' Dale $7,500

Loggins | Coady Photography

Like everybody else, and far more than many, I'm just guessing with all these horses. But every now and then even I can strike lucky and that was certainly the case with Not This Time. I was in his corner from the moment he went to stud in 2017 at $15,000-a fee he has meanwhile increased tenfold-and I feel there are striking echoes about this fellow, who starts at half that price.

Both ran the subsequent champion juvenile to a neck on what unfortunately proved to be their final start, and in each case their connections were entitled to hope for revenge next time. At the Breeders' Cup Not This Time had to concede first run to Classic Empire, who exploited his cleaner trip but was all out to hold on. Loggins, in contrast, was exposed to a hot pace in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, and yet rallied bravely as Forte picked up the pieces. Moreover, the winner jostled him towards the rail sufficiently for a rider objection, albeit one that was ultimately not sustained. Regardless it was a remarkable effort, against the GI Hopeful winner, from a horse that could not have learned too much when breaking his maiden by over eight lengths on debut.

He now enters competition with Mystic Guide for what remains a slightly alarming vacancy as a worthy heir to their sire, who's plainly in the evening of his career as he welcomes Loggins to the barn. It would be a shame if such a flamboyant talent failed to secure a male conduit for genes that have already served Justify and Up to the Mark so well, through their dams.

Loggins himself shared a damsire with Forte, in Blame. My feeling is that Blame's precocity in this capacity channels the quality both of his own maternal line, and that of his sire Arch. Now Loggins can combine that legacy with Ghostzapper's prowess as a broodmare sire, typical of the Deputy Minister sire-line. As such, any breeder who wouldn't mind retaining a filly would be well advised to consider Loggins.

He was a $460,000 Saratoga yearling, remember, as the first starter for a graded stakes winner out of a half-sister to two others. The next dam is a dual Grade II-placed Unbridled's Song half-sister not only to Street Boss but also to the dam of another elite sprinter in Jack Christopher (Munnings).

As the rest of this podium demonstrates, we'd appreciate rather more proof of soundness. But the bottom line is that a raw Loggins had shown himself to be nearly Forte's equal, forcing him seven lengths clear of smart horses like Red Route One (Gun Runner), Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), Newgate (Into Mischief), Two Phil's (Hard Spun) and Funtastic Again (Funtastic). All served as complimentary proxies on the Derby trail after Loggins was derailed.

Forte obviously achieved a much deeper body of work, but that's why he's basically seven times the price. Loggins has gone to a farm that has excelled with these brief meteors and its owner must have been very keen, given that Spendthrift was in the ownership group that made a deal to send him here. In the current fee climate, he has been priced with unbelievable generosity. That will surely secure the kind of volume that can help Loggins make his second career far more sustainable than his first.

The Value Podium: New Sires

Gold: LOGGINS. $7,500 Hill 'n' Dale.

• Reminiscent of Not This Time.

Silver: COUNTRY GRAMMER. $10,000 WinStar.

• Modern career, old school merit.

Bronze: UP TO THE MARK. $25,000 Lane's End.

• Turf discount but potential for any surface.

Check out our breeders picks for their value sires of 2024.

The post Kentucky Value Sires for 2024, Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Jody Huckabay

The horses I have chosen are expensive, but I think they are good value.

GOLD: Elite Power (Curlin–Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication), Juddmonte Farms, $50,000. The first horse I like for his body of work, race record, and pedigree is Elite Power. To me, he's on top of the list, with everything being considered. I look at it as a pie, and how many pieces of that pie can I get. He's brings the most pieces. I love his speed. I love his longevity, his consistency. His pedigree is deep–a very deep family top and bottom–and the conformation was there as well.

SILVER: Gunite (Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy Cal), Ashford Stud, $40,000. Gunite would be number two for me, and it goes back to a lot of the same type of reasoning. He was a Grade I winner as a 2-year-old, a very attractive horse to me, the way he ties together, the way he moves, and his longevity. That's a big deal for me, and yes at $40,000 it's steep, but when you start looking at all the pieces he brings to the table, a lot of the things he moves for me.

BRONZE: Forte (Violence–Queen Caroline, by Blame), Spendthrift Farm, $50,000. I thought he was a really, really nice-looking horse, physically. A year from now, he's going to be a very imposing horse. He's still a little immature now but he will fill into an absolutely gorgeous horse. He was the 2-year-old champion. We raced Loggins, and the defeat we had at Keeneland to Forte was gut-wrenching. It was just unfortunate, because Loggins had some bad luck in spots, wasn't able to show his true colors, but he was a genuine racehorse. We're breeding several mares to him. He was as nice a yearling as we ever had. We have high hopes for him.

Tommy Wente

GOLD: Pappacap (Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy), Walmac Farm, $12,500. I think everybody is too high this year, and everybody is trying to get to the good horses and it's tough, but if anybody is good value, it's Pappacap at $12,500. He's a hard-knocking horse. He's very correct, a good size, and I think they could have stood him for a little more money, but they kept him at $12,500. For me, he's the best value there is among first-crop sires. He's a Gun Runner, who's very hot, and this horse could run. I booked three mares to him.

SILVER: Proxy (Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include), Darley, $25,000. He's by Tapit, he's well-bred, and he's at Darley, where they're not going to overbreed this horse. I like that. He might be $5,000 to $10,000 more than I wanted to spend, so at $25,000 he's a little high, but for his pedigree, and where he is standing, he's got a good shot at $25,000.

BRONZE: Two Phil's (Hard Spun–Mia Torri, by General Quarters), WinStar Farm, $12,500. I think Two Phil's is good value. He's a decent horse with good balance. He has a good front end, he's correct with a great body, has a great race record, and he's by Hard Spun. At $12,500, you've got a shot to make some money.

Honorable Mention: Taiba (Gun Runner–Needmore Flattery, by Flatter), Spendthrift Farm, $35,000. I thought he was a good value, and I'm glad I got one, but he booked up so fast I couldn't get more mares to him. He had 300 applications on the first day they announced he was going to go to stud. I think that makes him good value. He probably could have stood for $50,000 or $60,000 and still filled up. I don't know how many mares they took, but as soon as the word got out, it was crazy.

Sally Lockhart

GOLD: Elite Power! I bought four seasons for clients before the Breeders' Cup and am so excited. What a phenomenal racehorse and outstanding individual.

SILVER: Up to the Mark (Not This Time–Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper), Lane's End Farm, $25,000. At $25,000 what's there not to like? Serious race record, son of Not This Time How can you go wrong?

BRONZE: Loggins (Ghostzapper–Beyond Blame, by Blame), Hill 'n' Dale Farm, $7,500. Great price for a great physical. I loved him when I saw him. Such a shame we didn't see his true potential on the track.

The post First-Crop Value Sires: The Breeders Speak appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

This year, Broad added Grade I winner Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) to the roster, handing the farm's new stallion salesman Jay Goodwin a challenge to get the word out on the rookie sire in a short period of time after he joined the Walmac team in January.

As another breeding season quickly approaches, Walmac has doubled its stallion roster for 2024 with a pair of newcomers hailing from auspicious sire lines.

Broad's goal for this year was to lock down a new stallion by supersire Into Mischief and another by emerging influential stallion Gun Runner. He accomplished the mission with Pappacap, who stands out as the first son of Gun Runner to go to stud that was a graded stakes winner at two, and Fulsome, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Into Mischief.

A homebred for George and Karen Russell's Rustlewood Farm trained by Mark Casse, Pappacap was a debut winner in May of his juvenile season and he returned to the winner's circle with a near-five length win in the GII Best Pal S. Later at two, he was runner-up to future Eclipse Champion juvenile Corniche (Quality Road) in both the GI American Pharoah S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Pappacap also competed against top competition at three, running second to Jack Christopher (Munnings) in the GII Pat Day Mile S. and the GI Woody Stephens S.

“To have a Gun Runner that was that precocious and that fast at two and then he came back at three and was just as talented, we were extremely happy with his race record,” said Goodwin. “He just made sense for us. He also never ran on Lasix at two or three and today that is as big of a selling point for a stallion as any.”

But it's Pappacap's physical, Goodwin said, that has impressed the breeders who have stopped by to visit since the new addition was announced in early September.

“Physically, he's probably the best Gun Runner that I've seen,” he shared. “He's got that beautiful Gun Runner shoulder and neck, but he also has a little bit more hip than you would expect.”

For Goodwin, a former partner in Select Sales Agency who had never sold stallion seasons before taking on the job at Walmac this year, the experience of announcing the arrival of Pappacap to breeders in September was completely different than his start with Pinehurst, who joined the roster at Walmac in late November of last year well after most of the newcomers to the Kentucky stallion ranks had already been announced.

“The reaction from breeders has been crazy,” Goodwin said. “We had to fight tooth and nail last year for Pinehurst because we got him in here late. We were very happy with where he ended up, but we worked our butts off to get him to where he was. With Pappacap, it has been a lot easier. We just have to answer the phone. They're rolling in and he's going to breed a full book.

Goodwin reported that Pappacap is already closing in on 150 mares, adding that the stallion's $12,500 initial fee offers value for breeders looking to send their mare to a son of Gun Runner.

“Pappacap is going to come right under a lot of these Gun Runners,” he explained. “We priced him right and we priced him to have a full book. At $12,500, I think he'll be the best deal in the stallion book.”

From the family of Peruvian Horse of the Year Al Qasr (Aptitude), Pappacap is out of a graded stakes-placed Scat Daddy mare and is a half-brother to last year's GIII With Anticipation S. winner Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro).

Broad achieved his goal in standing sons of Gun Runner and Into Mischief, but with Juddmonte homebred Fulsome, the millionaire's female family might be just as notable as his sireline.

Fulsome and stallion manager Jose Rodarte | Sara Gordon

“Fulsome's pedigree is three generations of Juddmonte,” Goodwin explained. “The pedigrees on that farm are second to none. Juddmonte bred him, raced him and stayed in on him.”

Fulsome's dam Flourish (Distorted Humor) is a half-sister to Grade I winners Sightseek (Distant View) and Tates Creek (Rahy) and her produce record includes graded stakes-placed Mr Darcy (Harlan's Holiday) and Rimprotector (Point of Entry).

The pedigree also ties in to Walmac Farm's story. Fulsome's stakes-winning second dam Viviana is a daughter of Nureyev, who rose to prominence as a sire at Walmac several decades ago and is now buried near the stallion complex.

Earning over $1.2 million throughout his career, Fulsome won five stakes races including the GIII Matt Winn S. and the GIII Smarty Jones S. at three and the GIII Oaklawn Mile S. and GIII West Virginia Governor's S. at four. He closed out his career with a Grade I placing in the Clark S. last year.

Goodwin noted that Into Mischief is often credited for the heart he puts into his horses and Fulsome is no exception.

“He was tough,” he said. “He was not scared to take on the fight. You could see him really dig down and fight every single race. As someone who breeds mares, you like to see that. You need heart. That's the characteristic I like the most.”

Goodwin's favorite race of Fulsome's career, he said, was the 2022 GIII Oaklawn Mile S. where the Brad Cox trainee closed late to win by a neck, defeating a field that included graded stakes winners Cezanne (Curlin), Silver Prospector (Declaration of War), Roadster (Quality Road) and Law Professor (Constitution).

“I think that was probably the best field he beat,” said Goodwin. “That Oaklawn Mile ends at the mile pole and at the top of the stretch you're thinking there's no way he's going to get there. I still don't know how he gets to the wire and then he ends up winning easily. Brad loved this horse. I talked to Brad after we got him and he said that he thought he would get him a Grade I. He didn't have anything but good things to say.”

Fulsome will stand for $7,500 in 2024.

Fulsome and Pappacap's combined race record of 10 wins from 29 starts is another point of pride for the team at Walmac.

“Both of these horses were sound and ran in a lot of races,” said Goodwin. “They were very talented and were at the top of their crop. They're both well-made and correct. When you see them, you see why they stayed so sound throughout their career.”

As Walmac gears up for another breeding season, Goodwin said the plan for the farm's fledgling stallion business is to continue to grow from here.

“I think Gary wants to find a couple every year,” he shared. “He knows how hard it is to make a stallion, but he also knows you have to get the mares. He's been game. We brought him both these horses and he was ready to roll, so I think we will keep growing. We've got four really good stallions by Into Mischief, Gun Runner, Quality Road and Twirling Candy, so we've got the sire power. We're going to breed a lot of mares here in the next few years and I can't wait.”

The post Walmac Roster Doubles with Pappacap and Fulsome appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

In three seasons for Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Pappacap amassed a career line of 12-2-4-2 for earnings of $842,430. In addition to capturing the 2021 GII Best Pal S. at Del Mar, he was second in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI American Pharoah S. behind champion Corniche (Quality Road). He also placed in three other graded stakes, including last year's GI Woody Stephens S.

The George and Karen Russell homebred is out of the Grade III-placed Scat Daddy Mare Pappascat and is a half-brother to Grade III winner Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro) and hails from the family of Group 1 winner and Peruvian Horse of the Year Al Qasr (Aptitude).

For more information, contact Walmac Farm.

The post Pappacap Retired, to Stand at Walmac Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“We were thinking it would sure be good if he hit the board,” George Russell said the day after the big win. “Then when he won we were obviously really excited. He's still young and a little green, but hopefully he'll do good in his next start and go on to the Breeders' Cup. If he does, we'll be there.”

If Boppy O does make an appearance on Future Stars Friday, it would not be the Russells' first representation at the championship meet. Boppy O is the half-brother to last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pappacap (Gun Runner). While both colts are trained by Mark Casse, Grade II winner and three-time Grade I-placed Pappacap was retained by his breeder and is campaigned by Rustlewood Farm.

The Russells purchased Pappascat (Scat Daddy), the dam of these two impressive performers, in 2015 after she RNA'd for $110,000 at the Keeneland November Sale. Pappascat is one of just over a dozen mares at Rustlewood Farm.

“She's a lovely mare, a big pretty mare,” Karen explained. “She's easy to be around. She doesn't crib, she doesn't have to wear shoes and she's not a drama queen.”

“She seems to be consistent with what she is producing,” George added. “They all have a lot of desire and they're good on themselves.”

While Karen was the one who suggested sending Pappascat to Gun Runner after watching the future red-hot sire capture the 2018 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., George enlisted the help of friend and advisor Francis Vanlangendonck of Summerfield Sales to plan the mating to Bolt d'Oro that produced Boppy O.

Boppy  O as a youngster at Rustlewood Farm | Shelley Bunning

Shelley Bunning, the farm manager at Rustlewood, offered insight on the Florida-bred colt's early days and explained that Boppy O had a much different personality than his older brother.

“Pappacap was more settled with the concept of working than Boppy O was,” she said with a chuckle. “Everything you asked, Pappacap did with enthusiasm and he wanted to do it right whereas Boppy O was more along the lines of, 'I can do it but I just might not want to do it today.'  He was very capable, but sometimes stubborn.”

Bunning noted that as the colt matured, he grew a bit more laid-back.

“Once we started yearling prep with him, he grasped the situation and what we wanted him to do, but whether he was going to do it that day was up to him,” she said. “He did work hard and apply himself, and he grew up and filled out nicely.”

Pappacap was retained by the Russells when he was unable to sell at what they believed was his true worth as a yearling in 2020, but Boppy O followed the farm's usual protocol of going through a sale as a yearling. The colt sold for $190,000 to John Oxley and Breeze Easy LLC. He went on to break his maiden at first asking at Gulfstream in May and then finished a disappointing 10^th in the GIII Sandford S. before bouncing back impressively in his With Anticipation score, where he was the first graded stakes winner for his freshman sire.

Bunning was quick to credit her employers for their positive outlook in the face of selling a future graded winner.

“A lot of times in the industry people gripe about how, 'Oh we shouldn't have sold that horse,'” Bunning said. “But they're not mad about it; they think it's brilliant. They're just happy that everyone's enjoying it.”

“We always wish the best for the people that buy them,” George said. “It's exciting and it makes it worthwhile. We've learned that you generally have the one or the two that pay for the others. To get something like this and have a mare like Pappascat, it makes it so much more enjoyable to have something to look forward to.”

While the Russells have experienced the highs of the game with Pappascat and her offspring, they've also endured the lowest of lows. Just three weeks ago, Pappascat's yearling by Omaha Beach died tragically. It's a loss that could never be replaced for the couple no matter the success of the mare's other offspring.

Grade II winner Pappacap | Sarah Andrew

“He was a special individual,” George said. “We were really devastated and it's still hard to believe. We've never had an experience like that where we lost a horse that was doing fine and then was gone within hours. He had a fever in the morning and he was immediately loaded up and headed to the clinic. We were never worried about what eventually happened.”

“The lows are the lows, but this week we have Boppy O lifting us back up,” Karen said.

While the loss still weighs heavy, the Russells were grateful to find cause for celebration in Boppy O's victory and they have also found solace in two other sons of Pappascat thriving at their farm.

Following a fourth-place finish in the GII Amsterdam S. in July, Pappacap has returned to Rustlewood this month for a bit of 'R and R' and a diet that includes plenty of peppermints.

“He's in one of the paddocks right by our house,” George shared. “Karen goes out there and takes care of him. He's been pretty consistent for us and he's sound as could be, so we figured it was a well-deserved break and he will tell us when he's ready to go back.”

This year, Pappascat produced a colt by War of Will. The Russells reported that the May-foaled youngster could be something special.

“He's just about the nicest thing we've seen,” Karen said. “We think he's the best one so far. Plus, Pappascat is back in foal to Candy Ride.”

Asked if Pappacap–or maybe even Boppy O–would go down as an all-time favorite bred at Rustlewood, the Russells could not give a definitive answer as they listed off additional stars in Grade II victor Mach Ride (Pentelicus), Grade III winner Prudhoe Bay (Songandaprayer) and SW Consider Thesource (Notebook).

“They mean the world to us,” Karen said “I can't talk about them without crying. They're all really special.”

“They're all treated the same and my wife loves them all,” said George. “How Pappascat has produced for us, mares like her are few and far between. It just adds a little something extra to it. She's a special one.”

The post “She’s a Special One,” George and Karen Russell on Superstar Broodmare Pappascat appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A $185,000 purchase out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, Smile Happy was the recipient of an inside-out ride from Brian Hernandez, Jr. going two turns at Keeneland Oct. 29 and powered away to graduate by 5 1/2 lengths. No better than the third favorite in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. a month later, the bay was once again consigned to a wide run around the bend, but he surged past recent GIII Sam F. Davis S. hero Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) and finished with good energy to take it by 3 1/4 lengths. The form of the Jockey Club has also been further franked by the third-placed White Abarrio (Race Day), who won the GIII Holy Bull S. with a 97 Beyer; and Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute), a wide seventh in the Jockey Club who upset this year's GIII Lecomte S.

“I think this is a good first step for Smile Happy,” said trainer Ken McPeek. “He's doing super. He's done everything right. He's a very low-maintenance horse who makes our job easy. We're trying to keep him and [GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner] Rattle N Roll (Connect) separated, with Rattle N Roll pointing for the [Mar. 5 GII Fasig-Tipton] Fountain of Youth[S.]”

Zandon brushed the inside of the stall, but overcame that bit of trouble to break his maiden by 1 1/2 lengths Oct. 9 at Belmont and was the 1.35-1 favorite for the GII Remsen S. Dec. 4. Three wide the trip, he was confronted by Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in upper stretch and had every reason to call it a day, but battled bravely inside and missed by just a nose after arguably being impeded by the eventual winner. He covered 46 more feet (about five lengths) in the process. The $170,000 Keeneland September acquisition ships in from South Florida, where he fired a bullet half-mile in :48 2/5 (1/41) Feb. 12 at Payson Park.

“He's got to get over the shipping, but the horse couldn't be training any better,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He's a very exciting prospect and I don't see any reason why he won't get up to a mile and quarter.”

Epicenter (Not This Time) set reasonable fractions in the Lecomte, but could not resist the center-track rally of Call Me Midnight and dropped a head decision. He was three-parts of a length clear of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pappacap (Gun Runner), who was unable to take advantage of another ideal trip and settled for third.

Bodock (Street Boss) was a debut winner at Indiana Grand Nov. 10 and will try two turns off a 1 1/4-length defeat of $825,000 KEENOV purchase Strava (Into Mischief) in a sloppy six-furlong allowance Jan. 15.

The post Smile Happy, Zandon Square Off in Risen Star appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

We're inside the three-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby. The Top 12 portfolio has been re-balanced by culling highly rated contenders who have yet to post published workouts in 2022. So 'TDN Rising Stars' Corniche (Quality Road) and Jack Christopher (Munnings) are out, and new shooters who emerged from this past weekend's trio of stakes have rushed forward to fill the gap. Nature abhors a vacuum–and so do Derby lists.

1) SMILE HAPPY (c, Runhappy–Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Lucky Seven Stable. B-Moreau Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY). T-Kenneth G. McPeek. Sales History: $175,000 wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 ylg '20 FTKSEL. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $284,810. Last Start: 1st GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Next Start: GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 10.

'TDN Rising Star' Smile Happy, the highest-priced of 45 Runhappy yearlings to sell at auction in 2020 ($185,000 FTKSEL), remains on target to headline the Feb. 19 GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds. This past Saturday, this physically imposing colt tracked and blew by an unraced workmate in a :59.52 five-eighths breeze (2/24) at Gulfstream Park. A few hours later, Smile Happy's form upticked when White Abarrio (Race Day), who had run third behind Smile Happy in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S., won the GIII Holy Bull S. by open lengths with a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

Although light on experience, the 2-for-2 Smile Happy scores highly in terms of maturity. Both this colt's maiden win (big far-turn move) and subsequent stakes romp (menacing mid-pack stalk) earned style points as visually arresting performances.    Although Smile Happy's sire was the 2015 champion sprinter, his dam sire, Pleasant Tap, was resilient at distances up to 10 furlongs. He was third in the 1990 Derby, then second in the '91 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Pleasant Tap then stretched out and won champion older horse honors in '92, beating both A.P. Indy and Strike the Gold in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup (before running a gallant second to A.P. Indy in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic).

2) PAPPACAP (c, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy) O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL). T-Mark E. Casse. Lifetime Record: GSW & MGISP, 6-2-2-1, $596,000. Last Start: 3rd GIIII Lecomte S. Next Start: Next start: GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 14.

Trainer Mark Casse told Daily Racing Form last week that Tyler Gaffalione will replace Joe Bravo as Pappacap's jockey for the Risen Star S. Feb. 19. That's an understandable move: Bravo is 3-for-21 for Casse in limited action over the last five years, and he hasn't won for the barn since Pappacap's last victory Aug. 7 in the GII Best Pal S. at Del Mar. Gaffalione, on the other hand, has ridden more than 400 horses for Casse over that same time frame, garnering a steady 17% win clip.

This hard-trying son of Gun Runner looked primed to pounce, but couldn't seal the deal when third in the Jan. 22 GIII Lecomte S. But the bet here is the stout run he uncorked from upper stretch to the final 50 yards did Pappacap more good than it might appear on paper. With six races under his belt, it's apparent this homebred for Rustlewood Farm is an alert breaker who displays a high level of comfort stalking in covered-up positions, and he has already shown he can launch multiple in-race moves coupled with a determined ability to dig in when rivals close in on him. But we're now past the six-month mark since Pappacap last saw the winner's circle, and he won't be able to rely on the street cred of his 15-1 runner-up try in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile much longer if he doesn't figure out how to translate all those positive attributes into winning efforts.

3) CLASSIC CAUSEWAY (c, Giant's Causeway–Private World, by Thunder Gulch) O/B-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust (KY). T-Brian A. Lynch. Lifetime Record: GISP, 3-1-1-1, $181,100. Last Start: 2nd GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Next Start: GIII Sam F. Davis S., TAM, Feb. 12. KY Derby Points: 6.

Classic Causeway's training pattern at Palm Meadows has extended all the way up to six- and seven-furlong breezes so far this winter, noticeably different than the more commonplace workload of four- and five-furlong moves posted by his peers. The heft of his juvenile races–a 90-Beyer, 6 1/2-length winning sprint debut at the Spa; a third when forcing the pace from post 13 in a Grade I Keeneland route; then second behind Smile Happy in the Kentucky Jockey Club S.–will likely be enough to earn this Giant's Causeway colt favoritism in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa on Saturday. This homebred for Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper will be trying to erase a recent run of bad luck for the chalk in that Tampa prep: The last four faves (and five of the last six) have lost the Davis, including the presumptive 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter), who was off the board in the 2019 edition.

4) MESSIER (c, Empire Maker–Checkered Past, by Smart Strike) 'TDN Rising Star' O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine M. Donovan, Golconda Stable & Siena Farm LLC. B-Sam-Son Farm (ON). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $470,000 ylg '20 FTKSEL. Lifetime Record: 5-3-2-0, $285,600. Last Start: 1st GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: N/A.

When you win by 15 lengths and post a 103 Beyer in your sophomore debut, it's good enough to leapfrog two-thirds of the field to land in the Top 12. 'TDN Rising Star' Messier, a $470,000 FTKSEL colt by Empire Maker, broke running from the rail in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. and withstood steady pace pressure (:23.24 and :23.70 for the first two opening quarters) from two outside rivals while always dictating the cadence of the three-way go. He put away one rival seven-sixteenths out and let the other linger until the quarter pole before drawing away with assurance at the top of the lane.

Blinkers had been removed from Messier after an odds-on defeat in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity, but jockey John Velazquez didn't think the equipment change is what sparked Messier's rebound.

“It was just the way the race set up. I'm in post one and I don't want to give the lead to them in front of me, then they slow down in front of my face and I can't get out of there,” Velazquez said. “I'm not going to chase them, but I'm going to let him get his legs underneath of him. If they want to go faster, they can go faster and I don't have to be on his mouth….It was a strategy that worked.”

Because Bob Baffert is currently barred by Churchill Downs from participating in the Derby and his trainees can't earn qualifying points, Messier is currently a “ghost contender” in Churchill's official rankings. Here within TDN's own Top 12, Baffert's 3-year-olds will remain listed for the time being based on the merits of the horses themselves while the Derby status decision appears headed for litigation.

5) EMMANUEL (c, More Than Ready–Hard Cloth, by Hard Spun) 'TDN Rising Star' O-WinStar Farm LLC & Siena Farm LLC. B-Helen K. Groves Revocable Trust (KY). T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales History: $350,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $31,800. Last Start: 1st Tampa Bay Downs ALW. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 0.

'TDN Rising Star' Emmanuel turned in an appealing one-turn-mile win in his Dec. 11 Gulfstream unveiling, and trainer Todd Pletcher strongly believed that this More Than Ready colt needed to make his two-turn debut in an allowance race instead of a stakes. So he shipped Emmanuel to Tampa for that schooling, and the 3-to-10 favorite delivered as expected Jan. 30, winning by a comfortable 4 1/2 lengths while not having to truly extend himself. On the lead throughout (and racing with Lasix for the first time), Emmanuel got away with a pedestrian :25.03 opening quarter in that mile and 40 yards race, then ramped up the tempo under light restraint, posting a second quarter in :24.65 and a third in a more racehorse-like :23.92 with three closers on his heels at the quarter pole. One of them briefly seized the lead between calls in upper stretch, but Emmanuel responded instantly by snatching back the top spot and accelerating fluidly with plenty of power in reserve (89 Beyer). His wins over both of Florida's main-track surfaces put the Mar. 5 GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. and the Mar. 12 GII Tampa Bay Derby in play as possible next-race options.

6) MO DONEGAL (c, Uncle Mo–Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) O-Donegal Racing. B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales History: $250,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 4-2-0-2, $221,800. Last Start: 3rd GIII Holy Bull S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 12.

Considering he was a closer on Gulfstream's short-stretch configuration for 1 1/16 miles races, Mo Donegal was an ill-advised favorite in the Holy Bull S. on Saturday. But he ran well enough (in spots) to spark speculation about what this $250,000 KEESEP colt by Uncle Mo might be able to do under less arduous trip circumstances. Irad Ortiz Jr. worked to get him positioned at the fence while a midpack fifth through the first turn, then went on the drift all the way out to the five path as soon as they turned onto the backstretch in search of better running room. They didn't find it, and this colt gradually became boxed in, necessitating Ortiz to thread back inside to the two path entering the far turn. When that decision also failed to yield an express lane, Mo was once again shifted outside, directed widest of all for the drive. Initially, the administration of right-handed stick work didn't inspire Mo at all, and a couple of lefts sent him veering to the eight path in upper stretch. But a sixteenth from the finish, even though the winner was well clear, something clicked for Mo, and he responded, digging in with renewed interest to shoot alongside the runner-up, just barely getting pipped for the place photo. “The last hundred yards he was making up a lot of ground. He just kind of ran out of real estate at the end,” said trainer Todd Pletcher.

7) EARLY VOTING (c, Gun Runner–Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow) O-Klaravich Stables, Inc. B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC. T-Chad C. Brown. Sales History: $200,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $181,500. Last Start: 1st GIII Withers S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 10.

Early Voting is emerging as a speed-centric threat whose specialty is sustained intensity. Rather than blitzing his rivals with an all-out frontal assault, this $200,000 KEESEP colt torques them into submission, grinding away with metronomic efficiency. His 2-for-2 start is even more impressive when you factor in his debut score was accomplished over what trainer Chad Brown termed as a “dead” track, and how Saturday's GIII Withers S. wire job came over what jockey Jose Ortiz said was a “tiring” muddy surface.

By Gun Runner out of a Tiznow mare, Early Voting was sent for speed at the break and willingly spearheaded the field. Although he faced only mild pace pressure early, he gave the impression of being able to power away at will, and after opening up incrementally on the backstretch, it was only by the far turn that the laborious nature of the surface begin to show in his stride. Kept to task through the lane, Early Voting stayed on capably despite some late drifting while clear of minor threats to win by 4 1/2 lengths.

The splits for nine furlongs (:23.57, :24.47, :26.25, 27:46 for the first four quarters, then :14.15 for the final eighth) are more telling of the toiling nature of the track than the capability of the winner; his so-so 78 Beyer might also be a bit skewed in relation to his true talent. Considering Early Voting is undefeated at Aqueduct, the GII Wood Memorial Apr. 9 has to be considered a strong next-race option.

8) NEWGRANGE (c, Violence–Bella Chianti, by Empire Maker)O-Golconda Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Starlight Racing, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, Robert E. Masterson & Jay A. Schoenfarber. B-Jack Mandato & Black Rock Thoroughbreds (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $125,000 yrl '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $552,000. Last Star: 1st GIII Southwest S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: N/A.

Newgrange displayed a new dimension when scoring via stalk mode in the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn. But given the primo, trouble-free setup he enjoyed behind two long-shot speedsters, this 3-for-3 Violence colt (with zero Derby qualifying points) made the task more difficult than it needed to be. He popped out of the 10-hole alertly and was not hard-used to attain the lead; rather, John Velazquez let Newgrange watch the backstretch action percolate while five or six paths off the rail. A half-mile out, Johnny V. allowed a couple of mid-race movers to pulse through inside, but by the far turn this $125,000 KEESEP colt had to be pushed along with unexpected urgency. Once he got rolling, Newgrange appeared well-positioned to inhale the pacemakers with a four-wide sweep at the head of the lane, but he faltered for a few strides turning for home. Velazquez eventually figured out a workable rhythm in deep stretch, allowing Newgrange to finally grind past his outclassed rivals. Trainer Bob Baffert later said Newgrange might have been having difficulty handling the purportedly cuppy surface early in the race. The 89 Beyer represents a one-point advance over his GIII Sham S. score.

9) ZANDON (c, Upstart–Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause)O-Jeff Drown. B-Brereton C. Jones (KY). T-Chad C. Brown. Sales History: $170,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSP, 2-1-1-0, $99,500. Last Start: 2nd GII Remsen S. Next start: GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 4.

This $170,000 KEESEP colt by Upstart has been re-aimed for the Risen Star S. after his connections opted to pass on the Holy Bull S. this past Saturday. The obvious positives in favor of shipping Zandon to the Fair Grounds include the extra half-furlong over a longer home straight, plus more Derby qualifying points. Potential negatives include having to travel away from Zandon's home base in Florida and the fact that trainer Chad Brown told the Blood-Horse last week that he's “a little more uncomfortable” about having to wait until Feb. 19 with a colt that is “ready to run now.” The Risen Star will equate to a 78-day layoff since Zandon ran second in the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct. Over the last five years, Brown is 4-for-13 with 3-year-old males in nine-furlong or greater races returning off layoffs between 70 and 90 days. He also rarely ships to New Orleans. Brown's record at the Fair Grounds since 2017 is 1-for-4, all of them grass stakes.

10) EPICENTER (c, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy Ride {Arg}) O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC. B-Westwind Farms (KY). T-Steven M. Asmussen. Sales History: $260,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW & GSP, 4-2-1-0, $170,639. Last Start: 2nd GIII Lecomte S. Next Start: Aiming for GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 14.

Epicenter's loss by a head in the Lecomte S. told us more about him than the two victories that preceded it. This $260,000 KEESEP colt by Not This Time established control, turned back a wall of horses off the final turn, won a prolonged stretch fight with the favorite, then just got nailed at the wire by an out-of-the-clouds 28-1 shot. He had to juggle multiple tasks and handled himself admirably in a narrow defeat.

In his previous win, the Gun Runner S. at Fair Grounds, Epicenter sparred with the speed, then drew off without facing any serious stretch challenge.

Rivals running back out of that Dec. 26 stakes are now 0-for-3, and the maidens who ran behind Epicenter in his Nov. 13 MSW score at Churchill are a collective next-out 1-for-8, so his company lines aren't exactly brimming with winners. Steve Asmussen has him on track for the Risen Star S., a race the trainer won with Gun Runner (2016) and Pyro (2008).

11) RATTLE N ROLL (c, Connect–Jazz Tune, by Johannesburg) O-Lucky Seven Stable. B-St. Simon Place (KY). T-Kenneth G. McPeek. Sales History: $55,000 wlg '19 KEENOV; $210,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GISW, 4-2-0-1, $379,460. Last Start: 1st GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 10.

Rattle N Roll is edging close enough to a comeback (the Tampa Bay Derby is a possibility) to merit a foothold within the Top 12. Trainer Kenny McPeek last year compared this $55,000 KEENOV and $210,000 KEESEP colt favorably to grand-sire Curlin, and a shared trait of poise shone through in Rattle N Roll's comfortable uncoiling from midpack to run off with the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. by 4 1/4 lengths. A left hind foot abscess kept him out of the Breeders' Cup, and he's now three Gulfstream breezes into being race-ready.

12) WHITE ABARRIO (c, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief) O-C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC. B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY). T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. Sales History: $7,500 ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 4-3-0-1, $240,850. Last Start: 1st GIII Holy Bull S. Next Start: GI Curlin Florida Derby, GP, Apr. 2. KY Derby Points: 12.

White Abarrio is an efficient-moving, athletic gray who clearly has an affinity for Gulfstream, where he's 3-for-3 with combined win margins of 15 1/4 lengths. He also benefitted immensely from an ideal tactical setup in the GIII Holy Bull S. Although it's not his fault that the four horses who were bet lower than White Abarrio's 6-1 all suffered some sort of trip adversity that kept them from firing their best shots, those circumstances have to be taken into account when assessing whether this Race Day colt ($7,500 OBSWIN; $40,000 OBSMAR; privately purchased after his debut win) is a Derby threat.

Then again, White Abarrio's impressive 97 Beyer might end up speaking for itself. Hustled out of the gate, he applied pressure at the vulnerable flank of a 19-1 pacemaker just out of the maiden ranks, taking over midway through the far turn. By the time White Abarrio was being set down and kept to task in upper stretch, the favorite had already been blocked and boxed, the second fave had blown the break, the third choice reportedly displaced his soft palate, and the fourth was getting pelted with kickback in an unsuccessful turf-to-dirt transition. All that meant White Abarrio faced only belated bids while coasting home on a short-stretch configuration that played to his advantage. A more seasoned cast of contenders and an extra half-furlong await in the GI Curlin Florida Derby.

On the Bubble (in alphabetical order):

Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute): This $59 winner rallied to collar a softened pacemaker at the last jump in the GIII Lecomte S. As per Daily Racing Form, trainer Keith Desormeaux is now on the fence between the Risen Star S. and the GII Louisiana Derby for this four-time auction entrant ($25,000 KEENOV, $37,0000 RNA KEESEP, $17,000 OBSOCT, $80,000 OBSMAR).

Giant Game (Giant's Causeway): This $500,000 FTKSEL colt had a no-excuse stalking trip for three-quarters of the Holy Bull S., then plummeted through the pack. As per a twitter post by co-owner West Point Thoroughbreds, he reportedly displaced his soft palate.

God of Love (Cupid): Two-time Woodbine stakes victor and three-time auction buy ($77,000 KEENOV; $9,000 KEESEP; $100,000 OBSMAR) could be the wild card of Saturday's Sam Davis at Tampa (entries taken Wednesday) after winter weather necessitated a rerouting from New York's Withers S. last weekend.

In Due Time (Not This Time): Not too many 92-Beyer allowance winners by 5 3/4 lengths at Gulfstream go off at 10-1 odds. Trainer Kelly Breen said “all options are open” for this three-time sales grad ($9,500 KEENOV; $35,000 KEESEP; $95,000 OBSAPR).

Major General (Constitution): The 2-for-2 winner of the Sept. 18 Iroquois S. at Churchill ($265.000 KEEJAN; $420,000 KEESEP) could resurface for his '22 debut in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. for trainer Pletcher.

Slow Down Andy (Nyquist): Did he catch Messier at a vulnerable time in that colt's development in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity or is this Reddam homebred the real deal, Derby-wise? His upcoming trip to New Orleans for the Risen Star should help answer that.

The post TDN Derby Top 12 for Feb. 8 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

We're about to tear the January page off the calendar, a ritual that signals a welcome thaw in the prep schedule for the GI Kentucky Derby. Over the next two weekends there will be four qualifying points stakes from coast to coast. Here's who's hot (and not) heading into February.

1) SMILE HAPPY (c, Runhappy–Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Lucky Seven Stable. B-Moreau Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY). T-Kenneth G. McPeek. Sales History: $175,000 wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 ylg '20 FTKSEL. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $284,810. Last Start: 1st GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Next Start: GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 10.

Smile Happy has brawn, natural speed, ahead-of-his-peers mental maturity, and “swagger factor” on his side. But they don't drape a blanket of roses across your back on the first Saturday in May just for checking a lot of boxes on the desirability list. This son of Runhappy needs racing experience to flesh out his authoritative two-for-two record as a juvenile, and trainer Ken McPeek has now settled on the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds over 1 1/8 miles for Smile Happy's sophomore debut (after previously considering shorter and earlier preps at both Oaklawn and Gulfstream). McPeek told Daily Racing Form last week the Risen Star would be the first of what would “ideally” be a two-prep path to Louisville. Since 1937, only three horses have won the Derby with four or fewer previous lifetime starts: Animal Kingdom (four), plus Justify and Big Brown (three each). McPeek trainees returning after 60 to 90 days off in races of nine furlongs or greater have won two of 15 starts over the past five years. On Sunday, Smile Happy closed at 8-1 in Pool 2 of the Derby future wager, the lowest-priced individual betting entrant behind the 9-5 favored field.

2) PAPPACAP (c, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy) O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL). T-Mark E. Casse. Lifetime Record: GSW & MGISP, 6-2-2-1, $596,000. Last Start: 3rd GIIII Lecomte S. Next Start: Next start: Possible for GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 14.

Pappacap got dethroned from the No. 1 ranking, but his third-place effort as the beaten favorite in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. doesn't warrant a full-scale banishment from the upper crust of the crop. These winter stakes are, after all, preparatory efforts, and the wider view of Pappacap's career arc still portends well for getting 10 furlongs three-plus months from now. As usual, this always-engaged Gun Runner homebred broke without issue, then settled fifth at the fence, underscoring this colt has no confidence issues racing in a covered-up position at the rail. Jockey Joe Bravo let Pappacap cruise up under his own power between the six-furlong and half-mile poles to range within two lengths of pacemaking Epicenter (Not This Time). But by the far turn Pappacap was so seriously hemmed in that Bravo's commitment to the rail started to look like a liability rather than a ground-saving advantage. Epicenter drifted out under pressure, and while Pappacap leapt forward through the suddenly larger opening at the quarter pole, he didn't truly seize command. Pappacap gave Epicenter a stout run for his money from the three-sixteenths pole until 50 yards from the finish, where both were blindsided by a fresh 28-1 closer. “He fought all the way down the lane,” Bravo said. “Both [he and Epicenter] are special horses. They got into a fight and guess what happens? It set up for somebody else to run by both of us.”

3) CORNICHE (c, Quality Road–Wasted Tears, by Najran) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Speedway Stables LLC. B-Bart Evans & Stonehaven Steadings (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $385,000 RNA ylg '20 KEESEP; $1,500,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 3-3-0-0, $1,262,000. Last Start: 1st GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by TAA. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: N/A.

Corniche was an undefeatable front-running force who cuffed around his peers at age two up to 1 1/16 miles. But he has yet to begin serious training for his sophomore campaign, and the looming confrontation over trainer Bob Baffert's banishment from Churchill Downs coupled with the inability of his entrants to earn Derby qualifying points is casting an unwelcome shadow over this Quality Road colt's highly anticipated return. Corniche's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile wire job is the race that will almost certainly earn him divisional championship honors. But you have to consider the fortuitous circumstances that played in his favor prior to that race–namely, the vet scratch of the morning line favorite, fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), who was the only other pure speed threat in the Juvenile. In addition, it's worth noting that the GI Juvenile Fillies run two races earlier that day produced a same-distance final clocking .26 seconds faster than Corniche's performance. This colt's GI American Pharoah S. score Oct. 1 might have actually been a better, stronger effort–he led under constant pressure, swatted away two legit challengers on the turn, and that race yielded two next-out stakes winners, a MSW winner, plus the runner-up in the Juvenile.

4) CLASSIC CAUSEWAY (c, Giant's Causeway–Private World, by Thunder Gulch) O/B-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust (KY). T-Brian A. Lynch. Lifetime Record: GISP, 3-1-1-1, $181,100. Last Start: 2nd GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Next Start: GIII Holy Bull S., GP, Feb. 5. KY Derby Points: 6.

The Giant's Causeway out of a Thunder Gulch mare breeding line that anchors this colt's pedigree is only going to play into Classic Causeway's favor the deeper he advances on the Triple Crown path. Being a sharp breaker is also on his side, too, as the previous six Derby winners all either wired their fields or were second at the internal points of call. Yet this homebred for Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper doesn't need to be in front to run well, and his concession of the lead from the one hole in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. shows that he can comfortably stalk inside. In that race Classic Causeway eventually escaped the rail in search of more room out in the clear, but he was out-kicked by a superior Smile Happy that November early evening under the lights at Churchill. He's three breezes back into his Palm Meadows training for a seasonal debut in the Feb. 5 GIII Holy Bull S., a potentially “loaded” affair that could also lure several other contenders on this list.

5) EMMANUEL (c, More Than Ready–Hard Cloth, by Hard Spun) 'TDN Rising Star' O-WinStar Farm LLC & Siena Farm LLC. B-Helen K. Groves Revocable Trust (KY). T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales History: $350,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $31,800. Last Start: 1st Gulfstream MSW. Next Start: Aiming for a two-turn allowance spot. KY Derby Points: 0.

Emmanuel spiked a temperature that forced trainer Todd Pletcher to scratch him from a Jan. 7 two-turn allowance at Tampa, which was to be his second career start off a visually appealing one-turn-mile debut score at Gulfstream (by 6 3/4 lengths with a 78 Beyer Speed Figure). That's the type of a setback that doesn't mean as much on the Derby trail in early January as it might in, say, late March. This $350,000 KEESEP colt by More Than Ready has since posted two bullet half-mile breezes at Palm Beach Downs on consecutive Saturdays, and Pletcher affirmed to TDN on Saturday that he will “hopefully” find another allowance spot instead of attempting a stakes for this physically imposing colt's first two-turn try. One concern as Emmanuel approaches seven weeks between starts is that seven of the horses he beat back on Dec. 11 have already come back to race; six of them lost and the only winner was a dropdown into the maiden optional-claiming ranks. So the “Who'd he beat?” question might end up being legit moving forward into start number two.

6) GIANT GAME (Giant's Causeway–Game For More, More Than Ready) O-West Point Thoroughbreds & Albaugh Family Stables LLC. B-H. Allen Poindexter (KY). T-Dale L. Romans. Sales History: $500,000 ylg '20 FTKSEL. Lifetime Record: GISP, 3-1-0-2, $242,400. Last Start: 3rd GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by TAA. Next Start: Possible for GIII Holy Bull S., GP, Feb. 5. KY Derby Points: 4.

Giant Game's above-expectations third at 21-1 odds in the Breeders' Cup has a “deep end of the pool” appeal to it considering he shipped cross-country to square off against the best in his class in his first try outside the maiden ranks, then kicked on smartly while wide off the final turn. The effort was notable not so much for a massive breakthrough, but in terms of suggesting he could be a dangerous racehorse with seasoning at age three. We don't quite have much '22 form available yet to judge the progression of the horses he faced in the Juvenile (only three entrants have run back; all ran third in points-eligible Derby preps). But dig deeper to check out the two MSW races this $500,000 FTKSEL colt by Giant's Causeway competed in, and you'll see the makings of potential key races, as no fewer than a combined seven starters from both races (including Giant Game himself) returned to win next time out. This colt has built a base of five Gulfstream breezes in preparation for a possible start in the Holy Bull S., the last three of them five-eighths bullets.

7) COSTA TERRA (c, Gun Runner–Teardrop, by Tapit) O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY). T-Steven M. Asmussen. Lifetime Record: SP, 3-1-0-1, $57,900. Last Start: 5th GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Next Start: GIII Southwest S., OP, Jan. 29. KY Derby Points: 0.

Costa Terra may be a chestnut, but he's my Derby “dark horse” at this early juncture of the season. This Gun Runner homebred for Winchell Thoroughbreds has posted seven published breezes at Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen after a three-race juvenile campaign that consisted of two Ellis Park performances that were much better than they looked followed by a wide fifth against two-turn Grade I company at Keeneland. Dam Teardrop is a half-sister to Pyro, who won two legs of the Fair Grounds Derby prep stakes in 2008 (he was eighth in the Kentucky Derby). Half-brother Pneumatic was a listed stakes winner who attempted (but was off the board) in 2020's nine-furlong GI Belmont S. and the GI Preakness S. for these same connections.

8) NEWGRANGE (c, Violence–Bella Chianti, by Empire Maker) O-Golconda Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Starlight Racing, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, Robert E. Masterson & Jay A. Schoenfarber. B-Jack Mandato & Black Rock Thoroughbreds (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $125,000 yrl '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $102,000. Last Star: 1st GIII Sham S. Next Start: GIII Southwest S., OP, Jan. 29. KY Derby Points: N/A.

The two-for-two, speed-centric Newgrange waited on horses before cresting into an unmatchable far-turn gear in the GIII Sham S., leaving the impression that despite a touch of greenness, this $125,000 KEESEP colt by Violence could be the type who's up for bigger and better challenges. Seven-time Derby winner Baffert has now won eight editions of the Sham, yet Authentic in 2020 was the only one of those Sham winners to also win the Derby (Medina Spirit was second in the '21 Sham and also won the Derby).

9) MO DONEGAL (c, Uncle Mo–Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) O-Donegal Racing. B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales History: $250,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-2-0-1, $197,800. Last Start: 1st GII Remsen S. Next Start: Aiming for GIII Holy Bull S., GP, Feb. 5. KY Derby Points: 10.

In this age of fewer starts for A-list horses, some sophomores–including highly heralded ones every year–get very deep into their Derby prep seasons without having been truly tested in a stretch fight. That won't be the case with Mo Donegal, who athletically tipped out past four frontrunners at the head of the lane before bumping and grinding through a :12.33 final furlong in the GII Remsen S. to prevail by a hard-fought nose. That was a much more impressive effort than it might appear considering this $250,000 KEESEP buy was facing winners for the first time while stretching out to the 1 1/8-mile distance. His MSW win at 1 1/16 miles was no slouch either, as Mo Donegal was roused from midpack to close an open-length gap late in the lane. Even his career debut–seemingly a throwout race on paper–was of the sneaky-good variety. Mo Donegal broke slowly from the rail in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint, checked at the half-mile pole, was still double-digit lengths off the leaders turning for home, then rallied determinedly to snag third before galloping out past everyone after the wire.

10) ZANDON (c, Upstart–Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause) O-Jeff Drown. B-Brereton C. Jones (KY). T-Chad C. Brown. Sales History: $170,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSP, 2-1-1-0, $99,500. Last Start: 2nd GII Remsen S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 4.

Trainer Chad Brown has favorably compared Zandon to his 2017 GI Preakness S. winner Cloud Computing; both colts won their MSW debuts going short even though neither was really cut out to be a sprinter. Stretching all the way out to nine furlongs in the GII Remsen S., this $170,000 KEESEP colt by Upstart stalked effectively behind a tepid pace, split horses in upper stretch, then had a visually impressive and roughly run throwdown/showdown with nose winner Mo Donegal. Earlier this month, Brown told TDN he was on the fence between what now appears to be a deep Holy Bull S. and the Risen Star S., which we learned this week will feature No. 1-ranked Smile Happy. Neither figure to be an easy spot, but Zandon could prove to be an overlooked entity at decent odds in either one of those stakes.

11) EPICENTER (c, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy Ride {Arg}) O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC. B-Westwind Farms (KY). T-Steven M. Asmussen. Sales History: $260,000 ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW & GSP, 4-2-1-0. Last Start: 2nd GIII Lecomte S. Next Start: Possible for GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 19. KY Derby Points: 14.

Epicenter won several internal battles within Saturday's Lecomte S., but he got pipped at the wire to just lose the overall war. The effort was strong enough to launch him into the Top 12. And yes, the two horses who ran second and third in the Lecomte are both ranked higher than the out-of-the-clouds winner, because these ratings try not to rely too heavily on who-beat-whom recency at the expense of the bigger picture. Epicenter established control by the time the field hit the first turn, and although he ran slower consecutive quarter miles on the front end at each call, he gets style points for turning back a wall of horses off the turn when he could have just as easily cracked under pressure. Epicenter repulsed the favorite, Pappacap, in a length-of-stretch fight, then galloped out stronger and longer than the unexpected long shot who rolled by him with mid-track momentum. The top two, separated by a head, shared 88 Beyer Speed Figures.

12) JACK CHRISTOPHER (c, Munnings–Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud & Peter M. Brant. B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY). T-Chad C. Brown. Sales History: $145,000 RNA ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 ylg '20 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: GISW, 2-2-0-0, $330,000. Last Start: 1st GI Champagne S. Next Start: Uncommitted. KY Derby Points: 10.

Jack Christopher gets a little bit of a haircut in this week's rankings, dropping from No. 7 to No. 12, but that's a reflection of his inactivity rather than potential ability. This Munnings colt is recovering from a stress fracture discovered after he was scratched as the morning-line fave for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and although the GI Champagne S. victor rejoined trainer Brown in Florida earlier this month, he's yet to post a published workout. “He's going to be up against it, that's for sure,” Brown told TDN earlier this month when asked about making the Derby. “I don't want to rule anything out…but he's certainly behind. To get him to go a mile and a quarter I'm going to need to have something under his belt. We'll see where he takes us and if he doesn't make [the Derby] we have several other races we'd love to target with him.”

On the Bubble (in alphabetical order):

Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute): Blasted home a $59 winner from well off the tailgate in Saturday's Lecomte. Trainer Keith Desormeaux said Risen Star S. is next for this four-time auction entrant ($25,000 KEENOV; $37,0000 RNA at KEESEP; $17,000 OBSOCT; $80,000 OBSMAR).

Early Voting (Gun Runner): This $200,000 KEESEP colt for trainer Brown broke his maiden in a one-turn mile and is being pointed for GIII Withers S. at Aqueduct Feb. 5.

Major General (Constitution): The two-for-two winner of the Sept. 18 GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill ($265,000 KEEJAN; $420,000 KEESEP) is three breezes into his '22 comeback for trainer Pletcher, with early March preps on his radar.

Rattle N Roll (Connect): Saturday was the first breeze back for this 81-Beyer, 4 1/4 -length GI Breeders' Futurity S. victor ($55,000 KEENOV, $210,000 KEESEP). He then missed the Breeders' Cup with a foot abscess; could resurface in Mar. 12 GII Tampa Bay Derby.

Slow Down Andy (Nyquist): Reddam homebred a bit erratic through the long Los Al stretch, but prevailed in five-entrant GII Los Alamitos Futurity.

Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb): Runner-up in GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (FTKSEL $330,000) goes back to dirt in Holy Bull S. on Feb. 5. He wired an off-grass mile MSW at Ellis Park last July.

The post TDN Derby Top 12 for Jan. 25 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A maiden winner at fifth asking going Churchill's one-turn mile last Nov. 13, the $80,000 OBS March grad raced well back in the field as Surfer Dude (Curlin) and last-out Gun Runner S. hero Epicenter ding-donged it up front through taxing opening fractions of :23.40 and :47.01. Favored Pappacap (Gun Runner), a latest runner-up to 'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (Quality Road) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, sat a good inside trip and was there at the fence to challenge Epicenter in the stretch as Surfer Dude decided to call it a day and hang ten elsewhere. Trafalgar (Lord Nelson) loomed a brief threat inside, but Call Me Midnight, third last to make the straight, motored down the crown of the track and dropped his nose down on the line in the nick of time.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux was the architect of one of the bigger upsets on the NOLA road to Louisville, as he sent out Ive Struck a Nerve (Yankee Gentleman) to a 135-1 upset of the 2013 GII Risen Star S., the horse having finished a distant fourth in the Lecomte one start prior.

Well-beaten in his first two trips to the post over abbreviated trips, Call Me Midnight was an improved fourth, a nose behind future GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile placegetter Giant Game (Giant's Causeway) in a seven-furlong maiden in Louisville Sept. 18. Three lengths behind that rival when runner-up in a two-turn test at Keeneland Oct. 9, he was impressive in graduating over the mile Nov. 13, but could not overcome the widest gate in a field of 11 and checked in seventh in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. a couple of weeks later.

Pedigree Notes:

Call Me Midnight is the 37th stakes winner and 14th graded winner and also hails from a Juddmonte female family. The St. Patrick's Day foal's unraced dam is a daughter of SW & G1SP Jibe, whose daughter Silk Route (Empire Maker) is the dak of the aforementioned late MSW 'TDN Rising Star' Taraz (Into Mischief). His third dam is Slightly Dangerous, a Group 3 winner and second home in the 1982 G1 Epsom Oaks before embarking on a prolific career as a broodmare. Her notable produce include multiple champion and MG1SW Warning (GB) (Known Fact); MGSW & MG1SP Dushyantor (Sadler's Wells), third in the 1998 GI Breeders' Cup Turf; Yashmak (Danzig), winner at home of the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and Group 1 placed at two and three and victorious in the GI Flower Bowl Invitational H. in this country. The latter's five winners include G1 Grand Criterium S. scorer Full Mast (Mizzen Mast).

Overseen missed to Honor Code for 2021 and was most recently covered by Frosted.

Saturday, Fair Grounds
LECOMTE S.-GIII, $200,000, Fair Grounds, 1-22, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.36, ft.
1–CALL ME MIDNIGHT, 122, c, 3, by Midnight Lute
               1st Dam: Overseen, by First Defence
               2nd Dam: Jibe, by Danzig
               3rd Dam: Slightly Dangerous, by Roberto
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($25,000
Wlg '19 KEENOV; $37,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $17,000 Ylg
'20 OBSOCT; $80,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-Peter L. Cantrell;
B-Hartwell Farm, Inc (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux; J-James
Graham. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 7-2-1-0, $221,806.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree.
2–Epicenter, 122, c, 3, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy
Ride (Arg). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($260,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $40,000.
3–Pappacap, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat
Daddy. O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse.
$20,000.
Margins: HD, 3/4, 3HF. Odds: 28.50, 1.60, 1.50.
Also Ran: Trafalgar, Presidential, Cyberknife, Blue Kentucky, Unified Report, Surfer Dude.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Call Me Midnight ‘Nose’ Way Home in Lecomte appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Perhaps the best race on the afternoon, however, is the match-up between Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon in the G3 Louisiana Stakes. It will be the sixth time these millionaire rivals face one another, and good performances could propel them to the $20 million Saudi Cup next month.

Meanwhile, Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pappacap will be challenged by Epicenter in the Lecomte. The latter has won his last two starts for trainer Steve Asmussen, including a listed stakes race over the local surface. Pappacap brings experience to the table for trainer Mark Casse, with two wins and two seconds from five starts thus far.

Also on Saturday are listed stakes at Oaklawn, Aqueduct, Gulfstream, and Santa Anita, while Sunday's feature is the Oaks points-offering Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct.

Saturday

5:52 PM – $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds

Off an easy win in her career debut at Churchill Downs on Nov. 20, Stonestreet Stables' La Crete has been installed as the 2-1 morning line against five rivals for Saturday's $150,000 Silverbulletday for 3-year-old fillies to be run over 1 mile 70 yards at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. By Medaglia d'Oro, La Crete is a half-sister to millionaire Clairiere.

Off a maiden win and a fourth in the Tempted Stakes at Belmont, Westerberg Limited, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Sweet as Pie invades from her home base at Palm Beach Downs in Florida to contest the Silverbulletday for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Columbine Stables' Fannie and Freddie swings back off a recent second behind the undefeated North County in the Untapable Stakes for trainer Al Stall, Jr. The daughter of Malibu Moon won her two-turn debut in the start prior, and she looked home free in the stretch of her stakes debut, only to be run down late.

The top four finishers will earn Kentucky Oaks qualifying points (10-4-2-1).

6:49 PM – G3 Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds

Lecomte, Risen Star, Louisiana Derby, Kentucky Derby, Haskell: this Saturday's 76th running of the $150,000 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at the Fair Grounds will be the sixth time both Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon enter the starting gate as rivals. Mandaloun has bragging rights, winning or finishing in front of Midnight Bourbon in three out of five match-ups thus far.

Mandaloun's last start was July 17 in the Haskell (G1) when he dueled through the final furlong finishing a nose short of Hot Rod Charlie, but an impending DQ awarded the Brad Cox-trained Mandaloun his fifth career win out of eight starts.

Last seen setting the pace in November's Clark (G1) with jockey Joel Rosario on board, Midnight Bourbon ran well, only to be overtaken in the stretch by the classy Maxfield and Happy Saver. He gets a slight cut-back in distance to 1 1/16 miles for the Louisiana. As in the Clark, Rosario gets the call.

7:20 PM – G3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds

Rustlewood Farm's Pappacap, the current points leader on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with 12, headlines a field of nine 3-year-olds for the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3). A sprint winner on debut on May 14 at Gulfstream, the Florida-bred Pappacap has raced in four graded stakes in California since, winning the Best Pal (G2) at Del Mar and most recently finishing as the runner-up behind Corniche in both the American Pharoah (G2) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

The close second choice at 9-5, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter eyes his third consecutive win for trainer Steve Asmussen. After breaking his maiden on the lead, the son of Not This Time dominated the Gun Runner last time out, sitting just off the pace before taking over off the turn and drawing away by 6 ½ lengths.

Columbine Stable's Trafalgar enters the Lecomte off a narrow Fair Grounds allowance victory in his two-turn debut on Dec. 2. After building a comfortable margin in the deep stretch, the son of Lord Nelson had to dig deep to score his second consecutive win for trainer Al Stall, Jr.

Run over 1 1/16 miles, the Lecomte offers ten Kentucky Derby points to the winner, with the rest of the top four earning 4-2-1.

The post Weekend Lineup Presented By DRFBets: Road To Kentucky Heads To The Big Easy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post