Rania Warren | Horse Racing Free Tips

Raise Cain Eyes Blue Grass, Mr. Swagger, Clear the Air Likely for Wood

Andrew Warren and Rania Warren's Raise Cain (Violence), who romped home in the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S., will likely forego a return trip to Aqueduct and make his next start in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 8, according to trainer Ben Colebrook.

Raise Cain had his first work since the Gotham when going four furlongs in :49.00 (1/3) at Keeneland Mar. 22.

“He's been training great and put on weight,” said Colebrook. “He'll breeze again [Thursday] at Keeneland. I think he really gets it now and now he's confident and feeling good. I think he's sitting on a big race wherever we go. It's exciting.”

Colebrook continued, “I don't think the Blue Grass will be a full field and it's one of those things where if we can run in our own backyard, it will take a strong reason for us to go to the Wood. But, it could still happen if something changes with defections and it's still on our radar. We're taking it day by day.”

Two horses who finished behind Raise Cain with troubled trips in the Gotham are expected to line up fo rthe Apr. 8 GII Wood Memorial.

Victoria's Ranch's Mr. Swagger (Maclean's Music), sixth over a muddy and sealed main track in the Gotham, is expected to return to Aqueduct for the Wood.

A maiden winner in his 6 1/2-furlong debut at Aqueduct Jan. 28, the Juan Avila trainee was making just his second career start in the one-mile Gotham. He worked six furlongs in 1:19.47 (1/2) over a muddy Parx surface Saturday.

“He's perfect,” Avila said. “He went easy and strong and finished up very nice. We are ready for the Wood Memorial and I think he's ready for a nice race.”

Mr. Swagger, who added blinkers when exiting post three in the Gotham, was bumped at the break and prompted the pace from fourth position at the half-mile call, but failed to fire after saving ground through the turn.

“In the Gotham, I said to Carlos [Olivero] that I want to see Mr. Swagger be in last place, but he was much closer,” Avila said. “Hopefully, this time he can stay back.”

Avila said Mr. Swagger will keep the blinkers on for the Wood Memorial.

Also expected in the Wood Memorial line-up is Cypress Creek Equine's Clear the Air (Ransom the Moon), who maintained rail-skimming position from seventh in the Gotham before going four wide in upper stretch and checking around the three-sixteenths pole. He continued to find more down the lane and finished 10 3/4 lengths in arrears of the victorious Raise Cain.

“It wasn't really what we drew up on paper going into it,” trainer Will Walden admitted. “I know when you get a bunch of horses running around in the slop, it almost never goes according to plan. Raise Cain got some momentum. He went inside and we went outside. The hole we were going for closed at the three sixteenths. When you get fully stopped on a big horse, it can be hard to re-rally. But he started picking off horses and started to get going. But by that time, it was too late in the game. If he doesn't get stopped, I think he ends up second or third.”

A maiden winner going six furlongs at Turfway in January, Clear the Air was a troubled fourth in a one-mile optional claimer at Turfway Feb. 11 before his Gotham effort. He worked four furlongs in :48.00 (3/77) at Turfway Saturday.

“He's a big, long stretchy horse and he's very efficient,” Walden said. “The way he breezes and gallops out, he looks like a two-turn horse. He also did run two turns at Turfway going a mile. That was again a horrible trip. He never got out of cover until well inside the sixteenth pole. But the two turns that day never seemed to be an issue. He looked loaded the whole time.”

Walden said he expects to see continued improvement in his charge.

“He won't officially be a 3-year-old until May 5,” Walden said. “I've felt all along that this horse has all the talent in the world. I believe he has graded-stakes type of potential. I don't know exactly when the lightbulb will fully go off. He's still big and green, but if things go right for him, he can put it together. It wouldn't shock me if he went up there and ran really big.”

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Warren Riding High on Derby Trail

Andrew Warren has been building his racing stable from the ground up for four years, but after an initial stretch of limited success, the pieces recently fell into place for him to have, as he puts it, “the best week I've ever had in racing.”

Last week two of his horses ran in the money on Wednesday, then another made it to the winner's circle on Thursday, and on Saturday he and his wife Rania celebrated their first graded stakes win with Raise Cain (Violence) in the GIII Gotham S. The weekend wrapped up with a pair of runner-up efforts from Scoobie Quando (Uncle Mo) in the John Battaglia Memorial S. at Turfway and Wizard of Westwood (Tu Brutus {Chi}) in the Baffle S. on the turf at Santa Anita.

All this from someone who got into racing with the intention of owning just one horse.

Warren grew up attending the races with his parents William and Suzanne Warren, who have campaigned a number of graded stakes winners led by GI Breeders' Cup Classic victor and 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam and 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light.

When City of Light retired to stud, Warren started to think about getting involved in the sport himself.

“I was intrigued by the breeding aspect of the game and how horses could sell for astronomical prices at the sales,” Warren said. “I wanted to buy one filly, race her, and then breed her to City of Light and get a really nice foal.”

After enlisting the help of City of Light's trainer Michael McCarthy, Warren attended the 2019 OBS March Sale wielding a list of sires that might nick well with the new stallion. But buying one filly quickly led to the purchase of another, and six months later he was at the Keeneland September Sale looking at colts.

“The plan changed a bit and I ended up buying a few more horses than I anticipated,” he said with a laugh. “I became intrigued with the talent selection process and with trying to find that needle in the haystack.”

Warren wasn't too far into his foray in the industry when he landed on what would eventually become that first graded stakes winner. He picked out a Violence colt from the Warrendale Sales consignment for $180,000.

“I've had a handful of horses by Violence and they've shown good flashes of ability for me,” Warren said. “On his female side, having Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song) in there is pretty impressive. I have advisors helping me look at them and after you vet them if they still look good, you feel pretty good. All the stars have to align for you to want to be spending money on a horse because you're gambling at a high stakes.”

The Warren family | courtesy Andrew Warren

As Raise Cain was training as a 2-year-old with Eisaman Equine, Warren was starting to feel disheartened when his first few purchases hadn't turned out to be as productive on the racetrack as hoped. He decided to send a few of his 2-year-olds through the ring at the OBS June Sale.

“I was weary about how maybe I needed to cut down on how much I was into this,” Warren recalled. “I didn't go in with the mindset to pinhook, but when I've felt like my stable has gotten too big, I've tried to reduce at the 2-year-old sales to come back with the appropriate amount of risk that I want to be taking.”

Despite improving steadily at a juvenile, Raise Cain went through the ring unsold for $65,000. Warren decided to stick with his original plan and he sent the colt on to Ben Colebrook.

Raise Cain broke his maiden last fall at Keeneland and then placed in two stakes as a juvenile.

Warren was cheering from his home in Oklahoma as Raise Cain closed down the stretch in the Gotham to win by 7 ½ lengths at odds of 23-1, earning 50 points on the Kentucky Derby trail.

“I had kind of pushed for this race, for him to get into a stake, and when he was 30-1 morning line I knew we were in the deep end of the pool,” he admitted. “I knew he had a lot of ability and I knew it was within him to perform like that, but I didn't want to get too high on him because you can get humbled pretty quickly in this game.”

While Warren said he was disappointed that he couldn't make the race in person, he explained that it was just as meaningful to watch the victory at home with his father. The younger Warren works alongside his father in their family's Tulsa-based oil and gas exploration and production company.

Warren echoed what Colebrook has already indicated concerning Raise Cain's next start. The GI Blue Grass S. at his home track or the GII Wood Memorial S. back at Aqueduct are their top two considerations.

Meanwhile, Warren has another potential Kentucky Derby contender in Scoobie Quando. The son of Uncle Mo graduated on debut early this year in the Turfway Preview S. and made his third career start in the John Battaglia Memorial S. last Saturday. After getting stuck behind a wall of horses, Scoobie Quando was able to make a late run to finish second, earning eight points on the Derby trail.

Purchased by Warren for $160,000 as a yearling, Scoobie Quando was yet another OBS June pinhook attempt, but the colt failed to reach his reserve at $125,000.

“He had value and was a nice horse, but had some chips that needed to be removed,” Warren recalled. “People at the 2-year-old sales weren't giving money for horses that would probably need surgery, so we thought we would do the surgery and see how it works out.”

Now with two good shots at making it to the Kentucky Derby with horses that went through the ring unsold as juveniles, Warren said the colts' achievements this year have been reassurance that he is taking the right steps in the game.

“I was pretty excited just to have the two horses in those races last weekend,” he noted. “It's definitely incredibly fortunate that they have both developed this way and have come along like they have because I've had quite a few over the past couple of years that didn't develop and go the way I wanted them to go. To be able to finally have a little fruit from the labor is pretty unbelievable.”

While the majority of the horses in Warren's 30-some strong stable are with Ben Colebrook, he also has horses in California with Michael McCarthy and several others with Bret Calhoun, Anthony Farrior and Barbara Minshall.

Warren said the most exciting part of his journey in racing so far has been enjoying the ride with his family. He shared that his wife, Rania, follows their stable as much as he does, and now that their daughter has turned three, they hope to be able to travel and attend more races in person.

Warren has been to the Kentucky Derby twice to cheer on his parents' horses. In 2008 their colt Denis of Cork (Harlan's Holiday) finished third.

“I remember going both times that they had a horse running and it was an unbelievable experience,” Warren said. “To be able to go to the Derby would be beyond exciting, very emotional, and a thrill for everyone. It would be incredible to share the experience with my friends and family, but to be able to share it with my dad would be very special.”

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Gotham Runners Look Ahead

Andrew and Rania Warren's Raise Cain (Violence) exited his 7 1/2-length victory in Saturday's GIII Gotham S. in fine shape, according to trainer Ben Colebrook. The colt, who earned 50 qualifying points for the GI Kentucky Derby with his win in the Gotham, could return to New York for the Apr. 8 GII Wood Memorial or run in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Colebrook's home base at Keeneland that same day.

“We're based at Keeneland and if it wasn't for that, the Wood would be circled. I guess we'll just sit back and see how the nominations are,” Colebrook said. “If one is significantly easier than the other, that would change our thinking. If you don't have to ship, why do it? But the Blue Grass could come up significantly tougher. In which case, we would go to the Wood.”

Colebrook had a quick turnaround Saturday. The Gotham field left the gate at 5:01 p.m. and the trainer was back in Kentucky in time to saddle Scoobie Quando (Uncle Mo)–owned by the same connections–to a runner-up effort in the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park, which went off at 9:29 p.m.

“Luckily, it worked out. Going to JFK you pass the chute, so I got the Uber driver to stop and I watched them run down the backside,” Colebrook said. “I switched on to my phone and watched the rest of the race, so I got to the airport in plenty of time, luckily. The plane was on time, so I made it to Turfway as they were walking over to saddle, so everything worked out. I didn't really consider doing that until the overnights came out and they carded that race late at Turfway. So, I figured why not try it? I always really liked Scoobie, so I wanted to be there for that race.”

Scoobie Quando, who graduated on debut in the Jan. 7 Turfway Preview S. and was making his third lifetime start in the Battaglia, was behind a wall of horses late in the turn before angling out and rallying to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile test. He earned eight points on the Derby trail and could make his next start in the Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, which is a 100-40-30-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier.

“The timing isn't great, but he didn't really get to run last night. I don't think it was a tough race, so I'm leaning towards the Jeff Ruby,” Colebrook said. “If the race took a lot out of him, we would probably skip it and look for something on the dirt or the turf with him, eventually. When I had him on the main track at Keeneland, he worked really well on it. I still think the dirt is within his wheelhouse. But if not, we have synthetic and turf to fall back on. The way he ran last night, we have to at least consider the Ruby.”

Trainer Brad Cox said the Wood Memorial was the next likely start for Gotham runner-up Slip Mahoney (Arrogate). The gray colt, who was coming off a maiden-breaking score at Aqueduct Jan. 21, broke a step slow from post 10 in the 14-horse Gotham field and trailed in 13th through the first half-mile. He improved to eighth at the top of the stretch while racing eight wide in pursuit of stablemate Eyeing Clover (Lookin At Lucky) and Raise Cain, who made an inside rally from 11th and showed an impressive turn of foot down the center lane under Jose Lezcano. Slip Mahoney gained with each stride down the stretch and surged past Eyeing Clover, but could not collar Raise Cain.

“Overall, I thought for the first time facing winners, it was a positive race,” Cox said. “I never expected him to be that far back. Hopefully he gets a little better trip and a little better position in the Wood.”

Eyeing Clover, who came into his stakes debut off a dominant six-furlong optional-claiming victory at Fair Grounds Jan. 28, finished fourth in the Gotham.

“I'm not sure what we're going to do with him yet,” Cox said. “I'm not certain how far he wants to go, so we'll just regroup and come up with a game plan here in the near future.”

Imaginary Stables' Howgreatisnate (Speightster) arrived home to Fair Hill in good order after stumbling at the start of the Gotham. The bay gelding was unbeaten in four starts, including a win in the Future Stars S. at Parx in December, heading into the Gotham, but saw his streak end as the gates opened when he unseated jockey J.D. Acosta and completed the course before being collared by the outrider.

“He was fresh and a little too eager and he outbroke himself coming out of the gate. He pushed so hard, his front feet went underneath him and he just went down,” trainer Andrew Simoff said. “He came out OK. He got a little scrape on his pastern and we're keeping an eye on it, but other than that he looks good. If he's good in the next two or three days and there's no issues or inflammation, I'll look to run him right back.”

Of possible next starts for Howgreatisnate, Simoff said, “If he had run fifth or sixth yesterday, I could deal with it and say he's not what we thought. We were trying to get a line on him to see if he could compete with the bigger horses. Now that I didn't get that opportunity, it's hard to figure out what to do next. Had he run second or third, the Wood would be a no brainer.”

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