Grade 3 Winner Name Changer To Stand At Kaz Hill Farm In New York

Grade 3 winner Name Changer, a son of emerging sire of sires Uncle Mo, has been retired to stud at Peter Kazamias' Kaz Hill Farm in Middletown, N.Y.

Name Changer, out of the four-time stakes-winning Northern Afleet mare Cash's Girl, won eight races and placed an additional 10 times in 24 lifetime starts, for earnings of $567,080.

A romping debut winner at age two going six furlongs versus maiden special weight company at Parx, Name Changer went on to win the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup Stakes, Aqueduct's Queens County Handicap and the Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel, all going nine furlongs on the dirt. He also ran second in the Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel and third in the G3 West Virginia Derby. In total, he won or placed in black type company at seven different racetracks, from ages two to seven, all on the main track.

A homebred runner for the Colts Neck Stables, LLC of Richard Santulli, Name Changer hails from the immediate family of champion 3-year-old male and sire Afleet Alex, as well as major stakes winners including Seabhac, Unforgettable Max, and Topic.

He will stand for a fee of $2,500 live foal, stands and nurses, as property of Kaz Hill Farm, and a limited number of lifetime breeding rights are available, as well.

“Anyone paying attention to the leading sire lists knows something big is happening when it comes to Uncle Mo,” said Kazamias. “Not only does Uncle Mo himself have 14 graded stakes winners in 2020, more than any other stallion in the United States, but his sons Nyquist, Laoban and Outwork rank first, second and fourth on the North American leading first-crop sire list. With a powerful build reminiscent of his sire, and his undeniable racing class, it's easy to imagine Name Changer carrying on that tradition.”

Alan Goldberg, who trained Name Changer for his first four seasons before turning over duties to Jorge Duarte, Jr., said the horse stood out for his class, willingness and durability.

“He always showed up — the way the best offspring of Uncle Mo do,” Goldberg said. “Colts Neck Stables retained some breeding rights, and we're planning to send our New York-based mares to him.”

Bloodstock agent Michael Slezak, who brokered the deal to buy Name Changer and serves as Kaz Hill's manager of bloodstock, said the parallels between Uncle Mo and Name Changer make him a tremendous prospect.

“Uncle Mo's maiden win going six furlongs at Saratoga as a 2-year-old, that has to rank as one of the greatest debuts in the history of the sport,” he said. “Similarly, Name Changer showed the ability to win first time out as a 2-year-old at the same six-furlong distance — which really caught our attention. At the same time, Name Changer was still hitting the board in stakes company in November of his 7-year-old season – and that's a big selling point for smaller operations who rely on New York State breeders' awards and are trying to get runners who stay sound and competitive over multiple racing seasons.”

Slezak added he will be shopping the upcoming Keeneland January Sale and Fasig-Tipton February Sale to find additional mares for the horse's initial book.

“Kaz Hill already has a very deep broodmare band, but we want to make sure Name Changer gets the best possible start at stud,” he said.

To that end, Kazamias said Kaz Hill has priced seasons and breeding rights to make sure breeders in New York and the entire Mid-Atlantic region don't get left out of the action.

“We know that 2020 has been very hard on everyone in the horse business — especially regional breeders,” Kazamias said. “What we're hoping to do with Name Changer is give everybody — from the biggest commercial operations to the folks who only have one or two mares — a chance to hit it big without spending a fortune. Four years ago, Laoban started out in New York and now he's in Kentucky for a $25,000 fee. Big things can happen when you tap into the power of Uncle Mo.”

To date, Uncle Mo has sired 68 black-type winners — a gaudy seven percent black-type winners from foals of racing age — including 18 Grade 1 winners, in his first six crops.

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Name Changer to Kaz Hill Farm

Graded stakes winner Name Changer (Uncle Mo–Cash’s Girl, by Northern Afleet) will enter stud next year at Peter Kazamias’s Kaz Hill Farm in Middletown, New York. A homebred runner for Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables, the 7-year-old won the 2018 GIII Monmouth Cup S. He was also third in the 2016 GII West Virginia Derby. On the board in 18 of 24 starts, Name Changer won eight times and earned $567,080. He will stand for a fee of $2,500 live foal, stands and nurses, as property of Kaz Hill Farm. A limited number of lifetime breeding rights are also available.

“Anyone paying attention to the leading sire lists knows something big is happening when it comes to Uncle Mo,” said Kazamias. “Not only does Uncle Mo himself have 14 graded stakes winners in 2020, more than any other stallion in the United States, but his sons Nyquist, Laoban and Outwork rank first, second and fourth on the North American leading first-crop sire list. With a powerful build reminiscent of his sire, and his undeniable racing class, it’s easy to imagine Name Changer carrying on that tradition.”

Bloodstock agent Michael Slezak, who serves as Kaz Hill’s manager of bloodstock, brokered the deal to buy Name Changer.

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Venetian Harbor Holds Off Finite For Munnings Exacta In Raven Run

Second behind Speech in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, Southern California-based Venetian Harbor returned to the Lexington, Ky., track to win Saturday's G2, $200,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in front-running fashion under Manny Franco.

Trained by Richard Baltas and owned by Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Domenic Savides, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Munnings held off a late charge from multiple graded stakes winner Finite – also by Munnings – to win by a neck, with Grand Cru Class third, Reagan's Edge fourth and Tonalist's Shape fifth in the field of eight.

Off as the 3-2 favorite, Venetian Harbor paid $5.20 to win and covered seven furlongs in 1:23.02 on a fast track after setting fractions of :23.06, :46.17 and 1:10.34.

“I was a little bit concerned about the 2 horse (Four Graces), and when I saw she didn't break (in front) I decided to go then,” said Franco. “She's happy when she's in the lead. She showed it today. She's a nice filly.”

It was the third win in seven starts for Venetian Harbor, who was produced from the Street Cry mare Sounds of the City. She was bred by Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables and purchased from the eighth session of the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $110,000, then bought back for $205,000 at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

A winner around two turns earlier this year in the G2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, Venetian Harbor last raced Aug. 8 in the seven-furlong G1 Test Stakes at Saratoga, where she finished seven lengths behind Gamine.

Venetian Harbor is headed to the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at the same seven-furlong distance at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Sprinting is in her blood, as she traces back four generations in her female family to Hall of Fame runner Safely Kept, the 1989 champion sprinter and winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1990 against males.

Finite ran a good race to be second for Steve Asmussen under Ricardo Santana Jr. in her second start since undergoing surgery to remove an ankle chip this spring. A Winchell homebred daughter of Munnings, Finite is a two-time G2 winner who soundly defeated G1 Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver in the G2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in February.

In the Raven Run, Finite raced in mid-pack while well off the rail as Venetian Harbor went unchallenged on the lead, then followed the winner into the stretch. She switched to the rail when Venetian Harbor drifted out slightly and was gaining on her in the final strides.

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