Tag: Ron Winchell

$2.3M Into Mischief Filly Leads the Way at Keeneland September

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale opened with a packed pavilion and plenty of bidding from a diverse buying bench ultimately producing eight seven-figure sales led by a $2.3-million daughter of Into Mischief. At the end of the session, numbers were largely in line with the figures from the opening session of last year's record-breaking auction.

“We were all biting our nails a little bit thinking about being measured up to last year's sale which was so phenomenal,” said Keeneland President Shannon Arvin. “But the numbers were very similar to last year's numbers.”

In all, 110 yearlings sold Monday for $55,330,000. The average was $503,000–up just slightly from last year's figure of $500,833. The median dipped 11.11% to $400,000.

From 191 catalogued yearlings, 148 went through the ring and 38 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 25.68%. It was 20.83% last year.

“It is really, really good,” said Reiley McDonald, whose Eaton Sales sold a $1-million son of Into Mischief during the session. “It is running about 50% outs to buy-backs, but the other 50% are selling at 30% above what they would have in the last couple of years. The upper end is really good. Where we are really going to be tested is the middle end and the lower end because that's where I think the economy has been hit. This upper stuff is very strong.”

Sheikha Hissa made the session-topping bid in the name of the Shadwell Farm founded by her late father Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, purchasing the $2.3-million daughter of Into Mischief from the Gainesway consignment. Shadwell had perennially been a leading buyer at the auction prior to Sheikh Hamdan's death in 2021.

“We are delighted to welcome her and her whole team back,” said Arvin. “Shadwell is about to embark on an exciting new stage and we love her passion for the sport and the horse. It was an honor to have her back with us.”

Monday's top 13-priced yearlings were purchased by 12 distinct buyers.

“I think that's very encouraging,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said of the diverse buying bench. “It's unhealthy if you have one or two entities coming in here and controlling the market. I think it's important that people come in here and feel they have a chance of getting something. Because they are spending quite a bit of money and they are able to gain some of the best bloodstock in the world.”

While the buying bench was deep, the stallion ranks were dominated by yearlings by Into Mischief and Uncle Mo, who combined to sire all eight of the session's seven-figure offerings and 11 of the top 13. The only other sires to make it into the top 13 was Into Mischief's GI Kentucky Derby-winning son Authentic and Constitution.

Keeneland has made an effort over the last two years to make its elite Book 1 section an event and officials were gratified by the large number of onlookers who created a buzz in the pavilion Monday.

“There was a lot of energy and it was so fun to see all of the people here,” Arvin said. “There were many buyers and people participating and then there were a lot of people who were just interested in seeing the sales process. Which was fun to see. We work really hard to make sure the community understands how important our sales are as well as our industry. So it was really fun to have so many people out here.”

Donato Lanni made the session's second-highest bid when going to $2 million to acquire a colt by Uncle Mo on behalf of Amr Zedan.

“The atmosphere has been amazing,” Lanni said. “Every year it gets better and better. There is a lot of quality and you see it improve every year. It's good to see people happy to get a horse sold and happy to buy one and doing what they love to do, which is buy horses. There is a lot of passion and a lot of love for the game. And people are fighting for the horses they love. It's great to see that.”

In an unintended consequence to the packed pavilion, last year's leading buyer Mike Repole and his team were briefly shut out of their preferred rows in the pavilion. After spending some of the session in the first row, the group, which included Repole, trainer Todd Pletcher, agent Jacob West and advisor Eddie Rosen, were able to move back to their traditional middle rows and ended the session with 11 purchases for $3.945 million. Leading the way was a colt by Quality Road colt (hip 144) purchased for $725,000. Repole was the session's leading buyer.

While Repole and Vinnie Viola partnered to be leading buyers in 2022, Repole partnered on just one of the 11 yearlings purchased Monday, spending $600,000 on a colt by Tapit (hip 96) acquired with Spendthrift Partners. Viola's St Elias Stables was not on the results sheet Monday.

Gainesway was the session's leading consignor with 12 yearlings sold for $9,610,000. In addition to the session topper, the farm also consigned two other million-dollar yearlings.

The second session of Keeneland September's Book 1 section begins Tuesday at 1 p.m. Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday begin at 11 a.m. Following a dark day Friday, the 12-day auction continues Saturday at 10 a.m.

Into Mischief Filly Sparks 'Joy' for Aboughazale

In the horse racing business, the passing years often equate to a steady stream of blood, sweat and tears that, if one is among the fortunate, may culminate in dividends by virtue of the hard-earned experience. International Equities Holding's Oussama Aboughazale appears to have found the golden track, however, culminating with a filly (Hip 92) by Into Mischief that realized a session-topping $2.3 million from Shadwell on Day 1 at Keeneland September.

The filly was consigned by Gainesway, that sold 12 head Monday, including a trio over seven figures, leading all consignors with $9.6 million in gross receipts.

Gainesway's Brian Graves said, “I honestly thought she would bring every bit of $1.5 [million]. She's a top physical. She was one of the best-looking yearlings I saw this year. We thought that could happen. From the first time you looked at that filly, you thought that could happen. It's a pleasant surprise but not shocking.”

Only moments after the gavel fell, Aboughazale, situated out back, remained visibly moved by the recent events.

“That was satisfying but I have conflicting feelings,” he admitted. “I am happy we sold her at this price, but I am sad because she is a queen. She is the best thing we've ever bred in many years.”

He continued, “I put a good [reserve] on her, but I would have been sad if she actually sold for that price because I [would have] wanted to keep her.”

Of the buyers, he said, “I wish the best of luck to Sheikha Hissa. [Sheikh Hamdan], God bless his soul, he was a good customer of mine because he bought horses from us. So that makes me feel a little bit better [to let her go].”

In addition to Monday's session topper, Shadwell also purchased Hip 20, a filly by Uncle Mo out of Grade I winner Angela Renee (Bernardini) for $750,000. She was consigned by Taylor Made.

Shadwell Farm manager Jonny Smyth, added, “We have the sister [by War Front] so we are excited to have purchased this filly as well. Sheikha Hissa is happy to be here and we expect to be active again tomorrow.”

Fit for a Queen…

The Feb. 20 session-topping filly is out of Grade III-scorer Delightful Joy (Tapit), a $105,000 OBSAPR purchase by Bradley Thoroughbreds, who was later picked up for $700,000 by Aboughazale at Keeneland January in 2017.

As a broodmare, the mare realized a quick return with a filly by War Front that brought $1 million from Shadwell at Keeneland September in 2019. Only two years later, the operation sold Window Shopping (American Pharoah)–a $700,000 buy for agent Steve Young–that would go on to win the GII Summertime Oaks. Out of GSW and GISP Graeme Six (Graeme Hall), Delightful Joy is a half-sister to GSW Cali Star (Street Cry {Ire}) and stakes winner Seymourdini (Bernardini).

“The dam is a lovely mare that has a lot of class,” Aboughazale continued. “And she is producing very nice horses.

“Thank God for us, she is very straightforward and is producing very beautiful babies.”

The operation is selling a total of 16 yearlings at Keeneland this year, including seven head in Book 1.

Anatomy of Success…

Relatively speaking, Aboughazale has developed a most enviable broodmare band in a fraction of the time that many others have taken to assemble their own band stateside. The native of Jerusalem spent much of his youth surrounded by horses, albeit of a different color. While Arabians occupied much of his initial connection to the horse, Thoroughbreds became his primary passion following a visit to Kentucky a quarter of a century ago. Bitten by the bug, he purchased the former Belvedere Farm in 2016, and it didn't take long for him to realize two important milestones: selling his first $1-million yearling in 2019 and breeding his first Grade I winner, courtesy of 2020 Del Mar Debutante S. heroine Princess Noor (Not This Time).

Oussama Aboughazale and Frances Relihan at a past sale | Keeneland

Aboughazale also enjoyed some of his earliest successes with a horse he bred, Protonico (Giant's Causeway), a four-time graded stakes winner and dual Grade I-placed for Todd Pletcher in 2014-16.

“We are evolving all the time because [bloodstock manager] Frances [Relihan] is very strict,” he said. “She cuts from the bottom, and I don't look at the prices that we sell the mares for because it makes me upset. But we're always trying to improve [the broodmare band]. We're trying to develop next generations. That's important to us.” @CbossTDN

Lanni Signs for $2-Million Uncle Mo Colt

With three-quarters of Monday's yearlings having already gone through the ring, the temperature skyrocketed with a string of seven-figure yearlings going through the ring in rapid succession. Earning the distinction as the top-priced colt of the day, a yearling by Uncle Mo realized a $2-million final bid from agent Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Amr Zedan.

“He is beautiful Uncle Mo and the boss loved him,” explained Lanni. “Zedan [Racing] and Bob [Baffert] have been very lucky with that sire.”

Uncle Mo is the sire of Zedan's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight, wire-to-wire winner of the GI FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic.

He added, “Bob loved him as soon as he saw him. He is a beautiful horse so we were happy to get him.”

Consigned by Runnymede Farm, Hip 154 is out of Helena Bay (GB) (Johannesburg), the dam of GI Pacific Classic winner Collected (City Zip), who was also trained by Baffert. Additionally, the mare produced Helena's Triomphe (Arch), herself responsible for SW Artilena (Artie Schiller).

The colt was bred by a partnership of Runnymede Farm, Peter Callahan and Three Chimneys Farm.

Clearly overjoyed with selling the day's second-highest priced yearling, Runnymede's Romain Malhouitre said, “Imagine selling your horse for $2 million, there's no words for that. The horse has been awesome since he arrived on Thursday. He showed very well. We knew we had plenty of interest, but you never know. So, we are delighted that everybody believed in the horse and the breeders and the land.

“A few people told us that he was one of the best colts of the sale for day one. And we thought we had a good horse and they told us. But, you know, they won't tell you what they are willing to spend.”–@CbossTDN

Winchell Comes Out Swinging for Into Mischief Colt

No stranger to the winner's circle these days, owner Ron Winchell parlayed some of those winnings into new blood, extending to $1.4 million for Hip 145, a colt by Into Mischief.

Consigned by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, who also bred the colt in partnership with Matt Dorman, the Feb. 10 foal is out of the Ghostzapper mare Guarana, who earned over $1 million, annexing a trio of Grade I stakes during two seasons on the track. Guarana is a half to SW Beatbox (Pioneerof the Nile) and Grade II-placed Magic Dance (More Than Ready). The colt's third dam is GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Pleasant Home (Seeking the Gold), a sister to MGSW and GISP Country Hideaway.

“Obviously, he is the first foal out of an amazing racemare,” said Winchell. “We're the lucky or unlucky ones to be the last ones with our hand up. Dr. Lambert, with Equine Analysis, loved him and that's all I needed to hear.”

Regarding the obvious appeal of the pedigree, Winchell qipped, “Do I need to say anything about Into Mischief?”

According to Winchell, the colt will go to team Steve Asmussen.

Offered with this foal in utero at Fasig-Tipton November in 2021, Guarana was purchased by Hill 'n' Dale for $4.4 million.

“It's a great result for a great mare,” affirmed Sikura. “Into Mischiefs are obviously magical horses. No matter the sire, you have to meet the scrutiny of the buyers at the upper end. The horse moved very well. Has a lot of bone, looks sound. One of the astute guys in the business who has had great success bought him. I hope this is his next big horse. We're excited and happy.”–@CbossTDN

Sonson Continues Buying Spree

Chuck Sonson partnered with West Point Thoroughbreds to purchase his first yearlings last month at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and got back into the action Monday at Keeneland, going to $1.35 million to acquire a colt by Uncle Mo (hip 94) in partnership with Woodford and West Point.

“We have a partnership that is killer,” Sonson said as West Point's Terry Finley signed the ticket on the youngster. “We think this colt is going to be a big winner. So we are very excited about him. We purchased six at Saratoga and we are looking to fill the barn up the rest of the way.”

Sonson's purchases at Saratoga were led by a colt by Twirling Candy (hip 140) acquired for $1 million.

Sonson, who owns an aviation company, was enjoying his first trip to Lexington.

“I love Lexington,” he said. “This is the first time I've been here. I am getting into the racing thing and enjoying it a lot.”

Hip 94 is out of Diva Delite (Repent), who is the dam of champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) and this year's GIII Indiana Derby and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. runner-up Verifying (Justify). The yearling was bred by Hunter Valley Farm and David Fennelly's Mountmellick Farm, which purchased the mare for $1.2 million while she was carrying Verifying at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

“I am absolutely delighted,” Fennelly said of the result. “He was a stunning individual. And of course, his family speaks for itself.”

Hunter Valley and Mountmellick sold Verifying for $775,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale.

In foal to Gun Runner, Diva Delite RNA'd for $775,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale.

“She has a Gun Runner by her side and we decided not to breed her this year and give her a break,” Fennelly said. “We will catch her early next year.” @JessMartiniTDN

Uncle Mo Colt a Score for Christophersons

When Neal and Pam Christopherson's Bar-C Racing Stables sold a filly by Uncle Mo for $700,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale, the Oregon-based operation quickly reinvested the proceeds to purchase the unraced Forever for Now (War Front) in foal to the Coolmore stallion for $210,000 at that year's Keeneland November sale. The Christophersons were rewarded again when the mare's Uncle Mo yearling (hip 130) sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.35 million at Keeneland Monday.

“He was a very pretty, beautiful-moving colt,” John Penn, whose Penn Sales consigned the yearling on behalf of Bar C Racing Stables, said. “If he can run, he will make a stallion. He was born a smaller version of what he is. All we did was not get in his way.”

While Penn wasn't involved in the purchase of Forever for Now, who is a half to group-placed Carlisle Bay (Galileo {Ire}), he explained of the Christophersons, “They sold an Uncle Mo previously for a lot of money and needed to buy a mare and they bought this mare in foal to him.”

He continued, “Right now [the Christophersons have] two mares at my place and I think they have several in Oregon.”

Penn Sales was making a rare Book 1 appearance Monday at Keeneland and was enjoying its first seven-figure sale.

“When you have a horse like this, it moves you up,” Penn said. “He would have moved anyone up. We are normally in the middle, but Keeneland was good enough to allow us to compete when we had the horse that would do it. And that's special.”

Magnier was making his first purchase of the Keeneland sale with hip 130.

“He is a very nice horse,” Magnier said. “[Longtime Coolmore adviser] Paul Shanahan really liked him when he saw him the other day. He is a nice athletic horse. He will stay here [in the U.S.] for the time being.” @JessMartiniTDN

A 'Grand' Day 1 at KEESEP

It didn't take long during the opening session of this year's Keeneland September Sale for things to hit full tilt with the sale of the first seven-figure yearling on the afternoon. A member of the Gainesway consignment, Hip 18, a colt by Into Mischief, realized $1.1 million from Robert Clay, bidding on behalf of Grandview Equine.

Gainesway's Brian Graves said, “That's a good way to get started. It was a little north of what we thought. There was a lot of drama leading up. There are always a lot of people with different opinions. It worked out on the pleasant side.”

He continued, “As an individual the horse, he was drop-dead gorgeous and by the right sire and out of a Grade I winner–a young mare who was precocious.”

The Mar. 31 foal is out of American Gal (Concord Point), a full-sister to SW and MGSP Americanize, who garnered just a tick under $1 million on the race track courtesy of five wins, headed by the GI Longines Test S. and GI Humana Distaff S. This represents the extended family of dual Grade I winner Seventh Street (Street Cry {Ire}) and G1 Golden Shaheen victor Reynaldothewizard (Speightstown).

The bay was bred by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, who secured dam American Gal from the Hill 'n' Dale draft for $3 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2018.

“There were a lot of top people on the horse and we thought something like that might happen,” said Graves. “It's good to see Mandy Pope selling million-dollar horses.”

The first foal to sell out of the 9-year-old mare was a colt by Curlin, who brought $500,000 at this venue last season. A family obviously replete with money, granddam GSP American Story (Ghostzapper) also made headlines in the sales ring, realizing $2.2 million at Fasig-Tipton November in 2017. An Into Mischief filly out of American Story (Hip 19) brought $575,000 shortly after American Gal's colt exited the ring.

“He is a really nice colt out of a great family,” Clay said, explaining the decision to extend on the colt. “He went for plenty of money, but he really checked all the boxes for us.”

And the yearling is exactly the type of horse that fits the Grandview program.

“We're looking for balance and athletic horses,” Clay said. “He's a picture.”

During Monday's session, Grandview also purchased Hip 35, a colt by Nyquist who bought $400,000.

When asked about the overall market thus far, Clay added, “I think the energy here is great. And I think it'll get stronger as the sale goes on. There are a lot of people here and plenty of money around. And that's the result of a really good catalogue.”

In 2013, Clay sold Three Chimneys to Goncalo Borges-Torrealba before returning five years later under the Grandview banner, for which he is the general partner and manager. Included in the enterprise are partners Cheyenne Stable's Everett Dobson and the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods.

Despite its relatively recent appearance on the scene, Grandview has enjoyed a banner year in 2023 with this season's Kentucky Derby champion Mage (Good Magic).–@CbossTDN

Stewart Stocking Up

John Stewart, who made his first racehorse purchase at the September sale last year, came back to the auction in a big way Monday, ultimately purchasing seven yearlings. Stewart, the founder and managing partner at MiddleGround Capital, made his biggest purchase when going to $1 million for a colt by Into Mischief (hip 147) consigned by Eaton Sales. Out of Halo Humor (Distorted Humor), the bay is a full-brother to Practical Joke.

“Practical Joke has come on massively this year,” agent Gavin O'Connor said. “He's just come out with so many good horses–Practical Move and Ways and Means was second in the GI Spinaway S. a couple of weeks ago. He's had some really impressive winners. Into Mischief is a sire of sires, we got one earlier, we loved him and we loved this horse physically as well. We have a superstar colt that if he goes on to the top level, it's a huge opportunity.”

Once O'Connor was done extolling the yearling's virtues, Stewart asked, “Now, do you want the true story?

“The true story was this horse wasn't on the list,” Stewart admitted. “And Gavin was shipping our other horses and I texted him and said, 'Gavin, I just bought Practical Joke's brother for $1 million.'”

Bred by SF Bloodstock and Tuscany Bloodstock, hip 147 was purchased by Clover Leaf Stables for $350,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Stewart, alongside agent O'Connor and manager Chelsey Stone, had already acquired a son of Into Mischief earlier in the session when going to $800,000 to acquire hip 83.

“Just from the moment I saw him, I thought he was an amazing representation of the stallion,” O'Connor said of that yearling. “The one word I wrote down on the page was 'wow.' I have seen so many Into Mischiefs and there are one or two that really stand out like he did and you just know that they are a 'wow' horse. That price indicates the wow I felt at the time.”

The colt, consigned by Clearsky Farms, is out of graded winner Daisy (Blame) and is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Botanical (Medaglia d'Oro).

“He looks like he has a stallion's pedigree,” O'Connor said. “He's a great big physical. We will be looking for an exciting future for him going into racing. He will most likely go to Michael McCarthy. We will keep him here in Kentucky with options to go west. We will keep open our channels to the Northeast and Florida, so we will have plenty of options.”

In addition to his two sons of Into Mischief, Stewart also purchased a colt by Constitution (hip 135) for $850,000; a colt by Curlin (hip 49) for $650,000; a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 45) for $350,000; a filly by American Pharoah (hip 129) for $350,000; and a colt by Omaha Beach (hip 177) for $350,000.

“We are starting our own farm,” he said. “We have a few more on the agenda. I have the easy part. Gavin and Chelsey do all the research. And I just buy them. We knew exactly what we were coming here for and what we would be leaving here with.”

Of his involvement in racing, Stewart said, “We bought our first filly here last year. I've been in Lexington for a long time and I've always wanted to get involved in the sport. I was married and my ex wouldn't let me get involved. We got divorced, so I got into horse racing.”

Last year, Stewart purchased Shiloh's Mistress (Vino Rosso) for $235,000.

Of his determined bidding style, Stewart said, “I'm not a bidder. I'm a buyer. Once I decide I'm going to buy a horse, I'm buying it. We are just trying to put bullets in the chamber because you got to have a lot of reps to potentially to get a horse in the Derby and that's what we are going to try to do.”

He added, “I do this everywhere I go. I was in Pebble Beach to buy a car and I bought 12. I don't do anything halfway.” @JessMartiniTDN

Curlin Colt a Sharp Purchase

George Sharp admitted he thought it was a bargain when he purchased a full-brother to GI Florida Derby winner Known Agenda (Curlin) for $280,000 at the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale earlier this year. He was proven right when the yearling returned to the Keeneland sales ring Monday as hip 49 and sold for $650,000 to Gavin O'Connor, agent for John Stewart.

“The plan was to resell if I got the right amount of money,” Sharp said. “And I got the right amount of money. I can't complain about 120% in eight months.”

The yearling, who was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, is out of Byrama (GB) (Byron).

Of the colt's appeal in January, Sharp said, “Obviously, the pedigree was outstanding. Curlins are probably the hottest things out there. He looks exactly like his brother–a 95% twin. At $280,000, I thought it was a steal. I was prepared to go to $400,000.”

Since January, the yearling, “has matured a ton and he still has some maturing to do,” Sharp said. “But he's grown. In the last six weeks, he's really come into himself. He is still a little immature. He has to get his mind a little straighter, but I would have no problem holding on to him.”

Sharp campaigns the likes of multiple stakes winner Front Run the Fed (Fed Biz), but admitted he had no problem letting the yearling sell Monday.

“No regrets,” he said. “I never regret making money.” @JessMartiniTDN

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The Mint Event Center Opened At Kentucky Downs

The Mint Event Center was officially launched Wednesday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by local, regional and state civic leaders and officials, including business representatives from Kentucky and Tennessee, The Mint Gaming and Kentucky Downs said in a release.

The Event Center is Simpson County's largest space for events and conventions, which is positioned as the area's newest location for weddings, parties, conferences, corporate meetings and live entertainment. The space can accommodate groups from 12 to 445 people.

“All the economic development you see here is exactly an example of that,” said co-managing partner of The Mint Gaming Hall Ron Winchell. “From our purchase of the property four years ago, we were committed to continuously improving and bringing more amenities to the area.”

Kentucky Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer added, “It's not just Kentucky Derby week. It's year-round. We have the best year-round racing circuit in the country now, and Kentucky Downs is a big part of that.”

Still under construction is the Summerly Event Lawn, an outdoor, artificial-turf space that can accommodate up to 190 guests. Both the indoor and outdoor areas will be available during the Kentucky Downs meet which will be held Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 13.

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Kentucky Downs’ Mint Millions Worth $2 Million in 2023

The GIII Mint Millions S. will become the first $2-million race ever run at Kentucky Downs, as well as the richest American turf race outside of the Breeders' Cup, when it is run Sept. 2 at the Franklin track. The one-mile Mint Millions offers a base purse of $1 million, with another $1 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF). Last year, the base was $600,000, with a $400,000 supplement from the KTDF.

The Millions was one of 17 stakes–including nine graded events–that was unveiled Wednesday for the track's upcoming boutique seven-day all-turf meet. With seven races worth at least $1 million, the stakes schedule offers $7.6 million available for all horses and another $6.4 million in KTDF enhancements earmarked for those horses foaled in Kentucky and sired by a Kentucky stallion.

The six other graded stakes offering $1 million in available purses are the GII Kentucky Turf Cup, the GII Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint, GII Franklin-Simpson S., the GII Mint Ladies Sprint, GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf and the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon. Those stakes, all carded for a blockbuster Sept. 9 program, will have base purses of $600,000 with another $400,000 available for KTDF-eligible horses, which reflect the vast majority of horses racing at Kentucky Downs.

“We are laser-focused on securing Grade I races for Kentucky Downs. Our 2023 stakes schedule is another step toward that mission,” said Kentucky Downs Vice President for Racing Ted Nicholson. “Our KTDF money allows us to run North America's richest two weeks of racing, including the potential to run more stakes worth at least $1 million during a meet than any U.S. track outside a Breeders' Cup host. But regardless of where horses are born, our base purses guarantee everyone runs for some of the largest purses on the planet.”

Ron Winchell, who with Marc Falcone are Kentucky Downs' co-managing partners, added, “We want the Mint Millions to be the pre-eminent launching pad to the Breeders' Cup Mile. Turf milers are among the biggest stars in Europe, and we're giving them a million more reasons to come to Kentucky Downs.”

Three other Kentucky Downs' stakes–the Sept. 2 GIII Music City S., the Sept. 2 Gun Runner S. and the Sept. 3 Dueling Grounds Oaks had their purses substantially boosted to $750,000, split evenly between the base purse and KTDF enhancements. The GIII Dueling Grounds Derby, also on Sept. 3, was raised to $750,000 last year.

The remaining six stakes will be worth $500,000, half from the base purse and the rest from the KTDF.

The overall purse structure for the meet is scheduled for $22.82 million–a track record for the 12th straight year since the advent of historical horse racing.

Kentucky Downs maiden races will be worth $150,000 for Kentucky-bred horses. And the track will once again offer a pair of $250,000 allowance races–one for 2-year-old fillies and one for 2-year-old colts–restricted to horses that went through the sales ring at Keeneland's 2022 September Yearling sale. Those 6 1/2-furlong races will be held opening day, Aug. 31, with all runners competing for the entire pot.

Kentucky Downs will run Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 13.

The entire 2023 Kentucky Downs stakes schedule is:

All stakes are on turf and include Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund supplements

 

Thursday Aug. 31 — $500,000 Tapit Stakes, 3 year olds & up who have not won a stakes in 2023, mile and 70 yards.

 

Saturday Sept. 2 — $750,000 Music City (G3), 3-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs; $750,000 Gun Runner, 3-year-olds, one mile; $2 million Mint Millions (G3), 3 year olds & up, one mile.

 

Sunday Sept. 3 — $750,000 Dueling Grounds Derby (G3), 3-year-olds, 1 5/16 miles; $750,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 1 5/16 miles.

 

Thursday Sept. 7 — $500,000 One Dreamer, fillies and mares 3 years old & up who have not won a stakes in 2023, mile and 70 yards.

 

Saturday Sept. 9 — $1 million Franklin-Simpson (G2), 3-year-olds, 6 1/2 furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2), 3-year-olds & up, six furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup (G2), 3-year-olds & up, 1 1/2 miles; $1 million The Mint Ladies Sprint (G2), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, 6 1/2 furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, one mile; $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon (G3), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, 1 5/16 miles.

 

Sunday, Sept. 10 — $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile, 2-year-olds, mile; $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, 2-year-old fillies, mile.

 

Wednesday Sept. 13 — $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint, 2-year-olds, 6 1/2 furlongs; $500,000 Untapable Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs.

The post Kentucky Downs’ Mint Millions Worth $2 Million in 2023 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Fiske Assessment Keeps Winchells in Safe Hands

A Sunday afternoon in August, back in the 1970s, and a student at U.C. Davis is trying to catch up on his history notes ahead of his final semester. There's a knock at the door. Two girls.

“They wanted to know if my roommate Morgan was home,” remembers David Fiske. “He was not. Asked if my roommate Jeff was home. He was not. Asked if my roommate Pat was home. He was not.”

Nothing else for it, so they wondered if Fiske would like to come along to a party.

“I don't know. Where is it?”

“It's at the farm.”

Well, any place that these girls might know couldn't be much of a farm.

“Sure, yeah, I'm finished studying: I'll go with you.”

So they went out to a ranch outside Dixon, next town along the valley. Fiske didn't know a soul, but at one point found himself resting an elbow on a thick stack of papers. He took a look. Stallion contracts.

“Turned out the guy was standing two Appaloosas, breeding to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse mares,” Fiske says. “And I thought, 'Well, that's interesting: you actually charge people to breed to these horses?'”

He couldn't know it, but he had just stumbled across a life's work. Yet nor was even this the most precious serendipity occasioned by the fact that his three buddies happened to be out that afternoon. Because as he was leaving, Fiske was followed to the door by a girl named Martha, a University of Kentucky graduate who was working with some show horses there. She said to stop out again sometime.

“And that is my wife for the last 45 years,” says Fiske. “Next time I went out there, we went trail-riding. Now, I don't ride. Okay, as a kid I'd play with the entries at Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows, in the green sports pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, and see how my picks did the next day. But I'd do the same thing with stocks on the financial page, and certainly did not grow up around horses. So Martha and her friend thought it'd be fun to have me ride a green-broke Appaloosa mare up into those hills there. Turned out that if I was game or stupid enough to do that, she thought I was probably okay.”

Moreover the guy running the farm—”crazy and charismatic, just a ton of fun to be around”–started getting Fiske to help with the horses as his visits became more frequent. To the extent that when he graduated, without no real plan for the rest of his life, Fiske suddenly found that he had a job there.

And without that random apprenticeship, we wouldn't find him now supervising one of the most successful programs of its size on the modern Turf. Winchell Thoroughbreds have produced a champion stallion in Tapit, and a record-breaking newcomer in Gun Runner; they raced the champion sophomore of 2022, in Epicenter (Not This Time); and after his massive step forward in the GII Louisiana Derby last weekend, they once again have a live shot at the GI Kentucky Derby with Disarm–aptly enough, a son of Gun Runner out of a Tapit mare.

Yet teaming up with the Winchell family in 1980 was itself another pretty random development. Martha had brought her husband back to her native state: she was working for Hagyards in Lexington while Fiske, at 28, was in bloodstock advertising. In the course of her work, Martha happened to be asked by the Winchells' manager, who was leaving, whether she knew anyone who might take over.

Verne H. Winchell and his family were due at the farm for their summer vacation, and Fiske thought there could be no harm in meeting the donut king. “Even though the only thing I'd managed by that stage was… Well, I could manage to get my shoes on,” Fiske recalls wryly. “I had not managed anything even close to a 50-horse racing stable, and almost 50 broodmares, and 15 people working on a farm.”

Winchell had previously operated a farm in California–racing the eponymous Donut King to win the Champagne S. in 1961, plus homebred Mira Femme to be co-champion juvenile filly five years later–but had recently upgraded his program to Kentucky.

The meeting, the interview–whatever it was–it went well. Fiske was asked to stay for lunch, then dinner, and started as manager two weeks later.

“Mr. Winchell was an intuitive guy,” he remembers. “He would go by his gut, and I guess that worked out to my benefit. I had the best job in town: a 320-acre park to live in, pool, tennis court, a 50-horse racing stable to play with–and owners who lived on the other side of the country! I'd talk to Mr. Winchell long distance a couple times a week, and they'd come and stay at the farm for a few weeks every summer. Looking back, it's remarkable that somebody he'd just met was handed the keys and told, 'Have at it.'”

But Verne's instincts were amply vindicated. There had been no grand plan, no real strategy. New barns were going up; there were 50 stallion shares to distribute; broodmares from Maryland to California; half a dozen trainers spread round the country. Something was working, to be fair, in that Fiske reckons Verne bred at least one stakes winner from 36 consecutive crops. But this unsupervised young man was soon making things work better yet. By the time Verne died, in 2002, Fiske had helped him from around 25 stakes winners to 80–and these had included homebred 1991 Turf male champion Tight Spot (His Majesty), Fleet Renee (Seattle Slew), Sea Cadet (Bolger) and Olympio (Naskra).

A key moment had been when they started funneling all the young stock through Keith Asmussen in Texas. One of Asmussen's sons, Cash, was taking tax breaks from a brilliant career in Europe–and where else could you get your yearlings broken in by a champion jockey? Around that time Verne was becoming disenchanted with the Californian circuit, and turning increasingly to Michael Dickinson and “this new upstart trainer named Steve Asmussen.”

Dickinson, of course, had Tapit, a rather frustrating racehorse, but a game-changer afterwards. “He was clearly the best stallion of the first part of this century,” Fiske says proudly. “He did things that other horses had never done. I mean, it would be record earnings on top of record earnings. As leading first-crop sire, he was also leading sire of 2-year-olds. I sat in the Keeneland library and looked as far back as I could, and Tapit was only the seventh stallion to do that. And the others were all horses like Danzig. The next guy to do it was Uncle Mo, and the next after him was….?”

Gun Runner! The horse that has crowned this second cycle, where Verne's heir Ron had gone “all in” with Steve Asmussen.

“We started giving Steve a few horses, and he's winning races for us at Bandera Downs and Trinity Meadows and Birmingham,” Fiske recalls. “And as he learned his craft, he just got better and better. Soon he'd gotten to a point where he was winning more 2-year-old races than anybody in the country.

“Now if you're going to have a broodmare band, as opposed to just buying yearlings, that gives you the longest risk horizon of all. You buy a yearling and give it to a trainer, and it doesn't win, you're out the purchase price and some training. But doing what we do, first they've got to get pregnant, then they've got to carry the pregnancy, then you've got to get the foal–and it's like three years to find out where you are. So if you send these horses to somebody who just hammers the life out of them, that will impact what their brothers and sisters are worth, what their mother's worth, the whole deal. And since you won't be winning stakes races unless you first break your maiden, Steve started to get more and more of the horses until pretty soon he had most of them.”

Fiske, then, has served as the hinge connecting two generations of Winchells and two generations of Asmussens. Ron was only 30 when he took over from his late father. He'd only been on the scene sporadically through high school and college, and was then away cutting his teeth in business, building sports bars in Las Vegas. But he took to his youthful responsibilities with much the same flair as had Fiske himself, a couple of decades previously.

“He's been around it all his life,” Fiske notes. “I have winner's circle photos of him 'in utero,' when Mrs. Winchell was pregnant! And I think he always liked it: the action, the volatility was attractive to him. He's got a pretty good streak of gambler in him. But I tell people he's the hardest-working man I know that doesn't have to work. He's constantly on the go. I'm real proud of him, having known him since he was an 8-year-old kid and seeing everything that he's accomplished.”

Gun Runner having himself thrived with maturity, his stock was widely expected to do much the same.

“But he came up from Florida during the spring meet at Keeneland,” Fiske reminds us. “And Steve had only trained him a little while when he was, like, 'Holy cow, this thing's good.' He could have run earlier, but to Steve's credit, he just held off, didn't take him to Saratoga, just planned out a series of races for him to maximize his talent. Because we weren't buying horses to be what Scott Blasi [Asmussen's assistant] calls 'go-karts.' They're meant to be proper Derby horses, Classic horses, like Midnight Bourbon, like Epicenter.”

At stud, moreover, the Winchells rowed in from the start. Fiske admits that they didn't breed too many to Tapit, for instance, when he was $15,000. Typically they've given their retired colts half a dozen mares to see how they work out. But they sent Gun Runner 17.

“And they all came out looking like little Gun Runners,” Fiske marvels. “They had incredible consistency. So we pushed on with a dozen or so mares the second year, just on the strength of how the foals looked. I mean, if none of them can run, that's a pretty slender limb that we were crawling out on.”

But he remembers being at Churchill one morning, and asking Asmussen how one of Gun Runner's first winners had come back.

“Oh, great,” Asmussen said. “These things can take a lot of training.” And he grabbed one of the partition pipes round the box where they were watching work. “That's what his legs feel like today.”

Fiske replied that he was unsurprised. Blasi had once told him that Gun Runner had never even seen an ice bucket.

Asmussen shook his head. “Not only has he never seen an ice bucket,” he said. “We never used to do up his legs.”

To be fair, Lady Luck extracted ample redress last year. Losing Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) was harrowing. Then they ran into the unaccountable Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the Derby with Epicenter, who ended up being vanned off the course at the Breeders' Cup.

“I've told the people that do those new owner seminars, that they should just play the last 75 yards of the Derby, from our point of view,” Fiske says. “Because that pretty much encapsulates the highs and the lows right there. I mean, if you can't handle getting beat like that, and can't handle having a horse of the caliber of Midnight Bourbon drop dead, then you need to find another game to play. On the other hand, if most people had Midnight Bourbon, that would be a career horse for them. Or if they could finish second in the Derby, huge.”

As a yearling purchase, Epicenter was a tribute to the balance of this program.

“We have talked about this at length,” Fiske says. “Because it seems like our successes break down to almost 50/50, homebreds versus purchases. Tight Spot, Fleet Renee, now Gunite (Gun Runner); and then you've got Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), Epicenter, Midnight Bourbon.

“We're kind of old-timey in that we don't have stallions, don't have boarders, and we're not a commercial yearling producer, per se. We're either a little big farm or a big little farm, I never know which. But almost every other property in town has one of those three things.”

That's not to say that they don't sell yearlings. Under Verne Winchell, the largest foal crop was 42 or 44, and he'd want to lose half before they were broken. But that was never the driving focus when putting matings together.

“In fact, I remember standing with him one day watching a yearling Franklin Groves was selling for well over a million,” Fiske recalls. “And Mr. Winchell just goes, 'I don't know why that would be exciting to someone like Franklin. He has several other millions, and that's just one more.' Mr. Winchell got a lot more enjoyment just out of watching the horses run.

“When I came in, it was all starting to change from being a sport. You still had the old moneyed guys, with blow money they could write off against other income, deciding foal shares on a flip of a coin. Everything has become more professional, on every level. Look at the veterinary practices in town here: among the best in the world. But I used to pick up my wife after work and everybody was walking around with a plastic specimen cup full of bourbon. I don't think that happens anymore! Nowadays you come to a sale and you might see more attorneys and financial planners and bloodstock agents than actual horsemen.”

However well this program has played a changing landscape, there naturally remain unrequited ambitions. Especially after last year's tough beat, to share Asmussen's first Derby would be priceless. But whatever happens from here, Fiske proudly compares the Winchell program to the way Kentucky itself punches above its weight.

“Everybody thinks it's hillbilly, but we've so many artists, writers, actors, musicians here,” he says. “And we have our signature industries. You tell me the signature industry of Indiana or Oregon? And actually that's really frustrating for Ron, recently, now that he's a racetrack and slot machine owner in Kentucky, and has to deal with the legislators dragging their feet in Frankfort. It's like, 'Guys, you've got this thing that you can build on, this thing most states don't have. You're blessed!'”

As are we all. But none could feel more so than Fiske himself, looking back on four decades sharing the Midas touch of his patrons. Yet none of it would have happened had any of his roommates been home that afternoon those girls knocked the door.

“Just some fortuitous events and decisions, I guess,” Fiske says with a shrug. “But a lot of the guys on the farm have been there for years. The veterinarian that does our repro work, I first met him in 1976. Steve has been training for us forever. And I've had the same job 42 years. So there's kind of a theme there. Maybe I'm unimaginative, or lazy, but it does kind of gnaw at me because of our recent success. I don't know that I do anything different than anybody else. Everybody I know in this business is working hard. But somehow or another, we've got all this stuff happening.

“I'm something of a student of history, that's part of what attracted me to this: the traditions, the genealogies, the great breeders and their methods, the Greentrees and the Whitneys, going back to the English and French sides of it. But Gun Runner coming on the heels of Tapit?” A shake of the head, a grateful smile. “I don't know if that ever happened before.”

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