Tag: saratoga

The Week In Review: Juvenile Fillies Emerge As Intriguing Divisional Subplot

The juvenile fillies division is crystalizing into one of the most intriguing subplots of the Breeders' Cup as we approach the six-week mark to the championships.

The skyrocketing 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), unveiled barely a month ago, has emerged from the West Coast as the obvious topper of her division. But the brilliant, 2-for-2  daughter of four-time champion Beholder is likely to have a fight on her hands as the upcoming stakes engagements extend around two turns, thanks to a talented trio of fillies who have ascended in the East.

The latest addition to that group of contenders is fellow 'Rising Star' V V's Dream (Mitole), who on Saturday ran up the score by 8 3/4 as-she-pleased lengths in the GIII Pocahontas S. at Churchill Downs.

The stylish victory by the athletic, unruffled 6-5 favorite represented the first graded stakes win for her freshman sire, Mitole. The 1:36.45 clocking for the one-turn mile was .83 seconds faster than 2-year-old males ran one hour later in the GIII Iroquois S., earning V V's Dream an 87 Beyer Speed Figure that ranks nine points higher than the number assigned to the winning colt.

V V's Dream has already tangled with-and run second to-the 4-for-4 Brightwork (Outwork), who has won the Ellis Park Debutante S., the GIII Adirondack S., and the GI Spinaway S. in succession this summer.

Yet it is the trip-troubled filly who ran second in the Spinaway, 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke), who is widely regarded as the one to beat coming out of the Saratoga season. This lofty assessment for a non-stakes-winner is based on her blowout, 90-Beyer MSW debut score by 12 3/4 lengths, and then having her momentum stalled twice in the Spinaway when checking hard and clipping heels behind Brightwork, who only beat her by half a length.

V V's Dream ($130,000 KEENOV; $190,000 KEESEP) also summered at the Spa, but didn't race there. After winning her May 19 debut at Churchill by 6 1/4 lengths and running second to Brightwork by half a length in the July 2 Ellis Debutante, the Ken McPeek-trained gray posted five published workouts at Saratoga, even though the Sept. 16 Pocahontas S. was circled on the calendar as her next goal.

“Kenny wanted to take longer, didn't want her to do another sprint,” owner Mike Mackin (MJM Racing) said in a post-win interview published on the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association's YouTube feed.

Churchill Downs this year tweaked some aspects of its September stakes schedule, including shortening both the Pocahontas and the Iroquois from 1 1/16 miles to one mile. The Pocahontas had been carded at a mile from 1982 through 2012 and in 2020. Mackin said the move didn't initially register on his or his trainer's radar as they prepped V V's Dream for that spot.

“At the time when we first started [planning her campaign], we were thinking that the Pocahontas was a mile and a sixteenth, and just wanted her to do two turns from here on out,” Mackin said.

“But, close enough, I guess, a flat mile,” Mackin added with the afterglow relief of an owner not wanting to nitpick a romp that stamped his filly as a major divisional force.

In the Pocahontas, V V's Dream rated adeptly under Brian Hernandez, Jr., then assertively split foes leaving the chute to command a sweet stalking spot while outside and jointly third for most of the backstretch run. The second and third favorites in the betting were establishing a lively and seemingly unsustainable tempo (:22.83 and :45.55), allowing Hernandez to hone his striking sights while edging incrementally closer through the far turn.

Pouncing at will at the quarter pole after a six-furlong split in 1:10.24, V V's Dream inhaled the wilted pacemakers with little resistance. But it took her several strides before she found her best footing and torqued into a higher gear three-sixteenths out, widening her margin with no serious challengers in her wake. She won geared down and galloped out almost a pole ahead of the runners-up.

“She went on by them pretty easily turning for home, and from there she just kind of coasted on in,” Hernandez said, adding that he “just kind of stayed out of her way and let her get under the wire on her own terms.”

Mackin said the Oct. 6 GI Alcibiades S. at Keeneland is next. He attempted to compare V V's Dream to other recent graded stakes winners his family has campaigned with McPeek (as Lucky Seven Stable), but couldn't quite come up with the right analogy.

“Well, hopefully she's got more sense than Smile Happy,” Mackin said, speaking of the notoriously difficult-to-train Runhappy colt. “But she's got more tactical speed than Rattle N Roll,” he added, referring to the one-run closer by Connect. “He's going to be back of the pack.”

Hernandez, who has worked closely with McPeek's outfit for years, had no trouble pinpointing a comparison from different owners in that same stable.

“She kind of reminds us a lot of that filly we had a few years ago, Restless Rider,” the jockey said, referring to the McPeek-trained daughter of Distorted Humor who ran second in the 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

If V V's Dream follows Restless Rider's pattern and also wins the Alcibiades, she, too, will enter the Breeders' Cup  with a 3-for-4 record and a Grade I win at 1 1/16 miles as her final prep.

“She's just kind of big, and always forward,” Hernandez said of V V's Dream. “And from day one, when they first got her in here, she's always kind of done everything the right way. So she's just one of those types of fillies where it's exciting to see her just keep progressing.”

McPeek has now won the Pocahontas four times (2023, 2022, 2016, 2015), establishing a record for that stakes. As Mackin talked of plans for V V's Dream, it might have registered as a surprise to listeners when he touched on the fact that McPeek has never won a Breeders' Cup race. But he's been tantalizingly close-second seven times and third on 10 occasions.

McPeek himself wasn't at the post-race festivities to talk about whether V V's Dream could be the one to snap that oh-so-close Breeders' Cup streak. He was 80 miles east in Lexington, scoping out the Keeneland sale.

“As much as he would have liked to have been here today, his future is dependent upon buying the right yearlings,” Mackin said.

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The Week In Review: Can A Racetrack Have A Perfect Safety Record? Del Mar Is Getting Close

It's often been said that, no matter how hard the sport works to become safer, there will never come a time when there are zero fatalities. Unfortunately, that's probably true. But at the recently concluded Del Mar meet, not a single horse suffered a fatal breakdown during a race. Not once did a horse break a leg, crumple to the ground and then have to be euthanized behind a curtain blocking the view of a horrified public, the story making its way into the newspapers or the local news and on to PETA's list of reasons why horse racing should be banned.

(One horse was injured during a dirt race, had to be operated on and, five days after the accident, had to be put down due to complications. Three horses died during morning training due to traditional musculoskeletal injuries.)

In a meet where there were plenty of highlights, Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) winning the GI Pacific Classic, the brilliant victory by Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) in the GI Del Mar Debutante, the dominance of Jockey Juan Hernandez, nothing was more important than Del Mar's safety record. These are the types of stories racing so badly needs in the midst of so many other tracks having nightmarish meets when it comes to breakdowns and these are the types of numbers that give you hope other tracks can get their fatality levels down to Del Mar levels.

And the story was much the same in 2022. There was not a single fatality that occurred during a race that year either. Officially, Del Mar had two equine deaths in 2022 that were once again the results of horses being injured in race only to be put down a few days later after attempts to save their lives were unsuccessful. Del Mar has not had a fatality during a race since 2021, when one horse died during a 2-year-old dirt race.

“We've been very fortunate and have put in a lot of hard work,” said Del Mar President Josh Rubinstein. “This is more a California story than just a Del Mar story. The numbers at Santa Anita have also been very good and both tracks have benefitted from the efforts from the CHRB. The biggest thing is there's clearly been a culture change and our horseman and horsewomen have really embraced the reforms we've implemented, which hasn't always been easy. Without their buy-in we wouldn't have gotten to where we are now.”

This was not always the case. Before there was Santa Anita 2019 when 30 horses had to be euthanized over a six-month period, Del Mar was having some high-profile problems of its own. When it took out its synthetic track after the 2014 meet, the number of fatalities per 1,000 starts jumped from .69 to 2.28 But it was not until the 2016 meet where the numbers went completely south and turned Del Mar into what may have been the deadliest racetrack in the country. During 54 days of racing, there were 12 fatalities during racing and they occurred at a rate of 3.01 per 1,000 starts. The national rate was 1.54 per 1,000 starts. Worse yet, 11 horses broke down during training hours, giving Del Mar 23 total fatalities for the meet that lasted just 54 days.

“You hate for this to happen anywhere but when something like this happens in California there is a massive spotlight on you, something you don't want to see. It was difficult. It really forced us to look at every single piece of the racing operation. We spent a lot of long days and nights figuring out how we could improve and get better, starting with 2017. Fortunately,  we have continued in the right direction.”

Del Mar management realized that something had to be done and that if the numbers did not improve that could have a cataclysmic effect on the sport. Much of the reforms now seen throughout California, began at Del Mar after the 2016 meet. The number of fatalities per 1,000 starts dropped to 1.50 for 2017. Since, that number has been .79, .62, .28 and .56. Depending upon how the case of the horse who died a few days after surgery is handled, the 2023 number could be zero.

The California/Del Mar play book is to have veterinarians examine a horse again and again and again before they are given the green light to race.

“There are all the veterinarian checks and the things that go into getting a horse ready to go on race day,” Rubinstein said. “With all the vet checks, the CHRB they've been terrific. While we do have our own track vets that oversee morning training and assist with the exams, the majority of the vet checks are by the CHRB. They have been terrific to work with as have industry stakeholders like the TOC. It costs more to get a horse to the races with these reforms and checks and for the most part the owners have been very much on board. It really has been a team effort.”

After 2016, the Del Mar team also realized that vet checks alone would not be enough.

Dennis Moore was brought in to oversee the main track and John Beggin was hired to oversee the turf course.

“We believe we have the best in the business in our main track superintendent, Dennis Moore, and John Beggin, who handles the turf course,” Rubinstein said. “They've both done a terrific job. On the main track, Dennis puts in a tremendous amount of hard work in the off season getting the track ready. Every day, he's looking at different levels, compaction levels, moisture levels. He works to insure the track is dialed in to be consistent, safe and fair. You talk to the horsemen and overall they are extremely pleased with main track and turf course here.”

Most tracks don't have the resources Del Mar has and can't afford to hire extra veterinarians, expert track superintendents or to put in such things like PET scans. But that doesn't mean they can't do better. Though the rate of breakdowns in this country is still way too high, Del Mar has proven that no track should settle for the status quo. They went from one of the most dangerous tracks in the country to one of the safest and all it really took was some effort and determination to solve an awful problem. They've done so well that perfection seems like an attainable goal.

At Gulfstream, Playing the Name Game

You might have noticed that trainer Jose Di Angelo won both divisions of the Florida Stallion S. Saturday at Gulfstream, taking the filly version with Welcome Back (Adios Charlie). Three races later he won the division for males with a horse named Bentornato (Valiant Minister). Bentornato means “welcome back” in Italian. The horses are owned by different owners, and the names are simply a coincidence.

“With Bentornato, I picked the horse out when he was at a baby sale at OBS (where he was bought for $45,000),” Di Angelo explained. “The owner pinhooked the horse and the guy that bought him from him returned the horse. That's why he named him Bentornato or Welcome Back. The other horse was always named Welcome Back.”

Saratoga Horse of the Meet

Each year Del Mar announced its “Horse of the Meet”, a long-standing tradition that takes place at the conclusion of the meet. It was Pacific Classic winner Arabian Knight. The voting is conducted among a panel of experts. How about Saratoga doing the same thing, bestowing what would be an important honor of the most outstanding horse at the sport's most important meet? My vote would have gone to Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), but strong cases could have been made for Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and Arcangelo (Arrogate). In addition to handing out the award, how about giving a cash prize to the groom, hotwalker and exercise rider of the winner. Say $25,000 each, money that can go a long way toward helping the unsung heroes of the backstretch.

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What’s In A Name? Kenwick, Just F Y I, Gordian Knot, Praetorian Guard

The promising 2-eary-old filly Kenwick (Bernardini) may have won in Pennsylvania, but her pedigree shouts Lexington KY from the very rooftops of two local neighborhoods. Kenwick is a central residential area of the city, while Bell Court, as in the dam's name, is an almost adjacent zone, closer to downtown. Both areas have an Old America feel to them: nothing fake, nothing too gentrified, just authentic, with a touch of Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” ambiance. There is in fact a small theatre in the Bell House in Bell Court: the lovely Carriage House Theatre. Lexington visitors! The “Kenwick Table” locale on Owsley Road in Kenwick is the best for the weary traveler: coffee, live music (with an open mike on Monday evenings), beer & wine on the menu, two patios, out-of-this-world elegance – in a word: cool, like its equine namesake, who “got through a razor-thin hole” on the rail to go and win her race.

1st-Presque Isle Downs, $30,600, Msw, 9-5, 2yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:12.44, ft, 2 1/2 lengths.
KENWICK (f, 2, Bernardini–Bell Court, by Street Sense) O/B-Godolphin LLC (KY); T-Eoin G Harty.

The name of Saratoga winning filly Just F Y I (Justify) is a sort of an anagram (rearrangement of letters to form another name) of the moniker of her dad – which is kind of unusual and brave, and therefore worthy of praise. She won on her debut, so novelty and quality are part of her repertoire.

6th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-26, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.06, ft, head.
JUST F Y I (f, 2, Justify–Star Act {SP, $147,605}, by Street Cry {Ire}). O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-William I. Mott.

There was horseracing in antiquity, and there is antiquity in modern horseracing. So much so that a recent sprint stakes race at Parx Racing Aug. 22 produced a very classical exacta, with a close finish. The winner is called Gordian Knot (Social Inclusion), as in the famous head-scratching problem solved by Alexander The Great with a dramatic blow of his sword on his way to conquering Asia. The runner-up is named Praetorian Guard (Speightster), after the dangerous posse of Roman Emperors – made up of veteran bodyguards who on occasion became a mortal danger to the very ruler they were to protect. “No one reigns innocently”, as it has been said.

SALVATORE M. DEBUNDA SPRINT S., $75,000, Parx Racing, 8-22, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:19.83, ft.
1–GORDIAN KNOT, 126, g, 3, Social Inclusion-Mia,
by Put It Back. O-Joseph M. Imbesi. B- Mr. & Mrs. Joe Imbesi.
T-Guadalupe Preciado. $43,200. Lifetime Record: 8-6-0-1,
$386,960.
2–Praetorian Guard, 121, g, 3, Speightster–Super Shopper,
by Super Saver. ($25,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Conway Racing
LLC (Mark Conway), Over The Moon Racing and Innovest BC
LLC; B-Jimmy L. Gladwell, III (KY); T-Louis C. Linder, Jr. $14,400.

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Making Waves: Classic Vibes At Kentucky Downs

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of the Classic-placed Lindy at Kentucky Downs, formerly the “Dueling Grounds”, in Southern Kentucky.

 

Le Havre Filly Wins in Kentucky

The French Classic-placed Lindy (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) won a Kentucky Downs affair for Everest Racing and trainer Brendan Walsh on Thursday (video).

Part of the Ecurie La Vallee Martigny Earl breeding programme, Lindy was knocked down to Ghislain Bozo's Meridian International for €90,000 as a 2021 Arqana August yearling. A winner of her first three starts including a listed race at Toulouse for trainer Christophe Ferland and an ownership group of Ecurie Waldeck, Didier Provost, Ecurie Elag, Et Al, the filly was second in the G3 Prix de la Grotte behind Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), and would be runner-up again to that rival in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for Everest Racing, Ecurie Waldeck, Meridian International, Ecurie Elag, Ecurie Nininoe, Provost and Frank Dhooghe. Unplaced in the G1 Prix de Diane, she was making her first Stateside start this week.

The third foal, winner and black-type horse out of her multiple stakes-placed dam Llanita (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), Lindy is a half-sister to listed winner Nirliit (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the multiple stakes-placed Almeida Girl (GB) (Temple City). Her dam has a juvenile colt named Shawnee (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and a yearling colt by Zelzal (Fr).

Sumbe's late Le Havre has 50% winners to runners (10/20) in the U.S. His best is GI Keeneland Turf Mile S. hero Suedois (Fr), while Rymska (Fr) and Orglandes (Fr) have also won at the graded level.

 

 

An Oaks For Saxon Warrior Filly

Ken McPeek trainee Freydis The Red (Fr) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) found the unique undulations of Kentucky Downs to her liking when winning the Listed Dueling Grounds Oaks for Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm (video).

Bred by Eric Puerari, Ocean Bloodstock, Ecurie du Parc Monceau et. al., the chestnut was plucked by McPeek out of the Arqana August Yearling for €125,000 in 2021. The daughter of the winning Songerie (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) had previously been placed in the GIII Pucker Up S. at Ellis Park last month. A half-sister to the stakes-placed Sojourn (Ger) (Iffraaj {GB}), the 3-year-old's juvenile half-sister Sogniamo (Fr) (Calyx {GB}) has been placed. Numerous Group 1 winners trace to the stakes-placed second dam Suivez (Fr) (Fioravanti), among them American champion Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), Japanese champions Soul Stirring (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) and Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), and Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin heroine Sauterne (Fr) (Kingman {GB}).

Freydis The Red is the second stakes winner for Saxon Warrior in the U.S. after GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire). Three of his four starters (75%) are winners in America, while worldwide he has seven stakes winners. His Zulu Warrior (Fr) took the Listed Prix Turenne on Friday.

 

 

Siyouni Gelding Takes Rich Kentucky Downs Event

Representing Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel, Beuys (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) won for the first time on American soil at Kentucky Downs for trainer Brendan Walsh on Thursday evening (video).

Bred by Ecurie David Salabi, the gelding was a €220,000 Arqana October yearling in 2019 when picked up by Oceanic Bloodstock. He won his first two starts for Peter Brant's White Birch Farm and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, and was subsequently transferred to the Chad Brown barn in the U.S. two starts later. Sold following a pair of tries at Gulfstream Park in Florida earlier this year, he brought $82,000 at the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale on the bid of agent Fergus Galvin.

Out of the winning Kendor (Fr) mare Plain Vanilla (Fr), Beuys is a half-brother to the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air second Vespera (Ire) (Teofilo {Ir}), and is from the family of G2 Prix de Sandringham heroine Volta (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), herself placed in both the G1 Prix Rothschild and the G1 Prix de Diane.

Standing under The Aga Khan Studs' banner at Haras de Bonneval, Siyouni has 15 winners from 37 runners (40%) in the U.S. to his credit. Four of them has struck at stakes level (10.1%), including Grade III winners Sacred Life (Fr), La Signare (Fr), and Love And Thunder (Ire).

 

 

Del Mar Route The Trick For Zoustar Filly

Lunar Impact (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) won at fourth asking stepping up to a mile for trainer Dan Blacker and D K Racing, Qatar Racing, Radley Equine, Rick Gold and Dave Odmark on the Del Mar grass on Saturday (video).

The P. E. Barrett-bred chestnut was a 100,000gns graduate out of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when picked up by David Redvers and Boomer Bloodstock's Craig Rounsefell in 2021. She is the third winner for her dam, whose best result was a third at listed level in Germany. Button Moon (Ire) (Compton Place {GB}) has the juvenile filly Wedyan (GB) (Advertise {GB}), a yearling filly by Mohaather (GB), and a full-brother to Lunar Impact to come. This is the family of multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

From just six U.S. runners, reverse shuttle stallion Zoustar is responsible for three winners (50%) to date, with his first Northern Hemisphere-bred crop just 3-year-olds. Worldwide, the Widden Stud (SH)/Tweenhills Stud (NH) resident has 39 stakes winners, with his Northern Hemisphere best the G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Lezoo (GB).

 

 

Honourable Mentions

GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. victor Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) secured his third graded stakes of the year, with a 1 1/4-length win in the GII Del Mar H. Presented by The Japan Racing Association for trainer Phil D'Amato (video).

Another D'Amato trainee was also already featured in a March column of Makings Waves, Anthony Fanticola's Motorious (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). He earned his second graded stakes victory in Del Mar's GIII Green Flash H. last week (video). Thanks to the solid racecourse results for his progeny, his sire has earned a place at Haras du Petit Tellier for the coming year under a new partnership.

West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable's Parnac (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) claimed a career high in the GII Flower Bowl S. at Saratoga for Christophe Clement near the end of the meet (video). Her sire just sired his first Group 1 winner in Germany on Sunday.

 

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