‘Grammer’ Lessons–Part I

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Brooke Hubbard remembers the 2018 Keeneland September Sale almost as if it happened yesterday.

A little past the midway point of the sixth day of bidding in Lexington, hip 1683–a colt from the first crop of Tonalist and offered by Dermot and Emma Quinn's Garrencasey Sales–walked into the back ring and immediately caught Hubbard's attention. A few minutes and $60,000 later, the May 11 foal was hers.

“I bid twice and I was looking around thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, I must have missed something that someone else saw or noticed,'” Hubbard recollected. “But overall, he was just a really nice-shaped horse. His legs, he had good angles and he had a little pot-belly, but you could see the raw shape underneath it all.”

The immature, young and unrefined racehorse she'd plucked out of the sale on behalf of Sayjay Racing's Steve Young, now named Country Grammer, can become North America's first $20-million racehorse should he successfully defend his title at Meydan Racecourse this Saturday.

Making the Short 'List'

To call any son or daughter of Tapit a surprise package would be a bit of a stretch, but Tonalist proved to be one of the more versatile gallopers in recent memory. Winner of the GII Peter Pan S. at a mile and an eighth in May 2014, the Shel Evans homebred successfully stretched out to 12 furlongs to annex the GI Belmont S. and closed the campaign victoriously in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup over a mile and two furlongs.

A razor-sharp winner of the one-mile GIII Westchester H. on his 4-year-old debut, he was third to his fellow future Lane's End stallion barnmates Honor Code and Liam's Map in the GI Whitney S. before joining the likes of Slew o'Gold, Creme Fraiche, Skip Away and Curlin as back-to-back winners of the Gold Cup. Following a fifth behind American Pharoah in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Tonalist earned an all-important Grade I at eight panels in the Cigar Mile H.

Hubbard was more than willing to roll the dice on the son of the Forestry mare Arabian Song, whose female family includes Juddmonte luminaries such as Group 1 winner Etoile Montante (Miswaki), her MGSW daughter Starformer (Dynaformer), GISW Obligatory (Curlin) and MGSW/MGISP Bonny South (Munnings).

“I liked the idea of Tonalist as a first-crop sire, and I looked at a couple,” Hubbard said. “I don't generally just try to cherry-pick stallions. I just look at everything and what looks athletic and has a shape to it. When I saw him, I had followed up another Tonalist the day before, got outbid, went back to [the Arabian Song colt] and I thought he was a nicer physical than the one the day before.”

Neither was she put off by the colt's foaling date.

“I generally like to find a little bit later horses, just because we don't care about waiting on him and starting them a little bit later,” Hubbard said. “I remember talking to the consignor after I got him and she was asking about our plans.”

Seller's Remorse?

Though she had previously bought horses to race for Sayjay–including three-time Grade III winner Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen) in whom she was a partner–the Tonalist colt was bought as a potential horse for the 2-year-old sales and was turned over to Wavertree Stables' Ciaran Dunne.

“Right from the get-go, [Dunne] liked him,” she said. “I remember in December, he called me and he told me, 'The belly's gone. He's starting to shoot up and he's growing all the right ways. It was truthfully about December or January that he just looked like he was already maturing, which was surprising for a May foal, but yeah, he never missed a beat. We waited until April to sell him only to give him a little bit more time, but when I went there in March, I remember I was there with Neil Drysdale and there was a couple of other guys. We all pulled him out and everyone said the same thing, 'Wow, that's a nice two-turn horse.' At that time, I was pretty excited to continue with selling him in April.

She continued, “I looked at [the colt] in March when I went out [to Ocala], and Ciaran was raving about him,” she recollected. “I'm like, 'Well, we're going to continue with the sale. When I got back, [Steve Young] looked at me and he said, “This isn't a Grade I winner, is it?” I looked at him. I'm like, 'You never know.' When he went back up for sale, I tried to get him back interested and he said, 'Well, we already made money. Let's just watch him with his career.'”

The colt advertised himself at the breeze show for the OBS April Sale, covering a quarter-mile in :21 flat, even if the clocking was not entirely his selling point.

“The way he moved was all at the one pace and effortless,” Hubbard said. “It obviously showed that he was going to be a horse that could cover distance.”

And that he certainly has.

Pete Bradley would go on to give $450,000 for the colt–that part of the story will appear in this space in Thursday's TDN.

Hubbard will be thirty-some thousand feet over the country, destination Ocala, when the World Cup jumps around 12:35 Saturday afternoon.

“He looks good in there. That's for sure,” she said. “We're excited to watch him. I'll be on a plane back to Florida, but I'll definitely still be keeping in touch with that.”

If her fellow passengers experience any clear-air turbulence, they might not want to point a finger at the pilot.

 

 

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Blended Citizen To Enter Stud At Collett Equine Veterinary Service In Oklahoma

Blended Citizen, a three-time graded stakes winner, has been purchased by DMW Racing Stables and will enter stud in Oklahoma for the 2021 breeding season. Mike Recio brokered the transaction on the 5-year-old son of Proud Citizen on behalf of owners Sayjay Racing, LLC, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard.

At two, Blended Citizen broke his maiden at Del Mar around two-turns, defeating eventual Grade 1 winner River Boyne. In his second start at age three, Blended Citizen picked up his first graded stakes score in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, a qualifying points race for the Kentucky Derby. Just two starts later, switching back to the dirt in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes, Blended Citizen overcame a six-wide trip to win by open lengths to defeat a field that included eventual graded stakes winner Core Beliefs.

This year, at the age of five, Blended Citizen added the G3 Louisiana Stakes at the Fair Grounds to his resume. He retires with five career wins and earnings of more than $558,000.

“Blended Citizen was an incredibly talented and versatile individual,” said co-owner Brooke Hubbard, who purchased Blended Citizen at the 2017 OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $85,000. “He showed tremendous ability to win on three different surfaces and to win graded stakes races on both dirt and synthetic against some of the top horses of his generation. We are excited about his future and to his first-crop of foals in 2022.”

By Proud Citizen, Blended Citizen is bred on the same cross that produced Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell, one of five champions sired by the graded stakes winning son of Gone West. He was bred by Ray Hanson out of the stakes winning Langfuhr mare, Langara Lass, a full sister to graded stakes winning filly Madeira Park. Blended Citizen is a half-brother to stakes winning millionaire and Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee, and a full brother to stakes winning filly Battlefield Angel, who also placed in the G1 Darley Alcibiades, and is the dam of the graded stakes placed colt Manny Wah.

“We could not be more pleased to acquire an exceptional horse like Blended Citizen,” said Matt Wilkett of Tulsa, Okla.-based DMW Racing Stables. “We think a horse with his depth of pedigree, paired with his ability to win as a two-year-old and at the graded stakes level at three, makes him an attractive horse for breeders in Oklahoma at the southwest region.”

Blended Citizen will stand for an introductory rate of $2,000 at Collett Equine Veterinary Service. There will be a limited number of lifetime breeding rights available to the first 20 mares that are booked for Blended Citizen's first season.

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Blended Citizen Retired

Sayjay Racing LLC’s, Greg Hall and Brooke Hubbard’s multiple graded stakes winner Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen–Langara Lass, by Langfuhr) has been retired from racing.

Bred by Ray Hanson, Blended Citizen is out of the multiple stakes-winning Langfuhr mare Langara Lass. The $85,000 OBS March graduate is a half-brother to the stakes-winning millionaire Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky), runner-up in the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby.

Blended Citizen’s resume includes wins in the 2018 GIII Peter Pan S. and GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks and also a win in this year’s GIII Louisiana S. via disqualification. He retires with a record of 22-5-1-2 and earnings of $558,230.

A stud deal is pending for Blended Citizen. He’s catalogued as a stallion prospect in the upcoming Keeneland November auction with South Point Sales.

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Graded Stakes Winner Blended Citizen Retired From Racing; Stud Plans Pending

Sayjay Racing LLC, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard's multiple graded stakes winner Blended Citizen has been retired from racing.

Bred by Ray Hanson, Blended Citizen is by Gone West's most underrated son, two-time Kentucky Oaks sire Proud Citizen, out of the multiple stakes-winning Langfuhr mare Langara Lass. This makes him a half-brother to stakes-winning millionaire Lookin At Lee, runner-up in the 2017 Kentucky Derby.

Blended Citizen was a classic contender himself after graded wins in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks over Turfway Park's all-weather surface and a score in the G3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. He proved to be one of the most durable, well-traveled and versatile members of his generation. He raced at 10 tracks and remained a graded performer this year at age five, ultimately being awarded the Jan. 18 G3 Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds via disqualification.

Blended Citizen's first win came in November of his juvenile season over the Del Mar turf course where he defeated future Grade 1 winner River Boyne in a maiden special weight. He was purchased eight months earlier at the OBS March 2-Year-Old in Training sale after a sparkling work, commanding the highest price for a juvenile by his sire in 2017.

The Gone West sire-line is responsible for some of the most important stallions in North America; namely Speightstown and Quality Road. Blended Citizen is bred on the prolific Gone West/Langfuhr cross similar to leading Pennsylvania sire Uptowncharlybrown.

A stud deal is pending for Blended Citizen. He's cataloged as a stallion prospect in the upcoming Keeneland November auction with South Point Sales.

The post Graded Stakes Winner Blended Citizen Retired From Racing; Stud Plans Pending appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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