Good Magic’s Reincarnate Holds Off Newgate To Win Sham

Topping a Bob Baffert trifecta, REINCARNATE (Good Magic), the co-longest shot on the board at 16-1, held off Newgate (Into Mischief) and favored National Treasure (Quality Road) to steal the GIII Sham S.

Fresh off his maiden-breaking score in just his second start on the dirt following a pair of turf efforts in the fall, Reincarnate, a $775,000 yearling, came in the least heralded of Baffert's trio. Sent right to the front from his middle gate, the roan colt was able to clear National Treasure on his inside for a rail-hugging trip with Spun Intended just to his outside. That duo paced the field through an opening quarter in 22.78 as Packs a Wahlop and National Treasure raced in tandem behind while Newgate brought up the rear.

The field began to bunch up as they approached the far turn and Reincarnate got a bit of breathing room on the front end past the quarter pole. Newgate, who swept by the field on the outside to challenge at the top of the stretch, kept it tight but Reincarnate was game, countering every attack with one of his own and getting the better of his rival close to the wire to win by a neck. National Treasure chased the top pair home and finished three-quarters of a length back in third.

While the top three finishers would normally have been awarded points on a 10-5-3-2-1-scale on the road to the Kentucky Derby, only Packs a Wahlop (Creative Cause) and Spun Intended (Hard Spun) were eligible due to Baffert's ongoing suspension.

“It looks like this horse is getting better with every race, the first couple of starts, he was a little green,” said Juan Hernandez.  “Today, he broke really sharp and actually he surprised me.  I had come up with a plan to stay behind the speed, make him relax and make one move, but when the gate opened, plans changed.”

“He's the kind of horse that can run all day long,” said Bob Baffert.  “He broke great and Juan just kind of let him run away from there.  They were all on their own, I didn't give anybody any instructions.  I was watching Johnny (Velazquez, aboard National Treasure) and he was in tight the whole way…I think (Reincarnate) showed that distance is not going to be a problem for him once he (gets) the lead.  I was surprised he that easy lead and he just kept going.”

Pedigree Note:

The most recent winner for his dam, herself a stakes winner and a half-sister to MGSP Over Emphasize (Overanalyze), Reincarnate has a 2-year-old half-brother by Goldencents and a yearling half-brother by Liam's Map. Allanah went to More than Ready for 2023. By way of the third dam, this is also the female family of Canadian MSW Winning Agenda (Twilight Agenda), who went on to produce two-time champion Peruvian grass horse Zeide Isaac (Freud). That one's half-siblings include SW Dixie Two Star (Dixie Brass) and SP Canta Ke Brave (River Special).

Sunday, Santa Anita Park
SHAM S.-GIII, $100,000, Santa Anita, 1-8, 3yo, 1m, 1:35.87, ft.
1–REINCARNATE, 120, c, 3, by Good Magic
                1st Dam: Allanah (SW), by Scat Daddy
                2nd Dam: Star in the Corner, by Holy Bull
                3rd Dam: Stubborn Star, by Star Choice
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($775,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay
Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine
Donovan; B-Woods Edge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan
Hernandez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-3-0, $142,400.
Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Newgate, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Majestic Presence, by
Majestic Warrior. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($850,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC,
Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson,
Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge
Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Town & Country Horse
Farms, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $20,000.
3–National Treasure, 120, c, 3, Quality Road–Treasure, by
Medaglia d'Oro. ($500,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-SF Racing LLC,
Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson,
Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge
Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum
Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $12,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, 23. Odds: 16.50, 5.20, 0.60.
Also Ran: Packs a Wahlop, Spun Intended. Scratched: Speed Boat Beach.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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‘Rising Star’ Rates Big Shot Against Baffert Foursome in Sham

Bob Baffert supplies two-thirds of the field for Sunday's GIII Sham S. at Santa Anita, but he is no slam dunk to walk away with a record-extending ninth renewal of the event, given the imposing presence of 'TDN Rising Star' Spun Intended (Hard Spun).

The chestnut had a bit of buzz about him ahead of his Oct. 30 debut over 6 1/2 furlongs of this main track, and he nearly overcame a slow start and wide trip to run Fort Warren (Curlin) to a half-length, a performance that was also deemed 'Rising Star'-worthy. Pounded down to 4-5 over the same trip at Del Mar Nov. 26, the $100,000 Keeneland September yearling and $125,000 OBS March bargain made light work of eight other rivals, graduating by a widening 6 1/2 lengths. Hall of Famer Mike Smith sticks around for this first two-turn voyage.

The task at hand certainly is not an easy one, as Spun Intended hooks GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third National Treasure (Quality Road) in his sophomore bow. Having defeated future GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner Practical Move (Practical Joke) into third on his Sept. 3 unveiling at Del Mar, the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad found only stablemate and 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) too strong in the GI American Pharoah S. next time out and was beaten under four lengths behind likely champion Forte (Violence) in the Juvenile. The blinkers that went on for that try come off Sunday.

The Baffert shedrow is also set to be represented by the rail-drawn 'Rising Star' and recent GIII Bob Hope S. runner-up Newgate (Into Mischief); Speed Boat Beach (Bayern), who Beyered 104 when debuting on dirt at the seaside oval Sept. 10 and who exits a game victory in the grassy GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. Dec. 4; and Reincarnate (Good Magic), who broke his maiden going two turns at Del Mar Nov. 25.

The Sham field is completed by Packs a Wahlop (Creative Cause), a two-time graded winner on the turf.

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A New Puncher for Violence

The new year could scarcely have opened in more familiar fashion, with Bob Baffert not only winning the GIII Sham S. for an eighth time but replicating what had meanwhile become a bitterly poignant 1-2 in the race last year.

Hopefully the names of Newgrange (Violence) and Rockefeller (Medaglia d'Oro) will not end 2022 quite so explosively freighted as those of Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Medina Spirit (Protonico), whose respective transfer and tragedy have meanwhile become so expressive of the travails not only of their trainer, but of our entire industry.

But the levels subsequently achieved by both those colts certainly reiterated the caliber of animal Baffert reserves for this race, which was 12 months earlier chosen to launch a Horse of the Year campaign for Authentic (Into Mischief). Newgrange is duly guaranteed much attention in his quest to become the third consecutive GI Kentucky Derby winner (pending resolution of Medina Spirit's status) to graduate from the Sham.

We won't add, here, to the oceans of ink that will continue to flow on the ineligibility of Newgrange, as a resident of a barn banned by Churchill Downs, for the 10 Derby starting points that are supposed to be bestowed on the Sham winner. Instead let's just take a step back and consider what Newgrange's pedigree tells us about his potential; and what his emergence might do for the profile of his sire.

Violence has had an interesting stud career already, not least with his best horses to this point sharing what might seem an unexpected vocation as sprinters–albeit we should know, by this stage, not to make assumptions about the way his own sire, the beautiful Medaglia d'Oro, has channeled the legacy of an avowed turf influence in El Prado (Ire).

Though confined to just four starts, Violence was able to show a versatility of his own in terms of surface. Having started out on dirt in New York, winning on debut at Saratoga and then following up in the GII Nashua S., he shipped out to Hollywood Park to win the GI Futurity S. on synthetics.

Violence as a 2-year-old winning the Nashua | Jessica Hansen

Collared only by the subsequent Derby winner in the GII Fountain of Youth S., he unfortunately emerged out of that first defeat with a sesamoid fracture. Retired to Hill 'n' Dale at $15,000, Violence soon proved the star of the intake. Though he missed the 2017 freshman title by a few cents–the fortunes of champion Overanalyze, long since exported, stand in cautionary contrast–he was top by winners, and was rewarded by no fewer than 214 mares at a new fee of $25,000 the following spring. His maturing stock promptly elevated him to No. 1 second-crop sire across all indices, with eight stakes winners and 19 stakes performers. His third crop of yearlings borrowed that buzz, at an average $133,600, and his fee was hiked anew to $40,000.

But Violence then suffered a little stage fright. In 2019, he mustered just two stakes winners, and his yearling average sagged to $44,649. With his fee restored to $25,000 for 2020, Violence then steadied the ship with a spectacular, game-saving cluster of Grade I wins by colts from three different crops. The sophomore No Parole gave him a breakout success in the Woody Stephens S.; lightly raced 4-year-old Volatile added the Alfred G. Vanderbilt S.; and, though that colt was soon derailed, juvenile Dr. Schivel kept the conveyor turning in the Del Mar Futurity.

Dr. Schivel proved a crucial ally in 2021, too, ensuring that Violence's solitary graded success of the year came at the highest level in the Bing Crosby S., while only missing the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint by a nose. In the meantime, moreover, Violence had retrieved all his commercial energy. His 2020 yearlings rallied to $72,128, obviously in a challenging market; while his latest crop was right up to $116,352, crowned by a $950,000 colt sold to Repole Stables and St. Elias at the September Sale. (Auspiciously, his previous knockout score at auction, at $850,000, had turned out to be Volatile.)

Dr. Schivel (outside) in this year's Bing Crosby | Benoit

That represents superb consolidation by a horse emerging from a tricky crossroads, and reflects twin factors: one, obviously, is the vogue generated by those three Grade I winners; the other is that his 2021 yearlings graduate from that single season at $40,000, when he covered 171 mares presumably deemed worthy of a raised fee.

The overall momentum of Violence is reflected in the way his book, having slipped to 86 after his tepid racetrack campaign in 2019, rallied last spring to 159. So while he does have a small bump in the road ahead, in terms of his likely juvenile footprint for 2023, the overall “pipeline” is looking pretty good: his sophomores for this year represent his biggest book; and his incoming juveniles, his best.

The big question raised by Newgrange is whether Violence can now add a two-turn, Classic dimension to his most accomplished stock. As we've noted, Medaglia d'Oro has long proved an influence for diversity–in terms of discipline as well as surface, with Astern (Aus), Vancouver (Aus) and Warrior's Reward among his leading sprinters. Besides his sire line, another factor could be the duplication of his sixth dam, Greentree matriarch Sunday Evening, behind his granddam, whose sire is out of one of her daughters. Besides recurring in the pedigree of several fast horses, notably Irish champion sprinter Bluebird (Storm Bird), Sunday Evening is also an ancestress of other luminous turf runners in Indian Skimmer (Storm Bird) and Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo).

Storm Bird, responsible for both Bluebird and Indian Skimmer in this family, obviously gave us a huge “crossover” influence in Storm Cat. And it was Storm Cat's serial matings with Hall of Famer Sky Beauty (Blushing Groom {Fr}) that gave us the second dam of Violence. Sky Beauty's Grade I-winning dam Maplejinsky, in turn, was by the venerable turf/stamina influence Nijinsky, while also being a half-sister to the flying Dayjur (Danzig). (Literally flying, in terms of his unforgettable transition to dirt at the Breeders' Cup.) Their dam Gold Beauty, a champion sprinter by Mr. Prospector, whose son Gone West is sire of Violence's dam–admittedly one of the weaker links in this regal maternal line, with a solitary success in a nine-furlong dirt maiden at four.

Bottom line is that there are strands here that would certainly make it feasible for Violence to stretch out his stock: his own sire has obviously given us some real monsters round two turns, unsurprisingly as a grandson of Sadler's Wells; while Maplejinsky also features behind some pretty sturdy operators (third dam of Point of Entry {Dynaformer}, for example). But the propensity of Violence to throw very fast horses, to this point, is equally coherent on both sides of his pedigree. So while he does have a Grade I winner over 10 furlongs in Argentina, it appears instructive that one of his first stars, Talk Veuve To Me, ended up reverting to sprints despite some pretty stout influences in her family.

Hill 'n' Dale's Violence | Sarah Andrew

Of course, a reputation for speed does Violence no commercial harm at all. But what are the prospects of Newgrange, who won his maiden at six and was not pressured at a mile, stretching out on the Derby trail?

Well, it will certainly help if he keeps getting the same obliging treatment accorded to so many Baffert speed horses. Newgrange was only the latest to be so indulged, setting leisurely fractions in the Sham and duly retaining ample gas to assert in the stretch.

One thing we can say for sure is that he was well found as a yearling, for $125,000 by SF/Starlight/Madaket (subsequently joined on the racecard by several other powerful interests) as deep as Hip 2474 in the Brookdale Sales consignment at the September Sale. He was co-bred with Jack Mandato by Black Rock Stables, who had raced Violence and evidently retain a stake in his stud career despite meanwhile dispersing much other stock.

Newgrange is out of the unraced Empire Maker mare Bella Chianti, herself co-bred with Stone Farm from Mandato's extremely useful and tough racemare Bella Chiarra (Phone Trick), winner of nine of 29 starts (chiefly around 8/9f) including the GII Rampart H. at Gulfstream.

All five of Bella Chianti's foals to have raced have won, albeit only Newgrange at a smart level. More auspicious, perhaps, is the fact that her full-sister, though herself a modest performer, is the dam of the tragic Amalfi Sunrise (Constitution), lost to laminitis after winning her only two starts a couple of years ago, including the GII Sorrento S. by six lengths. We'll never know how far Amalfi Sunrise might have stretched out, but she did look extremely brisk on what we saw. That makes it hard to be adamant that her dam's sister will be putting much of their sire's Belmont-winning stamina into the Newgrange equation. (Be that as it may, Empire Maker certainly has an increasing legacy as a broodmare sire, newly enhanced in 2021 by Silver State {Hard Spun}, Mandaloun {Into Mischief} and Rock Your World {Candy Ride (Arg)}.)

Medaglia d'Oro | Darley

Newgrange's third dam is a stakes-sprinting daughter of the obscure Maryland sire Count Brook out of a modest mare by an unraced son of Nearco (Ity) imported from Britain, River War (GB). Nonetheless she produced a couple of other accomplished performers besides Bella Chiarra: a dual graded stakes winner on turf, David Copperfield (Halo), plus the hardy Young At Heart, twice beaten only narrowly in Grade II dirt sprints–despite being by Ferdinand.

You have to go back quite a long way to find where this trio might have dredged any genetic class: to the 1922 foal Primrose, in fact, as a Jerome H.-winning half-sister to a Travers winner. And, even as one who likes to unpick the deeper mesh of pedigrees, I'm not going to suggest that Newgrange must owe an awful lot to his eighth dam!

The real nugget on Newgrange's page is plainly his granddam Bella Chiarra–and her sire Phone Trick, obviously a very quick horse himself, owes his principal broodmare laurels to two horses, Zensational and Dawn Approach (Ire), who were unusually dashing for sons of Unbridled's Song and New Approach (Ire), respectively.

The onus remains on Violence, then, to show that his glossy physical stamp relays not just speed but speed that can be carried at the highest level. Clearly Newgrange couldn't be in better hands, for those purposes. As such, he looks like an important horse in his sire's developing career.

With that pedigree behind him, and that robust physique out front, Violence is not just positioning himself as an affordable alternative to his sire. Arguably the three premier achievers by Medaglia d'Oro are two females, Rachel Alexandra and Songbird, and a gelding, Golden Sixty (Aus). While he's still reliably coming up with class horses, and Rockefeller may yet become another, Medaglia d'Oro has now turned 23 and his principal male heir has yet to be definitively anointed. Violence does face fresh competition, from the likes of Bolt d'Oro and Higher Power, but Newgrange could be the herald of a decisive new phase in his candidature.

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‘Rising Star’ Makes ‘Good’ in Sham

China Horse Club and WinStar’s Life Is Good (Into Mischief) lived up to his dazzling, ‘TDN Rising Star’-worthy debut with a good-looking score in Saturday’s GIII Sham S. at Santa Anita. Romping by 9 1/2 lengths in his 6 1/2-panel unveiling at Del Mar Nov. 22, he fired a pair of bullet works in the interim and was hammered down to 1-5 favoritism to repeat in this first try at two turns.

Not off to the fastest start from the outside post in this five-horse affair, the $525,000 KEESEP purchase seized the early advantage and galloped along on a clear lead, clocking a 23.56 first quarter and :46.67 half-mile. Turning for home alone, Life Is Good was still going along at an easy gallop in the lane and neither he or his motionless pilot Mike Smith flinched as stablemate Medina Spirit (Protonico) closed the gap to 3/4 of a length at the wire.

“He’s a good horse and I could tell that Mike was just cruising out there,” Hall of Famer Bob Baffert said. “It reminded me a lot of Authentic (Into Mischief) last year, when he did the same thing, he looked like a drunk out there coming down, he almost hit the rail and stuff. Just to get the two turns out of the way, it’s big. I always feel that the second race is most important, you’re going up against winners. I think Mike did a great job just sort of cruising around there and it was just the kind of race we were looking for. They ran pretty fast, these are two good horses. It is so exciting he passed the two-turn test.”

 

Pedigree Notes:

Life Is Good is the 84th black-type winner and 36th graded winner for red hot sire Into Mischief. He is also the 104th black-type scorer and 48th graded victor out of a daughter of longtime leading stallion Distorted Humor. The winner’s second dam is SW & MGISW Bonnie Blue Flag (Mineshaft), who is a half-sister to MGISW Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). His dam Beach Walk did not have a foal in 2019, but had a Blame filly Feb. 27 of last year and was bred back to Candy Ride (Arg).

Saturday, Santa Anita
SHAM S.-GIII, $100,000, Santa Anita, 1-2, 3yo, 1m, 1:36.63, ft.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 120, c, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Bonnie Blue Flag, by Mineshaft
3rd Dam: Tap Your Feet, by Dixieland Band
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($525,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). ‘TDN Rising Star‘ O-CHC INC & WinStar Farm LLC; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Mike E Smith. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $94,200. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
2–Medina Spirit, 120, c, 3, Protonico–Mongolian Changa, by Brilliant Speed. ($1,000 Ylg ’19 OBSWIN; $35,000 2yo ’20 OBSOPN). O-Zedan Racing Stables Inc; B-Gail Rice (FL); T-Bob Baffert. $20,000.
3–Parnelli, 120, c, 3, Quality Road–Sip Sip, by Bernardini. ($500,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-C R K Stable LLC; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd (KY); T-John A Shirreffs. $12,000.
Margins: 3/4, 13, 6. Odds: 0.20, 9.40, 4.60.
Also Ran: Waspirant, Uncle Boogie. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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