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Churchill Maiden Winner You Ain’t Poppn Gritty Since Birth

When You Ain't Poppn (Bolt d'Oro) fought his way to a first-out victory at Churchill Downs Saturday night, it was no surprise to longtime Mulholland Springs farm manager Jesus Pinales, who had already witnessed the colt overcome much more than his 4-1 debut odds. Bred by Carlos Rafael and out of Eyepopnruby (Take Me Out), the 3-year-old was born at Mulholland Springs, but what started as a normal foaling on the evening of Apr. 5, 2020 soon took a dramatic turn.

“I called Martha Jane and John Henry [Mulholland] and told them we had a foaling,” Pinales recalled. “We all showed up at the barn and I went through the same protocol that we do with all of them–check front feet, head, everything normal. But by the time the baby was a quarter out, his shoulders come out, we started having some real issues with the baby being stuck in the mare. We were on the phone with Carlos Rafael and he started getting nervous. We had to hang up with him and start to do our job.”

Pinales spent the next 10 minutes trying to make sure the foal had enough oxygen while attempting to extricate him from the mare.

“We were ready to go to the hospital, but it's hard to pick up a mare on the ground with the baby half inside and out, so we had to do the job here [at the farm] before we brought the foal to the hospital,” Pinales said. “So I had a few other options–use my tricks–I think everybody on different kind of farms have their own tricks. Finally we got the baby out. By that time, I can tell you that he was maybe 90% dead, basically. Martha asked me what I thought. And I said, 'He's going to live, he's going to live.' And in the end, another 10 minutes, you can see this baby open his eyes. It was unbelievable. He opened his eyes and finally took a deep breath. Five minutes later, with the oxygen and everything, that baby was like nothing had happened. He was normal.”

Once the colt was out of danger, Pinales admitted, “I was tired. Everybody was tired. We see one or two or three cases a year like that when you foal 70 mares. That wasn't normal that this baby stayed for so long in the mare. But when he opened his eyes, it was the best thing to happen to me in my life since I've been foaling mares for 10 years. It's a really nice feeling.”

The colt spent his first week in the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital.

“When he came out of the hospital, he was another horse,” Pinales said. “Typically when babies take this long to wake up, sometimes the lungs are affected. You never know. He was completely 100% normal, like nothing had happened. That's when I told Carlos and Martha Jane that we had a chance with this baby to go to the sales. Because he was a beautiful foal.”

You Ain't Poppn spent the next four months at Mulholland Springs before shipping back to Rafael's farm. He eventually made it to upstate New York where he sold for $200,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, but he was always on Pinales's radar.

“I have him on my phone like the rest of our babies,” Pinales said. “I like to see the first start, I try to see all of them, but it's a lot. So it popped up on my phone and I was watching the race.”

You Ain't Poppn broke alertly in his six-furlong debut Saturday and sat just off the early pace while under a strong hold. He pulled his way into contention with a three-wide move into the lane and drove to the lead in the shadow of the wire (video).

“To be honest, I don't bet because I don't like to bet money,” Pinales said. “But in the end, I was so proud and so happy. There were a lot of feelings when you see a horse that almost died as a baby and he comes and wins his first race.”

Of the fight the colt showed in the closing strides Saturday, Pinales said, “I think that's the heart that the horse has. It's part of all of this. I hope he can win more races and I would like to see him in the future in a stakes race.”

Pinales, meanwhile, has a storybook story of his own. He arrived in Kentucky from his native Mexico as a 16-year-old and found himself at Mulholland Springs.

“I had zero experience with horses when I came here,” Pinales said with a laugh. “I didn't know how to put a chain on a horse. But [the breeding industry] was where the job was, especially in Lexington, it's the most popular place to find a job. John and Martha gave me a chance. And I am going to be appreciative all the time.”

Pinales is celebrating 19 years working at Mulholland Springs, the last 10 as farm manager.

Asked if his 16-year-old self had ever thought he would be manager of the farm, Pinales said, “Never. It was difficult, back in the day when I saw Martha Jane and John Henry running the farm, I thought it looked so difficult. I told them I don't know how you guys do this. And now, after learning from them, it's not an easy job, but knowing they trusted me, I knew I had to learn quickly. Now we have a good team here. I have a good relationship with Martha and John Henry. He's like my brother and she's like my mom.”

After watching You Ain't Poppn win Saturday, Pinales did admit to having one small regret.

“Carlos and all of the guys here at the farm named the foal Jesus,” Pinales said laughingly. “And I told Carlos, 'Please tell the new owner to name him like me.' He said, 'Well, I am going to try.'”

The colt may not be named after the man who saved his life as a foal, but he is still doing Pinales proud.

“I was so proud to see a horse with this beginning go and win some races,” he said.

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Storm Song, the Oldest Living Breeders’ Cup Winner

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends

Some moments last a lifetime. Breeders' Cup wins are like that. They affect everyone associated with the horse, from owners whose silks the horse sports in the race to breeders to consignors to grooms to farriers and so many others. They even touch those many years down the road, such as those who care for the winner more than a quarter century removed from that magical winner's circle and those signature purple and gold flowers. It is, without a doubt, a privilege to have any association at all with a Breeders' Cup winner.

Dr. Naoya Yoshida of Winchester Farm embraces that honor. He has charge of 1996 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Storm Song, believed to be the Breeders' Cup's oldest living winner. The 29-year-old mare has been at his Winchester Farm near Lexington since Dr. Aaron Sones purchased her in 2009.

“We were quite excited to welcome her to our farm,” said Yoshida.” Of course we feel pretty privileged to have these kind of mares.”

Yoshida is a veterinarian and fourth-generation horseman whose family ties to the Thoroughbred industry date back 125 years to his great-grandfather, who bred horses in the U.S. and Europe.

“It's amazing when we work in the Thoroughbred industry, we have this history. I remembered this mare when she was sold at Keeneland November as broodmare prospect [in 1997]. I was training at Hagyard and saw her and never thought I would take care of her in the future. After that I saw her name with a breeding to Dubai Millennium (GB). I used to work for Sheikh Mohammed and saw him try to buy those mares. And the next time I saw her name, she came here [to Winchester Farm]. I feel like it was destiny.”

Winchester's Dr. Naoya Yoshida with Storm Song | Sarah Andrew

Now pensioned after producing six foals during her tenure at Winchester, Storm Song was campaigned by pioneering racing syndicate Dogwood Stable. Dogwood's Cot Campbell, who was a master at finding horses that might have slipped just a little bit through the cracks, bought Storm Song from Lane's End's Book 1 consignment at Keeneland September for $100,000 in 1995. She turned out to be one of the brightest stars to carry the distinctive Dogwood Stable colors, behind her own sire, Dogwood's GI Preakness S. winner Summer Squall. Dogwood had Storm Song for just over two years, selling her as a broodmare prospect at the 1997 Keeneland November sale for $1.4 million to J. S. Carrion. Sandwiched between those two times the filly went through the ring were umpteen thrills for Dogwood partners.

“It was the greatest thrill you can imagine when she won that race [the Breeders' Cup],” said Anne Campbell, co-owner of Storm Song with her late husband, Dogwood founder Cot. “We were particularly thrilled because she was by our wonderful racehorse, Summer Squall, who of course won the Preakness in 1990, so it was just one of the thrills of our lifetime.

“Ironically, Cot woke up about three in the morning [of the race] with vertigo, just sick as a dog. I don't think he felt very well at all during the day, but he forgot about that [when she won]. I remember thinking the paddock in Toronto at Woodbine was so incredibly lovely and classy. The people, the demeanor, just the atmosphere of the whole place. It was a wonderful experience and we were overjoyed that she was clearly going to win before she got to the finish line.”

The year that Storm Song got her Breeders' Cup title was, perhaps, a simpler time. The Breeders' Cup was in only its 13th year in 1996, was being held at Woodbine–the first and only time it was hosted outside of U.S. borders–and was still in its original seven-race, one-day format. The Juvenile Fillies was the first Breeders' Cup race on the card that October day with the looming presence of Cigar's final career start in the Classic just under four hours away.

Yoshida with Storm Song | Sarah Andrew

The 8-5 Juvenile Fillies favorite off a four-length romp in the GI Frizette S. just 20 days prior, Storm Song waited midpack in the Juvenile Fillies, tipped out on the turn, and mowed down her Nick Zito stablemate Love That Jazz (Dixieland Band) to glide clear by 4 1/2 lengths with her ears pricked. Even the Equibase chart called it a “perfect trip.” Storm Song was a no-brainer to be named that year's Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly off the merits of her two Grade I wins, with an extra score in the GII Adirondack S. for good measure. Despite placings at three in both the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Ashland S., Storm Song never won again and retired after finishing unplaced in the GI Acorn S. at the end of May in 1997. Less than six months later, she was purchased by Carrion.

“We were practical about selling horses when the time came for us to sell them because we weren't in the breeding business,” said Campbell. “It wasn't our thing. We never looked back, we were always glad and so grateful for those horses for what they did. It's a business, so you can't be too sentimental, but you can still love them.”

Storm Song's first foal, Another Storm (Gone West), fetched $1 million as a Keeneland September yearling and would go on to produce European champion Order of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as well as GSWs Angel Terrace (Ghostzapper) and Asperity (War Chant). As one of the mares selected for what would be the single and abbreviated book of the brilliant Dubai Millennium, Storm Song was eventually purchased privately by Darley and traveled a good deal during her broodmare career, making three separate trips to Great Britain and even a sojourn to Japan, where she produced her Dubai Millennium daughter before being sent back to Kentucky with a Sunday Silence filly in utero.

She sold again in 2009 to Sones at Keeneland November for $100,000, which is where Yoshida enters her story. Storm Song produced six foals for Sones, including 2016 GI Wood Memorial S. runner-up Trojan Nation (Street Cry {Ire}). Her last foal is the now-5-year-old My Favorite Uncle (Uncle Mo), whose most recent race was a second-place finish at Belterra Park Sept. 20 for Joshua Galindo and trainer Climaco Galindo-Torres. Yoshida raised each of those six.

“She produced good-looking foals,” said Yoshida. “She was a good teacher to me and the farm crew, to see what a good-quality horse is. She's also proven as a broodmare herself.

“She is easy to handle, however, she has kind of a strong personality. She has the dignity of a Grade I-level mare. She's not difficult, but uses her strong personality to show us what she wants to do.”

Storm Song flanked by My Trusty Cat to her left and Plaisir des Yeux to her right | Sarah Andrew

Yoshida keeps Storm Song turned out with 2005 GI Humana Distaff H. winner My Trusty Cat (Tale of the Cat) and 1997 G1 Prix Marcel Boussac-placed Plaisir des Yeux (Fr) (Funambule). The trio are enjoying pensioned life together.

“We keep them in a big field by a creek and forest to keep them calmed down. They gallop so hard, considering their age. We pay very good attention to their feet and change their feeding program if necessary because of cold or hot weather, but these mares are in very good shape. They really don't need special care.”

Yoshida was asked about the first words that come to his mind when he thinks of his Breeder's Cup-winning charge.

“Sophistication. She has a very beautiful eye and face and good conformation. Balance. Dr. Sones still keeps a few daughters of Storm Song, so the story of Storm Song is still going. Hopefully we can give more exciting news from this family.”

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Monday Insights: Expensive Omaha Beach Breezer Gets Going at Indy

7th-IND, $34k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 5:36 p.m. ET
CODE OMAHA (Omaha Beach) debuts here for Lauren and Rene Woolcott and trainer Jonathan Thomas. The Feb. 15 foal is the first produce for his stakes-placed dam and was purchased by Bregman Family Stable for $185,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale. The bay breezed a quarter-mile in a slick :20 3/5 at this year's OBS April Sale and was originally led out unsold, but was subsequently acquired by the Woolcotts for $550,000 in a private transaction. The Complexity yearling half-brother to Code Omaha was sold to Thomas & Mitchell Bloodstock for $50,000 during the sixth session of the just-concluded Keeneland September sale. TJCIS PPs

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The Week in Review: Next Deserves A Shot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic

There will no doubt be a tendency to dismiss Next (Not This Time) as a novelty act, even after his 25-length romp in Saturday's GIII Greenwood Cup on a sloppy, dreary day at Parx. That comes with the territory when your speciality is marathon-distance races of 12 furlongs or more. But to do so would be a mistake.

While it's true that he does not face the best of competition in these races, Next is obviously a seriously talented race horse. You have to be to win a graded stakes race by 25 lengths–no matter the distance or the level of competition.

Next was claimed for $62,500 by trainer Doug Cowans out of a seven-furlong race in April of last year, but the story really begins five months later. Cowans was running him on the turf, but stayed in when the Cape Henlopen S. at Delaware Park was rained off the grass and run at 12 furlongs on the dirt. He won by 18 1/4 lengths. Then it was the GII Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance S. at Keeneland, which he won by 6 1/4 lengths. He didn't run his race in his 2023 debut when third in the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight S. at Churchill Downs, but has been nothing short of sensational since. He won the GII Brooklyn S. by 2 1/4 lengths and then the Birdstone by 11 3/4. Then he turns the Greenwood Cup into a laugher.

Yes, comparing him to the top horses in training is somewhat a matter of apples-to-oranges, but the Beyer numbers indicate that he's fast enough. He got a 104 Beyer Saturday and has twice run a 105, in the Thoroughbred After Care Alliance and in the Birdstone. Arcangelo (Arrogate), who could be the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, ran his top number in the GI Travers S., where he got a 105.

But Next's connections remain committed to a schedule that includes only more of the same. When asked after the Greenwood Cup if they might try to drop back in distance and try tougher competition, Cowans said that wasn't the plan.

“It has not been a thought process up to this point,” he said. “At the beginning of the year there was a five-race plan for this horse and we have made every one. Lucky enough, he has stayed sound and healthy and has made every race.”

He said the plan is to run again in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, which will be run this year at Santa Anita.

That certainly makes sense and you can't really fault Cowans and owner Michael Foster to sticking to what has worked so well since the Cape Henlopen. With $915,672 in career earnings he is closing in on the $1-million mark. Not bad for a horse who was claimed for $62,500.

But what if? Could Next duplicate his form in a mile-and-a-quarter race? Is that type of race, just two furlongs shorter, really that different than what he's been running in? It's certainly not out of the question that he could be competitive in some of these races, maybe even in the Classic. Even if he were to run second or third, that would be a huge accomplishment, result in a payday much bigger than anything available to him in the marathon races and open up all sorts of doors. A 5-year-old gelding, if he stays sound he has a lot of racing in front of him.

So why not run in the Classic? There is absolutely nothing to lose, especially when you consider that the alterative, the Thoroughbred After Care Alliance, is worth only $250,000. If he doesn't run well, you can always go back to Plan A.

“We've got a hell of a horse,” Foster said.

He's right. They do. Now let him go out and prove it–in the Classic.

Parx Stewards Need to Come Down Hard on Paco

The other story in the Greenwood Cup was Paco Lopez's ride aboard Ridin With Biden (Constitution), who finished third as the 7-2 second choice. He chased Next for the first nine furlongs or so and was obviously going to lose and lose by a wide margin. But it looked like the horse was going to be second and easily so as he was eight lengths clear of everyone else in the field at the eighth pole. But in the final 40 yards or so, Lopez just gave up.

Here's how the Equibase chart caller saw it: “RIDIN WITH BIDEN prompted the winner to midway on the final turn, proved no match then was eased in the final stages costing the place.”

That's exactly what happened as Ridin With Biden wound up finishing third, beaten a nose by 84-1 shot My Imagination (Lea). The difference between the place and show money was $19,000. Then, of course there's all the money that went down the drain in the exactas, where the Next-Ridin With Biden combo was the favorite. The irony is that Lopez is often accused of being too aggressive.

Maybe he thought he had the place position wrapped up, but that's no excuse. His job was to ride the horse out to the wire and he didn't. The Parx stewards shouldn't take this lightly. An appropriate suspension and fine is called for. Send a message.

Turf Paradise's Demise

It's sad, but hardly surprising to see that Turf Paradise will not re-open. The sport keeps losing racetracks and now will no longer have a track in another major market. With a population of 1.6 million, Phoenix is the fifth biggest city in the U.S.

But this is also a story of how casino gaming has changed the sport. I don't know what the bottom line details were at Turf Paradise, but trying to make a racetrack go without help from casino revenue is a battle that few tracks can win. That's especially true at a place like Turf Paradise, where the handle is small. And there was nothing on the horizon in Arizona in the way of the track getting help from Historical Horse Racing Machines (HHR) or anything else.

It's no coincidence that the other track about to close, Golden Gate Fields, was also trying to get by without help from a casino, slots or HHR. The list of places where there is an operating racetrack that gets nothing in the way of casino revenues or a subsidy from the government has dwindled to just a handful. Of all the U.S. tracks racing over the weekend, Los Alamitos was the only one. Even Monmouth, which has been fighting a losing battle against the Atlantic City casinos for decades, gets $10 million a year from the state to fatten the purse account.

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