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Speedy First Two-Year-Olds for WinStar’s Speightster

WinStar’s Speightstown continues to prove himself as an accomplished sire of sires. Already, he’s had four sons go on to produce Grade I winners and just in the last two years, he’s seen eight additional sons, including GISW Force the Pass and the multiple graded stakes-winning Qurbaan, begin their stud careers.

In 2017, WinStar welcomed their graded stakes-winning homebred Speightster into the same stud barn as his prodigious sire.

With an initial stud fee set at $10,000, a price that has stayed in place since, Speightster has been supported with a grand total of 464 mares in his first three books.

Now into his fourth year at stud, the former ‘TDN Rising Star’ is presenting himself as a freshman sire to watch as his first 2-year-olds go through the sales ring and make their initial appearances in the starting gate.

A $1.1-million dollar juvenile that sold late on Friday at the OBS Spring Sale is sure to help ensure a strong start for the young stallion, but perhaps an even more promising indicator of future success could be the people signing the tickets.

“A great benchmark for a freshman sire with his first crop is the agents, trainers, and owners buying those horses,” said Sean Tugel, director of bloodstock services at WinStar. “We’ve seen early on that top agents like Steve Young, Jacob West, and Mike Ryan are buying sons and daughters of Speightster. To do that as a freshman sire, obviously they’re making a great impact on people, both physically and as they’re training.”

Although the OBS March Sale generally reflected the economic uncertainty as the Coronavirus pandemic was just reaching the U.S., three Speightster juveniles sold for six figures.

His top-priced youngster at that sale breezed in :21 2/5 and sold to Steve Young for $200,000. Consigned by Eddie Woods, the colt is out of the Smoke Glacken mare Done Smoking, who is herself a half to two graded-stakes winners.

Two more Speightster babies made headlines at this week’s OBS Spring Sale.

A filly out of the stakes-winning Souper Miss (Alphabet Soup) worked :10 1/5 for the Grassroots Training and Sales Consignment. She sold for $185,000 on the second day of the sale to John Kimmel as agent for Sean Flanagan.

“She’s got tremendous overall balance,” John Kimmel said of his purchase. “She has a beautiful topline and a nice walk with good over-reach. Her mind is very good for a horse that’s been through the rigors of a 2-year-old sale.”

Kimmel said that he has been impressed with several Speightsters this year.

“The Speightsters weren’t really ones I was pointing my attention towards going into the sales, but a combination of their racetrack performance and physical presentation really caught my attention,” he said. “There are handfuls of these Speightsters that have a very good physical presence and breeze well. If I had to be selecting a freshman sire, I would put Speightster, Not This Time, and either Nyquist or Frosted as my top three.”

A second of the Speightsters stole the show as one of the last five horses to go through the ring at this week’s OBS Spring Sale. A New York-bred colt named Fortunate Son sold for $1.1-million late on Friday afternoon to agent Christina Jelm, agent for Larry Best’s OXO Equine LLC.

Out of the stakes placed Indian Charlie mare Auspicious, the juvenile worked in :20 4/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin, who purchased the speedy colt last year for $110,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred Yearling Sale.

The successful pinhook placed the colt as the third-highest selling juvenile of the sale, and one of only three horses to reach seven-figures.

After an exciting week for the freshman sire, Tugel reflected on Speightster’s fast start in the sales ring.

“Even in the limited exposure he’s had at the 2-year-old sales, he’s been very well supported by buyers and has averaged 10 times his stud fee. The 2-year-olds we’ve seen are showing the class that Speightster had during his career.”

Unraced at two, Speightster broke his maiden on debut as a sophomore for trainer Bill Mott. The seven length-winning romp at Keeneland earned the colt ‘Rising Star’ status. Next he would take an allowance at Belmont over future Grade I winner Joking (Distorted Humor). One month later, he scored a 104 Beyer in his stakes debut in the GIII Dwyer S. over GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion Texas Red (Afleet Alex) and Tommy Macho (Macho Uno), who would go on to become a four-time graded stakes winner later in his career.

“All three of his wins were very impressionable races that really made an impact on people,” Tugel said. “Just showing his brilliance and his talent carried over to the breeding shed where he’s been well supported in all four years.”

Speightster returned to his home farm in 2017 to stand alongside his sire, an Eclipse champion sprinter with over a million dollars in earnings and 18 Grade I winners to his credit.

“Speightstown is a horse that really passes on that class and intelligence, and that’s what we have seen in Speightster himself,” Tugel said. “I think the ability to pass on that excellent quality of class is what really separates your top notch horses from the rest of the group.”

Speightster hails from a prolific female family that includes several champions. He is out of the unraced Danzig mare Dance Swiftly, a sister to Hall of Fame inductee and Canadian Horse of the Year Dance Smartly (Danzig), as well as the late champion sire Smart Strike (Mr. Prospector).

Tugel said that Speightster represents the best of both sides of the pedigree.

“From day one, he was a standout physically,” he said. “When you see him come out of his stall, you can see all the great qualities that Speightstown passes on to him. But then you get to see the great qualitites his mother gave him through that Sam-Son family. He’s a scopey horse, he stands over some ground, he’s got plenty of leg, and he has really passed that on to his offspring.”

Speightster checked another box as a freshman sire on May 29 when his daughter Queen Arella broke her maiden at first asking for connections Rudy Rodriguez and J Stables LLC.

Following a rough start where she was bumped and squeezed between horses, the juvenile filly rallied from the back of the pack and went four wide approaching the stretch, then drew clear late to win by four lengths.

Queen Arella was bred in New York by WinStar and is out of the winning mare Unbridled Sonya (Unbridled’s Song), who hails from the same family as GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Volponi (Cryptoclearance).

A quick start for Speightster both on the track and at the sales has done nothing but increase demand from breeders sending mares to the popular young sire.

“I think that’s a great acknowledgment for a young horse when you haven’t got the racetrack past performances to work off to give people that confidence,” Tugel said. “But you’re presenting good physicals, and you’re presenting a horse that breeders like to be around. We know this horse is making a great impression on breeders and they’re coming back year after year. And I think it’s going to be well paid off for all the breeders here in Kentucky and around the country who have supported Speightster.”

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Saturday’s Insights: Dangerous Duo for Brown at Belmont

DANGEROUS DUO FOR BROWN
7th-BEL, $64K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 4:32p.m.
Turf maestro Chad Brown unveils a dangerous duo here, including 2019 OBS April $440,000 Peter Brant purchase DOVIMA (Union Rags), who caught the eye with a :20 4/5 breeze at that sale. With three bullets at Payson out of her last five works, the half to MGSW Secret Gypsy (Sea of Secrets) looks to be sitting on go. Brown also brings firster Cost Benefit (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who brought just 40,000 guineas from Klaravich Stables as a Tattersalls October yearling, but sports turf quality throughout her family. Her dam is a half to European champion Zomaradah (GB) (Deploy {GB}), who produced MG1SW and leading European sire Dubawi (Ire) (Dubai Millennium {GB}), while an earlier generation was responsible for European champion and Breeders’ Cup winner In the Wings (GB) (Sadler’s Wells). Morning line longshot (20-1) Hill d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) is a full-sister to last year’s GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. and GI Del Mar Oaks winner, Cambier Parc. Three other half-sisters are all graded winners, while their dam, Sealy Hill (Point Given), was named Horse of the Year in Canada just over a decade ago. Hill d’Oro was a $425,000 Keeneland September purchase and will wear the colors of Whisper Hill Farm.

RISING STARS CLASH
10th-CD, $81K, AOC, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 5:50p.m.
Two ‘TDN Rising Stars’ take center stage in a face-off beneath the Twin Spires. SCOLDING (Carpe Diem) geared down to win by six lengths in her ultra-impressive May 2 Oaklawn debut and secure an 80 Beyer. The $475,000 OBS April (:20 3/5) graduate races for Phoenix Thoroughbred III and was the second-priciest juvenile buy of her sire’s first crop. Remanded (Elusive Quality) picked off rivals in an Arazi-style move for her ‘Rising Star’ debut Feb. 16 at Gulfstream and she’s kept up a steady work tab since. Trained by Cherie DeVaux for the partnership of her husband, David Ingordo, and Manganaro Bloodstock, the $75,000 Keeneland September yearling was a $190,000 buyback at OBS April (:10 1/5).

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This Side Up: Vekoma Points Weaver Towards Fresh Honors

In these contentious times, at least the cavaliers of the turf seem to clinging to suitably knightly ethics. Last weekend, Honor A.P. (Honor Code) and Code Of Honor (Noble Mission) made a righteous stand on either coast; and Saturday’s main event, the GI Ogden Phipps S., now adds Point Of Honor (Curlin) to this overflow of rectitude.

In her case, however, the duplication of honors would primarily encompass trainer George Weaver, whose success with Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Carter H. at Belmont last weekend was his first at Grade I level since Lighthouse Bay (Speightstown) in the 2013 Prioress S. (His only previous elite winner, moreover, had been Saratoga County {Valid Expectations} in the 2005 G1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai.) After ending a seven-year itch, then, a mere seven-day wait for fresh laurels would set an unmistakable seal on the steady consolidation of Weaver’s status since ending a diligent apprenticeship under D. Wayne Lukas and then Todd Pletcher, another former Lukas assistant, in 2002.

Weaver’s consistent Saratoga record speaks of a trainer who can accurately judge caliber, despite more limited ammunition than his mentors. And he has likewise excelled this spring, in a program rendered so much more competitive by its compression, saddling 19 winners from 69 starters prior to Friday.

Vekoma and Point Of Honor, moreover, both attest to a patience and discipline that come at a tougher premium in a smaller barn. Both were taken out of the front line after an exciting start to their sophomore campaigns last year, and are now rewarding the forbearance of their connections.

Vekoma, indeed, is fast becoming one of the most engaging talents in the land. His eccentric gait–hoisting his front leg around like a pitcher on the mound–captured many imaginations on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby last year, and has remained no impediment to two charismatic exhibitions since his return, notably in that 7 1/4-length romp for a 110 Beyer in the Belmont slop last weekend.

By this stage, surely, everyone has grasped that a May 22 foaling in itself presents no disadvantage. The three other May foals in the last Derby were the first three past the post, showing the benefits of better climate and pasture in infancy. One of those, of course, was Code Of Honor–foaled in the same Lane’s End barn within 24 hours of Vekoma. In this instance, however, Weaver is clear that Vekoma has filled out during his 11-month absence, saying that he is now “all man.”

I don’t know if Vekoma glimpsed Code Of Honor at Belmont last week, but it appears that they may now square up back there in the GI Met Mile. As it stands, Code Of Honor has contributed to his old paddock buddy’s only career defeats: they finished first and third, respectively, when Vekoma returned from a three-month break in the GII Fountain of Youth S.; and second and 12th (both promoted) when he derailed in the Derby. On the face of it, given the size of any foal crop, the odds were steeply against the pair treading on each other’s toes in this way. But that just shows why you strive for excellence in your program, and in your choices of stallions and farms.

Anyhow, the way Vekoma is thriving now must give heart to those whose porcelain sophomores are limping off the Classic trail this time round. So often the glister of the Triple Crown forces adolescent horses into an enterprise that ultimately proves, in maturity, not to have played to their best strengths. So while Vekoma did win the two-turn GII Blue Grass S. decisively, he is now beginning to shape like a one-turn monster.

Which he’s absolutely entitled to be: his pedigree, in contrast with his gait, will satisfy the most orthodox tastes. His dam Mona de Momma (Speightstown) was likewise a Grade I winner in the slop, out of a half-sister to Mr. Greeley (himself, of course, by Speightstown’s sire Gone West) as well as to the second dams of Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}) and Paradise Woods (Union Rags); while their dam, in turn, is out of the European dasher Lianga (Dancer’s Image), third dam of the remarkable stallion Danehill Dancer (Ire) (Danehill). That’s some page for $135,000.

Point Of Honor will have cost rather more, as a $825,000 RNA subsequently acquired privately by Donato Lanni for John Connelly of Stetson Racing. (Eclipse Thoroughbreds came aboard after her debut.) She, too, is regrouping extremely well after her layoff. Arguably it was no bad thing to be squeezed leaving the gate in the GI Apple Blossom H., as she was at least sheltered from the blood-thirsty fractions set by Ollie’s Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}). Getting dragged right into that vortex appeared to leave the last-gasp winner Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) rather hollowed out, when she ran in the GII Santa Maria S., and Ollie’s Candy may well face competition up front in her rematch with Point Of Honor.

Even her wild speed palpably held up at Oaklawn that day, so the way Point Of Honor circled the rest of the field gives her every right to carve her name below that of Serena’s Song (Rahy) in the storied Ogden Phipps roll of honor. (Albeit she won it, in 1996, in its previous guise as the Hempstead H.).

That champion was one of the most cherished of the young Weaver’s charges in his days with Lukas; so, too, was Tabasco Cat who sired Point Of Honor’s granddam. So success today would really bring a memorable week to a perfect end. Weaver’s barn was picked against illustrious competition, after all, when this filly was among the first horses Connelly sent to the East Coast.

According to George Bernard Shaw, we all have “one main point of honor and a few minor ones.” A horse as freakish as Vekoma would, in fairness, crown many a training career, but this filly is entitled to even the honors. The difference in Saratoga this year will, no doubt, be as melancholy for Weaver as for everyone else. But having gone there last year still seeking the second Grade I of his career, what a consolation if he could head up this time seeking his third of the summer.

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Ollie’s Candy Has Some Questions to Answer in Phipps

With divisional heavies the likes of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), Serengeti Empress (Alternation) and the comebacking Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) all eye-balling a potential clash in the GII Fleur de Lis S. at Churchill Downs in two weeks’ time, Saturday’s GI Ogden Phipps S. may lack a ‘marquee’ name, per se, but it remains a competitive affair that offers the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland Nov. 7.

Ollie’s Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of last year’s GI Clement L. Hirsch S., was fourth in last year’s Distaff, but has not lost a step at five. A distant third to Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) in the Mar. 14 GI Beholder Mile S., the homebred was given an enterprising ride by Joel Rosario in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 18, leading on a supersonic pace only to be nabbed on the line by Ce Ce. She is a deserving favorite, but must prove she can handle this track’s one-turn route configuration and there figure to be no breathers this time around either.

Somewhat surprisingly, Point of Honor (Curlin) makes her first appearance at Big Sandy, having won the 2019 GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico while finishing runner-up in the GI CCA Oaks and GI Alabama S. at Saratoga. A useful second in a seven-furlong handicap at Tampa Mar. 7, the chestnut found herself as many as 23 lengths off the pace in the Apple Blossom after a slow start, was very wide on the turn and ran on gamely to be third, beaten under three lengths.

“We hope for a better trip,” said Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ President Aron Wellman. “She got pinched at the back and lost all position. She was hung wide and had to weave her way through traffic and still ran very, very well in a highly-rated Apple Blossom. I was proud of the effort that day and I’m hoping for a better trip.”

The beautifully bred Pink Sands (Tapit), a daughter of GISW Her Smile (Include), was a listed winner last season, but has discovered her best form this year at five with swooping successes in the one-mile GIII Rampart S. in December and in the GII Inside Information S. the following month. She, too, would benefit from any speed duel up ahead of her and a board finish at this level would enhance her already considerable value going forward.

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