shug mcgaughey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pricey City of Light Colt Graduates on Debut in Whitney Day Lidlifter

1st-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-6, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.06, fm, 2 1/4 lengths.
BATTLE OF NORMANDY (c, 2, City of Light–Adorable Miss {MSW, $162,590}, by Kitten's Joy), a $500,000 FTSAUG yearling, was drawn widest of all in post seven in the Whitney day opener and chased in an outside fifth rounding the clubhouse turn in this grassy debut run. The 3-1 shot stayed out in the clear in third down the backstretch, began to make his move while three-wide on the far turn and came charging down the stretch to forge past favored Alexis Zorba (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) to score by 2 1/4 lengths. He becomes the third winner for his freshman sire (by Quality Road). Two-time stakes winner on the lawn Adorable Miss, a full-sister to GSW Noble Beauty, brought $280,000 from Gage Hill Stable carrying Battle of Normandy in utero at the 2019 KEENOV sale. Her 3-year-old filly Veronica Greene (Tapit) came within a neck of graduating over the Saratoga lawn earlier this meet for Chad Brown. Progeny in the pipeline for the winner's dam include: a Twirling Candy colt of 2021 and a War of Will colt of this year. She was bred back to Essential Quality. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-West Point Thoroughbreds & Woodford Racing, LLC; B-Gage Hill Stables, LLC & W. S. Farish (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III.

The post Pricey City of Light Colt Graduates on Debut in Whitney Day Lidlifter appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

July 30 Insights: Well-Bred Juveniles Debut Coast-to-Coast

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

MCGAUGHEY UNVEILS SON OF STAR PUPIL
1st-SAR, $105K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:05 p.m. EDT
Shug McGaughey unveils a colt by one of his top former pupils in CAPTURE THE FLAG (Quality Road). He is the second foal out of American Grade I winner and European Group 3 winner War Flag (War Front), who is a full to G1SW Lines of Battle. She is also a half to GSW Homebound (Dixie Union) and SW & GSP Blue Exit (Pulpit). Ian Wilkes also saddles a well-bred firster in this competitive maiden event in Bourbon Resolve (Hard Spun). He is a half to SW Miss Interpret (Street Sense). Their dam is a half to Grade I winners Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper) and Dads Cap (Discreet Cat). TJCIS PPs

WELL-BRED CURLIN COLT DEBUTS AT ELLIS
7th-ELP, $60K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, 4:40 p.m. EDT
WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's REDEEMER (Curlin) makes his first trip to the post here for Rodolphe Brisset. Out of MSP Pull Dancer, the chestnut is a half to MGSW & MGISP sire Good Samaritan (Harlan's Holiday) and GSW Brave Nation (Pioneerof the Nile). Gary and Mary West homebred Salute the Stars (Candy Ride {Arg}) also debuts in this spot. The bay is out of a half-sister to MGISW Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway), GISW J. B.'s Thunder (Thunder Gulch), MGSW Farrell (Malibu Moon) and MSW & MGSP Doncaster Rover (War Chant). TJCIS PPs

BAFFERT UNVEILS EXPENSIVE INTO MISCHIEF COLT
6th-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Bob Baffert sends out one of his many high-priced juveniles for his first start in $850,000 KEESEP buy NEWGATE (Into Mischief). The bay is out of GSP Majestic Presence (Majestic Warrior), who is a half to GSW Victress (Include). His stablemate Hard to Figure (Hard Spun) also debuts in this test. A $40,000 KEESEP buy, he brought $200,000 at OBS March after breezing in :10 flat. He is a half to SW & GSP Inconclusive (Include) and SP Fall At Last (Spring At Last). His dam is a half to MGSW Hence (Street Boss). TJCIS PPs

The post July 30 Insights: Well-Bred Juveniles Debut Coast-to-Coast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Steeplechase Star Snap Decision Tackles Flat Horses in Colonial Stakes

Snap Decision (Hard Spun) may be the best jumper in the country, but his next assignment will be in a flat race, Wednesday's $150,000 Colonial Cup at Colonial Downs. As trainer Jack Fisher sees it, he's got nothing to lose. While he wants to win and doesn't think that is out of the question, Fisher said one of the reasons he went into the race is that it should set his horse up for the G1 Jonathan Sheppard S., an Aug. 17 steeplechase at Saratoga.

“If nothing else, this will be a good work for the Jonathan Sheppard S.,” he said. “I can get that much more into the horse by doing this. In this case, one race equals three works. Depending on where he finishes, we should also pick up a little bit of purse money.”

Take a closer look at Snap Decision's lifetime record and you'll see a horse that shouldn't be in over his head in a stakes race on the flat. A half-brother to Mr Speaker (Pulpit), the winner of the 2014 GI Belmont Derby Invitational, Snap Decision began his career for the Phipps Stable and trainer Shug McGaughey. He was 2-for-18 on the flat, but finished third in the GIII Palm Beach S. and third in the Better Talk Now S.

Fisher went to the connections and got them to agree to sell.

“For one, they wanted to know that he was going to go to a good home,” Fisher said. “Secondly, he wasn't winning those races. He was third, fourth, fifth. That's the type of horse I am very interested in buying. I have to give all the credit to [co-owner] Charlie Fenwick because he was all about the sire, Hard Spun. I told him it wasn't Hard Spun, it was the dam [Salute]. She is a very nice dam. But Charlie was right.”

Snap Decision, who is eight, debuted over the jumps in 2019 and ended that year with a pair of stakes wins. He won his first Grade 1 win over jumps in the 2021 Iroquois S. and this year has run second in the G2 Temple Gwathmey S. before winning another Iroquois, this time by 7 1/4 lengths. He has finished first or second in 15 consecutive jump races.

After the Iroquois, Fisher had the option of running Snap Decision over the jumps in the G1 A.P. Smithwick S. at Saratoga, but passed the race because of the amount of weight Snap Decision would have had to carry. Fisher said he was told his horse would have had to carry 158 pounds in the race. The winner, Down Royal (Alphabet Soup), carried 141 pounds.

“If I ran him in the Smithwick, I was going to get creamed with the weight,” he said.

Not wanting to go into the Sheppard off of a three-month layoff, Fisher found the Colonial Cup. (A race with the same name used to be one of the major stakes on the steeplechase circuit). Can he win? Fisher is trying to take a realistic approach to the race.

“I saw they had this 1 1/2-mile race there on the turf and I thought he is a good enough horse that he belonged,” Fisher said. “Rusty Arnold has a tough horse in there in Cellist (Big Blue Kitten). He won the [GIII] Louisville S. in his last start. I'm not sure he can beat him, but I'm not really scared of anyone else. I don't think the race is too short for him. I think it will be perfect.”

There aren't many examples of top steeplechase horses winning on the flat. In 1971, the Sheppard-trained Wustenchef won a flat stakes, the Sussex Turf H., and one over jumps, the Indian River Hurdle H., at the same Delaware Park meet. John's Call ran four times over jumps before being converted to a flat horse. In his second career, he became a two-time Grade I winner, winning the 2000 GI Turf Classic Invitational S. and the 2000 GI Sword Dance Invitational.

Fisher said that if Spun Decision turns in a big effort in the Colonial he might be tempted to run him again on the flat. But he said that the etiquette in his profession is that once a steeplechase trainer buys a horse from a flat racing stable, the horse should compete only in jump races. He said he will keep that in mind when making future decisions.

Forest Boyce has the riding assignment on Snap Decision and the gelding has been assigned 122 pounds, 36 less than he carried in the 2022 Iroquois at three miles. It's been three years and four months since he last raced over the flat, finishing third in a 1 1/8-mile dirt allowance race at Aqueduct. Since then, he's become one of the best jumpers in the sport. Does that mean he is good enough to be competitive in a $150,000 non-graded stakes race on the flat? The question will be answered Wednesday at Colonial Downs.

The post Steeplechase Star Snap Decision Tackles Flat Horses in Colonial Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Dynamic One Outlasts First Captain in Suburban Thriller

In a stretch-long battle reminiscent of the 2019 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, in which the Todd Pletcher-trained Vino Rosso (Curlin) was controversially taken down for interfering with the Shug McGaughey-conditioned Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}), the former's Dynamic One (Union Rags) outslugged McGaughey's 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) to eke out the victory in Saturday's GII Suburban S. at Belmont Park.

The rail-drawn Untreated (Nyquist) hit the ground running and enjoyed an easy time of things up front, as defending champion Max Player (Honor Code) applied only token pressure. First Captain punched the breeze out wide, while Dynamic One was guided down to the inside by Irad Ortiz, Jr. for the long run down the backstretch.

Untreated still had things very much his own way racing into the final half-mile, but First Captain was given his cue about three furlongs from home, with Dynamic One following that move and poised to strike. The favorite was steered out deepest into the lane and appeared to be ready to blow the race apart in upper stretch, but First Captain refused to lie down while racing tightly between rivals and the duo raced in near lockstep through the final stages, with Dynamic One prevailing by a short head. Untreated boxed on gamely for third to complete a 1-3 for the stable.

“He's getting better. His mind is much better,” the winning jockey commented. “He's starting to figure out the game and he's changed a lot. He…switched up [leads] when I wanted to and he let me do my thing. Then he turned it on when I wanted to.”

Pletcher indicated that Dynamic One would make his next start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup–a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic–on closing weekend at Saratoga Sept. 3.

Outnodded for the victory in last year's GII Wood Memorial by barnmate Bourbonic (Bernardini), Dynamic One was well-beaten in the GI Kentucky Derby, but atoned with a defeat of Miles D (Curlin) and First Captain in the July 30 restricted Curlin S. at Saratoga. Rested off a seventh in the GI Runhappy Travers S. the next month, the $725,000 Keeneland September graduate was third to the in-form Scalding (Nyquist) in Tampa's GIII Challenger S. Mar. 12 and runner-up to the same foe in the GII Ben Ali S. at Keeneland Apr. 23 and was exiting a smart success in the June 4 Blame S. at Churchill.

Pedigree Notes:

Dynamic One is the 15th graded winner for his Lane's End-based stallion, whose finest hour as a racehorse came in the 2012 GI Belmont S. And he becomes yet another 2022 graded-stakes winner descending from a Phipps female family, as laid out by Sid Fernando in his July 6 Taking Stock column.

Dynamic One is the final Phipps-bred from his unplaced dam, a daughter of the Phippses 2002 champion 2-year-old filly Storm Flag Flying, who was also responsible for MGSP turfer Revved Up (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the dam of the Grade III-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Jouster (Noble Mission {GB}), who added to her resume with a victory for Pletcher in the July 3 Perfect Sting S. over the local grass course.

Third dam My Flag was unlucky not to win an Eclipse statuette of her own, given her thrilling victory in the 1995 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Big Sandy, Grade I tallies at three in the GI Ashland S., GI CCA Oaks and GI Gazelle H. and a third-place effort in that year's GI Belmont S. My Flag, a daughter of undefeated legend Personal Ensign (Private Account), was a half-sister to JCGC winner Miner's Mark and fellow GISW Traditionally and her daughter Sound the Trumpets (Bernardini) produced the aforementioned Miles D.

Beat the Drums was purchased by Riverbend Farm for $400,000 in foal to Honor Code at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale and produced the colt Videri, a $260,000 KEESEP purchase who remains unraced for Centennial Farms. She is also the dam of a yearling Ghostzapper colt and a filly foal by Street Sense.

Saturday, Belmont Park
SUBURBAN S.-GII, $388,000, Belmont, 7-9, 4yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:01.26, ft.
1–DYNAMIC ONE, 118, c, 4, by Union Rags
                1st Dam: Beat the Drums, by Smart Strike
                2nd Dam: Storm Flag Flying, by Storm Cat
                3rd Dam: My Flag, by Easy Goer
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($725,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP).
O-Repole Stable, Phipps Stable & St Elias Stable; B-Phipps
Stable (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz Jr. $220,000.
Lifetime Record: 12-4-3-1, $699,950. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–First Captain, 120, c, 4, Curlin–America, by A.P. Indy.
($1,500,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-West Point
Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm LLC, Bobby Flay & Woodford
Racing LLC; B-B Flay Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Claude R
McGaughey III. $80,000.
3–Untreated, 118, c, 4, Nyquist–Fully Living, by Unbridled's
Song. ($550,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $300,000 3yo '21 KEEJAN).
O-Team Valor International LLC; B-Ashview Farm & Old Oak
Farm (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher. $48,000.
Margins: NO, 3/4, 7 3/4. Odds: 0.90, 1.90, 5.60.
Also Ran: Max Player, Forewarned.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Dynamic One Outlasts First Captain in Suburban Thriller appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post