shug mcgaughey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Lemon Drop Kid Firster Good As ‘Gold’ At the Spa

1st-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-7, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:44.28, fm, 2 1/4 lengths.
DRIPPING GOLD (c, 2, Lemon Drop Kid–Aurelia, by Danzig) was let go at a generous 63-10 off a 9-2 morning line and took advantage of a golden trip to score by a comfortable margin in the Whitney Day opener at Saratoga. In the early vanguard, Dripping Gold came back to Jose Lezcano to sit a close-up fourth for the opening six furlongs. Pulled off the inside to deliver his challenge passing the quarter pole, he pinched a winning break and had 2 1/4 lengths on the rail-rallying Gooch Go Bragh (Distorted Humor) at the line. A full-sister to Aurelia's Belle, a two-time graded winner on synthetic and a Grade III winner on turf, of $346,387, Dripping Gold hails from one of the deepest families in the stud book, as her dam is a daughter of GSW Aishah (Alydar), whose notable produce include MGSW Atelier (Deputy Minister), Saratoga GISW Aldiza (Storm Cat), SW Arabis (Deputy Minister) and a trio of additional black-type performers. Dripping Gold's third dam is Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee (Never Bend), the dam of champion MGISW Althea (Alydar), whose daughter Aurora (Danzig) bred four full stakes winners, including the late Arch (Kris S.), GISW Acoma (Empire Maker) and UAE Horse of the Year Festival of Light (A.P. Indy). Althea's MGSW sister Aquilegia produced SW Amelia (Dixieland Band), whose seven winners from 10 to race include GSW/GISP Kindergarden Kid (Kitten's Joy), GSW Assateague (Stormy Atlantic), GISP sire He's Had Enough (Tapit), MGSW & GISP Rainha Da Bateria (Broken Vow) and Japanese GSWs Rabbit Run (Tapit) and Asakusa Genki (Stormy Atlantic). An $80,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, Dripping Gold fetched $300,000 at OBSMAR after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 1/5. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $55,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-West Point Thoroughbreds, John A Ballantyne & Titletown Racing Stables; B-Alexander-Groves Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Claude R McGaughey III.

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Curlin ‘Rising Star’ Fittingly Favored in Curlin

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–After capitalizing on an opportunity against a small field in the GIII Dwyer July 5, unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) returns to trainer Shug McGaughey's original schedule Friday in the $120,000 Curlin S. at Saratoga Race Course.

In his first start away from Belmont Park, the chestnut colt will face six other 3-year-olds in the 1 1/8-mile race that returns after being dropped from last year's COVID-19-scrambled season program. His competition includes GII Wood Memorial runner-up Dynamic One (Union Rags), who is making his first start since he was 18th in the GI Kentucky Derby; Susan Quick and Christopher Feifarek's prolific homebred Beren (Weigelia), already a five-time winner this year; and Juddmonte Farms' Snow House (Twirling Candy), who was third in the Dwyer.

Run the day before the GII Jim Dandy S., the local prep for the GI Runhappy Travers S., the Curlin has become an alternate steppingstone to Saratoga's signature race. Since it is restricted to runners who have not won a graded stake longer than one mile, it typically attracts late-developers–First Captain and three others debuted in 2021–or horses getting back into graded stakes company.

Though he has made but three starts, First Captain brings a solid reputation to the Curlin. Bred by Bobby Flay, he co-topped the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale at $1.5 million. Flay is a partner in the ownership group of West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm and Woodford Racing. He won his debut at seven furlongs on a fast track Apr. 24 and prevailed over a sloppy track May 29. McGaughey selected the Curlin instead of the Jim Dandy to give First Captain his first test around two turns and avoid GI Belmont St. winner Essential Quality (Tapit) until a possible matchup in the $1.25 million Travers.

“He doesn't need to meet him until it's a big day,” McGaughey said. “This was where I was pointing to after we won the allowance race. Then when the Dwyer looked like it was going to come up the way it did and then he had had a really good work the week before that, that's why we decided to go and take a chance. So now he's a graded stakes winner.”

In the Dwyer, First Captain made a wide run on the turn and went on to a 1 3/4-length victory, a performance that strengthened McGaughey opinion that he was a quality horse.

“I thought he ran really good,” McGaughey said. “It's not what he wants to do going a mile around one turn. The first two races it was kind of hard to tell because he made a few mistakes, but he didn't the other day. He was sitting in the right place, maybe a little farther back than I thought he would be, but it showed me that longer, two turns, is what he wants to do.”

McGaughey said the Curlin, with the added distance and the two turns, will be another challenge for First Captain.

“I think his races have all been good,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “He's an easy horse to train. He's got a lot of composure to him. But he's got to prove that. It ain't nothing to prove in the morning; you got to see it in the afternoon. It's going to be a little bit deeper water this time, but the way he's been training since he got up here gives me the confidence that he's going to run a good race.”

Trainer Saffie Joseph said he thinks that 'Rising Star' Collaborate (Into Mischief), co-owned by Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds is ready to step back into stakes company. The Curlin will be his second start since undergoing a minor throat procedure to improve his breathing.

“He's a horse that trained, before he ever ran, like a really good horse,” Joseph said. “The first time he got beat. Then the second time he came back and won like the horse we think he was. We put him in the Florida Derby because he had showed that kind of talent. He traveled well and by the three-eighths pole he just kind of hit a wall. I don't think [a lack of] talent beat him on that day. I think more it was something to do with his air intake.”

After the colt finished more than 14 lengths behind Known Agenda (Curlin) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, Joseph ran him back in the 6 1/2 furlong Roar S. He finished third as the 2-5 favorite and Joseph and his connections opted for the throat procedure. On June 20 at Gulfstream Park he won a one-mile comeback race by 5 1/4 lengths.

“For him, this is going to be the real test,” Joseph said. “I just need to see another race to make sure that it's legit as far as everything's functioning well. I know he has the ability, but you want to see it again. He has to prove it again before I can get total confidence.”

Dynamic One, bred by Phipps Stable, which is a partner with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable on the colt, looked like he would win the Wood Apr. 3, but was caught at the wire by his longshot stablemate Bourbonic (Bernardini). In the Derby, he never was a threat after getting into some early traffic trouble. Trainer Todd Pletcher gave him a break after that and made the Curlin a target.

“We're optimistic,” Pletcher said. “I've seen stuff from him in the mornings that indicates he's capable of competing. Obviously, he just got beat in the Wood Memorial. At Churchill he didn't fire in the race. He's been a little bit inconsistent, but we've seen potential from him at times.”

Snow House started his career on turf Mar. 20 at Fair Grounds, but got away slowly and ended up fourth. When Snow House's second race was moved off the wet Keeneland turf Apr. 21, trainer Brad Cox left him in the field and he led from gate to wire.

“He performed well,” Cox said. “We ran him back and he ran a really big race, a one-turn mile at Churchill [May 29], had plenty of time to recover from the maiden victory. He ran a really gutsy race. I thought he ran a really good race in the Dwyer. This will be his second race around two turns and I feel it like it could be an advantage getting him back around two turns.”

Beren, a Pennsylvania-bred, has won three in a row–two of them in laughers in off-the-turf races–since stumbling at the start and finishing fourth in the GIII Bay Shore S. Apr. 3. The Butch Reid trainee prepped for the Curlin with a bullet half-mile work in :46 3/5 (1/87) here July 23.

Chad Brown will saddle Miles D (Curlin), a maiden winner co-owned by Peter Brant and Robert LaPenta, who drew the rail. Harvard (Pioneerof the Nile), trained by Rodolphe Brisset for China Horse Club and WinStar Farm, finished second in his first two career starts. Since blinkers were added he has shown early speed and won both starts.

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Greatest Honour Nearly Ready To Resume Training; McGaughey Will Target Winter Campaign

Trainer Shug McGaughey told bloodhorse.com on Monday that multiple graded stakes-winning 3-year-old Greatest Honour should be ready to resume training by Sept. 1. A Courtlandt Farm homebred son of Tapit, the colt won both the G3 Holy Bull and G2 Fountain of Youth to kick off his 2020 season.

Greatest Honour has been off since a disappointing third-place finish as the favorite in the G1 Florida Derby on March 27.

“He had an old cyst in a pastern and we gave him time for it to fill in,” McGaughey told bloodhorse.com. “It was nothing major but something we had to get behind him so he could move forward.”

With Greatest Honour's anticipated return to training on Sept. 1, McGaughey hopes to target a race in New York like the G3 Discovery on Nov. 27 in preparation for a winter campaign in Florida. The G1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January is a primary goal, the trainer said.

First Captain Headlines Friday’s Curlin Stakes At Saratoga

First Captain has stamped himself as a rising star through a perfect 3-for-3 record, and will try to keep winning ways intact when racing outside of Belmont Park for the first time in Friday's 12th running of the $120,000 Curlin for sophomores going nine furlongs at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The restricted stakes outing for 3-year-olds who have not won a stakes race over one mile in 2021 is named in honor of the 2007-08 Horse of the Year who became the first North American thoroughbred to reach the $10 million earnings mark. Through a record of 16-11-2-2, Curlin captured the 2007 Preakness, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Breeders' Cup Classic during his 3-year-old campaign before adding four more Grade 1 events to his ledger in the Dubai World Cup, Stephen Foster, Woodward, and Jockey Club Gold Cup the following year.

First Captain will look to become the second Curlin offspring to capture his sire's namesake race after Connect won in 2013. Since breaking his maiden at seven furlongs by three-quarters of a length over next-out winner Mahaamel in April at Belmont Park, First Captain scored once more against winners five weeks later over Big Sandy going a one-turn mile.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey entered First Captain for his first stakes test last out in the Grade 3 Dwyer on July 5 at Belmont Park, and he handled the class boost with flying colors, capturing the one-turn mile by 1 ¾ lengths.

“He is doing really well up here,” McGaughey said. “He lost his whole 2-year-old year so he's still behind, but he's trying to catch up. I think that his last race was good and he certainly likes this track here. I'm looking forward to it. We have been taking it one step at a time.”

First Captain is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Woodford Racing, and celebrity culinary artist Bobby Flay, the latter of whom also bred the chestnut colt.

Purchased for $1.5 million from the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale, First Captain is out of the graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed A.P. Indy broodmare America and hails from the prestigious line of blue hen mare Best in Show, whose descendants include Belmont Stakes winners Jazil and Rags to Riches as well as multiple Group 1-winning Irish champion distaffer Peeping Fawn.

Jockey Jose Ortiz, who guided 2019 Curlin victor Highest Honors, retains the mount from post 4.

Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Thoroughbreds' Collaborate seeks to live up to the hype he garnered following an astonishing 12 ½-length maiden romp on February 27 at a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The son of Into Mischief followed with a distant fifth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Florida Derby for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

After a significant cutback in distance when third to stablemate Moonlite Strike in the 6 ½-furlong Roar on May 15, Collaborate defeated winners in a one-mile allowance on June 20, both at Gulfstream Park.

“The Florida Derby was a bit disappointing; but it was probably a bit quick back also,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He ran third after that. We did a minor throat procedure on him and thought we saw the right horse last time going a mile again. I'm hoping to build on that. The Curlin will be a big test.”

Collaborate is out of the graded stakes-winning Quiet American mare Quiet Temper and was bought for $600,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will ride from post 6.

Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One is the lone Kentucky Derby alumni in the Curlin field and has not raced since finishing 18th in the 'Run for the Roses.'

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the son of Union Rags broke his maiden at fourth asking at nine furlongs on March 7 at Aqueduct.

“He got a good freshening after the Derby, and we've been thinking about the Curlin since then,” said Pletcher, who previously saddled Turbo Compressor [2011] and Outplay [2017] to Curlin scores. “He's trained accordingly, and we'll see if he can make a move forward. He and [Kentucky Oaks winner] Malathaat trained quite a bit together at Belmont and made good companions on a similar schedule.”

Dynamic One registered his final work for the Curlin on Friday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.20 over the Oklahoma training track.

“I thought he handled it fine,” Pletcher said of the breeze. “He's always been a good work horse and trained really well. He's still putting it all together. Hopefully, as he continues to mature, he will continue to improve.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from post 7.

Susan Quick and Christopher Feifarek's Beren arrives at the Curlin as the most seasoned horse in the field with ten starts and brings three consecutive stakes victories into the race for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.

The son of Weigelia, a previous track record holder at Belmont Park for six furlongs over the inner turf [1:07.04 on June 17, 2006], captured the Gold Fever and an off-the-turf edition of the Paradise Creek over Big Sandy before beating his Pennsylvania-bred counterparts in the Crowd Pleaser on June 22 at Parx Racing.

Reid, Jr. said Beren, who breezed a bullet half-mile in :46.60 seconds Friday over the Saratoga main track, could cross-enter in the $200,000 Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 going 6 ½ furlongs.

“We may end up cross-entering in the Amsterdam. He breezed awful fast the other day and I'm not sure that's conducive to going a mile and eighth the way he breezed. He came out of it great and hasn't missed an oat. He's doing very well,” Reid, Jr. said. “My inclination is to keep him around two turns, but the way he breezed the other day, it looks like he really handled the track well. He gives you options, that's for sure.”

Reid, Jr. did not rule out starting Beren on turf at some point.

“We wanted to try the turf with him too, but that one rained off,” Reid, Jr. said. “His father was the track record holder at Belmont at six furlongs on the turf. His mother, Silmaril, was a multiple-graded-stakes winner. He's very well bred and we have a lot of options. We'll see how he goes the next couple of days and make up our minds.”

Jockey Frankie Pennington retains the mount from post 5.

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset will saddle CHC and WinStar Farm's regally-bred Harvard, a full-brother to 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Classic Empire who is unbeaten in two starts around two turns.

After making the third time the charm in his two-turn debut in May at Indiana Grand, the son of Pioneerof the Nile bested winners in a nine-furlong allowance race on June 11 at Churchill Downs, which featured next-out winner Dack Janiel's.

Harvard will be ridden by Luis Saez from post 3.

Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's Miles D, a son of Curlin, makes his two-turn debut for trainer Chad Brown after a sharp one-turn mile maiden triumph on June 12 at Belmont Park. The bay colt made his first start since October, when fourth on debut finishing behind Speaker's Corner and stakes-winners Caddo River and Greatest Honour.

Breaking from post 1, Miles D will be ridden by Joel Rosario.

Completing the field is Juddmonte Farms' Snow House, who was previously third in the Grade 3 Dwyer. The bay son of Twirling Candy broke his maiden going a two-turn mile on April 21 at Keeneland Race Course before defeating winners around a one-turn mile on May 29 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox.

Snow House will break from post 2 under Manny Franco.

The Curlin is slated as Race 9 on Friday's 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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