Sid Fernando | Horse Racing Free Tips

Taking Stock: Gun Runner Flexes Candy Ride/Storm Cat Nick

Two sons of Candy Ride (Arg)–Gun Runner and Twirling Candy–were represented by three 2-year-old Grade l winners over the weekend, and do you know one thing they had in common? Each was produced by a Storm Cat-line mare. This affinity for the Storm Cat line was also an important feature of Candy Ride's own success, and breeders appear to be copying that formula with his sons. It's not surprising; it's something that usually happens when a stallion is successful with the females of another sire line, and this type of repetition of a successful pattern is what's known as a nick–something that's been around as long as people have been breeding racehorses.

Three Chimneys's Gun Runner, whose first crop is two, was represented by two of the top-level winners: Gl Hopeful winner Gunite, from black-type winner Simple Surprise, a daughter of Cowboy Cal (by Giant's Causeway, a son of Storm Cat); and Gl Spinaway winner Echo Zulu, out of Gll winner Letgomyecho, by Menifee (by Harlan, a son of Storm Cat).

Lane's End's Twirling Candy, the best and most proven son of Candy Ride to date, is the sire of Gl Del Mar Futurity winner Pinehurst, who's from unplaced Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway. Note that Twirling Candy's current Gl Preakness winner Rombauer is bred similarly. Rombauer's dam is by Cowboy Cal, who as noted above is by Giant's Causeway.

Giant's Causeway is also the broodmare sire of Gun Runner, making Gun Runner a product of the same Candy Ride/Storm Cat nick as his Grade l winners. However, when Gun Runner is bred to mares with either Giant's Causeway or Storm Cat in their pedigrees, a duplication to one or the other takes place. Essentially, breeders who send Storm Cat-line mares to Gun Runner are copying the pattern that produced him and are consciously inbreeding as well to Storm Cat, one of the great modern stallions, or to his best racing and sire son Giant's Causeway, if a mare by the latter or one of his sons is used.

Gunite is inbred 3×3 to Giant's Causeway, and Echo Zulu is 4×4 to Storm Cat.

Gun Runner's wins included the Breeders' Cup Classic during his 2017 Horse of the Year campaign | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

For Gun Runner, getting two Grade l-winning 2-year-olds in the first crop is a big deal, and this achievement marks the Horse of the Year, who was best at four and five, as something special. It's natural to expect that his offspring should continue to get better with age, giving him a high ceiling to anticipate.

But there's more to Gun Runner already. He also has two Grade ll winners, and their dam's pedigrees also contain Storm Cat. Pappacap, winner of the Gll Best Pal, is from a Glll-placed daughter of Scat Daddy (Johannesburg/Hennessy/Storm Cat), making him 4×5 to Storm Cat; and Wicked Halo, who won the Gll Adirondack, is out of the Tapit mare Just Wicked, who also won the Adirondack. Just Wicked's dam, black-type winner Wicked Deed, is by Harlan's Holiday (Harlan), and Wicked Halo, therefore, is 4×5 to Storm Cat.

Three of these four–Gunite, Echo Zulu, and Wicked Halo–are raced by Winchell Thoroughbreds, which raced Gun Runner in partnership with Three Chimneys. Winchell also raced Tapit, and it's no surprise that Wicked Halo is a homebred from a mare by their standout Gainesway sire. Winchell bred Gunite and bought Echo Zulu, a half-sister to Gl winner Echo Town (Speightstown) and Glll winner J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), for $300,000 as a Keeneland September yearling.

Steve Asmussen trained Gun Runner, and he trains the Winchell trio.

Sire Clusters

First off, let me say that by speaking of the stallions in a pedigree, I'm not diminishing the importance of physical attributes nor the contributions of the female family, which is as important. The dam of Echo Zulu, for example, was already an accomplished black-type producer before her Gun Runner filly won at the highest level.

And Gun Runner, an attractive and refined 16.2-hand specimen, himself is a product of a great female line that stretches back for generations full of high-class runners. Closer up, Gun Runner is from Grade ll winner Quiet Giant–a half-sister to Horse of the Year Saint Liam and fellow Three Chimneys stallion and Grade l winner Funtastic.

However, stallions have exponentially more foals than mares, and sire patterns–not just nicks, or sire-line crosses, as they are also known, but also clusters of favorable sires–are more easily discernible in pedigrees.

Lane's End stalwart Candy Ride | Lane's End

Candy Ride is a Fappiano-line stallion from an unusual path (Ride the Rails/ Cryptoclearance/ Fappiano), and he's had success with other lines aside from Storm Cat, such as with A.P. Indy and Fappiano himself through other, more familiar branches.

Gun Runner, for example, is bred on the Candy Ride/Storm Cat sire-line cross, but his dam also has Fappiano in her pedigree, making Gun Runner 4×4 to Fappiano. Therefore, in his case, the cluster of Storm Cat and Fappiano form a favorable basis.

Current 3-year-old Candy Ride Grade l winner Rock Your World is from an Empire Maker (Unbridled/Fappiano) mare whose dam is by Giant's Causeway; therefore, he's also 4×4 to Fappiano with Storm Cat present in the pedigree though Giant's Causeway.

Grade l winner Mastery, a son of Candy Ride at Claiborne with first-crop 2-year-olds, is from a mare by Old Trieste (A.P. Indy) whose dam is by Storm Cat.

The aforementioned Gun Runner 2-year-old Grade l winner Gunite is from a Cowboy Cal (Giant's Causeway) mare and the next dam is by Pulpit (A.P. Indy).

And the Gun Runner filly Wicked Halo, noted earlier from the Tapit (Pulpit/A.P. Indy) mare, not only has Storm Cat in the pedigree but also Fappiano through Tapit's broodmare sire Unbridled, making her 5x5x5 to Fappiano in addition to 4×5 Storm Cat. She's got a three-strong sire cluster of Storm Cat, Fappiano, and A.P. Indy girding her pedigree.

Candy Ride Stallions

Earlier this summer, I wrote about the investment in Candy Ride stallions that stud farms in Kentucky and in regional areas have made. One of the stallions mentioned is Unified, who has his first 2-year-olds racing this year. The Lane's End-based sire is represented so far by two black-type winners, Roger McQueen and Behave Virginia. The former is out of a Storm Cat-line mare and has Fappiano in the dam's pedigree (5×4 Fappiano); the latter is from a Mineshaft (A.P. Indy) mare and also has Fappiano in the dam's pedigree (5×4 Fappiano).

I also wrote about the once-raced Candy Ride stallion Valiant Minister at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. Valiant Minister is the sire of Outfoxed, a filly who won the restricted $200,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Susan's Girl S. at the end of last month and looks like a future open company stakes winner. Though her sire stands for $3,000, she was a $360,000 OBS April 2-year-old. Her broodmare sire? It's former Florida stallion Kantharos (Lion Heart/Tale of the Cat/Storm Cat), who is a Storm Cat-line horse.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Taking Stock: A Weekend to Remember

Everything that top-class racing should be was on display over the last weekend. The six Grade l races at Saratoga on Saturday featured most of the leading horses in each division except older dirt males, and as a group they didn't disappoint, did they? Nor did their trainers. One race after another was dramatically decided at or close to the wire, and some of the runners-ups, including the Steve Asmussen-trained Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the Gl Runhappy Travers S. and the Todd Pletcher-conditioned Life is Good (Into Mischief) in the Gl H. Allen Jerkens, gained quite a bit of admiration in defeat.

Most of the winners made championship claims that will eventually be decided at the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar at year's end. Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), a multiple Grade l winner at two last year and also trained by Asmussen, defeated Life is Good by a neck in the Jerkens and continues to show that he's one of the fastest and most consistent 3-year-old sprinters in North America, with a particular penchant for Saratoga. The colt is bred on the phenomenally successful Distorted Humor/A.P. Indy cross and covered seven furlongs in 1:21.39, which was faster than Gamine (Into Mischief)'s 1:21.61 in the Gl Ballerina and Yaupon (Uncle Mo)'s 1:21.74 in the Gl Forego. The Jerkens was Jackie's Warrior's fourth win from as many starts at the Spa, all in graded races, and he, along with fellow 3-year-old Grade l-winning sprinter Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music)–fourth in the Jerkens–is a terrific advertisement for his sire at Hill 'n' Dale.

Maclean's Music, a Stonestreet homebred son of Distorted Humor, was brilliantly fast in his lone start before an injury sent him to stud. He began his career for $6,500 and improbably burst on the scene with first-crop Gl Preakness S. winner Cloud Computing, who is also bred on the same cross as Jackie's Warrior. Cloud Computing stands at Spendthrift, which is where Jackie's Warrior is headed at the conclusion of his racing career.

Asmussen's barn is loaded with quality sprinters. He also trains 4-year-old Yaupon and the exciting but late-developing 3-year-old Stonestreet homebred Beau Liam (Liam's Map), who is now three-for-three after a six-length drubbing of older runners in an AOC at Saratoga on Sunday, running 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.05. Stonestreet, by the way, is also the breeder of Midnight Bourbon, and the outfit seems to come up with quality runners year after year at an incredibly prolific clip.

Yaupon had to survive a bitter stretch duel against Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) in the Forego to prevail by a head, after being repeatedly savaged by his opponent. Ironically, Firenze Fire had been on the receiving end of some savaging in the stretch of the Glll Gallant Bob S. at Parx three years ago, where he won by a neck. Perhaps that's how he picked up the extreme tactic when he felt he might not win, because he certainly wasn't around in 1997 to see a frustrated Mike Tyson bite off a part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a heavyweight fight.

Yaupon, who will also go to Spendthrift, is another high-quality sprinter for Coolmore America-based Uncle Mo after Golden Pal. Uncle Mo can get a wide variety of runners on dirt and turf, and his first-crop Gl Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is one of three sons, along with Outwork and the late Laoban, to have a quick impact at stud, making Yaupon a desirable stallion prospect.

The Bob Baffert-trained Gamine, last year's champion female sprinter, continues to win, and she continues to fuel speculation on social media that she's not sound, because she drifts out in her races.

Degrees of soundness are relative matters, and anyone who's been around horses knows that most racehorses, like most human athletes, are always battling something or other day to day. Sound or not– and some greats, like Forego, were chronically unsound–Gamine has been outstanding throughout her career and is a winner of nine of 10 starts. Her brilliant displays of front-running speed and class are what makes her Spendthrift-based superstar sire Into Mischief the most sought-after stallion in the business.

Speaking of speed, how about Letruska (Super Saver), the best older mare in training? She set a sizzling early pace and then found another gear late to win the Gl Personal Ensign. She looked like she was going to get swallowed by the closers after the others that had pressed her early wilted in the stretch, but she showed that will to win that makes champions. And she's made of hickory, too–no soundness issues here. Plus, she never ducks a race, and her trainer, Fausto Gutierrez, has been one of the pleasant revelations of the season. He can train horses with the best of them.

The same can be said of Brad Cox. He trains Essential Quality (Tapit), who does only what he has to do to win, over and over again. His workmanlike style might not be glamorous, but his resume showing eight wins from nine starts sure is, and he's now added the Travers to his Gl Belmont S. And remember, he's already a champion, having won an Eclipse Award last year at two, and he appears well on his way to another championship this year.

On the west coast on Sunday, in the Listed Shared Belief S., Gl Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) reappeared for the first time since his third-place finish in the Preakness, and once again showed that he's as game as they come, leading throughout to deny some salty colts a chance to get him off the long layoff. Bob Baffert, his trainer, was all smiles afterward and looked like he'd won a race of the stature of the Derby. He was probably relieved that he'd thrown his colt into the deep end and succeeded, and in some way it was probably an “eff you” moment for him, something of a vindication for what he and the colt's connections have faced since it was discovered that Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone in the aftermath of the Louisville Classic. That's what it seemed like, anyway.

And it's worth noting that Medina Spirit finished ahead of Essential Quality in the Derby, setting up an anticipated match against that rival and the older horses in the Gl Breeders' Cup Classic.

Another part of racing

Unfortunately, the weekend also showcased a side of racing that is and always will be a part of the game: injuries and death. Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), the popular 8-year-old gelding and the reigning sprint champ, was hurt in the Forego after a fifth-place finish and vanned off. This warrior, who usually races in bar shoes to protect his feet, was apparently in good enough shape for the Forego that his trainer Ron Moquett had taken the special shoes off. Whitmore has since been retired and will be alright to pursue a second career.

Not so for America's Joy, the 3-year-old filly by American Pharoah from blue hen Leslie's Lady who'd cost Mandy Pope $8.2 million as a Keeneland September yearling two years ago. The half-sister to the aforementioned Into Mischief, champion Beholder, and Grade l winner Mendelssohn was the most expensive North American yearling of 2019–quite a contrast to the $1,000 that Medina Spirit made the same year at OBS.

Pope, who is particularly attached to her horses, took her time to get the filly to the races and had sent her to Todd Pletcher only a few months ago to put the finishing touches on her. America's Joy had had a string of workouts at Belmont and Saratoga and registered perhaps her best one on Sunday, going a half-mile in :47.80 from the gate. Pletcher has said that he was planning on entering her in a maiden race on Labor Day.

WTC bloodstock editor Frances J. Karon was trackside for the workout and captured the accompanying photo–perhaps the last taken of the filly–shortly before her fatal injury.

It's a poignant reminder for all of us that the highs of this great game can go south quickly.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Taking Stock: Postcard from the Spa

The contrast between NYRA's Saratoga and the Churchill Downs, Inc.-owned Arlington couldn't be greater. While the latter died an ignominious death over the weekend, punctuated by Arlington president Tony Petrillo outrageously booting deadline photographers and writers, including this publication's Alan Carasso, from the press box 90 minutes after the completion of the race formerly known as the Gl Arlington Million, Saratoga–or the Spa, as it's known–is flourishing under solid management. The upstate New York track has been welcoming fans at full capacity since it opened for the season after the pandemic kept them out last year.

I was (literally) at the Spa last week with my wife, Cynthia Colt. Saratoga is a place for top-class racing and is known for its select sale, but if you're a visitor, there's lots to do. Yes, we had a great time at the races and at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling sale, not to mention several restaurants in and around town. But we also visited the Gideon Putnam's Roosevelt Baths & Spa, for example, where you can soak for 40 minutes in deep bathtubs filled with warm Saratoga mineral water so saturated with salt that your body will feel weightless in it. The rooms are dark, soothing meditative music is piped in, and the overall experience is one heck of a tonic for the body and mind.

Perhaps our spa rejuvenation added to our appreciation for the total Saratoga experience, but there were no surly Tony Petrillos from NYRA management to spoil the visit, either.

Matter of fact, just the opposite; direct from Saratoga's press box, NYRA communications manager Keith McCalmont and his fiancée Bailey Gallison, who works production for NYRA's broadcasting programs, had us over one night for a barbeque at their quaint rental on Lincoln Avenue. If you can wrangle an invitation, do so. We had grilled steaks, vegetables, and corn, a meal as good as any we had on our visit, which also included a pretty good one downtown on the back patio of the Adelphi Hotel on Broadway next door to the more celebrated Salt & Char steakhouse–also a part of the Adelphi.

The Adelphi is co-owned by Larry Roth of LNJ Foxwoods, a prominent stable shared with Roth's wife Nanci and daughter Jaime that's done quite a bit in its short existence since 2012. Among other stakes winners of note, LNJ Foxwoods owned part of 2019 Gl Kentucky Derby winner Country House (Lookin At Lucky) and campaigned the brilliantly fast Eclipse Award winner Covfefe (Into Mischief), who was the champion 3-year-old filly and champion female sprinter of 2019.

We dined at the Adelphi after a Sunday of racing, and it was the place to be seen and noted. In fact, we saw Jaime Roth and some friends breeze through the patio next to our table as if they were late for their next destination. Roth is one of the more active and outspoken owners on Twitter, and she doesn't hide or mince her liberal leanings–Covfefe is named after a Donald Trump gaffe–making her somewhat of an anomaly as a member of the staid The Jockey Club, which has more than a few right-wingers on its bench, including two older women who don't hide their politics on Twitter, either. Good on the TJC, however, for recruiting for membership a young person fairly new to the game and without the typical views and gender. That's progress, right?

Speaking of being politically outspoken, trainer Graham Motion, who's been repeatedly admonished by the Twitterati to “stick to racing,” was at the Adelphi, and I stopped him as he walked by our table with Eclipse Throughbreds' Aron Wellman. I've been a longtime admirer of Motion, both for his skills as a Derby-winning trainer and for his convictions, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him. Motion greeted us warmly, and he looked the part of a cool customer, too, a tall, lanky figure casually attired in an untucked long-sleeved dress shirt and jeans, a contrast to Wellman, who was buttoned up in a dark business suit.

Wellman was dressed as he was because earlier that day Eclipse, a successful racing partnership comprised of many owners, had won the Glll Saratoga Oaks Invitational with Texas-bred Con Lima (Commissioner). Trained by Todd Pletcher, who'd been inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame a few days earlier, Con Lima is also owned by several other partners in addition to the Eclipse partners, and it looked like they'd all descended into a private area at the far end of the patio for a victory get-together that Wellman appeared to be hosting. We saw a bunch of racing personalities headed there, including Johnny Velazquez, the legendary Angel Cordero Jr., and NYRA reporter/analyst Acacia Courtney.

Barry Weisbord, the former publisher of this publication, said he wasn't headed to the Eclipse gathering, as I greeted him walking in that direction. I told Cynthia that we'd probably see celebrity chef Bobby Flay soon, as Weisbord and Flay are good friends and are frequently in the same orbit when in the same town, and presto, there came Flay on cue from the opposite direction.

I don't know what Flay thinks of the food at the Adelphi, but the small Duxbury oysters were excellent, as was the crème brulee. The filet mignon was a fine cut and it was good, but it was served a tad overdone. Cynthia, a vegetarian, had the ravioli with sweet pea filling and a watermelon, heirloom tomato, and asparagus salad that she enjoyed. And both of us thought the specialty cocktail called Equinox, a mixture of tequila, habanero-hibiscus syrup, grapefruit, and lime, was excellent.

Fasig-Tipton Sale

Flay had a good sale at Fasig-Tipton. We'd arrived at the sales grounds in time to see his Uncle Mo son from Dame Dorothy hit the million-dollar mark, and from there the bids moved up until West Bloodstock, as agent for Robert and Lawana Low, secured the colt for $1.6 million–a price that would make him the second-highest yearling at the sale behind the $2.6 million that M.V. Magnier of Coolmore paid for the Into Mischief colt out of Paola Queen.

The nighttime atmosphere at the sale was electric, and for Cynthia, who isn't a sales goer, it had a carnival-like feel to it, with the auctioneers barking, bid spotters gesturing, and bidders discreetly messaging their intents. Fasig president Boyd Browning strolled around the grounds like the master of ceremonies, greeting buyers and sellers alike with a smile.

With long hair and a cowboy hat, I wasn't instantly recognizable to most of the people I knew. Claiborne's Walker Hancock walked straight past me without a blink of recognition, but his consigliere, Bernie Sams, did see me. “Get a haircut,” he said, as he briefly shook my hand and scurried by.

Bob Baffert, wearing a trademark crisp white shirt and pressed jeans, was with his wife and son and looked hard before recognizing me, and then he blurted that I looked like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. We spoke of his situation briefly, and he informed me that “I've got a lot of support from a lot of people.”

As we turned away from Baffert, I was greeted by the outstretched hand of Lane's End's bloodstock advisor/agent David Ingordo and his wife, trainer Cherie DeVaux. Ingordo is one of the sharpest judges of bloodstock in the game, and he's an overall smart guy who can discuss a variety of subjects intelligently. He's assisting with his wife's string at Saratoga, and the next morning he gave us a tour of their barn, which is stacked with fillies and mares by Ingordo's design. While there's a frenzy among buyers at auctions for colts that can potentially become stallions, Ingordo plays the reverse game, buying fillies. His strategy–a good one–is to get them graded black type and then sell, and judging by what I saw, it's succeeding.

Who else did we see at the sale or the track? Trainer Wesley Ward, looking trim, greeted us warmly but briefly before heading to the back ring to bid on a horse. Lesley Campion of consignor Paramount said they were having a good sale, which included the sale of an American Pharoah filly from Funfair for $700,000. Donato Lanni, who buys for Baffert and the group known as “The Avengers” among other high-profile clients, stopped to say hello. Lanni, Ingordo, Kerry Cauthen of Four Star, and WTC bloodstock editor Frances J. Karon were “graduates” of the same “class” at Walmac under the guidance of that legendary cowboy Johnny T. L. Jones Jr., whose approach to teaching young people in the business how to succeed was probably more colorful than the techniques being taught nowadays at Darley's elite Flying Start program.

The day after the sale, I did Steve Byk's “At the Races” radio show live from his setup next to the shoeshine stand outside the racing office at the track. Byk is as sharp as a tack, and it's always a pleasure to do the show live with him, particularly so this year as we'd missed the 2020 season. Plus, he always attracts some interesting and likeable guests, such as Jimmy Ventura, handicapper Michael Beychok, Oaklawn and Kentucky Downs's Rick Hammerle, and Capital OTB's Seth Merrow. I also got a chance to finally meet the excellent journalist Mike MacAdam, who I'd known only from interactions on Twitter.

MacAdam duly noted my “scorched-earth exit” from Twitter, a turn-of-phrase that only someone with his talent could conjure to hit the mark squarely between the eyes.

Another highlight of the trip was meeting an extremely polite woman at the hotel elevator who could have taught Arlington's Tony Petrillo a lesson or two in manners. “Good afternoon, sir,” she said. We struck up a pleasant conversation, and when she said she was from Ocala, I asked her if she was in the racing business. “Yes, sir. I'm Todd Pletcher's mother, and he just got inducted in the Hall of Fame,” she said with parental pride. I asked her to give my congratulations to her son, and she promised she would.

And that's the rough sketch of how the week went down. Saratoga, it was great seeing you.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Taking Stock: Amr Zedan Has Arrived

Three of the first four finishers in the Gl Kentucky Derby were owned by Middle Eastern entities. The beaten favorite in fourth, Essential Quality (Tapit), races for the global Godolphin operation of UAE's Sheikh Mohammed, whose recently deceased brother Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell had won the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks a day earlier with Malathaat (Curlin). The Derby runner-up, Mandaloun (Into Mischief), flies the famous green and pink silks of Juddmonte, whose longtime owner, Saudi businessman Prince Khalid Abdullah, passed away earlier this year but whose future rests with his eldest son, Prince Fahd, who now runs his late father's business empire, The Mawarid Group of Companies. The winner of the Classic, the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico), is owned by a relative newcomer on the scene, Zedan Racing, the stable of Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, who cut a dash in Louisville. He made an unexpectedly refreshing speech that was both eloquently candid and humble while accepting the trophy.

We're not used to hearing many Middle Eastern owners speak in the winner's circle these days, except for Amer Abdulaziz of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, and he seems to be in a bit of trouble. When Godolphin or Shadwell wins a big race over here, their respective surrogates Jimmy Bell and Rick Nichols utter a few words on behalf of their patrons. Likewise, Juddmonte's U.S. representative Garrett O'Rourke spoke for Khalid Abdullah and presumably would have done the same on behalf of his son had Mandaloun caught Medina Spirit in the Derby, but you get the idea.

Moreover, the region and some of its principals have taken an international PR beating lately and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, has had his once-promising reputation irreparably sullied by being implicated in the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. On the racing front, the Saudis have handled the Maximum Security (New Year's Day) affair atrociously–has this colt been disqualified or not, 14 months later?–and its proceedings on the matter have been cloaked in secrecy to the consternation of many, including the colt's owners, the Coolmore partners and Gary and Mary West. The Wests, of course, bred and own Concert Tour (Street Sense), one of Baffert's big guns and a possible rival to Medina Spirit in the GI PreaknessS.

You have to go back to the 2002 Derby to find a comparable to Amr Zedan–and to Medina Spirit, for that matter. That year, Baffert trained winner War Emblem (Our Emblem) for The Thoroughbred Corp. of Saudi businessman Prince Ahmed bin Salman, a gregarious, self-deprecating, and enthusiastic owner who was accessible like Amr Zedan and gave Middle Eastern ownership a pulse that resonated here. Baffert and Ahmed bin Salman got along great and the record seven-time Derby-winning trainer seems to have a similarly jocular relationship with Zedan. And remember this? War Emblem, a dark bay colt like Medina Spirit who also was by an unproven sire, led wire-to-wire to win the Derby at generous odds, 20-1–even longer than the 12-1 of the Zedan frontrunner in the Classic.

Ahmed bin Salman, who wore an ever-present smile under his trademark black mustache, was the first Arab owner to win the Derby. War Emblem also won the Preakness. The year before, Ahmed bin Salman had won the Preakness and GI Belmont S. with Point Given, giving him a sweep of all three U.S. Classics in a short but illustrious tenure as an owner. Like Amr Zedan, Ahmed bin Salman was educated in the U.S. and the Kentucky Derby had been a longtime goal. He was 43 when he won the Classic, a few months before he tragically died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia.

Based in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Jordan, Amr Zedan is 46 and has the swashbuckling looks of an old-time movie star to him, replete with mustache and slicked-back hair. He was born in California, where his parents attended USC, and later moved back to Saudi Arabia before returning to the U.S. to attend college, first at Texas A&M and then later at the University of Stockton in California, from where he graduated. “You can tell from my accent that I'm somewhat American,” Zedan said via phone on Monday, shortly after he'd returned to the Middle East on a 10-hour flight, tired but satisfied.

Baffert calls him a “super cool guy,” and he looks like he lives the life of one in his Instagram posts. He's married to Princess Noor bint Asem of Jordan, plays polo with gusto on a team he owns in Dubai, is a philanthropist, and runs his family's Zedan Group, an energy-focused collection of companies of which he's the chairman.

I asked Zedan how he'd been so composed when speaking during the trophy presentation. “Well, I was very emotional in the box. I lost my voice, because I was really cheering and all that. I was actually with my brother-in-law and I was almost on my knees. I was just thanking God, because if you've ever doubted that there's a higher being, whatever you believe in–in my case it's God–it's that moment when you realize everything needs to be aligned, and it's only by that divine power that you have this. You just get blessed, and everything comes to fruition. So, I was emotional, but the moment I walked out [of the box], I just called my dad and said, 'Dad, we did it,' and he said, as I was walking to the winner's circle across the track, 'Son, congratulations. Let's be humble about this. Get yourself together.'”

Getting Together with Baffert

Much has already been written about Amr Zedan's chance encounter with Baffert at the Dubai airport when Zedan was on his way to Jordan and Baffert was on a layover en route to Saudi Arabia to saddle Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man)–owned by Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Khaled–and McKinzie (Street Sense) in the inaugural Saudi Cup last year. That informal meeting laid the groundwork for what was to follow with the extraordinary purchases of subsequent Grade I winners Princess Noor (Not This Time), his wife's namesake, and Medina Spirit, but Zedan said he'd met Baffert several times earlier as well when he was first getting into the game, which he originally did with an ownership interest in California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) when the colt was under Taylor Made management, and later with a foray into auction buying with brothers Dennis and Doug O'Neill.

Zedan had taken a position in California Chrome just weeks before the horse won the 2016 G1 Dubai World Cup and that had spoiled him, he said. “The investment made sense and it gave me the opportunity to check out the sport and come at a high-entry level. Obviously, he won, and that was good and bad. You get the taste of success, but you think any horse you buy can become an automatic Grade I winner. Little did you know that it takes a lot of money, sweat, and rigorous activities to find that diamond in the rough, and that took me basically some time to achieve.”

Relatively speaking, it didn't take that long, because here he is five years later with a Kentucky Derby winner that cost him $35,000 at last year's OBS July sale, although he did pay a sale-topping $1.35 million for Princess Noor a month earlier at the pandemic-delayed OBS Spring sale. But between California Chrome and now, he did have some busts with the O'Neills, including the purchase of a $710,000 Orb colt at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in May of 2017. Named Alfareed, that colt has since been gelded and earned less than Medina Spirit cost.

Zedan stressed, however, that there's no bad blood between him and the O'Neills, who were rooting for their colt Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in the adjacent box as vigorously as Zedan and his people were for their colt. After the race, Dennis O'Neill was as gracious as Zedan, tweeting: “Congratulations to Amr Zedan!!! Super classy man and great to see him win the big race.”

During the period with the O'Neills, Zedan first met Baffert on a trip to Del Mar. “We just said hello, et cetera, and that was an opportunity just to get acquainted. And then right after that, we bumped into each other at the Dubai World Cup. So, we just had a small chat and we exchanged numbers. And then, after that, I called Bob and said, 'I'm thinking of coming back into the sport, and I really want to do it with you.' You know, Bob is just an amazing guy. And I don't mean to blow smoke up his rear end, but Bob is all heart, and people who don't know him don't know this. He is a good, good, good man, and that's something I'd like for you to quote. He is someone who will surprise you as to how he will take your best interests to heart. So, we hit it off very well, and then, by coincidence, we bumped into each other at the airport again.”

And no doubt by now you're familiar with the rest of the story about how this partnership that started 15 months ago resulted in the Derby win on Saturday.

Baffert had advised Amr Zedan to get an agent, and Zedan picked ace clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young by word of mouth from jockey Victor Espinoza, who Zedan had gotten to know. Espinoza was the rider of War Emblem and California Chrome, not to mention American Pharoah. Young, who fills the role of racing manager for Zedan Racing, was, of course, pivotal in the acquisitions of both Princess Noor, a standout breezer, and Medina Spirit, though both horses had been originally mentioned to Zedan by Chilean Oussama Aboughazale, who'd bred Princess Noor and stands Protonico (Giant's Causeway), the sire of Medina Spirit.

Aboughazale owns Haras Sumaya in Chile and a farm in Kentucky, and his family is a major shareholder in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc., which is reportedly the third-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. He is of Middle Eastern descent and treats Zedan as a son, Zedan said. “I'm 46, he's about 76, 77. He's a good guy. He doesn't have kids, so he treats me very close to being a son. The correlation or the relation between Princess Noor and Medina Spirit was a complete and utter coincidence. In fact, Oussama called me about Princess Noor, told me he bred her and she's supposed to be nice, but he told me to be careful. There's that very close relationship in terms of friendship, and he said, 'Don't go crazy.'”

It was Baffert, however, that pushed Zedan, who was in the Middle East during the sale, to go to $1.35 million for Princess Noor when the bidding got well past the $750,000 target price that Zedan had set. “The price is now $1.2 million, and Bob says, 'Get her.' Then we hit $1.3 million, so Bob texts me and says he will make her worth this much. If you have Bob Baffert in your corner and he's saying that, you just do it. So I say, 'Gary, just get her. Don't leave without her.' Boom, boom, we got her, and you know the rest of the story.”

What neither Baffert, Zedan, and Young knew at the time was that they'd get an even better one a month later for a fraction of that price, and that colt has now signaled the arrival of Amr Zedan, whose transparency and accessibility is a refreshing revelation for observers.

The post Taking Stock: Amr Zedan Has Arrived appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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