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“We’re confident he’s going to run,” L & N Racing’s Track Phantom Headlines Louisiana Derby

Track Phantom was one of the last yearlings that the L and N Racing crew looked at ahead of the 2022 Keeneland September Sale. The Quality Road colt from the Taylor Made consignment stayed at the forefront of their minds and they took home the yearling, who was the second foal out of 2017 GII Raven Run S. winner Miss Sunset (Into Mischief), for $500,000.

“We just fell in love with him,” recalled Michael Levinson, the racing manager and one of the four partners that make up L &N Racing. “He was probably an inch or two on the shorter side, but we thought if he grows up a little bit, he had the scope and he looked fast. Obviously all those things kind of worked out, but you didn't know at the time that the Quality Road out of an Into Mischief mare who had won as a sprinter was going to be able to go two turns and do it pretty easily.”

Not only has he done it easily, but he's done it impressively enough to be the 3-1 morning-line favorite going into this weekend's GII Louisiana Derby. Trained by Steve Asmussen, two-time stakes winner Track Phantom is coming in off a narrow runner-up performance to Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the GII Risen Star. The speed-centric sophomore has drawn the widest post in Saturday's contest as 12 colts vie for points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby.

The L and N Racing partnership–which is comprised of Levinson, his father Lee, his brother Andy and their family friend Don Nelson–has made the trip for Track Phantom's last two races at Fair Grounds and the Tulsa-based group will be on hand once again for Saturday's contest.

“Everybody is really excited,” Levinson said. “We think we have a legit Derby contender. Obviously that could change Saturday, but we're confident he's going to run. Steve just sent me a video of him [Thursday] morning and he looks fantastic.”

Track Phantom battles Sierra Leone in the GII Risen Star | Hodges Photography

Levinson said that what has impressed him most about the flashy bay's career thus far is how he seems to improve in each of his starts.

Track Phantom was third in his debut last October at Churchill Downs and then a close second to fellow Louisiana Derby entrant Real Men Violin (Mendelssohn) a few weeks later. He took control early and won going away in his first try going two turns on Nov 25. From there it was on to the Fair Grounds, where he reeled off front-running wins in the Gun Runner S. and GIII Lecomte S.

His biggest competition came over a sloppy track in the GII Risen Star, where he again took the lead early but was nailed in the final strides by Sierra Leone, the $2.3 million Chad Brown trainee owned by the partnership of Coolmore, Brook Smith and Peter Brant.

Levinson didn't mind running second. He knew the track conditions were working against his colt.

“I was at the races all day and was noticing just how sticky the track had gotten,” he recalled. “From even two races before ours until the time of our race, the sun had gone down, it was cold, and I think the track was just really heavy. Everybody is saying the pace was slow, but I just think that track had gotten really, really slow there at the end. I think in the last six races, they all came from the back. But Track Phantom got out in front and he almost held on to win and got run down by the Derby favorite. That's nothing to be upset about. You want to win, but I thought his run was brilliant.”

Levinson added that he believes Track Phantom's front-running style sets him apart from many of the top colts pointing for the first Saturday in May.

“I think he's a special horse this year with the fact that if you look at a lot of the contenders, they all want to run from off the pace,” he explained. “He's really one of the only speed horses. Steve has always really liked this colt and he just seems to get better each race. The plan is to win the Louisiana Derby and then take a shot at the Kentucky Derby.”

L and N Racing has been to the Derby once before. In an instance of what some would call beginner's luck, Lookin at Lee (Lookin at Lucky) was the first horse their operation bought at public auction and he not only got to the Kentucky Derby in 2017, but overcame the dreaded one hole and put in a strong runner-up performance to Always Dreaming.

Seven years later, the partners in L and N Racing are far from amateur owners and they've had their share of bad luck as they now hope to get to their second Kentucky Derby. They understand not only how difficult it can be to find that Grade I-level horse, but also how quickly those dreams can come crashing down.

It was only a month ago that they lost their stable star Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). Campaigned in partnership with Winchell Thoroughbreds, the 2021 champion 2-year-old filly and four-time Grade I winner was training up for the Breeders' Cup last fall at Santa Anita when she suffered two broken left front sesamoids. Three months later, the talented 5-year-old sustained an injury in her stall and was euthanized.

Levinson leads future champion Echo Zulu into the winner's circle after her 2021 GI Spinaway S. victory | Sarah Andrew

“She is everything to us,” Levinson reflected. “I mean, she was a brilliant filly. I have a wall in my office of all of her graded stakes wins and those will be left up for as long as I'm alive. She deserved a better ending. It's just so tough and it's hard to put into words.”

Echo Zulu has left a lasting impact on every aspect of L and N Racing's operation, even when it comes to their buying strategies at the sale.

“We're up to about 50-50 between colts and fillies now,” Levinson reported. “God rest her soul, Echo Zulu made us more comfortable with the fillies and honestly she's probably the reason that we have Track Phantom right now. She was one of those horses that gives you the confidence to go out and make a financial risk on a horse like Track Phantom and some of the other ones we've bought.”

A growing number of partnerships is another aspect of L and N's strategy that has changed in recent years so that they can increase their budget at the sales.

“We'd rather buy quality over quantity at this point, so we're trying to limit what we're buying,” Levinson explained. “We really like to focus on pedigrees at the sale, buying graded stakes-type horses and if we happen to ever get lucky with one of them, hopefully they can make a stallion.”

At last year's Keeneland September Sale, L and N Racing came home with four yearlings, including a $500,000 Into Mischief half-brother to MSW Mr. Buff (Friend Or Foe). The Authentic filly who was the least expensive purchase among the quartet–bought for $300,000–recently received a big pedigree update when her brother Newgate (Into Mischief) won the GI Santa Anita H.

Hot Springs native and successful Oaklawn-based owner Jerry Caroom is a partner on that Authentic filly and is also in on Track Phantom. Track Phantom's ownership group also includes Clark Brewster, another Levinson family friend from Tulsa, and the colt's breeder, Breeze Easy LLC.

“The ownership group is a lot of fun,” said Levinson. “We're very close to all these people and we'd just love to see everybody at the Derby for the first Saturday in May and get to take a shot and see if we could win it.”

Levinson knows a lot can happen in the next six weeks, so for now he plans on enjoying every moment of the weekend and soaking in the highs of the sport as they come.

“We love the animals and we love everything about this sport, but it's a game where if you're not prepared for disappointment, you shouldn't be in it,” he said. “If you win one out of every ten times, you're doing okay. It's that 10 or 15% of the time when you do win that keeps you coming back.”

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The X-Ray Files, Season 2: David Scanlon

The X-Ray Files series, now in its second year and presented in cooperation with the Consignors and Breeders Association, uses conversations with buyers and sellers to contribute to the discussion on radiographic findings and their impact on sales and racetrack success.

Ocala horseman David Scanlon is not just a leading 2-year-old consignor, but he has also built an impressive list of training graduates for leading owners like Godolphin, Coolmore, Don Alberto, and Calumet Farm. In both capacities, Scanlon's operation is well represented on this year's GI Kentucky Derby trail. He was in charge of the early training of leading Derby contender Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and his Scanlon Training & Sales pinhooked GIII Gotham S. runner-up Just a Touch (Justify).

Whether he is training a horse for a client to race or one of his own destined for resale, Scanlon said they all start with the same training regimen.

“When we go through the breaking and basic training, pretty much everyone is on the same schedule,” Scanlon said. “Everybody goes through getting acquainted with the rider, getting ridden, from small round pens to paddocks, to big fields, to the racetrack. So that's usually our technique that we use and that's pretty much standard for all of our horses.”

Eventually the sales calendar forces the two groups to diverge in their training.

“With a lot of these racehorses, especially for my higher-end clients, these horses who are going to be late summer or Saratoga classic horses, we will plan their work schedules to start much later. Whereas, with the 2-year-olds, I will look at a sales date and then I start to work backwards from the breeze show dates. I want to start a couple of months away and say I am going to start my light schedules here and at this point, we need to be doing this with him and going this fast.”

Sierra Leone | Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges, Jr.

But plotting out a course for his pinhook prospects necessarily begins in the fall when Scanlon and his team are shopping at the yearling sales. Without the seemingly limitless budget of some of those high-end clients, he has learned what corners he can cut while still finding success the following spring in the sales ring.

“It's really hard to get everything for us,” Scanlon said. “The old saying, checking all the boxes, if they have a real high-end fancy pedigree, and they also have a great body and conformation, that's usually going to be hard for a pinhooker to buy. You are usually going to get beat by an end-user.”

Buying on a budget over the years has led Scanlon to accept certain conformational flaws, but always in the context of the entire horse.

“The one thing we always look for, say a horse's conformation isn't perfect, they may toe in, they may toe out or they are a little offset in the knees, you still want them to have a big, athletic walk and see how they walk through it,” Scanlon said. “Maybe we are going to buy a horse that is a little bit off-set in the knees, but he ends up walking through it really well. If I am looking at a horse and he is toed in, but he walks really well through it, I may forgive that horse. But if he comes at me and he has a lot of action in his walk–like a wing, as they say–that's not good. That horse may not be a good mover or a galloper, too. If they don't walk through it well, then they don't move as well.”

That winnowing process that pinhookers are forced to use at the yearling sales in the fall makes for outstanding offerings at the 2-year-old sales, according to Scanlon.

“Some of the best horse people I know have basically gone through and already short-listed horses,” he said of the pinhookers. “We look at thousands of yearlings all year and go ahead with what we've discovered as athletes. Year in and year out, you always see at the top of the standings, horses that the top 10 pinhookers have picked out. I don't think it's a coincidence that they are, every year, some of the best 2-year-olds in the country. It's our job and what we've done for a long time. We have done this so many times, we know what really works and what doesn't. Sometimes when you just have an open check book, maybe it means a little bit more to us, it's how we make our living. It's very important to know what works and what doesn't.”

Scanlon-trained colt by Constitution sells for $800,000 at last week's OBS March sale | Photos by Z

While innuendo and speculation continue to swirl around the 2-year-old sales, Scanlon said he thinks the sales companies have made impressive progress in regulating both the horses and their sellers.

“I think the sales companies are really doing a good job, especially in the last two years,” he said. “I don't think people are actually highlighting enough how far the sales companies have come with their medication rules. It was really a little more open a few years ago, but in the last two years, they have really tried to adopt rules that come along a little bit more in line with what HISA is trying to tell the racing public. Can you always do a little bit more? I am sure you can. And I think that is what they are working on. I do believe there is a lot of disclosure in the sale.

“With some of the stuff they've been talking about, like Clenbuterol, I just feel like that is something that doesn't have a place anymore. We don't even keep that on the farm anymore, for any use. It's one of those things that, with the way the world is now, it's just something we don't need to have around here knowing it's frowned upon and the penalties.”

Asked if there were any changes he would like to see, Scanlon said, “I think the sales companies not being so lenient on some of the guys who do have violations. Enough slaps on the wrist, if you have this many, that's it. You're not going to be able to sell. I do feel like some of the rules with people who have multiple violations will need to be more stringent in the future, just to give people a little more confidence going forward.”

And what advice would he give to potential buyers at the juvenile sales?

“I think the buyers need to educate themselves,” he said. “I think buyers need to realize, when they come to these sales, they need to do a little bit of homework, too, on the people they are doing business with. Spend some time, go through the results. To me, when you go ahead and open the TDN, or if you see guys who are selling multiple winners, guys who have been around for a long time and have sold a lot of winners, they have been established. Ask around and know who you are dealing with. Those are the kind of people I think you want to do business with. I'm not saying everybody doesn't deserve a shot to start a business, but some of these guys can be fly by night. You want to take your time with that.”

Despite the issues that still need to be confronted, Scanlon stressed it was important to appreciate the gains that have already been made.

“I think sometimes in this sport, we are facing a lot of challenges right now, but I don't think we always stop to look at how far we've actually come in the last few years,” he said. “I do think the 2-year-old sales companies are really trying to work together to improve the sport as far as medication and how it all comes together.”

To view the entire 2023 X-Ray Files series, click here.

The post The X-Ray Files, Season 2: David Scanlon appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Sierra Leone Favored in Derby Future Wager

Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), winner of the GII Risen Star S., was the 7-1 favorite when Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening. Last year's 2-year-old champion Fierceness (City of Light) was second choice at 9-1.

“All Other 3-Year-Olds” closed as the 11-1 third betting option. Japan's G3 Saudi Derby winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Reel Steel {Jpn}) (12-1); GII Rebel S. winner Timberlake (Into Mischief) (12-1); GII Fountain of the Youth S. winner Dornach (Good Magic) (13-1); GIII Gotham S. winner Deterministic (Liam's Map) (16-1); allowance winner Conquest Warrior (City of Light) (16-1); and GIII Southwest S. winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) (16-1) were next in the open betting pool.

In the lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which was conducted concurrently with the KDFW Pool 5, 'TDN Rising Star' Impel (Quality Road) closed as the 7-1 favorite over champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I (Justify), who was 8-1.

Betting on all future wagers over the three-day period was $458,269.

Total handle for the KDFW pool was $334,581 ($246,076 in the win pool and $85,506 in exactas). Betting on the Oaks Future Wager totaled $69,717 ($48,334 in the win pool and $21,384 in exactas). The Oaks/Derby Double, which requires bettors to correctly select the winners of both the races, handled $53,971.

Through the first four pools, a total of $1,676,353 has been bet on Derby future wagers, a 16% increase from last year's $1,444,099.

The year's sixth and final Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool runs from Apr. 4 through Apr. 6.

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Risen Star Winner Sierra Leone Made 5-1 Favorite In Pool 5 Of KY Derby Future Wager

GII Risen Star S. winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) was named the favorite for Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The 'TDN Rising Star' is the 5-1 morning-line choice in the pool that opens Friday, March 15, per a release from CDI. Other top interests in the pool include GII Rebel S. winner Timberlake (Into Mischief), GII Fountain of Youth S. victor Dornoch (Good Magic) and Eclipse champion 2-year-old Fierceness (City of Light).

The lone future wager for the GI Kentucky Oaks also begins Friday with 'TDN Rising Star' and Rachel Alexandra S. winner Tarifa (Bernardini) topping the list of fillies at 8-1.

The post Risen Star Winner Sierra Leone Made 5-1 Favorite In Pool 5 Of KY Derby Future Wager appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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