Simplification | Horse Racing Free Tips

Holy Bull: Simplification Should Appreciate More Distance, ‘Ratable’ Tiz The Bomb Returns To Dirt

Tami Bobo's Simplification stretched out to a mile for his stakes debut in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream, and the Antonio Sano-trained colt rolled to a four-length front-running victory without taking a deep breath.

The 3-year-old son of Not This Time broke his maiden at six furlongs by 16 ¾ lengths in 1:09.81 on the front end in his second career start, but his trainer was convinced that he wanted more ground after having a rough go of things in his next start at six furlongs. After breaking from the rail, he set a pressured early pace and finished third behind talented sprinter Of a Revolution, a prominent entrant in Saturday's $100,000 Claiborne Swale (G3).

“After the race before the Mucho Macho Man, I started training him for long races. I think that more distance is better for my horse,” Sano said. “I gave him open gallops to make him strong for the Mucho Macho Man, and after the Mucho Macho Man, I continued to do the same thing.”

Sano saddled Gunnevera for a second-place finish in the 2017 Holy Bull before his last-to-first 5 ¾-length victory in the Fountain of Youth (G2) in his next start.

“They are different horses. Gunnevera had only one pace and made one run,” Sano said. “This horse can relax or can go to the front. You can put the horse wherever you want him.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who rode the $5.5 million-earning Gunnevera in the Fountain of Youth, has the return call aboard Simplification for Saturday's Holy Bull.

Phoenix Thoroughbreds LTD's Tiz the Bomb has shown himself to be a talented colt on turf, but trainer Kenny McPeek isn't quite ready to classify him as a turf horse just yet.

The son of Hit It a Bomb is coming off a late-closing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Del Mar that followed a victory in the Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland, but he also broke his maiden on dirt in an off-the-turf race at Ellis Park by 14 ¼ lengths.

“I think a good horse can do that. He's out of a Tiznow mare and his sire's line is War Front. I don't think you have to pigeonhole him as a turf horse,” McPeek said. “The only reason he ran turf last fall was because we had some other 2-year-olds that were ready scheduled for races, and I wanted to keep them separated. This time it's his chance to show how good he is.”

McPeek expressed confidence in his colt's chances in the Holy Bull, the first graded stakes for 3-year-olds on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

“He's probably going to show a little more pace in this race and we're going to let him run free and do his thing. He's very ratable,” McPeek said. “When he broke his maiden at a mile at Ellis, he ran off and won by 14 lengths. I don't have that expectation for this race, but I do expect him to run good.”

Brian Hernandez Jr. will travel from Fair Grounds for the Holy Bull.

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Simplification Takes Bobo to Holy Bull

Florida horsewoman Tami Bobo has picked out a number of sales prospects that eventually became elite racehorses.

Speech (Mr. Speaker), a filly Bobo pinhooked as a weanling for $65,000 who later sold for $190,000 as a 2-year-old, won the 2020 GI Ashland S. Lazy Daisy (Paynter), just a $2,000 weanling, went to the Breeders' Cup in 2019. Both were preceded by Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), a colt Bobo purchased privately in 2010 when he RNA'd for $80,000. After breaking and training him herself, she stayed in for a small piece and celebrated as he went on to become a Grade I winner.

On Saturday, Bobo is looking forward to watching one of her weanling purchases race in her own silks as Simplification (Not This Time) steps up to graded stakes company in the GIII Holy Bull S.

“I've had a lot of really good horses, but I haven't stayed in all the way like I did with this colt,” explained Bobo, who has been involved in the Thoroughbred business for 11 years.

Bobo purchased Simplification privately from Tris and Valerie de Meric in August of the Florida-bred colt's yearling year.

“We bought him because Not This Time was doing well at the time and we thought it was a good opportunity to buy [a Not This Time],” Bobo recalled. “We took him to our farm to break him and he was a tough colt. In the round pen he was super fancy and very bold. Fernando, my significant other, said that with as tough as he was, he could be a real runner.”

As the 2-year-old sales approached, X-rays showed a touch of sesamoiditis. Bobo was not bothered by the findings but knew it would hurt him in the sales ring, so she decided to race him herself.

She sent Simplification to her primary trainer Antonio Sano at Gulfstream Park. Less than a month later, Sano was calling her and singing the colt's praises, proclaiming that this was one of the best horses he had ever trained and that she needed to be sure to make it to his first race. But when Simplification made his debut last October, he finished a disappointing fifth.”

“He didn't like the Tapeta surface at all,” Bobo explained. “It was one of those moments like, 'What just happened?' because Antonio had been raving about this horse.”

Simplification's four-length victory in the Mucho Macho Man S. | Ryan Thompson

When the colt returned to the starting gate 22 days later, this time on the dirt, he romped by 16 3/4 lengths.

“Antonio had said, 'Now that's the horse I train every day,'” Bobo recalled with a laugh.

At that point, offers starting coming in to purchase the promising colt, but Bobo went against her normal practice and decided to keep him to herself for the time being.

In his next start in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream, the race did not go as planned when Simplification reared in the starting gate and banged his head, but still held steady to finish third.

“When he came back, he was a disaster,” Bobo said. “There was blood everywhere. For him to still finish third, it truly solidified that this horse was full of heart.”

In his 3-year-old debut stretching out to a mile against open company in the Mucho Macho Man S., Simplification took the lead early and won by an authoritative four lengths.

“The experience this horse gave us that day was unbelievable,” Bobo said. “You never know if you will ever get there and now that this horse has done what he's done, he doesn't owe me anything. He truly doesn't owe me a dollar going forward. My thought is that hopefully he stays sound, but he has already given me the thrill of a lifetime and we're blessed to own him.”

Simplification will face a field of eight rivals in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. including likely-favored GII Remsen S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), Kenny McPeek's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Tiz the Bomb (Hit It A Bomb) as well as Giant Game (Giant's Causeway), who ran third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Asked if she would still consider offers for the colt after Saturday, Bob responded, “I enjoy having him, but I'm a business person. If the time comes that it makes sense I'll probably entertain it at some point, but right now we just need to focus and see what we have after this weekend.”

Such difficult choices must be made in this business, a fact Bobo has learned many times over throughout her time in the industry. Bobo started out training 2-year-olds, but has now centered her focus on pinhooking weanlings to yearlings through her First Finds division and yearling to 2-year-olds through her Secure Investments division.

“We buy weanlings and sell as yearlings,” she explained. “The ones that don't get sold will go on and hopefully sell as 2-year-olds. If they don't sell, we will usually race them. However, if we have a horse whose sire maybe cools off or isn't as fashionable as it was six months ago, or if they have a little bump on an X-ray, it doesn't always make sense to sell them.”

She continued, “With Simplification, I wasn't in a position where I had to sell him, thank God. Looking at the big picture now, I didn't pay a lot for him, but it was a significant price at the time based on his sire's stud fee. Then going into the 2-year-old sales with

the sesamoiditis, I don't know that I'd have even gotten back what I paid for him. Knowing the colt and having worked with him at the farm, we weren't afraid to race him.”

With the 2-year-old sales fast approaching, Bobo says she has 43 pinhooks preparing to go through the ring.

“The de Merics are training 34 2-year-olds for me this year and Randy Bradshaw was brought on board this year as well,” she noted. “I have a few other people with horses here and there.”

Perhaps even more exciting for Bobo, she said they have put a large investment into this year's weanling to yearling pinhook operation. First Finds purchased a dozen weanlings at the Keeneland November Sale alone, including a $235,000 Medaglia d'Oro colt out of Canadian champion female sprinter River Maid (Where's the Ring) and a $200,000 Catalina Cruiser colt who has since become the half-brother to 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings), winner of this year's UAE 1000 Guineas Trial at Meydan.

“We were really blessed with that Catalina Cruiser colt,” Bobo said. “We have a total of 28 weanling this year to pinhook. It keeps it fun and keeps it exciting.”

With a busy sales season ahead, Bobo is first looking forward to what will surely be a memorable weekend at Gulfstream.

“I am so excited to be going,” she said. “I love this business and am so blessed to do what I love everyday. To be blessed with a horse like this is what it's all about.”

The post Simplification Takes Bobo to Holy Bull appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Equibase Analysis: Galt, Simplification Most Likely Upsetters In Holy Bull Field

This Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes is the first of three significant stakes races for newly turned 3-year-olds in South Florida. Nine have signed on for this race and the best of them will likely run four weeks from now in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, hoping to go on to the Florida Derby in April and then onto the Kentucky Derby.

Leading the field in accomplishments is Mo Donegal, last seen two months ago when victorious in the G2 Remsen Stakes. Simplification is another stakes winner, having captured the Mucho Macho Man Stakes easily by four lengths on New Year's Day. Tiz the Bomb finished fast from 12th to get second when last seen in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and won his only previous dirt route by a whopping 14 lengths. Cajun's Magic returns from more than four months on the bench following a win in the FTBOA Florida Sire Dr. Fager Stakes then runner-up finishes in two other stakes races restricted to horses bred in Florida. Giant Game finished third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on the same day Tiz the Bomb ran in the Juvenile Turf and appears to fit with these, as does G2 Kentucky Jockey Club third place finisher White Abarrio. Then there's a pair of recent impressive maiden winners in Spin Wheel and Galt, the former having rallied from last of 12 to win by a nose and the latter having drawn off easily by four lengths when last seen. Eloquist rounds out the field. He finished a well-beaten fifth in the Remsen and then last of six in an allowance race last month at Gulfstream Park.

Main Win Contenders:

Although Galt just earned his first win in his most recent start, the third of his career, he will be my top pick, and a strong one at that, in this year's Holy Bull Stakes. There are many reasons to think this son of Medaglia d'Oro can win, the first of which is that he is trained by Bill Mott, who has an uncanny ability to know when his recently turned 3-year-olds are the right caliber to compete in Road to the Derby stakes races. When taking blinkers off and running in a dirt route for the first time on Dec. 26, Galt ran tremendously better than he had in his two prior starts. Drawing the same rail position he gets for the Holy Bull, Galt saved ground then came around a pair of runners to rally into a very slow pace in the stretch before drawing off decisively.

Admittedly, the 84 Equibase® Speed Figure isn't nearly as fast as the 93 figure likely favorite Mo Donegal earned last December winning the Remsen Stakes, but it was a big improvement off his previous two races. As he's making his second start following 2 1/2 months off, Galt is going to move up considerably off the effort. Back to Mott's record 3-year-olds early in the year coming off maiden wins and running in stakes races, the Hall-of-Fame trainer saddled Tacitus to win the 2019 Tampa Bay Derby off a maiden win, saddled Modernist to win the 2020 Risen Star Stakes off a maiden win, saddled Candy Man Rocket to win the 2021 Sam F. Davis Stakes off a maiden win, and saddled Hofburg to a runner-up finish in the 2018 Florida Derby.

Another reason I expect Galt to run very well in a graded stakes race is he is a full brother to two-time Champion Songbird, winner of $4.6 million and nine consecutive graded stakes around two turns in her three year old campaign. As the reason for the big turnaround in form on Dec. 26 is easily identifiable (blinkers off) and as he won without Lasix so racing without the medication is not an issue here, I expect Galt to post the mild upset and throw his name in the ring as a strong contender on the Road to the Derby, staring in the Holy Bull Stakes.

However, in order to win, Galt is going to have to run down Simplification, who enters the race off a wire-to-wire win in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes on New Year's Day with a field high 98 figure. Two races before that, Simplification won a six furlong sprint by a whopping 16 and three-quarter lengths with a 99 figure. Javier Castellano rode the colt to his last win and will be in the saddle again in the Holy Bull. I have no concern about the fact that Simplification is trying two-turns for the first time as (per Race Lens) relatively new sire Not This Time has had six of 18 of his sons or daughters win two-turn races to date, including recent Lecomte Stakes runner-up Epicenter, who had won the Gun Runner Stakes prior to that. As such, Simplification has a big chance to get out on an easy lead and get very brave just as he did last month in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes, and no matter how successful Galt might be in closing into a slow pace as he was in his victory at the end of December, it may be too tall of an order in this situation.

Although most of the others have credentials to be competitive, with the exception of Eloquist, who is overmatched, they are all giving away some physical edge to Galt and Simplification. For example, Mo Donegal has been away from the races since Dec. 4, and a Race Lens query reveals trainer Todd Pletcher possesses a four for 30 record with 3-year-olds in dirt route stakes over the last five years coming back from such a layoff. The same can be said for Tiz the Bomb, who needed a sprint prep race last spring before winning a route.

The rest of the field, all who have the ability to compete effectively in this race, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Cajun's Magic (94), Giant Game (90), Eloquist (74), Mo Donegal (93), Spin Wheel (86), Tiz the Bomb (109 on turf) and White Abarrio (94).

Win Contenders, with an equal probability to win at about 33 percent (2 to 1)
Galt
Simplification

Holy Bull Stakes – Grade 3
Race 11 at Gulfstream Park
Saturday, February 5 – Post Time 5:10 PM E.T.
One and One Sixteenth Miles
Three Year Olds
Purse: $250,000

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Simplification Controls Mucho Macho Man On Front End

Ten weeks after turning heads with a powerful maiden victory over the same track, Tami Bobo's Simplification made an ever bigger statement in his stakes debut with a front-running triumph in Saturday's $150,000 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 11^th running of the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, the first step on Gulfstream's road to the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby April 2, headlined five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds worth $550,000 in purses on the New Year's Day holiday program.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano for trainer Antonio Sano, Simplification ($10.40) was in control from the outset in his fourth career start. The bay son of Not This Time, who drew several offers following his 16 ¾-length graduation Oct. 23, was stretching out beyond six furlongs for the first time.

“I told everyone, these are good horses but I thought the more distance would be better for my horse,” Sano said. “When the horse ran six furlongs for the first time, he won easy, but that was a maiden special weight.

“The next race the horse was not ready. He did not work every day because [we had] the option to sell the horse,” he added. “The horse was not sold. I told the owner, we'll enter January 1^st for one mile. Castellano worked the horse. He's a special horse, a very good horse. I'm glad we ran the horse.”

Simplification broke alertly from Post 3 and dragged Castellano to the lead, where he was unmoved through a quarter-mile in 23.70 seconds and a half in 45.81, as Skippylongstocking and Mr Rum Runner alternated in second and third with 4-5 favorite Strike Hard rating along the rail in fourth.

Castellano and Simplification hit the top of the stretch full of run, while Strike Hard tipped out and split Skippylongstocking and Mr Rum Runner to mount a challenge. Castellano shook the reins and Simplification took off again, completing the distance in 1:35.04 over a fast main track to win by four lengths.

It was the second stakes win of the day for Castellano, the Championship Meet's only five-time leading rider, who also captured the Mucho Macho Man's companion race, the $100,000 Cash Run for 3-year-old fillies going one mile, aboard Kathleen O.

“Beautiful. That's what I was looking for today. It's exactly how I handicapped the race. I watched his replays and I worked the horse, and he's got speed but at the same time he is able to relax,” Castellano said. “We didn't expect to be on the lead, because we were trying to stretch out the horse and let him develop a good foundation, but he took it in the nice way. I didn't want to take away anything that comes easy, and he was straightforward.

“He was happy and satisfied on the lead, galloping along, and when I asked him he took off and re-broke at the quarter pole. I liked the way he did it,” he added. “I felt like he did it very easy, in a nice way. I didn't see the fractions, but he did a very comfortable, relaxed pace. I liked the way he galloped out. I don't think he'll have any problem stretching out. He's well-bred and has a good foundation. Fingers crossed.”

Strike Hard was a decisive second, 7 ¼ lengths ahead of Mr Rum Runner. They were followed by Graphic Detail, 41-1 long shot Sport Pepper, and Skippylongstocking.

Castellano considered remaining in New York for the winter before making his annual sojourn to Gulfstream, won the Mucho Macho man for the fourth time. He previously won with Mask (2018), Sonic Mule (2017) and Bluegrass Singer (2015).

“I think that's the type of horse, that's why the reason I'm here in South Florida, to help develop the new generation of 3-year-olds,” he said. “I'm very lucky and very fortunate to find this horse.”

The $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 5 and $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 5, both going 1 1/16 miles, are the next steps on the road to the Florida Derby. Sano said he already has Simplification's next start picked out.

“Right now we're going on to the Holy Bull,” he said. “I think it's perfect.”

The post Simplification Controls Mucho Macho Man On Front End appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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