Slammed | Horse Racing Free Tips

Good Magic Filly Takes King to ‘Top End of the Game’ at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga

Last fall, his homebred filly Slammed (Marking) took Brad King to the Breeders' Cup, and in just over a week, another filly will bring the Texan to Saratoga for the first time when he offers a yearling daughter of red-hot sire Good Magic as hip 32 with the Legacy Bloodstock consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“We've pinhooked off and on for probably 10-15 years,” King said. “But this is our first one that we are taking up there. When we bought her, that was the plan the whole time, we were trying to look for a young stallion that would be on the upper end and we just got really lucky with Good Magic. She has the pedigree to get in up there, for sure.”

The filly is out of graded stakes winner Devious Intent (Dixie Union), who is a half-sister to millionaire Pioneer Spirit (Malibu Moon). King purchased the bay for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale.

“We like to pick horses that are really powerful and there is a lot of substance to them,” King said of the weanling's appeal. “The horses that we keep and run are the same way. That's just kind of what we do. When we saw her as a foal, we were like that's the kind that we want right there.”

Of the filly's six-figure price tag, King admitted, “We did stretch a little bit last year. We had had a good year at the races and we had a good sale year last year.”

Since purchasing the filly last November, her sire has been hitting on all cylinders on the racetrack. In addition to GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Good Magic has also been represented recently by stakes winners Scotland, How Did He Do That, Reincarnate, and Miss New York, as well as 'TDN Rising Star' and $2-million OBS March graduate Muth.

“That part couldn't have worked out any better,” King said of the sire's hot streak. “Every weekend there are three new wins. They just keep coming. And that's just dumb luck there. That's what a lot of this game is, you've just got to get lucky every now and then.”

King has been happy with what he has seen from the filly over the winter.

“Luckily, she has basically kept the same great shape and just grown up,” he said. “For a Good Magic, she is big enough. They are not the biggest horses, but she is definitely big enough.”

King traditionally has plenty of company when his horses make it to the winner's circle, owning most of his runners in partnerships.

“I love it when they come in and have instant success because then they are in the business forever,” he said.

But hip 32 is a rare one that King owns all on his own.

“Usually, I have partners on all of my horses,” he explained. “I just didn't have anybody who was really asking to get in, so we just bought that one ourselves. The only reason she is going to the sale is because we do own her by ourselves. If we had owned her as a group, we probably would have just kept her and run her. But I definitely don't need to own her by myself.”

King, who is the owner of Clear Vu Auto Glass in Lubbock, Texas, followed his father into the racing game.

“When Texas got pari-mutuel racing in the mid-80s, my dad got in it here in Texas,” King recalled. “We bought a few mares at that time. We had never owned a horse before that. I was probably 14 or 15 at that time. And I got immersed into it quickly from that point.”

From a limited stable, King has enjoyed plenty of success recently on the racetrack. In addition to Slammed, who earned her way into the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint with a win in the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. last fall at Keeneland, he is also co-owner of Flying Connection (Nyquist), who took her owners to the GI Kentucky Oaks this year thanks to a win in the Sunland Oaks; and Olivia Twist (Mshawish), who was third in the GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn in April.

“We have probably eight to 10 in training,” King said. “We are a small stable for sure. And I've got about 15 mares between Kentucky and New Mexico.”

The broodmare band includes Hennesey Smash (Roll Hennessy Roll), dam of Slammed, as well as stakes winner and graded placed Smash Ticket (Midnight Lute) and multiple stakes winner Roll on Diabolical (Diabolical). The 14-year-old mare produced a colt by City of Light this year and was bred back to superstar Flightline.

Smash Ticket joined the band this year and was bred to Jackie's Warrior.

The recently retired Slammed, meanwhile, will be offered at auction this November.

“At the end of the day, you have to treat it like a business,” King said of the decision to sell the graded stakes winner. “And that's probably the smart thing to do. I don't have any mares who are worth what she is. And it's not just her–then you have to breed her the way she needs to be bred and it's just a three-year process of that much more [in] stud fees and all of that. And some of the partners that are in her are not into the breeding that much. I have a sister to her and we still have her dam.”

Asked if the trip Slammed took him and his partners on last year made him eager to increase his stable's numbers, King said, “It gives you a taste for the top end of the game, that's for sure. And you definitely strive to stay at that. With Slammed, it was extra special just because she was a homebred and New Mexico-bred and I had had her her whole life. I had her dam and her granddam. So it was extra special because we had had the family for so long.”

Bringing a yearling to Fasig-Tipton's boutique Saratoga sale can offer King that same racetrack experience in the sales ring.

“You know you are playing at the top end of the game when you make it to Saratoga, that's for sure,” King said.

He added, “Going up there to the sale will be the first time I've ever been to Saratoga. I've been to nearly all of the other tracks, but not to that one, so that will be fun. We were in Del Mar for a week last week. And I thought, you can get used to going to Del Mar for a week and Saratoga for a week. That's the life.”

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale will be held Aug. 7 and 8 with bidding beginning each day at 6:30 p.m.

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Senor Buscador Gears Up for Dirt Mile

Joe Peacock, Jr.'s Senor Buscador (Mineshaft), who earned a berth in the field for next Saturday's GI BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile via his mild upset in the GIII Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs Oct. 1, tuned up for that engagement with a 'solid' five-furlong work in the company of his GII Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-bound stable companion Sheriff Brown (Curlin) beneath jockey Francisco Arrieta at Keeneland Thursday morning.

“We got what we wanted,” trainer Todd Fincher said. “Senor Buscador started about six lengths back and got to the target a little faster and caught up by the three-eighths. He waited a bit not wanting to go by too fast and really started working at the quarter pole.”

Fincher surmised that Senor Buscador, who finished three lengths clear of his company, covered his final three furlongs from the eighth pole to the three-quarter pole in :34 and change.

“Sheriff Brown is better with a target, but he was the hunted today,” said Fincher, whose GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint contestant Slammed (Marking) is set to breeze Friday morning.

Also on the Thursday morning tab was Hot Peppers (Khozan), who went five furlongs on her own in 1:02.20 in :12.60, :24.80, :38 and out three-quarters in 1:16. Family Way (Uncle Mo), pre-entered for the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, went five-eighths in 1:00.80, the fastest of seven at the distance Thursday morning.

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The Dams Connected to Todd Fincher’s Breeders’ Cup

by J.N. Campbell

If you didn't know the name of New Mexico's Todd Fincher, you do now. The past few weeks solidified it. “My phone's just blown up,” he admitted.

In the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. at Keeneland on Oct. 8, the trainer's 4-year-old filly Slammed (Marking) set the pace early. Never looking back, she torched a solid field by more than a half dozen lengths. Once supplemented for $200,000, she will race on the same track in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 5.

That was Fincher's second trip to the heart of the Bluegrass, and his first victory at Keeneland. It gave him a pair of tickets to next month's international event. His 4-year-old colt, Senor Buscador (Mineshaft), won the GIII Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1, and will compete on the same day as his filly in the GI Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile.

But there is more to this story.

Flash back to 2013, when Fincher was facing a predicament. Two of his top mares were headed for the same race. There wasn't any way around it; he had to enter both. Keeping them apart had worked until then, but time had run out.

The elder was the short-priced favorite, Rose's Desert (Desert God), then a 5-year-old mare owned by Joe Peacock Sr. She would face her stablemate, Barbara Coleman's 4-year-old filly Hennesey Smash (Roll Hennesey Roll) in the Peppers Pride H. at Sunland Park.

Fincher said he had no idea how it was going to shake out, except that, he said, “It was going to be a showdown.” He was right.

From the bell, Hennesey Smash snatched the lead, forcing Rose's Desert to fan to the outside before the first call. Down the backstretch, Fincher's younger entry clung to the rail in control, but it looked like her more experienced rival was gaining. By the top of the lane, though, it was clear that Coleman's mare had much more left in the tank. The upset was on, all the way to the wire.

Ironically, Slammed and Senor Buscador are out of Hennesey Smash (MSW, $252,006, winner of seven of her eight career starts) and Rose's Desert (MSW, $626,035, winner of 10 of her 15 career starts), respectively. Maybe it's more prophetic. Since he took out his trainer's license 25 years ago, it's one of those full-circle moments, as both dams are connected to his Breeders' Cup berths.

Fincher was born in Denver, Colorado to a family of horsemen. They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1985.

“I weighed 100 lbs. and was about 5'1″ in middle school,” Fincher said with a chuckle. After he graduated from high school, he became a professional jockey in his home state, amassing $2,138,839 in earnings over some 4,100 starts. He got too big for the saddle by 1997, and the following year, he turned to training.

Despite a stellar record in New Mexico, Fincher surprised some people by ending up this October in the winner's circle with Senor Buscador and Slammed. The conditioner's success wasn't happenstance; instead, it was built on breaking and building up young runners to race. What Fincher calls, “my program,” which doesn't include claiming, is based 100% on patience. It isn't easy.

“The approach I have is slow and methodical and to let the horses dictate everything because they'll tell you when it's time,” he said.

With a crack staff, he helps choose those yearlings and 2-year-olds for his trusted clients, and then trains many of them to use early speed to an overwhelming effect. If owners decide to transfer to another barn to run elsewhere, Fincher takes pride that they were given a firm foundation.

A recent case in point, Smash Ticket (Midnight Lute), who is owned partly by Coleman, was moved to Rob Atras's barn over the summer. The half-sister to Slammed recently won the Weather Vane S. at Pimlico. Fincher said he was pleased.

“The right choices early in a horse's career mean everything, as far as I am concerned, so we start them out on the right foot,” he explained.

Managing equine form during training also requires a steady dose of forbearance. Back in early 2021, when Senor Buscador sustained an injury along the Derby trail after the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds, Fincher and owner Joey Peacock Jr., did everything in their power to give the budding star a chance to recuperate.

“There was nothing easy about that time up until this past summer, and it was supremely frustrating to see him have a couple of major setbacks, but he is the best he can be, right now.”

Fincher continues to forge strong bonds with clients. After the GIII Rancho Bernardo H. at Del Mar in August, he sold his share in Slammed to Barbara Coleman.

“She and her husband, who has now passed, sent me a number of really good horses over the years, and me and Brad King bought Hennesey Smash from her when she got out of the breeding and racing business, so it was the right thing to do,” Fincher said.

He might have missed out on the filly's future earnings, but he said he doesn't see it that way.

“I'm a trainer,” he said. “I have to pay the bills, so ownership isn't at the forefront of my mind.”

What is on Fincher's mind? Getting his filly and colt ready for the biggest races of their lives, and probably his own. As for Rose's Desert, she is currently in-foal to Authentic, while Hennesey Smash visited City of Light. The next generation of New Mexico-breds are coming.

In the meantime, another showdown looms. Luckily for Todd Fincher, Slammed and Senor Buscador don't have to race one another.

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The Week in Review: Small-Circuit State-Breds Spark Underdog BC Appeal

The Breeders' Cup is always a bit more interesting when underdog horses from smaller circuits are in the mix, and both Slammed (Marking) and Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) have the potential to bring outsized attention to their respective breeding programs in New Mexico and Iowa when they run in the Nov. 4 and 5 championships.

In the entire history of the Breeders' Cup dating to 1984–out of a pool of 4,344 horses–those two states have accounted for just one state-bred starter each.

Slammed will represent New Mexico, and you could say that she arguably has the better chance in her race, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. After breaking out at Del Mar this summer, she's more proven at the national level, and she also owns a recent sharp win over the Keeneland surface, having earned a Breeders' Cup berth with an Oct. 8 GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. victory.

But figuratively, Slammed has to outrun the oddball specter that lingers from the only other Land of Enchantment-bred to give the Breeders' Cup a go: Ricks Natural Star, whose start in the GI Turf in 1996 rates as one of the most captivatingly bizarre happenstances in the history of the series.

As Andrew Beyer wrote in his Washington Post preview of that year's championships, “On a morning when the world's best horses were entered for Saturday's Breeders' Cup, the main object of attention at Woodbine Racetrack was a hopeless 7-year-old from New Mexico…. In the view of many at Woodbine, [Ricks Natural Star] is making a mockery of the sport's biggest event. To others, this quixotic venture epitomizes the romance of the game.”

When the gelding's offbeat owner and trainer, William Livingston, took out a loan and submitted a surprise $40,000 entry to enter his one and only racehorse against the planet's top turfers, Breeders' Cup officials were both appalled and perplexed. This was the era prior to the current stricter qualifying standards and more enlightened veterinary oversight, and to say the entry was off their radar would have been an understatement: Ricks Natural Star hadn't raced in over a year and hadn't won a race in three years, since besting $3,500 claimers on the dirt at Sunland Park.

Livingston, a veterinarian from New Mexico who claimed to treat everything from “parakeets to elephants,” had only gotten his training license just prior to the Breeders' Cup, and he told the media that he had conditioned Ricks Natural Star by driving alongside him on a ranch in a pickup truck.

Livingston then drove the gelding to Canada in a one-horse trailer, keeping his Turf entrant in a makeshift pen in the parking lots of motels when he stopped for the night. Informed by Breeders' Cup officials along the way that Ricks Natural Star lacked a required published workout that would preclude him from starting, Livingston made a side trip to Remington Park in Oklahoma so the gelding could stretch his legs in a leisurely six furlongs in 1:21.46.

There were border-crossing difficulties getting into Canada and Livingston arrived without proper tack and equipment, yet he delighted in showing off Ricks Natural Star, even allowing onlookers to climb atop the gelding's back for photo opportunities. This was the Breeders' Cup that would feature the mighty Cigar's final race (he'd finish third in the GI Classic), but all of the pre-event attention was riveted on Ricks Natural Star, with Livingston insisting he would win the Turf.

Local jockey Lisa McFarland was recruited (or perhaps drew the short straw) from the local riding colony to pilot Ricks Natural Star, and if her strategy was just to let him run freely then get out of the way of everyone else, she executed it with precision. Far underlaid in the betting at 56-1, the popular gelding forced the pace for a half-mile then was eased back through the field, distanced well behind winner Pilsudski (Ire).

Ricks Natural Star made one more start a couple months later in New Mexico for a $7,500 tag (sixth, with the chart caller's comment “showed nothing”), but was claimed out of that race by new connections solely for the purpose of retiring him.

Conversely, the unbeaten 2-year-old Iowa-bred Tyler's Tribe, who has never been headed while winning five dirt races by an aggregate 59 3/4 lengths, is on target for the GI Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Tyler's Tribe will bring a little more “undefeated appeal” into his Breeders' Cup appearance (his connections are opting for first-time turf rather than stretching out to two turns against what looms as a deep GI Juvenile field on dirt). But his Iowa roots don't come with any oddball back story like his New Mexico counterpart. The only previous Iowa-bred in the Breeders' Cup was Topper T (Bellamy Road), who ran eighth in the 2018 GI Juvenile.

End Zone Athletics Hits 200 Wins

With a pair of victories at Remington on Saturday night, End Zone Athletics, the stable name for horses owned by trainer Karl Broberg, quietly hit the 200-victory mark for the year–again.

End Zone, which operates at numerous tracks throughout the South and Midwest, is well on its way to leading the continent for wins as an owner, as it has every year since 2016.

Save for the pandemic-altered 2020, when Broberg's outfit won “only” 165 races, End Zone has now cracked the 200-win mark every season since 2017.

Even more impressively, consider for perspective that during that entire time frame, only one other owner has reached 200 victories in a single season (Loooch Racing Stables in 2018).

In the North American trainer standings, Broberg is currently second on the year for victories. He was the continent's winningest trainer by that metric between 2014-19, and was second in wins in 2013, 2020 and 2021.

No Walk in the Park for 'Beverly'

Beverly Park (Munnings) came a neck shy of winning his 12th race of the year on Saturday at Keeneland. But the third-place effort might have been gutsier than any of the 11 victories racked up so far this year by North America's winningest horse for 2022.

Facing $20,000 starter-allowance company for the second straight time after feasting primarily on $5,000 starter-allowance foes during the earlier part of the season, the 5-year-old forced the issue under jockey Rafael Bejarano while widest in a four-way speed duel, put away those three rivals by the quarter pole, led until the eighth pole, then couldn't withstand a pick-up-the-pieces late rally from a fresh closer.

Beverly Park, who races for owner/trainer Norman Lynn Cash (Built Wright Stables), still has a three-victory cushion over his next closest competitor, Exit Right (Effinex), who ran sixth and last in a $5,000 starter/optional claimer at Delaware Park on Friday.

No North American Thoroughbred has won more than 12 races in an entire calendar year since 2011.

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