Speightstown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Charlatan to Stand for $50K

Multiple Grade I winner Charlatan (Speightstown–Authenticity, by Quiet American) will stand the 2022 breeding season for a fee of $50,000 live foal stands and nurses, Hill 'n' Dale Farm announced Wednesday. Named a 'TDN Rising Star' after a tour-de-force debut victory, Charlatan went on to capture the GI Arkansas Derby and GI Runhappy Malibu S. before finishing second in the $20-million Saudi Cup in his career finale.

“I have been looking forward to having this horse,” said John Sikura, owner of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. “He is a brilliant physical specimen. He is by the right horse in Speightstown, and he has all the right horses in his pedigree. I think this is the most highly credentialed horse we've brought to the farm in terms of performance, pedigree, and speed; all those elements we feel are requisites of very important horses. Curlin was a very important horse–a great racehorse and Horse of the Year–but this brilliance is hard to find. Succinctly, Charlatan has everything I value in a stallion in spades.”

Bred by Stonestreet Stables, Charlatan was a $700,000 Keeneland September buy. Owned by the partnership of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Frederick Hertrich III, John D. Fielding and Golconda Stables and trained by Bob Baffert, he retired with a record of 5-4-1-0 and earnings of $4,047,200.

The post Charlatan to Stand for $50K appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Bloodlines: Lexitonian The Latest Long-Term Dividend For Speightstown

When leading sire Tapit doesn't have a major performer in a graded stakes, he is figuring as the broodmare sire of a major performer in a graded stakes. Or, the great gray son of Pulpit sometimes has both.

On July 31 at Saratoga, for instance, last year's champion juvenile colt and this year's Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality (by Tapit) won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy as his prep for the G1 Travers, and on the same card, Lexitonian (Speightstown) won the G1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and is out of the Tapit mare Riviera Romper.

A winner at two, Riviera Romper was bred and raced by My Meadowview Farm, then sold to Calumet Farm for $310,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale when carrying Lexitonian.

The Vanderbilt winner is the mare's first foal and only winner from three other named foals of racing age, including the 2-year-old Miss Raison (Raison d'Etat). The latter split the field of nine at Arlington Park on her debut in a maiden special on July 17. Riviera Romper has a yearling colt by 2015 Travers Stakes winner Keen Ice (Curlin) and a foal of 2021 who is a full sister to Lexitonian.

Their sire Speightstown is the last remaining important son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Gone West still at stud, and among all the good sons of Gone West, only Juddmonte's classic-winning Zafonic would be a competitor with Speightstown to rank as the very best of them.

It has not always been this way.

As a yearling, Speightstown was a beauty, and well I remember his presence and charisma from the 1999 Keeneland July sale, when Speightstown was such a sensation that the gleaming chestnut brought $2 million from Eugene Melnyk out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment.

The great-looking yearling developed into one of the quickest juveniles for trainer Todd Pletcher, then started as the favorite for his debut at Saratoga in August 2000. And Speightstown finished dead last of 13, having “raced greenly and tired.”

The horse returned almost six months later and won a maiden special at Gulfstream, then lost an allowance but jumped into graded stakes for the G3 Gotham and finished seventh. For trainer Phil England, Speightstown won three straight allowances at Woodbine, then went to Saratoga for the G2 Amsterdam. There, Speightstown and favored City Zip flamed broiled each other, with Speightstown getting the calls for the quarter in :21.69 and the half in :44.86. City Zip had his head in front at the stretch call and pulled away slightly to win by a length, but it had taken the two front runners :26.17 to finish the final quarter-mile.

Speightstown didn't race again in 2001. Nor did he race in 2002. Twenty-one months and six days after the Amsterdam, Speightstown returned to racing at Belmont Park and won a seven-furlong allowance by a neck. The second horse was Volponi, whose previous start had been a victory in the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic at Arlington.

The colt's next start was the Jaipur Stakes at Belmont and resulted in another head and head battle, this time with the very fast Holy Bull son Garnered, who won by 1 ¼ lengths. It was nearly a replay of the Amsterdam, and after a quarter in :21.64 and a half in :43.91, the two leaders took :39.58 to cover the final three furlongs.

After the Jaipur, Speightstown didn't race for 10 months and a day. For many an owner, this would have been too much. A $2 million-dollar colt who had made 10 starts in four seasons of racing and who had shown a very high level of speed but had trouble staying healthy seems like a proposition that many would have bailed on.

When Pletcher brought the striking chestnut back to the races in 2004 at age six, however, Speightstown showed that he was worth the wait. The horse swept victoriously through his first four starts – the Artax, G2 Churchill Downs Handicap, G2 True North Handicap, and G2 Vanderbilt Handicap – and in the latter was the odds-on favorite and set a new track record of 1:08.04.

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Upset as the odds-on favorite in the G1 Vosburgh, Speightstown came back in the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Lone Star Park in Texas on Oct. 30, 2004. The horse rated in fourth as Abbondanza and Cuvee slugged out the early furlongs, then came on in the stretch to win by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:08.11.

That G1 victory put the seal on a championship season for Speightstown, who entered stud the following year, and with the combined might of WinStar and Taylor Made farms behind him, Speightstown has risen to uncommon heights. The stallion's first crop contained 15 stakes winners, including Reynaldothewizard (G1 Golden Shaheen), Haynesfield (G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup), Lord Shanakill (G1 Prix Jean Prat), Jersey Town (G1 Cigar Mile), and Mona de Momma (G1 Distaff Stakes).

Despite being a horse of high speed, Speightstown prospered with maturity, and many of his best offspring likewise have shown improved form as they matured. That has not always made him the most popular commercial horse, but his stock have the speed if owners have the time. To date, Speightstown has 121 stakes winners (10 percent to foals of racing age).

The stallion's most successful son at stud to date is Munnings, a G2 winner from that illustrious first crop, and Calumet's latest G1 winner will doubtless be given opportunities at stud, both by his breeder and by commercial breeders who appreciate speed and pedigree.

The post Bloodlines: Lexitonian The Latest Long-Term Dividend For Speightstown appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Souper Stonehenge Super Again In Vigil At Woodbine

For the second time in two races, Souper Stonehenge got the better of Pink Lloyd, taking the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto, Ontario. Souper Stonehenge had ended Pink Lloyd's run of consecutive victories in the Jacques Cartier in their last meeting and got the better of the Sovereign Award-winning sprinter again Sunday.

Trained by Mark Casse, Souper Stonehenge took the lead early in the six-furlong sprint, striding out to lead by a length over Green Light Go and Not So Quiet, with Pink Lloyd sitting back in fifth. Around the race's only turn, Pink Lloyd got shuffled back to last as Green Light Go tired, Rafael Hernandez taking the 9-year-old gelding between horses as they entered the stretch. Souper Stonehenge maintained an easy lead throughout, but Patrick Husbands saw that advantage shrinking as Pink Lloyd made his run down the center of the track.

Souper Stonehenge's lead was too much for four-time Vigil winner Pink Lloyd, though, as the Live Oak gelding was three-quarters of a length in front at the wire. The final time for the G3 Vigil was 1:09.52. Not So Quiet was third, with Cash Dividend, Embolden, and Green Light Go rounding out the order of finish.

Find this race's chart here.

Souper Stonehenge paid $2.70, $2.10, and $2.10. Pink Lloyd paid $2.70 and $2.10. Not So Quiet paid $2.80 to show.

Bred in Florida by owner Live Oak Plantation, Souper Stonehenge is a 5-year-old gelding by Speightstown out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Onepointhreecarats. With his win in the G3 Vigil, Souper Stonehenge 2-1-1 in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 16 starts and career earnings of $343,705.

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Lexitonian Gets 102 Beyer Speed Figure For Vanderbilt Upset

It took five years and 19 races, but Lexitonian notched a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure for the first time when he registered his first career Grade 1 victory by topping Special Reserve by a half-length to win Saturday's $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., garnering a 102 number.

The Jack Sisterson trainee came close previously to attaining Grade 1-winner status when finishing second by a head to Flagstaff in a highly competitive edition of the seven-furlong Grade 1 Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day May 1.

After running last-of-sixth and being eased in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan on Belmont Stakes Day June 5, Lexitonian cut back to six furlongs in the Vanderbilt and shined, dueling Special Reserve in the stretch before edging clear, improving his career record to 5-2-2 with earnings at $687,682.

“I was just sitting outside his stall watching him this morning and he looks great and energetic,” Sisterson said. “He came out of the race in great shape. I was really proud of his effort because from a past performance standpoint, he might be a little untrustworthy at times with a good race and a bad race, but he does all the hard work. We don't mind taking a shot with him and being a longshot. As long as he's doing well, he gives us the confidence to run in any type of race we can.”

Lexitonian, who came into Sisterson's care in 2019, won his first graded race as a sophomore when capturing the 2019 Grade 3 Chick Lang that marked his lone graded stakes score before yesterday. Sisterson said the late-blooming success is reminiscent of his sire Speightstown, who did not win a graded stakes until his 6-year-old campaign in 2004 when he won four of them, including that year's Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“We always felt, even when we originally got him, that he had talent but could get better with age,” Sisterson said. “Dan Pride from Godolphin stopped by the barn this morning because he has horses with Brendan Walsh, as we share the same barn. Dan told me that Speightstown didn't win his first Grade 1 until 6 and had an 18-month layoff, so I can understand now why Lexitonian is doing what he's doing at the age of 5.”

Lexitonian, a Calumet Farm homebred, won for the first time in his last seven starts overall and posted his first victory since May 2020. Sisterson said it's a possibility the Kentucky homebred could make a return engagement in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego at seven furlongs on Travers Day August 28.

“Right after the race, I like to set a plan and obviously we're here in Saratoga and he handled the track well yesterday, so the next stop could potentially be the Forego,” Sisterson said. “We'll see how he comes out of the race and goes from there. But you're looking at the race at Belmont [$250,000 Grade 2 Vosburgh on October 9] or bringing back home for the [Grade 2] Phoenix [October 8 at Keeneland]. The ultimate goal is the Breeders' Cup Sprint at the end of the year.”

In last year's Forego, Lexitonian ran fifth in an 11-horse field over a sloppy and sealed track in heavy rain. Sisterson said potential improved conditions could facilitate a better start this time should he choose to run him there.

“I know I'm a little biased, but I didn't think he ran badly in the Forego last year,” Sisterson said. “It was in a downpour and probably not his ideal conditions. He paid $70 yesterday, so no one respected him. But I understand why the public felt that way, because he threw in a clunker there, but when he's on his form, he has a chance.”

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Fellow Calumet Farm homebred Channel Cat set the pace in the $250,000 Grade 2 Bowling Green on Saturday before finishing fourth in the eight-horse field in the 1 3/8-mile inner turf test for older horses. Channel Cat, who was ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez for the third straight race, registered a 97 Beyer in his first race since running seventh in the Grade 1 Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day.

“He looks in great shape this morning,” Sisterson said. “John gave him a great ride. We felt he'd be the speed early and it was, but it just wasn't his day. He's doing well.”

Channel Cat, the winner of the Grade 1 Man o' War in May at Belmont, has already achieved millionaire status, with the 6-year-old English Channel son compiling a 6-3-5 record in 28 starts with earnings of $1,406,022.

Tango Tango Tango, also owned by Calumet Farm, breezed four furlongs in :50.60 seconds on Saturday over the Keeneland Race Course main track.

The 3-year-old Tourist colt, who won his stakes debut last out in the 1 1/16-mile American Derby on July 17 at Arlington Park, was a possibility for the $1 million Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 7. But Sisterson said it's more likely Tango Tango Tango will return to Arlington to run in the $300,000 Grade 1 Bruce D – a race formerly knowns as the Secretariat – on August 14.

“Probably more than likely, we'll go back to Arlington with him,” Sisterson said.

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