Tag: Speightstown

Sunday Insights: Well-Bred Son Of Tapit And Lady Take Charge Debuts At Oaklawn

5th-OP, $115K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 3:22 p.m. ET.
A $700,000 Keeneland September purchase by Willis Horton Racing and trained by Eddie Milligan Jr., WILL TAKE IT (Tapit) is the first to the post out of unraced Lady Take Charge (War Front).

The latter was the top-priced foal at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale when she was hammered down to Whisper Hill Farm for $3.2 million. Eclipse Award winner Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), a daughter of Lady Take Charge's half-sister Charming (Seeking the Gold), was the overall topper when sold to John Sikura and Hill 'n' Dale Equine for $6 million.

Last year, Lady Take Charge produced a full-sister to Will Take It, who went to Sinandigan Stable at the Keeneland September Sale for $1.3 million.

The extended female family runs through influential second dam MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), who is responsible for GI Florida Derby champ Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), Horton's champion 3-year-old colt Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), GI Beholder Mile winner As Time Goes By (American Pharoah), and Take Charge Brandi's half-brother and top-five first-crop sire Omaha Beach (War Front). TJCIS PPS

5th-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 2:14 p.m. ET
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Don Alberto and Bridlewood Farm homebred Carolo Rapido (Curlin) is out of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss). She was a Blandford Bloodstock buy last year during Fasig-Tipton's Fall Mixed Sale for $1.2 million while in-foal to Gun Runner. TJCIS PPS

6th-OP, $115K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:50 p.m. ET.
SF Bloodstock bred Guarani (Speightstown), who will be making his first start for Three Chimneys Farm after they purchased him for $425,000 at Keeneland September. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of MGSP Czechers (Indian Charlie), who also produced his full-brother, G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen S. hero Switzerland. TJCIS PPS

 

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The Most-Read TDN Stories Of 2023

As the year winds down, now is a relatively quiet time for horse racing. But there was nothing quiet about 2023, a year, it seems, where the bad news stories overshadowed the good news stories. What resonated most with TDN readers? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be our stories that reported on some of the darker aspects of the sport. Here are the top 10 most widely read stories of 2023 and the number of views they received:

1) Europeans Unleashed As Santa Anita is Struck by Tragedy, by Emma Berry (96,627 views). TDN European Editor Emma Berry arrived at Santa Anita as the sport and the Breeders' Cup was dealing with another blow, the death of Practical Move (Practical Joke) and the injury suffered by Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), who would eventually be euthanized. She marveled at the beauty of Santa Anita and watched the European contingent prepare for the races, but found it hard to forget that it had been another difficult week for the sport. “Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye,” she wrote.

2) Racing Word Mourns Death of Lady O'Reilly, by Emma Berry (96,536 views). Berry reported on the passing of highly successful and longstanding owner-breeder Lady Chryss O'Reilly, the owner of Haras de la Louviere in Normandy, who died at the age of 73.

3) Fatalities Mar Travers Saturday at Saratoga, by Bill Finley (51,660 views). The Saratoga meet saw an unusually high number of breakdowns, but two stood out. Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) broke down a jump or two before the finish of the GI Test S., a race she was well on her way to winning. In an eerily similar scenario that had occurred on the GI Travers S. card, New York Thunder (Nyquist) had the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. all but won before breaking down a few feet before the finish. On the same card, a horse named Nobel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire} was also euthanized. Bill Finley wrote of a Travers Day that was supposed to be about everything that is great with the sport turning into one of the ugliest afternoons ever at Saratoga.

4) Everything Was Done to Save Him: Derby Hero Desert Crown Euthanized, Staff Report (50,946 views). The story reports on the death of Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), the brilliant winner of the 2022 Derby, who was euthanized at Newmarket Equine Hospital after failing to recover from an injury sustained on the gallops in August.

5) Jockey Alex Canchari Passes Away, by Bill Finley (50,438). In one of the sadder stories of the year, Midwest-based jockey Alex Canchari passed away in March at the age of 29 after taking his own life, sparking discussions about jockeys' mental health.

6) Horse of the Year Havre De Grace Passes Away, by Alan Carasso (48,136). Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), the 2011 Horse of the Year, passed away in April. Wayne Sweezey, who boarded Havre de Grace at his Timber Town Farm, confirmed that the 16-year-old mare hemorrhaged multiple times and died after producing a colt by Into Mischief the afternoon of Apr. 28.

7) Pretty Mischievous Wins Test; Maple Leaf Mel Breaks Down at Wire, is Euthanized, Staff Report (41,426). Like the breakdown of New York Thunder later on in the meet, the breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel in the Test S. shook Saratoga and cast a pall over the meet.

8) HIWU Descends Upon a Shedrow, Upending Life For a Mom-and-Pop Stable, by TD Thornton (30,863). John Pimental is a small-time trainer who was well-liked, worked hard and had never been in any trouble during his long career. That all changed when agents for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) descended upon John's stable and upended his world: one of his horses had tested positive for 193 picograms per milliliter of methamphetamine, a street drug of abuse that is classified as a “banned” substance in racing. The story details Pimental's fight to clear his name and takes a look at the tactics HIWU used to make the case that Pimental had violated its rules.

9) Sire Of Sires, WinStar Farm's Champion Speightstown Euthanized, Staff Report (30,066). The story reports on the passing of WinStar Farm's top sire Speightstown (Gone West) and his remarkable career as a sire.

10) The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation, by Bill Finley (29,977). The Saratoga stewards decided not to disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in the GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga, despite what appeared to be rough-riding tactics by Irad Ortiz Jr. that caused Forte to bump Angel of Empire (Classic Empire). But writer Bill Finley thought the bigger story was that there is next to no transparency in racing when it comes to stewards' decisions and that the bettors deserved an explanation over why there was no disqualification.

The post The Most-Read TDN Stories Of 2023 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Speightstown’s El Terreno Blitzes Over Gulfstream Tapeta To ‘TDN Rising Stardom’

Given the dominance she showed when blowing away a field of Presque Isle maidens by 11 lengths in fast time on her six-furlong debut Oct. 25, the connections of El Terreno (Speightstown–Palma, by Malibu Moon) would hardly have been dismayed when Friday's second race from Gulfstream Park was washed off the turf and onto the synthetic surface. Accordingly smashed into 2-5 favoritism, the Castleton Lyons homebred duly obliged with another commanding performance, this one good for 'TDN Rising Star' honors.

Kicked straight into the lead by Irad Ortiz, Jr., El Terreno set the pace from a couple of paths off the inside down the backstretch and got her opening quarter-mile in a solid :22.15. Traveling well in hand on the turn with her jockey riding high in the saddle, the dark bay opened up on her rivals into the final furlong and was never out of a high gallop while reporting home an eased-down, 4 1/4-length winner. Bubbly Champagne (Bee Jersey), who just missed in the Our Dear Peg S. two starts back and the second choice here at 33-10, made some late headway from the latter half of the field to round out a chalky exacta while never any sort of danger to the winner.

“She was very impressive. She did everything on her own,” the winning jockey commented. “She broke out of there. I didn't have to ask her. She was quick and then she relaxed. Turning [for] home, I just motioned to her and showed her the stick one time and she finished on her own.”

A 25th 'Rising Star' for the sadly lost Speightstown, is out of a half-sister to Argentinian stakes winner and Group 1-placed Meguial, the dam of GISW I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even), SP A Story of Revenge (Tale of the Cat) and Meg Fitz (Tapit), whose son Real Men Violin (Mendelssohn) was runner-up in last month's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs.

Palma, bred in New York by Newtown Anner Stud, was purchased for $500,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale by Castleton Lyons, where her sire stood from 2004-2007 after relocating from Country Life Farm in Maryland. From 2008 to his death in May 2021, Malibu Moon resided at Spendthrift Farm.

The mare's yearling colt by Volatile was knocked down to Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures for $135,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale and she foaled a Knicks Go filly this past Mar. 18 before visiting Dialed In.

2nd-Gulfstream, $61,000, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($75,000), 12-15, 2yo, f, 5f (AWT) (off turf), :55.67, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.
EL TERRENO, f, 2, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Palma, by Malibu Moon
2nd Dam: Meguial (Arg), by Roy
3rd Dam: Starry Night (Arg), by Fitzcarraldo (Arg)
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $54,600.
O-Castleton Lyons; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Christophe Clement. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.

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Sire Of Sires, WinStar Farm’s Champion Speightstown Euthanized

Speightstown (Gone West–Silken Cat, by Storm Cat), Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 2004 and among the leading sires of the past 15 years, had to be euthanized Friday, Dec. 8, due to foot issues from old age, WinStar Farm announced in a press release Friday. Speightstown, a Taylor Made/WinStar stallion, was 25 years old.

“Speightstown was a foundational sire for WinStar and helped stamp our legacy as a sire-making farm,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “I want to thank Larry McGinnis and his team for all the love and care they gave “Speighty” as he was lovingly called. They helped him through three colic surgeries, and he had none in the last 13 years. His progeny ran on dirt, turf, six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, and they always showed their grit. Like with any family member, he will be truly missed. We are fortunate to have his son Nashville in the shedrow, and we look forward to seeing Speightsown's legacy continue through him, and as a broodmare sire.”

WinStar's longtime Stallion Manager Larry McGinnis said, “We've been through a lot together in the last 19 years. We'll miss our friend.”

Bred in Kentucky by Aaron and Marie Jones, Speightstown first made headlines as a yearling when he sold for $2 million to Eugene Melnyk at the 1999 Keeneland July sale. In that era of heady prices, he was the co-fourth highest price of the exclusive sale with the first- and second-leading prices also for yearlings by Gone West.

In addition to being by Gone West, a Grade I winner who was among the leading sire sons of Mr. Prospector, Speightstown was out of Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Silken Cat. The now-deceased mare produced Speightstown as her first foal and 2017 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner (and MGISP) Irap (Tiznow) as her last foal. She is also the granddam of two additional graded winners. Silken Cat's fifth dam was the Meadow Stud blue hen Hildene, whose five stakes-winning foals included Hall of Famer Hill Prince and additional champion First Landing.

Niggling injuries kept Speightstown from immediately showing his best on the track. He made only one start at two, finishing 13th and last in a Saratoga maiden special weight. On the bench for five months, he broke his maiden at Gulfstream in his sophomore debut by 6 3/4 lengths and eventually took three straight allowances before closing his season with a second in the GII Amsterdam S. Again benched, this time for 21 months with a knee injury, he completely missed a 4-year-old campaign and reappeared for just two starts at five that yielded a Belmont allowance win and a runner-up finish in the Jaipur H. before another 10 months on the sidelines.

Speightstown | Lee Thomas

It was at the age of six that Speightstown shone. Running in the Melnyk colors under the tutelage of seven-time Eclipse champion trainer Todd Pletcher, he started his campaign with his first black-type victory in the Artax H., then went on a three consecutive Grade II-win tear: the Churchill Downs H., the True North Breeders' Cup H., and the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. He equaled the six-furlong track record of 1:08 at Saratoga in the Vanderbilt. A third in the GI Vosburgh S. snapped Speightstown's four-race win streak, but he came roaring back to win the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, held that year at Lone Star Park. Voted Eclipse champion sprinter, Speightstown retired with a record of 16-10-2-2 and earnings of $1,258,256, but the best was yet to come.

Retired to WinStar for a stallion venture partnership that included Taylor Made Farm, Speightstown initially stood for $40,000 and was part of a remarkable group of horses that stood their first seasons in 2005, including Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro, and Candy Ride (Arg). All four stallions are regularly among the top 10 leading sires in North America and all stand or have stood for six-figure fees.

To date from 16 crops of racing age, Speightstown has sired 138 black-type winners (9% from starters) and the earners of over $155 million. Among his 65 graded winners are 26 Grade I winners, including Breeders' Cup winners Tamarkuz and Sharing; Travers winner Golden Ticket; Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Haynesfield; distaffer Dance to Bristol; turfers Force the Pass, Seek Again, Competitionofideas and three-time Sovereign Award winner Lady Speightspeare; and sprinters Reynaldothewizard, Jersey Town, Rock Fall, Poseidon's Warrior and dual Sovereign Award-winning sprinter Essence Hit Man.

“Speightstown's rise reminds me of Distorted Humor,” said WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden in 2013, “that rare ability to sire Grade I quality at all distances and all surfaces with top fillies and colts.”

Although Speightstown never won beyond seven furlongs and raced exclusively on the dirt, a hallmark of his progeny has been versatility, with graded winners both short and long and on both dirt and turf. In addition, despite Speightstown taking several years to mature into a stakes winner himself, he has had his share of black-type winners both as young horses and as older runners. Speightstown's 2020 was a banner year featuring four individual Grade I winners: Echo Town and Charlatan in the U.S., Lady Speightspeare in Canada, and Mozu Superflare in Japan. In 2023, Speightstown has been represented by 106 winners including GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity victor Prince of Monaco.

In recent years, Speightstown has also made a mark as a burgeoning sire of sires. His son Munnings closed out 2022 among the top 10 leading sires in the U.S. by earnings, finishing just one spot ahead of Speightstown himself, and is currently among the top five leading sires in the U.S. by earnings through 2023. In addition, Central Banker is among the leading sires in New York and Jersey Town sired a Grade I winner in his first crop. Speightstown is well-represented by sons at stud led by new additions Olympiad and Nasvhille along with Charlatan and Lexitonian.

Speightstown is also starting to make an impact as a broodmare sire, as his daughters have produced 62 stakes winners–24 graded–to date, including Grade I winners Aloha West (Hard Spun), Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) and Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}), as well as the late Laoban (Uncle Mo).

Speightstown was slated to stand in 2024 for $80,000 LFSN at the time of his death.

The post Sire Of Sires, WinStar Farm’s Champion Speightstown Euthanized appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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