Speightstown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Wednesday’s Insights: Bernardini Filly From Family of Speightstown Debuts at Gulfstream

4th-Gulfstream Park, $50K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, post time: 2:03 p.m. ET
VINTAGE STYLE (Bernardini), produced by a half-sister to champion sprinter and top sire Speightstown (Gone West), gets her career started for owners R. A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables and trainer George Weaver. The full-sister to G1 Emirates Airline Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 winner Capezzano, drawn widest of all in post six and listed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite, was a $150,000 KEESEP yearling.
TJCIS PPs

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New Faces in Ashford’s Stud Barn

Coolmore’s Ashford Stud welcomes a trio of new stallions to their program for the upcoming season. Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) and Echo Town (Speightstown) will start off their stud career at the Versailles, Kentucky-based farm, while Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) will stand his first year in the States since relocating from Coolmore’s headquarters in Ireland after spending two seasons there.

Today we sat down with Adrian Wallace to discuss their two first-season sires.

Maximum Security (New Year’s Day), $20,000

Very few racehorses have had a rollercoaster of a career comparable to that of Maximum Security’s.

So when asked if there was one thing that people should remember about the frequent headliner, Wallace said, “The thing to remember most about Maximum Security was that he never gave up. He was tenacious. Every race he ran, you never knew when the bottom was going to come. And almost invariably, he was the horse that came out the victor. We saw it in a whole host of great races at three and four. He was tough, he was tenacious and he was dominant.”

A late May foal and homebred for Gary and Mary West, Maximum Security won on debut at two in a maiden claimer at Gulfstream before taking the 3-year-old male division by storm last year, winning the GI Florida Derby, GI Haskell Invitational S., GIII Bold Ruler H., GI Cigar Mile H. and of course, crossing the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby.

“I think what makes the horse unique is that he’s so, so tough,” Wallace said. “He’s a true rags-to-riches story. It’s no secret that he started in the basement ranks of racing and ascended to the hierarchies.”

After winning his division’s Eclipse Award, Maximum Security made his 4-year-old debut a winning one as he crossed the globe for the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup. Transferred to the barn of Bob Baffert soon after, the bay continued the winning streak in the GII San Diego H. and GI Pacific Classic S. But despite the less-than-ideal circumstances surrounding his transfer during his 4-year-old season, Wallace said he believes there is no denying the colt’s dominating campaign.

“Nobody will ever forget that day in Saudi Arabia when Maximum Security secured the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup against what can only be described as an absolute heroine of a mare in Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute),” Wallace said. “That stretch drive looked like it was never going to end, but after a battle with her he managed to prevail and then, after such an arduous trip to Saudi Arabia, come back to California under the tutelage of Bob Baffert to win the Pacific Classic, which is a sire-making race.”

Maximum Security retired this year with earnings of almost $12.5 million and ran in the money in all but two of his 14 career starts.

“When you look at his body of work, whether it’s four Grade Is or five Grade Is, this horse was utterly, utterly dominant,” Wallace said. “This horse took his tracks with him all over the world. He danced every dance and is an absolute champion in our eyes, and most people’s eyes. I think he’s a horse whose future is very, very bright.”

A son of 2013 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}), Maximum Security is out of the winning mare Lil Indy (Anasheed), who sold for $1.85 million at last year’s Keeneland November Sale. The mare is a half-sister to GI winner and stakes-producing sire Flat Out (Flatter), as well as stakes winner Our Best Man (Runaway Groom).

“He’s got a deep pedigree,” Wallace said. “At $20,000 dollars, he really does provide great value and a great record for a lot of breeders in 2021.”

Wallace spoke on what he’s heard from the new stallion’s visiting breeders.

“He’s a lovely, easy mover with a great neck and shoulder and a lovely hip,” he said. “People have been struck by how good of a mover he is when they’ve come to see him. He’s a horse that looks like he’s almost a sprinter type. A lot of people have commented that it’s amazing that the horse was able to carry his distance as far as he did. So he looks like a horse that’s going to put in quite a lot of speed in his mares. Being a son of a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, you’d expect a fair amount of precocity. I think physically, he will add a lot of precociousness to his stock.”

Echo Town (Speightstown), $10,000

Echo Town, a ‘TDN Rising Star’ and this year’s winner of the GI H. Allen Jerkens S., will stand his first season for $10,000.

With the ongoing success Munnings has displayed at stud in the past years, led most recently by a trio of Grade II-winning sophomore fillies in Venetian Harbor, Bonny South and Finite, Ashford was more than willing to add another son of Speightstown to their roster.

In fact, Wallace notes that Echo Town has a one-up on Munnings as he kicks off his stud career.

“Echo Town achieved what Munnings couldn’t do,” he said. “Echo Town is a Grade I winner, whereas Munnings himself placed in Grade Is. It’s no word of lie to say Speightstown is probably one of the most sought-after stallions in the world. Four sons of Speightstown, including Munnings, have sired Grade I winners, so he’s proving himself to be a sire of sires as well.”

Wallace added that Echo Town fits the bill physically as well.

“Echo Town is a horse that’s going to appeal to a lot of breeders,” he said. “Physically, he’s going to be very easy to breed to and suit a wide array of broodmares. He is all quality-a lovely head, great neck and shoulder to him. He’s a very easy mover. He’s a horse that’s medium sized, not too big, but he’s going to push enough size into a mare and he’s going to put a lot of quality into them.”

The three-year-old bay is out of the Menifee mare Letgomyecho, winner of the GII Forward Gal S. He is a half-brother to three other stakes horses, including GIII Gotham S. winner J Boys Echo (Mineshaft) and GIII-placed Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled’s Song).

Wallace said the plan will be to draw up Echo Town’s book as reflective of what has already proven successful for the sire line.

“Basically, what we’re going to try to do is get him to those bloodlines with which Speightstown and Munnings have been successful. Munnings has been very successful with daughters of Tapit in siring Bonnie South and Finite. Echo Town will suit A.P Indy-line and Tapit-line mares, as well as mares from the Deputy Minister line. Pedigree-wise, he fits a wide array of broodmares.”

A $100,000 Keeneland September purchase for L&N Racing, Echo Town earned his ‘Rising Star’ badge at first asking this year, breaking his maiden by 2 ½ lengths going six furlongs at Fair Grounds for Steve Asmussen.

After adding two more wins at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs and finishing a close second in the Bachelor S., Echo Town ran second to No Parole (Violence) upon his graded stakes debut in the GI Woody Stephens S.

He followed that effort by defeating the same rival along with several other top graded stakes contenders in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Presented by Runhappy.

“The Allen Jerkens, being a stallion-making race in itself having produced the likes of Tale of the Cat, Hard Spun and More Than Ready, is obviously a very prestigious race to win at Saratoga,” Wallace said. “He showed a lot of speed that day, and when push came to shove at the top of the stretch, there was no doubt really which horse was going to win. He scooted clear to win by almost four lengths with a good time. He was all speed and brilliance.”

Wallace said that Echo Town has had a positive reception from breeders already.

“All the breeders that have come to see him have liked him,” he said. “He’s priced at $10,000, which I think for a lot of breeders if you’re looking at sons of Speightstown, given Munnings’ recent success and the fact that he is now fully booked, if you’re looking at that line, I think Echo Town is the right way to go.”

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Performer Enters Cigar Mile Carrying Five-Race Win Streak

Performer has checked a lot of boxes while forging a five-race winning streak. Owned by Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm, the 4-year-old son of Speightstown will face Grade 1 competition for the first time as part of a competitive nine-horse field in the $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up on the main track at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 32nd running of the Cigar Mile, known as the NYRA Mile from 1988-96, was renamed in honor of the 1994 winner and 2002 Hall of Fame inductee. The prestigious race headlines a lucrative card which includes a pair of Grade 2, $150,000 nine-furlong events for juveniles in the Remsen and its filly counterpart, the Demoiselle, as well as the Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at one mile on the main track. The Remsen and Demoiselle will offer 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the top-four finishers towards the 2021 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively.

Performer raced third in his debut as a juvenile in November 2018 at the Big A. That marked the last— and only— time he failed to earn a trip to the winner's circle, going 4-for-4 as a sophomore in 2019, including a victory in the Grade 3 Discovery going 1 1/8 miles last November at Aqueduct.

Off an 11-month layoff, Performer picked up where he left off, registering a 1 3/4-length win over optional claimers in a one-turn mile on Oct. 17 at Belmont Park. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won this race in 1996 with Gold Fever, said his charge has continued to train well at Belmont since, recording six official workouts following his triumphant return.

“He's training well. It has been a while since he ran, but he'll be fit enough,” McGaughey said. “He's been over that track before. He seems to be doing as well now as he's ever done.”

Plans for a potential 5-year-old year have not been firmed up, but he'll look to close 2020 with aplomb. Jockey Joel Rosario, 5-for-5 aboard Performer, will look to stay undefeated on the Kentucky homebred, drawing the inside post.

“Everything being equal he'll run next year, but what I'll do with him after Saturday, I'm not sure yet. We'll have to wait and see,” McGaughey said.

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire was a good third last out in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland behind C Z Rocket and the winner Whitmore. In his last New York start, the Florida homebred won the Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational over Big Sandy, posting his second triple digit Speed Figure of the year with a 101.

The Kelly Breen trainee has already won three graded stakes in his 5-year-old campaign, capturing the Grade 3 General George in February at Laurel Park along with the Grade 2 True North in June at Belmont.

Firenze Fire boasts a career record of 12-3-3 in 30 career start with field-high earnings of $2.21 million. Jose Lezcano will ride from post 4.

Trainer Jack Sisterson will send out a pair of Calumet Farm-owned Kentucky shippers who each have extensive experience at the Big A in True Timber and Bon Raison.

“They've shown us in the mornings that they both can run a competitive race,” Sisterson said.

True Timber will make his third Cigar Mile appearance after running second in 2018 and third a year ago. He has earned blacktype in three of the four starts since Sisterson took over the training duties from Kiaran McLaughlin, who retired to become a jockey agent.

In the summer meet, True Timber ran a strong third in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course, garnering a season-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure. After finishing fourth in the six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational on Sept. 26 at Belmont, he was stretched back out to seven furlongs for a runner-up effort in the Lafayette on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, where he continued to train heading into the Cigar Mile.

“He's been close to winning a race like this and is peaking at the right time,” Sisterson said. “He got stuck down at the rail running three-quarters at Belmont [in the Vosburgh]. He just wasn't happy. He's a horse who likes his own way and we learned that in the mornings. We let him put his feet where he wanted to and put him in a happy frame of mind and he moved forward extremely well.

“His coat looks good, his appetite is great and his energy level is high,” he added. “He's shown that he wants to do more.”

Kendrick Carmouche will be in the irons from post 8.

Bon Raison enters off a 10th-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Prior to that, the 5-year-old son of Raison d'Etat won his first race since Sisterson took over the training duties, topping a field of optional claimers going six furlongs on Oct. 16 at Keeneland.

The veteran workhorse is returning to a familiar spot at Aqueduct, where he is 3-0-2 in 13 career starts. In 2019, Bon Raison raced a whopping 21 times before scaling back the workload this year, as the Cigar Mile will be his ninth appearance of 2020.

“He's got a late running style and he just seems to be a versatile horse,” Sisterson said. “He's got talent and he's intelligent. He has those attributes where he can do what you ask him to do.”

Jorge Vargas, Jr. will be aboard from post 9.

King Guillermo will enter off a seven-month layoff since running second in a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park. Originally slated to run in September's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the Uncle Mo colt was scratched out of the 146th “Run for the Roses” with a fever.

Owned by Victoria's Ranch, headed by 16-year Major League Baseball veteran and five-time All-Star Victor Martinez, King Guillermo has been training at conditioner Juan Avila's base at Gulfstream Park, including a four-furlong blowout in 50.25 seconds on Friday before arriving in New York on Saturday.

King Guillermo broke his maiden at second asking in November at Gulfstream Park West and kicked off his 3-year-old year with a 4 ¾-length win in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March before facing his first Grade 1 challenge in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby, where he ran second to Nadal.

“He's good. He's ready,” Avila said. “He's getting ready to face that challenge. The mile will be good for him because he's had seven months without a race.”

Avila said he's excited for the opportunity to bring the $150,000 purchase at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale to New York.

“I really like the opportunity and the chance to win and this gives us a chance for people to know me and know King Guillermo,” Avila said. “We have big expectations.”

Jose Ortiz will pick up the mount from post 6.

Mr. Buff, owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman, will give the race a New York homebred who will look for additional glory at the Big A. Making his 41st career start overall, the John Kimmel trainee is returning to a track where he is 8-3-0 in 13 previous starts, including five stakes victories led by a 20-length score in the one-mile Haynesfield in February that matched a career-best 106 Beyer.

The Friend Or Foe gelding, who be wrapping up his 6-year-old year, won the Empire Classic against state-breds last out going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 24 at Belmont.

Junior Alvarado, who won the 2013 Cigar Mile aboard Flat Out, will have the call from post 5.

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control will face graded stakes company for the first time since running eighth in the Grade 1 Forego over the summer.

A four-time winner at the Big A, the Gregg Sacco trainee won in his last appearance at Aqueduct after rallying to take the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 7. Both of Mind Control's Grade 1 scores came at Saratoga in the 2018 Hopeful and last year's H. Allen Jerkens.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, a two-time Cigar Mile winner, will seek his third in breaking from post 2.

Bloom Racing Stable's Snapper Sinclair will make his Aqueduct bow seeking his first win since the Tourist Mile in August 2019 at Kentucky Downs. Winless in his last 10 starts, the son of City Zip has still been competitive, finishing second or third in five of those efforts for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Snapper Sinclair will make his first start in New York since breaking his maiden in August 2017 over the Mellon turf at Saratoga. Two starts back, he posted a runner-up finish in the Tourist Mile in September before a last-out third against allowance company on Nov. 5 at Churchill. Manny Franco has the call from post 3.

R.A. Hill Stable's Majestic Dunhill will wheel back off a six-day turnaround, looking to atone for a seventh-place finish after a slow start in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap on Saturday at Aqueduct.

Previously, the 5-year-old son of Majesticperfection, trained by George Weaver, won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on Oct. 31 at Belmont. Dylan Davis will be in the irons for the first time, drawing post 7.

The Cigar Mile is slated as the finale of the 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The card will also feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6.

Live coverage of Cigar Mile Day will be available with America's Day at the Races on FS2 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. and on MSG+ from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Free Equibase-provided past performances will be available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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Forza Di Oro Makes The Grade In Discovery

Don Alberto Stable's Forza Di Oro made the grade in Saturday's 76th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Discovery, a nine-furlong test for sophomores at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Speightstown chestnut arrived at the Discovery from a narrow victory in a 1 1/16-mile first-level allowance on Oct. 9 at Belmont Park, where he registered a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

Forza Di Oro broke sharply from post 3 in the five-horse field and was taken back and edged to the rail by jockey Junior Alvarado, as post-time favorite and dual stakes winner Monday Morning Qb led the field into the first turn through an opening quarter of 23.43 seconds with 24-1 longshot Ralston tracking one path to the outside in second over the fast main track.

Alvarado had a tight hold on Forza Di Oro, who was just to the outside of multiple-stakes placed Attachment Rate as Monday Morning Qb produced an easy half-mile in 47.53.

Around the far turn, Forza Di Oro still sought racing room but found an opening a few jumps past the quarter-pole in pursuit of the front end. Forza Di Oro collared Monday Morning Qb at the eighth pole and drew off to a 3 ¾ length victory in a time of 1:50.03.

Monday Morning Qb, with Dylan Davis up, held off a late-charge from two-time graded stakes winner Shared Sense, who finished third. Attachment Rate and Ralston completed the order of finish.

Fresh off a successful Friday at the Big A with two stakes victories, Alvarado said he was satisfied with the trip.

“I was pretty happy the whole way around. I knew what I had underneath and whatever position I was in, he'd be there for me. He makes my job easier,” said Alvarado, who has piloted the horse in all five of his lifetime starts. “He broke nicely today and after that he put me in the spot where we wanted to be. I was a passenger the whole way around. He was just waiting for me to give him the green light when we turned for home. It was the first time for him being on the inside like that and when we started moving forward, he hesitated a little bit, but after a few jumps, he knew what to do and went by the other horse.”

Alvarado added that Forza Di Oro's ability to switch leads was crucial.

“When he switches leads like he did today, he gives that next gear,” Alvarado said. “We'll keep working with him. He's a very talented horse. He's a horse that works very nice in the morning and we've been high on him since the beginning. He had to stop with some issues he had, but he came back very strong this year. Mentally, he still hasn't caught up with his body. He's a big guy with a nice, long stride but I think mentally, he still has to put it together.”

Banking $55,000 in victory, Forza Di Oro enhanced his lifetime earnings to $148,875 through a 5-3-1-0 record.

A Kentucky homebred, Forza Di Oro, who returned $8.30, provided his dam Filare l'Oro with her second graded stakes-winning progeny. The stakes-winning daughter of Hard Spun also produced three-time graded stakes winner Silver Dust.

While switching leads was to the winner's advantage, the same couldn't be said regarding the Butch Reid-trained Monday Morning Qb, who entered the Discovery from a victory in the Maryland Million Classic under Sheldon Russell on October 24 at Laurel Park.

“Butch said he tends to break a little slow the first two jumps,” Davis said. “I just did what Sheldon did in his last race and gave him a couple pops and he gets on the bridle. We got on the lead and he was aggressive, but he was doing good. He's a really big horse and it takes him a little bit to switch his leads, but I thought he still ran well. The other horse was just a little bit better today.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a 10-race card, highlighted by the Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for 3-year-olds and upward going six furlongs over the main track; the $100,000 Tepin for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles over the turf; and the $100,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward going six furlongs on the turf. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

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