Spendthrift Farm | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ned Toffey Talks Into Mischief, Authentic, Monomoy Girl and More On Writers’ Room

Business is booming at Spendthrift Farm. The once-defunct stallion station has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in the past decade, thanks in large part to a superstar stallion, a deep-pocketed owner and the steady hand of an experienced general manager. Ned Toffey has seen it all since B. Wayne Hughes purchased Spendthrift in 2004, and he joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Toffey talked about the explosive growth of the farm, what makes Into Mischief special, likely Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief), the future of recent Spendthrift purchases Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and Got Stormy (Get Stormy) and much more.

“Once we did some renovations here at Spendthrift, we brought Malibu Moon over and really thought that was going to be our flagship horse. And all the while there was this little son of Harlan’s Holiday we bought for $180,000,” Toffey recalled when asked about Into Mischief. “The first couple of years he was here, he was a very tough sell. One of the programs that we did, ‘Share the Upside’, was actually designed to help sell seasons to Into Mischief. But it turned out to be the opposite. Into Mischief made the program. He gave us credibility and has given us the confidence to start to go after other top horses. He’s done so much. He drives traffic to the farm. We’ll be fortunate if we can ever have another one as good as him. People give us a lot of credit for having ‘made’ Into Mischief. We’re happy to take that credit, but I think the credit goes to Into Mischief.”

Spendthrift made major waves at last week’s Fasig-Tipton November ‘Night of the Stars’, shelling out $9.5 million for champion topper Monomoy Girl, $4.2 million for MGISW Bast (Uncle Mo) and $2.75 million for MGISW Got Stormy.

“We wanted to have some marquee mares to breed Into Mischief, Authentic and even some of the stallions that came in within the last year as well,” Toffey explained. “We generally will move our own mares out of the way if we have clients that really need to get their mares bred. So oftentimes some of the mares that we start out planning to breed to some of these stallions, end up getting bred to somebody else. This year we wanted to have some mares that we just felt were really strong. We may not breed a lot to Into Mischief. Mr. Hughes usually likes to collect the stud fee and make room for our clients. But now we’ve got a handful of mares that will certainly need to go to Into Mischief, Authentic and the likes of those.”

Asked about the reasoning for retiring Authentic as a 3-year-old while bringing Monomoy Girl and Got Stormy back to the racetrack in 2021 as 6-year-olds, Toffey offered, “You’re talking about a little different price point. We were wide open in terms of what we might do, but his racing career just went so well and Bob [Baffert] said, ‘He’s done so much. He’s done everything that he really can.’ And our primary business is breeding. That’s what drives things here and the stallion complex is the epicenter of Spendthrift. That is our primary focus and everything we do revolves around that. He’s such a sound, talented horse, it was very tempting to go on and run next year, but again, this is such a central part of what we do, we felt like it was time for him to come and start his career here.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers debated which Eclipse categories are still to be decided, appreciated strong 2-year-old performances from the weekend and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, broke down the latest developments in the indictments surrounding Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Grade 2-Placed Bob And Jackie Tops Monday’s Trade At Keeneland November Sale

Bob and Jackie, a stakes-winning, 4-year-old son of Twirling Candy who was third in the Oct. 3 Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita, was the top-priced horse of Monday's eighth session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale when he sold to Price/Recio Bloodstock, agent for Calvin Nguyen, for $190,000.

Bob and Jackie, who was supplemented to the November Sale, was consigned by St George Sales, agent. Out of the Eskendereya mare Fateer, he has won four of eight starts, including the Wickerr, Let It Ride and Eddie Logan, and earned $209,551.

With the lone purchase, Price/Recio Bloodstock was the session's leading buyer.

On Monday, Keeneland sold 256 horses for $3,797,300, for an average of $14,833 and a median of $8,000.

Cumulatively through eight sessions, 1,768 horses have sold for $144,012,000, for an average of $81,455 and a median of $32,000.

Also supplemented to the sale and consigned by St George Sales, agent, was Alex Joon, a 3-year-old Flatter colt who sold to Donald K. Strickland for $120,000. Second in a Churchill Downs allowance race on Oct. 29, Alex Joon scored his first win at Churchill in December 2019.

Convinced, a 5-year-old daughter of Tiznow whose dam, Tap of the Day, by Pulpit, is a full sister to leading sire Tapit, sold to Four Star Sales for $85,000. Vinery Sales, agent, consigned the mare, who is in foal to Maclean's Music. Her family includes champion Rubiano as well as Grade 2 winners Madefromlucky and Dubleo.

McMahon and Hill Bloodstock, agent, paid $77,000 for Well Hello, a 5-year-old daughter of Quality Road carrying her first foal by Outwork. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, she is out of the winning Not For Love mare Just Say Goodbye and from the family of Grade 2 winner Wicapi and such as stakes winners as Water Cannon and Jet Run.

The next two top-priced horses were weanlings from the first crops of their respective sires: a filly by Free Drop Billy for $72,000 and a filly by City of Light for $70,000.

Spendthrift Farm purchased the daughter of Free Drop Billy, who was consigned by Vinery Sales, agent. Out of the winning Stormy Atlantic mare Help the Children, she is from the family of multiple Grade 3 winner Humble Clerk.

VIP Farm acquired the filly by City of Light, who is out of winner Union Prayer, by Dixie Union. Consigned by Vinery Sales, agent for Spendthrift Farm, she is from the family of Grade 1 winner Malibu Prayer and Grade 2 winners Tap Dance, Valid and Silverside.

The session's leading consignor was Lane's End, agent, which sold 31 horses for $425,200.

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The Week in Review: In Its Best Fillies, Racing Does Have Lasting Stars

The announcement last week that GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders’ Cup winner and likely Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief) had been retired was disappointing, but very much expected. It would have been nice to see him run another year, but it was never going to happen. From the business side of the sport, there was no other call, not when you have a son of super sire Into Mischief who will stand for $75,000 and likely go to 200-plus mares.

Unless there is a seismic shift in the economics of racing and breeding, the elite male horses will continue to have short careers, many of them not racing after their 3-year-old years. It wasn’t just Authentic. The Classic was the last start for Improbable (City Zip), Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike). Global Campaign (Curlin) is also headed to stud, but may first start in the GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. Among the top five choices in the Classic betting, only Tiz the Law (Constitution) is scheduled to run next year.

But that doesn’t mean that the sport can’t cultivate stars. It just needs to look elsewhere.

While marquee males can’t be retired fast enough, the opposite trend is now taking place with the elite fillies and mares. We are seeing them come back at four, five, even six. Again, it’s a matter of economics. Even the very best broodmares aren’t worth anywhere close to what the best stallions are worth. With a rich slate of races available to them, it can make sense to keep the fillies racing.

Never was that more apparent than with the decision to bring Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) back. At just about the same time that Spendthrift Farm was formulating plans to retire Authentic, it was reaching into the ring at Fasig-Tipton November to buy Monomoy Girl for a whopping $9.5 million. Much of that investment will eventually be recouped through the breeding of Monomoy Girl but, first, she will return next year and race at 6. For good measure, Spendthrift also purchased Got Stormy (Get Stormy) for $2.75 million at the Fasig-Tipton sale and will race her next year, also as a 6-year-old.

Monomoy Girl, Valiance (Tapit) and Dunbar Road (Quality Road), the first three finishers in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, are scheduled to race in 2021. So is Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who will be named 3-year-old filly champion. To start 2021, Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver will be the sport’s two brightest stars.

They continue a pattern that started to take hold with Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). She raced through her 6-year-old season. Then came Beholder. Also owned by Spendthrift, she was a champion at two, three and five and still came back for her 6-year-old campaign in 2016. In one of the best Breeders’ Cup races ever run, she landed still another Eclipse Award when nosing out Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro) to win the 2016 Distaff. It had been 18 years since a mare five or older had won the Distaff. Fast forward to 2020 and four of the last five Distaff winners have been five or older and two have been six.

It could also help that the connections of both Swiss Skydiver and Monomoy Girl either have or are ready to embrace the challenge of facing males. Swiss Skydiver already did it twice, finishing second in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and winning the GI Preakness S. The 2021 racing plans for Monomoy Girl have yet to be revealed, but trainer Brad Cox has said there is a possibility she could be tested against the boys next year.

The most important, most scrutinized horses in training will probably always be the dirt males, particularly the 3-year-olds who spend five weeks under the glaring spotlight of the Triple Crown. But, considering the trends, the sport should do a lot more to promote racing for fillies and mares. The best place to start is by creating a filly Triple Crown. That’s a no-brainer. After losing so much in on-track revenues this year because of the pandemic, the Breeders’ Cup probably isn’t in a position to raise purses any time soon, but when it is, the first place to look at is the $2 million paid out in the Distaff. It’s far too important a race to have one-third the purse of the $6-million Classic.

We all wish horses like Authentic, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and Justify (Scat Daddy), would keep going well after their sophomore seasons are behind them. It’s just not going to happen, which is why the industry needs to do what it can to promote its distaff stars.

Revisiting Casse’s Remarks on Clenbuterol

If anyone thought trainer Mark Casse was guilty of exaggerating when he wrote a Mar. 2 editorial for the Thoroughbred Daily News that called Clenbuterol “the most abused drug in our industry,” they need to take another look at this controversial subject.

The bronchodilator was back in the news last week when New York State Gaming Commission Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott Palmer revealed that tests taken on horses trained by the individuals indicted in March for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs revealed that 77% of those horses had Clenbuterol in their systems.

“In the Thoroughbred breed, 77% of those horses [initially] had levels of clenbuterol in their blood,” Palmer said. “[We then] asked for the medical records on these horses. We haven’t gotten through them all yet, but we haven’t found any that had clenbuterol administration listed in their medical records. That’s a strong indication that this drug is being given for purposes other than the normal prescribed reason for giving clenbuterol.”

Casse and others have said that trainers use Clenbuterol for its steroid-like effects, which causes horses to artificially build muscle. Palmer’s findings strongly suggests that both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred trainers that were indicted were using the drug for something far more nefarious than its ability to treat asthma and respiratory diseases.

To its credit, the sport is clamping down on the use of the drug, but half measures aren’t going to be good enough. Casse had called for a total ban on its use throughout North America. Considering Palmer’s findings, that can’t happen soon enough.

A Gratuitous Plug for TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

The 2020 finalists for America’s Best Racing’s Fan Choice Awards have been announced and the TDN Writers’ Room podcast is among the choices in the Favorite Radio Show/Podcast category. Everyone at the TDN is proud of the podcast and would be honored to receive this award from the fans. The competition is stiff, so we welcome all the help we can get. To vote, click here.

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Brad Cox Talks Breeders’ Cup Grand Slam, Monomoy Girl 6YO Campaign On Writers’ Room

Already considered one of the hottest barns in America heading into Breeders’ Cup weekend, Brad Cox’s stable provided an exclamation point to a monster 2020 season with a whopping four World Championship victories at Keeneland. Now leading all conditioners with 28 graded stakes wins this year and a legitimate threat to unseat four-time defending champion trainer Chad Brown at the Eclipse Awards, Cox joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Cox explained his barn’s breakout success the past few years, talked about what’s next for his Breeders’ Cup winners and hinted at some potential new tests for soon-to-be dual champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar)’s expected return as a 6-year-old.

“It’s the quality of horse. We always left like we’ve been able to win races,” Cox said of his outfit’s rapid rise to the top. “The bulk of the stable was made up of claiming horses for several years. We had a run with Midwest Thoroughbreds that was, for me and my crew, very educational. We had the opportunity to see a lot of different types of horses. But over the last five years, the biggest change is the clientele and the horses for sure.”

Already with an enormously satsifying weekend under its belt, Cox’s operation got even more good news Sunday night, when Spendthrift Farm announced that Monomoy Girl would return to the races in 2021 after buying the mare for $9.5 million at Fasig-Tipton November.

“They asked me if I’d be interested in taking her back to campaign her in 2021, which was a no-brainer, but that was basically the extent of our conversation,” Cox said when asked about a potential schedule for the wildly popular chestnut. “She’s back here with us at Churchill, she came out of the race in fantastic shape. I think we’ll find out more, they’re still buying horses and they seem to be busy, but I think that facing the boys or racing internationally could be something that’s on their mind. And it’s something that we would be up for, to say the least.”

After Monomoy Girl, the headliner of the weekend for Cox was Essential Quality (Tapit), who dominated the GI TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to run his record to three-for-three and likely salt away a divisional championship. The gray is the latest best hope for Godolphin to win its elusive first GI Kentucky Derby, and Cox talked about his impressions and immediate plans for the colt.

“He came out of the race really, really well,” he said. “We took him back to the track this morning, just jogged him. He’s full of himself at times. He’s a Tapit, so he has a lot of energy. But he seems to know when to turn it on or shut it off, which I think is a great trait of quality in a classy horse. I think the sky’s the limit and I don’t think there’s any kind of distance limitations with him. There really doesn’t seem to be a bottom with him so I’m very optimistic he could be a horse that gets a mile and a quarter. We’ll start training him again at some point in early December at Fair Grounds. It’d be nice to get a couple of races into him in February, March, April and hopefully he does enough to earn himself a spot in the Derby.”

Cox also indicated that he would consider a maiden European journey for his barn with GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf heroine Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), saying, “It would be nice to get a start into her this spring and then maybe look at Royal Ascot with her. Maybe a similar campaign that Sharing (Speightstown, second in Ascot’s G1 Coronation S.) had. I thought about that after she won the Jessamine because of one, her pedigree, and two, [winning with] no Lasix. I think that’s a benefit that’s going to help our horses internationally.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers broke down all the action from Breeders’ Cup weekend and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, laid out their biggest takeaways from Fasig-Tipton’s ‘Night of the Stars’ and the early days of Keeneland November. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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