spendthrift | Horse Racing Free Tips

Lightning Strikes Twice in Fourstardave

MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Got Stormy (Get Stormy), the only female winner of the GI Fourstardave H. when she won the race two years ago in stakes record time, found her best form Saturday to post a 12-1 upset in this year's running of the “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

Purchased off a fifth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint by B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm for $2.75 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale and then offered in microshare pieces via MyRacehorse, the chestnut remained with trainer Mark Casse and scored first out for the new connections in the GIII Honey Fox S. at Gulfstream in February. Her next two outings were not as strong, however–she was fifth in both the GII Distaff Turf Mile S. at Churchill May 1 and GI Jaipur S. on the cutback at Belmont June 5–and was starting to give the impression of one whose best racing days were behind her.

Away well under Tyler Gaffalione, Got Stormy sat comfortably in third as they strung out around the first turn behind fellow female Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The frontrunner doled out splits of :23.45, :46.69 and 1:10.12 with little change in the running order, and they fanned across the track into the lane with Got Stormy continuing to go well and Blowout's favored stablemate Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) trying to rev up from the back. Got Stormy kicked past Blowout with little resistance in midstretch, and kept on going under energetic encouragement to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths. Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}) rallied from last to complete the exacta, while Jaipur winner Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) was third. Blowout held on for fourth, but Raging Bull never fired and checked in sixth.

“She was taking me the whole way,” Gaffalione said. “I was able to tuck in and save ground. She relaxed beautifully down the backside. Going into the turn she started to pick up on her own and she started creeping up. When I put her outside, she unleashed a big run and it was all over from there.”

He added, “Watching the races, the best ground has been inside on the turf, so I figured that was the best place to be. I was able to get there comfortably and it all worked out.”

Carrying the silks of Gary Barber in her previous Fourstardave win, and when second last year, Got Stormy shortened up to take the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint last September and added the GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. at Keeneland in October before running back in the Breeders' Cup over the same course and distance.

She was one of 12 purchases totaling $25,030,000 and also including $9.5-million topper and champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) made by Spendthrift at Fasig-Tipton last November.

“This was maybe even more exciting [than winning the 2019 Fourstardave] because they wrote her off,” said Casse, fresh off his Hall of Fame induction last week. “They did the same to [two-time champion] Tepin (Bernstein), and she came back. I'm really proud. There's been some bumps along the road with her, but she came when it was time.”

While Casse had opted to shorten Got Stormy at times for what he thought were better configurations for her, he believes the sharper turns at Saratoga–and at Del Mar later this year–are to her liking.

“It's what she loves; they'll have some sharp turns at Del Mar [in the Breeders' Cup Mile], so that'll work out just fine,” he said. “You could see how well she was training. She loves it here. She trains great here.”

The hard-knocking mare was a fitting winner of the race named after the ageless “Sultan of Saratoga.”

“I think for Fourstardave, who ran so many times here year-after-year, for her to come and do this three years in a row…maybe we can do another one,” Casse said. “We'll have to talk to the higher ups.”

Saturday, Saratoga
FOURSTARDAVE H.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-14, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.09, fm.
1–GOT STORMY, 116, m, 6, by Get Stormy
                1st Dam: Super Phoebe, by Malabar Gold
                2nd Dam: Air France, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Twin Propeller, by Known Fact
($23,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $45,000 2yo '17 EASMAY; $2,750,000
5yo '20 FTKNOV). O-My Racehorse Stable & Spendthrift Farm
LLC; B-Mt. Joy Stables, Pope, Pope Jr. & Marc McLean (KY);
T-Mark E. Casse; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $275,000. Lifetime Record:
30-12-5-3, $2,398,403. *1/2 to Sir Alfred James (Munnings),
MSP, $210,980; 1/2 to Sky Gold (Successful Appeal), SP,
$151,020. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Set Piece (GB), 119, g, 5, Dansili (GB)–Portodora, by
Kingmambo. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd
(GB); T-Brad H. Cox. $100,000.
3–Casa Creed, 120, h, 5, Jimmy Creed–Achalaya, by Bellamy
Road. ($15,000 Ylg '17 OBSWIN; $105,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP).
O-LRE Racing LLC & JEH Racing Stable LLC; B-Silver Springs
Stud, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott. $60,000.
Margins: 1HF, HF, NK. Odds: 12.50, 4.10, 6.20.
Also Ran: Blowout (GB), Daddy Is a Legend, Raging Bull (Fr), Whisper Not (GB), Field Pass. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

MGISW sire Got Stormy boasted four wins himself at the Spa, including in the 2010 Fourstardave. He is the sire of 10 stakes winners, six graded, with Get Stormy his only highest-level victoress. Dam Super Phoebe, a nine-time winner in Puerto Rico, is half to GSWs Smooth Air (Smooth Jazz) and Overdriven (Tale of the Cat). Her Mohaymen 2-year-old colt now named Mohegan was a $315,000 purchase by Tradewinds Farm at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale. Super Phoebe has a yearling colt by Bolt d'Oro, and was barren to Uncle Mo for 2021 before being bred to Nyquist this past season.

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Breeders’ Cup Distaff Title Defense Unlikely For Champion Monomoy Girl

The two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Distaff appears unlikely to defend her title in 2021, reports bloodhorse.com. While Monomoy Girl is back under tack at WinStar Farm, the champion racemare is not expected to return to trainer Brad Cox's barn for another three weeks, making the first weekend of November a tight target.

“We'll talk it over with (Spendthrift's) Ned Toffey (general manger) and Eric Gustavson (owner) and everyone else to come up with a game plan,” Cox told bloodhorse.com. “The Breeders' Cup would be really tight and I don't know if it's a possibility, but there are some other races out there for her. There's no pressure. She's such an accomplished mare and has done so much, she will only run if she's 100 percent right.”

Winner of the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders' Cup Distaff in 2018, Monomoy Girl missed all of the 2019 season before returning in 2020 to be crowned divisional champion when undefeated across four starts, including the Breeders' Cup Distaff held at Keeneland.

Monomoy Girl was sold to Spendthrift Farm for $9.5 million at the conclusion of her 2020 racing season, and MyRacehorse leased her 2021 racing rights. MyRacehorse then sold shares in that experience to 10,200 individuals earlier this year. The 6-year-old daughter of Tapizar won the G3 Bayakoa and was second to Letruska in the G1 Apple Blossom thus far this season.

On May 10, MyRacehorse announced that Monomoy Girl was experiencing minor muscle strain and soreness, and would be given 30 days off at WinStar Farm.

Cox named targets like the G1 Cigar Mile, the G1 Clark Handicap, and the G1 Pegasus World Cup as potential future targets for Monomoy Girl.

Eric Gustavson Joins the TDN Writers’ Room

Following the tragic loss of Coolmore's cornerstone stallion Galileo, champion sire Into Mischief has suddenly found himself at center stage as the top stallion in the world in just about every category. On this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, the crew sat down with Eric Gustavson of Spendthrift Farm, a new sponsor of the show, to talk about their rise of success with the son of Harlan's Holiday.

“For us to have Into Mischief is the classic case of how a rising tide lifts all boats,” said Gustavson, who joined in as the Green Group Guest of the Week. “He's our rising tide and he brings so much attention to the farm. He's so powerful and dominant in so many categories as a stallion and it's mind blowing that you could ever have one like this. That he is considered one of the all-time greats, if not the best in the world, is really humbling.”

Gustavson, who serves on the Board of the Directors for Breeders' Cup, also spoke out on racing's urgent need for change.

“The industry is so fractious…with the issues of lack of uniformity in medications and things like that,” he said. “The industry cannot grow unless these things start to change. We need to have innovation. We need to have inclusion. We need to have uniformity to the point where we're not dysfunctional and referring to a weak regulatory system. These are the kinds of things that I would like to help change because we're just stuck. There is a lot of talk about the pros and cons of the government coming in and being involved with control over the drug issues. A lot of people are against it, but my feelings are that we have to do something and if this is the only way to do it, then so be it. Let's have the uniformity and have some kind of oversight that has some teeth.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday's podcast, which welcomed the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association 2021 Yearling Sale in joining additional sponsors West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers recapped another great week of racing at Saratoga, discussed the recent controversy with trainer Marcus Vitali and looked forward to this weekend's racing at the Spa and beyond.

Click here to watch the podcast on YouTube.

Click here for the audio-only version.

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The Man Alongside Foundation Sire Malibu Moon

Following the sudden passing of Spendthrift foundation sire Malibu Moon, much has been said on his accomplishments at stud.

The perennial leading sire has had 126 stakes winners, 51 graded winners and 17 Grade I winners. He's the sire of a Kentucky winner in Orb and an Eclipse Champion in Declan's Moon. As a broodmare sire, he has produced champion Stellar Wind (Curlin) and Breeders' Cup runner-up Bellafina (Quality Road). Just yesterday, he had his 21^st 'TDN Rising Star' with Always Carina.

To Spendthrift's Stallion Manager Wayne Howard, those stats don't mean all that much. To him, Malibu Moon will be remembered for so much more.

“Malibu Moon is a once-in-a-lifetime horse for me,” he said. “I don't see myself having another horse like that again with his presence. Everybody knew he was the man. Without Malibu Moon, I'm not sure where I would be.”

Malibu Moon was foaled in 1997, the same year Howard, a native of Falmouth Cornwall England, arrived in the United States.

As a juvenile, Malibu Moon went into training under Melvin Stute, where the B. Wayne Hughes homebred made his only two career starts at Hollywood Park, breaking his maiden on second asking going five furlongs. From there, the son of A.P. Indy began his stud career at the Pons family's Country Life Farm in Maryland, his initial stud fee set at $3,000.

Meanwhile Howard was working at Gainsborough Farm, learning from the likes of Allen Kershaw and Sandy Hatfield.

In 2004, Malibu Moon was relocated to Castleton Lyons. That's when the stars aligned for Malibu Moon and Wayne Howard.

“I was working the sales when Gary Murray [of Castleton Lyons] came up to me and asked if I had ever worked with stallions,” Howard recalled. “He said they were looking for somebody to come look after Malibu Moon and they had already been through three people who didn't stay very long with him. I came for an interview and Gary made me grab the horse. He bit me, made me bleed. I took him out to the show ring and when he went up in the air, I gave him a slap on the shoulder. Gary said I was hired. That's how our 18 years together started.”

The duo slowly began to figure each other out, their relationship developing as mutual respect grew for the other.

“He was always a tough horse to be around,” Howard said. “But he wasn't in any way vicious, he just had to have his own way. I spent most of my time looking at the sky because he was always on his hind end with his legs up in the air. You had to have a firm hand but also respect him.”

During Malibu Moon's first year in Kentucky in 2004, his son Declan's Moon was named champion juvenile colt. The next year, his fee at Castleton Lyons was increased from $10,000 to $30,000, and again to $40,000 in 2007.

In 2008, Hughes was ready to bring his homebred success to Spendthrift. It was quickly decided that Howard would come along too.

“They were asking who was going to look after him,” Howard remembered. “I was lucky enough that they said, 'Well Wayne is handling him now,' and I was offered the position. When I arrived at Spendthrift, there were just three stallions. Here we are now with 24.”

As it turned out, Howard's hand with the rambunctious stallion would be needed for most of his career.

“Malibu Moon was a tough horse up until the age of 14,” he said. “Then he finally decided it was time to grow up a bit. But he was definitely the man of the barn. He was such a great breeder, but we had to do everything his way. He was the boss, one hundred perfect.”

Even as the stallion produced a Kentucky Derby winner in 2013 and soon became regarded as a perennial leading sire, to Howard, he was just 'Malibu,' or sometimes, 'Boo Boo.'

“For me, the enjoyment was just coming up here at 11 o'clock at night in my pj's and flip flops, going around and seeing all the guys and patting Malibu on the head and giving him a carrot. The racing is great, but for me, it's about seeing these horses and getting to know them. Every one of them is different and Malibu, without a doubt, is a horse like I've never been around before. He's one of a kind.”

Over the past few days, the loss of Spendthrift's cornerstone sire has hung heavy among members of the farm's stallion team.

“There was just a presence about him,” Howard explained. “When every other stallion would see him walk by, they would all just kind of drop their heads. They knew he was the boss of the farm. Without him around, there's a big hole to be honest. You don't think of Spendthrift without thinking of Malibu Moon. It's heartbreaking at the moment.”

A few years ago, Howard handed Malibu's shank over to his new handler, Alex.

“He's taking it very hard,” Howard shared. “He has lost a great horse.”

Malibu Moon's paddock is the first on the left when driving up the hill to the farm's sprawling stallion complex. Along the fence, an arrangement of flowers sits this week, given by Howard and his wife in honor of the horse that will have an eternal impact on their lives.

“He was just like having a best friend,” Howard said. “There were plenty of good horse people out there, but you get an opportunity and you grab it and you're lucky enough to get a chance to go with a horse. I've been at Spendthrift now for 14 years. We breed up to 3,000 mares a year and I couldn't be in a better place. If it weren't for Malibu, who knows? Honestly, he's made my career.”

Howard and his team find comfort in the fact that one of Malibu Moon's most accomplished sons, Gormley, is off to a flying start at Spendthrift with his first crop of juveniles.

“We're super excited about Gormley,” Howard said. “He has started off great and we're hoping that one day, we can put Gormley in Malibu's stall and he can take over the mantle, without a doubt.”

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