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O’Neill Starters To Face Off With Medina Spirit, Rock Your World In Shared Belief

Who knew that Bob Baffert was going to supplement disputed Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit to run in Sunday's $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.?

“I knew it weeks ago,” said John Sadler, who switched targets with Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World from the Del Mar Derby to the Shared Belief and beat Baffert to the announcement by a few days. “It was the worst kept secret in the stable area.”

Without the benefit of the grapevine, trainer Doug O'Neill figured out the Medina Spirit entry a couple of weeks ago. It was the Rock Your World commitment that came as something of a surprise to O'Neill.

“When Medina Spirit worked 1:11 and change (6f, 1:11.80 on August 12), I assumed that's where he was headed,” O'Neill said Friday morning. “I didn't know about Rock Your World.”

The developments were of great interest, of course, since O'Neill had two of his own charges set for the one-mile main track test for 3-year-olds.

“What a tough spot with the Kentucky Derby winner and the Santa Anita Derby winner,” O'Neill conceded.

O'Neill's entrants are Team Merchants, J. Paul Reddam homebred son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and The Great One, another son of Nyquist owned by Erik Johnson, a defenseman with National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, and partners.

Team Merchants posted a half-length victory at 6 ½ furlongs on the opening day of the meeting, July 16, that was his second win in four career starts. The Great One opened his 3-year-old campaign with a 14-length maiden-race victory at Santa Anita in January, but was overmatched and overwhelmed in both the Grade 2 San Felipe and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.

“Team Merchants we're looking to stretch his ability out to two turns – win, lose or draw,” O'Neill said. “The Great One just needs a place to run. He's ready to get back to the races and we've been targeting this one for awhile. It's a good place to start for steps down the road.”

The Great One was beaten 16 ¾ lengths by Life Is Good and eight by Medina Spirit in the San Felipe. The margins were 20 ½ behind Rock Your World and 15 ¾ by Medina Spirit in the Santa Anita Derby.

“It was all mental, physically he was OK,” O'Neill said. “One of the owners has a beautiful place in Ocala, FL, so we sent him down there for about six weeks to freshen him up. He's been back and is training good and looking good. Whether he's good enough to beat these guys is a real question, but we're excited to have him back at the races.”

The field for the Shared Belief Stakes from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Willy The Cobbler (Victor Espinoza, 20-1); Medina Spirit (John Velazquez, 7/5); Rock Your World (Umberto Rispoli, 8/5); Team Merchants (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1); The Great One (Flavien Prat, 6-1), and Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1).

While post position isn't likely to prove crucial, Rock Your World's trainer John Sadler said he was glad to be outside Medina Spirit as the marquee runners drew side-by-side posts.

“It will give us options,” Sadler said.

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D’Amato Readies Two For Yellow Ribbon, Cathkin Peak For La Jolla

Trainer Phil D'Amato reported Saturday morning that 2-year-old filly Elm Drive came out of her victory in Friday's $200,000 Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes “really good” physically.

And if the Kentucky-bred daughter of Mohaymen, a $165,000 purchase at the Ocala sale in March who carries the colors of Little Red Feather Racing stays that way, she'll next be seen in the $300,000 Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante on September 5.

“Yup, absolutely,” was D'Amato's response when the Debutante was mentioned in the winner's circle after she prevailed by a head over Baoma Corp's Eda in a stretch-long duel while covering six furlongs in 1:10.64.

“She broke on top then Juan (Hernandez) got her to rate, make a move and fight off a rival to her outside the length of the stretch. I just thought that's the epitome of class. Very professional, and I think she's the type of filly that the longer (the races) the better.”

Having chalked up one stakes victory for the weekend, D'Amato will send out Raymundos Secret (6-1) and Charmaine's Mia (4-1) in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon and narrowly favored (2-1) Cathkin Peak in Sunday's $150,000 Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes as a possible closer to three consecutive big days.

Irish-bred Cathkin Peak made his U.S. debut at Del Mar in late November a winning one and followed that with a December victory in the $80,000 Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Kicking off his 3-year-old campaign this year, Cathkin Peak was second to soon-to-be Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World in the $100,000 Pasadena Stakes in February and has gone unraced since.

“He had a couple of little things we needed to deal with, but he never left the barn and he has come back to train really well,” D'Amato said. Cathkin Peak will go 1 1/16 miles, the longest assignment of his career, in the La Jolla – second leg in the grass stakes series for 3-year-olds during the Del Mar summer. His previous starts were all at a mile.

“He's really tactical,” D'Amato said. “If there's not a lot of pace, he can be up close; if there is, he can sit back and make a late move. Juan can play the break and try to have him in the right spot.”

The field for the La Jolla from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Wyfire (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Hudson Ridge (Abel Cedillo, 5-2); Cathkin Peak (Juan Hernandez, 2-1); Zoffarelli (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), and Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

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La Jolla, Graduation Stakes Headline Sunday Card At Del Mar

Stakes horses will once again double up for a Del Mar crowd, this time on Sunday with the presentation of the 81st La Jolla Stakes and the 70th edition of the Graduation Stakes. The races will go as the 6th and 9th races, respectively, on the shore track's 10-race program.

The La Jolla, a Grade 3 affair that carries a purse of $150,000, has drawn a half-dozen 3-year-olds for a mile and one-sixteenth jaunt on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course at Del Mar Thorughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. The Graduation also has drawn six California-bred 2-year-old starters for its five and one-half furlong spin on the main track. It offers a purse of $100,000.

The Irish horse Cathkin Peak, owned by Sterling Stables, Nentwig, and CYBT, is a candidate to be the favorite in the La Jolla. A bay son of the Irish stallion Alhebayeb, Cathkin Peak raced once in his native land as a 2-year-old, then was purchased privately and shipped to California where he won a pair of races, including the overnight Eddie Logan at Santa Anita Park last December. He subsequently chased home the blossoming star Rock Your World in February's Pasadena Stakes, also at Santa Anita, then went on the shelf. This will be his first start in nearly six months, but trainer Phil D'Amato has put a series of steady works into him for this comeback.

Double L Stable and Natalie Baffert's Hudson Ridge hails from the powerful Bob Baffert barn and is a son of one of Baffert's Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah. The colt broke his maiden with a dead-head score in a straight maiden race at Santa Anita on May 1 and came back to win a pair of races after that, including the Cinema Stakes.

Two of the other La Jolla runners — Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's Zoffarelli and Yuesheng Zhang's Sword Zorro also first saw light of day in Ireland. The former will be making his U.S. debut in the La Jolla, while the latter owns a victory in the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita on grass April 25.

The Graduation – like many 2-year-old races at this time of year – is a tough one to sort out with only minimal past performances to work with. Morning line maker Jon White could barely separate two of the runners, hanging Lovingier, London, and Zondlo's Rock N Rye as an 8/5 favorite, just a tick better than Lovingier, Beckerle, and Carrillo's Thirsty Always at 9/5.

Rock N Rye is a homebred by Always Thirsty who was a handy winner of a straight maiden race in his second start at Santa Anita on May 30 in his most recent outing. He's been training steadily for this return date at both San Luis Rey Downs and Del Mar.

Thirsty Always, also by Stay Thirsty, scored in his first start at Santa Anita on May 16, then shipped up to Pleasanton and captured the Nevin Stakes there on July 10.

Trainer Walther Solis conditions both juveniles.

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Here's the lineup for the La Jolla from the rail out with riders and morning line odds: Steve Moger's Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Gary Barber's Wyfire (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Hudson Ridge (Abel Cedillo, 5/2); Cathkin Peak (Juan Hernandez, 2-1); Zoffarelli (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), and Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

The field for the Graduation lays out like this: Lovingier or Templeton Horses' Mr. T's Thirsty (Tyler Baze, 2-1); McMahon or Rudy's Trip to Spain (Frey, 2-1); Thirsty Always (apprentice Cesar Ortega); Rock N Rye (Rispoli); Moger, Burke or Estrada, et al's Northvale Road (Tiago Periera, 6-1), and Branch or Hill's Fowler Blue (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1).

First post for Sunday's card is 2 p.m.

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Stakes Winners Front Run The Fed, Stilleto Boy Top Vibrant Renewal Of Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses Of Racing Age Sale

Fasig-Tipton held two sales Monday at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Ky.: the inaugural July Breeding Stock sale, featuring the Far From Over/Fountain of Youth Dispersal, and a successful renewal of the July Selected Horses of Racing Age sale.

“I don't think there were any surprises today,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said of the July Selected Horses of Racing Age sale. “It was a very active market with very competitive bidding throughout the day. [It had a] really vibrant feel to it.”

Front Run the Fed (Hip 647), a 5-year-old stakes winning son of Fed Biz, topped the sale when sold for $440,000 to George Sharp (video).

“I got tired of being outbid, and decided I was going to go to half a million on this one, because I want to go to the Breeders' Cup this year,” Sharp said. “I've got some nice 2-year-old fillies that I think I'll get there with, but this one is hopefully certainly going to get me there.

“We might race him once in Del Mar, almost certainly Kentucky Downs, and then the Breeders' Cup,” he continued.

ELiTE, agent consigned the five-year-old son of Fed Biz, who is a multiple graded stakes placed stakes winner with earnings of $392,150 to date. Front Run the Fed's current record stands at 4-4-2 in 13 career starts, including a win in the Better Talk Now Stakes at three and placings in the 2020 Grade 3 Runhappy Turf Sprint Stakes and 2021 G3 Poker Stakes behind Grade 1 winners Oleksandra (AUS) and Raging Bull (FR).

Recent Iowa Derby winner Stilleto Boy (Hip 557) was the second-highest priced offering of the day, selling for $420,000 to Steve Moger (video).

Paramount Sales, agent consigned the 3-year-old Shackleford gelding, who has earned $249,675. Stilleto Boy has been in the money in all of his seven career starts, with a record of 2-2-2. Stilleto Boy is a half-brother to eight other winners out of 100-percent winner-producer Rosie's Ransom, including stakes winner Rosie My Rosie (Purge).

The top-priced filly was Josie (Hip 501) who got the sale off to a spectacular start when sold for $300,000 to KatieRich Farms as the first horse through the ring (video).

ELiTE, agent consigned the 4-year-old Race Day filly, who won the Iowa Distaff Stakes at Prairie Meadows on July 3 to increase earnings to $266,867. Josie has a record of 4-4-2 in 14 career starts, and is having a an excellent 2021, with three wins in four starts to date. Josie is one of seven winners out of the stakes winning Awesome Again mare Spirited Away, who has also produced Grade 2 winner/multiple graded stakes winner Prospective (Malibu Moon) and Malibu Cove (Malibu Moon), dam of Grade 2 winner/Grade 1 placed Kalypso.

In total, 79 horses of racing age sold for $5,905,500, up 16.4 percent from when 81 horses sold for $5,072,000 last year. The average rose 19.4 percent to $74,753 from $62,617 in 2020, while the median rose 66.7 percent to $50,000 from $30,000 last year. Fifteen horses sold for $100,000 or more, compared to 11 in 2020. The RNA rate fell to 24.8 percent. Full results are available online.

Jeweled Princess tops inaugural July Breeding Stock sale

Hip 448, Jeweled Princess, brought $225,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July Breeding Stock Sale.

Jeweled Princess (Hip 448), a stakes winning daughter of Cairo Prince, topped the July Breeding Stock sale when sold for $225,000 to Stoneriggs Farm (video).

Gainesway consigned the 4-year-old filly, who was offered carrying her first foal, by Horse of the Year and current leading first-crop sire Gun Runner. Jeweled Princess is out of a Scat Daddy half-sister to current stakes winner Miss Brazil, from the immediate family of Horse of the Year Military Attack, two-time champion Gladiatorus, and Grade/Group 1 winners Al Bahathri, Haafhd, The Hangman.

Colonial Creed (Hip 434), a multiple graded stakes placed daughter of Jimmy Creed, took the top broodmare prospect spot when sold for $175,000 to Andre Lynch, agent. South Point Sales Agency consigned the 5-year-old mare, who is a twice graded stakes placed winner who earned $223,881. Colonial Creed is half-sister to multiple graded stakes placed stakes winner Mo d'Amour (Uncle Mo), from the immediate family of Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf victor Line of Duty (IRE).

The most expensive broodmare with a foal-at-foot was multiple stakes winner Too Much Prada (Hip 421), who sold for $150,000 to The Elkstone Group with her 2021 Violence filly. Stuart Morris, agent for Far From Over/Fountain of Youth Dispersal consigned the 8-year-old Too Much Bling mare, who is a full sister to stakes winner Prada's Bling. Too Much Prada has a 2-year-old filly by Violence, which has not started, and a yearling colt by Violence. Her 2021 Violence filly was bred in Kentucky by BTSK Breeding and Racing.

“In the grand scheme of things, it was encouraging,” Browning said of the inaugural July Breeding Stock sale, which was a late addition to the sales calendar. “People (sellers) that tried it with an open mind were pretty well rewarded.”

During the breeding stock session, 44 fillies and mares changed hands for $2,012,000, good for an average of $45,727 and a median of $31,000. The RNA rate was 13.7 percent. Full results are available online.

Selling resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m. with the return of The July Sale.

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