Street Sense S. | Horse Racing Free Tips

WinStar Farm Stallion Improbable Euthanized

WinStar Farm stallion Improbable (City Zip), the champion older male of 2020 and a 'TDN Rising Star', was euthanized late last night at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington after suffering from ataxia behind, a condition which causes poor voluntary muscle control, the farm said in a release early Sunday.

“He was sent to Rood and Riddle yesterday morning to determine the exact cause of the ataxia,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He was responding well to treatment, but went to lie down in his stall, and fell awkwardly. As a result, he broke his right tibia, which could not be repaired.”

Improbable won three consecutive Grade I races in 2020, taking the GI Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga and the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita en route to Eclipse honors at season's end.

Undefeated at two, Improbable broke his maiden at first asking at 'The Great Race Place' in late September of 2018. He followed that up with a score in the Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs in early November, which earned him a 'TDN Rising Star' badge for the effort.

Improbable winning the Whitney | Sarah Andrew

Improbable's juvenile year ended with a five-length win going 1 1/16 in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity. His time of 1:41.18 was the fastest in over a decade.

A stakes winner each season from two to four, Improbable concluded his career with a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 2020.

All told, he won seven starts, six of them stakes, and earned $2,729,520 for owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing.

“These horses are our life, and we work every day to take care of them the best way we know how,” said Dr. Natanya Nieman, general manager and resident veterinarian at WinStar Farm. “The whole team is reeling. Improbable gave us many great moments to share with our partners, our team, and the whole racing community. It is tragic.”

Bred in Kentucky by St. George Farm and G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Improbable was acquired by Maverick Racing and China Horse Club for $200,000 out of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale.

Out of the A.P. Indy mare Rare Event, the 8-year-old stallion was bred to 329 mares in his first two books and is represented by his initial crop of 2-year-olds this year, including a colt out of the stakes-placed Inaugurate (Empire Maker) that was purchased by trainer Jimmy DiVito, agent, for $475,000.

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Weekend Preview: Stars of Tomorrow Program Anchored By Street Sense

The fall meeting at Churchill Downs gets underway Sunday in what has become its traditional way, with juvenile races comprising the entire 11-race program. When the Triple Crown trail begins in earnest following the turn of the calendar, it will likely feature a handful of horses that raced on the day en route to bigger and better things, and the $200,000 GIII Street Sense S. has the feel of a key race going forward.

The form of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity is very much on display, and while that event's top two finishers–'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) and The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso)– will be making their way to Santa Anita for next Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the two horses that finished immediately in their wake will do their part to frank the race.

Despite graduating by a distance at odds-on and earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, Generous Tipper (Street Sense) was friendless in the market at better than 17-1 for the Breeders' Futurity, but turned in a bold effort to be third after trailing for the opening half-mile. When all was said and done, he was a neck better than Northern Flame (Flameaway), who won his maiden in wire-to-wire fashion at this track Sept. 15.

Locked's stable companion Moonlight (Audible) is the new shooter and potential fly in the ointment, as he stretched away to break his maiden by eight lengths in a rained-off maiden at Aqueduct Sept. 28, while Liberal Arts (Arrogate) looks to improve off his closing third in the one-mile GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 16.

That's A Wrap at Keeneland…

Saturday marks the final day of racing for the Keeneland fall meet, with a pair of graded events on tap. You'd have to travel all the way back to Blame in 2009 for the last time a 3-year-old defeated his elders in the GII Hagyard Fayette S.–his sire Arch accomplished the same feat in 1998–and such is the objective for Il Miracolo (Gun Runner) on Saturday. Seventh to Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Belmont S. June 10, the chestnut has since held his own in stakes company, finishing second in the Curlin S. July 21 before winning the GIII Smarty Jones S. at Parx Aug. 22. The chestnut was hardly disgraced when last seen in the GI Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 23, as he rallied from behind midfield to round out the exacta behind the GI Breeders' Cup Classic-bound Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) and Dreamlike (Gun Runner), pre-entered for two championship races.

Trademark (Upstart) is the very lukewarm 9-2 morning-line favorite off his head defeat in the GII Lukas Classic Sept. 30, but he'll have to work out a trip from gate 10, while Giant Game (Giant's Causeway) is a threat on his best, though there appears to be plenty of other speed signed on.

The co-featured GIII Bryan Station S. lures a field of 10, led by the exciting Talk of the Nation (Quality Road), who bounced back from a pair of runner-up efforts to win the $1-million Gun Runner S. at Kentucky Downs Sept. 2. He squares off here with Smokey Mandate (Strong Mandate), third in the Gun Runner and second to More Than Looks (More Than Ready) in the Sept. 30 Jefferson Cup S. at Churchill. The latter was entered in the Bryan Station, but breezed Friday at Keeneland and appears headed for next Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

Xigera Opts For Path of Least Resistance in NY…

For a time, Rigney Racing's Xigera (Nyquist) was under strong consideration for next weekend's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but connections have chosen a more conservative course and have the 6-5 morning-line choice for Satuday's GII Mother Goose S. at Aqueduct. Though the $190,000 Keeneland September yearling won her maiden on the turf and added this year's Tepin S. on the grass, she could not have been more impressive in shooting clear to take the Seneca Overnight S. by a dominating 6 1/4 lengths Sept. 23. Anything approaching that effort would be tough to topple here, but she does encounter some classy rivals in the form of GI Central Bank Ashland S. victress Defining Purpose (Cross Traffic) as well as the enigmatic Julia Shining (Curlin), winner of the GII Demoiselle S. at this venue last December.

The GII Forty Niner S., formerly the GII Kelso S., serves as a course-and-distance prep for the GII Cigar Mile H. during the Aqueduct meet and looks to be a two-horse affair between Accretive (Practical Joke), runner-up to Cody's Wish (Curlin) in the GII Vosburgh S. Oct. 1, and Everso Mischievous (Into Mischief), who looks to negotiate this class hike, having drawn away for a first black-type score in the Sept. 23 Harrods Creek S. at Churchill.

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Hard Spun’s Two Phil’s Too Tough In Street Sense

Patricia's Hope LLC and Phillip Sagan's Two Phil's (Hard Spun) stalked, pounced and pulled away to take Churchill's GIII Street Sense S. Sunday while flattering the form of a pair of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile contenders. Fifth in his local unveiling June 23, the chestnut broke through next out at Colonial the following month. He resurfaced to crush by 9 3/4 lengths in Canterbury's Shakopee Juvenile S. Sept. 17, but could only manage seventh on the stretch out in Keeneland's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity Oct. 8. 'TDN Rising Stars' Forte (Violence) and Loggins (Ghostzapper), who finished one-two in that event, are among the list of formidable colts set to take on expected favorite Cave Rock (Arrogate) in this coming Friday's Juvenile.

Off at 7-1 over a rain-soaked surface and as the money poured in on Jace's Road (Quality Road), Two Phil's broke cleanly and bounced off a rival in the first-turn scramble before being put in a perfect spot by Jareth Loveberry to draft behind a trio of leaders down the backside. He continued to cruise along comfortably through a half in :48.21, and mounted an outside bid around the home bend as 27-1 Hayes Strike (Connect) mirrored that move up the fence. Two Phil's strode to the front still under confident handling past the quarter pole, and was always in command from there despite struggling a bit with his lead changes. Hayes Strike checked in 5 1/4 lengths back to complete the exacta, with another clear margin back to slow-starting Fliparino (Honor Code) in third. Jace's Road dropped back on the far turn after attending the pace and finished well back. The winner's final time of 1:47.31 was a bit slower than the 1:46.90 in which impressive unbeaten female Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) covered the same 1 1/16 miles of the Rags to Riches S., though plenty of additional precipitation had fallen in between the two races.

“He's shown a lot of maturity in his last couple of starts,” said Loveberry, who has been aboard Two Phil's in every start but his debut. “He's started learning a lot more and settling early into the race. He got a little bounced around today, but down the backside I got him to settle nicely and at the half-mile pole we were in a good position. I tipped him out a little bit and he showed me a lot of run. This is my first graded stakes win at Churchill Downs and I'm very excited and thankful to [trainer] Larry [Rivelli] and [Patricia's Hope principal] Vince [Foglia] for giving me this opportunity.”

Rivelli added, “He's been roughed around a couple times but Jareth has really figured him out. He gave him a great ride today and has worked with him in each start to get to mature. He's learned to relax and he's a solid, sound horse. He ran great today and we're thrilled with his potential.”

Sunday, Churchill Downs
STREET SENSE S.-GIII, $199,800, Churchill Downs, 10-30, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:47.31, sy.
1–TWO PHIL'S, 122, c, 2, by Hard Spun
1st Dam: Mia Torri (MSW & MGSP, $314,720), by General Quarters
2nd Dam: Flip the Stone, by Birdstone
3rd Dam: Flippy Diane, by Aaron's Concorde
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($150,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Patricia's Hope LLC and Phillip Sagan; B-Phillip Sagan (KY); T-Larry Rivelli; J-Jareth Loveberry. $118,350. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-0, $195,450. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Hayes Strike, 122, c, 2, Connect–Plaid, by Deputy Commander. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $38,500.
3–Fliparino, 122, c, 2, Honor Code–Swap Fliparoo, by Exchange Rate. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-George R. Arnold, II. $19,250.
Margins: 5 1/4, 3 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 7.62, 27.29, 8.65.
Also Ran: Top Recruit, Red Route One, Honed, Frosted Departure, Jace's Road, Boppy O, Western Ghent. Scratched: King Ice.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Two Phil's becomes the 36th Northern Hemisphere graded/group winner for Darley stalwart Hard Spun, who was second in Street Sense's Gi Kentucky Derby win as part of that vintage 2007 crop. He is the first graded winner out of a mare by hard-knocking and versatile MGISW General Quarters.

The winner's dam was a MSW and MGSP sprinter for breeder and co-owner Philip Sagan and trainer Jorge Navarro. Two Phil's is her first foal. Her yearling colt by Omaha Beach RNA'd earlier in the week for $32,000 at Fasig-Tipton October. Next in the pipeline is a McKinzie colt. Mia Torri was bred back to Omaha Beach for 2023.

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Street Sense Headlines Stars of Tomorrow Card

The GIII Street Sense S.–graded for the first time in 2022–is one of 11 races for juveniles on Sunday's “Stars of Tomorrow I” card to kick off the Churchill Downs fall meeting. Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Red Route One (Gun Runner) gets the tepid morning-line nod at 3-1. The chestnut broke through by daylight second out at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5, then switched to dirt to finish third from out of the clouds at almost 60-1 in the Oct. 8 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. Jace's Road (Quality Road), a $510,000 KEESEP acquisition by Albaugh Family Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds, aired at first asking for Brad Cox sprinting at Ellis Aug. 6, good for 'TDN Rising Star' honors. He was a stalking third last time in the track-and-trip GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 17. Mark Case won the first two runnings of this race back in 2013 and 2014, and will be represented this time around by Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro). The Breeze Easy and John Oxley representative broke his maiden first out in a dirt sprint, but scored a career high when upsetting Saratoga's turfy, two-turn GIII With Anticipation S. Aug. 31. Boppy O was most recently sixth behind With Anticipation third Andthewinneris (Oscar Performance) in the Oct. 9 GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. in Lexington. Boppy O will wear blinkers for the first time Sunday.

Among the contenders in the Rags to Riches S. for fillies are GIII Pocahontas S. scorer Fun and Feisty (Midshipman) and recent local scorers Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), Peacock Lass (American Pharoah) and T Max (Connect).

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