Stuart Morris Leaves Hospital

Stuart Morris, who suffered a stroke on Christmas Eve, has been discharged from the rehabilitation facility where he has been recovering, according to a post from Carrie Brogden on his GoFundMe page.

“Stuart and (partner) Patty (Mitchell) are on their way home!!!” Mitchell wrote. “We cannot possibly express the thanks for the support…. financially, emotionally and spiritually. The Thoroughbred horse industry is an amazing place and we all feel lucky to be a part of it.”

Morris was transferred from UK Hospital to the Cardinal Hill rehabilitation hospital on Dec. 28, where he has made steady progress in his recovery. Thursday, he posted, “The support, calls, visits and prayers from everyone have been overwhelming. I am progressing very well, especially my mobility, balance and leg. I walked two miles here yesterday with a walker and half a mile with a cane. Both were supervised but unassisted. My lower left arm and hand are still very slow to wake up. I feel that's going to be a longer road back. Fortunately, my upper arm is doing very well and hopefully that will continue to my hand sooner rather than later. I will be thankfully going home this weekend and will soon begin months of outpatient work here at Cardinal Hill. We still have a long road to navigate but I am confident we will. Thank you to all for everything. I can't express my gratitude enough and will not waste this second dance card at life. WE WILL WIN.”

The GoFundMe page has raised over $193,000 from 433 individual donors to help with Morris's medical expenses.

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Stuart Morris Moved to Cardinal Hill

Stuart Morris, who suffered a stroke Christmas Eve morning, has been moved to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, according to Carrie Brogden, who is keeping his supporters updated through a GoFundMe page she set up for him. Morris has spent the last few days hospitalized at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. Cardinal Hill specializes in rehabilitation after stroke, brain injury, and other complex neurological and orthopedic conditions.

Brogden shared Morris was now able to slightly move his left arm, which had been stricken with paralysis. The stroke also left him with partial function of his left leg and slurred speech.

“Now that he is here [at Cardinal Hill], he's really wanting to get into his therapy routine and work hard,” said his longtime girlfriend, Patty Mitchell.

Mitchell asked for limited calls and no visitors through the weekend as Morris adjusts to his new routine.

To donate to the GoFundMe campaign or to see any additional updates, click here.

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Trio Share Top Billing During Vibrant Saratoga Sale

A trio of weanlings shared top price of $150,000 during a day of vibrant trade at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale Monday in upstate New York. By the close of business, 136 horses had sold for $4,533,200. The average of $33,332 jumped 48.5% from the 2021 auction and the median doubled to $20,000. With 46 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 25.3%. It was 29.7% a year ago when 163 horses grossed $3,657,800 for an average of $22,440 and a median of $10,000.

“The market up here was very strong and very honest all the way through, from the top to the bottom,” said Stuart Morris, who consigned two of the three co-toppers. “We were fortunate to bring some quality horses in here with good pedigrees and be rewarded by a strong marketplace. We are in a very fortunate cycle in our industry right now where we have a very high purse structure and, obviously the production level isn't what it was in the past, so I think that's feeding it as well.”

Glencrest Farm, with Dailey Bloodstock, as agent, purchased hip 196, a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) from the Morris consignment for $150,000. The weanling is out of Nice Smile (Smiling Tiger), a half-sister to multiple Grade I-placed Red Vine (Candy Ride {Arg}). The chestnut was bred by Constance Wickes, Amy Rabanal and Highclere, Inc., who purchased Nice Smile with the colt in utero for $70,000 out of this sale last October.

“My father and two of his partners bred him and he's always been a lovely colt,” Morris said. “Our expectations coming up here were strong, but not aggressive and we were very happy with the result on the horse. We thought he would be in that range and we were very happy to be rewarded by the marketplace and that they agreed with our opinion of his quality.”

Morris also consigned hip 167, a filly by Not This Time who sold to trainer Christophe Clement for $150,000. The weanling is out of Lookin Sharp (Lookin at Lucky), a half-sister to stakes winners Malibu Beauty (Buffum), Steady Warrior (Cherokee's Boy) and Steady N Love (Not for Love). She was bred by Drumkenny Farm, Springhouse Farm and Magnolia Mares. Magnolia Mares purchased Lookin Sharp for $53,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton February sale.

“She was a super, quality filly,” said Morris. “We had similar expectations for her and we were also rewarded by the market.”

Glencrest and Dailey Bloodstock also purchased a colt by Complexity (hip 179) for $100,000 Monday.

The trio of co-toppers at the Saratoga auction was rounded out by a filly by Malibu Moon (hip 14), who was purchased by Carolyn and David Cannizzo's Willow Brook Stables. Consigned by Vinery Sales, the weanling is out of graded-placed Stopspendingmaria (Montbrook) and is a half-sister to stakes winner No Mo' Spending (Uncle Mo) and to stakes-placed Blewitt (Uncle Mo). She was bred by Rockridge Stud, Ascendant Farms and Spendthrift Farm. Rockridge Stud purchased Stopspendingmaria for $32,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale.

“I thought she was a standout of all the fillies in the sale,” trainer David Cannizzo said of the purchase. “She was the top horse on my short list; she had a good pedigree, great physical and a great walk. She really stood out. I thought she was the sale topper by the end of Saturday morning and it proved to be correct. I was prepared to go a little higher if I had to. I thought she was a special individual.”

Asked for plans for the filly, Cannizzo said, “We will see how she grows and go from there. You might see her in a yearling sale or she might be a racehorse.”

Willow Brook enjoyed pinhooking success buying out of this sale a year ago. The operation acquired a colt by Bolt d'Oro for $120,000 at the Fall sale and resold him for $355,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling sale in August.

“It could be a very similar move,” Cannizzo said of this year's weanling purchase.

Willow Brook came back later in the session to acquire a colt by Practical Joke (hip 222) for $95,000.

Cannizzo said the strength of the state's racing and breeding program allowed him to buy New York-breds with extra confidence.

“The New York market is always very good because New York racing is at the top of the list with the great purses and great program we have for New York-breds,” he said. “You can always bail a client out, or bail yourself out, with a horse that you might have pushed a little harder to get to with the money you paid for them, but there is always a way out with the way the purses are in the New York breeding program.”

Dean and Patti Reeves, who purchased the 2021 Fall Sale topper, a $195,000 daughter of Catalina Cruiser, were active again Monday in Saratoga, purchasing seven weanlings for $555,000. The group was led by a filly by Maclean's Music (hip 96) who sold for $140,000 and a filly by King for a Day (hip 97).

The Reeveses led a strong contingent of end-users who competed with pinhookers to create a vibrant market in Saratoga.

“There is a very consistent and strong end-user market up here for the weanlings in November,” Morris said. “I sold the Not This Time filly to Christophe [Clement] and some end-users were underbidders on the Vekoma as well. Dean Reeves and Jimmy Gladwell have led that charge and Christophe has some other folks that are doing the same thing. And not just at the higher end, but at all levels. There were some horses I sold for lesser money to racehorse outfits up here as well. So it's becoming a place where there are some end-users sprinkled in every year to buy the weanlings and I think that helps drive the market.”

Morris also consigned the auction's top-priced broodmare, Ventriloquist (Nyquist) (hip 38), who sold in foal to Frosted for $90,000 to MWG, LLC.

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Classic Bases Loaded for Sire On The Up

Nobody has missed the explosive impact of Not This Time's second crop of sophomores on the Classic trail this year. But the fact remains that it's actually another stallion in his own intake that we find flirting most plausibly with an elusive distinction, with a chance of joining King Alfonso (1885), McGee (1918), Bull Lea (1952) and Native Dancer (1966) in siring the winners of both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks.

Okay, so we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. With nearly two months to go, it would be quite something just to get Zandon and Kathleen O into the gate with as feasible a chance as they appear to have right now. But whatever happens from here, I think we need to salute the work of their sire in getting that pair even this far, while standing at just $10,000.

His name, of course, is Upstart–and a clever name it is, too, for a son of Flatter out of the Touch Gold mare Party Silks. And now it's proving a very apt one, as well, with Upstart showing a real flair for upward mobility.

His third crop of juveniles, now on the launchpad, graduate from a book of just 38 covers. We all know how childish is the attention span of commercial breeders, but this was still a pretty ridiculous drop after he had opened with 146 mares–which, on a farm as exemplary as Airdrie, absolutely represented full subscription.

From the moment he could be judged on his own merits, however, Upstart has decisively reversed that customary drift. His first yearlings averaged more than six times his fee, promptly renewing traffic to 90 mares the following spring. And then, sure enough, they went out and showed that they can run: initially as a knockout pinhook medium, his first two crops averaging $107,791 and $113,250 at the 2-year-old sales; and after that–as could be anticipated from his own record, dual Grade I-placed in three consecutive campaigns–when permitted to stretch their capacity for a bullet breeze to a more meaningful span.

Kathleen O. herself is a perfect example. She was discarded to Shooting Star Thoroughbreds for just $8,000 as a weanling, having been acquired in utero with a mare whose principal appeal to her purchasers, Gainesway and Bridlewood, was evidently to assist the launch of Tapwrit. The following fall Kathleen O. was back under the hammer, advancing her value to $50,000, sold by Stuart Morris to Aurora Bloodstock at the OBS October Sale. Returning to the same ring last April, however, she had blossomed so athletically (blasted a quarter in 21-and-change) that Shug McGaughey gave $275,000.

“Niall Brennan had told us a month or two before how much he loved his Upstart filly,” recalls Bret Jones of Airdrie. “And then when I saw that Shug had signed the ticket on her–as we know, Shug doesn't sign too many auction tickets–I took that as another very encouraging sign. It's been a lot of fun watching it play out the way we sure hoped.”

Yes, it has. Racing in the silks of debut owner Pat Kearney's Winngate Stables, Kathleen O. retains an immaculate record: pouncing late for an Aqueduct maiden on debut; then romping by over eight in the Cash Run S. at Gulfstream; and now, off a lay-off, wrecking the unbeaten record of Classy Edition (Classic Empire) in the GII Davona Dale S. over the same track last weekend.

Young stallions are under enormous pressure to deliver, in the narrowest of windows, and Upstart has unequivocally seized his chance. From the outset, he has achieved terrific yields at ringside and then shown why on the track. He was admittedly unlucky with his flagship Reinvestment Risk, who made good money for investors twice over as a $140,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling and then a $280,000 OBS March 2-year-old, duly romping on debut at Saratoga before then finishing second in consecutive Grade Is. After disappointing at the Breeders' Cup, he made a single sophomore start and it was only last month that he resumed with a 103 Beyer on his comeback at Gulfstream–a performance that clearly sets him up for a return to elite company this summer.

“As a 2-year-old Reinvestment Risk had the bad luck to chase Jackie's Warrior through two very fast Grade Is,” Jones remarks. “I think his numbers would have won just about every other early graded 2-year-old race that year. So, while he didn't get that level of win, I think just about everybody shared the opinion that he had that level of talent.”

In his absence, Upstart's debut crop found a new focus in Masqueparade. Having raised $100,000 as a weanling and $180,000 as a yearling, he won the GIII Ohio Derby before finishing a good third to Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GII Jim Dandy S.

“Masquerade is also on the comeback trail,” Jones notes. “I spoke with Al Stall when I was down at the Fair Grounds and they're very bullish on what kind of 4-year-old he could be. He's big, beautiful and always seemed destined to be a good older horse. If you go back to his race on Kentucky Derby day [won optional allowance by a dozen lengths], he ran a very similar if not slightly faster Ragozin number than the best horses in the Derby.”

That renowned judge Mike Ryan had found Reinvestment Risk for the Chad Brown barn and the same pair returned to Upstart's second crop for Zandon, homebred from an unraced Creative Cause mare by Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie, as a $170,000 Keeneland September yearling. Zandon won a Belmont sprint on debut before losing out by a nose in the GII Remsen S., many being perplexed that he was not awarded the prize after being baulked late by Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo). On his return, he shaped really well against the flow of the GII Risen S., rank in the rear after a clumsy start but retaining enough energy to circle the field for third.

So anyone can see that we're already looking at a pretty impressive body of work for a horse standing for this kind of money. But there's something else I want to highlight that really sets Upstart apart. We've seen that he can look after breeders commercially; and we've seen that he can reward investors in the next cycle with real quality on the racetrack. But what I really like is that he's such a cast-iron source of “run”.

By the end of 2021, with a second crop of juveniles up and running, Upstart had managed to put no fewer than 114 of 149 named foals onto the track, including 65 winners. Those respectively represented 77% and 44% of his output. Compare those ratios with the handful who banked more prizemoney last year. Not This Time had 66% starters to named foals, and 35% winners; Nyquist, 61 and 26 %, respectively; Frosted 71 and 30%; Runhappy, 55 and 28%; and the lamented Speightster, 66 and 33%.

Those stats speak for themselves. Yet all bar one of these rivals, Runhappy, were working from books so much bigger than those assembled by Upstart that even their markedly inferior conversion rate–in terms of racetrack action–left them more starters. So his five stakes winners in 2021 stacked up admirably against all bar the freakish 13 assembled by Not This Time: Speightster had three, while Runhappy, Frosted and Nyquist had six apiece. We have meanwhile lost poor Speightster, but the fact remains that Upstart remains a lower fee than all the others.

This evolving trademark makes a lot of sense in a horse that showed up so reliably through three campaigns in the best company. Forward enough for a 102 Beyer at two, surely unique in a son of Flatter, Upstart started out winning a maiden and then a stake at Saratoga before placing in the GI Champagne and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile; he then beat Frosted by five in the GII Holy Bull S.; and matured to a supporting role in races like the GI Haskell, GI Met Mile and GI Whitney.

Jones is duly unsurprised by Upstart's excellence in literally getting you a runner. “He was a very sound horse himself,” he stresses. “He was an early-developing 2-year-old of Grade I caliber, even though his pedigree may not have screamed that. Then as a 3-year-old, he was one of the best Derby hopes on the East Coast before training on to be right there in very big races at four. With that stout Flatter-A.P. Indy blood behind him, there were a lot of reasons to hope that he could get sound horses that would keep getting better with age. And that does seem to be the case.”

This profile is underpinned by a pedigree that has plainly imparted both precocity and refinement to the kind of rangy, two-turn physique associated with the sire-line. Touch Gold is indeed gold as a broodmare sire, combining Deputy Minister and another legendary distaff brand in Buckpasser; and Upstart's third dam is by another copper-bottomed such influence in Drone. Beyond that, the family was cultivated through four generations by Federico Tesio himself, rooted in his foundation mare Tofanella (GB) (to whom Upstart's fifth dam is inbred 3 x 3).

Though Upstart's dam was unraced, her half-sister won the

GII Raven Run S. during an 8-for-27 career spread seamlessly across four campaigns. And his third dam, herself a graded stakes-placed half-sister to a multiple Grade I performer, also produced a graded stakes winner plus the mother of a top-class Japanese sprinter in Nobo Jack (French Deputy).

Despite his name, then, it seems as though Upstart has been an aristocrat all along. Both Zandon and Kathleen O., remember, are the very first foals out of their respective dams to make the racetrack–and Upstart, straight off the bat, is moving them right up in the world.

“We love that these Upstarts can make money for their breeders, then can handle the 2-year-old sales and go on to be early horses that train on,” Jones observes. “That's not an easy combination to pull off, but he's giving us a lot of reasons to believe that he can. He has a chance to be that great blend: the stallion that can get you a runner, as well as an expensive sales horse. Hopefully, he will now keep developing that commercial profile, as these horses continue to run fast.”

Certainly Jones expects Upstart to be back to a full book this year, a vivid measure of the way he has seized the fleeting chances he was given. Those who can get aboard this spring, then, will surely be ahead of the game by the time they come to sell the resulting foals. After all, he has come up with Zandon and Kathleen O. from a phase when he was, relatively speaking, marking time. And pending the next cycle we can expect his stock, thriving with maturity, to keep his name in lights.

“We got 86 mares to him the second year,” Jones says. “And from those 86 mares bred, he has these two really outstanding 3-year-olds. So, he's shown that he doesn't need the big numbers to have success. And now that he's finally going to have that opportunity again, now that you can add the kind of quality and numbers we think are in his future, then there's a real pipeline taking shape behind him. To us, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about Upstart.”

 

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