TDN Rising Star | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dec. 10 Insights: Nashville Returns at Oaklawn

8th-OP, $102K, Alw/Opt. Clm ($80K), 3yo/up, 5 1/2f, 4:46 p.m. ET

Nearly a year after suffering his first defeat in last winter's GI Runhappy Malibu S., China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's NASHVILLE (Speightstown) will return to the races as a likely prohibitive favorite in this sprint at Oaklawn. Starting his career with a devastating 11 1/2-length romp as a 3-10 favorite in the Saratoga slop last September–easily good enough for 'TDN Rising Star' honors–the $460,000 Keeneland September proved that was no fluke with an effortless 9 3/4-length allowance score at Keeneland and a facile 3 1/2-length victory in that track's Perryville S. in which he set a track record, clocking 1:07.89 for six furlongs. Favored in a highly-anticipated clash with Charlatan (Speightstown) in the Malibu, Nashville set sizzling early splits before retreating to finish a well-beaten fourth.

“It's just kind of a starting point,” WinStar President/CEO and racing manager Elliott Walden told the Oaklawn notes team Wednesday morning. “We want to get a race in him and see where we are. It looks like a good spot. There's some competitive horses in there and it will give us a good barometer.”

Nashville shows a half-dozen breezes for this return, capped by a maintenance four furlongs in :51 2/5 (14/20) over this track Dec. 6.
“It's been a long road,” added Walden. “Sometimes, horses make you wait. Nothing major, but had a couple of starts and stops this year. You're always concerned about a layoff, but Steve [Asmussen] knows how to handle these horses. He said he's ready. Just looking forward to getting him back.” TJCIS PPs

—@JBiancaTDN

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‘Rising Star’ Beau Liam to Airdrie

Stonestreet Stables LLC's `TDN Rising Star' Beau Liam (Liam's Map–Belle of Perintown, by Dehere) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Brereton and Elizabeth Jones's Airdrie Stud as a partnership between Stonestreet, Spendthrift Farm and Airdrie. Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Beau Liam won his first three starts this season. Beau Liam will stand his first season for a fee of $6,000 stands and nurses.

Named a TDN Rising Star following his 7 1/2-length debut at Churchill Downs, Beau Liam's six-furlong time of 1:08 3/5 represented the fastest recorded clocking of any maiden at the distance in the history of the racetrack, earning a Ragozin Sheet number of 5 3/4. In his second start, he earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure when taking a seven-furlong allowance at Saratoga. His Beyer trailed only multiple Grade I winner Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music)'s 107 and equaled the 106 figure earned by Grade I scorer Life is Good (Into Mischief), listed among the fastest 3-year-olds of the year at seven furlongs. In his third start, a dominant six-length victory at Saratoga, Beau Liam stopped the clock for 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15 flat, earning a career high 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bet down to 2-5 favoritism while taking on his elders in the GIII Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs, Beau Liam finished second, beaten by a length to the multiple graded stakes winner Plainsman (Flatter). The final time for the mile fixture was 1:33 4/5. Beau Liam was being pointed to the GI Cigar Mile at the time of a training injury that led to his retirement. He retires with three wins and a second from four lifetime starts and earnings of $229,000.

Bred in Kentucky by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm, the son of Liam's Map was retained to race in the farm colors after not meeting his $385,000 reserve as a yearling at the Keeneland September Sale. From the second crop of his sire, the final hammer price was higher than the most expensive Liam's Map yearling of the 2019 sales season. His dam, the Dehere mare Belle of Perintown, was the winner of the GII Silverbulletday S. as a 3-year-old after a juvenile stakes victory in the Pocahontas S. at Churchill. In addition to Beau Liam, she is the dam of no fewer than three other black-type performers, including the graded-winning Strike it Rich (Unbridled's Song) and graded stakes-producing Sumptuous (Hennessy). Belle of Perintown is a granddaughter and great granddaughter, respectively, of the talented race fillies Jeanne Jones (Nijinsky II) and Beautiful Glass (Pass the Glass).

“Beau Liam is a brilliantly fast horse by one of the most exciting young stallions in the industry,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “He is gorgeous, and from a top-class family. There is no shortage of important stallions with a similar race record to this horse and their unifying characteristic has almost always been brilliant ability. We believe running the fastest maiden sprint in Churchill Downs history on debut and then following with 106 and 107 Beyers absolutely merits that distinction. We have been given a tremendous opportunity by Barbara Banke and the great team at Spendthrift Farm to stand this horse and we will be supporting him heavily to ensure he has the opportunity we all believe he deserves.”

“This horse was an absolute freak,” said Stonestreet Farm bloodstock advisor John Moynihan. “Everyone saw what he did as a 3-year-old, but he showed us that talent at two as well. I would have the same belief in Beau Liam's stallion potential as when we retired Maclean's Music. He's that kind of special. He will get a great chance at Airdrie Stud.”

“He's just a freakishly fast horse,” added Asmussen. “I wish we'd had the opportunity to get a Grade I next to his name, but anyone who saw him run knows he was of that talent level.”

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In Full Flight: Unbeaten ‘Rising Star’ Flightline on Target for Malibu

Unbeaten and untested in a pair of blowout victories, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) is gearing up to make his highly anticipated stakes debut in the GI Malibu S. on Santa Anita's traditional opening day program Dec. 26.

Campaigned in partnership by the powerhouse lineup of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, and breeder Summer Wind Equine, the $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling made it two-for-two for trainer John Sadler in spectacular fashion, crushing a first-level group of optional claimers by 12 3/4 lengths over Labor Day weekend at Del Mar (video).

The bay earned an astronomical 114 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, the co-highest rating recorded throughout all of the 2021 season.

After flirting with a potential start against older horses in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar last month, Flightline instead began gearing up for the seven-furlong Malibu versus fellow sophomores with five workouts since Halloween, most recently breezing a bullet five-eighths in :59.60 (1/28) at Santa Anita Nov. 28 (video).

“Very very happy with the way he's been,” Terry Finley said while checking in from Ocala on West Point's yearling class of 36 strong.

“John Sadler was able to give him a little bit of a blow after the Del Mar race. I know he's right on target, and is very comfortable. John just really thinks he's a special horse and a special talent. Everybody in the partnership is anxiously awaiting Christmas time and opening day at Santa Anita. It will be a good test. The water will be a lot deeper. Dr. Schivel (Violence) is a multiple Grade I winner and just got nipped in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. It's gonna be a formidable task and we are excited to see how he responds and runs against a really good group of horses.”

Finley continued, “It's very tough individually to buy these kind of horses anymore. The market has been white hot and it's a long way down when you spend $1 million for a horse all by yourself. It's easy to say, but this is a really good group of people and experienced. Everyone knows the ups and downs and has been around a long time. We all get along really well and we're all rolling in the same direction, which is absolutely essential in these type of partnerships.”

Flightline previously debuted with an equally impressive 13 1/4- length jaw-dropping 'Rising Star' performance at Santa Anita Apr. 24. So why all the time between starts? Is Flightline just too fast for his own good?

“People do ask all of us this on a regular basis–it was a simple foot bruise that kind of caused us to have to back up after his debut,” Finley responded.

“We all thought we had a special talent before he even ran. It's rare–very few horses run that well in their first start. And then he just had a foot bruise. It was nothing else. You could see his works. John took his time with him and we pointed for that race at the end of Del Mar. I'm not sure there's ever been another horse that has run a 114 Beyer in his second start. John is the captain of the ship and we all agreed that it would be the best thing in terms of development for this colt to bypass the Breeders' Cup Sprint and point for the Malibu.”

Summer Wind purchased Flightline's dam Feathered (Indian Charlie), a granddaughter of the Phipps Stable-bred MGISW Finder's Fee (Storm Cat), for $2.35 million in foal to War Front at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. Flightline is her second foal.

The versatile Feathered captured the grassy 2015 GIII Edgewood S. and was also second in the GI American Oaks and GI Starlet S., and third in the GI Frizette S. Feathered has a Tapit colt of 2020 ($390,000 FTSAUG RNA) and a Curlin colt of this year in the pipeline. She was bred back to Into Mischief.

“We all know these are the kinds of horses that we're all shooting for the stars with,” Finley concluded. “When you get one like this, it's absolute magic on a big scale. We're blessed– it's a cool thing to be part of the ride with a horse like this. I don't think that we've ever had the kind of anticipation that's starting to build as we have for this horse in the Malibu.”

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Shoplifted, Gold Double To Stand At Valor Farm

'TDN Rising Star' Shoplifted (Into Mischief–Shopit, by Yes It's True) and Gold Double (Medaglia d'Oro–Fiftyshadesofgold, by My Golden Song) will enter stud for the upcoming breeding season at Valor Farm in Texas.

Bred by Machmer Hall, Craig and Carrie Brogden, Shoplifted was a $525,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $800,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream breezer and raced for Robert Clay's Grandview Equine, Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stable and the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Shoplifted won his maiden by 4 1/2 lengths at first asking at Saratoga in 2019 and was runner-up to stablemate Basin (Liam's Map) in the GI Hopeful S. before closing out the season with a victory in the Springboard Mile S.

Also placed in the GI Woody Stephens S. and GI H. Allen Jerkens S., Shoplifted hails from the female family of GISWs Miss Shop (Deputy Minister) and Power Broker (Pulpit), MGSW Imprimis (Broken Vow) and GSW & MGISP Trappe Shot (Tapit). Shoplifted will stand for $5,000.

Gold Double, bred and owned by Valor Farm's Douglas Scharbauer, is a son of Texas-bred Fiftyshadesofgold, who carried the famed Scharbauer silks to victory in the GIII Eight Belles S. Gold Double hit the board in all five starts, including a Fair Grounds maiden win. Fiftyshadesofgold, Texas's Horse of the Year for 2014, is a daughter of Valor stallion My Golden Song, a perennial leading sire in the Lone Star State. Gold Double's female family includes Alysbelle, a full-sister to Alysheba. He will stand for $1,000.

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