Tag: TDN Rising Stars

October 8 Insights: Half to Always Dreaming, Hot Dixie Chick Debuts

2nd-KEE, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:31p.m. ET
Conditioner Brendan Walsh sends out a blue-blooded filly here in HUMBLING (Quality Road), who lays claim to a stellar female family which includes 'TDN Rising Star', GISW (and eventual producer of 'Rising Stars') Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union) and GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister). The former has a pair of talented offspring to her credit when counting GISW Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) and GSP Union Jackson (Curlin). Humbling, a $1 million FTSAUG purchase by Jeff Drown and Michael Ryan in 2021, claims Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) as a half-relation, who changed hands to Spendthrift Farm in 2020 for $1.5 million at FTKNOV. The dam Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}) herself earned GISP black-type with a runner-up effort in the Prioress. Humbling will break from the far outside in a full field of 12 and is coming in off a co-bullet gate work Sept. 29, covering four furlongs beneath the Twin Spires in :47.20 (1/48). TJCIS PPs

11th-KEE, $100k, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 6:18p.m. ET
Repole and St Elias Stable partner once again to send out OLD POINT (Curlin), half-brother to GISW & GI Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Collected (City Zip). Purchased as a yearling in 2020 for $475,000 at KEESEP, the chestnut is half to stakes-producer Helena's Triomphe (Arch) and hails from the family of GSP Koala Princess (More Than Ready). Bred by Three Chimneys, Runnymede, and Peter Callahan, Old Point took some time to get to the races but has made religious appearances on the work tab leading up to this debut. Todd Pletcher will send him out with Irad Ortiz Jr. getting the call for the seven panel sprint. TJCIS PPs

1st-BAQ, $95k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6fT, 12:35p.m. ET
Shipping in from Europe after being purchased for 420,000gns at TATOCT, EIN GEDI (IRE) (Oasis Dream {GB}) will carry not just the popular flag of MyRacehorse but those of Siena Farm, Peter Deutsch, Michael Kisber, and The Elkstone Group. Out of the stakes-winning Splashdown (GB) (Falbrav {Ire}), the filly is a half to Spanish Champion 2-year-old filly Reina Madre (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and is a full-sibling to 11-time winner, GSW Aktabantay (GB). This is the female family of Italian Champion 3-year-old filly and blue hen Proskona (Mr. Prospector), who counted nine black-type earners as the dam or granddam, and herself was half to German Highweight horse Keos. The Chad Brown barn will send Ein Gedi  to post with Manny Franco in the irons. TJCIS PPs

4th-SA, $61k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:34p.m. ET
RILEY G (Flatter) will carry not just the torch for Zedan Racing and Bob Baffert, but also another big tag after being secured for $625,000 at OBSOPN; zipping a furlong in :9 4/5 back in June. The grey is a half to three winners, but black-type makes an appearance underneath the second dam, who claims GI Darley Alcibiades victress Wickedly Perfect (Congrats). That mare later produced Japanese GSW Hartley (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in her adoptive country after selling for $800,000 KEEJAN to Katsumi Yoshida in 2011. Also in the pedigree is stakes-producer Wicked Mizz (Mizzen Mast) and GSP Ash Zee (Exchange Rate); the latter counts GSP The Reds (Tonalist) and Zee Drop (Lemon Drop Kid). Carrying the banner for Justify is $450,000 KEESEP stablemate California Rocket, a half-sister to MGSW Global View (Galileo {Ire}) and the dam of GSP Catch the Eye (Quality Road). TJCIS PPs

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Both Coasts Host Sunday Stakes Showdowns

By J.N. Campbell

While U.S. television sets await a rainy French Arc Day in the morning, both the right and left North American coasts will emcee three graded stakes races apiece, as Sunday afternoon comes calling. The Big A and The Great Race Place (Aqueduct and Santa Anita, in case you were stationed under a rock) host. The former is accommodating Belmont's Fall Meet, while “Big Sandy” undergoes an extreme makeover tunnel edition; while the latter is back in business under the picturesque mountains and ray filled sun in SoCal.

Howdy Pilgrim…

The Sunday October action begins with the annual renewal of the GII Pilgrim S., going a mile and a sixteenth on the grass. A couple years back this was upgraded from a Grade III to a Grade II, and the 2022 edition promises to be another hallmark. The real prize is a ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland, which is a little more than a month away.

A year after 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) proved victorious last year in this spot, this year's race includes a well-matched field of a dozen runners. Of course, 'Rising Star' I'm Very Busy (Cloud Computing), is a colt that sparkled in his only race to-date. Flavien Prat used the gears he was handed, and won nicely in one of those tough turf maidens at Saratoga.

However, you cannot overlook the presence of Shug McGaughey and his entry Battle of Normandy (City of Light), a sire that is garnering some major attention. The colt just missed in the GIII With Anticipation S. at the end of August at Saratoga, and he should be ready to offer a devasting late leg kick. One other that merits mention is Graham Motion's Dataman (Tapit). He stretched out nicely at Colonial Downs in August and rallied for the win. Joel Rosario climbs back aboard, riding for a barn that is always dangerous in situations like these.

NYRA Series Filly Finale…

Also on the docket is the final exam for young freshmen fillies. NYRA's series for these types included the GIII Adirondack S. and GI Spinaway S. at Belmont and Saratoga, and now it's time for the capstone-GI Frizette S. The one-mile distance will be one last prep, as the victress moves on the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The major question in the field of seven is was Phil Serpe's Leave No Trace (Outwork) performance a fluke when, at odds of 14-1, she declared victory in the Spinaway? Jose Lezcano has the return call, and the filly will be looking to remain a perfect three for three to prove the doubters wrong.

“Everything is good with her. She had a nice work and all systems go,” said Serpe. “She did it pretty easy. I was surprised looking at the watch how fast she was going. The 58 and change was a work where you're like, 'Wow, this filly is really fast.' Everything is just kind of moving along.”

Standing in her way are Frank Fletcher's American Rockette (American Pharoah) for trainer Bill Mott, and Todd Pletcher's Repole Stable-owned Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke). The latter posted a stellar speed fig when she broke her maiden at Saratoga in mid-August.

“She was impressive. Her debut, the track was very demanding and tough for a first-time starter,” Pletcher said. “She got a little tired late in the race. The second start was more of what we were expecting from her.”

Not to be overlooked is 'TDN Rising Star' The Great Maybe (Upstart), a filly that is looking to capitalize on a nice debut win, dispelling any doubt concerning her name.

“She trained well out of that [race] so we're taking the chance with the one turn mile with her,” said DeVaux. Jockey Javier Castellano continues the hot riding that he exhibited upstate at Saratoga.

This is the Waya…

Glen Kozak and his excellent NYRA ground squad got the Aqueduct turf into shape early, what with the shift over from Belmont. Grass riding traditionally is a November and April activity in Ozone Park, but the lawn is tended and ready for settling and some furious endings.

This year's GIII Fasig-Tipton Waya S. is another distance hurdle for deeper routers, as they traverse the 1 3/8ths. Coming from off-the-pace is in order, unless a runner can control the fractions up front. Chad Brown could rack up a fourth win in a row in this race as he sends out the well-bred Capital Structure (GB) (Lope de Vega (Ire). Another Klaravich Stables runner with budding talent, she lost all chance last time out at Pimlico in a non-graded affair due to saddle slippage. Look for Kelsey Danner's classy Gladys (Medaglia d'Oro) to be an overlay. The full-sister to Rachel Alexandra exits a close fourth in the All Along at Old Hilltop.

The Stoutest of Queens…

The GII Zenyatta S. was re-named in 2012 after what many consider one of the greatest of all-time, male or female. She was regal and magnificent, and most of all, she knew it. Beating up on the boys was her signature, as was guzzling that Guinness Stout. We will not soon forget John Shirreffs' 'Queen.'

These ladies have much to live up to. A compact field of five assembles, with Empire House (Empire Maker), Soothsay (Distorted Humor) and Samurai Charm (First Samurai) all carrying 122 pounds. They will be up against a pair of 3-yr-olds in Midnight Memories (Mastery) and Awake At Midnyte (Nyquist). This is a wide-open affair, and could be seen as anyone's game, as these females seek to wear the crown.

Chillingworth, You Say!…

A graded event since 2014, the GIII Chillingworth S. gives a nod to the longtime director and executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Association. Out of these older females, we have a Breeders' Cup celebrity appearance by Mike McCarthy's versatile Ce Ce (Elusive Quality). Her 2021 GI BC Filly & Mare Sprint victory at Del Mar was a masterpiece, and if she is at her best, with Victor Espinoza aboard, then no one in this race is going to be able to catch her by the time the wire arrives.

Tokyo Drift…

Who could forget Big John B, Hard Aces, Hoppertunity, Campaign, and Cupid's Claws when they won the GIII Tokyo City Cup S.? My Racehorse and Spendthrift's own Tizmagician (Tiznow) joined that cadre last year, and the 5-year-old is back once more. What did it take? The ability to track, just behind a good, honest pace. Do that, and you might be able to outlast them all in this drift. A former Bob Baffert runner comes calling. Newgrange (Violence) is now in Phil D'Amato's care. It's his dam side, Bella Chianti by Empire Maker, that could be a clue to his ability to handle this distance test. The same goes for Peter Eurton's Storm the Court (Court Vision), who hasn't run this far on the dirt since the 2020 GI Kentucky Derby. Specialists like John Sadler's Heywoods Beach (Speightstown) and Richard Mandella's Extra Hope (Shanghai Bobby) have the experience and could have the advantage.

Bonus Round…Speakeasy For BC Hopefuls…

The Speakeasy S. might not be graded, but that doesn't mean there are not major implications for the winner. A group of 2-year-olds will be traveling at a high rate of speed on the grass at Santa Anita, looking to book passage to Keeneland for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is not known for his turf horses, although he had a strong one in Du Jour a few years back. His Speed Boat Beach (Bayern) is fast (imagine that), so look for Juan Hernandez to secure the lead early, and hold on tight. T-minus 5 furlongs and counting.

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Leger Glory For Dubawi’s Eldar Eldarov

On a bonanza day for the TDN Rising Stars, KHK Racing Ltd's Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) swooped to conquer in Sunday's feature G1 Cazoo St Leger at Doncaster. Settled in mid-division early by David Egan, the Roger Varian-trained 9-2 joint-second favourite who captured the G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot June 15 was delivered wide in the straight to overhaul the 11-8 market-leader New London (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the supplemented Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) approaching the furlong pole. Staying on strongly to the line, the bay who had finished behind Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the July 14 G1 Grand Prix de Paris when last seen had two lengths on Juddmonte's filly there as New London eventually rallied to be half a length away in third. A few minutes later, Haskoy was demoted to fourth by the stewards, making New London the new runner-up. Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) was promoted to third.

 

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Record-Setting International Sire More Than Ready Dies

More Than Ready (Southern Halo–Woodman's Girl, by Woodman), whose 216 worldwide stakes winners is the fourth highest total of all time, was euthanized the morning of Aug. 26 at WinStar Farm due to the cumulative effects of old age. He was 25 years old.

“More Than Ready was an amazing horse who touched everyone he came in contact with,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He may not have been the biggest horse in the barn, but he more than made up for it in class, balance, and character. His expressions said it all. We will greatly miss him at the farm.”

Larry McGinnis, longtime stallion manager at WinStar Farm, said of the legend's passing, “To me, he was more than a great stallion, he was a great friend. It was an honor to take care of such a remarkable horse. I will miss him.”

Bred in Kentucky by Woodlynn Farm Inc., More Than Ready was purchased by Edward Rosen, agent for owner Jim Scatuorchio, for $187,000 at the 1998 Keeneland September sale and won his first five starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, including the GIII Tremont S. and GII Sanford S. before tasting defeat for the first time when stretched to a mile in the GI Champagne S. Dead-heat winner of the GII Hutcheson S. in his sophomore debut, More Than Ready was second in the GII Louisiana Derby and was beaten a head when runner-up in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. ahead of a meritorious fourth to Fusaichi Pegasus in the GI Kentucky Derby. Focusing on one-turn races for the balance of the season, More Than Ready earned Grade I laurels in Saratoga's King's Bishop S. and was second to stablemate Trippi (End Sweep) in the GI Vosburgh S. He retired to Vinery Kentucky for the 2001 breeding season with seven wins from 17 starts and earnings of $1,026,229, and was one of several Vinery stallions that moved to WinStar upon the closure of that nursery.

 

 

 

A Dual-Hemisphere Sensation…

A stallion blessed with tremendous fertility, More Than Ready is the sire of an eye-popping and record-setting 2118 winners to date (72.4% winners to starters), making him the world's most prolific sire of individual winners. With a victory in the GII Wonder Again S. in June 2022, Klaravich Stables' Consumer Spending provided the stallion with his 100th worldwide winner at the group/graded level and the victory occurred on the same Belmont program where Morethanreadyeddie–named in honor of the aforementioned Rosen–won his maiden at first asking over five furlongs. Of his black-type winners (only Galileo {Ire}, Danehill and Sadler's Wells have more), some 26 have struck at the top level in seven racing jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and South Africa. The sire of 17 winners and three stakes winners from his first American crop in 2004, More Than Ready was an instant hit in Australia, where he shuttled to Vinery Stud to serve mares Southern Hemisphere time. To date, he has sired 971 winners in the U.S. and Canada and 905 in Australia and New Zealand. His progeny earnings are in excess of $219 million.

With Australasia's emphasis on speed and precocity, his foals hit the ground running, with six black-type winners among his 17 first-crop winners overall, including G1 Champagne S. heroine Carry On Cutie (Aus). His early Australian crops also featured Benicio (Aus), winner of the 2006 G1 Victoria Derby; Sebring (Aus) and Phelan Ready (Aus), victorious in the prestigious G1 Golden Slipper S. in 2008 and 2009, respectively; G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Samaready (Aus); and G1 Western Australian Derby victress Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready has also proven especially potent with Danehill-line mares, resulting in the likes of Group 1 winners More Joyous (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus) and More Than Sacred (Aus) in addition to Benicio (Aus), Sebring (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus) and Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready's other Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winners include Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) and Entisaar (Aus) in South Africa; and More Than Sacred in New Zealand. His progeny were brilliant enough in the early parts of their careers to score in races like the G1 Golden Slipper and G1 Blue Diamond S., but were equally effective at trips of 2000 meters and beyond in Australian fixtures such as the Queen Elizabeth S., and he accounted for Derby winners in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. In total, More Than Ready has sired Group 1/Grade I winners in seven countries.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and More Than Ready | Horsephotos

The top-level winners were a bit slower to come at home, but Buster's Ready became More Than Ready's first American Grade I winner in the 2011 Mother Goose S. Verrazano, raced in partnership by Kevin Scatuorchio's Let's Go Stable, became his sire's first male GISW in the 2013 Wood Memorial S. and Daredevil–also raced by Let's Go in partnership–his first Grade I-winning juvenile in the 2014 Champagne S. More Than Ready's son Catholic Boy holds the rare distinction of winning Grade Is on two surfaces–the GI Belmont Derby on turf and the GI Travers S. on the dirt. Catholic Boy is one of four sons of More Than Ready at stud in Kentucky (Copper Bullet, Daredevil, Funtastic), while Verrazano has gone on to become a productive stallion in South America.

More Than Ready is the leading sire of Breeders' Cup winners to date with seven and accounted for multiple Breeders' Cup winners on two separate occasions. He was represented by the winners of the Breeders' Cup juvenile turf events in 2010 (Pluck, More Than Real), while champion Roy H won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2017 and 2018. 'TDN Rising Star' and future Eclipse Award winner Rushing Fall posted the first of her six career Grade Is in the 2017 GI Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Uni (GB)–another maternal granddaughter of Danehill–beat the boys in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Mile. More Than Ready has been represented by 13 champions around the world. Among More Than Ready's 16 offspring that earned the 'Rising Star' distinction is the versatile Emmanuel, third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and front-running winner of his turf debut in the GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont this past June. More Than Ready is the only sire to have an Eclipse Award Champion each year from 2017 to 2020.

A Broodmare Sire of Note…

More Than Ready is the broodmare sire of fully 135 stakes winners, 61 group or graded winners and 15 at the top level, including GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Structor (Palace Malice), top Australian sprinter Bivouac (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), the rags-to-riches Group 1-winning juvenile filly Miracles of Life (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and Hong Kong champion Wellington (Aus). Other U.S. graded winners from More Than Ready mares include Kauai Katie (Malibu Moon), Breeders' Cup winner Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah) and 'TDN Rising Star' and leading turf distaffer Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom), whose dam Mary's Follies is also responsible for Japan's top dirt galloper Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) and Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), a dual graded winner in the U.S. whose success extended to Barbados and that island nation's richest event, the Barbados Gold Cup.

Rosen Remembers 'Life-Changing' Horse…

Eddie Rosen has been involved with any number of successful horses over the course of his bloodstock career, but it's safe to say none left the impression the same way More Than Ready did.

“Most people are aware of all the amazing statistics he compiled as the greatest dual-hemisphere sire in history, his versatility in the ability to sire dirt, turf, long and sprint winners,” he reflected. “Sometimes forgotten is what a great 2-year-old he was, reeling off the first five starts of his career in spectacular fashion. My family and I will always cherish the wonderful memories sharing his career with the Scatuorchio family. For me, he was life-changing. During Derby week this year, I was able to visit with him and give him one last peppermint. I will miss him dearly!”

 

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