The Avengers | Horse Racing Free Tips

August 6 Insights: Justify Half-Brother to Commissioner Debuts

5th-DMR, $80k, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 7:04p.m. ET
Hronis Racing LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing LLC have partnered up to unveil the latest blue-blooded colt by Justify, this one named HAWKER. Shelling out a cool $675,000 for him at KEESEP, his pedigree warrants the implied expectations: out of GSP Flaming Heart (Touch Gold), it makes Hawker a half to GISP & MGSW Commissioner (A.P. Indy), GISP & GSW Laugh Track (Distorted Humor), and to the dam of MGISW Vino Rosso (Curlin). All three of the colt's closest female line dams have black-type victories to their name as well as being producers of black-type earners. John Sadler sends him to post here. To Hawker's inside, and only slightly less expensive, is the Bob Baffert-trained Carmel Road (Quality Road). Out of a stakes-winner of over $435,000 in lifetime earnings, the colt is a half to stakes-placed Night Time Lady (Midnight Lute). The second dam, a full-sister to GIII Jaipur H. winner Multiple Choice (Mt. Livermore), produced GSP Silver City (Unbridled's Song) and Elope (Gone West). He brought $650,000 as a KEESEP yearling from 'The Avengers' partnership group. Dr. Soulfire (West Coast) will be the $300,000 EASMAY (:10 flat) flag bearer in this race for his freshman sire. TJCIS PPs

6th-SAR, $105K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 3:24 p.m. EDT
Continuing the parade of glamorous juvenile debuts at the Spa, Godolphin will send out homebred WADSWORTH (Quality Road), the first colt to the races for GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. victress Dickinson (Medaglia d'Oro). Second dam Little Belle (A.P. Indy) won the GI Ashland S. before going on to a runner-up performance in the GI Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks. That one is the full-sister to the granddam of Munnyfor Ro (Munnings), Canadian champion 3-year-old filly of 2021. The partnership of Repole Stable and St Elias Stable will send out a one-two punch in coupled entries Crupi (Curlin) and Point Proven (Gun Runner) for Todd Pletcher. The latter was a $675,000 KEESEP buy, and the half-brother to GIII Beaumont S. winner Twenty Carat (Into Mischief) hails from the female family of Breeders' Cup winning mother-daughter duo Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect) and 'TDN Rising Star' Sharing (Speightstown) through the second dam. Crupi ($275,000 KEESEP) claims half-relation Royal Spirit (Into Mischief), recently placed in the GIII Kitten's Joy, and second dam Caroni (Rubiano) produced GSW Mo Tom (Uncle Mo), MGISP Beautician (Dehere), and MGSW Red Ruby (Tiznow). TJCIS PPs

1st-SAR, $105k, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 12:35p.m. ET
Calumet Farm unveils TRACK MATE (Union Rags) over the long grass contest here, the son of MGISP Teammate (A.P. Indy) going to post for D Wayne Lukas. The dam is a half to top sire War Front (Danzig) as well as two-time GIII Jaipur S. winner Ecclesiastic (Pulpit); MGSP Riviera Cocktail (Giant's Causeway); GSW North Dakota (Medaglia d'Oro); and GSP Jay Gatsby (Giant's Causeway). Track Mate has sibling shadows to outrun as the half to SW Team of Teams (Elusive Quality), MGSP Team Colors (Street Cry {Ire}), and SP Seven Away (Oxbow). Another well-pedigreed homebred in Red Route One (Gun Runner) goes to post here as well, this one for Winchell Thoroughbreds. The second to the races behind stakes-winning full-brother Red Run, the colt's second dam is Broodmare of the Year Fun House (Prized), who produced champion 3-year-old filly and GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Untapable (Tapit); millionaire GISW Paddy O'Prado; and the dam of GSW Majestic Eagle (Medaglia d'Oro). Freshman sire City of Light will be represented by $500,000 FTSAUG grad Battle of Normandy for West Point and Woodford Racing. TJCIS PPs

3rd-ELP, $60k, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 2:46p.m. ET
Three well-regarded colts will line up next to each other in the gate here, led by SUNDANCE (Quality Road), an $800,000 KEESEP procurement for WinStar, Siena Farm, and Gainesway Stable. Out of 'TDN Rising Star' Cherry Lodge (Bernardini), half-sister to GISW Stormello (Stormy Atlantic) and his full-brother GSW My Best Brother, the dam's full-sibling Gala Award annexed the GIII Palm Beach S. while half-sister Atlantic Voyage (Stormy Atlantic) produced Canadian champion 2 & 3-year-old filly Curlin's Voyage (Curlin). Sundance will be his dam's first to make it to the races and is in Rodolphe Brisset's tutelage. Quality Road's other pricey juvenile in here is Brad Cox's Jace's Road, a $510,000 KEESEP buy for the West Point and Albaugh Family Stables partnership. Splitting those two is another debuting Godolphin homebred in Face Value (Medaglia d'Oro). He's out of Face It (Tapit), who is a half-sister to MGISW It's Tricky (Mineshaft), herself dam of MGSW Enticed (Medaglia d'Oro). That mare also produced GSP Enliven (Ghostzapper). Face Value goes to post for Brendan Walsh. TJCIS PPs

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Into Mischief Colt the Latest ‘Rising Star’ for Familiar Connections

Newgate (c, 2, Into Mischief–Majestic Presence, by Majestic Warrior) ran to advanced billing and overwhelming 1-2 odds Saturday at Del Mar to become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' to represent the powerful conglomerate nicknamed The Avengers and an incredible 32nd by Spendthrift Farm's super sire Into Mischief.

Purchased during the opening session of last year's Keeneland September sale for $850,000 and presumably named after Australia's Newgate Farm, the handsome bay was ridden along by Hall of Famer John Velazquez and found only stablemate Hard to Figure (Hard Spun) quicker in the early stages. He continued to require some pedaling to keep up through an opening quarter of :21.78, but was clearly getting the better of Hard to Figure as they neared the straight. He put his rival away for good near a :44.90 half, and was ridden out from there to do it convincingly by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:03.89. Longshot Arrowthegreat (Arrogate) ran past Hard to Figure for second.

The Avengers and Baffert were also responsible for 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief). Newgate was one of five (and by far the priciest) Into Mischiefs purchased by the group at last year's September sale.

Newgate's dam Majestic Presence was third in her local debut in 2014 over the all-weather behind Baffert-trained 'Rising Star' Luminance (Tale of the Cat), and graduated on the stretch out at second asking. She was fourth in a pair of Grade I events that season and contested the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but had her best black-type finish when third in the GIII Delta Downs Princess behind champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway).

Town & Country Horse Farms later acquired Majestic Presence for $360,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale in foal to Runhappy. Her 2019 colt, Just Like This (Candy Ride {Arg}), was a $250,000 yearling and aired by 8 1/2 lengths and earned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure when taking a July 15 $20,000 Saratoga maiden claimer out of which he was a voided claim. Newgate has a year-younger full-sister, and a foal half-brother by the aforementioned Authentic. Majestic Presence, a half to GSW Victress (Include) and closely related to GII Summertime Oaks heroine My Majestic Rose (Majestic Warrior), most recently visited Essential Quality.

6th-Del Mar, $82,000, Msw, 7-30, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:03.89, ft, 3 1/2 lengths.
NEWGATE, c, 2, Into Mischief
1st Dam: Majestic Presence (GSP-USA, MSP-Can, $227,896), by Majestic Warrior
2nd Dam: Shining Victory, by Victory Gallop
3rd Dam: Phoenix Sunshine, by Encino
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Masterson, Robert E., Stonestreet Stables LLC, Schoenfarber, Jay A., Waves Edge Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherine; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. *$850,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP.

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Newgrange Faces Familiar Foes in Rebel

Bob Baffert trainee Newgrange (Violence), last seen taking Oaklawn's GIII Southwest S. Jan. 29 to up his record to three-for-three, faces 10 rivals including the next four Southwest finishers in Saturday's $1-million GII Rebel S. back in Hot Springs. Campaigned by the stallion-making conglomerate nicknamed The Avengers, the handsome dark bay was a debut winner sprinting at Del Mar in November before stretching out to a mile to annex Santa Anita's GIII Sham S. Jan. 1. He seemed to be spinning his wheels for much of the Southwest, but leveled off well late to oblige as the 3-2 favorite. Baffert, whose runners remain ineligible to earn GI Kentucky Derby qualifying points, has won a record eight Rebels including the last two.

Second in the Southwest was Barber Road (Race Day), who also completed the exacta in Churchill's Lively Shively S. in November and the Smarty Jones S. in the local slop Jan. 1. Wide-drawn Dash Attack (Munnings) was an impressive winner of the Smarty Jones, but was a dull fifth in the Southwest–his first try over totally fast dirt.

Among the fresh faces in with a chance is MyRacehorse's Chasing Time (Not This Time), a 7 3/4-length optional claiming romper here Jan. 14 when stretched to two turns for the first time. He'll need to step forward from the 81 Beyer Speed Figure he earned last out, but will look to add to young sire Not This Time's extremely strong hand of Triple Crown hopefuls (click for more).

Should the pace fall apart, Un Ojo (Laoban) could pick up the pieces. The gelding returns to the Ricky Courville barn after two starts for Tony Dutrow at Aqueduct–a neck second in the lucrative NYSS Great White Way S. Dec. 18, followed by another runner-up outing from far back in the nine-furlong GIII Withers S. won on the front end by well-regarded Early Voting (Gun Runner) Feb. 5.

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Taking Stock: Quality of Baffert and Hancock with The Avengers

Bob Baffert is banned from Churchill Downs for two years and his 3-year-olds are ineligible for points in qualifying races for the Gl Kentucky Derby and Gl Kentucky Oaks. He may also get banned (again) from NYRA, which hosts the Gl Belmont S., which could leave only the Gl Preakness open to horses from his barn. So perhaps it's appropriate that he won a race over the weekend–the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate–that gives the winner a guaranteed entry to the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

Blackadder, a son of top sire Quality Road, won the listed race in the colors of Sol Kumin's Madaket Stable from Mackinnon, an American Pharoah colt also flying the Madaket silks but trained by Doug O'Neill. If you haven't noticed, the Madaket silks are ubiquitous across the country these days, particularly in Baffert's barn, which is loaded with well-bred Triple Crown hopefuls belonging to “The Avengers” partnership that includes many entities, headed by principals SF Bloodstock, Madaket, and Starlight Racing. Aside from the three named, Blackadder, a $620,000 Keeneland September yearling, is owned by Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm. All of the 3-year-olds owned by this group run either in the colors of Madaket or Starlight, and they have become a familiar sight in the winner's circle of quite a few Derby preps lately.

Blackadder is the latest. The colt, who was bred in Kentucky by Arthur Hancock III's Stone Farm, won the race with a rousing finish, and the farm was quick to tweet the news of its latest stakes winner. Stone Farm also bred Baffert's 2019 Gl Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster, another son of Quality Road who was on the Triple Crown trail for the Speedway Stable of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner, with Hancock retaining a 10% interest. Speedway picked up an Eclipse Award last week when its undefeated colt Corniche, also by Quality Road and trained by Baffert to win the Gl Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Gl American Pharoah S. last year, was named the champion juvenile male for 2021–the third Eclipse winner for his sire after champion juvenile filly Caledonia Road and champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman.

Baffert trained Abel Tasman, the 2017 Kentucky Oaks winner, for China Horse Club and breeder Clearsky Farm, and he clearly has an affinity for the offspring of the Lane's End-based sire, who stands for $150,000 live foal this year. One reason for this is that the Quality Roads like West Coast tracks. Baffert also trained the Quality Road son Klimt for Kaleem Shah when that colt won the Gl Del Mar Futurity in 2016.

All told, Baffert has trained two of Quality Road's three champions, and four of the stallion's 12 Grade l winners to date, and any owner or breeder with a classic hopeful by Quality Road in Baffert's barn would be understandably hyped. At the end of the day, winning championships and races at the highest level boost bloodstock values, and that's what it's all about to owners and breeders who play at the top of the market.

Abel Tasman, for instance, won six Grade l races and earned nearly $2.8 million on the track but made the ultimate score when selling for $5 million as a broodmare prospect at the 2019 Keeneland January sale. Likewise, the breeding rights to Corniche have already been sold for $17 million, I've been told, even though the colt is unlikely to make the Derby after a lengthy freshening. And that's miniscule compared to the more than $100 million for the breeding rights generated together by the Baffert-trained Justify (Scat Daddy) and Authentic (Into Mischief)–the former a Triple Crown winner, the latter a Derby winner, and both Horses of the Year. SF, Madaket, and Starlight were involved in Justify and Authentic, as they were in Charlatan (Speightstown), another Baffert trainee whose breeding rights made significant millions. There are several others as well, and it's one reason why the group has been loyal to Baffert through the trainer's recent travails.

Hancock connection

Blackadder isn't the only colt for the SF/Madaket/Starlight group with Baffert with a Stone Farm/Quality Road connection. On Jan. 21, the Quality Road 3-year-old Armagnac, flying the Madaket silks and under the same ownership as Blackadder, won a mile and a sixteenth maiden special at Santa Anita by 2 1/4 lengths in his second start. He appears to be another with future stakes potential. Armagnac was bred in Kentucky by Stone Farm and Joseph W. Sutton, and he was purchased by the SF group at the 2020 Keeneland September sale for $210,000 from the same Stone Farm consignment as Blackadder, as mentioned earlier a $620,000 buy.

There's no question that Arthur Hancock knows how to breed and raise a good horse at Stone Farm. He raised Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence, stood his sire, Halo, and raced him with trainer Charlie Whittingham and another partner before selling him to Zenya Yoshida for a reported $10 million (after initially selling a quarter of the 1989 Horse of the Year to Yoshida for $2.25 million in early 1990 when the colt was four); bred and raced 1982 Derby winner Gato del Sol with Leon J. Peters; bred with Peters and sold 1988 Preakness and Belmont S. winner Risen Star; and bred with Stonerside and sold Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus for $4 million at the 1998 Keeneland July sale, among others of note. And he's raced more than a few partnership horses in the Derby aside from the colts mentioned, including homebreds Menifee, who lost the Derby by a neck in 1999; and Strodes Creek, a Whittingham-trained colt who was second in the 1994 Derby.

A savvy commercial breeder with a great understanding of the potential of winning big races on the values of sires, dams, and female families, Hancock has tasted Derby success doing things his way and knows how the sausage gets made with the right trainer, such as a Charlie Whittingham, at the helm.

After Fluor and Weiner, clients and friends of Baffert, purchased Roadster for $525,000 from the 2017 Stone Farm consignment at Keeneland September, they offered Hancock the opportunity to stay in for 10%, and Hancock took them up because he was well in the black on the colt and was high on his chances for success. He'd bred Roadster when the Ned Evans-raced Quality Road was standing for just $35,000, and he'd purchased the colt's dam, Ghost Dancing, a few years earlier from the Ned Evans dispersal for $220,000, in foal to Candy Ride (Arg).

The Candy Ride, named Ascend, was gelded and initially raced by Hancock with Graham Motion, but sometime in 2016 when Ascend was four, Madaket became a partner in the gelding with Hancock. In 2017, a few months before Roadster was sold at Keeneland, Ascend won the Gl Manhattan at Belmont, which was pivotal in enhancing Roadster's value at auction.

After Roadster won the Santa Anita Derby–defeating Baffert's juvenile champ, Game Winner–and was headed to Churchill Downs, Hancock was sitting pretty because his mare Ghost Dancing was now the dam of two Grade l winners, something that would greatly enhance the value of her Twirling Candy yearling; and Hancock had a minority stake in a potential Derby winner, trained by Baffert.

In an interview with Zoe Cadman in the week before the 2019 Derby, Hancock was asked about his trainer, who'd won five Derbys at the time, including two Triple Crowns, and he said: “I can see, just being around Bob, his record speaks for itself. I told him the other day, you're Charlie junior, talking about Charlie Whittingham. He laughed.”

Unfortunately, Roadster finished 16th of 19, but, thanks to Baffert, he did have that Grade l on his resume, which helped Hancock later that year when his Twirling Candy half-brother made $950,000 at Keeneland September. Twirling Candy's stud fee the year the colt was conceived was $20,000.

Blackadder is from the Pulpit mare Chapel, a Hancock homebred from a family he has cultivated through generations. Baffert jumpstarted this mare and her family as well, training Chapel's first foal, the Hancock-bred Quality Road filly Gingham. She'd been purchased by Sarah Kelly for $420,000 from the Stone Farm consignment at Keeneland September in 2018.

For Baffert, Gingham won a listed race at Santa Anita and was Grade ll-placed and Grade lll-placed, earning $214,000. The black type helped her realize a price of $1 million at the 2020 Keeneland November sale as a broodmare prospect.

Moreover, her black-type success with Baffert obviously contributed to SF/Madaket/Starlight paying Hancock $620,000 for her full brother, who is now a black-type winner himself and one with a pedigree suggesting further improvement. With two Quality Road stakes winners on her resume, Chapel's value has skyrocketed, especially as she was bred to Quality Road for a 2022 foal.

But with the Baffert runners out of the Derby as things now stand and the Avengers group showing no signs of switching trainers to make the Derby despite holding a full house of promising candidates, the financial ramifications for the ownership group potentially extend to the breeders of these colts as well.

That's something that must be disappointing for Hancock and others.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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