Letter to the Editor: F-T Saratoga Sale to Feature 17 Yearlings from Phipps Families

By B. Jason Brooks

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale is less than two weeks away and potential buyers are marking up their sales catalogs while researching the accomplished families of those being offered.

At the 2019 Saratoga Sale, four yearlings tracing back to Phipps foundation mare Blitey sold for a collective $4.05 million, one of them being an undefeated Tapit colt named Flightline who has become a multiple Grade I superstar.

Thoroughbred Daily News columnist and pedigree expert Sid Fernando recently noted in story that the Phipps female “families have given past and present breeders a deep foundation on which to build upon and create their own top-class horse.” A look at recent Grade I winners confirms that this is true at the highest levels.

Last year, an impressive 12 Grade I races were won by 10 different horses from families with Phipps female lines, including Aloha West (Hard Spun), Corniche (Quality Road), Essential Quality (Tapit), Flagstaff (Speightstown), Flightline, Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), Maxfield (Street Sense), Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot), Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) and Got Stormy (Get Stormy), multiple of which are Saratoga Sale graduates.

Through the first seven months of this year, four Grade Is (23 graded stakes wins) have been won by horses from families with Phipps female lines. The Grade I winners this year include Flightline, adding his second Grade I in his first start as a 4-year-old, as well as Shirl's Speight (Speightstown), There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) and Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile).

That's an impressive dozen different winners from families with Phipps female lines winning 16 different Grade I races. An exclamation mark added when considering all graded stakes, with 23 of them being won this year by horses from families with Phipps female lines. This level of current success demonstrates the “deep foundation” that Fernando referred to and makes these influential families attractive to breeders and buyers.

A deep dive into the families of the 214 yearlings to be offered at the boutique Saratoga Sale finds that 17, or 8%, are out of top-class mares from families with Phipps female lines, including descendents of Personal Ensign, Blitey, Lady Be Good, Get Lucky, Ten Cents A Dance, and La Troienne mares Belle Histoire and Big Hurry, among others.

On top of their first-rate female families, these blue-blooded yearlings are sired by elite stallions, including Tapit (hips 4 and 179), Curlin (hip 15), Into Mischief (hips 74, 75, 102, 131, 164), Uncle Mo (hips 98, 160, 210), War Front (hip 69), Arrogate (hip 79), Catalina Cruiser (hip 39), Kantharos (hip 211), Oscar Performance (hip 182), and Union Rags (hip 73). Also of note is that Hip 179 is a filly that shares the same sire (Tapit) and Phipps female family (Blitey) as Flightline.

The 2022 Saratoga Sale will provide buyers another chance to purchase yearlings with top-class pedigrees from influential Phipps families which are currently excelling in graded and Grade I races. Like Flightline, some of the yearlings making their way through the sales ring of the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in August will become the Thoroughbred stars of tomorrow on the track and subsequently carry on the Phipps legacy in the breeding shed.

The post Letter to the Editor: F-T Saratoga Sale to Feature 17 Yearlings from Phipps Families appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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There Goes Harvard the Latest Grade I-Winning Homebred for Michael Cannon

Owner Michael Cannon woke up on Memorial Day with a gut feeling. Cannon Thoroughbreds was going to win a Grade I that day.

His inkling didn't come without good reason. The stable's leading earner Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) would be attempting to defend his title in the GI Shoemaker Mile and was slated as the 4-5 morning-line favorite.

Of course as anyone in this business can attest, favoritism doesn't secure a trip to the winner's circle no matter how small the odds. So while Smooth Like Strait had to settle for second in the Shoemaker, it was Cannon's other entry at Santa Anita–the one they considered scratching hours before the race–who made his Grade I premonition come to fruition.

The second-longest shot in a field of five in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S., There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) pulled the upset to win by a length, making him Cannon Thoroughbreds' second Grade I-winning homebred and giving trainer Michael McCarthy his first Gold Cup score.

“I'm shocked that he won,” Cannon admitted as he relived the victory. “I was hoping for third. Until about nine o'clock that morning, we weren't sure if we were even going to run him. It was only a two-week break from his last race and we usually give them three to four weeks, but he looked like he was ready to go.”

Coming off a seven-month layoff this spring, There Goes Harvard ran second in his 4-year-old debut at Santa Anita. He dead-heated for a win in April and scored in a turf allowance on May 14 before stepping up to Grade I company on Memorial Day. Cannon credits jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. for his hand in the colt's accomplishment.

“Irad was a gamechanger,” he said. “He did a great job. There were some serious horses in there and it was not an easy win. I'm still in shock, to be honest.”

Now that There Goes Harvard is making top headlines, Cannon is constantly asked about the story behind the colt's name.

“Everybody asks me and I feel like a bad parent every time I answer,” he said with a laugh. “When my kids say something dumb, I always joke with them and say, 'there goes Harvard.'”

Based about two hours north of Las Vegas, Cannon has been involved in racing for decades. He started purchasing and syndicating racehorses after graduating college, but soon decided to get “a real job.” He made a career in entertainment lighting and is now the President and CEO of Cannon Nevada, a venture capital firm.

Michael Cannon | photo courtesy Michael Cannon

When Cannon decided to re-enter the Thoroughbred business, he committed to a new business plan. He would purchase broodmares and establish a breed-to-race operation. One of his very first broodmare purchases, Beautiful Lil (Aptitude), is now the granddam of his stable's top performer Smooth Like Strait.

Several years after launching his new operation and with the assistance of bloodstock agent Kathy Berkey, Cannon purchased There Goes Harvard's dam Soul Crusader (Fusaichi Pegasus) for $75,000 at the 2016 Keeneland January Sale. While There Goes Harvard was somewhat of a standout as a foal a few years later, Cannon said that Soul Crusader tended to throw small foals and did not live up to expectations as a producer. He sold the mare two years ago.

“There Goes Harvard was a little different than her other foals, but there was really nothing special about him in the first year,” Cannon admitted. “He was definitely bigger than the rest, but I didn't think he would ever be a Grade I winner, that's for sure.”

Even after There Goes Harvard was sent to trainer Michael McCarthy, it took some time for him to show his true potential.

“He was actually a bit of a handful,” Cannon explained. “Smooth Like Strait was always a real professional and did everything right, but when this colt first got to Michael, he was doing everything wrong. He was difficult to manage and Michael really had to work with him to get him turned around.”

It took six tries for There Goes Harvard to break his maiden, finally getting the win in his first attempt on turf. When he ran second two starts later in the 2021 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, Cannon said they got a feel for the homebred's true potential. He dealt with a chip soon after and sat on the sidelines for the remainder of the 2021 season, but has improved steadily in his return this year.

“What's great about this horse is that he's probably better on the turf than the dirt,” Cannon said. “It's nice to have a horse that we know can do both.”

Asked where There Goes Harvard could end up next, Cannon replied slyly, “The one thing I know about Michael [McCarthy] is that you don't discuss that until a couple weeks down the road.”

Cannon acknowledged that he was disappointed with Smooth Like Strait's runner-up effort on Monday, given that the 5-year-old has now finished second or third in his last six starts, but he said that their end goal for this year is still a return to the Breeders' Cup, where Smooth Like Strait ran second in last year's GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile.

“He tries so hard every time and you feel bad that he hasn't gotten it done in the last few races,” Cannon said. “He's in great shape and he just got caught up in a fast pace [in the Shoemaker]. We will probably follow the same races with him as we did last year at Del Mar.”

Cannon won't get too down on one string of bad luck. After all, it was just a few years ago that his stable had no graded stakes winners, which wasn't for lack of trying.

“Before these last two years, I had very limited success,” he said. “I don't take anything for granted now because I know how quickly you can go backwards.”

Cannon plans to stick with his breeding-to-race operation. He said he tried giving the commercial market a chance, but quickly learned that it wasn't what he wanted to focus on. He forces himself to keep a broodmare roster of just six members and currently has a collection of 14 racehorses and future racehorses, including the 2-year-old full-brother to Smooth Like Strait in training with Michael McCarthy. At his cattle ranch at home in Nevada, one pasture is set aside for his stable's retired racehorses and is now up to eight residents.

As Cannon told TDN in a story on Smooth Like Strait last year, half of the earnings from his racing stable are set aside for The Special Operations Care Fund, a non-profit organization that provides support to soldiers who have served in special operations forces. While those earnings may have seemed insignificant to Cannon when he was first starting out, with two colts performing at the top of their divisions this year–and both coming in the money, appropriately, on Memorial Day–those funds are quickly adding up.

Asked about his secret to building a program that can produce two Grade I winners within a year, Cannon replied with a laugh and said, “I wish I knew the secret because it has taken me a long time to figure this out. Honestly, the secret is patience, staying in your lane in terms of developing a program and sticking with it, and hiring good people and listening to their advice. Then you just hope it all works out.”

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Will Take Charge Colt Upsets Hollywood Gold Cup

There Goes Harvard, the second-longest shot in a field of five, pulled off the upset under invading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. Monday at Santa Anita.

Taking six starts to break his maiden, doing so on the Ellis turf last summer, the chestnut was second in the Runhappy Ellis Park Derby on the main track two tries later. Runner-up off a seven-month layoff in a local dirt optional claimer Mar. 19, the homebred dead-heated for the victory in a similar spot Apr. 17 before capturing a local turf allowance May 14. Settling last at the rail behind dueling Defunded and Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) through a sharp :22.72 quarter, There Goes Harvard moved up a spot as the half went up in :46.13. Creeping into third going by six furlongs in 1:10.99, he swung into the three path for racing room approaching the stretch, sidled up to Defunded entering the final furlong and proved best in deep stretch for the victory.

“I was pretty excited, when I saw him stick his head in front coming to the three-sixteenths pole, I got a little emotional but things just worked out properly,” said winning trainer Michael McCarthy, who notched his first Gold Cup win, as did Ortiz. “Small field, you have to take a shot. The horse is doing well and sometimes you just have to take a chance. I just can't thank Irad enough here. Every body involved, my grooms, my guys, everyone in barn 59, big day. The way things are going lately, it's nice to get a win anywhere, but yes these are the kinds of races you get up for in the morning. You hope you are lucky enough to participate in, let alone win.”

“I had a perfect trip,” said Ortiz, who shipped in for the Memorial Day card from his Belmont Park base. “My horse was fighting a little bit with me going into the first turn, they went a little fast. I tried to let him relax, settle a little bit and he did come back to me on the backside. That was the key, after that, I was just biding my time and kicked him out down the stretch and he responded really well.”

Pedigree Notes:
With the victory, There Goes Harvard becomes the first Grade I winner for Three Chimneys' Will Take Charge, as well as his 11th stakes winner and fourth graded stakes winner. He is the first black-type performer from three foals to race out of his dam, a half to two stakes winners out of GSW Michigan Bluff. Third dam Middlefork Rapids was a GSW as well. Soul Crusader, who sold to Bud Petrosian for just $22,000 at Keeneland January in 2020, was represented by a juvenile Nyquist colt who sold for $700,000 to Zedan Racing at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream after breezing a furlong in :9 4/5. She produced a filly by Sir Prancealot (Ire) this season.

Monday, Santa Anita
HOLLYWOOD GOLD CUP S.-GI, $400,000, Santa Anita, 5-30, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:02.66, ft.
1–THERE GOES HARVARD, 122, c, 4, by Will Take Charge
1st Dam: Soul Crusader, by Fusaichi Pegasus
2nd Dam: Michigan Bluff, by Skywalker
3rd Dam: Middlefork Rapids, by Wild Again
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Michael W McCarthy; J-Irad Ortiz Jr. $240,000. Lifetime Record: 12-4-5-2, $455,090. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Defunded, 122, g, 4, Dialed In–Wind Caper, by Touch Gold.
1ST G1 BLACK-TYPE. ($210,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Michael E Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman; B-Athens Woods LLC (KY); T-Sean McCarthy. $80,000.
3–Royal Ship (Brz), 122, g, 6, Midshipman–Bela Val (Brz), by Val Royal (Fr). O-Fox Hill Farms Inc & Siena Farm LLC; B-Haras Belmont (BRZ); T-Richard E Mandella. $48,000.
Margins: 1, 3 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 8.80, 5.50, 1.00.
Also Ran: Stilleto Boy, Spielberg. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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