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No Maybe About It: Malathaat Wins as Distaff Delivers Again

LEXINGTON, KY – The Breeders' Cup Distaff, which has produced so many memorable moments over the years, delivered yet another race for the ages as Shadwell Stable's Malathaat (Curlin) got the bob over Blue Stripe (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}) and Clairiere (Curlin) in a blanket three-horse finish. The 5-2 second choice behind her favored stablemate Nest (Curlin), Malathaat was unhurried from her inside post and settled well back as Society (Gun Runner) set the pace and Blue Stripe stalked the early leader down the backstretch. Nest began moving forward while some five wide as the field began to bunch up approaching the far turn and Malathaat shadowed her stablemate, while Clairiere continued to trail. It was Secret Oath (Arrogate) who took the lead out of the turn as Nest's rally began to fizzle, but the Oaks' winner began to tire with a furlong to run, leaving Blue Stripe with the lead in deep stretch. Malathaat was charging down the center of the track to her outside and Clairiere was sneaking up the rail as the wire loomed. All three hit the wire in near unison as track announcer Kurt Becker yelled, “Malathaat…Maybe! What a finish!”

“When we first watched the race, we thought we won, but they kept showing the replay and it got closer each time,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said with a laugh. “She had a lot of momentum and I was hoping she had enough time to get there. She got her head down at the right moment.”

John Velazquez, who had the best seat in the house, also thought his filly had gotten to the wire first.

“I thought I got the bob and then I wasn't sure,” Velazquez said. “When you have that much trust from a guy like Todd Pletcher who gives me the opportunity to ride these good horses, it makes it easy when you have to make adjustments during the race.”

Of Malathaat, who has now won 10 of 13 starts, Velazquez said, “Every race she runs, she shows up. She is a tough mare and I will miss her if they retire her.”

Connections of the second and third-place finishers were justifiably proud of the efforts of their charges.

“She ran absolutely great,” said Blue Stripe's trainer Marcelo Polanco, while trainer Steve Asmussen said of Clairiere, “She ran a fabulous race. It was just inches… inches…”

The 2022 renewal will join the 2016 battle royale between Beholder and Songbird and the epic 1988 showdown between Personal Ensign and Winning Colors in the annals of Distaff history.

Malathaat won last year's GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Alabama S. before ending her sophomore season with a third-place effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff en route to earning year-end championship honors. Second behind Clairiere in the GI Ogden Phipps S. and GII Shuvee S. this past summer, the regally bred filly came into this year's championship weekend off wins in the Aug. 27 GI Personal Ensign S. and over the Distaff's track and trip in the Oct. 9 GI Spinster S.

Asked if Malathaat had run her last race, Shadwell manager Gregory Clarke said, “Wouldn't it be lovely if she stayed in training? But what she's accomplished is just incredible. We're just so blessed. We've gotten this far with her. She's at the top of her game. We'll see what Sheikha Hissa and the family want to do. But she's a machine. She really is. We're over the moon.”

Pedigree Notes:

Malathaat's victory gave Curlin his third winner on the Breeders' Cup card Saturday, following Elite Power's win in the Sprint and Cody's Wish's win in the Dirt Mile.

Dreaming of Julia, winner of the 2012 GI Frizette S., produced a filly by Medaglia d'Oro last year and a filly by Curlin this year. A daughter of 2007 GI Test S. winner Dream Rush and a half-sister to graded winner Dream Pauline (Tapit), she was bred back to Into Mischief.

Saturday, Keeneland
LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF-GI, $1,800,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.07, ft.
1–MALATHAAT, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
($1,050,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Shadwell Stable; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3yo Filly, 14-10-3-1, $3,790,825. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Blue Stripe (Arg), 124, m, 5, by Equal Stripes (Arg)
1st Dam: Blues for Sale (Arg) (MGSW-Arg), by Not For Sale (Arg)
2nd Dam: Key Cure, by Cure the Blues
3rd Dam: Dancer's Key, by Key to the Mint
O-Pozo de Luna, Inc.; B-La Manija (ARG); T-Marcelo Polanco. $340,000.
3–Clairiere, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Cavorting (MGISW, $2,063,000), by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Promenade Girl, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Promenade Colony, by Pleasant Colony
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $180,000.
Margins: NO, NO, 3 1/4. Odds: 2.88, 24.02, 6.13.
Also Ran: Nest, Secret Oath, Search Results, Society, Awake At Midnyte.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

The post No Maybe About It: Malathaat Wins as Distaff Delivers Again appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘Modern’ Love In the Mile

If you decided to swallow the skinny-ish 6-5 about Godolphin's Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile, Sponsored by the Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund (PDJF) at Keeneland Saturday, hey–you actually got paid this time around.

The striking chestnut, who exuded confidence and class throughout the week–as reported by TDN's Steve Sherack and Christie DeBernardis on site–steamed down the center of the Keeneland turf course once produced in upper stretch by William Buick and raced away for a second consecutive victory at the Breeders' Cup.

Modern Games looked a bit toey in the stalls and indeed, hopped at the break, but was able to establish a position in midpack as Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) took pace pressure in the form of European raider Pogo (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}), who held his spot at the rail, forcing Smooth Like Strait to make the running from the two path. The speed was strong enough–:23 flat for the opening quarter and :46.81 past midway–and that would have been much to the liking of Buick, who began to feel for Modern Games at the five-sixteenths pole, with 2020 Mile hero Order of Australia (GB) (Australia {GB}) lapped to his outside. The duo crept into a striking position as they neared the stretch, was swung out wide when push came to shove and showed a more decisive finishing kick than the Ballydoyle runner, hitting another gear entering the final furlong before motoring home to score cozily. 'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) ran on gamely and outfinished Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who worked out a nice trip from a double-digit draw beneath Frankie Dettori, to be third.

Modern Games was famously erroneously scratched after breaking through the inside stall before last year's GI Juvenile Turf, then was unscratched, but ultimately ran for purse money only. He duly won the race with a minimum of fuss. Modern Games, 6-5 on the tote as the gates sprung Saturday, returned $4.76–or nearly 7-5–under the new penny breakage rules in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was pulled up and out of the race at the half-mile pole by Flavien Prat. A statement from Breeders' Cup said the 5-year-old was off in his left hind, was attended to by veterinarians and transported back to the barn by equine ambulance. There was no indication of lower-limb fracture, the statement said, and he was being stabilized for transfer to Rood & Riddle for further evaluation. Later in the afternoon trainer Chad Brown tweeted that Domestic Spending had suffered 'a serious pelvic fracture' and that he would provide updates when available.

“He has so many attributes to himself–his size, he's neat, he's nimble,” said trainer Charlie Appleby, celebrating an eighth Breeders' Cup success and fifth in the last two years. “That's why I think he's always thrived on these tracks here. Wherever he is, he's small enough to get through the gaps and he's neat enough to get around those turns.”

With Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) the team for the 'Boys in Blue' for the G1 English 2000 Guineas–they ultimately ran 1-2–Modern Games made the French equivalent a few weeks later his seasonal debut and validated 2-1 favoritism. Third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club over a stamina-stretching 2100 meters, he was a slightly disappointing fifth in the G1 Prix Jean Prat going seven furlongs ahead of a brave second to Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood July 27. A slashing, 5 1/4-length winner over Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile Sept. 17, the chestnut was back at home for his latest in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. over rain-affected Ascot turf on QIPCO British Champions S. Oct. 15.

“He finished second [to Bayside Boy {Ire}, by New Bay {GB}] and from start to finish hated the ground, [that's ]the horse he is. A true warrior,” said Appleby.

Modern Games will be programmed for races like the G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Queen Anne S. early next season, with a return to California for a defense of his title very much on the cards, Appleby said.

Pedigree Notes:

The all-conquering Dubawi was earning a fifth Breeders' Cup race winner (Rebel's Romance would go on to make it a half-dozen in the Turf), including champion Yibir (GB) and Mile winner Space Blues (Ire) in addition to Modern Games last year.

As if his female family needed further burnishing, Modern Games's year-younger half-sister Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) was second in the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot this past June before going one better in the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. during Newmarket's July meeting. Mawj was most recently third to Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus})–whom she beat in the Duke of Cambridge–and Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf romper Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the G1 Cheveley Park S. at headquarters Sept. 24.

The last reported foal out of Modern Ideals is a yearling filly by Mastercraftsman (Ire). Modern Games's female family also includes the outstanding Bosra Sham (Woodman) and her full-brother Hector Protector.

Saturday, Keeneland
FANDUEL BREEDERS' CUP MILE PRESENTED BY PDJF-GI, $1,840,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.96, fm.
1–MODERN GAMES (IRE), 123, c, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Modern Ideals (GB), by New Approach (Ire)
2nd Dam: Epitome (Ire), by Nashwan
3rd Dam: Proskona, by Mr. Prospector
O-Godolphin, LLC Lessee; B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby; J-William T. Buick. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 13-7-3-1, $3,176,716. *1/2 to Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), GSW & G1SP-Eng, $153,786; 1/2 to Modern News (GB) (Shamardal), SW & MGSP-Eng, SP-UAE, $201,610. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Shirl's Speight, 126, h, 5, Speightstown–Perfect Shirl, by Perfect Soul (Ire). 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Charles E. Fipke (KY); T-Roger L. Attfield. $340,000.
3–Kinross (GB), 126, g, 5, Kingman (GB)–Ceilidh House (GB), by Selkirk. 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Marcstown Thoroughbreds; B-Lawn Stud (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. $180,000.
Margins: 3/4, NO, NK. Odds: 1.38, 55.67, 9.39.
Also Ran: Ivar (Brz), Malavath (Ire), Order of Australia (Ire), Pogo (Ire), Beyond Brilliant, Smooth Like Strait, Regal Glory, Annapolis, Dreamloper (Ire), Front Run the Fed, Domestic Spending (GB). Scratched: Gear Jockey, King Cause.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Stonereath Farm’s Darrell Brown Passes Away

Darrell Brown, who owned and operated Stonereath Farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky, for four decades, has passed away. He was to turn 88 years old next month.

Born Dec. 14, 1934, to Joseph and Ona Brown in Oklahoma City, Brown grew up during the Oklahoma dust bowl and attended school in a one-room schoolhouse in Mustang, Oklahoma, before proceeding to public school and the University of Oklahoma. He flew in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, delivering helicopter blades to Da Nang and also transporting caskets back to the U.S.

Following the war, Brown became the head accountant for Kerr McGee Oil Co., but remained in the Guard and was eventually hired by Aero Commander as test pilot and sales rep. His skills led him to demonstrate a plane to legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, while led to being hired as Palmer's personal pilot and personal manager.

A skilled sportsman, Brown achieved much success, particularly at golf, where he made the cut every time he competed in the AT&T/Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournament at Pebble Beach, California. He also played polo with victories in the U.S. and against the Guards Polo in England. He was an excellent shot in the dove fields of Kentucky accompanied by his dog Birdie and took numerous European bike trips with his wife and enjoyed his cycling and European adventures.

Stonereath co-owner Broodmare of the Year Best In Show and many stakes winners, including GI Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride. He was on the board of Kentucky Bank, Breeders' Cup and was President of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association from 1984-1988, its Vice President from 1981-1984 and was one of the founders of the organization. Brown believed that the owners and breeders of Thoroughbreds should have a strong voice in the development of the Thoroughbred business and its decisions. Two of his early principles were the development of a modern simulcasting program for Kentucky and the designation of the pari-mutuel tax to purses for improvement and growth of racing. Darrell was known for his integrity and honesty and advocated for what was good for the industry and for horsemen. These two programs are still the cornerstones of racing today.

Brown is survived by his son Jay Brown (Darice), Dr. Joel Brown and Jamie Brown and one granddaughter, Darrelyn Leebov. A celebration of live will be held at a later date.

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Elite Power Upsets Jackie’s Warrior In Sprint

LEXINGTON, KY – Now that's an 'Elite' sprinter.

Juddmonte's streaking Elite Power (Curlin) came storming down the center of the course with massive strides to blow past longshot C Z Rocket (City Zip) and heavily favored champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) to capture Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. The 5-1 winner punched his ticket to the bluegrass with a visually impressive score in Belmont's seven-furlong GII Vosburgh S.

Hall of Famer Bill Mott was also in the winner's circle with another son of Curlin two races earlier on the card with Cody's Wish in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“The cut back today was always a little concerning when you are running against a horse as good as Jackie's Warrior but hey, he come down in the middle of the racetrack and ran them all down,” Mott said after saddling his 12th winner at the Championships.

Seventh as 41-1 longshot Super Ocho (Chi) (Dubai Sky) led with Jackie's Warrior sitting the trip in second through an opening quarter in :22.12, Elite Power appeared to have his work cut out for him as they approached the quarter pole.

Super Ocho cornered very wide and forced Jackie's Warrior into the six path, but the 3-5 favorite still had dead aim. Elite Power was just getting warmed up though. Irad Ortiz, Jr. tipped the blaze-faced chestnut out into the clear and he came over the top like an absolute freight train down the lane to win going away by 1 1/4 lengths.

Off the board in a pair of attempts at three, Elite Power has been perfect in five attempts since kicking off the 2022 season with a third-place finish behind the promising 'Rising Star' Strobe (Into Mischief) at Churchill on Derby Day. A nine-length maiden winner beneath the Twin Spires June 5, he added two more victories in come-from-behind fashion, capturing a first-level allowance going a mile in Louisville June 30 and an optional claimer going six furlongs at Saratoga Sept. 3. The deep closer showed a new dimension last time in the five-horse field Vosburgh, sitting right on the pace in a race lacking any true early speed.

“I had the perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said of his third Breeders' Cup win of the weekend and 17th overall at the Championships. “He broke real sharp and I let him settle. I let the speed go. I was able to cut the corner around the turn. When I tipped him out, he was there for me. He kept going forward. He gave me a really good kick from the quarter-pole to the wire. He's a nice horse. I rode him with a lot of confidence.”

Just like Juddmonte's brilliant and gone-to-soon Classic winner Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), Elite Power was also acquired at Keeneland's auction house as a yearling for $900,000. Juddmonte has now won eight Breeders' Cup races.

“Going back to when Prince Khalid was with us, he wanted to start buying some horses at the sales,” Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke said. “Obviously, we got off to a good start with Arrogate and followed up with horses like this guy, beautiful horse from the very beginning.

He continued, “The satisfaction of racing at the top end and ultimately winning is what we're all–there's a huge crowd here today and every participant is having the same dream, and we're lucky enough to be here.”

The tough-as-nails 8-year-old gelding C Z Rocket was also second in 2020 Sprint over this same course.

“I'm pretty happy,” trainer Peter Miller said. “Other than winning, I couldn't be happier for this guy, at 8 years old, to run like this. It took a really big effort from the winner to beat us, I couldn't be more proud of the team, and of the horse, and Flavien [Prat] gave him a great ride.”

Five-time GISW Jackie's Warrior, also beaten as the favorite in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and last year's Sprint, is slated to join the stallion barn at Spendthrift Farm in 2023.

“It's just amazing that a horse as great as he is has never won a Breeders' Cup race,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He's a very special horse–physically, mentally and his ability. It's a disappointment. I don't like the outcome, but hail to the victor.”

Pedigree Notes:

Elite Power gave Curlin his second of three Breeders' Cup winners on the card. He later was represented by heart-stopping Distaff heroine Malathaat upping his total to five. The 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner is also the sire of Classic winner Vino Rosso and Juvenile hero Good Magic. His Stellar Wind was a painful second in the 2015 Distaff at Keeneland. Elite Power is Curlin's 20th Grade I winner.

Broodmare sire Vindication concluded his four-for-four career with a win in the 2002 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Arlington. Elite Power is bred on the same Curlin/Vindication cross as GI Preakness S. winner Exaggerator. Elite Power's dam Broadway's Alibi, a MGSW & GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up and Robsham homebred, brought $2.15 million from Alpha Delta Stables while in foal to Smart Strike at the 2013 KEENOV sale. Broadway's Alibi is also represented by a Curlin colt of 2021. She was bred to City of Light for 2023.

Elite Power's fourth dam is champion 2-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Eliza (Mt. Livermore). This is also the family of GISW and young sire Dialed In (Mineshaft).

Saturday, Keeneland
QATAR RACING BREEDERS' CUP SPRINT-GI, $1,840,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.11, ft.
1–ELITE POWER, 126, c, 4, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Broadway's Alibi (MGSW & GISP, $521,500), by Vindication
                2nd Dam: Broadway Gold, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Miss Doolittle, by Storm Cat
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($900,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Juddmonte;
B-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Irad Ortiz,
Jr. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 8-5-0-1, $1,405,711. Werk
Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–C Z Rocket, 126, g, 8, City Zip–Successful Sarah, by
Successful Appeal. ($800,000 2yo '16 OBSOPN). O-Altamira
Racing Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, Gary Barber & Tom
Kagele; B-Farm III Enterprises (FL); T-Peter Miller. $340,000.
3–Jackie's Warrior, 126, c, 4, Maclean's Music–Unicorn Girl, by
A.P. Five Hundred. ($95,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-J. Kirk & Judy
Robison; B-J & J Stables (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$180,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, 3/4. Odds: 5.55, 31.45, 0.77.
Also Ran: Manny Wah, O Besos, Super Ocho (Chi), Kimari, American Theorem, Flash of Mischief, Willy Boi, Aloha West.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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