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Uncle Mo’s Celestial City Shines in Hill Prince

Made the lukewarm 38-10 favorite for Saturday's GII Hill Prince S. at Aqueduct, Stuart Janney III's Celestial City (Uncle Mo) found his best stride entering the final eighth of a mile and outfinished Mackinnon (American Pharoah) for a maiden success at the stakes level.

Exiting a local allowance victory Sept. 24, having previously dead-heated for the place spot behind the GI Breeders' Cup Mile-bound 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) in a paceless renewal of Saratoga's GIII Saranac S. three weeks prior, Celestial City bobbled slightly at the start and dropped straight out the back, then was taken hold of by Jose Lezcano to sit second last out of the stretch. A touch keen as the speed dropped away through the middle stages, Celestial City nevertheless managed to save every inch of ground and had no stone in his path as he scraped paint around the second turn. Committed to that inside passage, Celestial City got a dream run through along the rail into the stretch, pressed away from the inside and into the three path at the furlong grounds and quickened up nicely for the victory. Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) closed well for third.

“I think he's learning now and I think we've learned a little something today with him not breaking well,” said winning trainer Shug McGaughey, remarkably winning his first Hill Prince. “He got farther back than I thought he would, but he made a pretty explosive run so maybe that's what he wants to do.”

A maiden winner at second asking this past March, the bay narrowly missed in the May 29 Jersey Derby and was a good third in the Aug. 5 GII Hall of Fame S. at the Spa. Adding blinkers for the Saranac, Celestial City finished 5 1/2 lengths behind the front-running Annapolis before returning to winning ways last time.

McGaughey said the winner would be considered for the GI Hollywood Derby at Del Mar Dec. 3.

“I'm not ready to stop as long as he's saying 'go,'” the Hall of Fame conditioner said.

Pedigree Notes:

Celestial City, who is out of a winning half-sister to GISW Hymn Book (Arch), becomes the 84th stakes winner and 46th graded winner for his versatile stallion. This is also the family of Janney III's GISW Data Link (War Front). The cross of Uncle Mo over A.P. Indy-line mares is responsible for the likes of Grade I winners Mo Donegal and Mo Town and additional graded winners Modernist and Mopotism. Lunar Evening is the dam of the yearling colt Waxing Moon (Candy Ride {Arg}) and a weanling colt by Mastery. She was most recently bred back to Uncle Mo.

HILL PRINCE S.-GII, $300,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-22, 3yo, 1 1/8mT, 1:50.27, fm.
1–CELESTIAL CITY, 118, c, 3, by Uncle Mo
                1st Dam: Lunar Evening, by Malibu Moon
                2nd Dam: Vespers, by Known Fact
                3rd Dam: Sunset Service, by Deputy Minister
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Stuart
Janney, III LLC (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III; J-Jose
Lezcano. $165,000. Lifetime Record: 9-3-2-2, $347,920.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mackinnon, 118, c, 3, American Pharoah–Scat Means Go, by
Scat Daddy. ($200,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT; $285,000 2yo '21
FTFMAR). O-ERJ Racing, LLC, Madaket Stables LLC & Dave
Kenney; B-International Equities Holding, Inc. (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown. $60,000.
3–Grand Sonata, 120, c, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–A. P. Sonata, by
A.P. Indy. ($125,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O/B-Whisper Hill
Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $36,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, HD, NO. Odds: 3.80, 4.00, 5.00.
Also Ran: Wicked Fast, Constitutionlawyer, St Anthony, Nantasket Beach, Limited Liability, Be Better, Unanimous Consent (GB).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Gunite Dazzles In Perryville

In another dominating display of talent, Gunite pounced on dueling rivals and rolled home to a flashy victory in Keeneland's Perryville S.

Second to fleet-footed stakes-winner Conagher (Jimmy Creed) in a non-winners of three at Churchill Downs June 3, he parlayed that effort into victories in that track's Maxfield S., Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S., and a runner-up effort two-back to Jack Christopher (Munnings) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Returning to winning ways last out Sept. 24 in the Harrods Creek S. beneath the Twin Spires over familiar foe Conagher, the 3-5 favorite made short work of his rivals here when the real running began.

Perched in third early as Provocateur (Into Mischief) and Of a Revolution (Maclean's Music) battled through :22.38 and :45.82 splits, Tyler Gaffalione was content to range into his striking position approaching the five-sixteenths pole before inhaling the tiring pacesetters. Kicking clear in upper stretch, Gunite meant business as he strode home 3 3/4 lengths best over 25-1 longshot Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft), who valiantly tried to make a race of it.

“[Gunite has shown] beautiful consistency. He has performed at the highest levels and continues to impress. He carries himself like he can do this. He's got a confidence. He accepts what's happening and does it extremely well,” said conditioner Steve Asmussen in a winner's circle interview.

And as for a possible start in the GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint in two weeks' time?

“This was the first test: how he handles Keeneland,” said Asmussen. “I thought he ran really well. He was very comfortable and looked great over the race track. Now it will all be about how he comes back. But we have until Monday [pre-entry deadline] to decide.”

Out of a stakes-winning half-sister to MSW Optionality (Gun Runner) and SP Simply Sovereign (American Pharoah), Gunite is his dam's only foal to the races thus far. Simple Surprise has a 2-year-old full-sister to the winner named Surprise Attack and produced a pair of half-sisters to those–a yearling by Copper Bullet and a 2022 weanling by Tapiture. She went back to Gun Runner for 2023. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

PERRYVILLE S., $250,000, Keeneland, 10-22, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.21, ft.
1–GUNITE, 122, c, 3, by Gun Runner
          1st Dam: Simple Surprise (SW, $185,446), by Cowboy Cal
          2nd Dam: Simplify, by Pulpit
          3rd Dam: Classic Olympio, by Olympio
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $151,125. Lifetime Record: GISW, 12-6-4-1, $965,934.
2–Hoist the Gold, 118, c, 3, Mineshaft–Tacit Approval, by Tapit. ($47,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Dream Team One Racing Stable; B-Dream Team Racing (KY); T-Dallas Stewart. $48,750.
3–B Dawk, 118, c, 3, Gormley–Mott N Hester, by Super Saver. ($77,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $140,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $425,000 2yo '21 EASMAY; $500,000 RNA 3yo '22 KEEAPR). O-West Point Thoroughbreds and Joseph E. Besecker; B-Small Batch Thoroughbreds & Robert Fetkin (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $24,375.
Margins: 3 3/4, 3, 3 3/4. Odds: 0.62, 25.78, 7.02.
Also Ran: Artorius, Friar Laurence, Of a Revolution, Provocateur. Scratched: Pinehurst.

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Battalion Runner’s Rudder’s Men Cruises To Win On Debut

6th-Belmont The Big A, $95,000, Msw, 10-22, 2yo, 7f, 1:25.64, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.
RUDDER'S MEN (c, 2, Battalion Runner–Unblemished, by Speightstown) was easily the most popular choice at 1-2 for his debut run after working a bullet four furlongs from the gate in :46 2/5 (1/187) Oct. 7. Campaigned by the same connections as his freshman sire (by Unbridled's Song), Rudder's Men hustled to the front shortly after the break and settled nicely a path off the rail through a sharp opening quarter in :22.53. Kept under wraps until he straightened for home, he responded well to quick urging and sprinted clear of the field, coming into the final furlong with a well-established gap. Classic Legacy (Into Mischief) closed well alongside Classic Catch (Classic Empire) to pick up the pieces but Rudder's Men hit the wire wrapped up 4 1/4 lengths to the good. The third winner from Battalion Runner's first crop of nine foals, Rudder's Men is the first foal out of a half-sister to GISW Yaupon (Uncle Mo) and MGSP Sawyer's Hill (Spring At Last). He has a weanling half-brother by Complexity while Unblemished visited Awesome Slew for the 2023 slew. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $52,250. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (FL); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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Flightline Works at Santa Anita, To Ship to Kentucky Sunday

The brilliant and unbeaten MGISW Flightline (Tapit), who figures to be the prohibitive favorite for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 5, worked six furlongs in 1:11.80 Saturday morning at Santa Anita prior to a scheduled Sunday flight to Lexington. The work was his fifth consecutive on a Saturday morning dating back to Sept. 24. As per usual, Flightline was accompanied by a pony and ridden by his regular work partner, trainer John Sadler's assistant Juan Leyva, before sunrise. Leyva wears a light on his helmet to help Sadler's team keep sight of the work.

Set down at the five-furlong pole, Flightline clicked off splits of :12 flat, 23.80, 35.80, and 59.80, then galloped out seven furlongs in 1:24.20, a mile in 1:37.20, and nine furlongs in 1:51 flat.

“This was just like his last work at Del Mar (before the Sept. 3 GI Pacific Classic) when he went out a mile in 37 and change, which is what he did today,” said Sadler. “When I talked to Juan this morning, I essentially told him, we're not doing anything different. We're just going to breeze him like he's been breezing, which, sensational is the norm for him.”

Sadler continued, “He's always worked well. More people are watching now, but he's never worked anything other than really well. This was just what we wanted… We can do more or less and just hope he bounces out of it good.”

A triple Grade I winner owned by the partnership of Hronis Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing LLC, Flightline is undefeated in five starts and has won each by large margins–a combined 62 3/4 lengths–in a manner which suggests he has much more to give. The 126 Beyer Speed Figure he earned in the Pacific Classic is the best number given a horse since 2004 and his negative 8 1/2 Thoro-Graph number is the fastest ever assigned to a horse.

“He ships tomorrow [Sunday], early, at two in the morning and flies out of Ontario,” said Sadler. “Rene Quinteros will accompany him on the van to Ontario and Cesar Aguilar will meet him in Louisville. He'll then van over to Keeneland tomorrow afternoon.

“He'll have one breeze at Keeneland, one week from today, pending weather. It would be a lesser work, five (furlongs) in a minute is usually what he does… Just kinda cruise around there. His groom, Adolfo Correa, and the other guys will fly back tonight and get there ahead of the horse.”

Flightline is scheduled to stand at Lane's End Farm upon retirement, but connections have not committed to retiring him after the Breeders' Cup. Sadler has alluded to a possible start in the Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream as a next target.

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