Tag: Top News

Gufo Puts Them to the ‘Sword’

Otter Bend Stables LLC's Gufo (Declaration of War) employed his oft-decisive turn of foot to find daylight at a crucial stage of Saturday's GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Invitational S. at Saratoga and kicked home smartly to peg back the progressive Mira Misson (Noble Mission {GB}) in the waning strides and successfully defend his title in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland Nov. 5. Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) closed off well from the back of the pack to complete a 1-3 finish for the Christophe Clement stable.

“He's been a very good horse these past three years,” said Clement, who also won the Sword Dancer with Honor Glide in 1999 and with Winchester in 2011. “Today, he had a great trip. He was never that far back and he was travelling well. When [jockey] Joel [Rosario] asked him, he exploded in the stretch. I'm delighted. I thought the horse deserved the win.”

While favored Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) missed the break and was immediately under a Ryan Moore ride, Gufo left there running and settled in about seventh position, as the free-wheeling Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) set a moderate pace from 2020 Sword Dancer hero Channel Maker (English Channel).

Gufo, blinkered for the first time this season, continued to travel covered up and slightly behind midfield and was ridden quietly by Joel Rosario passing midway, but those who swallowed the 3-2 about this year's G2 Hardwicke S. hero were beginning to sweat, as the 6-year-old was up and down and making very hard work of it approaching the final half-mile. Broome was back into the bridle by the time the Sword Dancer field had reached the final turn and traveled better three wide, but Rosario asked Gufo for some acceleration and beat Broome to the spot, floating the Aidan O'Brien runner wide as they neared the stretch. In the meantime, Mira Mission, who raced one out and one back in the slipstream of Channel Maker for a good portion of the journey, eased out and easily claimed Tribhuvan in upper stretch. For a few strides, it appeared that he had pinched a winning break, but Gufo leveled out and attacked the line to score narrowly. Broome could do no better than fourth.

“It was a good trip,” said Rosario. “He really came with [a] run when asked and we're lucky to get it today. He really responded well but you never know if the horse in front will keep going, but he responded to everything I asked him to do. He looked like he likes it here, he won it last year and did it again this year.”

Never a factor when 10th in last year's Turf, Gufo resumed as good as ever when whooshing home by two lengths in the GII Pan American S. at Gulfstream Apr. 2. Runner-up in Belmont's GI Man o' War S. over a mile and three furlongs May 14, he was simply left too much to do when third to Tribhuvan in the GI Resorts World Manhattan S. over 10 panels downstate June 11 and when fifth to Adhamo (Ire) (Intello {Ger}) in the 11-furlong GI United Nations S. at Monmouth July 23.

Pedigree Notes:

Gufo is one of seven worldwide top-level scorers for Declaration of War, who has also accounted for winners of prestigious events such as the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Queensland Oaks and Melbourne Cup from just a handful of crops to race. The stallion currently calls Japan home, where he has been represented (through Aug. 26) by seven individual winners from his first local crop of runners.

A half-brother to the versatile fan-favorite Hogy, Gufo is bred on a variant of the Danzig cross over Seeking the Gold mares that has resulted in the likes of Omaha Beach–also a son of War Front–as well as Pomeroy (Boundary), Eclipse Award winner Questing (GB) (Hard Spun) and Signs of Blessing (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

Floy is the dam of a yearling Preservationist filly named Poet, did not conceive to Hard Spun for 2022 and was most recently served by both the latter and Oscar Performance.

 

 

 

Saturday, Saratoga
RESORTS WORLD CASINO SWORD DANCER S.-GI, $750,000, Saratoga, 8-27, 4yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:28.92, gd.
1–GUFO, 122, h, 5, by Declaration of War
               1st Dam: Floy, by Petionville
               2nd Dam: Risen Miss, by Peteski
               3rd Dam: Eddie's Star, by Risen Star
O-Otter Bend Stables, LLC; B-John Little & Stephen Cainelli
(KY); T-Christophe Clement; J-Joel Rosario. $400,000.
Lifetime Record: 19-9-3-5, $1,983,030. *1/2 to Hogy (Offlee
Wild), MGSW-USA, SP-Can, $1,339,782. Werk Nick Rating:
D+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for
the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mira Mission, 118, g, 4, Noble Mission (GB)–Kazamira, by
Dynaformer. O-Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust;
B-Mary A Sullivan (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $140,000.
3–Soldier Rising (GB), 118, g, 4, Frankel (GB)–Sahrawi (Ger),
by Pivotal (GB). (240,000gns RNA Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Madaket Stables LLC, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey,
Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso; B-Dayton
Investments Ltd. (GB); T-Christophe Clement. $75,000.
Margins: HF, HF, HF. Odds: 4.40, 18.60, 13.70.
Also Ran: Broome (Ire), Cross Border, Tribhuvan (Fr), Cold Hard Cash, Adhamo (Ire), Rockemperor (Ire), Channel Maker.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Gufo Puts Them to the ‘Sword’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Malathaat Back on Top in Star-Studded Personal Ensign

Shadwell Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) had settled for second to re-opposing Clairiere (Curlin) in both the GI Ogden Phipps S. downstate June 11 and local GII Shuvee S. July 24, but she got rolling in the Saratoga stretch Saturday to blow past the talented tandem of Search Results (Flatter) and Letruska (Super Saver) and post a half-length victory over the former in the GI Personal Ensign S. Clairiere, the 8-5 favorite, acted up in the gate then lagged far back while seemingly not herself.

Having bested Search Results by a neck in last year's GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, Malathaat–a $1,050,000 KEESEP yearling–was narrowly upset in her next start, the track-and-trip GI Coaching Club American Oaks that July. She atoned a month later when defeating Clairiere in the GI Alabama S., and was a close third (a head better than Clairiere) in November's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar, which featured a meltdown pace that did in champion older mare Letruska.

Crowned champion 3-year-old filly at the Eclipse Awards, Malathaat resurfaced to take Keeneland's GIII Doubledogdare S. Apr. 22 before her back-to-back rematches with fellow Stonestreet-bred Clairiere.

Let go as the 16-5 fourth choice in this field of five, Malathaat had only Clairiere beat early as Letruska showed the way with Search Results prompting through sensible splits. Malathaat snuck up the fence under Hall of Famer John Velazquez to take over third from Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) down the backside, but seemed out-footed slightly by the top two as they entered the stretch. Velazquez steered Malathaat out into the clear as Search Results headed Letruska, and the hulking Malathaat built up a full head of steam by midstretch to reel in Search Results like she had in last year's Oaks.

“It was very, very nice to see her come back to prove how good a horse she really is,” said Velazquez, who on Thursday became the first rider to reach 1,000 Saratoga wins. “We know she's a good horse. It's hard to tell why she was so dull last time. But today, I just made sure that she was in the game and she showed it. When I pulled her out at the three-sixteenths pole and asked her, she was in the game… Riding good horses is what keeps you coming back. I'm blessed to have this opportunity and to still be doing this.”

Pletcher, who was celebrating his third Personal Ensign victory, said, “It's all about seeing her perform to her capabilities and with all due respect to the rest of the field, we always feel like when she shows up and runs her A-race, that she's the top 4-year-old filly in the country and I think she showed that today.

“I was glad that Search Results was at least keeping some pace but one of my concerns going in was the potential to not be a good pace set up and we've added the blinkers (before the Shuvee) more to keep her more focused than to add more speed and just let her run her race. I thought Johnny rode a super race.”

As for Clairiere's head-scratching performance, jockey Joel Rosario said, “She broke well and then they were kind of getting away from me. She took a long time today to find her stride. She was still coming in the end. She was acting with a little energy [in the gate] and sometimes those things happen. She jumped up a couple times but she was OK. It was not her day, I guess.”

Saturday, Saratoga
PERSONAL ENSIGN S.-GI, $558,000, Saratoga, 8-27, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:48.30, 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). O-Shadwell Stable; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez. $320,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3-year-old filly,12-8-3-1, $2,378,825. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Search Results, 122, f, 4, by Flatter
                1st Dam: Co Cola (GSP), by Candy Ride (Arg)
                2nd Dam: Yong Musician, by Yonaguska
                3rd Dam: Alljazz, by Stop the Music
($310,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $112,000.
3–Letruska, 124, m, 6, by Super Saver
                1st Dam: Magic Appeal (GSP), by Successful Appeal
                2nd Dam: Call Her Magic, by Caller I. D.
                3rd Dam: Malibu Magic, by Encino
O/B-St. George Stables, LLC (KY); T-Fausto Gutierrez. $60,000.
Margins: HF, 2, 6. Odds: 3.20, 3.10, 2.40.
Also Ran: Crazy Beautiful, Clairiere.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPshttp://www.equineline.com/tdn/pedigree.cfm?tk=SAR&cy=USA&rd=09/07/2015&rn=9&de=D  &ref=9104432. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Malathaat is one of 90 stakes winner and 48 graded winners for her sire, who was represented earlier on the card by new Grade I winner Cody's Wish in the Forego S. She is bred identically to stablemate Nest (Curlin), who looks a lock to provide her sire and trainer with a second consecutive champion 3-year-old filly trophy.

Malathaat was the most expensive yearling filly by Curlin in 2019 (co-fifth among both sexes), and the market certainly hasn't cooled off on the Hill 'n' Dale resident since then. A $600,000 Curlin colt topped the Fasig-Tipton July sale, and he had three fetch seven figures earlier this month across the street, including a $2-million filly bred on the same cross. Curlin's next two highest sellers at that Fasig auction were out of daughters by A.P. Indy sons.

Malathaat's dam annexed the 2012 GI Frizette S. and earned a gaudy 114 Beyer when airing by 21 3/4 lengths in the 2013 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks. The daughter of MGISW Dream Rush has a 2-year-old full-sister named Julia Shining who last breezed up in Saratoga last Friday. Next in the pipeline is a Medaglia d'Oro filly, followed by another Curlin filly foaled Apr. 4. Dreaming of Julia was bred to Into Mischief for 2023.

The post Malathaat Back on Top in Star-Studded Personal Ensign appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

It’s ‘Jack’ on the Cutback in Jerkens

While he lost nothing in defeat when trying two turns for the first time in the GI Haskell Invitational S. the Jack Christopher (Munnings) everyone is accustom to was back at Saratoga, charging home a decisive winner of the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S.

Hammered down to 1-2 favoritism getting back around one turn, the flashy chestnut tracked Conagher (Jimmy Creed) from second through a :22.18 first quarter. Drawing alongside as the half went in :44.53, Jack Christopher skipped to the front when Jose Ortiz shook the reins at him and strode clear to win by X over last year's GI Hopeful S. winner Gunite (Gun Runner).

“Exiting the Haskell, that was going to be our plan if he didn't win and cut him back to this prestigious race here,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “I'm just so proud of the horse. He's been a very consistent horse. He's never disappointed us in a workout or a race. Jose [Ortiz] rode another fantastic race on him. He broke sharp and used good judgment to rate him just a touch. Every pole, he was in control of the race. I'm so proud of both Jose and the horse.”

“Four weeks [rest] and he ran huge,” said winning pilot Jose Ortiz. “He gave me everything he had and a very good race. Honestly, though he was a little offbeat down the backside but at the three-eighths pole he picked up little by little and I knew when I got next to the one-horse [Conagher], I knew I got him. From then on he just kept going the same pace. I knew if he didn't stop, he was going to run them off their feet because he was running the whole way. Seven [furlongs] is a tricky distance. I'd rather go a mile but seven-eighths is tricky. The pace is a little bit faster and you have to run the whole way there and he did.”

Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off an ultra-impressive debut romp at this oval exactly 364 days ago, Jack Christopher followed suit with a good-looking score in Belmont's GI Champagne S. in October. The early favorite going into the Breeders' Cup, he was a late scratch by the Del Mar vets with a minor left shin issue. The $135,000 FTKOCT buy reemerged on the First Saturday in May with a facile victory in the GII Pat Day Mile and blew away the field with a 10-length demolition of Belmont's GI Wood Stephens S. June 11. Stretched to a route for the first time at Monmouth in the Haskell July 23, he gave a valiant effort and ultimately finished third.

Pedigree Notes:

Jack Christopher is one of five Grade I winners for Coolmore's Munnings. His dam is also represented by an

unnamed Mo Town 2-year-old filly and a Complexity filly of this year. She was bred back to Munnings. Rushin No Blushin, a maiden of eight career starts, was claimed for $50,000 out of her career finale by owner/trainer Neil Pessin at Keeneland in 2013. The half-sister to MGISW and useful sire Street Boss (Street Cry (Ire)) subsequently brought $70,000 from Castleton Lyons, in foal to Congrats, at the 2014 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Saratoga
ALLEN JERKENS MEMORIAL S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-27, 3yo, 7f, 1:21.15, ft.
1–JACK CHRISTOPHER, 124, c, 3, by Munnings
       1st Dam: Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours
       2nd Dam: Blushing Ogygian, by Ogygian
       3rd Dam: Fruhlingshochzeit, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT).
O-Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter M.
Brant; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $275,000. 'TDN Rising Star' Lifetime
Record: 6-5-0-1, $1,216,400. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gunite, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy
Cal. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $100,000.
3–Runninsonofagun, 119, g, 3, Gun Runner–Golden Artemis,
by Malibu Moon. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($16,000 2yo '21
KEEJAN). O-The Estate of Scott Zimmerman; B-Dattt Farm
LLC (KY); T-John T. Toscano, Jr. $60,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.55, 7.00, 41.00.
Also Ran: Conagher, Accretive, Happy Jack, Totalizer, Actuator. Scratched: Howling Time.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

The post It’s ‘Jack’ on the Cutback in Jerkens appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Flightline Puts in Final Work Ahead of Pac Classic

Unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit) set fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :36.40, and stopped the clock at :59.60 for the five furlongs in his final work at Del Mar Saturday ahead of next week's GI TVG Pacific Classic.

“Last work today, it was very nice,” trainer John Sadler said afterward. “The idea today was not go very hard a week out. So what we try to do is just maintain his rhythm, keep him in the same place he's been in. We were thrilled. He did a minute effortlessly and he's essentially ready.”

He continued, “That's what's so exciting. You look at the works and think  Oh, he's working fast,' but in reality he's well within himself.”

Country Grammar (Tonalist), who is being pointed to the TVG Pacific Classic, also put in his final work Saturday morning, going five furlongs in 1:00.

“I like the way he went,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He went nice for him. He's not going to really light it up in the morning but he runs in the afternoon.”

The post Flightline Puts in Final Work Ahead of Pac Classic appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights