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More Gold for Olympiad in Stephen Foster

The streaking Olympiad (Speightstown) punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in style with an ultra-impressive fifth consecutive victory in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs.

The 3-2 favorite raced in between rivals as five of them stacked up passing the grandstand the first time. Olympiad found a perfect spot rounding the clubhouse turn and raced in a tracking second behind Caddo River (Hard Spun) through sharp fractions of :23.05 and :46.45. He turned up the heat on the pacesetter on the far turn as last year's promoted GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun (Into Mischief) wound up with a three-wide move of his own.

Olympiad hit the front at the quarter pole, drew clear with authority in the stretch and was never seriously threatened by the late rally of GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution) to score by 2 1/4 lengths. Proxy (Tapit) flew from the clouds for a well-beaten third; Mandaloun, making his first start since a well-beaten ninth in the Saudi Cup, was a tiring fourth.

Olympiad has been perfect in five subsequent starts since finishing fourth with trouble while making his stakes debut in the Cigar Mile last December. His current winning streak also includes victories in the GIII Mineshaft S. Feb. 19, GII New Orleans Classic S. Mar. 26 and GII Alysheba S. last time May 6.

“I thought it was a very game win this afternoon,” winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “There were some nice horses in this field and I thought he did things rather easily. It was really nice to see him win like that. We've always thought about running him in the [Aug. 6 GI] Whitney [at Saratoga], so I think that would be the next possible target.”

Winning jockey Junior Alvarado added, “This horse has such a big stride on him and really extends it late in races. I think as he's gotten older, he's gotten faster in each start. Today, we sat in a good position just off of the early pace and he showed how powerful his stride can be. I asked him just a little bit in the final furlong and he continued to get faster. He's a great horse and has shown his talent all year long. It will be a fun rest of the year.”

Saturday, Churchill Downs
STEPHEN FOSTER S.-GII, $740,000, Churchill Downs, 7-2, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.66, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 124, c, 4, by Speightstown
                1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177), by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
($700,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne
Stable, LLC & LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $455,320. Lifetime
Record: 10-7-1-1, $1,407,560. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Americanrevolution, 119, c, 4, Constitution–Polly Freeze, by
Super Saver. ($275,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG). O-CHC Inc. & WinStar
Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding (NY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $137,200.
3–Proxy, 119, c, 4, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $73,600.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2 3/4, 4. Odds: 1.50, 3.70, 11.20.
Also Ran: Mandaloun, Title Ready, Caddo River, Last Samurai.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Hailing from one of the best Emory Hamilton families, Olympiad is out of a Grade III-placed half-sister to GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile heroine Hungry Island (More Than Ready), whose three winners from three to the races includes the stakes-placed Hamilton homebred mare Hungry Kitten (Kitten's Joy). Tokyo Time is also a half-sister to GSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker) and to Flying Dixie (Dixieland Band), the dam of GISW and current Airdrie Stud sire Preservationist (Arch). Third dam Chic Shirine, winner of the 1987 GI Ashland S. and fifth in that year's GI Kentucky Oaks for Wayne Lukas, was a full-sister to champion older mare Queena and bred the graded-winning full-sibs Waldoboro (Lyphard) and Tara Roma as well as the dam of GISW Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid) and SW Rasta Farian (Holy Bull). Dual Grade I winner Verrazano (More Than Ready) also appears under the third dam.

Olympiad is bred on the exact same cross as ill-fated Grade I winner Rock Fall and GISW Competitionofideas and additional graded winners Souper Stonehenge and Strike Power.

Tokyo Time is the dam of the maiden 3-year-old colt Friendship Road (Quality Road), a 2-year-old filly by War Front and a yearling colt by American Pharoah. She was most recently served by Quality Road.

The post More Gold for Olympiad in Stephen Foster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Shedaresthedevil Returns to Winning Ways in Fleur de Lis

Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) returned to the scene of her greatest triumph for Saturday's GII Fleur de Lis S. and came home a winner for the first time since taking this venue's GIII Locust Grove S. in September. It was her sixth win from seven starts at Churchill Downs with one second.

The slight second choice behind Pauline's Pearl (Tapit), who defeated her in the GI La Troienne S. May 6, Shedaresthedevil glided up to stalk from second as Super Quick (Super Saver) carved out early splits of :24.13 and :47.83. Turning up the heat at the top of the stretch, the bay pounced on the pacesetter at the eighth-pole and bounded clear to score. Super Quick held second over Pauline's Pearl.

“We're really proud of the race she ran today,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We've targeted this race for a long time. She loves it here at Churchill Downs and Florent [Geroux] gave her a perfect ride. It was a tough field but I had confidence in her when I saw her position going around the turn that she'd have enough left to chase down [Super Quick].”
“We sat in a perfect position the entire way around the track,” Geroux said. “Inside the eighth pole she started to find her best stride and drew away late. She's back.”

A $100,000 KEENOV weanling, Shedaresthedevil was purchased by Flurry Racing for $280,000 at the end of her juvenile season at the 2019 KEENOV sale. Qatar Racing stayed in as a partner and they were joined by Big Aut Farm. She captured a pair of Grade IIIs in 2020 before upending eventual champion Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) at 15-1 in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Winner of the GII Azeri S. and GI La Troienne to start 2021, the bay was third to champion Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont that summer and returned to winning ways when making the trip to Del Mar for the GI Clement Hirsch S. She followed suit with her Locust Grove win, but could only manage sixth back in SoCal for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in November.

Sent through the Fasig November sale yet again, Shedaresthedevil was the second highest-priced offering, bringing $5-million from Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill with Flurry and Qatar staying in as partners. Third to Saturday's GII Princess Rooney S. winner and champion sprinter Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) in this year's Azeri Mar. 12, Shedaresthedevil was run down late by Pauline's Pearl when last seen in the La Troienne.

Pedigree Notes:
Shedaresthedevil is a half to GSP Mojovation (Quality Road). Her dam Starship Warpspeed is also responsible for the unraced 3-year-old filly Blackheartedgypsy (Speightster), an unraced juvenile filly named Jupiter Mooon (Exaggerator), a yearling colt by Uncle Mo and a 2022 filly by that Coolmore stallion. This is also the family of GSW & MGISP Crafty C. T.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
FLEUR DE LIS S.-GII, $345,000, Churchill Downs, 7-2, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.17, ft.
1–SHEDARESTHEDEVIL, 121, m, 5, by Daredevil
1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
2nd Dam: Andria's Forest, by Forestry
3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
($100,000 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $20,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP;
$280,000 2yo '19 KEENOV; $5,000,000 4yo '21 FTKNOV).
O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar Racing Limited & Whisper
Hill Farm, LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox;
J-Florent Geroux. $216,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW,
20-10-3-5, $2,729,458. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality Road),
GSP, $335,378. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.
2–Super Quick, 121, f, 4, Super Saver–Quick Town, by Cape
Town. O/B-Marylou Whitney Stables LLC (KY); T-Norm W.
Casse. $70,000.
3–Pauline's Pearl, 124, f, 4, Tapit–Hot Dixie Chick, by Dixie
Union. O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $35,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.40, 2.40, 1.40.
Also Ran: She's All Wolfe, Ava's Grace.
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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Day 1 of HISA: Scratches Hard to Find, Lone Star Handle Plummets

Any worries that the first day under which horses had to be registered with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority in order to compete would create chaos were squelched early on in the day Saturday when a number of tracks reported that not a single horse had to be withdrawn from a race due to the new rules.

The TDN sent out survey questions to a number of racing officials Saturday to determine how many, if any, horses had to be scratched because either the horses or their owners or trainers had not been registered with HISA. The TDN heard back from eight tracks–Gulfstream, Laurel, Belmont, Churchill Downs, Evangeline Downs, Los Alamitos, Monmouth and Charles Town. All eight reported that not a single horse at their tracks had to be scratched because of HISA's regulations.

The numbers may have been a pleasant surprise for the HISA team, which had told the TDN earlier in the week that they were prepared for some scratches.

“Since such a registration process has never existed at the national level before, it's unclear how many people and horses are or will be participating in racing come July 1,” a spokesperson told the TDN. “It should be noted that the universe of people expected to register is limited to the 24 states conducting covered horse races under HISA's authority.”

As of Friday night, the last chance individuals had to register themselves and their horses so that they would be eligible to race on Saturday, there were 27,074 covered horses and 24,147 covered persons. Through mid-week, 30,846 different horses had competed in the U.S. this year, but that doesn't mean that some 3,846 horses were not registered. A good number of the 30,846 runners may have been hurt and/or retired at some point in the year, meaning there was no need to register them.

There were also no reports of jockeys who weren't registered and therefore could not ride.

The news wasn't nearly as good out of Texas. The Texas Racing Commission has not complied with the Horse Racing and Integrity Safety Act, arguing that under Texas law only the commission has the authority to oversee racing. That led the commission to rule that the signal from the state's tracks cannot be sent out of state and that advance deposit wagering companies could not take betting on Texas races.

Predictably, that led to a massive decline in handle Saturday at Lone Star Park on the first day that its races couldn't be sent out of state. Lone Star ran a 10-race card on Saturday, June 25 and handled $1,771,138 or $177,113 per race. There was an eight-race card on Saturday and total handle for the day was $215,107, for an average of $26,888 per race.

The Lone Star meet concludes July 24, so it's unlikely that the decreased handle will affect purses in the short term, but that could change if the HISA-Texas Racing Commission standoff persists.

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Tapit’s Charge It Dominates Dwyer

The lightly raced 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), a forgettable 17th with a nightmare trip in the GI Kentucky Derby, put it all together with a jaw-dropping victory in Saturday's GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont Park.

The rail-drawn 3-5 favorite–a green second while making his stakes debut at third asking in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 2– pressed Fluid Situation (Warrior's Reward) from second while racing in tight quarters along the fence here.

Hall of Famer Johnny Velazquez bulled his way into the clear after brushing with the tiring maiden winner and second choice Nabokov (Uncle Mo) at the five-eighths pole and the gray put on an absolute show from there. Charge It cruised to the front a quarter of a mile from home and was kept to task down the stretch to win by a devastating 23 lengths. Longshot Runninsonofagun (Gun Runner) was second; Fluid Situation was third.

“We always had a lot of confidence in this horse's ability,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We tried to correct the problem from the Derby [displaced palate], which we think we successfully did. Today, we saw the talent level that we'd been seeing from him.

Pletcher continued, “We drew the one-hole again [Life Is Good also had post one earlier on the card] and needed to come away and establish some position. We felt like that's where we would be and he would work his way into the clear, and it was pretty much game over from there.”

On potential next starts at Saratoga in the GII Jim Dandy S. July 30 and/or the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 27, Pletcher added, “We were hoping for a good performance today that would put us in the position to look at the Jim Dandy or the Travers or both. It was a powerful effort today, so we're back on track to where we thought we were at Florida Derby time. It's all about him telling us what to do. Could we train up to the Travers from here? I don't think that's impossible either.”

Pedigree Notes:

Charge It becomes the 154th stakes winner/96th graded winner for leading sire Tapit. The Tapit over Indian Charlie cross is also represented by the sensational unbeaten GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. winner Flightline. Indian Charlie is now responsible for 89 stakes winners/29 graded winners as a broodmare sire.

Charge It was produced by the winning mare I'll Take Charge, a $2.2-million KEESEP yearling purchase by Mandy Pope's operation. The 10-year-old is a daughter of bluehen mare Take Charge Lady (Dehere), who is responsible for champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), GISW Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), MGSW & GISP As Time Goes By (American Pharoah); and Charming (Seeking the Gold), the dam of champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) and MGISW Omaha Beach (War Front). I'll Take Charge produced a colt by Into Mischief this year and was bred back to Tapit.

Saturday, Belmont Park
DWYER S.-GIII, $250,000, Belmont, 7-2, 3yo, 1m, 1:34.67, ft.
1–CHARGE IT, 118, c, 3, by Tapit
                1st Dam: I'll Take Charge, by Indian Charlie
                2nd Dam: Take Charge Lady, by Dehere
                3rd Dam: Felicita, by Rubiano
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
WIN. O/B-Whisper Hill Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher;
J-John R. Velazquez. $137,500. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-2-2-0,
$367,900. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
2–Runninsonofagun, 119, g, 3, Gun Runner–Golden Artemis, by
Malibu Moon. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($16,000 2yo '21
KEEJAN). O-The Estate of Scott Zimmerman; B-Dattt Farm LLC
(KY); T-John T. Toscano, Jr.. $50,000.
3–Fluid Situation, 118, c, 3, Warrior's Reward–Volatile Vickie,
by Elusive Quality. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($45,000 Ylg '20 OBSOCT; $200,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR).
O-Curragh Stables; B-Hidden Point Farm Inc. (FL); T-John P.
Terranova, II. $30,000.
Margins: 23, 2 1/4, NO. Odds: 0.60, 15.80, 8.80.
Also Ran: Unbridled Bomber, No Sabe Nada, Nabokov.
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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