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Beyond the Wire Earns MJC Award of Merit

Beyond the Wire, a Maryland-based Thoroughbred aftercare program, will be honored with the Maryland Jockey Club's Special Award of Merit during the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Thursday.

The Special Award of Merit is presented to those who have made a positive impact on the racing industry. Past winners include Hall of Fame horsemen D. Wayne Lukas, Jerry Bailey, Ramon Dominguez and King Leatherbury; late Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim McKay, founder of the Maryland Million; and MJC track photographer Jim McCue.

“We are honored and really appreciate the recognition, as the program has been a big effort on the part of the Maryland racing industry,” Beyond the Wire's program administrator Jessica Hammond said. “Hopefully, the award will also provide an additional spotlight on the importance of aftercare.”

Launched in 2017, Beyond the Wire reached a milestone in mid-March when 5-year-old gelding Bundi Bundi trained by Pedro Nasario became the 500th horse to move through the program. Hammond said they have since added another 20 horses.

“It's a busy, busy program,” Hammond said. “The good news is that it shows that trainers are prioritizing a good aftercare program for their horses. People are even foregoing getting money for their horses so that they know that they are going to have a safe and secure retirement. Instead of risking having a horse end up in a bad spot, trainers are saying let me just retire them through Beyond the Wire.”

Beyond the Wire is an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Maryland Jockey Club, 1/ST Racing, Northview Stallion Station, Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland jockeys. The organization is a first exit from racing program designed to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retiring Maryland-based racehorses.

Annual pledges and donations, and owners' contributions of $11 per start, enables Beyond the Wire to place retired Thoroughbreds exclusively with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited farms. Horses that go through the program receive retraining and rehabilitation as needed.

Partner farms are MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, Foxie G Foundation, New Vocations, Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, After the Races, Equine Rescue of Aiken and Life Horse.

Beyond the Wire will have an information table set up during the Sunrise at Old Hilltop tours which run from 6-9 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information on the program, visit: www.beyondthewire.org.

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Mandaloun Back on Work Tab

Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun (Into Mischief) turned in his second work since a ninth-place finish in the Feb. 28 G1 Saudi Cup when going four furlongs in :49.20 (19/50) at Churchill Downs Sunday.

“He worked an easy three-eighths last week and we came back with just an easy half-mile [Sunday],” trainer Brad Cox said of last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner. “He got delayed coming back to Churchill from Saudi, so we just wanted to be easy on him for a little while and get him back going. We'll start to get more serious in the next few weeks.”

Cox said no target race had been picked out for Mandaloun, who opened 2022 with a win in the Jan. 22 GIII Louisiana S. at Fair Grounds.

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Arqana December Topper Rougir Runs by Them All in Beaugay

Peter Brant and Chad Brown enjoyed a productive GI Kentucky Derby week with victories in the GIII Modesty S. and GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S., and they picked up right where they left off Saturday with Michael Tabor getting in on the action.

Having repeatedly come out on the wrong end of blanket finishes last year while campaigned by trainer Cedric Rossi and Le Haras de La Gousserie, Rougir got her nose down on the line in the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp Oct. 3 before settling for seventh after a rough journey in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf Nov. 6. She returned to France to top Arqana's December Breeding Stock sale at €3,000,000, and was looking to become the third seven-figure buy from that auction to run back and win, following in the hoofsteps of her Distaff Turf Mile-winning stablemate Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (€1.95 million) and G3 Prix Allex France Longines heroine Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) (€2.5 million).

Dropping out the back early as is typical of this type, Rougir began to inch closer while three deep after a sluggish :52.13 half. She continued to build momentum after six furlongs in 1:16.24, and showed off her closing kick to run up the score.

“I was thrilled with her race,” said Brown. “She showed a nice turn of foot that she shows us in the morning. It certainly looks like she'll stretch out fine. She's proven at a mile and a quarter previously and I think that's where she's headed. We'll take a look at running her back in the [June 10 GI] New York Handicap. There was an easy pace and such and she was still able to overcome and run well.”

Brown added, “I'm the lucky recipient of some nice fillies [Peter Brant] bought over there [in Europe]. Me and my team are very grateful for all the horses Mr. Brant sends us. It looks like we're off to a great season. This is his tenth graded win already this season. He's having a great year and deservedly so. He's done the right thing by his horses [this] winter resting them.”

Winning rider Flavien Prat was coming off a double-digit score in the GIII Peter Pan S. one race earlier.

“I had the chance down the backside and got myself outside the slow pace and it felt like it wasn't going to be any good to stay on the inside,” said Prad. “So, I gave myself the chance to go around and it was a big help for me.”

Prat, who moved his tack from California to New York this spring, has become Brown's go-to rider.

“It's been a pleasure to ride for him,” said Prat. “I just try to do my best. Obviously, he's given me some great horses to ride, so I'm just a really spoiled guy right now.”

Saturday, Belmont Park
BEAUGAY S.-GIII, $150,000, Belmont, 5-14, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.40, fm.
1–ROUGIR (FR), 122, f, 4, by Territories (Ire)
                1st Dam: Summer Moon (Fr) (SP-Fr), by Elusive City
                2nd Dam: Kalatuna (Fr), by Green Tune
                3rd Dam: Kalasinger, by Chief Singer (Ire)
(€11,000 Wlg '18 ARQDE; €55,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG;
€3,000,000 3yo '21 ARQDEC). O-Peter M. Brant and Michael
Tabor; B-Jan Krauze (FR); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat.
$82,500. Lifetime Record: GISW, 15-5-1-3, $635,143.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+.
2–Our Flash Drive, 120, f, 4, Ghostzapper–Dynamotor, by
Dynaformer. O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL);
T-Mark E. Casse. $30,000.
3–High Opinion, 118, m, 5, Lemon Drop Kid–More Respect, by
More Than Ready. ($130,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Woodford
Racing, LLC and Team D; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D.
Fielding (KY); T-Anthony W. Dutrow. $18,000.
Margins: 3, NO, 3/4. Odds: 0.60, 28.50, 14.60.
Also Ran: Lemista (Ire), Runaway Rumour, Stolen Holiday, Plum Ali. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Rougir (Fr) hails from the first crop of Dalham Hall Stud's Territories (Ire) and the French Group 1 winner is his best runner to date. His three Northern Hemisphere black-type winners and additional nine stakes-placed runners include five graded performers. Most are out of European-based broodmare sire lines, but, like Rougir, MGSP-Ire Teresa Mendoza (Ire) has a Gone West-line damsire (Mr. Greeley). Elusive City, the Beaugay winner's broodmare sire, counts 21 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Summer Moon (Fr) was black-type placed in France for Jean-Claude Rouget, then shipped stateside to Chad Brown's barn for one start in 2015 before she was retired and bred to Blame and Mizzen Mast for her first two foals. Shipped back across the pond again, she has switched hands a couple of times, most recently at Arqana December in 2019 for €15,000 to Genovaa. The mare, who has several generations of Aga Khan breeding behind her, has a 2-year-old filly named Benvenuti (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}). That one sold at Arqana's October yearling sale last year for €100,000 to Paul Nataf.

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Constitution’s We the People Takes Flight in Peter Pan

'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) put on a show for those that braved the rain at Belmont Saturday–and the fans watching at home–with a dominant and seemingly effortless victory in the GII Peter Pan S., the local prep for the GI Belmont S. June 11.

Dispatched as the 5-2 second choice behind 2-1 favorite Set Sail (Malibu Moon), We the People broke alertly and hustled up to take immediate control. Clicking off opening splits of :23.46 and :47.24 on a clear lead, the bay was still well within himself under a motionless Flavien Prat turning for home. Prat shook the reins at the colt at the top of the lane and We the People instantly responded, opening up on the field with ease to win for fun by 10 1/4 lengths. Golden Glider (Ghostzapper) was the runner-up with Electability (Quality Road) in third. Favored Set Sail never made any impact, finishing sixth.

“[In the Arkansas Derby] Everyone broke well and all sent [for the lead] so I found myself wide and had to take back, drop in, and he didn't understand what I wanted from him from that point on,” Prat said. “Today, he broke well and got me into the race. I wanted a clean trip and to be in the clear and see what he could do from there. He responded really well.”

“We know how good he is,” said winning trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who also saddled fourth-place Western River (Tapit). “He's just his own enemy sometimes because he's a little cocky. Today was good. He got a little warm in the paddock and we gave him a shower and you could see he kind of relaxed and was drying up. I thought the warmup was good compared to Arkansas. Of course, if we bring one all the way here it's because we thought he had a shot to do that. He can run on anything. He's one of those kind.”

As for running one or both of his pupils in the Belmont, Brisset said, “We [brought] both here to see if we could consider the Belmont. Obviously, We the People passed the test and I think I'll have to watch the replay and take my time and wait 10 days to decide on Western River. He only got beat [less than] a half-length for second. I don't think the race set up for him too because they went in :47 1/5 and it wasn't really fast enough to make that big kick. We know the two turns may be the key, too, for Western River.”

A $110,000 KEENOV weanling turned $220,000 KEESEP yearling, We the People summoned $230,000 from WinStar at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale after breezing in :10 3/5 as part of the dispersal of the estate of the late Paul Pompa. He is the third former Pompa horse to win a graded stakes this year, following G1 Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammar (Tonalist) and GI Jenny Wiley S. victress Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom).

Graduating by 5 3/4 lengths going a mile on debut at Oaklawn Feb. 12, We the People earned the 'Rising Star' nod when repeating that effort in an Oaklawn optional claimer exactly one month later. Attempting to get on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, he ran in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby–his first start without Lasix–but failed to fire, finishing seventh.

Pedigree Notes:
We The People is the second son of Constitution to win the Peter Pan, following 2021 victor Promise Keeper. He is the 21st worldwide graded winner (13 NH & 8 SH) and 34th worldwide black-type scorer (22 NH & 12 SH) for the young WinStar phenom. The colt is also the 29th graded victor and 54th black-type winner out of a daughter of the pensioned Tiznow. We the People is bred on the same Constitution/Tiznow cross as the stallion's best son, Tiz the Law, whose quartet of Grade I wins includes the Belmont S., albeit that was the year it was run at 1 1/8 miles as the first leg of the Triple Crown in 2020.

We the People's unraced dam Letchworth is a daughter of GI Ballerina H. winner Harmony Lodge (Hennessy), who also produced SW & MGSP Armistice Day (Declaration of War) and GSW Stratford Hill (A.P. Indy). Harmony Lodge's dam is GSW Win Crafty Lady (Crafty Prospector), who is responsible for MGSW & GISP millionaire and sire Graeme Hall (Dehere) and GSW Win McCool (Giant's Causeway). This is also the family of Grade I winners Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon) and Pinehurst (Twirling Candy).

The Barbe family's Henley Farms acquired Letchworth for $40,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale with We the People in utero. She has since produced a juvenile colt by Always Dreaming, who brought $220,000 at the recent OBS April Sale, and a yearling colt by Audible. She was bred back to More Than Ready.

Saturday, Belmont
PETER PAN S.-GIII, $200,000, Belmont, 5-14, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:48.27, gd.
1–WE THE PEOPLE, 118, c, 3, by Constitution
               1st Dam: Letchworth, by Tiznow
               2nd Dam: Harmony Lodge, by Hennessy
               3rd Dam: Win Crafty Lady, by Crafty Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($110,000
Wlg '19 KEENOV; $220,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '21
FTFMAR). O-WinStar Farm LLC, CMNWLTH & Siena Farm
LLC; B-Henley Farms Inc. (KY); T-Rodolphe Brisset; J-Flavien
Prat. $110,000. 'TDN Rising Star' Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0,
$230,250. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Golden Glider, 118, c, 3, Ghostzapper–Golden Scarf, by
Orientate. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($395,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV). O-Gary Barber, Manfred
Conrad, & Penny Conrad; B-Nursery Place & Dicken Equine
(KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $40,000.
3–Electability, 118, g, 3, Quality Road–Spindle, by Hard Spun.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Wlg
'19 KEENOV). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Purple H
Bloodstock (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $24,000.
Margins: 10 1/4, NO, NK. Odds: 2.95, 4.70, 3.35.
Also Ran: Western River, Cooke Creek, Set Sail, Complete Agenda, State Planning.
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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