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Upstart Share Sells for $450K at Keeneland April

Offered as the final hip at Friday's Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale in Lexington, a share (2.5% fractional interest) in Airdrie Stud's Upstart (Flatter–Party Silks, by Touch Gold) was hammered down for $450,000 to Mike Freeny, who operates Dunquin Farm in nearby Paris, Kentucky, with his wife Pat.

A Grade II winner and placed no fewer than six times in Grade I company at distances between eight and nine furlongs, Upstart has been represented by three winners at the graded level, with two representatives from his second crop set to feature prominently at Churchill Downs next weekend. Jeff Drown's Zandon presented the stallion with his first Grade I winner when running out an extremely impressive winner of the Toyota Blue Grass S. Apr. 9 and continues to train forwardly towards next Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. The sire's 3-year-old daughter Kathleen O. is undefeated from four starts to date, including a latest success in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Apr. 2, and is expected to vie for favoritism in the May 6 GI Longines Kentucky Oaks.

“I did expect to pay that for it, but that was my limit,” Freeny said. “He's got some good horses on the Derby trail and on the Oaks trail. He's a good producer and his horses are running and we're sure pleased to have a share.”

Airdrie's Bret Jones said the decision was made to offer the share in an effort to strike while the iron's hot.

“We thought the share had a chance to sell very, very well,” he said. “The timing is right. The stallion sure seems right. When you have a public auction, people get competitive and I've just met our partner, Mr. Freeny, for the first time and I couldn't be happier about it. We're very happy to have him come on board. We've got a lot to root for this coming weekend and I like our chances with Upstart having another big weekend a week from now.”

The Upstart share was the second-priciest offering at the sale. The Taylor Made-sales consigned hip 23, recent Carousel S. winner Acting Out (Blame), fetched $600,000 from Will and Sarah Farish. A full report will appear in Sunday's TDN.

—Additional reporting by Sue Finley

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Cohen Cross-Examined As Giannelli Trial Recesses for Weekend

Day three of Lisa Giannelli's horse doping trial Apr. 29 featured the cross-examination of a key government witness.

Former New York harness trainer Ross Cohen had testified that Gianelli had sold him performance-enhancing drugs that he used to secretly dope horses under his care.

He agreed to cooperate with the government after his arrest in 2020 in connection with the FBI's sweeping horse-doping probe.

The investigation led to charges against a number of individuals including the prominent trainer Jason Servis.

Under questioning by Giannelli attorney Louis Fasulo in U.S. District Court in New York, Cohen was asked about his cooperation agreement in which he admitted to fixing races years ago as well as to doping horses.

Fasulo wanted to know if that was his incentive for becoming a cooperator–to avoid being charged with bribery and facing substantially more punishment.

“My incentive was to try to make right for my wrongs and tell the truth,” Cohen said in response.

Under further questioning, he said it could have been an incentive but then wasn't sure.

“I guess it could have been,” Cohen testified. “I don't know if it was an incentive or not at the time.”

Giannelli is on trial for conspiring to distribute adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs which were intended to enhance the performance of horses competing at racetracks across the country.

She worked with Seth Fishman, a veterinarian found guilty in February of manufacturing PEDs that were purchased by trainers to dope horses. Prosecutors say Fishman's drugs were designed to avoid post-race testing.

Fasulo told the jury that when Giannelli worked for Fishman out of her home in Delaware, she didn't do anything wrong because her actions didn't involve criminal intent.

Cohen was reluctant to talk about his race-fixing past under Fasulo's probing, part of an effort to damage Cohen's credibility.

At first, Cohen testified he couldn't remember how many races he fixed by bribing drivers to hold their horses back.

“It was more than five, I don't think it was over 20,” he told the jury.

He also couldn't remember how many drivers he paid off, then admitted, “maybe 10.”

When questioned by prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi, Cohen said his cooperation deal doesn't prevent prosecutors from other jurisdictions from charging him with bribery.

He hasn't been sentenced yet and said it would be up to the judge to determine his punishment.

The day concluded in the afternoon with the prosecution reading into the record portions of a witness's testimony from the Fishman trial.

The witness was Courtney Adams who worked for Fishman as an office manager for five years. She was unavailable to testify against Giannelli.

In her testimony, Adams said that Giannelli helped with labeling Fishman products. Prosecutors contend some of those labels violated federal regulations.

“She would suggest edits so the client would know what the product was,” Adams said in her testimony.

During the reading, prosecutors also showed the jury a 2013 text in which Fishman said that Giannelli made over $250,000 in 2012.

During her cross-examination, which was also read into the record, Adams admitted to Fasulo that she didn't know if that was true or not.

The trial resumes Monday.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

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Churchill Spring Meet to Air on FOX Sports

The racing action from Churchill Downs Racetrack throughout the 2022 Spring Meet will be broadcast on FOX Sports' “America's Day at the Races,” which will air every race day on either FS1 or FS2. The Kentucky Oaks and Derby cards will be shown on tape delay.

Produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, “America's Day at the Races” is hosted by Greg Wolf with a team of handicappers and racing analysts that includes Paul LoDuca, Andy Serling, Maggie Wolfendale, Acacia Courtney, Richard Migliore, Gary Stevens and Jonathan Kinchen. The full schedule can be found on NYRA's website.

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War Like Goddess Goes Back-To-Back in Bewitch

Those who swallowed the 1-5 on the comebacking War Like Goddess (English Channel) in Friday's closing-day GIII Bewtich S. at Keeneland were made to sweat it out, but the gaps finally came with time ticking away and the George Krikorian colorbearer proved best following a trip that can best be described as adventurous.

With Joel Rosario somewhat controversially taking over at the controls from Julien Leparoux aboard the 2021 Eclipse Award finalist, War Like Goddess settled in third position in a scratched-down field of just five turf marathoners, but the pace more resembled that of a Standardbred race, causing War Like Goddess to race extremely keenly, tugging for her head while behind the walking tempo passing the grandstand for the first time.

Continuing inside and still traveling freely past halfway in a near-farcical 1:19.88, War Like Goddess settled slightly better for the run into the final turn, but nevertheless was shuffled back and locked away in desperate need of daylight as they turned for home. It looked for a stride or two like she might not get out in time, but she muscled her way through with about a furlong to race and was home first.

“I was concerned about how much pace there would or would not be in the race, and there wasn't any,” said winning trainer Bill Mott. “Actually, I'm not so sure I've been in a race on firm turf that was any slower than this, so it was quite a challenge for [jockey Joel Rosario] to keep her in behind those horses and wait until they turned for home. I think Joel did well with the way it didn't set up for us, and the filly was good enough to win.”

Winning is something War Like Goddess has become accustomed to, as she was batting .750 entering Friday's title defense. Winner of the GIII Orchid S. prior to annexing this event last season, she added soft wins in the GII Glens Falls S. and GI Flower Bowl Invitational S. at Saratoga last summer and was the 23-10 pick in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Allowed to settle for the opening mile, she went for a wide, if a touch premature run, about three furlongs from home and could not quite hold on late, finishing third to Japan's Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who secured the Eclipse in the process.

Pedigree Notes:

Calumet Farm acquired Misty North for $30,000 in foal to Cape Blanco (Ire) at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale and it took just $1,200 for them to part with War Like Goddess at the 2017 November Sale. Bought back for the upset price of $1,000 at Keeneland September the following fall, she showed enough to fetch $30,000 at OBS June in 2019. Calumet sold Misty North for $1,000 at KEENOV in 2019 and the mare produced a colt from the second crop of Bal a Bali (Brz) in 2020, her last listed produce.

Friday, Keeneland
BEWITCH S.-GIII, $298,500, Keeneland, 4-29, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/2mT, 2:31.26, fm.
1–WAR LIKE GODDESS, 118, m, 5, by English Channel
                1st Dam: Misty North, by North Light (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Misty Gallop, by Victory Gallop
                3rd Dam: Romanette, by Alleged
($1,200 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $1,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $30,000
2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-George Krikorian; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Joel Rosario. $186,000. Lifetime Record:
GISW, 9-7-0-1, $1,079,684. Werk Nick Rating: F.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Family Way, 120, m, 5, Uncle Mo–Susie's Baby, by Giant's
Causeway. ($775,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; €150,000 3yo '20
ARQDEC). O-Hunter Valley Farm, Debra L O'Connor, and Marc
Detampel; B-Diamond Creek Farm (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh.
$60,000.
3–Core Values, 118, f, 4, Honor Code–Sweet Awakening, by
Street Cry (Ire). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($230,000 Ylg '19
KEESEP). O-BBN Racing, LLC; B-John Bates, Ron Kirk & Michael
Riordan (KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver. $30,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.20, 3.50, 24.70.
Also Ran: Breeze Rider, La Lune (GB). Scratched: Luck Money, Stand Tall.
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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