Cupid Filly Earns OBS Bullet Wednesday

The under-tack show ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training reached its halfway point with its third session Wednesday and a filly by Cupid (hip 576) became the second juvenile of the week to work a quarter-mile in :20 2/5. Out of Callipepla (Yes It's True), the bay filly is consigned by Jenn and Quincy Adams's Q Bar J Thoroughbreds.

“That was a 'wow' work,” Quincy Adams said Wednesday afternoon. “She galloped out strong. She's so classy. She is just a princess. She walked back to the barn like an older horse. She's a cool horse.”

Q Bar J purchased the filly for $42,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October Yearling Sale.

“She was just big and scopey and had muscle like she was going to be fast, but also looks like she could get two turns,” Adams said. “She's filled out in all the right places. She has that big hip that everybody likes–that big motor–and she's got a real big slinky walk. She has some scope to her and she's got some size.”

The filly is from the first crop of GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita winner Cupid (Tapit).

“We've had three Cupids and we really liked all of them,” Adams said. “They've all been kind of different, but the biggest thing that I've seen is that they all have good minds.”

A filly (hip 317) by another Coolmore first-crop sire, champion Classic Empire, worked the bullet quarter-mile of :20 2/5 during Tuesday's second session of the six-day under-tack show.

Twenty-eight juveniles shared Wednesday's fastest furlong time of :10 flat. Three were from Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables consignment, which sent out one of three juveniles by Juddmonte's late champion Arrogate to share the day's fastest furlong.

Hip 490, a gray colt by Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), turned in his :10 flat breeze just minutes into the day's session. Out of Ask the Question (Silver Deputy), he is a half-brother to multiple Grade I winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) and was purchased by Dunne for $155,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale on behalf of the pinhooking partnership responsible for last year's highest-priced colt, a $1.25-million son of Quality Road.

“He's been one of our talking horses all year,” Dunne said. “He's just a beautiful horse. He's got the best of both worlds. He's got the stretch and length of an Unbridled's Song and he's got the power of a Silver Deputy. He's a really nice colt.”

Wavertree also sent out a filly by Curlin (hip 594) to work in :10 flat Wednesday. Out of the unraced Catch the Flag (A.P. Indy), a full-sister to Canadian champion Catch the Thrill, the juvenile was purchased privately after RNA'ing for $120,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase.

“The Curlin is a beauty,” Dunne said. “She is as pretty as a picture, a medium-sized filly with a ton of class. She has always worked well and we weren't surprised when she showed up to work today.”

Rounding out the trio of Wavertree's :10 flat workers was hip 530, a son of Runhappy out of Bible Belt (Pulpit). The dark bay colt is a half-brother to graded placed Hardworkcleanlivin (Colonel John). He was purchased by Columbia Bloodstock for $250,000 as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November sale before RNA'ing for $120,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The Runhappy was an expensive foal who went into a yearling sale when Runhappy was not the flavor of the month, shall we say. So they called an audible and figured they would give him more time,” Dunne said. “He was an expensive foal and when you look at him, you can see why.”

Wavertree had one of six juveniles to work in :9 4/5 Tuesday, when hip 253 shared the week's fastest furlong so far. Bred by Brenda and Philip Robertson, the son of Cairo Prince RNA'd for $35,000 at Keeneland last September.

“He's a really cool horse,” Dunne said. “Philip Robertson owns him and he really liked him as a yearling. He drew one of the later books at Keeneland and he wasn't willing to give him away. He figured he would take a shot down here and it looks like he might have been right.”

The majority of Wavertree's OBS March consignment worked quarter-miles at the under-tack show ahead of last month's sale, but an increasing emphasis on gallop-out times prompted Dunne to limit his April consignment to furlong works.

“Regardless of how far a horse works, they want to clock them galloping out from the wire to the five-eighths pole, which is an extra three-eighths of a mile,” Dunne explained. “They just do the gallop-outs by how fast they went, not by how far they went. The horses who go eighths obviously gallop out a better three-eighths than the horses who went a quarter. We had some horses that I thought worked really, really well in March going quarters and they wanted to come back and knock them for how they galloped out. Whereas if they had gone eighths, that wouldn't have been an issue. To my mind, there is no advantage to going a quarter anymore. It's all become too much about what they do after the wire as opposed to what they do to the wire. So that was our reasoning to backing them up.”

In addition to hip 490, Arrogate also had a pair of fillies share Wednesday's furlong bullet. Hip 463, a daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Amen Hallelujah (Montbrook), was purchased for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale by Nice Guys Stables and worked in :10 flat for Mayberry Farm.

Also working in :10 flat, hip 486 is a daughter of multiple Grade I winner Artemis Agrotera (Roman Ruler) who is consigned by Sequel Bloodstock on behalf of Chester and Mary Broman. Her half-brother Chestertown (Tapit) topped the 2019 OBS March sale when selling for $2 million.

Also working in :10 flat Wednesday were:

Hip 423, a colt by Outwork (video) consigned by All Dreams Equine; Hip 435, a filly by Practical Joke (video) consigned by Eisaman Equine; Hip 446, a colt by Tapiture (video) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales; Hip 470, a filly by Klimt (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 477, a colt by Shaman Ghost (video) consigned by AVP Training and Sales; Hip 478, a colt by Wildcat Red (video) consigned by Coastal Equine; Hip 487, a filly by Maclean's Music (video) consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds; Hip 488, a filly by Secret Circle (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 496, a filly by Tapiture (video) consigned by Top Line Sales; Hip 512, a filly by Maclean's Music (video) consigned by Paul Sharp; Hip 526, a colt by Connect (video) consigned by Eddie Woods; Hip 537, a filly by Cairo Prince (ld   HYPERLINK “http://obscatalog.com/apr/2021/537.mp4” video) consigned by Craig L. Wheeler; Hip 546, a colt by Gormley (video) consigned by GOP Racing; Hip 549, a colt by Liam's Map (video) consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales; Hip 550, a filly by Twirling Candy (video) consigned by Old South Farm; Hip 566, a filly by Nyquist (video) consigned by Lucan Bloodstock; Hip 572, a colt by Klimt (video) consigned by Centofanti Thoroughbreds; Hip 575, a colt by Violence (video) consigned by S G V Thoroughbreds; Hip 584, a colt by Street Boss (video) consigned by Coastal Equine; Hip 591, a filly by Practical Joke (video) consigned by Two Oaks Equine; Hip 593, a filly by Upstart (video) consigned by Paul Sharp; Hip 601, a filly by Munnings (video) consigned by Mayberry Farm; and Hip 608, a colt by Gormley (video) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning each day at 8 a.m. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding commencing at 10:30 a.m.

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Derby and Oaks Works Open to Public

Between Saturday, Apr. 17 and Wednesday, Apr. 28, Churchill Downs will be open free-of-charge daily from 7-10 a.m. for fans to watch the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks contenders work.

Horses train on Churchill Downs' main track daily from 5:15-10 a.m. Beginning Saturday, April 17, there will be an exclusive training window only for Derby and Oaks participants from 7:30-7:45 a.m. following the 7-7:30 a.m. renovation break. Those horses will be identified by special saddle towels which include their names:  yellow saddle towels for Derby horses and pink saddle towels for Oaks contenders.

Churchill Downs will livestream the Kentucky Derby Morning Works presented by TwinSpires.com across its social media channels starting Monday, Apr. 19. Video also will be broadcast on Churchill Downs' Big Board.

Face coverings are required and guests must practice social distancing. Guests may bring in their own food and beverage during the morning workouts from Apr. 14-23. Food and beverage may not be brought into the facility between Apr. 24 and Apr. 28 because of Kentucky Derby Week security protocols, but Churchill Downs' new Paddock Grill will be open during that period to offer breakfast items for purchase.

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Cuomo Announces Fans Can Return to New York Tracks April 23

In a surprising development, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that fans may return to the state's racetracks starting Apr. 23. Attendance will be capped at 20% capacity.

A few hours after Cuomo's announcement, NYRA officials were still considering their options and would not commit to allowing fans to attend as soon as Apr. 23.

“The New York Racing Association, Inc. looks forward to welcoming fans back to Belmont Park this spring and to Saratoga Race Course this summer,” NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “We thank Governor Cuomo for the opportunity to host fans at our historic tracks for the first time since the start of the pandemic. We will announce ticketing options for fans once we further review the guidelines and protocols set forth for thoroughbred tracks in New York state.  NYRA has dearly missed the passion and excitement that fans bring to the sport of thoroughbred racing. Today's announcement by the Governor is one more indication that we are collectively moving toward a return to normalcy.”

Belmont is scheduled to open for its spring meet Apr. 22.

NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna said that it was premature to predict how many fans will be allowed to attend the GI Belmont S. card and the Saratoga races.

“As the rate of vaccination continues to increase across New York State, we are optimistic that capacity restrictions will continue to ease in the coming months in advance of the Belmont Stakes and the 2021 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course,” he said. “We miss our fans dearly, and look forward to seeing them soon back where they belong.”

NYRA has not been allowed to have on-track fans since March 2020, when the pandemic started to shut down the entire country.

It remains to be seen how many fans will be allowed at each facility under the 20% guideline. In 2015, NYRA decided to cap the attendance at cavernous Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes at 90,000. That could mean that about 18,000 people will be allowed to attend the final leg of the Triple Crown. With vaccinations readily available in the state, the 20% guideline will no doubt change at some point with even more fans being allowed.

The numbers for record crowds at Saratoga are misleading because they include days when the attendance was artificially inflated due to “spinners” going through the turnstiles more than once to collect added giveaway items. The record crowd for the GI Travers day is 60,486. That could mean NYRA will be allowed to welcome about 12,000 fans a day to the popular upstate track.

Cuomo appeared at Belmont Wednesday to do a press briefing, but never mentioned the decision to allow fans back on track. He did take the opportunity to commend the New York racing community for its response to a barn fire Monday in which all but two horses were rescued.

“Due to really extraordinary effort by first responders, the fire department and the staff here at NYRA. Fifty-eight horses were saved,” he said. “Two horses perished, but they did a really outstanding job.”

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Trainer Charles LoPresti Retires

Trainer Charlie LoPresti, who conditioned Morton Fink's Wise Dan (Wiseman's Ferry) to victories in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile and Horse of the Year titles in 2012 and 2013, told Daily Racing Form that he is retired from training.

A New York native, LoPresti began training horses in 1993 and fully 16 years later wa s represented by his first winner at the graded level when Successful Dan (Successful Appeal), a Fink-owned and -bred son of Lisa Danielle (Wolf Power {SAf}) won the GIII Northern Dancer S. His half-brother Wise Dan had his graded-stakes breakthrough in Keeneland's GIII Phoenix S. in 2010 and would go on to become the defining horse of his 27-year career. Having won the Phoenix on the Polytrack, Wise Dan belied odds of 14-1 to win the GII Firecracker H. when making his turf debut in 2011. Highlighting his versatility, he added the GI Clark H. over the Churchill main track to conclude his 4-year-old campaign.

The best was yet to come for Wise Dan, who won the GI Woodbine Mile, GI Shadwell Turf Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile for the first of his two Horse of the Year titles in 2012. He retained his brilliance at the age of six, winning the GI Turf Classic over nine furlongs before successfully defending his title in the Woodbine Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile. He was denied a perfect season when runner-up in the off-turf Shadwell. Wise Dan was a perfect four-for-four at age seven in 2014, winning the Shadwell for the second time, but he missed a three-peat attempt at the Breeders' Cup Mile and was retired with 23 wins from 31 runs and earnings of $7.5 million.

Other graded winners trained by LoPresti included GISWs Turallure (Wando) and Here Comes Ben (Street Cry {Ire}).

LoPresti saddled his final runner last October and retires with 310 winners from 2,205 starters and stable earnings of better than $20 million.

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