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War Front’s Civil Union Finishes Fastest in Flower Bowl

The 3-1 third choice in a field of seven, Joseph Allen’s progressive Civil Union (War Front) built on her last-out success in the GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga with a breakthrough top-level tally in Saturday’s GI Flower Bowl S. at Belmont Park, securing a berth in the gate for the GI Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in the process.

Allowed to settle last but one beneath Joel Rosario, with only G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})’s French and American Group 3/Grade III winner My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) behind her, Civil Union was content to bide time from a ground-saving position as longshot Lovely Lucky (Lookin At Lucky) set a modest pace in advance of favored Cambier Parc (Medaglia d’Oro). Always traveling sweetly, Civil Union was short of room entering the final 2 1/2 furlongs, but accelerated three off the inside once La Signare (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) vacated that spot. With one of the best finishers in the business at the controls, Civil Union came calling for the lead nearing the sixteenth pole and was home first as My Sister Nat attacked the line down the center of the course. Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never), who was relegated to second favoritism in the last few clicks of the tote, could not quite match strides with the top two and settled for third, one spot ahead of a disappointing Cambier Parc.

It was the second Flower Bowl win in the last four years for Allen, trainer Shug McGaughey and War Front, whose daughter War Flag landed the spoils at 9-1 in 2017 before finishing a respectable sixth behind Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.

“When she started off this winter in Florida, I never imagined that she would be a Grade 1 winner,” the Hall of Fame conditioner admitted. “She’s progressed the right way. It’s fun. She’s a nice mare to train and nice to be around. She ran under some different tactics today on Joel [Rosario’s] part, but that’s why he’s such a great rider. He knows what to do.”

A debut winner from three starts for the Chad Brown barn in 2018 and 2019, Civil Union took a course-and-distance allowance in her second appearance for this barn ahead of a facile score in the 12-furlong River Memories S. July 12. With Rosario in the irons for the first time in the Sept. 5 Glens Falls, Civil Union sat handy to a walking pace, then covered her final three furlongs in a smart :34.97 to best My Sister Nat by a length.

Pedigree Notes:

Civil Union becomes the 23rd Grade I/Group 1 winner for her Claiborne-based stallion and is the 25th top-level scorer out of a daughter of the late Unbridled’s Song, three of which–Contrail (Jpn) and Volatile–have come this season.

Photograph is an unraced daughter of Black Speck, whose produce include the aforementioned War Flag as well as the former G2 UAE Derby hero Lines of Battle (War Front), who won the G1 Champions & Chater Cup in Hong Kong (then named Helene Super Star) en route to honors as that jurisdiction’s champion stayer. Civil Union’s third dam produced influential sire Dynaformer (Roberto) as well as the dam of GISW sire Offlee Wild (Wild Again).

A full-sister to the 2-year-old colt Battle of Britain, Civil Union has a weanling full-brother named Operation Torch. Having produced her first eight foals by War Front, Photograph was most recently bred to Tapit.

Saturday, Belmont Park
FLOWER BOWL S.-GI, $250,000, Belmont, 10-10, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:01.28, fm.
1–CIVIL UNION, 124, m, 5, by War Front
1st Dam: Photograph, by Unbridled’s Song
2nd Dam: Black Speck, by Arch
3rd Dam: Andover Way, by His Majesty
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Allen Stable Inc; B-Joseph Allen LLC (KY); T-Claude R McGaughey III; J-Joel Rosario. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 8-5-1-1, $396,810. *Full to War Dispatch, GSW & G1SP-Fr, $765,320; and George Patton, GSP-Fr, $105,521. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–My Sister Nat (Fr), 122, m, 5, by Acclamation (GB)
1st Dam: Starlet’s Sister (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune
3rd Dam: Allwaki, by Miswaki
(€20,000 Ylg ’16 ARQFEB). O-Peter M Brant; B-Ecurie Des Monceaux (FR); T-Chad C. Brown. $50,000.
3–Nay Lady Nay (Ire), 122, f, 4, by No Nay Never
1st Dam: Lady Ederle, by English Channel
2nd Dam: Bright Generation (Ire), by Rainbow Quest
3rd Dam: New Generation (Ire), by Young Generation (Ire)
(€44,000 Wlg ’16 GOFNOV; €50,000 Ylg ’17 GOFOR; $210,000 2yo ’18 OBSMAR). O-First Row Partners & Hidden Brook Farm; B-Stephen Sullivan (IRE); T-Chad C Brown. $30,000.
Margins: HD, 3/4, 2 3/4. Odds: 3.05, 5.20, 2.90.
Also Ran: Cambier Parc, La Signare (Fr), Beau Belle, Lovely Lucky.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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‘One of the Good Guys’: Barry Abrams Dies at 66

A towering presence of California horse racing in both stature and sheer strength of character, trainer, owner and breeder Barry Abrams has died at the age of 66.

“He really looked into the soul of a horse,” said David Abrams, Barry Abrams’s brother. “He had horses run that didn’t run for anybody else.”

Abrams had battled throat cancer for more than 15 years.

“He never once complained about what he was going through,” said trainer Richard Baltas, Abrams’s former assistant. “He helped people who were less fortunate than him and was one of the good guys at the track.”

From hard-scrabble beginnings–“One of the underdogs. The little guy with a small stable,” said David–Abrams left an indelible stamp on the sport in the Golden State. From just over 6,000 individual starts, he secured 688 victories and more than $30 million in prize money.

His top-tier prizes included Famous Digger (Quest for Fame {GB})’s win in the 1997 GI Del Mar Oaks, the 2008 GI Las Virgenes S. with Golden Doc A and the 2010 GI Hollywood Turf Club S. with Unusual Suspect–the latter two by Unusual Heat, the remarkable lynchpin stallion of the California breeding industry who Abrams also conditioned.

“He was brilliant with his claims,” said David, of his brother. “He claimed two horses from Richard Mandella. One became a Grade I winner [Famous Digger], the other one was Unusual Heat. He saw in Unusual Heat what other people didn’t–they thought he was crazy claiming a 6-year-old with potential bowed tendon. He said, ‘the horse is worth what I’m claiming him for as a sire.'”

Abrams remained a minority owner of Unusual Heat, who stood at the Harris Ranch in Coalinga, and eventually became the all-time leading sire in California through his offsprings’ earnings.

“Barry was a remarkable horseman and a real horse whisperer. He was also a master at navigating the racing office, which I think is a lost art in trainers,” said Harris Auerbach, managing partner of the Unusual Heat Syndicate.

“He taught me an awful lot about horsemanship, about gamesmanship and about life,” Auerbach added. “He was just a giving, caring, remarkable man.”

Over the years, Abrams hewed closely to the ethos, “you don’t get paid for workouts,” becoming synonymous with moderately bred horses who earned their supper on the track.

“I remember a horse called Bengal Bay, one of the first horses we were successful with. He ran it three times in nine days,” said David. “Even [trainer] Roger Stein, who Barry worked for, criticized him for doing it. The horse won by six lengths at Hollywood Park on the third trip. That horse just loved to run.”

Beyond Abrams’s chronicled deeds that are now stamped into the dust of racing posterity, many point to a largesse and generosity of spirit that encompassed all, the less fortunate and the blue collar everyman that constitute racing’s rank and file.

“Anybody could walk up to Barry and be part of the family,” said David. “At Del Mar he had an area where he sat–it was a table around which sat a bunch of guys, just the common gambler. Folks just having fun. There’s Barry with a Grade I horse, and he doesn’t go to the director’s room. He sat back down there and made sure his family was all taken care of.”

Whether it was gamblers or racetrack patrons or those he’d known for years, “Barry felt obligated to help them out when they needed it,” said Auerbach. “He would give anybody the shirt off his back–he was that kind of guy.”

Abrams’s father was a Polish holocaust survivor, his mother a Russian economist. The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1963. “We came with nothing,” said David.

If their mother had her way, Abrams would have charted a course into the less exotic realms of certified public accountants. But he caught the gambling bug early. “My mom almost had a heart attack when he quit school, laid carpet, then became a groom,” said David.

Abrams took out his training license in 1975. “When he first started, he only had I think four horses, and didn’t have a groom. He did everything himself. He lost 28 pounds that first summer he trained on his own,” said David. “He just had a passion for horse racing.”

He also had a passion for the Lakers and wasn’t shy about advertising it–the stakes-winning Lakerville, who he part-owned with the Auerbachs, would go on to earn more than $300,000 on the track.

“We asked the nurse last night to put the Lakers game on,” said David. “Ten minutes after they lost he passed away.”

“He was a fighter,” David added. “He knew. I saw him two days before and he knew. He wanted to tell everybody how much he loved them all, and how much we all meant to him.”

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Speightstown Rising Star Puts on a Show at Keeneland

5th-Keeneland, $71,000, Alw, 10-10, (NW2L), 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.10, ft, 9 3/4 lengths.
NASHVILLE (c, 3, Speightstown–Veronique, by Mizzen Mast), a $460,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, ran away with his career bow in the slop with a dazzling, front-running ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance at Saratoga Sept. 2, good for a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. He displayed a string of sharp works in the interim, including a pair of bullets, working four furlongs over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track in :48 (1/32) two back Sept. 27. Hammered down to 1-2 favoritism in this first attempt versus winners, the bay ran the field off their feet right from the start. Jumping out to a clear advantage, Nashville was well within himself as he zipped through opening splits of :22.18 and :45.06, and he cruised home under a motionless Ricardo Santana, Jr. to win by a jaw-dropping 9 3/4 lengths over Sounion (Liam’s Map). Nashville’s unraced dam is also represented by the placed 2-year-old colt Market Cap (Candy Ride {Arg}) and a Mastery colt of 2019 and filly of 2020. The 9-year-old was bred to Collected for 2021. Nashville’s third dam Set Them Free (Stop the Music) produced 2005 GI Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo (Holy Bull) and MGISW Tiago (Pleasant Tap). Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $82,200. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-CHC INC. & WinStar Farm LLC; B-Breffni Farm (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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Into Mischief’s Dayoutoftheoffice Stamps BC Ticket in Frizette

Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), away since a smashing success in the GIII Schuylerville S. at Saratoga July 16, picked up right where she left off to earn an automatic berth to the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in Saturday’s GI Frizette S. at Belmont. Co-owned by her trainer Tim Hamm and breeder Siena Farms, the daughter of the nation’s hottest stallion was an easy debut winner at Gulfstream all the way back on May 14 in her only other start. Back as the second choice at 29-10 behind GI Spinaway S. romper Vequist (Nyquist), the dark bay traveled strongly in the bridle from second through splits of :22.94 and :46.41 before taking over from stopping frontrunner Joy’s Rocket (Anthony’s Cross) and opening up entering the lane. Vequist tried to make a race of it in the run to the line, but Dayoutoftheoffice kept finding to hold sway by two lengths before galloping out very strongly. It was another 10 1/4 lengths back to longshot Cilla (California Chrome).

“When you ride fast horses, it makes it easy for you,” said hot-handed jockey Junior Alvarado, who piloted the winners of the GI Belmont Derby Invitational S., GII Beldame S. and GII Gallant Bloom H. last weekend. “I thought [the pace] was going to be a little more contested and I was going to stalk, but I felt like I was in control of the race from where I was. I knew I had the horse in front of me [measured], so I just made sure my filly got into a nice rhythm and at the same time keep everybody where I wanted them to be. It worked out great today.”

The Frizette was the first highest-level victory for veteran horseman Tim Hamm. As for the reason for the time off after the Schuyverville, he said:

“She’s a big, scopey filly and I wanted to have some horse for the end of the year. The plan was to have a fresh horse for this time of the year. We wanted to just train her a little lightly and have her fresh for the fall run. Everything went according to plan.

“When you put a plan together that works–the team of Siena Farm and myself and all our assistants–you feel vindicated. We all thought this filly was special when she won at 4 1/2 [furlongs] because we knew she would be able to get longer than that. She was able to get the job done today.”

Hamm confirmed Dayoutoftheoffice would now point for the Breeders’ Cup.

Saturday, Belmont Park
FRIZETTE S.-GI, $250,000, Belmont, 10-10, 2yo, f, 1m, 1:35.82, ft.
1–DAYOUTOFTHEOFFICE, 120, f, 2, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Gottahaveadream, by Indian Charlie
2nd Dam: Chasetheragingwind, by Dayjur
3rd Dam: Race the Wild Wind, by Sunny’s Halo
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Timothy E. Hamm & Siena Farm LLC;
B-Siena Farms LLC (KY); T-Timothy E. Hamm; J-Junior Alvarado.
$137,500. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $216,500. Werk Nick
Rating: A++ Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Vequist, 120, f, 2, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Vero Amore, by Mineshaft
2nd Dam: Summers Edge, by The Cliff’s Edge
3rd Dam: Miss Summer Reign, by Summer Squall
($120,000 RNA Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable
& Swilcan Stable LLC; B-Swilcan Stables (KY); T-Robert E. Reid,
Jr. $50,000.
3–Cilla, 120, f, 2, by California Chrome
1st Dam: Sittin At the Bar, by Into Mischief
2nd Dam: Fast Laner, by Mutakddim
3rd Dam: Lois Laner, by Cutlass Reality
($120,000 RNA Ylg ’19 KEEJAN). O-P. Dale Ladner; B-Brett A.
Brinkman & P. Dale Ladner (LA); T-Bentley Combs. $30,000.
Margins: 2, 10 1/4, 2HF. Odds: 2.90, 0.90, 29.25.
Also Ran: Joy’s Rocket, Cantata, Get On the Bus. Scratched: Fifth Risk. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Pedigree Notes:

Into Mischief’s tally of Grade I winners now sits at eight. He is the leading general sire in North America this year thanks to the exploits of the likes of GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic, brilliant MGISW sophomore filly Gamine, et al and his yearling sales figures last month were equally staggering. His fee was bumped from $175,000 to $225,000 by Spendthrift Farm for 2021.

Dayoutoftheoffice is the second Grade I winner out of an Indian Charlie mare (Mitole {Eskendereya}) and is bred on the same cross as last week’s impressive Gallant Bloom heroine Frank’s Rockette (Into Mischief). Siena claimed dam Gottahaveadream for $50,000 while she was a maiden in at Keeneland almost exactly eight years ago. She graduated at Turfway a few months later before being retired to the breeding shed. The half-sister to GISW Here Comes Ben (Street Cry {Ire}) hails from the family of top-level winners Daredevil, Albertus Maximus and Race the Wild Wind. She produced a Carpe Diem filly in 2019 and a Bolt d’Oro colt in 2020 before being bred back to the Siena co-campaigned Always Dreaming.

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