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Arabian Lion Gives Justify a First Grade I Winner in Woody Stephens

ELMONT, NY – Five years ago, Justify became the 13th winner of the Triple Crown with a gate-to-wire victory in the GI Belmont S.

The Ashford Stud-based stallion, quite fittingly, celebrated his first Grade I winner as a sire on the Belmont undercard courtesy of 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify)'s good-looking 1 3/4-length victory as the 2-1 favorite over Drew's Gold (Violence) in Saturday's GI Woody Stephens S. Gilmore (Twirling Candy) was third.

The win marked a triumphant return to the Big Apple for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who was suspended from competition for one year from NYRA tracks stemming from his well-documented medical violation of disqualified 2021 GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. The ban ended in January. Baffert hadn't started a runner in New York since Rockefeller (Medaglia d'Oro) finished 10th in the 2022 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct.

“He's just a smaller version of Justify and to have a horse by Justify–one of the greatest horses I've ever trained–and to bring him to New York and win a Grade I, that's what we're all in the game for,” Baffert said.

“I'm just going to enjoy this Grade I victory. It's great to be back here. Nothing like winning in New York. It means so much to the horse and the connections and I feel great about it.”

Drawn on the inside in post two in the 10-horse field, the Zedan Racing Stable colorbearer sat the trip from fourth, drafting in behind the two-for-two Federal Judge (Army Mule), who faced pressure to his outside from the well-backed Drew's Gold. The unbeaten Gold Fever S. winner made his move on the outside turning for home and was moving well, but Arabian Lion had other ideas. Arabian Lion was tipped out leaving the quarter pole and took flight in the stretch with good-looking strides to roar home for a career high.

An impressive debut winner at Santa Anita last October, Arabian Lion didn't fare well in his first two tries versus stakes company going two turns, finishing last of five as the heavy favorite in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 17 and fourth in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 4. He bounced back with a huge second behind sidelined 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 15, then put on a show on the GI Preakness S. undercard with a powerful front-running victory in the Sir Barton S.

“This horse, I've always been so high on, he's just been slow to come around,” Baffert said. “Amr Zedan, he let me be patient with him and now we're getting rewarded with he way he ran.”

He continued, “The Lexington S. was a headscratcher. It looked like he was going to win and I think he saw something in the crowd and quit running and then he got beat. His race at Pimlico was amazing. I flew him back to California and I said, 'I probably won't bring him back,' but he was doing so well, I could tell.”

Baffert added that Arabian Lion could target the $1-million GI Haskell on July 22 at Monmouth Park.

Pedigree Notes:

Arabian Lion, a $600,000 OBS April breezer (:10) from the first crop of Justify, becomes the seventh graded winner for his young sire. Arabian Lion's third dam is the legendary runner and producer Personal Ensign. Arabian Lion's dam Unbound began her career in Japan before being imported by SF Bloodstock and running second in a sprint stakes at Belmont. She was later sold for $310,000 to F. T. I at Keeneland November in 2015 in foal to Tiznow. After failing to produce a foal in the next two seasons following Arabian Lion, Unbound produced a filly by Frosted this year. Unbound's stakes-placed full-sister Mary Rita is responsible for recent GII Penn Mile S. winner Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro).

Saturday, Belmont Park
WOODY STEPHENS S. PRESENTED BY MOHEGAN SUN-GI,
$400,000, Belmont, 6-10, 3yo, 7f, 1:21.70, ft.
1–ARABIAN LION, 122, c, 3, by Justify
                1st Dam: Unbound (SP, $359,826), by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Possibility, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Personal Ensign, by Private Account
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($600,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Bonne Chance Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-John R. Velazquez. $220,000. Lifetime Record: 7-3-2-0, $437,600. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Drew's Gold, 122, r, 3, Violence–Frolic's Revenge, by Vindication. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($25,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman and Stuart Tsujimoto; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-James K. Chapman. $80,000.
3–Gilmore, 118, c, 3, Twirling Candy–My Surfer Girl, by Henny Hughes. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($48,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Dividing Ridge Farm (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $48,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 2.35, 3.80, 7.20.
Also Ran: Federal Judge, Gun Pilot, General Jim, Victory Formation, Fort Warren, Dark Vector, Arman.
Scratched: Fort Bragg, Harrodsburg, New York Thunder.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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‘Rising Star’ Extra Anejo Back on Track at Ellis

3rd-Ellis, $127,000, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 6-10, 3yo, 1m, 1:34.88, ft, 6 1/4 lengths.

EXTRA ANEJO (c, 3, Into Mischief–Superioritycomplex {Ire}, by Hard Spun), super on 'TDN Rising Star' debut last October when decimating a Keeneland maiden by 9 1/2 lengths and registering a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, spent the next several months on the bench before reappearing in an optional allowance on Derby Day at Churchill. He broke slowly and may have been a little rusty that day as he was fanned wide and closed late for a length runner-up finish to Federal Judge (Army Mule), who went on to be fourth Saturday in the GI Woody Stephens S. at Belmont Park. A more polished version of Extra Anejo went to post Saturday as the 2-5 choice tracked in second behind fractions of :22.78 and :45.10, reeled in the loose-on-the-lead frontrunner on the turn, and drove clear in a powerhouse performance to cross the line 6 1/2 lengths the best while geared down under Brian Hernandez, Jr. Tall Boy (Lookin At Lucky) chased him home in second with third-place finisher Classic Legacy (Into Mischief) another 17 lengths in arrears. A $1.35-million Keeneland yearling, Extra Anejo has a yearling half-brother by Tapit. The winner's dam, a 2017 Tattersalls December Mixed Sale purchase for 400,000gns by Mt. Brilliant Farm, is a granddaughter of G1 Aston Upthorpe Yorkshire Oaks victress Hellenic (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}). Hailing from the same family as English champion Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), Superioritycomplex lost her 2023 foal. Sales History: $1,350,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $157,185. Click for the Equibase.com chart.

O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Mt. Brilliant Farm, LLC & Orrin H. Ingram (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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Clairiere Goes Back-To-Back In the Phipps

ELMONT, NY – Stonestreet homebred Clairiere (Curlin) successfully defended her title with a late surge to nail Search Results (Flatter) in dramatic fashion by a half-length in Saturday's GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont Park. Played Hard (Into Mischief) finished third.

Clairiere joins Take D' Tour (2006-07), Sightseek (2003-04) and Heatherten (1984-85) as back-to-back winners of the prestigious 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

“I'm unbelievably proud of her,” said winning trainer Steve Asmussen after registering his fourth Phipps victory in five years. “What a special mare. For her to continue to win races on this level is just incredible. She's always been top class and if anything, she's better than she's ever been. To continue winning is the goal with her, but we know where we're aimed at with the Breeders' Cup [Distaff on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita] as her year-end target.”

Favored at 8-5, Clairiere was content to caboose the field of six as hopeless longshot Gamestonks (Blofeld) showed the way with last-out GI La Troienne S. winner Played Hard and 2-1 second-choice Search Results, third in this race last year, in hot pursuit through very easy early fractions of :24.32 and :48.63 in the 1 1/16-mile affair.

With Gamestonks dropping back sharply, Joel Rosario began to get busy aboard Clairiere approaching the quarter pole as the 2021 GI Acorn S. winner and unlucky GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Search Results loomed boldly alongside Played Hard.

Search Results looked like a winner close to home, but Clairiere was just getting warmed up. The 5-year-old was produced down the center by Rosario and got there for a well-timed fourth career victory at the top level.

“I was very confident,” Rosario said. “However, you never know. It looked like a second a horse got away from me, but she [Clairiere] was able to put it all together and come with the run that she always does to get it done. She's very special. She really goes out there and does her job. Not many come that way.”

Clairiere's stacked resume also includes wins in the 2021 GI Cotillion S. and the GI Apple Blossom H. last time out Apr. 15. She was unlucky in both of her prior attempts at the Championships, finishing a close fourth after an impossibly wide trip in the 2021 renewal, and was third, beaten just a head, in Lexington last fall.

Pedigree Notes:

Clairiere, the second graded winner on the GI Belmont S. program following champion Elite Power's heroics in the GII True North S., is one of 20 Grade I winners for leading sire Curlin. Broodmare sire Bernardini is responsible for 15 Grade I winners. The Curlin over Bernardini cross is also responsible for GISW Paris Lights.

Clairiere is the first foal out of three-time GISW Cavorting, who won this same race in 2016. She was purchased as a weanling by Stonestreet for $360,000 at the 2012 Keeneland November sale.

Cavorting's next foal is stakes winner La Crete (Medaglia d'Oro). She has an unraced 3-year-old colt by Curlin named Judge Miller ($550,000 KEESEP purchase by Muir Hut Stables) and, without foals in 2021 and 2022, she produced a colt by Curlin this year.

“I am very proud, and, of course her mother [Cavorting] won this race, too,” Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Stables said. “It's been a family tradition. She does have a late kick and Joel [Rosario] left it just enough to give me a slight coronary condition, but she made it through. We're trying [to win an Eclipse Award]. We were close last year, really close. But maybe this year we'll do it.”

Saturday, Belmont
OGDEN PHIPPS S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont, 6-10, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:43.40, ft.
1–CLAIRIERE, 124, m, 5, by Curlin
               1st Dam: Cavorting (MGISW, $2,063,000), by Bernardini
               2nd Dam: Promenade Girl, by Carson City
               3rd Dam: Promenade Colony, by Pleasant Colony
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Joel Rosario.
$275,000. Lifetime Record: 19-8-5-3, $3,106,392. *1/2 to La
Crete (Medaglia d'Oro), SW, $159,460.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or
the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Search Results, 122, m, 5, by Flatter
               1st Dam: Co Cola (GSP), by Candy Ride (Arg)
               2nd Dam: Yong Musician, by Yonaguska
               3rd Dam: Alljazz, by Stop the Music
($310,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $100,000.
3–Played Hard, 124, m, 5, by Into Mischief
               1st Dam: Well Lived, by Tiznow
               2nd Dam: Well Dressed, by Notebook
               3rd Dam: Trithenia, by Gold Meridian
($280,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Susan
Casner (KY); T-Philip A. Bauer. $60,000.
Margins: HF, 2HF, 3 1/4. Odds: 1.75, 2.25, 4.50.
Also Ran: Pass the Champagne, Secret Oath, Gamestonks.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Bucchero Filly, Vino Rosso Colt Earn Bullets at OBS Saturday

A filly by Bucchero (hip 999) became the first of the week to work a furlong in :9 3/5, while a colt by Vino Rosso (hip 1072) turned in the day's fastest quarter-mile breeze of :20 4/5 during the final session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Saturday in Ocala.

Consigned by Britton Peak, hip 999 is out of stakes-placed Imperial Strike (Imperialism). The filly was bred in Florida by Wendy Lee Christ.

Hip 1072, a supplement to the original catalogue, is consigned by McKathan Bros. Sales and worked his quarter-mile bullet right at the start of Saturday's session of the under-tack show.

“He prepped really good for us over here, so I was expecting him to breeze well,” said Kevin McKathan. “We backed him up to a quarter. He's a big, stretchy two-turn horse and I thought that would suit him best. He worked really well and he galloped out huge. He went out in :32 flat and :44 and change. And he came back in good shape and vetted good.”

The chestnut colt, bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, is out of stakes winner Deanaallen'skitten (Kitten's Joy) and was purchased by McKathan for $115,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale.

“Really, I wanted a Vino Rosso,” McKathan said of the colt's initial appeal. “I thought he was a really classy horse and I liked a lot of his foals. So I wanted to get my hands on one. I found [hip 1072] way up on the hill at Keeneland in Book 4 or 5. He was hid out up there–Ramsey was selling him. He was a little backwards, but when I saw him, I just said, 'I need to own him.' We paid well for him and he's been a super colt all the way through.”

The youngster was entered in last year's Keeneland September sale and Fasig-Tipton October sale, but was withdrawn from both. He worked at OBS April before being withdrawn from that sale as well.

“The plan when we first bought him as a weanling was to flip him as a yearling,” McKathan said. “And then it got so tough to buy yearlings, especially for myself, and he was such a nice horse that we just decided to keep him. He was in the April sale and he breezed there. He kind of breezed average–he breezed in :10 1/5–and I knew he was a lot better colt than that if I stretched him out and gave him a better run at a little further distance, so that's what we did.”

McKathan continued, “He's the kind everyone needs. He's a two-turn horse and when they pull him out on the shank, they will love him. He's leggy, stretched out with a long neck. He's a beautiful horse.”

Asked how he found conditions throughout the six sessions of the under-tack show, McKathan said, “I believe it was as good as we could get it. We always struggle with that last set because as the track heats up, that's the toughest there is. But horses were still able to get over it. I think the weather was pretty good for us–I've seen it much worse in June. So, overall, I think the track was good. If you could get in the first or second set, the horses seemed to breeze well throughout there. It got to be a little bit more of a struggle through the third. That's just always how it's going to be.”

The OBS June sale will be held Tuesday through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

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