Forever Young Takes First Churchill Gallop, Honor Marie Breezes

While several Kentucky Derby 150 contenders had regular training sessions Sunday morning, Japan's undefeated hope MGSW Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) made his first appearance on the Churchill Downs main track since arriving early Saturday morning.

Conditioned by Yoshito Yahagi and under rider Yusaku Oka, the colt jogged in the one-mile chute for about 20 minutes before taking a 1 1/8-mile gallop in the early hours.

Shortly after at 7:30am, GSW Honor Marie (Honor Code) worked in company with stablemate Anthem King (Bolt d'Oro), the pair breezing a half-mile in :48.80 with the former claiming a slight edge passing the wire. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.

“He did it the right way, easily,” trainer Whit Beckman said. “We didn't want to do a ton this week and he seemed to do it well. He's the type of horse that will always do what you ask of him. I always thought it was good to have a workmate next to him, to just give him a little encouragement.”

Other contenders who went through their paces on track Sunday morning include GSW Track Phantom (Quality Road), MGSW Dornoch (Good Magic), and GSP Society Man (Good Magic) while D. Wayne Lukas's SW & GISP Just Steel (Justify) is expected to have his first training session over the Churchill Downs surface, since winning the local Ed Brown S. last November, Monday morning.

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No More Time Injured, Out of Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby hopeful GSW No More Time (Not This Time) returned from a breeze Sunday morning with an injury which will knock him out of the GI Kentucky Derby, announced the colt's owner Rich Mendez, the founder of Morplay Racing, on X.

The account stated in a release that there are still plans to head to Churchill Downs later in the week as well as provided a positive prognosis for a future return to the track.

“Less than 24 hours after officially qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, No More Time unfortunately suffered an injury Sunday morning during his final controlled breeze and plans to head to Churchill Downs later this week,” Mendez wrote in the release. “Our team at Morplay Racing is clearly devastated by the news, but we are thankful No More Time should be able to make a full recovery and be back on the track soon.”

He continued, “We want to thank trainer Jose D'Angelo and our entire team that gave us this incredible ride over the last year, and we're now turning our attention and focus to getting No More Time healthy and better than ever.”

“His breeze was beautiful,” said D'Angelo. “But when he came back to the barn, he was off.”

In a release from Gulfstream Park, it was noted that No More Time sustained a condylar fracture in his left front leg and will undergo surgery to repair it Monday.

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Easy Win for California Shipper Adare Manor in Apple Blossom

Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (m, 5, Uncle Mo–Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo), who so often shows her best on the front end, took her California tactics on the road with a 5 1/2-length score in Oaklawn's $1.25-million GI Apple Blossom S. Saturday while conceding between one and six pounds to her rivals. Flying Connection (Nyquist), who shipped in from Sunland Park after three straight stakes wins in New Mexico for the red-hot Todd Fincher barn, closed late to nab second over Mar. 24 Shantel Lanerie S. winner Free Like a Girl (El Deal). Last year's GI CCA Oaks winner Wet Paint (Blame), previously unbeaten in three stakes at Oaklawn, never got involved and finished sixth.

The 3-5 choice, Adare Manor showed old habits die hard as she went clear early under Juan Hernandez, running comfortably with her ears flicking back and forth, and set fractions of :23.68 and :46.95 while Honor D Lady (Honor Code) applied pressure to her outside. Even while Honor D Lady loomed and last summer's GIII Molly Pitcher S. winner Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner) threw her hat into the mix, Adare Manor never looked seriously threatened. She quickened on the turn, kicked clear with ease and opened up by daylight to hasten home an authoritative winner while Hernandez took a peek under his right arm as the pair's distance on the field remained intact. She got the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.48.

“[Trainer Bob Baffert] had her ready today,” said Hernandez. “They had a lot of confidence in her. I just felt it right away when I jumped on her. She was so calm and she was ready to run great. She loves a mile and a sixteenth. If you saw her, she's huge. She's really a big filly, so she needs a lot of distance in her races.”

A $375,000 Donato Lanni purchase at the 2021 OBS June sale after working a furlong in :10 1/5, Adare Manor won the GIII Las Virgenes S. at three by 13 lengths, had a five-win streak going at four that included the GI Clement L. Hirsch S. and three other graded races, and kickstarted her 5-year-old campaign with a 102 Beyer as the runner-up in the GI Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita Mar. 9. Seven of her eight career wins have been on the front end, with the lone exception being a stalking trip in last summer's Clement L. Hirsch.

Pedigree Notes:

Adare Manor is one of 49 graded winners and 100 black-type winners overall for exceptional Coolmore America stallion Uncle Mo, a regular among North America's leading sires. She is the second of her sire's progeny to win the Apple Blossom following Unbridled Mo's victory in 2018. She is, however, the lone stakes winner to date out of a Giant Gizmo mare. The latter was relocated to Panama following the 2019 breeding season after standing at Canada's Gardiner Farm. Uncle Mo does have four stakes winners out of mares by Giant Gizmo's sire, the late Giant's Causeway, who was a fellow Coolmore sire, as well as Mar. 30 GI Florida Derby third Grand Mo the First.

Stock in Brooklynsway has risen dramatically since Adare Manor's assent up the stakes ranks. Winner of the 2016 GIII Doubledogdare S. at Keeneland, she was a $170,000 RNA at Fasig-Tipton's November sale in 2017, then went through the same ring in 2020 at the Winter Mixed Sale, where Town & Country picked her up in foal to Into Mischief for $95,000. Adare Manor, then a short yearling, sold at the same sale to Walmac Farms and Gary Board for $180,000 before being pinhooked the next year. Brooklynsway has a 2-year-old filly by Ghostzapper named Nosleeptilbrooklyn, who went to Boardshorts Stables at Keeneland September for $500,000, and a yearling full-brother to Adare Manor. The mare was a $1.2-million RNA at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale; she has aborted her 2024 Tapit foal.

 

Saturday, Oaklawn
APPLE BLOSSOM H.-GI, $1,250,000, Oaklawn, 4-13, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:42.48, ft.
1–ADARE MANOR, 123, m, 5, by Uncle Mo
       1st Dam: Brooklynsway (GSW-USA, MSW &
                 GSP-Can, $724,597), by Giant Gizmo
       2nd Dam: Explosive Story, by Radio Star
       3rd Dam: Maya's Note, by Editor's Note
($180,000 Ylg '20 FTKFEB; $190,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL;
$375,000 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Town
& Country Horse Farms, LLC & Gary Broad (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Juan J. Hernandez. $675,000. Lifetime Record: 16-8-5-0,
$1,736,600. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Flying Connection, 118, f, 4, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Free Flying Soul (MSW & MGISP, $423,177),
                                 by Quiet American
                2nd Dam: Ruby Surprise, by Farma Way
                3rd Dam: Santa Rosalia, by Bold Bidder
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Brad King,
Randy Andrews, G. Chris Coleman, Jim Cone, Suzanne Kirby
and Lee Lewis; B-Liberty Road Stables (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher.
$225,000.
3–Free Like a Girl, 117, m, 5, by El Deal
                1st Dam: Flashy Prize, by Flashy Bull
                2nd Dam: Rich Peace, by Rizzi
                3rd Dam: Lockpeace, by Hold Your Peace
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($5,500 Ylg '20 ESLYRL). O-Gerald Bruno,
Jr., Chasey Deville Pomier and Jerry Caroom; B-Kim Renee
Stover & Lisa Osborne (LA); T-Chasey Deville Pomier.
$112,500.
Margins: 5HF, 3/4, 2. Odds: 0.70, 26.20, 58.30.
Also Ran: Shotgun Hottie, Taxed, Wet Paint, Bellamore, Misty Veil, Honor D Lady.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Encino Takes to Dirt, Wires Stonestreet Lexington

Godolphin homebred Encino (Nyquist) took to dirt with aplomb, delivering a 3/4-length, wire-to-wire victory over favored The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso) in Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland. With the win, good for 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Encino is currently ranked 21st on the leaderboard with 40 points.

“Ultimately (whether he starts in the Kentucky Derby) will be up to the Godolphin team–Dan Pride, Michael Banahan, Sheikh Mohammed–and if it's something they want to do, we'll prepare him,” winning trainer Brad Cox said. “We'll ship him over to Churchill in a few days regardless. I'll tell you it will either be the Derby or the Preakness. He's sitting at 21st on the list right now and some things would have to happen (to make the Kentucky Derby field). But we'll watch him. Hopefully, he comes out of (the Stonestreet Lexington) in good shape and we'll march forward.”

The 3-1 chance cleared the field of nine beneath Florent Geroux from his outside draw and led through fractions of :23.55 and :47.28. He kicked for home as the one to catch and gamely turned back a challenge from The Wine Steward in the stretch to get the money.

Encino made all three of his previous starts over the synthetic at Turfway Park, led by a win in the John Battaglia Memorial S. last time Mar. 2.

“There was a little bit of a question mark about whether he would like the dirt, but he handled it today,” Cox said. “He had a few works at Keeneland leading up to this race and showed his hand. He seemed like he liked the surface, and he put it all together today.”

Geroux added, “He broke like a shot. I was expecting more speed. It was pretty much all him to the first turn; he pretty much controlled the race from there. He was cruising around there, and when he felt The Wine Steward outside of him, it gave him a little extra push. I think that's what he needed because he was getting a little lost out there on his own. But he had plenty left in the tank, the dirt felt great, and it looks like added distance shouldn't be a problem for him.”

Pedigree Notes:

Encino becomes the 13th graded stakes winner for Nyquist. The winning Bernardini mare Glittering Jewel, a half-sister to GI Kentucky Derby winner and Darley stallion Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}), produced fillies by Street Boss in 2022-23. She was bred to Good Magic for 2024. The Nyquist x Bernardini cross is also responsible for GISW Gretzky the Great and unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos.

Saturday, Keeneland
STONESTREET LEXINGTON S.-GIII, $365,500, Keeneland, 4-13, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.93, ft.
1–ENCINO, 118, c, 3, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Glittering Jewel, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Bedazzle, by Dixieland Band
                3rd Dam: Majestic Legend, by His Majesty
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $235,600. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0,
$378,315. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–The Wine Steward, 118, c, 3, Vino Rosso–Call to Service, by To Honor and Serve. ($70,000 Ylg '22 SARAUG; $340,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher; B-Sequel Thoroughbreds LLC, Lakland Farm & Mark Toothaker (NY); T-Michael J. Maker. $57,000.
3–Dilger (Ire), 118, c, 3, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Post Perfection, by Majesticperfection. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Michael J. Ryan; B-Demers Bloodstock (IRE); T-Saffie Joseph, Jr. $28,500.
Margins: 3/4, 8 1/4, HF. Odds: 3.31, 1.49, 36.38.
Also Ran: Secret Chat, Footprint, Liberal Arts, Hades, Lucky Jeremy, How's Ur Attitude. Scratched: Everdoit.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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