Four years after the Coolmore contingent's Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gave the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf a mighty shake when second to upset-minded Zulu Alpha (Street Cry {Ire}), the globetrotting Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was given an A-plus steer from Ryan Moore, showed plenty of heart and guts when in very tight approaching the entrance to the final furlong and stayed on courageously to become the first female winner of the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf.

The final time of 1:44.45 for the nine furlongs on firm turf broke the previous record of English Channel back in 2007.

Made the 12-5 second favorite behind the previously undefeated Integration (Quality Road), Warm Heart secured a forward position, with Integration a few lengths in her wake, as Main Event (Bernardini) and Catnip (Kitten's Joy) came across from their double-digit draws to fight out an opening quarter in :23.47. Jerry the Nipper (Liam's Map) went up to spilt that pair, and when he did, Moore made a critical decision to hustle his filly along for a stride or two, enabling her to secure a ground-saving rail position just behind the pacesetters.

Remaining glued to the fence through the middle furlongs and with no real changes to the plot, Warm Heart began to zero in on the dueling front-runners rounding the turn, and Moore opted to ride her for luck nearing the stretch, attempting to work the same sort of magic as he did aboard Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Main Event was holding firm as they hit the stretch, but Javier Castellano had left a sliver of daylight for Warm Heart at the inside if she was good enough to capitalize. She sliced through there gamely to lead a furlong out and held safe to the wire as 'TDN Rising Star' I'm Very Busy (Cloud Computing)–who didn't enjoy the clearest of stretch runs–came running late. Frankie Dettori also put an outstanding ride on the outposted Catnip, riding him for speed before sitting a wide trip and staying on for third.

Integration, perfect in three tries prior to this, raced ahead of midfield and enjoyed a decent inside trip for the opening seven furlongs. But whereas Moore was able to get through, the runs never came for Integration, as he was stymied behind Jerry the Nipper and inside of Catnip when push came to shove and he flashed home full of run for fifth once clear.

“She's always traveling very comfortably,” said Moore. “I didn't want to be there too early, and I didn't want to be tipping out into the straight, and I thought I'd rather just wait. She's a great filly. She's had an incredible year. She hasn't had a bad race.

“The leader, he was always leaning out, and he was weakening and I knew I had plenty of horse, so no problem. I was happy to wait.”

A maiden winner over a mile and two furlongs in the soft at Leopardstown last May, Warm Heart took the 12-furlong G2 Ribblesdale S. at the Royal Meeting and belied odds of 9-1 to defeat older females in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks Aug. 24. A neck winner despite a stumble at the start of the G1 Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp Sept. 10, she was set for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the quick ground at Santa Anita as opposed to the oft-easy conditions for the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The plan nearly came together perfectly, as Warm Heart snuck through inside and looked home in the 10-furlong event Nov. 4, only to be stung on the wire by the fast-finishing Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who would go on to be crowned at the Eclipse Awards. Sent over to Hong Kong for the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, she made the lead a long way from home and was there for the taking late, finishing third to Junko (GB) (Intello {Ger}).

“She's an incredible filly,” said trainer Aidan O'Brien. “Ryan said it just didn't work for her the last race, but she's tactical, she's tough and she quickens. She doesn't do an awful lot when she gets there, but that's the way she's always been. She's very classy and very hardy, loves the fast ground, fast track.”

Much to the Ballydoyle maestro's chagrin, Warm Heart heads up to Kentucky to begin her second career.

“She's incredible. We'd love to have her and to be racing her, but the lads business is breeding these horses and she's an absolutely incredible broodmare to be going to Justify, who looks probably the most incredible stallion that ever was based on what he's done so far. It's so exciting, really,” O'Brien said.

Pedigree Notes:

A three-time Group 1 winner in Australia over sprint trips, Sea Siren was sent to the Northern Hemisphere in late spring 2013, finishing eighth in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. before taking the Listed Belgrave S. to conclude her racing career.

A half-sister to Australian Group 3 winner Oratorio (Aus)–not to be confused with the eponymous Irish-bred–and New Zealand Group 2 winner Lady Dehere (NZ), Sea Siren is also responsible for Warm Heart's 3-year-old brother Bremen (Ire), a maiden winner at second asking for Donnacha O'Brien at Killarney last July. Sea Siren was bred to Camelot (GB) on Southern Hemisphere time and was returned to Australia, where she foaled a colt by the sire of G1 Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet (Ire) in August 2022. Chris Waller Racing/Mulcaster Bloodstock went to A$275,000 for that produce at the recently concluded Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. After producing a colt by Home Affairs (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) last August, Sea Siren was covered by Justify at Coolmore Australia in September.

As stated above, Warm Heart has a date with Justify this year, and with good reason. The cross over Galileo has resulted in three winners at the graded level, including champion and G1 Dewhurst S. winner City of Troy, GII Jessamine S. victress Buchu and Group 3 winner Red Riding Hood (Ire). G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Opera Singer is out of a mare by Galileo's sire Sadler's Wells, while Group 2 winner Statuette has a second dam by Sadler's Wells.

Jockey Ryan Moore makes a perfect ride aboard #9 WARM HEART (IRE) in her final start and victory in the GI @PegasusWorldCup Turf Invitational. Congratulations to the @Ballydoyle team and @coolmorestud. pic.twitter.com/IKgy6aCTEI

— TVG (@TVG) January 27, 2024

Saturday, Gulfstream
1/ST BET PEGASUS WORLD CUP TURF INVITATIONAL S.-GI, $952,300, Gulfstream, 1-27, 4yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:44.45, fm.
1–WARM HEART (IRE), 118, f, 4, by Galileo (Ire)
                1st Dam: Sea Siren (Aus) (Hwt. Older Mare-Ire-at 5-7 f.,
                                MG1SW-Aus, SW & MGSP-Ire, $1,743,772),
                                by Fastnet Rock (Aus)
                2nd Dam: Express A Smile (Aus), by Success Express
                3rd Dam: Hold That Smile (Aus), by Haulpak (Aus)
O-Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael
Tabor; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan P. O'Brien; J-Ryan L.
Moore. $531,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, G1SW-Fr,
G1SP-HK, 11-6-2-1, $2,194,994. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–I'm Very Busy, 123, c, 4, Cloud Computing–Two Kisses, by
Kissin Kris. 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($50,000 Ylg
'21 EASOCT; $135,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR). O-Team Hanley,
Richard Schermerhorn and Paul Braverman; B-Glenn E. Brok
LLC & Mark Toothaker (PA); T-Chad C. Brown. $177,000.
3–Catnip, 123, g, 5, Kitten's Joy–Masquerade, by Silent Name
(Jpn). O/B-John & Susan Moore (KY); T-Michael Stidham.
$88,500.
Margins: HF, NK, 1. Odds: 2.40, 14.50, 46.50.
Also Ran: Atone, Integration, Webslinger, Kingmax (Ire), Shirl's Speight, Jerry the Nipper, Adhamo (Ire), Main Event, Master Piece (Chi). Scratched: Anglophile, Grand Sonata.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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“I think Secretariat would have beat him,” Secretariat's jockey Ron Turcotte said of a hypothetical match up between the two legendary horses. “That's no knock against the other horse. He's a beautiful horse. Well put together. I can't fault him in any way. But he has hasn't done enough for me to say he is better than Secretariat.”

That's not to say that Turcotte isn't a Flightline fan.

“He's a fabulous horse,” he said. “We don't know how fast he could run.”

Turcotte, 81, resides in Drummond, New Brunswick, Canada. He watched the GI Breeders' Cup Classic live on television and took a look back at Flightline's previous races on YouTube. He sees some similarities between Flightline and Secretariat.

“He's very muscular like Secretariat,” Turcotte said. “He's got a real large stride like Secretariat and it looks to me than he's taller than Secretariat was.”

But Turcotte added that he finds it difficult to compare a horse who ran only six times to Secretariat, who made 21 career starts.

“There aren't enough races for me to really judge him,” he said. “It's very hard to judge a horse against Secretariat when he only had six races. Secretariat was a machine  The same goes for some of the great horses like Kelso. He won the Gold Cup five times in a row. I rode against him and know what a great horse he was.

“I would have loved to see Flightline run another year because it's very hard to judge him on just six races. it would have been much better for racing if they ran him another year, but I can understand why the people did what they did, with all the money there is now in breeding.”

Turcotte said another factor that makes a comparison difficulty is that Secretariat did not run as a 4-year-old while Flightline did.

“Comparing a 4-year-old and a 3-year-old, that's awful hard to do,” he said. “Secretariat was just maturing when he was retired. His last two races were just unbelievable.”

He also pointed to Secretariat's versatility and the track records Secretariat set in his three Triple Crown wins.

“Secretariat would run in the slop , the mud, on a fast track, the grass. He would run on anything.” he said. “The other horse only ran on fast tracks. And he never broke a track record, like Secretariat did.”

It's been 49 years since Turcotte rode Secretariat and there have been some tremendous horses that have come after him, like Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, Cigar, Zenyatta and, of course Flightline. But will there ever be a horse that compares to Secretariat?

“I've always said we'd never see a horse as good as Secretariat,” Turcotte said. “But you never know.”

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The facts, Mulvihill said, are that three of the four records were set by heavy favorites, and the dominant nature of those wins led credence to the idea that the winners had run exceptionally fast. Mulvihill also explained that there is a relatively limited sample size of relevant races, since Keeneland reinstalled and reconfigured the dirt course in 2014, rendering previous dirt records non-comparable.

A few racing professionals' answers included:

• Champion horseplayer Paul Matties, who makes his own figures for Keeneland races, said: “It was definitely the fastest Keeneland that I've seen in a long time. Even compared to the end of the meet, which was a little fast for them, it was still probably a second faster than those days. It was definitely different, so there was some truth to what the people speaking up were saying.”
• Timeform and DRF Chief Speed Figure Maker Craig Milkowski noted that the track condition rating, a measure of final average times, was 9 on Breeders' Cup Saturday. “That was higher than average for Keeneland,” he said. “During the spring, they're usually 6-7 and for the summer meet they were more like 7-8. So it wasn't just the horses; the track was definitely fast.”

Meanwhile, the official response from the Breeders' Cup was that the track surface was no faster than normal on Breeders' Cup weekend.

“Breeders' Cup, Keeneland and third-party experts, including Dr. Mick Peterson and the University of Kentucky, worked together for many months to have a safe and consistent racing surface and there were never any discussions on producing fast race times,” a statement from Breeders' Cup read. “On event days, Dr. Mick Peterson was in constant communication with both Keeneland and Breeders' Cup racing teams to keep us apprised of all conditions. The racing surface and moisture levels were consistent throughout both race days. The fast times are reflective of the best horses in the world competing.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.

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It appears as though the track record holder will have one last start at Gulfstream Park in December, a finale of sorts, according to his trainer, Georgina Baxter.

“He's going to have one more run and then I believe we're going to retire him,” Baxter said to the Daily Racing Form's Mike Welsch. “I think he could still run at Tampa next year, but he never really liked that track.”

Pay Any Price is owned by Richard Averill and the Matties Racing Stable. Baxter has been his exercise rider for six years and his trainer for almost two.

Throughout Pay Any Price's career, the gelding by Wildcat Heir won 19 of his 33 starts. One of those victories was in the Silks Run Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 11, 2017. This was the victory that landed him the track record for five furlongs on the turf at 53.61. This is also the North American record for the distance.

Due to various reasons, this will be Pay Any Price's first start since his wire-to-wire victory in the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint on July 5, 2020. Baxter told Daily Racing Form that the plan afterwards is for him to return to the farm he was foaled at in Ocala.

Read more at Daily Racing Form

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Unlike 2001, this year’s championships produced no singular “Tiznow wins it for America!” moment to buoy the spirit of a nation in crisis. But the crescendo of Authentic (Into Mischief)’s GI Classic win was dramatically satisfying in its own right, and the subplots of the supporting races unfolded with enough twists of interest to spur decent day-after debate while providing more than a few intriguing horses to look forward to in 2021.

Not everything went perfectly–we’ll get to that momentarily. But with COVID-19 adversely tilting the balance of everyday life right now, the industry can breathe a collective sigh of relief that the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup are safely in the books and not too badly banged up considering the outsized doses of disruption and havoc that 2020 imposed upon our economy and the sporting landscape.

Yes, big-event betting handles have been down, overnight purses nationwide have taken hits, and the auctions are in flux. But things could be far worse for Thoroughbred racing considering everything that’s happened over the past 10 months. Viewed through the prism of realistic expectations, this year’s Breeders’ Cup rates a thumbs up based on perseverance and competitiveness alone.

You can take your pick among the dueling storylines percolating to the surface in the aftermath of this year’s event. The pandemic itself even provided a few in microcosm: Three of the Grade I races (Turf, Mile, Filly and Mare Turf) were won by jockeys picking up those mounts only because the first-call riders tested positive for COVID-19.

But the “old-fashioned American dirt horse dominance” theme has to rank near the top of Breeders’ Cup topics that will resonate. The trend is notable because it’s part of an intentional shifting of the arc.

When Keeneland switched from a main synthetic surface back to a traditional dirt track in 2014 after an eight-year experiment with Polytrack, one of its stated intentions was to “be more competitive in attracting the top horses and Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup contenders and in hosting major racing events.”

It’s now six years into that dirt rebirth and Keeneland has hosted two Breeders’ Cups. The first, in 2015, was capped by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah engineering an unprecedented “Grand Slam” by trouncing the field at every call in the Classic. On Saturday, we saw Authentic, this year’s wire-to-wire GI Kentucky Derby winner, step up against older foes and unleash yet another front-running tour de force that catapulted him 2 1/4 lengths clear of a deep field of Classic contenders.

Those speed-centric accomplishments are already (in American Pharoah’s case) and will eventually be (for Authentic) having an impact on the bloodstock marketplace, underscoring how one major racing venue (and sales company)’s decision to switch surfaces can produce wider downstream effects in a relatively short period of time.

“The American dirt horse is tough, strong, and fast,” colleague Sid Fernando wrote in a 2019 TDN column. “He’s an athlete. He’s a combination of speed and stamina, bred to race on an unforgivingly hard surface, bred to race at two, bred to break quickly from the gate, bred to run hard early, bred to withstand pressure late.”

That pretty much sums up Authentic in 2020, doesn’t it? Or, for that matter, the Breeders’ Cup performances of Knicks Go (Paynter), the newly explosive wire-to-wire winner of the GI Dirt Mile, and pedal-to-the-metal phenom Gamine (Into Mischief), who conceded the early lead but stalked menacingly before pouncing in the stretch of her 6 1/4-length romp in the GI Filly and Mare Sprint. All three winners were credited with track-record times, providing future fodder to bolster the sales catalogue pages of their offspring.

Records made to be broken?

We’ve all heard the old saying that records are made to be broken. But the two-day Breeders’ Cup meet at Keeneland took that concept to the extreme. Counting the undercard races, dirt-track records were smashed at 6, 6 1/2, 7, 8 and 10 furlongs. Had Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) run just a tenth of a second faster in winning the GI Distaff, she would have eclipsed the 9-furlong mark. For good measure, the rarely contested 1 3/16 miles turf record also fell.

Keeneland’s main-track records have to be taken with a figurative grain of salt (or grain of dirt in this case). The track has not only changed in composition several times, but its configuration has been altered since 2006, making comparisons to previous dirt-era records impossible. The current dirt records pertain only to races from the autumn of 2014 onward, and the first Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland also established five then-records, largely because so few dirt races were available for comparison at that time.

Complicating matters additionally on Saturday, Keeneland’s teletimer was inadvertently tripped prior to the start of the Classic. So Authentic’s track-record time of 1:59.19 for 1 1/4 miles in a $6-million championship race had to be determined by timing it off a video replay, which is neither ideal nor the industry standard. As of this writing, no fractional splits have been added to the official Equibase chart.

So what about the other cliché we’ve all heard, that time only matters when you’re in jail? Maybe it’s more important to assess how the Breeders’ Cup winners ran rather than how fast.

The B-word (bias) is never far from discussion on big race days or championship weekends, although it’s evolved considerably since the era when dirt tracks were widely believed to be souped up (and in some cases actually were) for major events.

The raw numbers tell us that Keeneland carded 14 main-track races over Friday and Saturday. Five of them were won wire-to-wire. Five were won by forwardly placed horses not too far off the lead. Four were won by off-the-pace closers.

By that calculation, speed-centric horses accounted for 10 of 14 wins. But six of those winners were favored, and most likely would have been well-backed regardless of how the track was perceived to be playing. Perhaps more impactful is the argument that ties into the point above about the defining quality of American dirt racers in general: If speed is more or less the “universal bias” on this continent, no one should be surprised when races slant that way.

If you drill down further and cull from those Keeneland results two “outlier” races that were won by closers–the marathon 1 5/8 miles race on Friday that started from a backstretch chute and the second race on Saturday whose complexion was marred by a spill at the front of the pack turning for home–that leaves only two horses over the weekend who legitimately closed into the teeth of the prevailing trend: Essential Quality (Tapit) rallied from well back to win the GI Juvenile (aided by the fastest opening half-mile split in that race since 2003), and fan favorite Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), who upset the GI Sprint under a deft rail-skimming ride after being buried in the back for most of his trip.

Lasix: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out

There is one other over-arching aspect of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup that is worth mentioning: This was the first year of the planned phasing-out of Lasix for the World Championships. Earlier this year, most major American racing jurisdictions prohibited the 2-year-old use of the controversial anti-bleeding medication on race day, and all five of the races for juveniles on Friday were mandated Lasix-free.

Those 2-year-old fields were robust, diversely matched, and for the most part formful. It was also heartening to hear a respected trainer like Ken McPeek say earlier in the week that not having one of his Juvenile entrants on Lasix was a reason he felt confident about running the young colt back with only 12 days between starts.

But Saturday was a different story because the older Breeders’ Cup horses were allowed Lasix. After getting blanked on Friday, European-based trainees swept all four of the second-day grass championships–and every single one was captured by a first-time-Lasix (FTL) user.

Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead), the only FTL entrant in the GI Turf Sprint, won by a half-length at 10-1.

Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the FTL course-record victress in the Filly and Mare Turf, won by a neck at 17-1.

The GI Mile trifecta (73-1, 11-1,18-1) was keyed by FTL Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), with the other two placings rounded out by another European going back on Lasix for only the second time in his life and yet another FTL entrant.

The GI Turf exacta was comprised of the FTL filly Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) besting Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose only other lifetime Lasix start was when she ran second in the 2018 version of the Turf.

Lasix is on schedule to be completely phased out for all Breeders’ Cup stakes in 2021.

The irony can’t be understated: America is attempting to follow a European-styled model of prohibiting race-day medications. Yet the rules that were in place for this year’s Breeders’ Cup allowed for the European shippers to maximize the use of Lasix to their advantage.

The post The Week in Review: Quintessential ‘American Way’ on Display at Breeders’ Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Gamine (3, Into Mischief-Peggy Jane, by Kafwain)

Saturday, Keeneland
BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY AND MARE SPRINT-GI, $900,000, Keeneland, 11-7, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:20.20, ft.
1–GAMINE, 122, f, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Peggy Jane, by Kafwain
2nd Dam: Seattle Splash, by Chief Seattle
3rd Dam: Grand Splash, by Bucksplasher
($220,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $1,800,000 2yo ’19 EASMAY).
O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Grace Thoroughbred Holdings LLC
(KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-John R. Velazquez. $520,000. Lifetime
Record: 6-4-0-1, $1,003,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for
   the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. ‘TDN Rising Star’
2–Serengeti Empress, 124, f, 4, by Alternation
                1st Dam: Havisham, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Love Dancing (Arg), by Salt Lake
                3rd Dam: Le Midi (Arg), by Fitzcarraldo (Arg)
($25,000 Wlg ’16 KEENOV; $70,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Joel
Politi; B-Tri Eques Bloodstock, LLC (KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss.
$170,000.
3–Bell’s the One, 124, f, 4, by Majesticperfection
                1st Dam: Street Mate, by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Day Mate, by Dayjur
                3rd Dam: Possible Mate, by King’s Bishop
($155,000 Ylg ’17 FTKJUL). O-Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (Bob
Lothenbach); B-Bret Jones (KY); T-Neil L. Pessin. $90,000.
Margins: 6 1/4, NO, HF. Odds: 1.10, 3.30, 6.20.
Also Ran: Sconsin, Come Dancing, Speech, Sally’s Curlin, Venetian Harbor. Scratched: Inthemidstofbiz. 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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(Note: the run-up for today's Perryville was 55 feet, while the run-up for A.P. Indian's previous track record-setting performance was 34 feet.)

Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., the 1-9 favorite Nashville grabbed the lead at the start and easily ran away from the field, setting fractions of :21.54, :43.87, and :55.61 without turning a hair. Santana never touched his whip down the lane, cruising under the wire an easy winner by about three lengths over Wild Wes.

Asmussen could have sent the colt to the Breeders' Cup Sprint later on the card, but elected to take an easier route with the inexperienced Nashville.

Bred in Kentucky by Breffni Farm, Nashville is out of the unraced Mizzen Mast mare Veronique from the family of multi-millionaires Giacomo and Tiago. Nashville was a $460,000 yearling purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, and has gone undefeated in his first three starts by a total of over 20 lengths. His earnings now stand at $157,200.

The day's second race, the Lafayette Stakes, saw a spill at the top of the stretch mar the action when Absolutely Aiden broke down. Both Dinar and Strike That were also affected and unseated their riders, but galloped out unharmed and were corralled by outriders before being taken back to their respective barns. Trainer Cherie DeVaux Tweeted that Dinar was find other than minor abrasions.

Absolutely Aiden was loaded onto the equine ambulance.

All three jockeys affected by the incident escaped unharmed, and were checked out at first aid and approved to ride their remaining mounts. They are: Tyler Gaffalione (Dinar), Chris Landeros (Absolutely Aiden), and David Cohen (Strike That).

Midnight Sands also appeared to stumble over the stricken horse, and was eased down the stretch by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. He also walked off the track under his own power.

Sleepy Eyes Todd won the Lafayette for trainer Miguel Silva and jockey Joel Rosario.

In the third race, the Fort Springs Stakes, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Luis Saez teamed up with Merneith to defeat Motivated Seller by a neck at the finish. The 3-year-old filly is sired by American Pharoah.

Merneith has been a part of Baffert's recent medication controversy: after finishing second in the fourth race on July 25 at Del Mar, the filly returned a positive test for Dextrorphan, a cough suppressant.

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The winner’s 2-year-old half-brother Market Cap (Candy Ride {Arg}), just a $22,000 OBS March grad, scored by seven lengths at third asking in a one-mile, rained-off Laurel maiden special weight Oct. 30. Dam Veronique’s yearling colt by Mastery brought $80,000 at the recent Fasig-Tipton October sale, and dam Veronique sold to Schiano Racing for $22,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November sale carrying a full-sister to that colt. Back in foal to Collected, Veronique was supplemented to KEENOV and will sell as hip 244D on Monday. Her Mastery filly is catalogued as hip 885. Veronique is out of a full-sister to GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Giacomo (Holy Bull) and half to MGISW Tiago (Pleasant Tap). Second dam Styler has done well when paired with Speightstown, having produced GSP ‘Rising Star’ Calistoga and SW Almond Roca by the WinStar stalwart.

PERRYVILLE S., $125,000, Keeneland, 11-7, 3yo, 6f, 1:07.89 (NTR), ft.
1–NASHVILLE, 118, c, 3, by Speightstown
                1st Dam: Veronique, by Mizzen Mast
                2nd Dam: Styler, by Holy Bull
                3rd Dam: Set Them Free, by Stop the Music
   ‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($460,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK-TYPE
   WIN. O-CHC INC. & WinStar Farm LLC; B-Breffni Farm (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $75,000.
Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $157,200.
2–Wild Wes, 118, g, 3, Race Day–Tricia’s Trama, by Article of
Faith. ($10,000 RNA Ylg ’18 FTKJUL; $39,000 2yo ’19 OBSOPN).
O-Dundalk 5 LLC, Wesley F Herek Racing Stables LLC & 21
Racing, LLC; B-Nossab LLC & Jan & Madelein Basson (KY);
T-Dee Poulos. $25,000.
3–Little Menace, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Pay Attention, by
Arch. ($460,000 Ylg ’18 FTSAUG). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred,
LTD; B-Gabriel Duignan, Crosshaven Bldsk, Petaluma Bldsk &
Hazelmere Bldsk (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $12,500.
Margins: 3HF, 3 3/4, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.10, 28.20, 30.50.
Also Ran: Bango, Fore Left, Cajun Brother, Relentless Dancer.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Ridden for speed by Julien Leparoux over a track that had been playing kindly to front-end types, the homebred half-sister to McCraken (Ghostzapper) set a pressured pace from last year’s GI Frizette S. winner Wicked Whisper, as they whistled through an opening half-mile in :44.37. Four Graces stiff-armed the challenge of Wicked Whisper, having won the battle, and managed to win the war as well, coming home well clear of Sconsin. Brereton C. Jones’s Turtle Trax completed the trifecta for stallions who stood/stand at Jones’s Airdrie Stud. The aforementioned McCraken also stands at Airdrie.

“She’s a fast filly,” Leparoux said. “The track is pretty quick today too. But she was doing it very nicely for me in a good rhythm. That’s the way she likes to run–free–and she makes that big kick at the end… I’m surprised we broke the track record, really. But she’s getting much better right now and she’s doing very good.”

Four Graces was registering her second straight graded win, having posted a 2 1/2-length victory in the GIII Dogwood S. at Churchill June 6. She was a debut winner at Gulfstream Mar. 1, but settled for fourth attempting a one-turn mile there Apr. 10. She bounced back with a Churchill optional claiming tally over a strong group that included Sconsin, subsequent GIII Iowa Oaks runner-up Aurelia Garland (Constitution), and two other next-out allowance winners.

Trainer Ian Wilkes, who saddled the first and third home, said the winner would likely be aimed for next month’s GI Longines Test S. at Saratoga.

Friday, Keeneland
BEAUMONT S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT-GIII, $98,000, Keeneland, 7-10, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:24.90, ft.
1–FOUR GRACES, 118, f, 3, by Majesticperfection
1st Dam: Ivory Empress (GSP, $189,402), by Seeking the Gold
2nd Dam: Madame Pandit, by Wild Again
3rd Dam: Tuesday Evening, by Nodouble
O/B-Whitham Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes;
J-Julien R. Leparoux. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0,
$194,450. *1/2 to Bondurant (War Front), MGSP, $288,234;
McCraken (Ghostzapper), MGSW & GISP, $869,728. Werk Nick
   Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sconsin, 118, f, 3, Include–Sconnie, by Tiznow.
O/B-Lloyd Madison Farms LLC (KY); T-Gregory D. Foley.
$20,000.
3–Turtle Trax, 118, f, 3, Cairo Prince–Great Family, by Harlan’s
Holiday. O/B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $10,000.
Margins: 4 3/4, 4 3/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 0.70, 4.50, 10.80.
Also Ran: Wicked Whisper, Slam Dunk. Scratched: Speech.
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:
Majesticperfection, now standing in Uruguay after beginning his career in Kentucky at Airdrie, will be represented Saturday at Keeneland by Bret Jones-bred MGSW Bell’s the One in the GI Madison S. Four Graces is one of five winners from as many foals to race and three graded performers out of Ivory Empress, who was second in the 2010 GIII Endine S. for these same connections. Ivory Empress is out of GSW and GISP Madame Pandit, making her a half to GISW Mea Domina (Dance Brightly). She has a 2-year-old colt named Milliken (Into Mischief) who has five published breezes at Churchill Downs and produced a full-sister to ‘Rising Star’ McCraken Mar. 31.

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