Tag: tracy farmer

Tracy Farmer’s Fev Rover Bests Them All in E.P. Taylor

The trip might have been unusual, but rider Javier Castellano knew what he had under him as Fev Rover (Ire) (m, 5, Gutaifan {Ire}–Laurelita {Ire}, by High Chaparral {Ire}) captured Sunday's GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine. The bay showed the way early from the rail, but was quickly under pressure as 50-1 Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) dogged her from the outside through fractions of :25.66 and :50.29. The rest of the field was strung out and just after the half-mile mark, Fev Rover yielded to let Rocky Sky go while she dropped back to third for about three furlongs. She was far from done, however, and switched outside on the turn to come on again.

Entering the stretch, Fev Rover got the jump several paths to the inside of battling Charlie Appleby trainee With The Moonlight (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a MGSW/MGISP Godolphin homebred, and last year's Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper), the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year. She swapped to her wrong lead about a furlong from home, but had the race in hand, prevailing by 2 1/4 lengths while With The Moonlight outgunned Moira. The latter had beaten Fev Rover in their respective last outs, the GII Canadian S. Sept. 9.

Final time for the 1 1/4 miles over the good course was 2:04.20.

“I expected it to be my horse in the lead,” said Castellano. “I felt a lot of pressure outside. I tried to ride a smart race.”

Fev Rover was no slouch before being imported to North America last year. Under the tutelage of Richard Fahey, she had raced in England, Ireland, France, and Bahrain, with her scores including the G2 Ghadwell Prix du Calvados at two and her placings including the G1 QIPCO One Thousand Guineas at three. Fahey, under Musley Bank Stables, consigned her to the 2021 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, where Tracy Farmer picked her up for 695,000gns. Shipped to North American and Mark Casse in 2022, she made just three starts at four, all at Woodbine, defeating Moira in the GII Canadian S. and finishing third via DQ in that year's edition of the E.P. Taylor. She opened her 2023 campaign with guns blazing, starting her year with three consecutive 99 Beyer Speed Figures. With the E.P. Taylor, Fev Rover was adding her second Grade I score following a victory over Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), winner of Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland, in the GI Beverly D. S. Aug. 12 at Colonial Downs, where she had earned a fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She also has captured the GII Nassau S. and finished third in the GI Diana S. at Saratoga this summer.

Casse had indicated prior to the E.P. Taylor that Fev Rover was indeed being pointed to the Filly & Mare Turf, which will be contested Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Fev Rover is the first top-level winner for Gutaifan (Ire), who stands at Haras des Faunes in France. The MGSW & G1SP stallion has four black-type winners total, with Fev Rover the only one venturing to this side of the pond. The Dark Angel (Ire) sire raced solely at two.

The late Epsom Derby and Breeders' Cup winner High Chaparral (Ire), sire of Fev Rover's dam, has 69 stakes winners out of his daughters. Laurelita (Ire)'s last reported foal is a yearling colt by Gutaifan's sire, Dark Angel. From the extended family of GISW Seek Again (Speightstown), she also has a 2-year-old filly named Leveret (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), who has placed in one start in England this year.

Sunday, Woodbine Racetrack
E.P. TAYLOR S.-GI, C$766,000, Woodbine, 10-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:04.20, gd.
1–FEV ROVER (IRE), 124, m, 5, by Gutaifan (Ire)
                1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Javier Castellano. C$450,000. Lifetime Record: GISW-U.S., SW & G1SP-Eng, GSW-Fr, GSP-Ire,19-6-4-3, $1,286,834. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–With The Moonlight (Ire), 124, f, 4, by Frankel (GB)
                1st Dam: Sand Vixen (GB) (GSW-Eng, $119,931), by Dubawi (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Fur Will Fly (GB), by Petong (GB)
                3rd Dam: Bumpkin (GB), by Free State (Ire)
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby. C$150,000.
3–Moira, 124, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
                1st Dam: Devine Aida (MSW & GSP, $273,215), by Unbridled's Song
                2nd Dam: Passion, by Came Home
                3rd Dam: Rajmata, by Known Fact
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($150,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and SF Racing LLC; B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$90,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 4.05, 2.70, 1.55.
Also Ran: Skims (GB), Kalifornia Queen (Ger), Aspen Grove (Ire), Amazing Grace (Ger), Atomic Blonde (Ger), Consumer Spending, Rocky Sky (Ire).

Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Making Waves: Classic-Placed Mare Makes Hay In Canada

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This column is highlighted by the victory of Fev Rover in the GII Nassau S. at Woodbine.

Gutaifan Mare Takes Second Canadian Grade II

The G1 1000 Guineas-placed Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) added her third group/graded win to her resume with an open-length victory in the Nassau S. for Tracy Farmer and trainer Mark Casse (video).

Bred by Manister House Stud, the 5-year-old was a £20,000 Goffs UK Premier yearling turned 695,000gns Tattersalls December purchase in 2021. Her latest siblings are a juvenile filly christened Leveret (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}) and a yearling full-brother. Group 2 winner Nashmeel (Blushing Groom {Fr}) was placed in a trio of top-level races in the U.S. and France prior to foaling GI Yellow Ribbon S. heroine Light Jig (GB) (Danehill), herself the dam of Grade I winner and sire Seek Again (Speightstown).

Gutaifan, who currently stands in France at Haras des Faunes, has sired a trio of stakes winners worldwide, with Fev Rover his first group winner so far. She is his only starter in Canada.

 

 

Sopran Basilea Game At Delaware Park

Madaket Stables LLC & Bill Strauss's Sopran Basilea (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) won the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. at Delaware Park for trainer Graham Motion (video).

A product of Aidan Sexton's breeding programme, the 5-year-old mare sold for €11,000 at the 2018 Goffs November Foal Sale, and won three of Italian stakes races led by the G2 Premio Lydia Tesio for Leonardo Ciampli and trainer Grizzetti Galoppo during her career in Italy. Sent through the Deauville ring during the Arqana December Sale, she was snapped up by her current connections for €300,000 last year, and was runner-up in the GIII Gallorette S. at Pimilco in May. The fifth winner out of Kathy Best (Ire) (King's Best), Sopran Basilea has The Irish Rover (Ire) half-siblings born in 2021 (colt) and 2022 (filly). The extended family has thrived in Italy, which includes recent multiple group winner Plusquemavie (Ire) (Kheleyf).

The winner is Darley stallion Night Of Thunder's second graded scorer in the U.S. after GIII Athenia S. heroine Pocket Square (GB). Overall in that jurisdiction, he has six winners from nine runners (66%) and three stakes winners (33%).

 

 

Lope De Vega Filly Graduates At Belmont

Bridlewood Farm and Madaket Stables LLC's No Show Sammy Jo (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) won a Belmont maiden at second asking for Graham Motion (video).

Bred by Fittocks Stud and St Albans Bloodstock, the daughter of Shomaria (Fr) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) was purchased for 150,000gns as a Tattersalls Book 1 yearling in 2021. Tracing to the G1 Prix de Diane heroine Shemaka (Ire) (Nishapour {Fr}), No Show Sammy Jo is the first foal out of her placed dam. Her Dark Angel (Ire) juvenile half-brother sold for 14,000gns to Meadowview Stables as a Book 2 yearling and she is also a half-sister to a weanling filly by Palace Pier (GB).

Lope De Vega has sired 36 winners from 67 runners (54%) in North America, with five of them scoring in stakes (7%) to date. Since the first of the year, the Ballylinch stallion is responsible for 11 stakes winners across seven countries led by G1 Tancred S. winner Arapaho (Fr).

Honourable Mentions:

Wise Racing LLC's Turf King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), who was mentioned in our Feb. 18 column, became the 67th stakes winner and 40th graded/group winner worldwide for his Juddmonte sire in Woodbine's all-weather GIII Marine S. on July 1 for trainer Chad Brown (video).

Brown also trained Klaravich Stables' Program Trading (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) to win a Belmont affair and improve his record to a perfect two-for-two near the end of June (video).

 

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2023 Mating Plans, Presented By Spendthrift: Tracy Farmer

With the 2023 season upon us, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Here is what Tracy Farmer had to say about his broodmare band for 2023.

We had a great few years on the track and we retired our GI Belmont Stakes Winner Sir Winston to Crestwood Farm in Lexington, KY this year, so we will offer him a lot of support both in the stallion barn now and in the sales ring in the future. We generally only keep about 10 mares, but we have bought some new mares to support Sir Winston as we plan to breed more than a dozen mares to him in 2023.

ALYDORABLE (m, 13, Arch–Esprit D'Escalier) booked to Sir Winston.

She is a stakes placed Arch mare that has already produced a nice stakes winner by Quality Road. She has a daughter by Ghostzapper that is the dam of multiple stakes winning 3-year-old Girl Trouble, and we want to support Sir Winston with some proven mares, and she is a great match for him. Awesome Again's son Ghostzapper has done great with Arch mares, with Grade I winners like Contested and Nucky.

TROPHY GIRL (m, 10, Warrior's Reward–Storm West) booked to Good Magic.

We generally do not breed to many first year stallions but a few years ago we really were excited about Good Magic and felt like Trophy Girl would be a very good fit. She is a big mare, about 16.3h, had a lot of talent, and broadly speaking, the Smart Strike line has done quite well over the El Prado line. We felt like Good Magic might benefit from a mare with some size to her and he could add speed while not sacrificing our chance to breed a classic horse. The resulting foal was Blazing Sevens, who won the GI Champagne S. this year. She will go back to Good Magic.

BAKSHEESH (f, 4, Summer Front–Spider Dust) booked to Sir Winston.

We bought this very good looking mare specifically to be bred to Sir Winston. She was a stakes-winning 2-year-old at Woodbine and Sid Fernando really liked her pedigree to match up with Sir Winston's. We wanted to buy some mares that were fast and precocious. Don't forget, Sir Winston was also a stakes-winning 2-year-old, so we expect him to sire precocity despite the fact that he trained on to win the Belmont and graded stakes later in his career.

SKYGAZE (m, 6, American Pharoah–Skyscape) booked to Tapit.

Skygaze was champion older mare in Canada in 2021 and we retired her in the middle of 2022. She actually won a Grade III as a 2-year-old but was disqualified, and we felt like she was worth going all the way to the top. Her dam has produced five black-type horses so the family is very strong. We felt like this mare could really use A.P. Indy, and Tapit has a great strike rate with Empire Maker line mares as he has three graded-stakes winners on that cross out of 12 attempts.

LA GRAN BAILADORA (m, 16, Afleet Alex–Affirmed Dancer) booked to Ghostzapper.

She is the dam of Sir Winston (Awesome Again) and also the grand-dam of One Timer (Trappe Shot), who won a Grade II last year. We had a Ghostzapper filly out of her that we felt was very talented but had an injury and we were forced to retire her early. If we can get another foal by Ghostzapper that showed her talent, by the same sire line as Sir Winston, we will be in great shape.

GILDED LILY (m, 9, Speightstown–Handpainted) booked to Sir Winston.

From the moment we retired Sir Winston, we wanted to find some fast fillies by Speightstown to breed to him. On paper, this filly has all the things we look for. She comes from the family of Touch Gold–which makes her 3×4 to Deputy Minister– historically strong inbreeding with Awesome Again as we see in horses like Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). Gilded Lily's dam is by A.P. Indy, and Awesome Again and his son Ghostzapper have done great with A.P. Indy line mares.

LA BOHEMIAN (f, 4, Tiznow–La Rambla) booked to Sir Winston.

This filly was a homebred of ours and she is a half sister to two very talented and fast stakes-level sprinters. Needless to say, Tiznow has done well under Awesome Again (Paynter/Oxbow/ Bravazzo etc) but, more importantly, her dam, La Rambla, is by City Zip, who is a half-brother to Ghostzapper. So we know the family has an affinity for Awesome Again.

IMMORTAL LIFE (IRE) (m, 11, Iffraaj {GB}- Pursuit of Life {GB}) booked to Not This Time.

This is a mare we are very high on. Her first foal is graded-stakes winner Neptune's Storm (Stormy Atlantic), who is $10K short of being a millionaire. The 3-year-old filly out of the mare is Fearless Angel (More Than Ready), who was beaten just a nose in a stake as a 2-year-old last year. Not this Time has sired Grade I winner Just One Time, who is out of a Gone West line mare, just like this one. Immortal Life's best foal is by a Storm Cat line as well, and although Not this Time is primarily a dirt stallion, he has gotten some very good horses from European families such as Epicenter.

Interested in sharing your own mating plans? Email garyking@thetdn.com.

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Blazing Sevens A Mix of Genius and Racing Luck

There are no bigger stages and brighter lights than Saratoga in the summer, and Blazing Sevens (Good Magic–Trophy Girl, by Warrior's Reward) showcased his razzle-dazzle with aplomb, blitzing a field of well-regarded debuters to loudly proclaim himself worthy of 'TDN Rising Star'-dom.

Beating out two others in the race by his freshman sire to become a fifth winner, and the first to get the TDN's stamp of approval, for Good Magic, Blazing Sevens added another layer of sheen to breeder Tracy Farmer's banner last Sunday. In addition to being represented by the talented juvenile, Farmer was also the owner and owner/breeder of the runner-up and third-place finishers in Woodbine's GIII Hendrie S.–Amalfi Coast (Tapizar) and La Libertee (Consitution), respectively–as well as the owner of GII Dance Smartly runner-up Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}).

Farmer purchased Blazing Sevens's dam Trophy Girl for $62,000 as a weanling at Fasig-Tipton November in 2013. The bay took a bit of time to get to the races, not debuting until Sept. 30 of her 3-year-old year, but managing to win twice in the opening months at four over Turfway's old synthetic track. She wouldn't hit the board again, and eventually retired due to injury after her final start in July of that year. Sporting a pedigree he really liked, Farmer retired Trophy Girl to his broodmare band, and she's fit into the operation like a well-tailored glove.

“He breeds, sells, races homebreds and buys yearlings, so when we do matings for him, we ultimately concentrate on planning matings that will work for his racing program if he decides to keep the resulting foals,” said TDN columnist and advisor to Farmer, Sid Fernando. “…In the case of Blazing Sevens, we recommended several proven stallions and only one unproven horse–Good Magic–for his dam. Tracy made the decision to use [the stallion].”

With only four on the ground so far, and two of racing age, the sampling is still small, but Team Farmer is happy with what they're seeing from Trophy Girl. The mare's first, an unnamed 3-year-old colt by Distorted Humor, did not reach his reserve at Keeneland September in 2020, so consigner Denali Stud took a different approach to Blazing Sevens, convincing Farmer to sell him in Keeneland's January sale last year. To their credit, the result was successful this go-around, with the colt bringing $140,000 from Chestnut Valley Farm. He would later sell again for $225,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale to Rodeo Creek Racing.

 

“He was a gorgeous yearling when we saw him at the sale,” said bloodstock agent Pete Bradley, who helped put together the Rodeo Creek Racing partnership on the colt. “We had a set price range and he fortunately fell into it. I wanted to buy him as a weanling but lacked the funds at the time.”

Blazing Sevens's score was well-timed as the focus now shifts to the yearling sales season, and this year's renewal of the Saratoga sale coming up shortly (Good Magic has two in the open sale and four more in the subsequent New York-bred auction). Breeding farms with young stallions will be eager to showcase early success, such as a 2-year-old winning at Saratoga and becoming a 'Rising Star' in the process. Good Magic also already has a stakes winner to his name in Vegas Magic, a filly who beat the boys in Pleasanton's Everett Nevin S. July 9.

As for their colt, Bradley says that if the horse is ready to go, and Chad Brown likes what he sees, the GI Hopeful S. at the end of the Saratoga meeting isn't out of the question, but he hesitates to make plans too far in advance. Whether or not it happens is a decision based on conditioner and charge, alone.

“The original plan was always to have him go longer. He's such a chill horse and he didn't look like he turned a hair after that debut,” he reported. “He's taken everything in stride.”

Tracy Farmer shares in the excitement, and is eager to see his stock continue to rise to the head of their class. He's even willing to put what he called 'a little peer pressure' into the universe.

“I hated to see [Blazing Sevens] go, but everything has worked out for the best,” admits Farmer. “And I would love to see him in the Kentucky Derby starting gate.” And there is perhaps no greater honor, and no more sought-after pressure, than a Derby dream fueled by early promise.

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