Travel Column | Horse Racing Free Tips

Travel Column Becomes First Graded Winner for Frosted in Golden Rod

Travel Column (Frosted) endured a checkered passage–to say the least–in Saturday’s GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs, but showed a fair bit of courage to hit the wire first.

A half-step slow out of the gates and pinched back soon after, Travel Column was last to make the clubhouse turn and was taken hold of by Florent Geroux as Farsighted (Bernardini) took them along at a sensible clip. The $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga acquisition was slipped a bit of rein at about midway and improved her position into midfield and within striking distance as they hit the turn. Going well as they neared the stretch, Travel Column had absolutely nowhere to go at the three-sixteenths and was carefully maneuvered across three sets of heels to lay down a four-path challenge in the final furlong. Recent debut winner Clariere (Curlin) hit the front with time ticking away, but Travel Column had the answers and raced past that one en route to a determined success. Odds-on Simply Ravishing (Laoban), a close fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 6, was also tardily into stride and raced prominently. She took command a fair way out, but was a sitting duck late and could not hang on for a top-three finish.

Travel Column made her first trip to the races on the Kentucky Oaks undercard Sept. 4, sailing home a 4 1/4-length winner of a six-furlong maiden to become a ‘TDN Rising Star.’ Taking the next logical step in Keeneland’s GI Darley Alcibiades S. Oct. 2, she missed the kick, sat a midfield trip and made minor inroads late to be third behind Simply Ravishing.

Pedigree Notes:
Travel Column was offered through the consignment of her co-breeder Denali Stud at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, and her hammer price ranked as the most expensive of her sire’s 67 first-crop yearlings reported as sold in 2019. The second black-type winner (Frosted’s Australian-bred son Ingratiating was a listed winner at first asking at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne Oct. 3) and first graded winner, Travel Column is a half-sister to an American Pharoah colt that fetched $1.25 million from Speedway Stables to be the second most expensive horse at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase in September. Swingit is the dam of a weanling colt by City of Light and was bred back to Audible.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
GOLDEN ROD S.-GII, $200,000, Churchill Downs, 11-28, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:43.98, ft.
1–TRAVEL COLUMN, 122, f, 2, by Frosted
1st Dam: Swingit (MSW, $345,353), by Victory Gallop
2nd Dam: Free Ransom, by Our Native
3rd Dam: Pay the Ransom, by J. O. Tobin
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($850,000
Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). ‘TDN Rising Star’ O-OXO Equine LLC; B-Mr. &
Mrs. Bayne Welker Jr. & Denali Stud (KY); T-Brad H. Cox;
J-Florent Geroux. $119,040. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1,
$209,184. *1/2 to Neolithic (Harlan’s Holiday), G1SP-UAE,
MGISP-USA, $2,278,028. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Clairiere, 122, f, 2, Curlin–Cavorting, by Bernardini.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $38,400.
3–Coach, 122, f, 2, Commissioner–And Stay Out, by Exchange
Rate. ($65,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). O-Kueber Racing, LLC; B-Three
Lyons Racing LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $19,200.
Margins: 1, 2HF, HF. Odds: 4.90, 5.00, 6.30.
Also Ran: Simply Ravishing, Princess Theorem, Alexandria, Lady Lilly, Lady Traveler, Farsighted. Scratched: No Mo’ Spending. 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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Rising Stars Face Off in Alcibiades

A trio of ‘TDN Rising Stars,’ including unbeaten Thoughtfully (Tapit), will square off in Friday’s GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland, a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The rail-drawn Thoughtfully, tabbed as a ‘Rising Star’ out of a blowout debut win for Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs June 11, made good on the promise with a sparkling performance in Saratoga’s GII Adirondack S. Aug. 12. The $950,000 FTSAUG graduate tries two turns for the first time here.

Drawn one to her outside is fellow ‘Rising Star’ Travel Column (Frosted), herself a flashy debut winner going six furlongs on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard Sept. 4. Brad Cox trains the $850,000 FTSAUG yearling.

Crazy Beautiful (Liam’s Map) posted a ‘Rising Star’ performance at second asking in the Runhappy Debutante S. at Ellis Aug. 9. She was second as the favorite with a troubled trip in the one-turn mile GIII Pocahontas S. last time Sept. 3.

Trainer Ken McPeek will also saddle the two-for-two, rained-off P. G. Johnson S. heroine Simply Ravishing (Laoban) and grassy Mint Juvenile Fillies S. third Oliviaofthedesert (Bernardini).

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Pharoah Half to Recent ‘Rising Star’ Lights Up Board at Fasig

A son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was the first to set off fireworks at Fasig-Tipton Thursday, igniting a spirited round of bidding between a trio of powerhouse connections in Donato Lanni, Coolmore and Marette Farrell, acting on behalf on Speedway Stables. Lanni was the first to throw in the towel, leaving Coolmore and Farrell to duke it out and it was Farrell left to sign the winning $1.25-million ticket on behalf of her longtime clients, Speedway’s K.C. Weiner and Peter Fluor.

“K.C. Weiner and Peter Fluor are two of the best owners a person could possibly have,” said Farrell, who said she was shocked to find out she had outbid the Coolmore team. “They are game. They are very successful in their own business world and they apply all of those principles to our little horse world. They have done very well so far. They love being part of the game. They love working with Bob Baffert.”

Consigned by Denali Stud, Hip 400 was bred by Fasig’s Bayne and Christina Welker, who purchased the MSW mare Swingit (Victory Gallop) for $50,000 in foal to Bodemeister at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Already the dam of MGISP millionaire Neolithic (Harlan’s Holiday) at that time, her second foal for the Welkers was new ‘TDN Rising Star’ Travel Column (Frosted), who was purchased by Larry Best for $850,000 at last term’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“We just thought he was an absolutely stunning horse,” Farrell said. “We were the underbidder on his half-sister last year, who was the ‘TDN Rising Star’. We had seen this horse on the farm and knew how much his connections thought of him and Bob Baffert, who is going to train him, loved him. I was on the phone with K.C. Weiner, who coached me through this. We are thrilled to get him. We think he is a really special horse and it looks like the mare has already produced a couple of very good horses. He fits what Speedway wants and what Bob Baffert is looking for.”

Baffert and Speedway have enjoyed a successful partnership over the years, campaigning the likes of Grade I winners Collected (City Zip), Roadster (Quality Road) and Noted and Quoted (The Factor). —@CDeBernardisTDN

Watch our interview with Marette Farrell below.

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