Tag: Twirling Candy

Where’s My Ring Ships In To Take Gazelle

There's never a bad day to win your first race but Where's My Ring (Twirling Candy) sure picked an opportune day to do it, breaking her maiden and earning 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a dominant effort in the GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Saturday.

A career maiden through seven starts, the $100,000 Keeneland September grad could perhaps be forgiven for running behind the likes of MGSW Dreamfyre (Flameaway), champion Just F Y I (Justify) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and not once but twice to 'TDN Rising Star' Kinza (Carpe Diem). Five lengths behind in second to that runner last out in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. March. 9, trainer Val Brinkerhoff opted to ship Where's My Ring to Aqueduct after scratching his runner from last week's GII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn. Favored at 5-2 on the last day to earn qualifying points towards the first Friday in May, Where's My Ring broke with some speed from the inside gate but was quickly headed by Carmelina (Maximus Mischief) to her outside on the run into the first turn. Content to sit off that runner, the favorite was swarmed by a trio of runners and managed to hold third as the top five separated themselves from the second flight. Still glued to the fence around the far turn, Where's My Ring tipped outside of the dueling duo on the lead and ran them both down strongly, surging past 19-1 longshot Regulatory Risk (Omaha Beach) to graduate with her ears pricked on the line.

“It's not about breaking the maiden, we wanted to be in the Oaks, that was our goal,” admitted winning owner Michael McMillan. “I just got into horse racing, I met Val and Kelly Brinkerhoff and I told them 'I'm not in this for little races, we are in it for the big races.' I told them it was going to be the Kentucky Oaks. Everyone was shocked that we came here, but our whole team figured out the best race for us. It was a huge team effort.”

“I'm ecstatic to get a chance like this,” added Brinkerhoff. “I come from the bush tracks in Utah and to get to do this is pretty awesome. It's his [Michael McMillan's] first horse and I've had one in the Breeders' Cup where we ran third [Restrainedvengence in the 2021 Dirt Mile], but this filly has a lot of potential. It's been a long time getting to here and she's getting better and better, so hopefully by the Oaks, we'll be even better.”

Pedigree Note:

Twirling Candy is now represented by his 48th stakes winner and 18th graded winner. The first foal from her dam, Where's My Ring is out of a half to SW Merlazza (Medaglia d'Oro) and MGSP Gold Standard (Medaglia d'Oro). She is also similarly related to Saturday's GIII Distaff S. winner Shidabhuti (Practical Joke) as third dam Crystal Current, a $3.1m FTKNOV broodmare in 2008, is a daughter of Shidabhuti's third dam MGSIW Dream Supreme. Mapit had her 2-year-old McKinzie colt bring $300,000 from Klaravich Stable at the 2023 FTSAUG sale and she reported another colt by McKinzie this spring.

 

Saturday, Aqueduct
GAZELLE S.-GIII, $200,000, Aqueduct, 4-6, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:50.33, ft.
1–WHERE'S MY RING, 118, f, 3, by Twirling Candy
                1st Dam: Mapit, by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Mi Vida, by Distorted Humor
                3rd Dam: Crystal Current, by A.P. Indy
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($100,000
Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Michael McMillan; B-Don Alberto
Corporation (KY); T-Val Brinkerhoff; J-Jose Lezcano.
$110,000. Lifetime Record: 8-1-3-1, $202,620.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or
the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Regulatory Risk, 118, f, 3, Omaha Beach–
Walkwithapurpose, by Candy Ride (Arg). 1ST BLACK TYPE,
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($235,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP).
O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Upson Downs Farm & Louis W.
Wright (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.
3–Gin Gin, 120, f, 3, Hightail–Before You Know It, by Hard
Spun. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Calumet Farm;
T-Brad H. Cox. $24,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 5 1/4, HF. Odds: 2.55, 19.20, 6.80.
Also Ran: Whocouldaskformo, Life Talk, Barbratina, Carmelina, Princess Vino, Munny Grab. Scratched: Six Pack Senorita.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Sunday Insights: ‘TDN Rising Star’ Returns On Keeneland Sunday Card

4th-KEE, $110K, OC, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 2:36 p.m.

Unraced since her 'TDN Rising Star' debut at Churchill Downs last September, TWIRLING GOOD TIME (Twirling Candy) returns to the races Sunday for Rigney Racing and trainer Phillip Bauer. Stretching out from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, the $250,000 KEESEP grad will look to carry the speed that saw her go nearly gate-to-wire in her four-length win while posting an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. Out of Celebrategoodtimes, a Harlan's Holiday mare who has produced five foals and as many winners, Twirling Good Time counts both GISW and sire Street Boss (Street Cry {Ire}) and MGISW and sire Jack Christopher (Munnings) as extended family members. TJCIS PPS

 

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Neat Surges Up the Rail to Take Keeneland’s Transylvania

The temperature may be cooler in Lexington this week, but things heated up quickly on opening day at Keeneland with the first graded event of the spring at the Lexington oval coming down to a head bob. It took a photo to determine Red White and Blue Racing LLC's Neat (c, 3, Constitution–Orabella, by More Than Ready) had outpunched Mar. 2 Colonel Liam S. runner-up Cugino (Twirling Candy) by the slimmest of margins in the $400,000 GIII Transylvania S. for 3-year-olds going 1 1 1/16 miles on the lawn. Lagynos (Kantharos), back to the grass after failing to impact in deep waters in the GII Rebel S. and Smarty Jones S. in his last two, was third in a final time of 1:44.93.

“He's getting more mature and he's gotten better every start,” said winning trainer Rob Atras of his charge. “He had beaten arguably some lesser competition and today was a tough test, and he really showed up today. Honestly, I just think [jockey] Reylu [Gutierrez] did a great job. He had a tough time going into the first turn with him and obviously causing some havoc on the backside. He got him settled down and relaxed and really finished strong.”

Coming off a daylight win after settling the pace in the Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile S. Jan. 27 at Sam Houston, Neat was in the first flight early in the Transylvania and just a head off the call at the first fraction–a quarter in :23.98–while rank and visibly fighting Reylu Gutierrez before settling.

Gutierrez was able to ease the chestnut back on the inside, opening it up for the well-traveled Musical Act (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), second Mar. 2 in Dubai in the Jumeirah Classic, to take control with Cugino joining him soon after. Turning for home, Neat found his share of traffic while still covered up in fifth. An eighth from home and still in search of a seam, he split horses, just collaring Cugino from the inside at the last possible second after Musical Act surrendered and Lagynos surged while wide.

“Sometimes these 3-year-olds go through the holes and sometimes they don't,” said Gutierrez. “From the three-eighths pole it was all the horse. It was really tight down there but we waited as long as we could and when he saw that little bit of space, I mean, he certainly overcame me. It was all the horse.”

After two victories at this distance on the turf at both Laurel and Fair Grounds last year at two, Neat closed out 2023 with his lone main track attempt in the Gun Runner S. in New Orleans. He finished well back in sixth that day behind Track Phantom (Quality Road), also dropping his Beyer figure by 24 points. It was back to grass for the Texas Turf Mile, making Neat unbeaten in two starts at three with a four-for-five career tally on the grass.

Last year's Transylvania winner, BBN Racing's Mo Stash (Mo Town), was back again for Keeneland's opening day, winning a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance earlier on Friday's card in his first win since the race last year.

Pedigree Notes:

Hidden Brook Farm and Spruce Lane Farm together bred Neat in Kentucky and sold him to Andrew N. Warren as a Keeneland November weanling for $200,000. The colt returned to the same ring the next September, bringing the same price from Red White and Blue. Hidden Brook had purchased his unraced dam while she was carrying to Violence for $62,000 at Keeneland's 2015 November sale. That foal would become SW & MGSP Louder Than Bombs. The mare, who hails from the same family as 2010 GI Spinaway S. winner R Heat Lightning (Trippi), has a 2-year-old filly by Nyquist–sold for $80,000 to Hat Creek Racing at Keeneland September–and a yearling filly by Medaglia d'Oro. Orabella aborted her 2024 foal.

Neat becomes the 33rd graded winner for WinStar stallion Constitution, a MGISW and son of Tapit who also has 64 black-type winners and will send just his sixth crop to the races this year. The late More Than Ready, broodmare sire of the Transylvania winner, was also part of the WinStar stallion roster and has 174 stakes winners worldwide out of his daughters.

 

Friday, Keeneland
TRANSYLVANIA S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT-GIII, $397,263, Keeneland, 4-5, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:44.93, gd.
1–NEAT, 118, c, 3, by Constitution
                1st Dam: Orabella, by More Than Ready
                2nd Dam: Hot Trip, by Trippi
                3rd Dam: Yellow Heat, by Gold Fever
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($200,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV;
$200,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Red White and Blue Racing LLC;
B-Hidden Brook Farm & Spruce Lane Farm (KY); T-Rob Atras;
J-Reylu Gutierrez. $226,300. Lifetime Record: 6-4-0-0,
$347,900. *1/2 to Louder Than Bombs (Violence), SW &
MGSP, $264,554. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Cugino, 118, c, 3, Twirling Candy–Adorable Miss, by Kitten's
Joy. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($225,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP).
O-West Point Thoroughbreds and Jimmy Kahig LLC; B-Gage Hill
Stables, LLC & W. S. Farish (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III.
$73,000.
3–Lagynos, 118, c, 3, Kantharos–Steamy, by Speightstown.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($200,000 Ylg '22
KEESEP). O-HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud; B-Robert
Spiegel (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $36,500.
Margins: NO, HF, 1. Odds: 13.41, 5.23, 31.75.
Also Ran: Lord Bullingdon, Musical Act (Ire), Can Group, Depiction, Guy Named Joe, First World War, Full Nelson, Oscar's World, Tennessee. Scratched: Camaro Z, Royal Majesty (GB).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Sixpence Dominates Satsuki Sho Trial

In an electrifying display through the late stages, Sixpence (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) overwhelmed nine other rivals and proclaimed himself as one to watch for the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas), dominating the G2 Fuji TV Sho Spring S. on Sunday at Nakayama.

Jumping well and close to the pacesetters, Sixpence tucked in neatly behind Allegro Brillante (Jpn) (Deep Brillante {Jpn}) and that one's closest pursuer Cosmo Buddleja (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}) as the pair showed the way. The placings remained consistent until the field passed the 800 metre mark with closers beginning their march from the rear and Sixpence was launching his own rally coming off the bend.

Looming the danger with 400 metres left, Christophe Lemaire asked and his charge responded, leaving long-time leader Allegro Brillante in his wake under the mildest of hand rides. The advantage extended with 200 metres left in the running and the gap back to the game pacesetter was 3 1/2 lengths on the wire. Lucullan Feast (Jpn) (Isla Bonita {Jpn}) came out best of the scramble for the minors, nosing out Channel Tunnel (Jpn) (Greater London {Jpn}) for the last trifecta spot.

 

Pedigree Note
The lone offspring to race for American Grade I-winner Finley'sluckycharm (Twirling Candy) thus far, Sixpence is the newest Classic contender for sire Kizuna (Jpn), who himself was the Japanese champion 3-year-old colt as well as a Classic winner in France and Japan. Among the stallion's best runners are dual champion Songline (Jpn), who twice claimed the G1 Yasuda Kinen, and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup victrex Akai Ito (Jpn).

On his female line side, the busiest activity is found deep in the pedigree via the dam Gather the Clan (Ire), who is responsible for GISW Pure Clan (Pure Prize). That mare would later go on to produce SW & GISP Princesa Carolina (Tapit), who set a course-record en route to her victory in the Fifth Third Insurance Dueling Grounds Oaks. She is not the only runner with a wicked turn of foot as Pure Clan's half-brother MGSW Greater Good set a new track-record beneath the fabled twin spires of Churchill Downs.

Since changing hands to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.5-million in 2018 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale, Finley'sluckycharm has produced two of racing age, but Sixpence is the first to make it to the races. She does have a 2-year-old colt by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) named Field Note (Jpn). Her 2023 Orfevre (Jpn) foal was stillborn.

Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
FUJI TV SHO SPRING STAKES-G2, ¥104,580,000, Nakayama, 3-17, 3yo, 1800mT, 1:49.40, fm.
1–SIXPENCE (JPN), 126, c, 3, by Kizuna (Jpn)
           1st Dam: Finley'sluckycharm (GISW, $928,068), by Twirling Candy
           2nd Dam: Day of Victory, by Victory Gallop
           3rd Dam: Gather the Day, by Dayjur
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm; T-Sakae Kunieda; J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥54,756,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, ¥72,873,000. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Allegro Brillante (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Deep Brillante (Jpn)–Centenary (Jpn), by French Deputy. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE. O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; ¥22,216,000.
3–Lucullan Feast (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Isla Bonita (Jpn)–Gorgeous Lunch (Jpn), by Manhattan Cafe (Jpn). 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE. O-Shadai Race Horse; B- Shadai Farm; ¥14,108,000.
Margins: 3HF, 1, NO; Odds: 1.90, 24.30, 6.30.
Also Ran: Channel Tunnel (Jpn), Cosmo Buddleja (Jpn), Stinger Glass (Jpn), Pellegrini (Jpn), Lograr (Jpn), Water Licht (Jpn), Jun Gold (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

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